Half Marathons - How Often?

wizbeth1218

I just completed my first half marathon. Yay me!

I never thought I would say this, but now I wanna do another.

(I'm not sure which one of those statements floors me more...)

Anyway, how often is it "reasonable" to run a half marathon? What's healthy? What's realistic?

RatherBeInTheShire

I'm not sure of the "correct" answer, but I'd say whatever you are comfortable with. There were several times I ran a half one weekend, and another half the very next weekend. I felt fine and usually PR'ed on the 2nd race.

RunnerElizabeth

I had 3 on the calendar for 2013. One in May, one in October and one in November. The May and October races were/are goal races for me. Two goal halfs a year, one in spring and one in fall seems like plenty.

That being said, I run 10-15 miles every Sunday, so if I decided to find and run another half, I'd be able to do it if I felt like forking over some cash for a race that looks fun, with no plans for a PR.

So yes, it's an individual thing and if you are just running for the fun of it, you could probably do them pretty frequently. But it's an expensive hobby.

ElliottTN

I'd say once a week, taking a break every few weeks as long as your nutrition is in check. Congrats on getting that mileage. Take a few smaller runs this next week and jump right back to it. Now that you got your mileage up, don't let it go or you WILL loose it.

RunConquerCelebrate

I just completed my first half marathon. Yay me!

I never thought I would say this, but now I wanna do another.

(I'm not sure which one of those statements floors me more...)

Anyway, how often is it "reasonable" to run a half marathon? What's healthy? What's realistic?

Just wanted to say congrats on the completed your first Half, I will be running my first In March of next year and cannot wait .

Frances_C17

Congrats on your first half!

As others have said it's an individual thing depending on your fitness, how hard you ran and how well you are eating. Conventional advice suggests you need one day recovery for each mile raced, so 13 days for a half. That doesn't mean you can't run for 13 days, just that you probably need to take it easy for two weeks. I mix up short flat runs with cross training in my recovery weeks, if you feel ok after a week then a slow long run should be fine too.

I just did two halfs in three weeks and I don't think I would do it again. I still managed a PB on the second one but I seriously struggled with the last mile and I'm in a lot of pain today. If you're just wanting to race for fun then you can probably jump straight back into it but if you are wanting to improve your time then some proper recovery time will help avoid injuries.

Have a look to see what halves are coming up in your area and listen to your body.

ThickMcRunFast

It depends on whether you want to run them, or race them.

Just running a half can be done every weekend if you have the proper base. However, if you want to race and PR, you'll need a proper training time, and want to taper before.