1/2 marathon, 4 weeks away

letobot
letobot Posts: 205
in Fitness and Exercise
I have only run 5k's, nothing more.....without training, how realistic is it to complete a 1/2 marathon 4 weeks away? All you avid runners, educate me.

Replies

  • afv417
    afv417 Posts: 466 Member
    I have only run 5k's, nothing more.....without training, how realistic is it to complete a 1/2 marathon 4 weeks away? All you avid runners, educate me.

    bump :flowerforyou:
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    I spent an entire summer training for a half marathon and still didn't feel like I could do it.

    I know people who have done them without training but I think you'd be risking injury. And it probably wouldn't be as fun as it would be if you had trained for it.

    Most programs are at least 12 weeks long.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Hard to say without knowing what your fitness level is.
    Can you finish it anyway? Probably.
    Is it a good idea? Probably not.
    Will it hurt? Most likely.

    I've done a half that I did not prepare enough for ( I did long runs but not enough) and finished but it hurt so bad. I could barely jog towards the end. I was jogging pole lengths to finish. You know the phrase "hit the wall" - I did, in every sense of the word. It's was not a fun experience.

    My suggestion would be to find another race with more time to prepare.
    Or at least try a longer run this week and see how that goes. Remember to slow down for your long runs.
  • sarafil
    sarafil Posts: 506 Member
    Probably not a good idea. As others have said, you can probably suffer through it, but it could be miserable and you may injure yourself. Perhaps wait a bit longer and do some training first?
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Absolutely terrible idea. Why would you think you can jump from a short run like a 5k to a run that's 4 times longer without training? Can you run 4 consecutive 5k's?
  • drgndancer
    drgndancer Posts: 426 Member
    As other have said, probably not a good idea. Here's an article from Men's Health magazine where a guy (already in really good shape) managed to train for a half in 4 weeks, based on a fairly insane program, but even he says it probably wasn't a great idea. He also says that if you can't run at least 7 miles at a go before you start your half training, it's pretty much impossible. That was the only way his trainer would take the job, if he could already do at least 7 miles for a long run.

    edit: Oops, forgot the URL.

    http://news.menshealth.com/half-marathon-training/2012/11/08/
  • letobot
    letobot Posts: 205
    As other have said, probably not a good idea. Here's an article from Men's Health magazine where a guy (already in really good shape) managed to train for a half in 4 weeks, based on a fairly insane program, but even he says it probably wasn't a great idea. He also says that if you can't run at least 7 miles at a go before you start your half training, it's pretty much impossible. That was the only way his trainer would take the job, if he could already do at least 7 miles for a long run.

    edit: Oops, forgot the URL.

    http://news.menshealth.com/half-marathon-training/2012/11/08/


    Thank you.
  • letobot
    letobot Posts: 205
    thank you for all of your advice/thoughts/opinions on this.....and I am very aware that this is a longshot.....one won't know what they're capable of until they do it.
  • kenhelms17720
    kenhelms17720 Posts: 62
    Trainingpeaks.com has some that are 6 and 8 weeks long.
    http://home.trainingpeaks.com/training-and-nutrition-plans/browse-type.aspx?t=half+marathon

    You may be able to scrunch it.


    If you have some conditioning, decent runs and are not worried about times, then yes you could prolly do it. It really comes down to proper pacing and mental determination.

    You wouldn't have any time to taper, but if you just want to finish then that isn't as important.
    Just pace yourself and concentrate on the finish, not the time.
    You'll want to pay attention to the plantarflexion, and the knees... they usually start acting up first under stress in most people.

    Work on hydration timing especially, that is a major difference from a 5k.
  • drgndancer
    drgndancer Posts: 426 Member
    thank you for all of your advice/thoughts/opinions on this.....and I am very aware that this is a longshot.....one won't know what they're capable of until they do it.

    It's true that you don't know what you're capable of till you try, but that said you can hurt yourself trying to do to much to fast when running. Consider the risks alongside the rewards. Sure there's some tough girl cred being able to say "I trained for a half marathon in 4 weeks." It looks like real guts if it works, but it looks like a pretty foolish mistake when you blow out a joint two weeks into training and can't run at all for a month or two.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    thank you for all of your advice/thoughts/opinions on this.....and I am very aware that this is a longshot.....one won't know what they're capable of until they do it.

    It's true that you don't know what you're capable of till you try, but that said you can hurt yourself trying to do to much to fast when running. Consider the risks alongside the rewards. Sure there's some tough girl cred being able to say "I trained for a half marathon in 4 weeks." It looks like real guts if it works, but it looks like a pretty foolish mistake when you blow out a joint two weeks into training and can't run at all for a month or two.

    This.

    I'm all for pushing our limits and doing things we never thought we could, but this is the kind of thing that really requires training. It's more than a mind over matter thing. Physically your body needs to be trained.
  • Codefox
    Codefox Posts: 309 Member
    If your overall fitness level is high and you've been running a long time you could probably do it. I actually did that a few weeks ago after only 4 weeks of training. However! I've been running for years and my body has developed the bone strength and base fitness to do it. That said, I was very concerned with injuring myself.

    You will probably finish. It will probably suck a lot. And you are highly likely to injure yourself and then not be able to run for a couple months. I think you should pick a race further out and train for it properly. I've done races where I was ready and races were I wasn't. The ones that I wasn't I was miserable the whole time and it should be fun!
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    I have only run 5k's, nothing more.....without training, how realistic is it to complete a 1/2 marathon 4 weeks away? All you avid runners, educate me.

    Unless you've been running for a long time it's an injury waiting to happen.

