Are you seeking how to break 2 hour half marathon plan options? If so, welcome to rundreamachieve.com. I am glad you have made it here. Success in distance running doesn't come from simply running lots of mileage.
I learned the hard way back in 2009 when I was trying to break the 2:19:00 marathon barrier.
My mileage rose as high as 140 miles a week yet I was not getting results.
It isn't about mileage but the intensity and duration of the mileage that is important.
Your recovery is equally as important.
Here is a lesson to anyone seeking to break the sub 2 hour half marathon.
What did the great runners of the past, Emil Zatopek, Sebastion Coe, Steve Prefontaine have in common?
They trained smart and used leverage.
Why Run Slow?
They were not interested in running slow.
Emil Zatopek put it this way,
Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.
What he did at the 1952 Helsinki Games has not been matched since.
He won the 5000m, 10,000m and the marathon finishing with a time of 2.23.03.
In addition, It was his first marathon and he nearly broke the 2:23:00 barrier.
The world record in his day was 13:58 by Gunter Hagg of Sweden.
Do you think he was running easy mileage to accomplish these feats?
Absolutely not.
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Yes, it is still important to run easy to recover from harder workouts.
Technology
Heart rate monitors, sports drinks and Alter G Treadmills were not present in his life.
A break 2:00 halfmarathon plan will prepare you to hold 9:09 mile pace for 13.1 miles.
There are multiple ways to run a half marathon under 2 hours.
Pace over distance is what counts.
It is the amount of time spent at paces at or below your goal race pace that is going to get you closer to your goal.
The greatest runners and coaches' all practice the same or relatively close training philosophy.
In order to run a specific time specific training is needed.
I wrote the sub 2 hour half marathon manifesto as means to break up the monotony of the usual break 2:00 halfmarathon plan.
Plan Your Work And Work Your Plan
Athletes need more than just a hand me down training plan.
I willingly pay for knowledge. Self-development is very important for future success.
A common mistake made by runners is they do not spend sufficient time training at goal race pace. In addition, not enough time is spent running at speeds far below that.
It isn't a lack of talent, focus or drive. It is about leveraging the ability you already have.
What needs to be changed is the training mindset.
I have always believed that long slow distance produces long slow runners – Sebastian Coe, former world record holder at 800m (1.41.73) and 3:47 miler.
Athletes seeking to break the 2 hour half marathon must minimize slowing down and maintain 9.09 per mile pace.
How does one break the 2 hour half marathon barrier?
Focus On Pace
I have been self-coached since January of 2011.
If you are new to rundreamachieve I encourage you to read my story.
I follow the training philosophy of elite Italian coach, Renato Canova.
His philosophy revolves around race pace training.
Canova, speaking on the importance of specific training, was quoted as saying,
Because the Specific Training has a cost, if we do more specific training, we spend more energy.
Breaking the 2 hour half marathon barrier is more than just running faster in training too.
There has to be both a focus on hard training and recovery for optimal results to occur.
The problem runners seeking to run under 2 hours for the half marathon are having is stamina. It it is not work ethic.
We grow great by dreams. All individuals are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winters's evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true – President Woodrow Wilson
Get Your Blood Tested
It took me 15 years to realize that the major reason for me feeling so fatigued was because I was anemic.
Anemia is when your body runs dangerously low on iron.
Your body doesn't produce iron.
You must get it in your diet or by taking supplements.
I have written extensively on this subject and encourage you to read Runners Diet – Success is More Than Just The Workout.
15 years of running.
I thought I learned all there was to know about training and exercise physiology.
I was coached by the 2012 Olympic men's and women's distance coach as a collegiate athlete. That being said, I never knew anything about how important iron played in athletic performance.
Persist through setbacks
The reason I am telling you all of this is because sometimes you do everything right.
You run the proper amount of mileage, train at the correct intensity, get plenty of sleep but miss one small detail, which should be able to be clearly seen.
Sometimes it is right in front of our face but we get too distracted.
Run Faster Longer
You have to stay committed to excellence, always be thinking of your goals and maintain your motivation.
Joe or Jane down the street ran this or that time.
What do I need to do in order to do the same?
Forget what they are doing and focus on yourself for one.
Two, practice the pace you wish to race at.
Last, but certainly not least, let go of what is out of your control.
There is no excuse to give up on your goal of running your next half marathon under 2 hours.
Be patient.
You can't jump into 10 mile tempo runs at 9.09 per mile pace the first couple weeks into a sub 2 hour half marathon plan.
I wouldn't even attempt that.
Be Patient
This is where patience plays its vital part.'
You have to keep the journey in mind. So, your break 2 hour half marathon plan has to focus on a longer rather than a shorter build up.
It is not about the event. What it is about is the process.
The body will adapt to the stress you place on it.
The idea is extending the amount of time you spend at your Lactic Threshold.
This is the point where your body begins to build lactic acid within the working muscles.
The athlete who hasn't trained at faster than his or her lactic threshold is not going to outrun the one who has, it is as simple as that.
It isn't the lactic acid that slows you down but the hydrogen ion within lactic acid that causes us the inability to maintain pace.
It is when there is too large of an accumulation of lactate to the point where the body isn't able to covert it back to energy that our pace falls off.
Closing Thoughts
Always remember, you are in control of the training you do.
It all comes down to the plan you set up for yourself and running faster than 9.09 per mile pace in training.
The point is learning to get out of your comfort zone.
It will never prepare you to handle the rigors of sub 2 hour half marathon effort.
Faster runs extending in duration, over time, will prepare you to dominate the barrier.
Make sure to subscribe to the RunDreamAchieve YouTube channel. I created new videos each week to help runners such as yourself get to the next level.
