Health & Fitness
mrsnorthernbell
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
half marathon training question
I would like to run my first half in October. I am a casual runner now. Running 3-4 times a week a few miles each time.
I am not worried about time, just finishing.
Can I do it? Do you have any advice or training guide you can share with me?
Thanks so much!
Re: half marathon training question
I just did my first 1/2 last Saturday. I was also a casual runner.
You totally can do it.
I didn't stick to a strict training schedule but I did run a few times a week and did longer runs on weekends. Towards the end I tried to do 8 to 10 mile runs. I did 1 12 mile run about 3 weeks before.
My time was not fast 2:23 but I was running the race with my DH who had been having knee problems and the last few miles of the race his knee was painful for him so we both ran slower. I was feeling great and could have run faster but we wanted to run together our time was not really that important to us.
For me the hardest part of training was the weather I don't like to run in the rain and it has been very rainy here in the Seattle area this spring.
Good luck You can do it!
Oct 2011 3 1/2 years old.
Robert Williams Birth date 5/16/2008
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I just started running last year and never imagined I would do a half marathon. But this spring decided, why not, and I signed up for one which was 2 weeks ago now.
To start out with, my longest runs were only about 3 miles usually, a couple of times a week. I just Googled "half marathon training plans" and looked through a bunch until I found one that seemed to suit my needs. I wasn't concerned with being super fast, I just wanted to do decently and finish. I also have a pretty tight schedule between kids and working overtime and grad school, so I needed something that didn't expect me to work out 6 days a week (and there are some out there that do!) I found one, posted it on my wall at work and on my fridge, and went from there.
I even ended up skipping a couple of long runs (which I always did on weekends). I skipped 8 miles and I skipped 10 miles. I just adjusted my total mileage the previous or following week to try and make up for it a bit. My longest run was 12 miles, 2 weeks before the race.
I ended up finishing in 2:24:33, and my goal was 2:30 - YAY! It's not fast, but it was fast for me. And considering I didn't train hardcore or anything. Now I am starting training for another half in September!
You can TOTALLY do it!!!
Yes, definitely.
I ran my first road race (a 3 miler) in June of 2007 and then ran my first 1/2 marathon in October of 2007. I'm not particularly athletic either, just your average jogger or gym-goer.
I used this plan:
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51131/Half-Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program
You can definitely do it! I did a 5 month training plan, but that was from absolutely no running to finishing the race. The longest run I completed was 8 miles about 3 weeks before the race. I finished the half in 2:48.
Your current running is about what I'm running right now- and I have just 8 weeks before my next half. Eek! Tack on a mile each week to one of your runs and you'll definitely be ready by October.
Absolutely you can do it, but you should try to start asap as most of the programs are 12 weeks long. I did something similar to Hal Higdon's novice program where I ran 3-4 miles 2x a week, cross trained/weight lifted 1-2x a week, and did a long run each weekend, increasing 1 mile per week (start 12 weeks out at 4-5 miles as your long run). This time frame allows for recovery from injury/soreness or step back weeks, which should be every 3-4 weeks where you do a shorter long run or a 5k/10k race.
I was just like you, a casual runner recording 3-4 runs a week, and I did my first HM in May with a friend in Colorado (I'm from MD) and had an awesome experience. I finished in just under 3 hours and felt like I could have gone faster, but I wanted to finish the race with my friend. So this September I'm doing another HM here in MD with the hopes of getting a time in the 2:30 range.
Good luck!
I agree with the Hal Higdon Novice plan. I've used it several times and it's always worked for me. It only goes up to 10 miles in training, but you will be able to do 13.1 come race day.
You can definitely do it!