Train for a Half Marathon with Orange Theory

Summary

In this episode, host Bridget Gaug tackles the common question: "Can you train for a half marathon while doing OrangeTheory Fitness?" The answer is a resounding yes. Bridget explains how OTF classes provide essential elements that many runners typically skip - strength training, speed work, and consistent cross-training. She breaks down how to adjust your outdoor running pace (hint: it's slower than your OTF base pace), emphasizes the importance of rest days, and provides a clear framework for combining OTF workouts with half marathon training. Whether you're a dedicated OTF member looking to tackle your first half marathon or a runner curious about incorporating group fitness, this episode offers practical strategies to help you reach your 13.1-mile goal while keeping the classes you love.

Takeaways

• You can train for a half marathon and still do OTF.
• OTF classes provide essential strength and endurance training.
• Consistency in workouts is key to successful training.
• Rest days are crucial for recovery and growth.
• Outdoor runs should be at an easy pace, not base pace.
• Prioritize long easy runs in your training plan.
• Avoid skipping rest days to prevent burnout.
• Adapt OTF workouts to fit your training needs.
• Use benchmarks from OTF to estimate race times.
• Incorporate fun elements like Dogs Per Mile to enjoy long runs.

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Transcript

Half Marathon Training With Orange Theory

Speaker 1 0:08

Hey runners , welcome to the Dogs Per Mile podcast , your weekly dose of running reality .

Speaker 1 0:14

Here we count dogs instead of minutes and turn running stats upside down . I'm Bridget , your host , certified running coach and creator of the Dogs per mile mindset . Here's the thing 13 years ago , I started my running journey , like many of you , watching the stats on my garment and getting discouraged when they didn't match what they should be saying . That's when I discovered the magic of counting dogs in my run , because sometimes the best running stat isn't your pace or distance . Now , with over 50 half marathons , two marathons and countless training runs under my belt , I'm here to share a different approach to running , one that breaks down mental barriers , eases those pre-run anxieties and yes , includes a weekly update of my personal dogs per mile count . Whether you're lacing up for the first time , getting back into running after a break , struggling your training with group fitness classes or chasing your next PR , you've found your people . This is where we take the pressure off and put the joy back in running , because every runner has a place here and every dog site is worth celebrating . Hey runners , welcome back to the Dogs Per Mile podcast . I'm your host , bridget , and today I want to cover something that I if you've ever been on the subreddit for Orange Theory or on any Orange Theory Facebook group . It is a question that you have seen posted over and over again , which is can I train for a half marathon and do Orange Theory ? How do I do this ? How many client times a week do I go ? And this is definitely something that I have done several times .

Speaker 1 1:45

I think it's a powerful tool we're going to talk a little bit about . Is this even possible ? How do I do it ? How often do I go ? Am I going to overtrain ? Am I going to burn out ? Or do I have to give up my OTF membership , which every running coach that I've ever talked to is like ? No , you have to give up these foo-foo workout classes in order to train for a real half marathon . You have to do track workouts , and I'm here to tell you that , nope , you don't , you can do both . I know that it seems like you can't fit them in , but I think OTF is actually the secret weapon to training well for a half marathon in a really well-rounded and scheduled way , and I know you're thinking I am dying doing these classes . There's no way I can run 13.1 miles and I totally get it . But at the same time , if you are already doing these hard classes , anyone who's doing an hour long workout class can absolutely train for a half marathon because you're already doing the hard part . And so let's first talk about why it's the absolute perfect pairing to any half marathon training plan . It is setting you up for success because you are combining a lot of the components of a training plan that most runners , myself included , will absolutely skip out on any training plan .

Speaker 1 3:11

Runners are notorious for skipping strength and cross training . They are notorious for skipping speed workouts , for consistency sometimes , and by doing classes like this , you are already doing a lot of the parts that most runners skip out on . I know everyone has their thing that they skip out on , and mine is speed . I will not do speed workouts , I will not do intervals . I hate it so much , but by doing that with Orange Theory , it forces you to do it . You already have the other component that most runners skip out , which is built in strength training , and that is a absolute major key to having a successful training plan is consistent strength training , and not just of our legs and things like that , but of the posture , because I don't know , if you realize this , it is hard to hold yourself up running for an hour , and 30 minutes to three hours , depending on how long you're on , your feet and your back will be killing . So if you are not doing any sort of strength training , it's not going to help you .

Speaker 1 4:13

You're also building those running foundations . You've already developed a great deal of endurance , whether or not you realize it or not . Whether or not you're doing 3G classes and you're on the treadmill for maybe 20 minutes , that , combined with rowing , is really developing a strong , strong amount of endurance . And the other thing is you've already developed a consistent schedule . Most OTFers do the same classes at the same time , and so you're already used to fitting it in like a puzzle piece of your day . So you know that you go to 6.15 on Tuesday , thursdays , and then you do this 8 am on Saturday . So you are used to consistency and that is already a recipe for success with any training plan .

