Distance Increases , should I ease up?

jaysull21

Hi All,

First time post here. So I feel I should give a little background to make the topic question relevant. Therefore, this next paragraph is going to be long. I was out of shape, hitting my my max weight this past January. I have been simultaneously tracking my cal's and starting to walk/jog/run since about June... I started running to lose weight and do better in a 'corporate' 5k that was my first 5k a year ago (I had to walk almost half of it). When running the 5k, I beat my last year's time by about 11 minutes and that got the urge to KEEP RUNNING. Early July I ran for 14 of 15 days straight. I'm still out of shape.... halfway to my weight loss goal. I can, in my daily run, go 3 miles without stopping , running about a ten minute mile. I never ran in HS (20 years ago, was skinny without trying then), so I really know only what I've read on the internet.

I know I've read I'm only supposed to run about 3-4 days a week, but I don't want to stop. I have in my head now that I can do a half marathon, so I'm thinking about doing one mid October (two months away). I've been running about 3 miles 4-5 times a week, plus on the weekend I schedule my 'long run'. Honestly, the only problem I have with running every day is getting up while its still dark out in order to fit the run in.

My long run distances have gone as follows:
7/13 - 5 Mi
7/21 - 5.57 Mi
7/28 - 6.5 Mi (with a one mile stretch of 5%-6% grade hill)
<<<skipped a week, on vacation>>>
8/10 - 8.4 Mi

When I'm looking at my distances, and even though I know I've gone over that 10% increase mark, I still want to keep going.... But the last two completely wiped me out. I don't know if I really knew the true meaning of the term "Exhausted" until I finished that 8.4 run. I probably should have rested the next day, but Sunday I ran 3 miles in the AM again and for the first time really felt soreness in my upper thighs / hips. I took it easy last night for a 2 mile run, and felt back to normal...

My real question is:
Considering that I was very out of shape three months ago, should I not be even attempting such long runs?

I know I should slow down my increases, but I want to be able to make sure I can go 13 mi before I do a HM. There's a 10K the week before the HM with a large hill with it , then I know i need to take it easy the rest of the week before. So I think I'm OK with adding 3/4 mile for the next 6 weeks, but should I even be trying this much this soon? I went up to 8.4 too fast , I know that.... but I didn't really feel it till 7 1/2 mi. I have felt great most of this entire time, but just afraid that I'm setting myself up for an injury by pushing too much too soon. I'm in the Northeast , so after November, the running will have to be limited any way....

Now that I've done 8.4 , Is 13.1 in two months doable if I stop increasing so fast? I don't think I need to add more than a mile a week anymore. Am I really OK to try a Half in two months after I've only done three 5ks in my life (all within the last 14 months)?

Trying not to set myself up for failure or injury.

thx

sammyneb

I am not an expert by any means! But I have run 4 half marathons. I would say you are probably ok to sign up for a half marathon in 8 weeks if you are able to run 8 miles now. But I would not run every day. You need to give your body a chance to rest and recover. If you are running every day you are not giving your muscles the proper time to recover. With that being said I would suggest finding half marathon training program. A lot of them are 12 weeks. Just start at week 4 and you should be good. I recomend following the schedule, don't add extra days of running. You can probably have a day or two of cross training, but you need at least one full day of recovery (most likely the day after your long run)
Hope that helps

cassandrac1983

I agree that you're probably ready, but if you're serious about running for 13.1 miles, you need to be serious about your training to get to 13.1 miles! I think your goal, so close to the race, should be finishing it. I wouldnt worry too much about time, you want to make sure you can go the distance, and be injury free (so you can of course train for your next half marathon!!!)

I'm no expert, but like you, started running and have just kept on running! I'm training for a half at the end of September...I started training at the end of May, so I started off slowly. I run with the Running Room bc I needed to support to get through the long runs in the summer. I'd suggest googling Runners World Smart Coach. You can use it for free. You input a recent race time and distance, and what time you'd like to finish it, and it creates a plan for you.

With only 8 weeks to train, you want to run as often as possible, but allowing REST DAYS as well. And by rest day, I mean REST. Not cross-training, not walking 5k....

Good luck!

tunedvwgti

Great job.

13.1 is totally doable if you aren't suffering from any injuries.

Have you considered run nutrition to be a factor in your fatigue?

