Monday, October 3, 2011

Chapter 2 page 454 - half marathon class weeks #12-15

Here's a recap of the final 4 weeks of my 15 week half marathon class.  All in all I am SO glad I took the class and totally would recommend it to EVERYONE!


Week 12 = running day so no class
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Week 13 was all about my FAVORITE words in running . . . tapering!   There are 3 aspects to training that can be tweaked in order to create a taper:  mileage (few miles per week), intensity (easier pace), or frequency (fewer runs per week).  For most runners, it's mileage that is reduced during taper while intensity and frequency is maintained.  I found this whole topic interesting.  First, I hadn't thought about there being 3 components that could be tweaked.  Second, I hadn't known only to adjust ONE of the components during taper - honestly had believed runs were suppose to be easier and shorter during taper (guess I had been wrong).  We also learned the following tapering schedule:
5K-10K = taper for 7-10 days
half marathon = taper for 10-14 days
full marathon = taper for 14-21 days

Week 14 - was a personalized look at our individual goals - not too much to share about this week either, sorry.

Week 15 (our final week of class) focused on race recovery.  This class was a bit more technical than I expected it to be.  For short term recovery, we learned to walk for 5-10 minutes and consume a recovery drink/food with an ideal carb to protein ratio of 4:1 or 6:1 (i.e. chocolate milk, Powerbar Recovery, Gu Recovery).  Ideally the onboarding of the replenshing nutrients should take place 30-60 minutes after completing the race.  During this time it's important to replenish hydration as well - at a rate that can be absorbed of 6-8 ounces every 15 minutes.

The phase 2 recovery takes place 10-14 days following the race.  Active recovery is the best bet for getting the soreness out of muscles - that said 3-4 days of rest are important following a race.  I also didn't know this, but to return to running following a race, you should reverse the training schedule - hmm, who knew?  I guess I already do that a bit less formerly - hmmm, intersting.


Well, there you have it - while not a comprehensive look at my half marathon classes, these posts have featured the things that I found interesting or learned. 
If you missed any of the class recaps, here you go:
Week 1 HERE
No week 2 recap (it was about clothing and shoes)
Week 3 HERE
Week 4-7 HERE
Week 8 HERE
Week 9-10 HERE
Week 11 HERE
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2 comments:

  1. Zaneta @ Runner's LuckOctober 3, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    Thank you so much for sharing what you learned with us!
    So, what does it mean to reverse the training schedule?
    :)
    BTW, I'm gonna try to get an email out in the next couple of days about meeting up at the expo for Cbus :)

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  2. CupCake@ Bigger Girls Can Run TooOctober 3, 2011 at 10:20 AM

    I feel like I took this class with you because you're so awesome about posting everything you learned. THANK YOU!!! It's definitely helped me (even with my hectic life) to be able to realize that my training didn't fall apart as I got higher up in miles. My taper was actually to do fewer runs a week... not necessarily by choice, but we can pretend haha

    Thanks again for all of the support you show me, it truly means a ton!

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