Speaker 1 4:57

You also are now familiar with heart rate zones , which puts you leaps and bounds above a lot of runners , and understanding what the different zones feel like . You are used to the visual cues of when you're in an 85% versus a 60% and what sort of things will get your heart rate up there , and you're used to breathing techniques to bring your heart rate down , so that is going to put you ready and raring to go . And then also , when you're doing these classes , you have a coach there who's making sure that you aren't tweaking your back by lifting something crazy , and they're coming over and adjusting your form and giving you lighter weight or heavier weights to really help you make sure you don't hurt yourself during class . That way you can keep training . And these elements just fit perfectly into any training plan because they are the main components of a training plan . I truly believe that all the parts that you do in class fit perfectly in . So the only thing you need to do outside of this will be rest and do a regular sort of outdoor run . So easy running .

Speaker 1 6:04

Here's the part that people just fuck up every time they do a training plan and they try to fit OTF in there . They try to run outside like you run in class . You get your , you strap your watch on your Apple watch , you get your sneakers on and you say , okay , well , I got to run my base pace for 10 miles . You're not going to be able to do that A right away , and B that's not the purpose of it . The base pace does not translate to your easy pace perfectly , and we'll go over that one , but when you're running outdoors , you need to be able to essentially sing along with your playlist , you need to be able to have a conversation , and so this means you are spoiler alert going to be slower than your base pace , and every time I've tried to just run my base pace outside , it doesn't translate . Your goal is to increase that , but your goal is to increase that while keeping the heart rate zone at the same , and the pace goes up . So we know that .

Speaker 1 6:58

Otf the way OTF fits into a training plan is it is going to count as your speed days , is going to count as your quick days , and so the only other type of run that you need to do outside every time your feet go outside to go for a run , you are running at an easy pace and , don't worry , we'll go over what how to kind of calculate your easy pace . But that's all you need to do , and those , those easy runs are just going to increase in distance over time . That's , that's it . There's no's all you need to do and those easy runs are just going to increase in distance over time . That's it . There's nothing you need to do . You don't need to set an interval class and go to a track and run quarter miles or anything like that . The non-negotiable thing that you also have to add to your training plan and it's absolutely required is at least at minimum one rest day , and rest is where your body changes . It's where all of the growth is made .

Speaker 1 7:50

And if you are doing these high intensity classes and then you are also adding in long runs and you're not resting , you're just going to fuck yourself up and you're just going to burn out . There's really when you kind of want to think about . When you're training for a , you're building your training plan , you're thinking like what do I need to prioritize ? Life has gotten busy . What things can I keep and what things can I ? You know just not going to happen that week .

Speaker 1 8:19

And the number one base of your pyramid is your long easy runs . Because even if you do class six days a week and rest , you will not be used to being on your feet for that amount of time , I can promise you . You are going to be in a world of hurt and you're going to get into a dark place in your brain if you are not prioritizing your long , easy runs , specifically the long run . At minimum , you need to be running one long run a week . That increases , if nothing else . If you're doing classes and you can only do one other run , that one other run has to be an increasing easy , long run . It's just that important , hands down . I got nothing else to say about that one .

Speaker 1 9:00

Your next thing is not skipping out on rest , so you cannot deprioritize rest in order to prioritize a power day . Rest will never trump any of those items . The next thing you want to prioritize if you have a choice between the type of workouts you do at class which we know we don't , but sometimes we read it and see what's going to happen is power days , and those are similar to a tempo type of run . Those are the classes where you're running two or three or four minute pushes , so it's a quick push , it's not an all out . Those are helping you really increase your aerobic or your anaerobic capacity , and that is what you want to prioritize when you're picking your classes .

Speaker 1 9:39

And then I would then put benchmarks , because , especially the 12 minute run for distance , especially our one mile benchmarks . You can use those to estimate your finish time and estimate what your goal could be , and it's really a helpful tool to use that most runners don't have access to . So if you know your one mile benchmark , you can plug that into a variety of calculators that I can provide for you at the bottom of the show notes and you plug that in and it gives you an idea of if you ran this mile at 730, . Here are your finish time potentials for a half marathon , assuming you train and you get the ability to run on that for that amount of distance . And then the thing that you can prioritize the least it's important , but it's not as important as rest or easy runs is the speed days . So those are those days where you're doing a bunch of all outs . I know we did one during the holidays , like many years ago , which was like the 12 all outs of Christmas , and so it was just 12 , 30 second all outs and , yes , you're able to get some really crazy speeds , but those are the least important of all of them . So if you're , your week's gone to shit and you have to like cross off days and I can't go to this class do not cross off the long run , cross off the benchmark , don't cross off the rest . Cross off a speed day . So that kind of helps you prioritize what is important and what's not important .

