Queenie's Training vs. Hal's Training

After my last half marathon in March, and not getting the PR that I wanted, Jerry offered me some advice: try different training and look to Hal Higdon's website for suggestions.  Although I do not typically comment on those who leave comments on my blog, I always read them and think about them -   I appreciate you leaving them.  I modified how I was going to train for the Rockford Half Marathon by adapting Hal's intermediate and advanced plan to meet my own plans.  You may remember, or not, that my previous 6 half marathons were trained for using a novice plan.   

The Intermediate Plan suggested:

Week 6 - 10k race as long run

Week 7 - 9 miles as long run

Week 8 - 10 miles as long run

Week 9 - 15k race as long run

Week 10 - 11 miles as long run

Week 11 - 12 miles as long run

Week 12 - half marathon race

The Advanced Plan suggested:

Week 6 - 10k race run as long run

Week 7 - 1:45 run

Week 8 - 1:45 run

Week 9 - 15k race as long run

Week 10 - 2:00 run

Week 11 - 2:00 run

Week 12 - half marathon race

*There are only 7 weeks between my two half marathons, so I analyzed Hal's plans from week 6 to 12.

Queenie's Plan:

Week 5 - Sam Costa Half Marathon

Week 6 - 8 miles

Week 7 - 11 miles

Week 8 - 12 miles

Week 9 - 10 miles

Week 10 - 11 miles

Week 11 - ***This weekend - 11 or 12 miles hopefully ***

Week 12 - Rockford Half Marathon

As you can see, the advanced plan calls for long runs to be run not by distance, but by time.  However, that does not work well for me right now in my training.  For example, I ran my week 10 long run of 11 miles in 1:23--something.  If I were to run for another 37 minutes, I would log almost 5 more miles, taking my total to 16.  I know that right now that would most likely lead to me being injured, which is something that I do not want.  I run a fair amount during the week - 35 miles per week total - and don;t want to increase mileage right  now, especially with all of my races just around the corner.  Staying healthy is my #1 priority. 

I hope that by completing longer runs leading up to this half that I will not "hit the wall" between miles 10 and 12, like I did for Sam Costa.  This upcoming week I plan on getting tons of sleep, eating well, and taking it easy.  I've worked hard for this race and want to do my best.  Even though the course is fairly challenging, with quite a few hills, I think I'll be able to conquer them. 

This picture was taken on the way to the Peanut Butter Duathlon on April 30.  With a sign like this, I can only believe that a PR is in my future.  1:30 - here I come!!

Are you a diligent follower of a training plan, or do you adapt them to fit your needs and goals?  I actually did not even realize I was following Hal's novice training plan until Jerry pointed it out to me.  My brother told me how to train for my first half in a 30-second phone conversation, and I followed his advice for every half after.