negative splits: the problem with "going for a negative split just because i want to do a negative split" is that you don't really know your achievable pace very well because you are improving at a very fast rate. so if we take the last 10k for example: sure, you could go out in 1h05min pace for the first 5k and you know with 99% certainty that you will achieve a negative split. but this doesn't make sense. your goal should be to run the race as fast as possible. so therefore you pick a pace that you think you can more or less even split. now, if you are slightly more fit on race day than assumed before, and you go out in the planned pace but then towards the end you can still accelerate, you will probably end up with a negative split. on the other hand, if the pace was slightly too fast, you'll end up positive splitting. so be it. but it doesn't make sense to me to run a negative split JUST to run a negative split. those are all tune-up and test-races, be aggressive in your pace setting and see where it takes you. (btw, this also helps you to get used to the "wow, i'm completely at my limit but still need to run a little further" feeling)

one exception: i would use a more cautious pacing for the HM. you're not used to the distance and you really don't want to hit the famous "wall" (it's not really the same as in a marathon, but anyway), blow up and walk the last 3 miles in 1 hour. so i would pick a pace to start the HM that gives you something like an ~70% chance of negative splitting.


"faster pace --> combination of the two": the pace that you're running has "no" influence on your calorie expenditure, it's all about the distance. that's a common misconception (and it also feels somewhat wrong). but running 5 miles in 1 hour uses the same # of calories as running the 5 miles in 40 minutes. (there are slight differences, but it's close enough to just ignore speed).


long run: you shouldn't do your longest long run only 1 week before your race.
a) your body needs time to fully adadpt to the training stimulus, this takes time (2-4 weeks)
b) your body needs time to recover from the training stimulus
c) your body needs time to get as ready for the run as possible, this is called tapering (or the taper), just in case you didn't know.

there is a lot of discussion about perfect tapering plans, but the general idea is always: reduce volume a lot before an important race, keep intensity on a somewhat normal level. for a HM, i would personally start a taper ~10 days before the race. therefore, do the last real long run 2 weeks before the race. then around 10 days out, start to reduce the training volume, but keep intensity (aka pace) at a close to normal level.
so, specifically for you: do your "workout day" on wednesday (10 days before HM) the same as normal, maybe a tad less distance. then you have another easy run on ~friday, do it ~25% shorter than usual. reduce the long run on the weekend 40% (let's say 6.5 miles). then do a 3 mile easy run on monday or tuesday, on wednesday you have again your "workout-day" (what this may be), but keep the distance very short. so for example do a tempo run with a warm-up, then just 2x 1 km in HM tempo (or a little faster) with 5min easy pace in between. this shouldn't be a hard workout, but it should give your legs a very good feeling. the pace should feel fast but easy. then another very easy and short run on friday (i'd recommend two days before the race) so that you're optimally prepared for the HM on the weekend.
push the recovery week one week out so that your taper week is automatically the recovery week. (and you will recover after the HM for a few days anyway again).

Day 58

Got out around 10 am and did a tempo run. One mile warmup then 2 fast miles followed by a one mile cool down. I was definitely feeling it at the end of the second fast mile. Off work the next two days...I need it, getting a little burned out.

Breakfast: Usual-524 cals

Lunch: McDouble, protein shake-570 cals

Dinner: 2 hard tacos, seafood bisque, 6 club crackers-648 cals

Snacks: Special K protein bar, skinny cow-320 cals

Totals: 2072 cals, 116g protein

Running:
Mile 1 11:20
Mile 2 10:14
Mile 3 10:15
Mile 4 11:10

Day 59

I had a very lazy day. Off work and a rest day from running. Slept til almost 10 and it felt great. Went over on the calories though...including a coke icee for the first time in forever. Gotta indulge every now and then I guess. Back at it tomorrow!!

Breakfast: Usual-518 cals

Lunch: Chicken tender sandwich w/ bbq sauce, small portions of my date's country fried steak and mashed potatoes-1043

Dinner: Local Mexican place...Beef enchilada, hard taco, tortilla chips-860 cals

Snacks: Coke icee, skinny cow-426 cals

Totals: 2847 cals, 114g protein

Day 60

Easy 5 mile run this morning...felt great. Much better day eating too.