Speaker 1 11:05

And I know what you're thinking . Well , what about my splat points ? Because I love OTF , I love the splat points , I love the numbers . It's such a gamification . But the goal is not to get 50 points in a class , because the goal is to get 12 . In a 60-minute class , 12 splat points is approximately 20% , and I don't know if anyone else has ever heard of the 80-20 rule . You see it in nutrition , you see it in running , and the 80-20 rule it just means 80% of your run should be easy , 20% of your run should be hard . So you really don't want to be getting extra splat points on your easy run because then you're going not in the 80-20 anymore . Then those long runs turn into part of the 20% . That's not helpful , because rest is where the magic happens . It's where your body actually gets stronger .

Speaker 1 11:55

Some of the common pitfalls that I have seen people who are doing OTF and want to train for a half marathon , or are half marathoners and start doing OTF that was me and then want to decide . Now they want to train for a race is . The first is going out too fast on our outdoor runs . And that is the biggest thing is you can't just step out the door and think I'm just going to go my base pace . That's my easy run . Absolutely not . You are not used to yes , we're setting the incline at one You're not used to the small hills , the rolling hills , the cracks in the sidewalk , the wind resistance in your face to your side paths , not being even quick turns around corners . So going out too fast on your outdoor run is just going to add more splat points and not keep you in the right zones , and so it's really not going to help you out in the long run by trying to run those too fast , because I have run so many outdoor long runs far too fast and then when I get to race day , it doesn't translate . It's so fucking annoying

Training for a Half Marathon

Speaker 1 12:56

, but it's true .

Speaker 1 12:56

The other pitfall is skipping rest days and doing active rest days , doing green days , not resting at all , and it's not going to help , it's just going to make things worse . It's also going to burn you out mentally . And this is the queen of my husband asking me hey , bridget , when was the last time you took a rest day ? That's a great question . Looks at my Garmin calendar and I said 13 days ago yeah , maybe you need to rest . It doesn't matter if three of the days were easy runs and I only ran three miles and I ran it at my easy pace . Your muscles still worked , and so you need to make sure you're prioritizing those rest days . Your muscles still worked , and so you need to make sure you're prioritizing those rest days .

Speaker 1 13:47

Then , another big pitfall that new people do when they try to train for a race is not adapting and utilizing the Orange Theory workouts to fit their needs . And if you are like me and you're a people pleaser or you're a teacher's pet , you want to follow the rules that are in front of you . Well , they say like okay , get through this strength portion as quickly as possible to try and get to the bonus round , because you get extra credit if you get to the bonus round extra credit that nobody gives you and nobody cares about by adapting the strength portion of your Orange Cherry workouts and slowing it down and really using the mind muscle connection , you are going to get so much more out of it and those workouts are yours and yours alone , as long as you are not being a distraction to others , there are ways to adapt the workouts so it fits your needs . And if you need to jog the recoveries , lightly , jog the recoveries . If you need to go with a lighter weight and just you're not going to get through all the moves from the display , display , that's fine . It's really important that you make that class fit for you . I've learned that so many times . I have definitely been like I got through all of the I don't know through all the moves , I got to the bonus round , but I moved so quickly that I didn't gain any benefit from it . So don't go too fast through any of that sort of stuff and really adapt the classes for you and pick them strategically to fit what your needs are .

Speaker 1 15:08

And I know you're wondering okay , well , great , I know what to prioritize and I know which ones are more important . But I'm looking at my calendar this week and I don't know where anything goes . I don't know . Do I do OTF first thing in the week ? Do I run ? Is there a certain number of days that work ? How do you build up mileage ? You just said I needed to increase my mileage how many , how far , when ? And I've actually put together a guide that has two different ways , that I've done this before , and it breaks it down day by day to kind of help you find your best schedule or just give you some starting ground on how to put and fit these all together like a perfect little puzzle .

Speaker 1 15:50

And the first thing that we definitely want to cover is finding your easy pace , and my rule of thumb is you kind of want to take whatever your base pace in class is and subtract between a half a mile and a full mile per hour , and I know that sounds excessive , but this is just so we can get you a starting ground , just an idea of what your easy pace is outside . And there are people who are just blessed and their base pace is the same inside and outside . But we're not going to start there because we want to make sure you're doing this safely and the best way possible . So if your current base pace is 6.2 , you want to start your easy run at between a 5.2 and a 5.7 miles per hour , and so an easy way to kind of gut check this is your first week you'll want to do like a 20 minute run and set your Garmin or your Apple Watch to buzz at you when you're at a certain heart rate zone and start at the lower end of that base pace and kind of creep it up until you can find the exact perfect spot that keeps you between like the 65 and the 75% . So , right in that , you know blue and green zone if you're looking at your colors and I know you want to run in the high green , so you're close to orange , but we want to keep them lower in the green and even in the blue for our easy pace and that's really what's going to help build your endurance .

