Running a half marathon too much?

Most of the training programs I have seen are about 3 months long. Check them out and start following now and you will be fine. Check out the race you want to do to see what the time limit is. It has been my experience that most Half Marathons allow around 3:30 or a 16 minute mile pace. If it is a small race, they might even allow more time than that.

At a 5mph pace for a 5k right now, I don't imagine you will have any problems completing a Half in 3 months! Good luck!

That's roughly what I did. I was comfortably running a 5k and then followed the Hal Higdon novice plan to get to a half marathon in three months. I skipped the 10k week and did an extra week of 10-11 mile at the end. I was only slightly faster than 12 minute miles when I started and I completed the half at just under a 10 minute pace two weeks ago.

I haven't been doing too much running lately and really want to get back into that groove again. Let's say I can run a 5K now at about a 12 minute mile, do you think if I start training now, I could run a half marathon in 3 months time? I don't even care if I run the whole thing, but I don't know how slow someone could go before they kick me off the course It's just a local race, nothing big. I'm 50 years old, so not a spring chicken anymore....

Look at the event's website to see if they have a mandatory finishing time. Some races do and I find them to be between 3:30:00-4 hours. Even with walking most of it, you should finish in that time.

Just follow a training program - I used Hal Higdnon's Novice - and completed my first race... decided it's my favorite race distance. I am running in my 5th or 6th half tomorrow.

FWIW, I have yet to run the entire distance, I do mix in some walking intervals. My average pace for a 1/2 ends up being around 12 mm.

I think you could run a half in 3 months....very doable. find a good training prgram (all over the web) & stick with it. I've done the Hal Higdon's training program when I've ran mine.

i had about that much time between when i signed up for my first half and when i did it. to help with my training i signed up for a 10k and also a 5k mud run. it certainly helped having these two races before my half. i average 11:30 mm but for my half i ended up averaging 13:00.

3 months is a perfect amount to train! Do a long run every weekend, and go up a mile each week. Register when you have the nerve, so you that you've motivated yourself to keep going for it when you wouldn't normally have the nerve.

I remember thinking how crazy I thought I was when I registered, and I'm SO SO SO glad I did! There's nothing like the victory of a good long run, knowing you can do that (and I run an 11min mile, it's not like I'm some serious athlete). It got me on track to keep signing up for more races, and it's been a HUGE motivation to stay in shape, exercise enough to complete those races - I'm addicted. I say definitely do it!

Only thing I'd recommend: take care of your knees during training. Some people don't get knee problems, but many do, and I'm one of them. It's important to do core exercises and stretches, and increase by only 1 mile each week, to keep your knees in shape. I'd recommend this video - there's also a free 7 minute intro version that has awesome exercises in it (and I used that to be half-marathon ready in just a week after knee pain!).

http://www.gaiam.com/strong-knees/05-53351,default,pd.html

If you can do 3 miles now, I'd think three months would be a good amount of time to stretch yourself out for a 13.1. Tons of training plans available, do it up!

I haven't been doing too much running lately and really want to get back into that groove again. Let's say I can run a 5K now at about a 12 minute mile, do you think if I start training now, I could run a half marathon in 3 months time? I don't even care if I run the whole thing, but I don't know how slow someone could go before they kick me off the course It's just a local race, nothing big. I'm 50 years old, so not a spring chicken anymore....

Can you do it? I don't doubt it..........

Should you do it? I'm going to be a bit of contrarian here and say I don't think it's such a great idea. It takes time for your body to adapt to the changes needed to successfully (and by that I mean injury free) run a half-marathon and the simple truth is for those of us this side of 50 it takes longer.

Running is a sport that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. Take your time to train progressively but conservatively. If you're comfortable with 5K distances why not get a couple of 10ks under your belt.

Take your time and enjoy the journey. By dialing it back a bit you're much less likely to injure yourself and become discouraged (and worse....quit running) and it will be a far more enjoyable process.

I agree with this. I went from zero running to a 1/2 marathon in 3 months. My training wasn't the greatest, missed a lot of runs. I finished the race. when I did my 2nd 1/2 6 months later i had a better base, i did the majority of my scheduled runs. I PRed by about 40minutes and i felt great during the race!! I felt a million times better the race i had a better base with and trained better for.