[LeighB]

Hello. I have just loaded the Level 2 Pace Based Marathon plan onto my calendar and am interested to know the best way to rearrange my training to accommodate a half marathon that does not line up with a lower mileage week.

Beginning 10 weeks from my race date – the long runs line up like this:

18 mile Long Run
18 mile Long Run w/ Speed Play
12 mile Long Run
18 mile Long Run w/ Fast Finish
19 mile Long Run

Inconveniently, I have a half marathon on the calendar for the same week as the 18 mile w/ Fast Finish (if only it was the week before). How is the best way to rearrange my weeks or should I just run the half marathon instead of the 18 miles w/ Fast Finish and have two weeks of lower mileage?

[Matt Fitzgerald]

Actually, it’s not the long run itself but the surrounding days that present a challenge. You’ll get just as much out of racing a half as you will out of the run you’re replacing it with, but you’ll need to go lighten up the preceding days to ensure you race on fresh legs and lighten up the next few days to recover. If you are feeling good toward the end of the preceding recovery week, you can pad the 12-miler with a few extra miles to contain the disruptive effect of shoehorning that race into a non-recovery week.

As an aside, including warm-up and cooldown I usually end up logging about 18 miles when I race a half marathon.

[LeighB]

Thank you!! I appreciate the quick response and will plan to do as advised above 🙂

[Author]

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