Half Marathon training support group?

UrbanRunner81

Thanks everyone!

kated930

Hi! I made it! I ran the entire half today!
It was a pretty amazing experience. I got real emotional at the end and almost cried when I finished. I saw my husband and hugged him and teared up.
The race itself was beautiful, the trail was awesome. I never ran there before, so it was really cool.
My foot did start to hurt but the pain moved around if that makes sense. It was from my Achilles, to the top of my foot to my arch and back around. I am icing it and taking a break from running for a little bit.
I did start late because I was waiting in line to use the port-a-potty. I wasn't running with having to pee even if there were port-a-potties along the trail. Once I started running I didn't want to stop. So I started 4 minutes after everyone did (there were 10 other people who started late, too), but I caught up. I am not sure if my official time will reflect I started late, but I know I ran it in 2 hours 20 minutes because I had my own timer. I kept telling myself at the end if I stop and walk it will take longer.
The last mile was tough, it went up hill, got quite steep at one point but the rest was downhill once I had like 400 meters to go. They even announced my name as I finished. I thought that was pretty cool and they even pronounced my last name right.
I had my picture taken when I finished so I will go and find it once it is up.
Thank guys for your support!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

kated930

I FINISHED MY FIRST HALF!!!

It was amazing. I could not have asked for better weather:)

It was an awesome course, however, the mile markings were kinda sucky. It was a loop course, that also had full marathon runners, so you didnt know what mile mark was which , and I don't remember seeing any marks for miles 7-10!

So I was trying to keep my own timing, and I realized at 1:45 that I might be able to finish under 2 hrs. So I picked it up a little and at the 12 mile mark the timer read 1:52. I booked it for the last 1.1 mile and ALMOST made it under 2 hrs:

my time was 2:01:38

I'm waiting for the official time since I was in the back of the starting line

CONGRATULATIONS TO ANYONE ELSE WHO RAN TODAY

UrbanRunner81

I FINISHED MY FIRST HALF!!!

It was amazing. I could not have asked for better weather:)

It was an awesome course, however, the mile markings were kinda sucky. It was a loop course, that also had full marathon runners, so you didnt know what mile mark was which , and I don't remember seeing any marks for miles 7-10!

So I was trying to keep my own timing, and I realized at 1:45 that I might be able to finish under 2 hrs. So I picked it up a little and at the 12 mile mark the timer read 1:52. I booked it for the last 1.1 mile and ALMOST made it under 2 hrs:

my time was 2:01:38

I'm waiting for the official time since I was in the back of the starting line

CONGRATULATIONS TO ANYONE ELSE WHO RAN TODAY

congrats to you too! What an amazing time!

summertime_girl

Fab job Kate!

36charlotte

I'm running a half marathon Dec. 3rd... I really need some support. I just have a block against running for some reason, I don't get it, however I want to RUN through it! My longest previous distance is 10 miles, miles per week about 25, and pretty slow at 10 min/mile... however this was in my 20's and I was obsessed with fitness. Now I have three beautiful children and want to continue to play hard with them through grandchildren... I love Zumba and resistance training, but would like to shed about 15 lbs and need to cross train.

sharonsjones

I'm running a half marathon Dec. 3rd... I really need some support. I just have a block against running for some reason, I don't get it, however I want to RUN through it! My longest previous distance is 10 miles, miles per week about 25, and pretty slow at 10 min/mile... however this was in my 20's and I was obsessed with fitness. Now I have three beautiful children and want to continue to play hard with them through grandchildren... I love Zumba and resistance training, but would like to shed about 15 lbs and need to cross train.

You have plenty of time to train for the 1/2 since it's in December. How many miles are you running now? Whatever your long run is a week just add a mile a week to it.

adhillman01

This week didn't go very well. My work schedule changed and now I really don't have time after work to run, so I have to do mornings. I hate mornings. I didn't wake up early enough to run the distance I had planned out, but I did run 3 days this week. My long run was pretty short, but it was what was on my schedule. I'm supposed to be training for my second half on Thanksgiving, but I'm having a hard time getting back into it. I just finished my first half 2 weeks ago. I took the first week after really slow, I think I only ran twice. This week I was supposed to hit the training hard again, but it just didn't happen. Hoping this week will go better. I really need to work on my morning wake up routine, I'm one of those snooze button pushers that waits until the absolute last minute to get out of bed, so I think this morning workout isn't going to go very well. Going to give it my all though.

Congrats to everyone on their races, sounds like everyone was happy with how they went! Great job!

KimertRuns13_1

Congrats Urban and Kate on your great half finishes!!! Way to go!

