Half Marathon Training Lull - Should I keep training or find

Renaissant23

I ran my 1st half marathon last summer and loved it! Unfortunately I thought I could eat anything I wanted and ended up gaining weight. I signed up for a 2nd half this summer with the goals of improving my time and keeping off the weight I was able to loose.

My training was going well; in late June I was able to finish a long run of 7 miles feeling pretty good. But since then I've not been able to do any long weekend runs due to a death in my family. I've still been running 2-4 miles 3-4 times during the week. Yesterday I tried 7 miles and it was ROUGH; today I'm feeling very sore.

I have 2 questions for fellow runners out there:

1) The Half is in 3 weeks. I'm not sure I'll be able to build my distance as needed, but maybe? Any thoughts or tips?

2) I signed up for the race with a friend and am really bummed about letting her down and wasting the money I spent to sign up. Maybe I can run part of the race with her on 8/1 and find another half later in the fall to finish 13 miles on my own. Is it "bad racing etiquette" to purposely start a race knowing I will not finish?

AnneElise

Hi,

I think that you could definitly start the race even if you don't think you are going to finish... whats the harm. You paid for it. You have three weeks... you can try to build up your muscles and do the best you can on race day.

snowyowl74

I wouldn't give up on the race, either. Stick to your training plan and see what you can do on Aug. 1. You might surprise yourself! Talk to your friend and let her know your concerns. See if she minds sticking with you at your pace. Decide ahead of time if you will plan to stick together the whole time (even if one of you needs to walk) or if you're going to each go with your own pace, etc.

I completed by first 1/2 in May, and it felt great! My friend and I decided ahead of time that we wanted to finish together and that our goal was not to finish FAST, but just to FINISH! We didn't need to walk at all, but did slow our pace a few times. Had I been by myself I probably would have walked some. Having her to talk to for the 2 hours and 10 minutes was really what got me through.

You are probably more capable than what your mind is telling you. I've found that running is very much "mind over matter!" If you completed a 7-mile run, you can do 13.1.

Good luck! Keep us posted!!!

jcubesmommy

I have been considering entering a marathon KNOWING that i will not be able to run the whole thing - but it's okay because I can walk what I can't run to finish - and isn't finishing the goal anyway? I would keep training because those numbers do mean something and they will give you something to compare with when you do your next one.

Renaissant23

Thanks all! I think I'll keep going and see what happens and not get too hung up on my finish time. I'm going to try to do 8.5-ish miles this weekend and maybe 10 the weekend after that. That should hopefully get me ready for race day. I'll also talk to my friend ahead of time. Her pace is a little slower than mine, but I think she has done a better job sticking to her plan.