Let me try again

johnmurphymfp

Well, let me try again. My longest run t date, is a mere 6 miles and that was Jan '14 while I was training for a half in March. I threw my back out... I've never had back issues, I was on my back for 3 days (I never call out of work). Anyway.... one thing leads to another..... 8 months later and 20 lbs heavier. I'm back to running. I have my first 5k a week from tomorrow since I've started running again (about 4 weeks now). After that, I plan on doing a 5k a month for the rest of the year... just for fun. I see that Hal Higdon has a half novice plan. My question is what should I do between now and the beginning of the 12 week plan which should start around Dec 7th?
Thank-you in advance.

cms721

Running 30 minutes three times a week should work. Throw in some crosstraining for fun (and vanity muscles). You can get your miles in once you start your training. Good luck and smile and try and look fast when they take your picture.

larrewl

You could also gradually build your weekly mileage by 10% every other week starting now. 12 weeks is insufficient time to adequately prepare your body for a half marathon. I wouldn't risk the additional stress on your legs that may cause injury.

Stoshew71

^^^^ this. Slowly add to your long run but also increase the number of miles you run outside of your long run. The rule of thumb is no more than 1 or 2 miles added each week or 10% as the gentleman above stated. Another strategy is to alternate the weeks you add more miles. Say you added 2 miles to your long run this week. Then the week after (a cut back week) your long run would be what you ran the previous week (less miles). This is a progressive increase. Then the week after you can increase a mile or 2 from your previous record milage for a week. Repeat! Another thing to keep in mind when adding distance, your long run ideally should be between 25-33% of your entire weekly mileage. So if you start increasing your long runs, keep in mind you may want to also work on increasing the other days supporting your long runs. However, I noticed some 18 week and 12 week training plans break this model.