Half marathon as motivation- advise?

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jschm947
jschm947 Posts: 84 Member
in Motivation and Support
I signed up for my first half marathon as motivation for myself!! Excited but also nervous! I have only done a few 5k races with times around 32 minutes. I am looking for advise as I go deeper into my training. I went 4 miles yesterday in 42 minutes and felt good! That is a step in the right direction. I can do this, right?? I have about 7 weeks to train. How many days a week? And how long for my longest training run?? Any advise is appreciated. I can do this!!

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  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,250 Member
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    I signed up for my first half marathon as motivation for myself!! Excited but also nervous! I have only done a few 5k races with times around 32 minutes. I am looking for advise as I go deeper into my training. I went 4 miles yesterday in 42 minutes and felt good! That is a step in the right direction. I can do this, right?? I have about 7 weeks to train. How many days a week? And how long for my longest training run?? Any advise is appreciated. I can do this!!
    You are braver than I am, my first half marathon will be June 2013 lol
  • johnsjes
    johnsjes Posts: 20 Member
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    I think you can totally do it. A good resource is halhigdon.com. He has a few different levels of training and explains the purpose of each run. He also encourages cross training and getting rest (even if the rest comes in the form of a walk brake during a long run).
    Even if you lightly base your training of of one of his, it's a good start.
    Good luck and most importantly - have fun!
  • Msjat
    Msjat Posts: 9
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    Just finished my first half last Sunday in San Francisco. My time was 2:23. I ran every other day (3-5 miles) and cross trained on the off days. Long runs on the week ends increasing each weekend up to 11 miles. I was well prepared and had a very enjoyable experience.
  • SocialRopes
    SocialRopes Posts: 51 Member
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    big bump!
  • Karrie262
    Karrie262 Posts: 152 Member
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    What are your goals? Are you trying to get a specific time or just wanting to finish? There are training plans you can get for free online. coolrunning.com is a good place to start. I am training for a marathon and I run 5 days a week--one is a long run on the weekends (cross training on my non running days). Rule for increasing mileage is don't add too much at once...about 10% is the standard. If you are already at four miles you have plenty of time to increase your mileage :) Good luck!!!
  • Sneaky__B
    Sneaky__B Posts: 13 Member
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    Good luck! 7 weeks is not very long to train since you might want to "taper" in your last week (some people taper 2 weeks). But just do what you can & you will definitely finish the half marathon. Search online for some training programs... most are the same, they have you running 5 times per week. I usually only ever did 4X per week religiously. I think I started with the Hal Higdon one that someone else mentioned - it has you slowly build up to the distance. If you build up too quickly you risk injury.

    Doing a bit of a walk/run routine might help as well. I've done both a steady run and 10&1s and my finish times were not all that different.
  • hmcminton
    hmcminton Posts: 49 Member
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    Hal Higdon training plan ~ he's gotten me through a few half marathons in the last year and a half. good luck!
  • travelgirl09
    travelgirl09 Posts: 151 Member
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    I have used, and am again using the Hal Higdon Half Marathon phone app. It's very good and so easy to use. I like having the schedule all done for me so I don't even have to think about it. I've used it for 3 halves and just started it again for another. I never get tired of it.

    Good luck!
  • annieb49
    annieb49 Posts: 4
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    I have done two half marathons. The Kansas City one in August 2011 when I was 49 and the St Louis one in April 2012, which was a a day before my 50th birthday. On my first half I focused on getting the mileage in and not worrying about speed. I did that in 3 hours, but it was incredibly hilly and thank goodness I trained for hills. That's something you need to do if your course is hilly. I am so glad I did. My second one I did as a pre 50th birthday present to me because I made a long weekend of it with the girls in St Louis. I did that in 2hours:37 mins because there were a lot less hills. Make sure you stay hydrated. I have a problem with salt depletion on long runs and my fingers swell up. So I eat some pretzels before my runs to keep my salt intake uptoo! Focus on completing this first one and look at Jeff Galloway's training programe on line that's what I used and it worked for me twice!!
  • mmk137
    mmk137 Posts: 833 Member
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    if you have a smart phone, i recommend getting the runners world training app it's free.

    it bases training on 16 weeks, but you can have it longer or shorter if you want.

    You should do a combo of pace work, speedwork, hill work, and long runs. I used the program to do my half marathon, but I was bridging from 10km, but did in 6 weeks.
  • Emme727
    Emme727 Posts: 92 Member
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    I agree with others who mentioned it: halhigdon.com is a great training guide.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,250 Member
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    I agree with others who mentioned it: halhigdon.com is a great training guide.

    What is the time span for the "begin training to the race" on that?
  • KravMark
    KravMark Posts: 308 Member
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    Thanks for all the good advice!! I'm running my first 1/2 in Saratoga NY in Sept 16 and I have never run more than 7mi and that was years ago . Have run 3-4 times this last week w two of them 5.5 mi. I'm just trying to finish this one
  • vegamy
    vegamy Posts: 204 Member
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    I have about 7 weeks to train. How many days a week? And how long for my longest training run??

    7 weeks?! That's cutting it close, but possibly doable, you'll just have to go really slow. As others have mentioned, I used a modified version of Hal Higdon's training program and did my first half marathon in June.

    I usually ran 3-4 times per week with once per week being a long run. I usually increased my distance by about a mile per week (which varied depending on how I felt - I actually jumped from 6 to 8 miles one week). The most I ran before my half marathon was 10 miles (though, I started training early so was running 10 miles once a week for a couple months before my half).

    I completed my half in 2:23.

    http://halhigdon.com/training/51312/Half-Marathon-Novice-2-Training-Program

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