Just under 11 weeks to 1st half-marathon

Awesome goal.

I hope to do my first 1/2 marathon this year too. However, I have decided to take the training a little slower than last year so I can make my goal. I was using Runningworld.com Smartcoach progams but Hal's program looked good too.

I am back up to 7 miles as my longest workout and a few suggestions I have are:

Avoid doing a treadmil except maybe for easy run days if you have to.
Experminent with what to eat/not to eat while out for long runs and use this in the race.
Focus cross training on balancing out your muscels. I make sure to do some cycling and good core workouts.
Train to match your course. The one I am doing is mostly down hill so I am going to work on that so that I don't trash my legs.

Good Luck and have fun with it.

KatWood: Congrats on your 1st 1/2. Did you meet your goal? Good thought on the gum thing, I am not a good breather. I think too much about it I think.

My goal was to complete it in less than 3hrs. I ended up doing it in 2hrs 24mins. The feeling when you cross the finish line is amazing. You will love it.

A few more things I forgot to mention earlier about training:
1) Train on routes more difficult than the one you will be doing. I live on a big hill so when my hubby plots my routes they always have at least 1 really big hill and he usually adds a few extras. It definitely made a difference on race day. The race route seemed way easier than what I was use to.
2) Train up to a distance past 21kms. In hindsight I wish I had done this. I hit a wall at 19kms and had a hard time pushing myself to the end. I have found that in my experience I always hit a wall 2-3 kms before the end of a really long run. This year I plan to train up to 25kms that was that wall should be at 22kms (the end of the race!).

I am also doing my first 1/2 marathon this year (April, in Nashville TN). I am really excited about it but I'm not stressing out about my time. My goal is to finish and I keep saying that I just want to finish in less than 3 hours. I am also doing Hal's training schedule. Love it so far. I'm in the 4th week. I am doing a run/walk approach so that I don't use all of my energy in the first few miles. Right now in my training I'm running a half mile and walking a half mile. I could probably run more but concerned about keeping the pace for 13 miles. After a couple more weeks of training I think you will probably find a strategy that works for you.

Best of luck to you!!

KatWood;That is amazing time! Good for you! Thanks for the advise. I am taking it all in and working with it! I have a lot of hills ahead of me, and a route that is partial gravel...I haven't run on any gravel yet....I need to do that! Could I ask you what do you eat during your long runs?
Chenoachem:Do you carry a pepper spray or something like that when running at that time? I am afraid of animals-more than people:)

Gravel or grass in one sense is easier to run on. It is easier on the knees because it is softer. However, it is also harder because you have to use more muscles to stabilize yourself.

I have tried a few products for long runs and I can't stand the gels. I like the gummy chews instead.

Try to find out if a local running club/store/etc is having pace groups for the race. There may even be pace groups that you can sign up for at the expo. This will give you a group to run with, and someone else to spend the mental energy to track your pace if you are really intent on your goal time. 2:30:00 isn't an easy time, but if you have a good base and are following a solid plan you should feel confident that you can do it.

Make sure you have 2-3 long runs that are longer than race distance (14-16mi) so that your body is ready to go past 13.1!
If your plan doesn't have any, you will want to add a little speed work. I'd suggest finding a coach if you can, as they can adjust your plan to how your training is progressing and not just be something set on the computer.

Whatever you get used to using on your long runs, will be what your body expects during the race. Find out what sports drink the race will use, and start switching to it now. For 13.1 you should only really need the energy boost (gel, gummies, etc) at about the 8-10 mile range.

Make sure you're ready for the race a week in advance...toenails trimmed, shoe nicely broken in but not worn out, drinks/gels/candy ready, and have a set of running clothes that you regularly use washed for the last time. Place everything into a gym bag and then make sure you check it a couple days before. Then the night before you can relax with some pasta, get a good relaxed nights sleep (no worries when you're ready), and race morning you will not have to run and search for anything as it will al be waiting for you. The less hetic and stressful race morning is, the more confident you will feel at the line.

If you get to the line trained, relaxed, and confident your only obsticle left between you and your goal is starting to fast, and that comes back to a pace team.

13.1 is a great distance and can be a lot of fun. It's easy enough that my 7 month pregnant wife walked the Rock-N-Roll 1/2 in Va Beach before our second daughter was born, but tough enough that if you want to do well you have got to committ 100%. Train hard, have fun, and when you cross the line know that you won when you started because you had the steel to put in the hours to get there. Good luck and Godspeed!

There are a few different brands (I can't think of specific brands off hand I have tried a few different ones ) but basically they are for energy during a long workout and taste kinda like a gummy bear but denser. I hate the consistency of the gels. I find the chews to be much better and less messy. You can get them with or without caffiene. You can also get ones that are jelly beans.