Andrea's Training Phase - Half Marathon Specific

This year, I have split my training up into 4-week cycles. The first 4-weeks (Mid-March to Mid-April) were focused on incorporating workouts back into training after a long stretch of easy miles (and a  foot injury caused by calf tightness). The second 4-week cycle was all about "hardening to racing" - getting all the nerves out from not racing for a while and remembering how to race. I raced 4 weeks in a row - two 5Ks and two half-marathons.

This third cycle is focusing on half marathon-specific training. The weekly plan is -

-Long run 15-18 miles
-Medium-long run 10-12 miles
-One tempo workout/long repeats at 10K-to-marathon pace (5-8 miles MP tempo, 2x3 HMP tempo, 6xmile 10K-HMP, etc.)
-One track workout at 5K pace (5x1000m, 12x400m, ladder such as 16-12-8-4, etc.)
-Drills and core exercises twice a week

All other runs are easy recovery runs with a few doubles to hit 70-75 weekly miles total.

That leaves two weeks to taper, run a 5K the week before in Portland (to make half marathon pace seem easier), and then be ready to roll for the USA Half Marathon Championships in Duluth!

Oh, and this is probably what I will look like by the end of this training cycle -