    There's a lot more to distance running than just aerobic fitness and it takes time for your body to make the adaptations.
  • mlb929
    mlb929 Posts: 1,974 Member


    Unless you've been running for a long time it's an injury waiting to happen.

    There's a lot more to distance running than just aerobic fitness and it takes time for your body to make the adaptations.

    Exactly!

    Try walking it not running, but statements like you don't know what your capable of until you try really give people the idea that running will get you injured. I just got my butt chewed by my orthopedic dr running a marathon after "only" 3 years of long distance running. I got injured, because I fell, not from training incorrectly.
  • likemeinvisible
    likemeinvisible Posts: 309
    thank you for all of your advice/thoughts/opinions on this.....and I am very aware that this is a longshot.....one won't know what they're capable of until they do it.

    It's true that you don't know what you're capable of till you try, but that said you can hurt yourself trying to do to much to fast when running. Consider the risks alongside the rewards. Sure there's some tough girl cred being able to say "I trained for a half marathon in 4 weeks." It looks like real guts if it works, but it looks like a pretty foolish mistake when you blow out a joint two weeks into training and can't run at all for a month or two.

    This.

    I'm all for pushing our limits and doing things we never thought we could, but this is the kind of thing that really requires training. It's more than a mind over matter thing. Physically your body needs to be trained.

    This is worth repeating. Doing the distance is easy but you'll get yourself injured.
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
    I have only run 5k's, nothing more.....without training, how realistic is it to complete a 1/2 marathon 4 weeks away? All you avid runners, educate me.

    Like people said its probably a bad idea and we have very little information as to what type of running shape you are in. If you are regularly banging out 20 miles per week you can add long runs like mabye two 8 milers and a 10 miler to your training. If you are doing less than that schedule something for later and follow some sort of plan.
  • bonjour24
    bonjour24 Posts: 1,119 Member
    I'm with the general majority here. Running a half can be grueling without the proper training behind you. But it sounds like you're determined to do it. With that in mind, prepare yourself for an hour of fun followed immediately by 90 mins of misery. And take heaps of walk breaks- maybe even run to the 1st drinks station, walk to the next, and repeat until you hit the finish line.
    Good luck! You're gonna need it! And I'd be adding 3k onto my long training run each week (so 8k this week, 11k next, 14 the next and 17 after that).
  • katheern
    katheern Posts: 213 Member
    I know way too many people who tried to train for a half marathon in not enough time and got REALLY injured. I'm talking like physical therapy for 3 or 4 months. It's probably not worth the risk.

    Once you start getting into the longer distances, hydration and diet are REALLY important. Also I high recommend making sure you actually do more strength workouts. Most of the people I know who got injured were not incorporating enough strength so the "wrong" muscles (like the IT band or hip flexor) started to overcompensate for the other muscles.

    In short I don't recommend going from only doing 5ks to a half. Try moving your way up.. a better jump would be 5k to 10k and then 10k to a half.
  • MelisRunning
    MelisRunning Posts: 819 Member
    I don't think it is a very good idea. Sorry.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    If you were capable of doing a 10K, I would say it was much more doable. It took me a while to get over the 5K threshold. I was injured once I started going over 4 miles. I did the 10K training, and can successfully complete 10K now without much trouble. I've been casually training for longer and did a 10 mile run yesterday. Aerobically, I could have done 13.1 yesterday, but my legs would not have been happy. I'm glad I stopped at 10. I would say I could be ready for 13.1 by February without much problem, but the first one I'm going to do isn't until April.
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
    Another vote for really bad idea. Trying to more than quadruple your long run in a month is a recipe for injury.

    I say either run a shorter distance at the race (if available) or volunteer on race day.
  • dorianaldyn
    dorianaldyn Posts: 611 Member
    Don't do it. You'll be signing yourself up for a miserable experience and why would you want your first half to be like that? I really enjoyed my first half (that I spent months training for); I wouldn't have it any other way.
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
    Don't do it. Not a good idea at all.
  • DontThinkJustRun
    DontThinkJustRun Posts: 248 Member
    If you want it to suck *kitten* it's a great idea.


    Seriously though, plenty of time to find another half and properly train.
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
    Don't do it. You'll be signing yourself up for a miserable experience and why would you want your first half to be like that? I really enjoyed my first half (that I spent months training for); I wouldn't have it any other way.

    Training is a big part of the journey for sure. Each week you head out to run further (farther?) than you ever have before, you have no clue how you are going to survive, but you do. Then you do it again and again. Very exciting stuff, no need to rush it or skip it.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    If you want to push yourself, sign up for a 10k. You could probably do that reasonably safely, if you're running 5 k a few times a week. And that would feel like an achievement, trust me. Trying to more than quadruple your mileage in 4 weeks just isn't sensible.
  • careyannal
    careyannal Posts: 161
    I have to agree with everyone else. If you can do it is debatable. However, you will be MISERABLE by the end.

    I ran my first in November using a plan that only got me up to 10 miles, and the last 4 miles I pretty much wanted to die.

    For the race I'm training for now, I'm using a 16 week plan that will get me up to 12, since I felt so unprepared last time.... so knowing how hard it was for me with training, I can only imagine what it would be like making the jump from 3 to 13.
  • stingrayinfl
    stingrayinfl Posts: 284 Member
    thank you for all of your advice/thoughts/opinions on this.....and I am very aware that this is a longshot.....one won't know what they're capable of until they do it.
    You are correct about "one won't know what they are capable of until they do it." In order to do it, you need the proper training. Proper training for halves are very successful. I don't think it is a good idea for you to run a half base on the info you gave us. We do not know enough about your fit level to suggest that you should do it. I have ran marathons, but to think that I could do a hundred mile run in 4 weeks would not be wise.

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