Skip to main content

T-Minus About 100 Days to a National Record - Part 2 of Hitomi Niiya's Training for a Half Marathon NR



This weekend coach Masato Yokota is publishing half marathon national record holder Hitomi Niiya's complete training diary for the 3 months+ leading up to this past January's Aramco Houston Half Marathon where Niiya ran 1:06:38, at that point the fastest time ever by a woman born outside of Kenya or Ethiopia, for the win. This is part two, covering November, 2019. Read part one, October, here.

Buy Me A Coffee

So how did you like the first month of training? I was really happy to see that so many more people than I expected enjoyed reading about it. I read every question that people left in the replies. At some point I'll answer them all, so if you have questions please feel free to leave them in the comment section.

Today is the second of three installments of Niiya's training from after the World Championships, covering Oct. 1, 2019 to setting the Japanese national record at the Houston Half on Jan. 19. This covers November's training. Compared to October it gets more and more brutal. Just remembering it makes me tired.

Please do not reproduce this info without permission. You're more than welcome to give these workouts a go (although I can't guarantee you'll survive - this is way tougher than October).

Notes in advance
・Runs were twice a day except on Friday and Sunday, which were once.
・Strength training every day except Sunday.
・Daily mileage totaled about 30 km. Fridays were 15 km, Sundays 20 km.
・r = recovery. Where the time was written, it was stationary recovery (not jogging to the next one, although there were times when she did jog)

November

 Nov. 1 (Fri.): jog

Nov. 2 (Sat.): 1600x6, r90"
4:59.4 - 4:56.3 - 5:00.7 - 4:56.3 - 4:59.7 - 4:54.3

Nov. 3 (Sun.): jog

Nov. 4 (Mon.): 12000 m pace run
3:52.2 - 3:42.3 - 3:38.1 - 3:38.6 - 3:37.1 - 3:37.9
3:37.6 - 3:36.9 - 3:37.2 - 3:37.2 - 3:36.8 - 3:36.0

Nov. 5 (Tues.): 400x10 to x12, r30" (first 5), r45" (second 5)
73.38 - 70.36 - 73.01 - 70.77 - 70.55
70.76 - 71.36 - 70.33 - 70.97 - 68.75

Nov. 6 (Wed.): jog

Nov. 7 (Thurs.): 1000x1
3:00.0

Nov.8 (Fri.): jog

Nov. 9 (Sat.): jog

Nov. 10 (Sun.): East Japan Women's Ekiden
10 km 30:52 course record

"Playing Tag With Hitomi Niiya" by journalist Akemi Masuda



Nov. 11 (Mon.): jog

Nov. 12 (Tues.): 12000 m pace run
3:44.5 - 3:41.9 - 3:42.6 - 3:41.2 - 3:40.4 - 3:37.5
3:36.7 - 3:38.7 - 3:38.1 - 3:38.2 - 3:38.0 - 3:35.0

Nov. 13 (Wed.): jog

Nov. 14 (Thurs.): 1000 m uphill x7, r1000 m jog (back down)
3:30.7 / 4:00
3:26.9 / 3:51
3:24.8 / 3:54
3:26.5 / 3:53
3:25.3 / 3:54
3:23.2 / 3:51
3:22.3


Nov. 15 (Fri.): jog

Nov. 16 (Sat.): 22 km XC
3:52.0 - 3:55.4 - 3:46.7 - 3:42.0 - 3:40.0 - 3:40.4
3:37.8 - 3:35.8 - 3:36.7 - 3:35.4 - 3:33.3 - 3:32.7
3:34.4 - 3:35.1 - 3:33.5 - 3:35.1 - 3:32.1 - 3:37.0
3:29.3 - 3:33.7 - 3:33.2 - 3:35.2

Nov.17 (Sun.): jog

Nov. 18 (Mon.): 400x16, r30"
74.49 - 74.79 - 73.50 - 74.15 - 73.41 - 72.97
73.39 - 73.03 - 71.87 - 72.92 - 73.39 - 72.08
71.03 - 70.64 - 70.20 - 68.83

Nov. 19 (Tues.): 12000 m pace run
3:46.5 - 3:42.6 - 3:41.5 - 3:37.6 - 3:39.7 - 3:40.7
3:37.1 - 3:40.2 - 3:39.8 - 3:38.8 - 3:37.1 - 3:38.5

Nov. 20 (Wed.): jog

Nov. 21 (Thurs.): 2000 m x5, alternating 6:20/6:10 pace, r2'
3:11.5 - 3:14.3 (6:25.8)
3:11.3 - 3:11.2 (6:22.5)
3:10.1 - 3:10.5 (6:20.5)
3:10.3 - 3:10.4 (6:20.6)
3:09.9 - 3:08.7 (6:18.7)

Nov. 22 (Fri.): jog

Nov. 23 (Sat.): 24 km XC
4:04.2 - 3:44.3 - 3:55.8 - 3:50.4 - 3:48.0 - 3:50.6
3:45.8 - 3:43.7 - 3:48.8 - 3:43.3 - 3:47.5 - 3:46.9
3:41.3 - 3:43.3 - 3:41.5 - 3:42.1 - 3:39.4 - 3:45.0
3:40.6 - 3:44.4 - 3:35.9 - 3:38.9 - 3:39.0 - 3:35.2