Breakfast: Usual-530 cals

Lunch: Bacon egg & cheese sandwich-655 cals

Dinner: Rotiserrie chicken (12 oz), boiled red potatoes (8 oz)-733 cals

Snacks: Pudding, skinny cow-210 cals

Totals: 2128 cals, 173g protein

Running:
Mile 1 11:07
Mile 2 11:22
Mile 3 11:06
Mile 4 11:03
Mile 5 11:03

This is an interesting progress. Running is also my way to lose weight and keep my whole body fit aside from having a healthy diet. I am planning to join a big marathon event next month that is why I am now having a training program for half marathon.

Tron,

Planned out my training schedule until the HM:

Fri 10/16 Easy 4
Sat 10/17 off
Sun 10/18 Long run 9.5
Mon 10/19 Easy 4
Tue 10/20 Hill work
Wed 10/21 off
Thu 10/22 Easy 5
Fri 10/23 Easy 5
Sat 10/24 off
Sun 10/25 off (kids in town)
Mon 10/26 Long run 11
Tue 10/27 Easy 4
Wed 10/28 off
Thu 10/29 Hill work
Fri 10/30 Easy 4
Sat 10/31 off
Sun 11/1 Long run 6.5
Mon 11/2 Easy 3
Tue 11/3 off
Wed 11/4 Tempo run
Thu 11/5 Easy 3
Fri 11/6 Easy 3
Sat 11/7 off
Sun 11/8 Race day!!

Day 61

Easy 4 mile run this morning. Didn't really feel like running but plowed thru it. My ex was in town for a funeral so I had my younger two kids for a few hours. I took them to the driving range to hit golf balls...they had a blast! My 9 year old son has a pretty sweet swing and was pumping out some 125+ yard drives. We hit a local pizza place after before they had to go back.

I was planning an off day tomorrow from running but I may get out there in the morning...supposed to be 50 degrees, gonna feel amazing I'm sure.

Breakfast: Supreme protein bar-390 cals

Lunch: 3 slices meat lover's thin crust pizza (local place)-750 cals

Dinner: Rotiserrie chicken (9 oz), pulled pork (6 oz), bbq sauce-721 cals

Snacks: Pudding, homemade fudge (2 oz), protein shake-483 cals

Totals: 2344 cals, 175g protein

Running:
Mile 1 11:06
Mile 2 11:15
Mile 3 11:12
Mile 4 11:03

plan looks solid to me.

Day 62

Felt too good outside this morning to not run. Easy 4 miles...long run tomorrow, going for 9.5!

Breakfast: Usual-500 cals

Lunch: Same as breakfast-519 cals

Dinner: Pulled pork (12.2 oz), BBQ sauce-650 cals

Snacks: Pudding, power bar, protein shake, popcorn-743 cals

Totals: 2412 cals, 206g protein

Running:
Mile 1 11:13
Mile 2 11:17
Mile 3 11:16
Mile 4 10:58

Day 63

Got to bed much later than I wanted to Saturday night so I got a late start Sunday morning for my long run. My pace wasn't very consistent but I just kept going and going and hit 9.5 miles!

I actually got a phone call around the end of the first mile and had a conversation that lasted over 2 miles so that kept me from going too fast. The route I went was slightly downhill going out which of course meant uphill coming back. I really started feeling it the last 2 miles but never felt like I needed to stop so I just kept chugging along. This was my longest run since doing a 10-mile trail run in March and I'm feeling great right now, very little soreness at all.

Breakfast: Wanted an egg mcmuffin but McDonald's chose not to include that on their new all day breakfast menu, they only had biscuits and pancakes. So I settled for a McDouble-390 cals

Lunch: Pulled pork (12.6 oz), BBQ sauce-668 cals

Dinner: BK bacon double cheeseburger-390 cals

Snacks: Pudding, protein shake, pork skins, assorted mini chocolates-765 cals

Totals: 2204 cals, 160g protein

Running:
Mile 1 10:59
Mile 2 11:29
Mile 3 11:08
Mile 4 10:50
Mile 5 11:23
Mile 6 11:41
Mile 7 11:09
Mile 8 11:28
Mile 9 11:29
Mile 9.5 11:20/pace

Monday morning weigh in:

239.6

Week 1 -5.4 lbs
Week 2 -1.0 lbs
Week 3 -3.4 lbs
Week 4 -1.6 lbs
Month 1 -11.4 lbs
Week 5 -.4 lbs
Week 6 -1.8 lbs
Week 7 -3.2 lbs
Week 8 -2.2 lbs
Month 2 -7.6 lbs
Week 9 -2.0 lbs

Total -21 lbs

Total mileage:
Week 1 17.2
Week 2 20.1
Week 3 22.2
Week 4 25.3
Week 5 16.1
Week 6 21.1
Week 7 25.0
Week 8 23.2
Week 9 30.5

Solid week...2 goals left this year, 235 by November 8th and 219 by December 31st. Both are very attainable, just gotta keep crushing the 2 lb weeks!

