Half Marathon training, time and miles?

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pondee629
pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
OK, I have my first 5K "race" scheduled for May 15. I am currently running 3 days a week (4.75 miles, 4.75 miles and 6.65 miles on Saturday). All times include a 1/4 walking warm up and about a 1/2 mile walking cool down. Averaging 10:15 minute miles for the 4.75 and 10:45 minute miles for the 6.65. What kind of mileage/time/pace improvement commitment am I looking at to prepare for a half marathon in September of this year?

Thank you

I'll be reporting on the 5K "race" under another thread.

Replies

  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    edited April 2016
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    I'm in training right now for a July HM and my week looks something like this: 5-5-7-4 for mileage, with the possibility of another 2 between the 5 milers. That mileage will be steadily be going up. My training plan uses time instead of distance for each run. But my E pace is right about 11:00/mile, s I extrapolated mileage from that. Before the HM, my longest week will be 8-6-11-4, again with the possible 2-3 miles in between the 8 and 6.

    As far as pacing, whatever you are comfortable at. for a First HM, your goal should be to finish. Don't obsess about finish time....That's something I'm working on teaching myself right now too.

    You've got a lot of time, so work on base building and building up mileage slowly so you don't get injured.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    This site can help you with pace suggestions for distances you're running. Put in your time for your current 10k or 5k, enter your (realistic) time for the half marathon in the second box, and it will tell you under the Training Paces tab what pace you should be doing your workouts at.

    https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/

    The time is up to you. Some people walk these things which of course could take 5 hours. With enough work you could probably get around 2:30:00 for a half by that time. Just a guess of course.

    Find a good training plan for beginner half marathon and follow that.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
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    "What kind of mileage/time/pace improvement commitment am I looking at to prepare for a half marathon in September of this year?"


    Think the answer is: "It Depends". There are variables that come into play, but I can offer a bit of experience that may give you a reference point. Last fall, I helped out as a pacing coach for runners whose recovery paced(easy) runs were in the 10:00-11:15/mile range. These runners typically ran 5 days/week. A typical week consisted of two or three easy paced runs of 4-5 miles, one speed workout (on a track) and a longer run on Saturdays. During the 12 week session, the Saturday runs started out at 6 miles, then increased up to the longest run of 12 miles, which was performed 2 weeks before the race. On race day, results for this group ranged from 1:56:00 to 2:20:00 as finishing times. About half of these runners had not done the distance previously, but had moved up from previous 5k/10k experience.

    I also second the good advice given above. Build up slowly and have fun with your first effort, since any finishing time you post will be a personal record at the 13.1 distance!


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