Speaker 1 17:13

And the next thing you got to decide is how often do I go to class ? If you're like when you're like me , I was a diehard five days a week . That's really challenging to do if you're going to train for a race because we , like I said , we do need to prioritize some of those longer runs . So you got to kind of decide am I going to do it two times a week ? Am I going to go three times a week ? And keep in mind that your minimum having one rest day but let's assume that this is new to you we want to add two into here . So we are choosing between two or three OTF days a week with two rest days . And so you know , here's kind of how one way I would do it is if I was going to do OTF two times a week and let's , you know , pick our first week this is week one and we want to do OTF twice and we're going to rest twice , and so that means we're going to have three outdoor run days , which I think is a great minimum number of outdoor run days is three . I think that really really helps .

Speaker 1 18:05

So on day one , let's say Monday , we're going to do class , and then Tuesday we're going to run two miles at that easy below base pace . Wednesday we want to rest . Thursday we want to go back to class . Friday we're going to do two miles , and then Saturday we are going to increase to do our long run at three miles , and Sunday we're going to rest . And so that Saturday well , actually all of those runs will slowly increase between you don't want to increase them too much . So , like the next week , that Tuesday run will go to three miles and we'll keep three miles for a little bit , and then your long run will slowly build up and slowly build up to somewhere between 10 and 12 miles for your longest run . You can go up to 13 , really dealer's choice . But you can make these adjustments . If you are not a Monday morning class person or that coach isn't for you or you love your Wednesday morning crew , adjust those accordingly . But really try not to do more than three days in a row without a rest day , ideally if you're starting new at this , because that's really going to help you recover , especially if you can do a rest day after your long run . That really is ideal and I absolutely have this completely mapped out for you with a little printable just to make it kind of easy on you , to give you some guidance and you can circle them , move them around , just will kind of help you know how far to run , when and how to build up those long runs , because that's really the biggest part .

Speaker 1 19:28

It's time for everyone's favorite part of the podcast . It is the official dogs per mile week count and this week I had a freaking great week for running . I ran 22 miles and unfortunately I only saw about 15 dogs , which means I got a 1.4 average DPM , which is dogs per mile , especially if you are new to the podcast or you're unfamiliar with the dogs per mile mindset . So , for all the Orange City people , dogs per mile is a super real stat , 100% officially recognized , where you see how many dogs you see on your runs and you count them and then you divide it by the number of miles to find out , on average , how many dogs per mile you saw . And it is absolutely created for fun , to help make those long runs a little bit more enjoyable , give you a little bit of a distraction , and it is the stat that is perfect when all other stats are failing you . So this is a great tool to use for you if you're starting out with doing long runs .

Speaker 1 20:25

Absolutely , I would love to know your dogs per mile that you've seen and please share them with me . I think it's just so fun . Remember , you are already doing the hard part . You already have a consistent workout routine . You're already doing a really fucking hard workout , which is OTF . So we're just taking those habits and that consistency that you've built and we're adding a little bit more adventure with some longer runs outside . And , yeah , you can do both . Absolutely , you don't need to quit class in order to train for a half marathon . You just need to make some adjustments , some adjustments that I have outlined for you . If you are ready to go beyond your base pace , head on over to the Dogs Per Mile website , which is dogspermilecom , and you can grab a free copy of this training plan . I would love you to let me know what race you're training for and please just tag me any of your runs at dogspermile hashtag dogspermile . Thank you so much for listening to today's episode talking about how you can combine Orange Theory with a half marathon training plan . I would love to support you in any way . Keep me in your DMs , let me know how is it going , what questions you have , share your successes with me and , until next time , keep running and keep counting those dogs . See ya . Thanks for sharing another mile with me today .

Speaker 1 22:01

Before you cool down , here are three quick ways to stay connected with our running community . First , hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this right now . It's the best way to make sure you never miss an episode . Second , if today's show helped you or inspired you , please leave a review . Your words help other runners find their way to our community . Lastly , want more running adventures ? Follow at Dogs Per Mile pod on Instagram , where I share daily motivation , behind the scenes moments and plenty of pictures of my two running coaches , yogi and Maple . Be sure to tag me in your run photos and use hashtag Dogs Per Mile to share motivation behind the scene moments and plenty of pictures of my two running coaches , yogi and maple . Be sure to tag me in your run photos and use hashtag dogs per mile to share your own dog spotting stats . I love celebrating your victories , big and small , and thank you for being a part of this journey . Until our next run together , remember , every step forward is progress and every dog you see is bonus motivation . Keep running , smiling and keep counting those dogs .