Day 64

Took the day off from running...not a good day eating. Back at it on Tuesday.

Breakfast: Usual-533 cals

Lunch: Country fried steak, mashed potatoes-861 cals

Dinner: Loaded potato soup, 4 club crackers-467 cals

Snacks: McDouble, 5 Oreo thins, 2 hot fudge sundae pop tarts (WTF!?!?)-930 cals

Totals: 2791 cals, 104g protein

Day 65

Much better day...seems like I eat LESS on the days I run. I did an easy 5 mile run and felt great, no soreness at all from Sunday. Challenged myself to try and run the same pace for each one mile split and came very close. Gonna do hill work tomorrow morning!

Breakfast: Usual-547 cals

Lunch: 2 slices bacon, 3 scrambled eggs w/ cheese, grits (.25 cup)-618 cals

Dinner: 2 hard tacos w/cheese, Rotiserrie chicken (10 oz)-733 cals

Snacks: Popcorn-213 cals

Totals: 2111 cals, 166g protein

Running:
Mile 1 11:08
Mile 2 11:07
Mile 3 11:10
Mile 4 11:06
Mile 5 11:08

It's possibly a mental thing that you feel healthier when you've been running so you naturally avoid those unhealthy snacks. Alternatively it could be the stress of running that makes your body close off the hunger process. I find that after a big race when I've put my body under a lot of stress I can't really eat much the rest of that day, even if I've burned off several thousand calories. The next day however is always a massive feed-fest!

Day 67

Got up and did hill repeats for the first time...that **** is tough but felt good after. I went to a pretty decent hill close to my place that's close to .3 miles long and pretty steep. Did a warm up run of almost a half mile then I'd run up the hill for 2 minutes about as fast as I could then turn around and jog down. Did that 5 times then the last time I kept going up the hill all the way to the top then ran about a mile more before coming back down and finishing at 4 miles total. I'll do the same thing next week.

Decent day calorie wise...made a tater tot casserole for dinner that was really yummy. Had cereal for breakfast and lunch to save room for it. Went on a first date and had 3 rum and diets but no other snacks!!

Breakfast: Usual-513 cals

Lunch: Same as breakfast-530 cals

Dinner: Tater tot casserole...Ground beef (93% lean), tater tots, cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup, evaporated milk, shredded cheese. Had to guesstimate-1034 cals

Snacks: Rum (3.75 oz)-241 cals

Totals: 2318 cals, 165g protein

Running:
Mile 1 10:53
Mile 2 11:21
Mile 3 11:14
Mile 4 10:32

I definitely feel less like eating crappy junk food after a run so I guess that's it...although at the post-race parties they usually have lots of high carb crap like pizza and cookies, go figure.

Day 68

I had a rare opening shift at work so I was up before daylight to get my run in. Easy 4 miles, had some very slight soreness from yesterday but no biggie. Going to pick up my younger two kids tomorrow...taking them to the county fair Saturday so I'm sure I'll be over the calorie target but there will be a ton of walking.

Breakfast: Protein shake-190 cals

Lunch: Leftover tater tot casserole (smaller portion)-919 cals

Dinner: Baked swordfish (6.6 oz), yellow rice w/smoked sausage-822 cals

Snacks: Popcorn, protein bar-312 cals

Totals: 2243 cals, 157g protein

Running:
Mile 1 11:11
Mile 2 11:15
Mile 3 11:08
Mile 4 11:09

Day 68

Very hectic day. I had lots of running around to do before I picked up my younger two kids. We celebrated my daughter's birthday after we got back. Skipped running and had a cheat meal but it wasn't too bad. I'm taking them to the fair Saturday but I don't usually go crazy with the food there.

Breakfast: Egg McMuffin, hash brown-450 cals

Lunch: Yellow rice, smoked sausage-815 cals

Dinner: Grilled teriyaki chicken, steak & shrimp, corn on the cob, butter-1086 cals

Snacks: Birthday cake, Mayfield brown cow ice cream-647 cals

Totals: 2997 cals, 204g protein

Day 69

Fair day! Started off with a big breakfast, hit the fair right when it opened at 11 am and stayed all day until around 8 pm. Kids had a blast...I rode a few rides with them but damn I can't handle it like I used to. It's still really fun considering just a few years ago I was so heavy riding anything wasn't even a consideration.