Nov. 24 (Sun.): jog

Nov. 25 (Mon.): 400x20, r30"
73.15 - 73.83 - 73.35 - 73.73 - 73.27 - 73.28 - 73.30
73.21 - 72.96 - 73.50 - 73.14 - 73.48 - 73.89 - 73.30
73.66 - 73.47 - 72.85 - 73.49 - 72.94 - 72.19

Nov. 26 (Tues.): 12000 m pace run, meeting with Houston Half pacer
3:42.1 - 3:39.5 - 3:37.5 - 3:37.6 - 3:35.0 - 3:37.0
3:34.0 - 3:34.4 - 3:33.7 - 3:34.3 - 3:31.7 - 3:32.7


Nov. 27 (Wed.): jog

Nov. 28 (Thurs.): 1000 m uphill x8, r1000 m jog (back down)
3:24.3 / 3:58
3:19.3 / 3:57
3:17.6 / 3:57
3:16.2 / 3:58
3:17.3 / 3:58
3:16.5 / 4:02
3:16.6 / 4:00
3:14.1

Nov. 29 (Fri.): jog

Nov. 30 (Sat.): 24 km XC
4:11.3 - 3:56.8 - 3:55.0 - 3:53.8 - 3:46.9 - 3:47.1
3:43.9 - 3:41.5 - 3:37.1 - 3:41.0 - 3:39.8 - 3:42.7
3:38.0 - 3:41.9 - 3:38.3 - 3:36.3 - 3:40.5 - 3:40.2
3:37.4 - 3:39.0 - 3:36.1 - 3:37.7 - 3:37.9 - 3:37.6

Read part three, covering December and January, here.

source article:
https://note.com/twolaps/n/ncdf1a14796a5
translated and edited by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
Fascinating training schedule. I love the wide variety of workouts.
Two questions:
How long are the jogs?
Why so many 400m repeats? (I think most runners don't think of 400s as being a necessary part of half marathon training.)
Thank you.
April 5, 2020 at 12:18 PM
Brett Larner said…
Yokota replies:

Jog
She ran 30km a day. Friday 15km , Sunday 20km.
Basically, average millages of her jog was 12km to 15km. Pace was depends on how she felt.

400m
Before I made training menu for her half marathon, she made it by herself for 10k. She insisted on 400m repeats for 10k. I didn't want to make big change from what she did for 10k. Second reason I believe it is important to optimize running mechanics of race pace and a bit faster than race pace. 400s is the best way to repeat the mechanics.
April 5, 2020 at 5:07 PM
Anonymous said…
Really interesting...thx for posting...A couple of questions:

- for the 1k hill repeats, what was the gradient? (Where did she run this?)
- what was her strength training programme?
April 6, 2020 at 7:11 AM
Unknown said…
What was her weekly volume?
Also on session days what were the distance of her other runs?
Before sessions how long was her warm up and cool down post session?
Thanks
Jamie Langley⁸
April 7, 2020 at 4:47 PM
Brett Larner said…
Anonymous-

Yokota says:

Gradient: The hill climbs 70 m in 2 km. (location undisclosed)
Strength Training program:
・every day core training
・plyometrics once or twice a week
・hurdle drills
April 9, 2020 at 3:47 PM
Andrew Armiger said…
Thank you for this! Was there any general range of pace for jogs or was it simply not recorded? Not to use as a guide but as a contextual data reference for what allowed Niiya recovery.

Also, did she tend to train on a 1 km loop?
April 12, 2020 at 3:24 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Goto Drops 2nd-Straight WR - National Championships Day Three Highlights

Just over a month since his 17th birthday, Taiju Goto proved his 48.31 U18 WR in the men's 400 mH heats yesterday wasn't a fluke as he bettered that in the final on the last day of the 110th National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya. Slow in the start, Goto picked up momentum coming up to 200 m before really getting into gear, pulling away from the rest of the field in the last 100 m to win in 48.09, another U18 WR, a new U20 NR, and a run that made him the first high schooler ever to with the Nationals 400 mH. Now only 0.20 off the senior NR, Goto joins the list of Rakunan H.S. talent to be re-writing the record books that includes Yoshihide Kiryu , Ryuji Miura , Keita Sato and Toshinari Takaoka . Another Nationals MR went down, this one in the women's 3000 mSC thanks to NR holder Miu Saito . Having taken 3rd in the 5000 m 2 days ago, Saito started out a little on the conservative side with company from last year's winner Manami Nishiyama in the first 1000 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Goto Breaks 400 mH U18 WR - National Championships Day Two Highlights

The performance of the 2nd day of Japan's 110th National Track and Field Championships came c/o the latest monster to come out of Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. , 400 m hurdler Taiju Goto . In the opening round heats Goto, who turned 17 last month, closed hard to win his heat in 48.31, a PB by nearly a second and the fastest-ever U18 time anywhere in the world. And at only 0.42 off the senior NR held by the great Dai Tamesue , there's a lot of optimism for more in the final and the rest of the season. Another great performance came in the men's 200 m heats, where Soshi Mizukubo moved up to all-time #2 on the Japanese lists with a 20.07 (+0.5) PB to win Heat 3, 0.04 off another antique NR held by another legend, Shingo Suetsugu . By comparison the 100 m seemed pretty tame, with veteran Shuhei Tada scoring his first national title in 5 years in only 10.17 (+0.1) in what seems like an off-year for the event in Japan. After leading the women's 200 m heats in 23.01 (+0.1) Abiga...
Post a Comment
Read more