When my last training report dropped, I was at the half way point of the preparation. The race has been ran (so to speak) but this series wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t provide an update on what I went through for the final weeks of training.

The week after getting back from Australia I launched straight into my equal largest week of the preparation. I spoke to my coach, Riley, when I was in Australia and he mentioned that he felt like none of the current workouts had broken me yet. So that week he changed my threshold workout to be 3 x 3km efforts with the first 2 kilometers at 4 min pace, lifting to 3:50 pace for the last kilometer. Lifting the pace from a pace already near my limit was brutal and it’s fair to say that we found a workout that nearly broke me but I did get through it.

Week 8 had the longest run that I would do for the preparation; 90 minutes. The plan was to do 40 minutes at 5 min pace, 40 minutes at 4:45 pace before lifting to 4:20 for the last 10 minutes. This workout was going to test me so I reached out to my friend Nicole who is a pro-triathlete to see if she would join me for the run. Luckily Nicole also had a long run planned for Sunday and was able to join me and show me her favourite training loops through Central Park. We were lucky to be joined by my team mate/Nicole’s partner, Colin, for the last 15 minutes of the run. Following the run we were joined by my girlfriend and all went out for brunch, a Sunday well spent.

After week 8, the intensity in my training remained high whilst the mileage started to drop back down for the taper. I had a solid speed workout which I did for the first time at the Redhook Athletics Track, which I wish I had been utilizing since the start of my preparation (there is always next time). For my threshold workout I had 6 x 2 minute hill efforts which I did up the Manhattan bridge. Not only is the bridge part of the marathon course but the exact point at which 2 minutes expired was as the views across to the Brooklyn Bridge and FiDi could be seen, quite a reward.

In week 10, I had my final hard workout; 2 x 15 minute efforts at my goal pace. This was the first time I had ran at my actual goal pace and it was good to see what that felt like. With run training your speed work and threshold work is done at a pace faster than your race pace and the long endurance runs are done at slower pace.

Week 11, race/full taper week. I had two easy 20 minute runs during the week with one final easy run on Saturday, 15 minutes with 4 x 60m efforts to keep the legs sharp. During this workout I didn’t feel particularly great and a little bit of doubt did begin to creep into my mind about the next day. I spent the rest of Saturday hydrating and eating plenty of pasta whilst trying to keep off my feet.

Thanks for following along with my half marathon preparation! The next report you’ll read will be from race day!