Less than 2 weeks until my next half. I did more cross training and strength work than I did running. I am still on track for making my mileage goal for the year but kind of dread the coming cold weather months. haha

The hubby and I have "costumes" planned for our half marathon on the 29th. I'm looking forward to it being a fun race!

bprague

Great job Kate and Urban! @kimert- what costumes will you guys be doning?

mlb929

Kimert - I'm so not daring enough to wear a costume in a race. I have enough trouble finding something that doesn't chafe or get in the way of my form. I dress my kids as a butterfly and catterpiller once

adhill - sorry for the tough week, mine was much the same, hate being off schedule and not accomplishing what you want, you're not alone.

Sharon - how is the training going?

36Char - Welcome!

Kated - Great job.

I'm booking my trip next week to Texas for my March race. I"ve decided to sign up for the full marathon - it's a double loop so I can pull off at the half and only get a half time if I don't feel I can make it. I have 18 weeks to train and I'm already at 13 miles so pretty confident I can finish - hopefully w/o injury. I'm starting Insanity: Asylum November 1 and then will train with P90X 2 adding in 2 extra days of running too.

KimertRuns13_1

We are going as Batman and Batgirl. Simple though.
I'm just using iron on appliques for our shirts. For mine I will be adding a cape but I have not talked my hubby into a cape for himself. I also have a belt for mine, his belt will have to be his fuelbelt! lol I may or may not pick up a "mask" of sorts for myself! Just simple but a step above my regular race outfit! I'm looking forward to just having fun!

sharonsjones

Trainings going good, I ran 9 miles this past Sat. Did weights and ran 3 miles today. Next sat will be my next long run of 10 miles. Just under 4 weeks left! I'm excited!

summertime_girl

Running is not going well at all. I just can't stop the twinge in my knee! Did a few quick miles, and then a BodyPump class this morning, but I can feel the ache. Ugh. I hope it stops soon. I feel like I'm losing my running momentum.

peachyolives

Keep your head up, sumertime_girl. You have probably read all of this before, but just some rest for your knee, ice and ibuprofen may help. I started running about six months ago, and have have my number of issues - foot and leg pain, shin splints and side cramps - all of which seemed to almost naturally resolve themselves as I continued to run and learn more about my body (a nice pair of shoes helped too!). Hopefully your knee will improve soon and you'll be back at it with a vengeance!

Good luck!

mlb929

Summertime, I finished my marathon last year with knee pain, it came from muscle imbalances, and I switched over to more intense crosstraining which helped a bunch. I ran on a treadmill this weekend while traveling, and have an odd knee pain that is a little more persistent than I'd like. I am taking it easy this week since my race is on Saturday.

Saturday race weather looks great - a cool 37 predicted for the start time and a high of 65 overall, but I should be well done by then. I bought new arm sleeves that can be taken off when I get warmed up - wish I would have known about arm sleeves sooner. They just hook right into my fuelbelt when I'm done, great way to carry them when I shed them, much better than wrapping a jacket around my waist.

I always get a new song for my races - any suggestions? I got "Young the Giant, Your Body" last race.

olivedrab

Glad I found the new page. I've finally chosen my half for the Spring, which will be in April. Now I have a nice long training period, with some 10k races in the meantime, along with a few 5ks and one mud run in just a couple weeks!

slb106

Great job Urban and Kate!! I'm so glad your races went well!

Kimert, your race sounds like so much fun! Great costume ideas too!

Summertime, that's such a bummer about your knee! Hopefully with some more rest, it will resolve naturally. I think you'll be surprised with how quickly you can get back into your running routine once you feel better.

Four weeks until my next half! My training has been weird though because my schedule has been so busy. I've had to switch around training days a bunch and when I don't follow my schedule exactly it makes me feel like I won't be as prepared (even though I'm still doing the workouts, just on different days). Can you tell I'm a TYPE A personality....lol!

UrbanRunner81

Thanks everyone!

My next half won't be until May, I think? I might do a 10 mile run in March. For now I am taking time off to rest my foot. I beat it up pretty good and survived the race, so now to rest it with lots of other cross-training until it is healed and I can run again. I am hoping no longer than a month. What is killing me is these beautiful fall days where I want to be out there running.

adhillman01

Today's run got rained away. After a disappointing run on Saturday and skipping Sunday due to a mini vacation I'm not sure I'm going to be ready. The half is on Thanksgiving. Who knows. Going to try a long run this weekend to see how it goes.

sharonsjones

I ran 6 miles this afternoon in 57.30 minutes. It was a great run!

bjbixler

This past weekend was exhausting!

My long run was 9 miles, which I ran on Saturday. It was actually the first time I'd run that long solo, so it was a mental workout as well. And I was thrilled to find I had the mental toughness to finish! Then my hubby had the bright idea that we needed to do yardwork, lol.

