Half Marathon preparation, 3 weeks before your important race
The the strength of a chain is as good as its weakest link.
Whether one will be tackling the 5K, the 10K, the half marathon or the marathon, every stage and part of the journey towards a successful race day should be given the focus and the seriousness it deserves.
Although the last three weeks before your goal marathon or half marathon race are supposedly going to become less intensive and less demanding physically, it is a crucial time to keep vigil, attentive, and more focused than you have been in all the other weeks in your training.
Give priority to your health before your half marathon
As race day approaches, a runner must ensure they are in their best physical and mental form on the day of the race.
Research from Peters and Bateman on ultramarathon running and upper respiratory tract infections found “symptoms of URT infection occurred in 33.3% of runners compared with 15.3% of controls, and were most common in those who achieved the faster race times,” in an epidemiological survey. *
Without citing any research on this, it is widely known among runners that injury usually strikes when they finally reach their peak form and continue training hard without taking a break. Some experienced coaches typically isolate runners who are already in their peak form and give them fewer workouts to maintain their form until race day.
After all, it is the most unfortunate thing to spend months preparing for your race only to get injured in your last workout before race day!
Runners can avoid all these problems if they slow their training at the right time and maintain a proper diet.
Cut back on mileage, but still keep the speed workouts
As race day approaches, the general rule during the tapering period is to reduce weekly running mileage to approximately 80% of what it has been.
While cutting back on their weekly mileage, runners should still ensure that they maintain their speed up to the race day.
Fartlek runs and track intervals are some of the runs that usually remain in a plan up to the last week of training.
There are other workouts that should be struck out of the training program in the last three weeks, like the hill workouts. Their demanding nature adds fatigue and increases the risks of injury and sickness at a time when the body needs to recover well.
So, if you’ve ever missed doing hills in your training program, this is not the time to start.
In most of the big long distance training camps in Kenya, while the rest of the group is doing a 40-minute fartlek run (say, two minutes hard and one minute easy for 13 repetitions), runners with their race days coming close go with the group but do the workouts for just eight or nine repetitions.
Trust the training you have already done
Often, the last few weeks before a race are a time when runners panic and try to squeeze in a few hard, last-minute workouts, hoping to perfect their form and compensate for everything they failed to do in advance of their race.
“We are now training for next year, the shape we shall use to race next week is from the training we did last year,” I have forgotten who said this first, but it was an everyday reminder we would share at our camp whenever a local race was approaching.
Panic can lead to overtraining and hinder your recovery for the race. As long as you have been healthy and have been able to train in the months/weeks leading up to your race, think about the long runs you have managed to do and the speed workouts you have done.
Those are enough to prepare you for a good race as they cover all the aspects of training from strength to endurance to speed.
Prepare mentally
Mental preparation involves knowing exactly what to expect on race day and planning how to handle it effectively.
You must know that a long-distance race is designed to test your endurance. So, go there knowing you will have to “endure it” and that it will be tough.
Marathons, or half marathons in this case, are never easy, and if a runner has nothing to motivate them other than just having fun, then chances are high that they will drop out before finishing.
Look at the bigger picture of accomplishing what you set out to do in that marathon and what it will mean to your life—this will add purpose to your race. Training for a marathon brings physical and mental benefits, so why just train for it and not finish it?
Looking back at everything you have done—the time and resources you have spent in preparation for the marathon—will also serve to push you to the finish line.
Be realistic about the time you aim to run. Know the pace you are supposed to use so that you do not start your race too fast and end up not finishing it.
It is not just about knowing and waiting to run; it also involves understanding how hard you will have to push to win, how you will run your race, and what realistic steps you are taking to achieve that goal.
The times you run in your tempo runs and track intervals should inform you where your form falls. Some GPS-enabled watches can help predict your potential.
Reference:
- Peters, EM and Bateman, ED. “Ultramarathon running and upper respiratory tract infections.” South African Medical Journal. 1983;64(15):582-584.
About the Author
Justin Lagat is a Kenyan long-distance running coach, a freelance sports journalist, and a marathon runner.
While based in Eldoret, Kenya, he coaches runners from different countries around the world online. He has worked as a columnist with RunBlogRun since 2012.
Some of his work as a journalist has been featured in other international sports publications, including World Athletics, iRun Magazine, and African Sports Monthly magazine, among others.
Website: www.kenyanathlete.com
Facebook Page: Justin Lagat (https://www.facebook.com/kenyanathlete/)
X (Twitter): @LagatJustin
