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Training plans - what to do on race day?

Former Member
Former Member over 6 years ago
Hi!

I've run the Half Marathon distance twice before, but never in an actual race, so I decided to try the Half Marathon training plan (level 2, 5 workouts/week, w/HR).
I started 8 weeks in, because of the scheduled race and I allready had a good base and felt quite confident.

I've followed the last part of the training plan for 8 weeks now and found the plan to be quite helpful, but I have no idea of what my actual 21K form is - and the race is tomorrow!
The plan only says "Half Marathon" in the plan for tomorrow, with no instruction for pace or HR zones. I feel left all alone in the dark. I'm confused.
Am I supposed to just guess the pace or stay in a spesific HR zone or switch between zones? Help please!
My intuition tells me I am supposed to run the entire distance in HR zone 4 (treshold), but I'm afraid this might be to heavy.
Maybe not. You never actually run 21K or more than an hour in zone 4 during the plan, so I don't have anything to compare with.
I'm afraid of starting to strong and ruin the race.

Any tips?
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    No one is going to give you a definitive advice, because this is a very individual matter. This is the art of running - quite literally. Unless you know your capabilities quite well from previous races (and I stress "races" not "workouts"), there is no easy way of knowing a pace and/or heart rate that will give you best results.

    Said all that, I think you are quite mistaken that it is impossible to remain in zone 4 for a long time. I am not telling you that this is what you should aim for, but on my last half-marathon I spent almost 1 hour and 20 minutes in zone 5, with heart rate reaching (and sometimes exceeding) 190 bpm. When I race, I do it at a pace that makes me feel that I'm going to collapse any moment. And I get results which would seem to me totally impossible when juxtaposed to my day-to-day training performance.
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    Your lactate threshold should indicate a sustainable heartrate/pace which you can sustain for 3/4 of the race, tipping above that based on confidence level. Alternatively, race in Z4 until the last 5k or the last 2k when you should be hitting Z5.

    Agreeing with tmk2 I never train actually train at both race pace and length. I run 2.5 hours at much slower, or 3mins on/off at Very Fast, or 10 minutes Fast (a lot quicker than race pace) or a PickUp at 45min slower that Race Pace. You can surprise yourself. As a wild guess take your heart busting 5k pace, and add 20 to 30 seconds per km or mile.

    You should also remember that you have tapered. That is a lot different than when in training and there is a constant training load to carry.
  • 0 over 6 years ago
    My last three halves have been shown ave HR zone 4.6, 4.8 and 4.9, and on all three races I wish I'd gone harder :o

    You'll likely have a realistic idea of time you want to finish in, and you've run the distance twice before, so keep an eye on your pace and heart rate and don't blow up too early.

    Each race is a learning experience, good luck and enjoy.