Running the Half in a Marathon Buildup

Annie Frisbie and Dakotah Lindwurm are racing a half marathon this weekend in the midst of their buildup to the Boston Marathon. There are a lot of different opinions and ideas about how and when to utilize shorter distance races during in a marathon training cycle, or even whether to use them at all.

Indeed, while racing is a great experience and stimulus for improvement, there’s always a balance between getting in the training for the marathon, and also using shorter races for their benefits. As such, I offer three different approaches to a half marathon that falls during a marathon buildup, depending on what bests suits your purposes.

Racing with a taper 

This is a more traditional approach to racing the half, with lighter week leading into the half marathon. This is my preferred use of a half marathon during a marathon cycle, and the one that Annie and Dakotah are following for this weekend. This approach gives the athlete the opportunity to get an honest picture of their current fitness level. Further, it’s hard to argue with a true race effort as the single best training stimulus available. That being said, often times the reduction in training that we use going into a half is less dramatic if the athlete is preparing for an upcoming marathon. The taper may be either shorter or involve less of a reduction in total volume, but is still notably reduced.

Racing without a taper

 The idea here is to go into the race with the intention or running as hard as possible, but doing so in the context of a full week of training. There’s some value to the idea of “racing tired” as a preparatory strategy for the marathon. It will undoubtedly feel more like a marathon if you start out already tired. However, this must be balanced with the potential downsides of increased injury risk, the potential for overtraining or staleness that comes from excessive hard work without sufficient recovery, or the mental challenge of a dealing with a potentially poor performance that can result from racing tired. This can be utilized when the individual’s typical volume is not that high to begin with, or in a very experienced athlete who feels confident that their body can handle the stress. 

Running goal marathon pace

The idea here is to complete the half marathon not as a race, but as a marathon rehearsal, running the pace and/or effort that you aim to run on marathon day. This typically involves also replicating your fueling strategy, and generally doing all the same things you intend to do on marathon day. This can be very helpful, especially for people who are relatively inexperienced with road running, as they get to practice all of the logistics and experience a similar environment to what they will see on marathon day. However, many find it difficult to stick to the plan, and get carried away by the excitement of the event. They may end up starting out at a much faster pace than they planned going in. This can be a useful lesson, but runs the risk of turning into #2, a race without a taper, which is probably not a great idea for most less experienced runners. As an alternative, I sometimes suggest marathon pace for the first 9-10 miles, and then aim for a faster finish. This focus on a fast finish provides additional incentive for the athlete to hold back early.

Whether you race it or marathon pace it, running the half marathon distance can give you a lot of practice and some useful information about your current level of fitness, allowing you to refine your training further prior to the marathon.

Chris Lundstrom is the head coach of Minnesota Distance Elite – formerly Team USA Minnesota – which includes some of the top distance runners in the USA, including Annie Frisbie, Dakotah Lindwurm and Joel Reichow.