I was doing ok with the food there until close to the end. Had a slice of pizza, steak taco and churro for lunch, all pretty tasty. Then around dinner time the kids were in the mood for fries, a weakness of mine. Curly fries for her, homemade kettle chips topped with cheese sauce and bacon bits for him with Dad assisting kids heavily. Sno cones and cotton candy finished off the fair. Could've been better, could've been worse I suppose. Did do an ass ton of walking so maybe the scale won't spike too badly.

Breakfast: Bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, grits, toast-866 cals

Lunch: Pepperoni & sausage pizza slice, steak taco-653 cals

Dinner: Curly fries, kettle chips w/ cheese sauce and bacon bits-1022 cals

Snacks: Churros, cotton candy, sno cone-1071 cals

Totals: 3612 cals, 112g protein

Day 70

What a crap day. Had to take my kids back first thing which always sucks then drove straight to work. I had thoughts of doing my long run after work because the forecast for Monday was horrible, the remnants of Hurricane Patricia bringing constant rain. That didn't work out as the rain started around 5 pm and pretty much hasn't stopped for about 18 hours. I was having a solid day calorie wise until I got home...was planning on just having a bowl of cereal but found some leftover chicken tenders my son had brought home and had those too. Blah...my plan is to hit the treadmill Monday morning and get some miles in and hopefully Tuesday will clear up.

Breakfast: Egg McMuffin, 2 hash browns-600 cals

Lunch: Clam chowder, 6 club crackers-424 cals

Dinner: Chicken tenders, Mac & cheese-728 cals

Snacks: Soft serve ice cream cone, popcorn, cereal, 1% milk-902 cals

Totals: 2654 cals, 128g protein

Monday morning weigh in:

241.2

Week 1 -5.4 lbs
Week 2 -1.0 lbs
Week 3 -3.4 lbs
Week 4 -1.6 lbs
Month 1 -11.4 lbs
Week 5 -.4 lbs
Week 6 -1.8 lbs
Week 7 -3.2 lbs
Week 8 -2.2 lbs
Month 2 -7.6 lbs
Week 9 -2.0 lbs
Week 10 +1.6 lbs

Total -19.4 lbs

Total mileage:
Week 1 17.2
Week 2 20.1
Week 3 22.2
Week 4 25.3
Week 5 16.1
Week 6 21.1
Week 7 25.0
Week 8 23.2
Week 9 30.5
Week 10 13.0

Eat more + run less=weight gain. Pretty much sums up the week.

what's wrong with running in the rain? especially if it's warm... but anyway, don't overthink it, missing a training day is no biggie in general. normally, you would just skip the run and continue normally with your plan. but because it's your last (and longest) long run before the HM, i'd just do it as soon as possible and skip an upcoming easy run instead.

weight gain: nah, i'm quite sure you still had a caloric deficit last week (assuming your log is correct). just short term water weight gain over the last few days (mostly due to salty fair food)... just return to eating normally and you'll lose it soon. as with the training: it's absolutely normal to have a few off-days every once in a while. but make sure to not get used to it and not do it too often. just snap back into diet / running mode and tomorrow is a new day.

I wouldn't mind running in the rain but this is pretty brutal stuff...constant rain with lots of standing water and I use my phone for GPS and it's not waterproof.

Day 71

This rain is relentless and depressing. Hit the gym and did 5 miles on the treadmill. I'm gonna be working like crazy the next 3 weeks, not gonna have much of a life. Better day with the calories...holding out hope I can hit my goal of 235 by November 8th, race day!

Breakfast: Usual-482 cals

Lunch: Chicken tenders, Mac & cheese-1006 cals

Dinner: Rotiserrie chicken, yellow rice-699 cals

Snacks: Protein bar-170 cals

Totals: 2357 cals, 192g protein

Running:
Treadmill 5 miles @ 11:19 pace

The rain stopped long enough for me to get my long run in finally...was doing great the first 9 miles then it started raining progressively harder and harder until I was getting water mixed with sweat dripping into my eyes and my shirt was completely soaked so I had no way to dry them. Had to stop and walk for about a mile, my eyes closed most of the time. Then the rain backed off and I ran the last half mile or so. Feel great now, my overall pace was 11:27, would've been around 11:15.