Marathon/ Half Marathon

[Nick]

T-Bros (and T-sisters), regale us with you tales of marathon training.

Who's used TB to train for a Half or Full marathon? My gut feeling is that I could just run Green and gradually increase my "E" runs from 1 hour to 2 hours and this should cover me for a half. Not sure about a full, though.

There is no shortage of marathon plans available for free on the interwebz, but I want to stay on TB.

[mikhou]

I haven't used TB in conjunction with marathon/half-marathon training, but this is definitely my favorite half-marathon training plan.

http://www.runnersworld.com/race-traini ... ining-plan

I used it several years ago to set a half-marathon PR while using a different 2-day per week strength training plan. I did the strength training in place of the cross training, and I occasionally did some other activity (playing racquetball, basketball, just going out for a walk, etc.). It worked great! I wouldn't hesitate to use Fighter with this plan.

Now a full-marathon is a different animal and requires a lot of miles. I would still use Fighter as my strength program (maybe very minimal as in 2 exercises), and I would either do more cross training (rowing biking, etc.) with the plan above or I'd be running at least 4 days/week.

[Green2Blue]

I went from 2.5 miles to a half-marathon just while I was doing Base Building (MS first).

When I do Ops Black Pro I'll occasionally get up to 10 miles.

A full marathon would probably require some specific training, but I don't see how it wouldn't be possible in conjunction with Fighter Green.

[tomcatflyer]

Very interested in following along. I'm training for a 5K + Half Marathon in September. You can see my plan here: http://tacticalbarbell.com/forum/viewto ... ?f=5&t=317

I'll be shameless in amending my plan based on the advice you receive here!

One piece of advice I can offer when it comes to training for races - and for many here this won't be a revelation - is don't neglect that max strength training. It's remarkable how much tougher a long run for pace can be if you've let your maximal strength falter.

[Nick]

Thanks, guys!

I definitely plan to stay on fighter.

Mikhou- do you feel like you had enough "mileage" with this plan?

[J-Madd]

Nick, how close are you being able to complete a half marathon now?

I'm not an endurance Zen master, but I've done the half-marathon twice. I've never done any special programing, just my usual TB (or similar) work with a little extra LSS emphasis. I have found that once you can hit 8 miles casually in a LSS run, you can probably motor for 13, especially if you moderate your pace.

The last time I did 13 miles was last year while I was in the middle of a regular Operator block.

If you actually want a good time in a half marathon, then you might need a specialized plan.

[DocOctagon]

Honestly if you've got a semi-decent aerobic base you could run a half with nothing more than Black Professional. Use tempo/Fast 5s for your 2 HICs and an LSS run 60 mins + for your weekly E.

For a full, it would probably be a good idea to get on a specialized training regimen so you understand how to program weekly mileage. After getting one under your belt, you would probably have enough knowledge to program your own training using Green.

Either way, it would be a good idea to keep a bare bones Fighter template in the mix.

[mikhou]

Thanks, guys!

I definitely plan to stay on fighter.

Mikhou- do you feel like you had enough "mileage" with this plan?

Nick, I definitely had enough mileage on this plan to run a half. My half was a piece of cake and as I said, I set a 2 minute PR. I attribute much of it to max strength training and also the tempo runs and learning how to run at an uncomfortable pace for an extended period of time.

mikhou

[Nick]

J-madd- for Base, I've been running about 6 miles in an hour. By the end of those runs, I'm feeling pretty good, and not totally crushed, like I could keep going.

Thanks everyone for all the responses, I really appreciate it!

[close_fox]

I used one of the free Hal Higdon programs for my first and only marathon. http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51151 ... ng-Program

This was a while ago, long before I discovered TB. During training, I lifted twice per week (one full-body session, one upper body only). Very low volume. Basically just trying to maintain some strength.