Hitting the wall? More like crashing with full force into it!

Oh dear doesn’t bode well for the HM training...I thought walls were reserved for real runners not me! As I reached the 9K mark of my 10K run, I suddenly found myself utterly exhausted and had to pause to rest on a tree stump. Chalked it down to a very broken night’s sleep as had ensured to hydrate and fuel the previous day and before run and am trying not to worry, but it has shaken me a little.

I wondered if anyone could offer some advice on my HM plan. I currently run 20K a week in the form of two 5Ks and one 10K. I would like to increase the 10K by a kilometre a week, aiming to hit 10 miles first, but do I also need to make one of the 5Ks a bit longer as I don’t do any tempo or speed runs?

Thank you, happy running ☀️

[Fran6500 Half Marathon]

It does shake you doesnt it? but this will probably be a one off. We all have days where we aren't upto what we are trying to do and dont always know what it was that caused it.

Re half marathon training . Daroo made a post in the last 15 hours I think where he sets out his plan for increasing his distances etc. Think you will find that and the responses to his post useful. Best wishes on your training.

[Hidden in reply to Fran6500]

Trying to not over think it! Thank you, will head over to Daroo’s page and have a look

[Stephen_UK Half Marathon]

Hi S E. I did exactly what you propose and it worked for me. Two 5Ks a week and one longer run extended by a K every week or other week.

[Hidden in reply to Stephen_UK]

Great, thank you I’ll stick with it then 😊

[Stephen_UK Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

Good luck!

[Jools2020 Half Marathon]

What I did was to do one shorter run, say, 3K but starting off steady and pushing the 3rd kilometre. Sometimes to vary it, I did some interval work instead - one minute of sprinting, 90 seconds of slow jogging. Repeat.

Then one steady run of 4-5K for my second run, leaving my longer run at the weekend the one that I extend. That worked really well for me on the way to 10 miles and then HM.

I also started taking an electrolyte drink with me on the longer runs, especially beyond 10K. I found I was running out of energy and feeling a bit dizzy. I also took something to eat. I took a mini flapjack that I previously cut into small bite sized pieces. (Some people swear by jelly babies but I don’t like them.) I also had very light breakfast about 90 minutes before I set out, like a banana or a half portion of porridge.

[Hidden in reply to Jools2020]

I like the sound of your intervals Jools - on a plan I saw it said sprinting for 1400m which scared me off. Perhaps I’ll give it a go as know it is good for health. Thank you for the fuel advice, I think I will need to buy some sort of gear so that I can carry snacks and a drink with me.

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

Hell no, I can’t sprint for that long more than once 😂. I suggested 1 minute because it’s achievable and you can always increase it later! To start with, I just used Week 1 Run 1. Sprinting for the running section and slow jogging for the walking section. I admit to not managing the slow jog when I first tried this, I had to walk 😬, but I did get better at it!

I have a belt that carries 2 small plastic bottles, I put electrolyte drink in one and water in the other. The snacks are small and I just wrap them in kitchen paper and put them in my pocket!