Sunday I had my very first mud run! It was something I signed up for in the Summer, way before I'd committed to running a half marathon this fall, so my only goal was to not injure myself and mess up my training. I'm proud to say that I felt strong throughout, and the only thing that tripped me up was the "slippery wall" that required a great deal of upper body strength. All in all it was a fun day, and afterwards the only thing I'd wished I'd done differently was worn knee pads.
Fast forward to Monday however, and I felt like I'd been hit by a truck! Also, bruises were emerging EVERYWHERE!

Needless to say, this mornings run was slow and sore.

I'm excited for this weekend. Flying to Maine for a wedding, and I'm going to run 10 miles that morning. It's going to be beautiful!

I hope everyone is able to nurse themselves back to health this week!

peachyolives

bjbixler: Congratulations on your long run for the week and the mud run!!! That's very exciting. I wanted to do a mud run this year, but not by myself...unfortunately my family was out of town so I passed this time.

Instead, I signed up for a 15K race last Saturday, and am very pleased to say that was my longest run distance straight so far for my training! And I ran the whole way! I managed to do it in under 1:25, so I'm feeling pretty good about the half marathon. One more long run this weekend, and then I'll taper off next weekend.

I'm so excited!

We can do it!

wackynunu

This is my first post here and I need a bit of advice. Right now I run 3 times a week. 2.5 mile, 3 mile and 6 mile.

There is a half on December 3rd that I would LOVE to do. I have never gone further than 6 miles. Is this too soon? Any suggestions for training besides upping my distance 10% each week?

Thanks

KimertRuns13_1

This is my first post here and I need a bit of advice. Right now I run 3 times a week. 2.5 mile, 3 mile and 6 mile.

There is a half on December 3rd that I would LOVE to do. I have never gone further than 6 miles. Is this too soon? Any suggestions for training besides upping my distance 10% each week?

Thanks

You definitely have time to build up to the distance you need to run a Dec 3rd half marathon. That's 6 weeks to build up to that distance. If you add one to a mile and a half a week to your long run you should be good to go.

wackynunu

This is my first post here and I need a bit of advice. Right now I run 3 times a week. 2.5 mile, 3 mile and 6 mile.

There is a half on December 3rd that I would LOVE to do. I have never gone further than 6 miles. Is this too soon? Any suggestions for training besides upping my distance 10% each week?

Thanks

You definitely have time to build up to the distance you need to run a Dec 3rd half marathon. That's 6 weeks to build up to that distance. If you add one to a mile and a half a week to your long run you should be good to go.

Thanks! I'll try adding that for a couple weeks and see. I have until the end of the month to sign up

slb106

This is my first post here and I need a bit of advice. Right now I run 3 times a week. 2.5 mile, 3 mile and 6 mile.

There is a half on December 3rd that I would LOVE to do. I have never gone further than 6 miles. Is this too soon? Any suggestions for training besides upping my distance 10% each week?

Thanks

I agree. I think you definitely have time to train. Like Kimert said, add about a mile to your long run each week. You may also want to bump up your runs a little during the week. I'm by no means an expert, but my training schedule had me doing 4 miles twice during the week when my long runs were between 6-8 miles. Then it bumped up to 4.5-5 miles twice during the week when my long runs were between 9-10 miles. Most importantly I think is to just take it slow and don't try to increase your miles too quickly. Good luck and let us know what you decide about the race!

wackynunu

This is my first post here and I need a bit of advice. Right now I run 3 times a week. 2.5 mile, 3 mile and 6 mile.

There is a half on December 3rd that I would LOVE to do. I have never gone further than 6 miles. Is this too soon? Any suggestions for training besides upping my distance 10% each week?

Thanks

I agree. I think you definitely have time to train. Like Kimert said, add about a mile to your long run each week. You may also want to bump up your runs a little during the week. I'm by no means an expert, but my training schedule had me doing 4 miles twice during the week when my long runs were between 6-8 miles. Then it bumped up to 4.5-5 miles twice during the week when my long runs were between 9-10 miles. Most importantly I think is to just take it slow and don't try to increase your miles too quickly. Good luck and let us know what you decide about the race!

Will do. I found a friend that is running it too so that should push me to add to the next few runs. Tommorow is my long run and I am switching it to an AM run so I can be more prepared. I usually run after 9pm so I hope I can do it. THANKS

slb106

bjbixler...Awesome job on the long run and the Mud Run!! I'm impressed that you did both of those back to back!

peachy...Great time for your 15K! Congrats! Your half is getting close!

wackynunu

Got my long run up to 6.7 miles today. It took me 80 minutes though. Should have eaten first...and it was cold (for florida) and I NEVER run in the morning, so I am pretty proud of myself. I hope to go about 7.7 miles on my next long run. Thanks for pushing me.