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January 10, 2019 at 3:51 pm
Race news  |  The 2019 race
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Brighton Half Marathon: 6 Weeks to Go

Avoid injury with Runners Need

With the big day just six weeks away, nailing your half marathon training is essential to achieve your best performance effectively and painlessly! Scheduling in the right amount of hard training, easier runs and rest will ensure that your body is well prepared to power through the 13 miles. Our friends at Runners Need have put together a training guide to help you get the most from your last six weeks of training. Remember, though, this is only a guide, and you should always seek personalised training advice where possible.

Let’s start with the easy bit: every Monday, Thursday and Saturday for the last six weeks are rest days. It’s really important that you schedule in enough time for your body to recover, to ensure you don’t sustain any injuries and you are rested enough to perform at your best on race day.

Every Tuesday, you should do 40 minutes of easy running. This light exercise is intended to maintain your great results so far and keep your muscles moving, for an easy transition between hard training and rest days.

The first four Wednesdays of the six weeks leading up to the Brighton Half Marathon, you should do a 30-minute tempo run. A tempo run is one which is 25 to 30 seconds per mile quicker than your current race pace and improves speed and endurance in longer races like a half marathon. The last two Wednesdays (in our case, 13th and 20th February) should be rest days – this is your taper period.

Fridays and Sundays are where we alter the run types and lengths for maximum gain as the half marathon draws closer:

Fridays:

Week 1 (w/c 14th Jan) – 40 minutes interval running

Week 2 – 50 minutes interval running or cross training

Week 3 – 50 minutes interval running

Week 4 – 40 minutes interval running or cross training

Week 5 – 40 minutes interval running

Week 6 – 50 minutes easy running

Sundays:

Week 1 – Run 5 miles (8km)

Week 2 –Run 10 miles (16km)

Week 3 – Run 5 miles (8km)

Week 4 – Run 12 miles (19km)

Week 5 – Run 6 miles (10km) at race pace

Week 6 – Run the Brighton Half Marathon!

Following this training plan, or a similar one recommended for you, will ensure that your body is in the best possible condition for the race. From Runners Need, the very best of luck to everyone participating in the Brighton Half Marathon!