How long to wait between half marathons?

[solarnova]

Hello all, 

 

I've been running for a little over a year now, and have completed 3 5k's, 2 10k's, a 15k, and just completed the Brooklyn half as my first half marathon ever, just a few weeks ago. I feel like the half marathon is the perfect distance race for me right now, because it's a serious distance that requires training (I can now run 5k's and 10k's without training), but is still managable in terms of training time and recovery. 

 

I recently signed up for the Chicago half in September, because I love the idea of traveling to other parts of the country for races, and the Staten Island half, since it's local and I'm based in NYC, which is just 2 weeks later. In my excitement, I've been looking up half marathons all over the place so I can give myself constant goals to be training for throughout the next year. I had sort of been eye-balling the Philly half marathon, which would be about 6 weeks after the Staten Island half. 

 

Am I getting ahead of myself by doing 2 half marathons only 2 weeks apart, and now being tempted to sign up for another that would be just 6 weeks later? I know most training programs are about 2-3 months long, and I want to be sure I'm giving myself enough time, but I also don't want to pass these opportunities up. Is there a minimum suggested recovery time I should be following between half marathons?

[Shukar]

Shortest turnaround I've had between half marathons was a month, and that felt reasonable.

I'd mostly just caution that with 2 weeks in between don't expect to be setting any records on the latter race, but you should be adequately recovered if you're not depriving yourself elsewhere (sleeping enough etc)

If you try and go all out for both you'll probably slow down long term progress a little, but if you have a good time that's what matters.

[Rostov]

 

Agree with everything Shukar said, especially about expectations. By the sound of it you're more motivated by the experience of running and going to interesting places than by running PBs each time, but I think you have to be prepared to run more slowly in your second or subsequent race. I guess the question would be whether you can do that - do you think you could get round more slowly with less in the tank? Or did getting round the first time take everything you had?

 

What's your training plan like at the moment, and what are your plans for the future? I think nearly everyone would struggle to race two half marathons within two weeks, but with the right training getting round shouldn't be a problem. Though you'd need to think very carefully about training between the two races.

 

As for the third half marathon.... if it were me I'd see if I could find out how quickly places fill up, and see if I could put off entering until later.

 

[Pavowski]

There are crazy people out there that run marathons back-to-back days. It all depends on your level of training, your resistance to injury, and your tolerance for pain.

 

But yeah, as the other guys said, don't get any crazy ideas about trying to ball out on every one.

[solarnova]

Yeah I'm definitely not at the point yet where I care about running personal bests. Right now my only goal is just to run the distance, and if I happen to make it in good time- cool! I mostly just try to make sure I'm breathing right and am going at a sustainable pace. I wasn't trying to run with any particular time goal for my first (and only) half marathon a few weeks ago, but I managed to finish below 2 hours without intending to, which I'm told is decent (I've shared a screen shot of my times, if anyone wants to give any feedback). So even for these two upcoming half marathons, my main goal is to just be able to finish and enjoy the race itself. 

 

So far for training plans, I've used the coach feature on the Nike Run app. There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced settings for each distance. I trained for the Brooklyn half on beginner (with the longest run being 13 miles), but I was considering training for the Chicago half on intermediate (longest run is 14 miles). I guess one of the reasons why I thought 2 weeks between half marathons might not be impossible, is that in my last training program I had to run 13 miles exactly 2 weeks before the actual race. 

 

My plans for right now are to just run a whole bunch of half marathons, and become comfortable with that distance. At this time I'm not sure if I'm inclined towards a full marathon. It's definitely a huge accomplishment, but the idea of 3-4 hour training runs on top of working full time just sounds like a lot right now. 

 

 

[solarnova]

Also, I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning but I had starting doing Strong Lifts 5x5 from December to March, but had to stop because of a back injury, but I hope to resume that in the coming weeks as well if my PT sessions go well (would be doing so in conjunction with my Nike Run training program). If it weren't for that program, I honestly don't think my body would have had to ability to even run this race as smoothly as I was able to, as my 15k in December (when I had just barely started strength training) was so much of a harder race mentally and physically. 

[BimBamBooh]

As long as I am not emotional ready for other races, I am not thinking about races, just running for fun 

[Zappa]

On 6/16/2016 at 6:47 AM, Shukar said:

Shortest turnaround I've had between half marathons was a month, and that felt reasonable.

I'd mostly just caution that with 2 weeks in between don't expect to be setting any records on the latter race, but you should be adequately recovered if you're not depriving yourself elsewhere (sleeping enough etc)

If you try and go all out for both you'll probably slow down long term progress a little, but if you have a good time that's what matters.

 

Good to know! I'm doing my first half marathon on the 4th September but I'm already tempted to sign up to another one in early October. 

 

I imagine that should be fine. I did an 18km run last Friday, and then set a new PB at my 5km park run on the Saturday morning so it can't have taken that much out of me.

[Dilnad]

2 hours ago, Zappa said:

 

Good to know! I'm doing my first half marathon on the 4th September but I'm already tempted to sign up to another one in early October. 

 

I imagine that should be fine. I did an 18km run last Friday, and then set a new PB at my 5km park run on the Saturday morning so it can't have taken that much out of me.

It really matters how you define running a half marathon.

If you run them at an easy pace like it's a training run, you can run them weekly all year. If you run them extremely hard and push for a PR, they can do a significant amount of temporary damage to your body and even your heart. If you plan to run them seriously for placing and push your body to the limit, I think the rule of thumb is twice a year. 

[Zappa]

Just now, Dilnad said:

It really matters how you define running a half marathon.

If you run them at an easy pace like it's a training run, you can run them weekly all year. If you run them extremely hard and push for a PR, they can do a significant amount of temporary damage to your body and even your heart. If you plan to run them seriously for placing and push your body to the limit, I think the rule of thumb is twice a year. 

 

Good to know. With my first one it's very much a case of just finishing it and not being that bothered about the time but I do want to 'push myself' to some extent. Cheers for the advice.

[Dilnad]

2 hours ago, Zappa said:

 

Good to know. With my first one it's very much a case of just finishing it and not being that bothered about the time but I do want to 'push myself' to some extent. Cheers for the advice.

I'm training for my third and while I do look to PR, just crossing the finish line is pure joy to me.

[Zappa]

14 hours ago, RandMart said:

 

13.1 miles or 42K?

 

yeah, yeah, I know = just being a wiseass

 

****

 

I have this weird thing in my brain where I can run an easy 12- or 14-mile training run, but 13.1 must be done at race pace ... and - preferably - there should be a bib and a medal and an Athlinks result at the end of it

 

and a good beer

 

YMMV

 

I think I've decided I'm happy doing a race so long as I get a medal. I can't believe everyone gets one! Just for finishing! It's like sports day for adults!

[Dilnad]

18 hours ago, RandMart said:

 

13.1 miles or 21K?

 

yeah, yeah, I know = just being a wiseass

 

Being a wise-ass is healthy!! I fully support this question and my answer is (Obviosly)"Thursday"