Cross training for a half marathon while avoiding injuries?

October 27, 2014 7:26 AM

I signed up for my first half marathon in mid January! I'm nervous and excited, but also injury prone. Had a really bad ankle sprain and broken toe within the past year (separate occasions), and don't want to injure myself again. How can I enjoy cross-training, training for the half, all while avoiding injuring myself over the next few months?

I signed up for the Zooma half in Florida, after running one of their trail races a few weeks ago. Ran my first 10k (the MCM10k) yesterday, and netted a little over 57 minutes--which I'm really happy with. I'd ideally like to run the half under 2 hours, but I'm not gonna get too attached to that. I really enjoy doing other things besides running. But I don't want to overdo it, and I definitely do not want to injure myself again. Right now, I run 3x a week, do zumba 2x a week, and Jillian Michaels' Bodyshred 1x a week. This is roughly what my current weekly exercise regimen looks like:

Mon: evening Zumba
Tu: morning short run (5k); maybe evening Bodyshred
Wed: evening Zumba
Th: morning short run (5k)
Fri: off
Sat: morning long run (5 miles or 10k)
Sun: maybe morning Bodyshred (prefer the Tuesday class, but that would mean a double-exercise day); or incline interval walks on the treadmill

I really like the Zumba, because it’s totally fun, usually involves lots of squats, and also a really good workout. The Bodyshred is completely sadistic and batshit crazy, but also a really amazing workout. I would prefer a Tuesday class which would require me to have a day of double workouts. Which I can do now, but don’t know if it’s a good idea as I increase my running. I’d still like to take it once a week, and my other option is Sunday morning.

Can I get away with training (using a modified Hal Higdon's beginner plan) with only 3 runs a week? Should I scrap double workouts altogether? Would you re-arrange anything? Can I play it by ear, or might that make me more susceptible to injury if I don't start out with a more scaled-back, running focused approach? What about if I get more committed to a sub 2-hour goal? Runners of Mefi, what do you suggest?

posted by raztaj to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

To be honest, I would cut the cross training to one activity, once a week. To be well trained for a half marathon, you should be peaking at about 30-35 miles per week, running at least four times a week, with VERY small increases while building your base.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:35 AM on October 27, 2014 [5 favorites]

Myself, I would give my legs another day off in there, and bring up one of the short runs to a mid-distance run. Maybe remove the Wednesday Zumba (even though you love it, you're not training for a Zumba event at this time) and do a 5-mile run on Thursdays and a 7-10 mile run on Saturdays?
posted by xingcat at 7:36 AM on October 27, 2014 [2 favorites]

roomthreeseventeen is right about the amount of running you *should* be doing...

But look - I try to run a few half marathons a year and I just don't have time to run that much (and my only other exercise is yoga, so kudos with the cross training). If you run 3X per week, long run on weekend, then a 3 mile and 5 mile during the week you should be fine. Increase the long run by about half a mile every week (with say once a month pulling it back for a little rest weekend) and you should be ok for a mid-Jan half marathon.

NOTE: my half marathon times are around 2:05 to 2:10 this year depending on myriad factors, so that's what you may end up with based on my lower amount of training.

NOTE 2: I spent this year coming back from a stress fracture (from overtraining!) from the end of 2013, and felt that the trade off in slower times was worth it for the peace of mind of not overtraining.
posted by gaspode at 7:50 AM on October 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

I would also suggest taking an additional day off to recover and/or running another day, since you'll be ramping up your overall miles, and gradually working up to a ten or eleven mile long run. Are you doing intervals at all during your shorter runs? They might help you replace one of the Bodyshred or Zumba classes mentally. Doing a double day isn't uncommon among, say, high school and college athletes, but you're really the only one who can tell whether it works for you! On recovering: if you do get hurt, make the space you need to recover, even if that means an extra recovery day or a week of pool workouts. Keep an eye on how you feel, keep a running log, all that-- if the day after X workout is always sluggish and slow, check to make sure what you're eating and whether X should be on a different day to better recover. Don't sabotage your overall fitness for the sake of hitting calories-burned goals or miles-per-week. I used to be so mad when I was too hurt to run, and it just wasn't safe. And have fun! Longer distances are an awesome goal and it sounds like a great race!
posted by jetlagaddict at 8:56 AM on October 27, 2014

Row row row! Take out one of the Bodyshred or Zumba days and do an active recovery day. The erg is your friend if you're looking for crosstraining that's easy on the joints or looking to not injure yourself. I find that my rowing distances/times correlate pretty well to my running times and effort put in.

My recommendation is this:

Mon: evening Zumba
Tu: morning short run (5k); recovery row
Wed: evening Zumba
Th: High intensity interval runs
Fri: off
Sat: morning long run (5 miles or 10k)
Sun: off--You need the time to recover after that long run.
posted by astapasta24 at 9:09 AM on October 27, 2014

Hal higdons novice 1 plan is only 3 runs a week, so clearly he thinks its possible to build to a half marathon on that - and you sound more advanced than the target audience for that plan, so I think this should work for you. I would stick to Tuesday for your body shred classes so you have a proper rest day after the long run, and just self monitor and be prepared to skip a class if you start feeling wiped out or get sore feet/etc (skip classes, not runs, if possible).

If you do get more serious about two hours then you might want to consider switching to an interval run on Wednesday instead of zumba.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 9:35 AM on October 27, 2014

Oh, I had missed the time goal. No, this is not going to be a good plan. I run a 55 minute 10k, and well over a 2 hour half (PR is 2:04), peaking at 50 miles per week, with speedwork. You have to put in a lot of miles to go from a 57 minute 10k to a sub 2:00 half.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:40 AM on October 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'd cut the bodyshred and definitely no double work out days to reduce risk of injury. I'd also recommend running 4x a week with some speed work to meet your time goal. my recommendation would be:
mon- Short run
tues- medium run
wed- zumba
thurs- Short run plus speed work
fri- rest
saturday- long run
sunday- rest

note that it's OK to be flexible. If you want to swap you rest days or switch it up some weeks and do 2x zumba and 3x running, that's fine.
good luck!
posted by emd3737 at 1:50 PM on October 27, 2014

My hunch would be that the cross training would make you less prone to injury than anything else. You might just want to watch for burn-out, and let yourself drop a workout if you're feeling drained (and maybe drop a cross training class, rather than a run).
posted by MrBobinski at 5:40 PM on October 27, 2014

How is your running form? When you are running properly, you should really be feeling it in your core.

Go read Chi Marathon by Danny & Katherine Dreyer. All of the serious runners in my life swear by this style of running (and their credentials are: Boston-qualifying, injury-free over 40-something, long-term race runners.)
posted by hush at 6:41 AM on October 28, 2014