Half Marathon Training Questions–week 5

Hello! We’re on to another week of running and eating! What are you training for right now?

First – I want to touch base on the first half marathon training plan! It’s week 5 of the plan and we’re increasing the time to run. The intervals are 3 minutes of running – 1 minute of walking. If the longer run time is hard – slow down and pace yourself.

And I created a video to run through the workouts for this week and answer two running questions. We’re talking about how to deal with ‘runner’s trots’ and heart rate training for a half marathon…

Half Marathon Training Questions:

Hey hey Monica!!

I hope you’re having a great day!  Okay, so I’ve written this email and re-written it a couple of times.  I’m just gonna go ahead and ask, because you’re like a professional, and I need some professional advice on a somewhat embarrassing topic.

Um, GI issues? 

I had to skip ahead a few weeks because I’m running an early May half marathon, but I was pretty active before (spinning 4-5x per week), so I was hoping it would be okay.  I’m supposed to do a 7 miler for this long run (to give you a sense of where I’m at).

So…. I’m not sure it’s okay.  I either have caught a stomach bug (fingers crossed! What a crazy thing to say) or I’m scared (thanks a lot, Google) that I’ve developed the “runner’s trots”.  You hear runners on the internet talking about “GI issues” all the livelong day.  

I still have my fingers crossed that maybe this is just a lingering stomach bug, but all those IG runners have planted fears in my brain.  

Any advice in case it is a running related thing? Any way to keep running and keep upping the mileage.  (Also, I am very slow, like 11:30min/mile, so I don’t even know if it’s possible to have the runner’s trots, since I’m barely trotting in the first place!)

Sorry, I didn’t want to be the weirdo who posted this question on the FB group.  Feel free to talk about it in the video though.

As always, thank you SO much.  Your plan is changing my life.  Amazing.

(from Canada – woot! woot!)

Monica:

1. Give yourself time to eat and digest.

2. Choose foods that are easy on the stomach. Think about things you eat after you’re sick and want to be gentle on your body. Low fiber and fat – mainly easy to digest carbs.

Bananas. White bread. White rice.

3. Avoid spicy foods, a lot of caffeine, high fiber foods, heavy foods…

4. Track what you’re eating and drinking before a run and how your stomach responded.

5. Practice your fueling strategy in training every week. Learn your body and help your body get used to running and eating.

Hi Monica!
My name is Heather and I am a runner from Michigan!  I love listening to your podcast and all the great tips you give (and truly enjoy your random tangents and Vegas stories!).  I’m writing because I just signed up for my first race, and besides freaking out a little bit, was wondering if you could see about addressing some of the questions I have on the podcast?
I consider myself a beginner runner simply because I have never ran a race before, nor have I been very competitive in my running (mainly because I am super slow!).  However, I have been running 5-10k for the past 8 years or so.  I have always talked about running a half or a full marathon but have always been too afraid to sign up.  But, considering I am about to graduate medical school and start residency, in addition to getting married, I decided now was the time to pull the trigger and I signed up for a half marathon in Ann Arbor, MI on June 3!
My questions are relating to heart rate logistics and some of the runs based on “race pace.”  The training plan that I am following states that certain runs should be run at specific heart rates.  For example, long runs should be run at 70-85% of your maximum HR (base on age).  My question is, if I am doing a particular run and my HR is greater than what is suggested, does that mean I’m running too fast? I usually run my “base” runs at about 80-85% of my max HR, but the plan says to only run it at 60-70%, so does that mean I need to slow down during those runs?
My other question that I was hoping you could address is “race pace.”  I have never run a race before, so I don’t really have a race pace, but suppose I could figure one out if I ran a 5k to see what it would be.  However, I don’t really know what my goal half marathon time would be because I’ve never run that distance before.  Do you have any suggestions on ways to figure out what time I should shoot for for my first half marathon based off of just my regular daily run times?

Monica:

CONGRATULATIONS!!! It sounds like your life is super amazing and exciting right now! Good for you!! I love it!!! 

I’m going to try and answer these next week on the show. But since it’s been a million days since you sent this I want to say …

Yes, if your heart rate is too high you need to slow down. It could be elevated because of elevation gain too. Either way – get your heart rate to the target zone by backing off a bit. 

Race pace = your goal pace … but, I don’t think you should have a time goal for your first half marathon – especially if you haven’t run a lot of 5ks or 10ks either. The main thing should be to finish with a big smile! Does your plan require certain runs be at ‘race pace’? Or are you just curious how to pace yourself on race day? 

*The video cut me off but I think I got most of the answer to the question done.*

Let me know if you have a question for me!

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