How to Run a Faster Half Marathon

half marathon

How to Run a Faster Half Marathon Complete Guide

Fitness freaks are always up to something new and adventurous. Running a marathon is one of the most common things that a fitness lover can do.

Before you proceed to a full marathon, you must know how to run a faster half marathon. If you want to complete it in a specific period of time, this blog is for you.

Half Marathon is considered as most appealing and preferred race difference for all those who want to get challenging races. Most fitness freaks and athletes love running half marathons.

If you look for racing challenges, a half marathon can provide you. It is not as rigorous as the full marathon, but it is still the best. For getting training for a half marathon, you will need to do extended cycle training do more workouts.

Race Time of Half Marathon:

The average race time of a half marathon is almost 2 hours and 10 minutes. An average runner can complete the distance in almost 2 hours and 10 minutes. Since the 1900s, the finish times of half marathons have been slowly increasing.

Tips for Faster Half Marathon:

There are a lot of runners who chase a sub-2-hour half marathon finish time and break their personal record.

They repeatedly fall into the 2 hours and 2 hours 15 minutes category in 13.1miles half marathon distance. If you do strength training or cross-training regularly, you can easily boost your performance.

A unilateral and repetitive movement is known as running. If you take a diverse approach to athletic conditions and set a goal pace, you can easily experience a quantum leap in economy and efficiency, and as a result, you can run even faster.

All you need to do is put strength training and cross-training to increase the overall movement quality.

What three things must an athlete have?

As an athlete, you must have several important things to help you run faster and longer. You must have:

  1. Flexible joints
  2. Pliable tendons and muscles
  3. Torso stability

Picking up the weights:

Do you want to run faster in a half marathon? Then it is essential to do resistance training that includes cables, free weights, bodyweight, and bands.

From moderate to higher-level exercise, each one is essentially important to do. Speed workout is quite essential in training. Strength training is really essential.

Race Day Strategies

NYC-half-marathon

Other than speed training, there are many other strategies as well. You can also boost your half marathon by applying the best race day strategies.

If you have beaten the two-hour mark and have done cross-training and strength training programs, you must also set some race day techniques to help you run a half marathon and for this purpose, you can go for a treadmill speed workout for a half marathon or long run workouts for half marathon.

Skipping aid stations:

running station aid

The first and most important thing to do as an advanced runner is to take the direct line from the aid stations. Tasks like slowing down to grab a cup of water. It not only increases safety risks, but you can completely stop your marathon.

If you want to take a drink, you can direct the line to the aid station, and as a result, you can reach the destination on time without decreasing the performance level.

You must do prerace hydration. The reason is that if you carry water at fast paces, it can reduce your performance levels. You must increase the fluid intake by 36 oz just the day before the half marathon. And on the morning of the race, you must make it for 20 oz, And when you are leading up to the race, it can range between 24 to 32 oz. Hydrating yourself at such levels will help you meet the hydration levels, and you will not trip during the race. In addition, the usage of aid stations will also be reduced.

How to run a faster half marathon by Running Tangents:

Tangent is the shortest distance between any two points. If you will run by tangents or you run along the centerline, you can race as close to almost 13.1 miles distance.

If you do not run by tangents, you can only add seconds for every racecourse turn. It will increase your finish time, and it will also increase your distance.

Uphills and Downhills:

You must also embrace the hills. Running uphill is different from running downhill. Both have different mechanisms compared to each other.

When you are training, make sure to run on the hills. As a result, you can become an efficient runner. You need not crush the hills, but you will need to hit them with moderate intensity by quick and short strides. Once the crest is stopped, it will take 20 to 30 steps to get normal. Making a run pace is essential to be on top.

Essential Training Tips

For a faster pace, you will need a training plan. If you want to run a complete half marathon, you can run fast by following some essential tips. At first, it is challenging, but it is also manageable. Before going for a long marathon, you must first go for a half marathon.

A marathon requires more fuel as compared to what your body can store. A half marathon is quite short, and you cannot feel dizzy or trip over in the final mile. If you do perfect training for a half marathon, you can make the race fun and adventurous. We have the half marathon training tips for you over here!

Making Almighty long run:

You must first prepare yourself for the long run by doing a weekly long run. It does not matter what distance you are training yourself; complete your long run. Your general endurance is built by long runs. You can go as further as you can. Try to complete intense and longer workouts. You can eventually maintain fast paces for a long time.

If you are bigger in the running, then long runs are more critical. The limiting factor is endurance for all new runners. Doing long runs can increase the efficiency of your running and can also help you in covering half marathon distance with comfort.

You must do a marathon training period as well. Try adding a mile into your long run every almost 1 to 2 weeks. Your half marathon period for training is almost 12 to 20 weeks. You must also run at least 11 miles while training to make sure that you can easily complete the half marathon with comfort.

If you are an advanced runner, you will run more than 13.1 miles during your peak long run training, and even you can run up to 20 miles as well. The long runs have a lot of benefits. The more you will practice running, the safety you will run on race day.

How to run a faster half marathon Tempo Runs:

The second tip for preparing yourself for a half marathon is making all hail the tempo. Tempo runs are considered the best and classic workouts for runners who want to cover the distance on time. Many runners practice doing tempo runs for 5k races. Such runs are extremely amazing.

The reason why tempo run is best is that they help push the endurance to certain new levels. In addition, it will also increase the ability of your body to locate the bloodstream carefully.

It is no doubt the byproduct of hard exercise. Tempo runs are great as they help you run faster without accumulating any lactate. Tempo runs are great in several ways:

  • It is a great pace that you can hold for almost one hour
  • It is also comfortably hard pace for all those who want to do a bit hard run
  • This pace also helps your cause the heart rate to reach from 85 to 90% at maximum

If you are a beginner, you can start with tempo intervals. These tempo intervals are for almost 2 to 5 minutes. You can also do 1 to 2 minutes of easy running. The tempo run starts with almost 15 to 20 minutes.

The advanced runners can also skip recovery running, and they can also run for 3 to 5 miles or almost 20 to 30 minutes with no rest.

Half-Marathon Workouts Specifically:

You can do half-marathon workouts as well. If you want to run a half marathon, you must set a goal for your training. The golden rule to running a half marathon is running. If you are a beginner, you can do advanced workouts.

The first starts with easy mileage runs, long runs, and tempo workouts. If you are an advanced runner and want to go for a half-run marathon, you can do race-specific workouts. Make sure to take your fitness to new levels, and it will help you accomplish the goals on the race day.

Specific workout in half marathon closely resembles the race. Below are examples of paces if you want to run.

5K Pace Interval Run

Interval training for a half marathon is quite essential. You will do a warm-up for 10 to 15 minutes as an easy run.

You must run during the assigned number of intervals, followed by rest intervals. Then you must cool down for 10 minutes with an easy run. You must also know how to calculate running pace that will help you out in race.

Hill Repeats:

You can warm up for almost 10 to 15 minutes as a training run. You can do an easy run for 90 seconds and a hard run for the next 90 seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best run to practice for a half marathon in training cycle?

A tempo run is best for practicing a half marathon.

Is it necessary to practice uphills and downhills?

For running a half marathon, uphills and downhills are essential.

How much average time does a half marathon take?

It takes almost 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Conclusion

How to run a faster half marathon? You must first do practicing and then go for a long run. You must also go for long runs and tempo runs etc. Realistic half marathon time improvement can be achieved also by managing your diet with time as well. After reading this, you must also know how to run a fast marathon!

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