Training - LEVEL THREE

This level is intended for serious amateurs who will have experience at the distance already, but even so the schedule is pretty demanding.

Remember that exact distances don't really matter because you're only comparing yourself with yourself. In order to keep the impetus going from week to week, don't run any single session right to the limit - there should always be a bit left for another day. If, in spite of this, you do find yourself getting over-tired or injured, ease off immediately and don't start doing 'quality' sessions until you've had a couple of days of steady running with no problems.

At this stage in your schedule the hardest part of your training is over.

Putting in hard training at this stage is counterproductive, because there's not time for the body to respond to the stresses you're imposing, and if you're not fully recovered you'll be tired when you start. On the other hand if you do no training at all in the last two weeks you'll start to lose fitness. You need to do enough to maintain your aerobic fitness and endurance and keep your weight down. Short brisk sessions at or above threshold pace are best for the former: sessions like 10 x 30 seconds, or two miles at race speed (just below threshold pace) are perfect. You should maintain your general endurance by having a weekly run of at least an hour, plus regular outings during the week.

Targets and Tactics

Settling into the right pace from the start makes a huge difference in a long race, and if you're in doubt about what the right pace is, err on the side of caution.

For most of us the best tactics are just to run at a level pace, in the appropriate section of the field, and to try to use our fellow competitors as pacemakers. If you go off at a steady pace, its very encouraging to find that you're pulling back those who started faster - whereas if you go off too fast and slow down, its very discouraging to be caught and passed in the second half of the race. If you're up at the sharp end however it's a different matter.
As there are many half-marathons run nowadays it's quite common for races to be won in over 70 minutes, and of course age-group times may be correspondingly slow. A good club runner, and certainly a good Vet, may find him- or herself in with a good chance of a win. In this case it's worth deviating from a level pace in order to get an advantage.
If you're a woman hoping to run 1:18 - six minute mile pace, and you've a rival whose best time is, say, 1:19 minutes, it's far better to go off with men who are running 1:16 or 1:17 pace. They can set the pace for you and maybe protect you from the wind, whereas if you were running at 1:18:30 pace from the start your rival could run with you and take advantage of your pacemaking.
On the morning of the race eat your last meal - something simple and digestible - three hours beforehand.
In the 24 hours before that, lay off high-fibre foods. If it's hot keep taking drinks up to 30 minutes beforehand, and if necessary, drink more just before the start, so that the fluid doesn't have time to be taken up by your kidneys.