Zero to Half Marathon in 32 weeks

Whatsername0413

(FYI - I originally posted this earlier today under Getting Started, but it was recommended that I post it under Fitness instead.)

My Sister and I will be running in the Avengers Super Hero Half Marathon this upcoming November at Disneyland in California. Neither of have much of a base to start with- I did run/walk a half marathon last June, but I did not train nearly long/well enough, and ended up hurting my knee, and limping to the finish line. I haven’t run more than a mile or two, here and there, since then. So basically we are both starting from zero, but we have about 32 weeks to train, and we plan to start immediately. Does anyone have any tips/suggestions for us. I could use help with almost every aspect of training, like how many days/week should I be running? what are good ways to refuel during long runs (I didn’t do any refueling during my half/training last year)? What should I be doing for recovery after my runs? (Same as with refueling, I didn’t do any recovery last year, which is probably part of why I performed so poorly.) And what are good (gym-free) ways to cross train?

And help would be greatly appreciated!

-S

DangerJim71

I basically did the same thing a year and a half ago going from a fat smoker to a half marathon in 6 months. It was too much too soon and I suffered some nasty injuries as a result. Didn't learned from it and did a half ironman 9 months later. ;-)

I would start with a something like a couch to 5k training plan and bike up from there. If that's too easy for you maybe start looking at 10k or half marathon training plans that give you the slowest possible build up and time to taper going I to the half marathon.

I've found for me personally that I run better when I only do it 3 times per week. But I also do a lot of swimming and cycling too. A lot of training plans will have one day of other cardio like cycling. Do it. It really improves strength without the impact.

Get quality running shoes at a running store if possible. See if they do any group training events and hook up with experienced runners.

ajaysmum

Hi,

I did a half marathon a few years ago and went for barely running to jogging the whole thing (albeit very very slowly but my goal was not to walk at all and I did it).

I started off using a template plan from the internet - I started with two or three short runs in the week say 20-30 mins each one and then trying a longer one on a Sunday. At first I walked quite a bit but kept trying to walk less and run more. The Sunday runs got longer until a few weeks before the half marathon I did a 10 ,lie run and it didn't kill me!

The half was so hard - I actually hated the last four miles and have no idea how people do a full marathon. But I did it and the pride was amazing. I just googled half marathon training plans and it worked.

If I can do it anyone can but you do need to do the training as I found I could never have done it if I hadn't trained.

I also took advice on what to take in during the run - energy drinks and energy bars to keep my strength up.

Hope this helps.