Did you eat on your 8.4 mile run? After 6 miles or so, you very well may have just experienced your first bonk. Try to focus on getting in 100 or 200 cals if you didn't last time.

Keep it up! You'll do great, as long as injuries haven't plagued you in the past, keep going!

alikonda

I agree that you should be able to do it. Don't worry about pressing for time - your first half marathon should definitely be just about endurance (finishing!).

As everyone else has mentioned, rest days are important. Give your body a break! Something to watch out for is problems that have been building while you increased your mileage too quickly but haven't manifested yet. I ran into that problem when trying to train for a marathon a few years ago; I increased my mileage too quickly and thought I was fine until I got up >15 mile runs..and then one of my knees gave out on me and I had to scrap the marathon altogether.

I'm working up to a half marathon now after coming off a broken foot. My husband (who is a competitive marathoner) put together my training schedule and made sure that every 4 weeks I have a week of lower mileage than the week preceding in order to allow my body to recover. In accordance with the advice you had already mentioned, I'm only running 3-4 days a week and supplementing the other days with other, lower-impact activities (since I have a history of lower body injury) with one day completely "off."

Contrary to what cassandrac mentioned, you do not want to "run as often as possible." 3-5 days/week is more than enough, especially since your base mileage is already so high. You have no need to get up to a full half marathon in your training prior to the actual event (my longest run is scheduled to only be 10 miles). I just double-checked a few of my husband's favourite running books to confirm, and none of the half marathon training plans go >10 miles until the actual event, with a mileage taper leading into the half marathon itself. (So in direct answer to your question: Yes. Ease up!)

Above all else, listen to your body and don't push too hard. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Edit to add:
The "long distance" in the last 8 weeks of my running schedule are as follows:
6.1
6.8
7.5
7.0
8.1
9.0
10.0
9.0
=13.1!=

Based on what you've shown for mileage thus far, it seems like you could easily follow a similar pattern.

alikonda

PS -- Just based on the numbers you've given us, you've already run way more than three 5k's!

jaysull21

Great job.

13.1 is totally doable if you aren't suffering from any injuries.

Have you considered run nutrition to be a factor in your fatigue?

Did you eat on your 8.4 mile run? After 6 miles or so, you very well may have just experienced your first bonk. Try to focus on getting in 100 or 200 cals if you didn't last time.

Keep it up! You'll do great, as long as injuries haven't plagued you in the past, keep going!

I ate before the run - regular breakfast - coffee, eggs , sausage , waited about 45 min then set up. I have heard of the whole idea of snacking on the run , but that just doesn't seem to compute for me...

jaysull21

I agree that you should be able to do it. Don't worry about pressing for time - your first half marathon should definitely be just about endurance (finishing!).

As everyone else has mentioned, rest days are important. Give your body a break! Something to watch out for is problems that have been building while you increased your mileage too quickly but haven't manifested yet. I ran into that problem when trying to train for a marathon a few years ago; I increased my mileage too quickly and thought I was fine until I got up >15 mile runs..and then one of my knees gave out on me and I had to scrap the marathon altogether.

I'm working up to a half marathon now after coming off a broken foot. My husband (who is a competitive marathoner) put together my training schedule and made sure that every 4 weeks I have a week of lower mileage than the week preceding in order to allow my body to recover. In accordance with the advice you had already mentioned, I'm only running 3-4 days a week and supplementing the other days with other, lower-impact activities (since I have a history of lower body injury) with one day completely "off."

Contrary to what cassandrac mentioned, you do not want to "run as often as possible." 3-5 days/week is more than enough, especially since your base mileage is already so high. You have no need to get up to a full half marathon in your training prior to the actual event (my longest run is scheduled to only be 10 miles). I just double-checked a few of my husband's favourite running books to confirm, and none of the half marathon training plans go >10 miles until the actual event, with a mileage taper leading into the half marathon itself. (So in direct answer to your question: Yes. Ease up!)

Above all else, listen to your body and don't push too hard. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Edit to add:
The "long distance" in the last 8 weeks of my running schedule are as follows:
6.1
6.8
7.5
7.0
8.1
9.0
10.0
9.0
=13.1!=

Based on what you've shown for mileage thus far, it seems like you could easily follow a similar pattern.

Thank you , that sounds good. I like the idea of tapering off. There's a 10K I want to do the week before the HM.