half marathon

kenziberry
kenziberry Posts: 164 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I need some advice.
I have never trained for a race before
I am really interested in getting into them with my husband, something we will be able to do together

If I register for a 1/2 marathon for March 2014 would this be a realisitc goal?
What should my training schedule look like??

Replies

  • Cory_D
    Cory_D Posts: 2 Member
    Yes, that would be achievable. I am doing my first half next month at Disneyland. I followed the plans laid out and have been able to keep up with it.
    If you are already running, find a good training plan and follow the weeks. It will progress you up to 13.1 in 3-4 months.

    Best of luck.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    How much are you capable of doing right this second? I guess that would be the X factor in if this realistic.

    There is a small locally owned shop in my town (memphis) called breakaway running. We have a huge st. Jude half and full marathon every December and they do free group training for it as well as post the plans online. I personally know tons of people who had success following their program who never though they could run one. Here is a document link to their training plan for the half, you'll just have to adjust the dates.

    https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5Hkrfu8RXmbbDN2UzRCT0FCQmM/preview?pli=1
  • ShannonTodd
    ShannonTodd Posts: 105 Member
    A March 2014 half-marathon is totally doable!

    Depending on the race you register for, they might have a race plan included on the website. If not, there are a bunch of run training apps available for smart phones. (I followed the RunKeeper 1/2 Marathon training, and it worked well for me.)

    Good luck in training.
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
    If you have three months, you have enough time. I used Hal Higdon for my first half.

    http://www.halhigdon.com/

    He has 5 different training programs for a Half for every starting level.

    I just completed my 6th Half 2 weeks ago and have my 7th in two months. I used his plan for the first one and then just modified them after that for all my other races.

    Enjoy your first race. Remember that no matter what your finish time, it will be a PR. Check with the race to see what their pacing requirements are and make your finishing goal a realistic one for your level.

    Be warned...once you get started, these races are addictive! Good luck!
  • ja9smakinachange
    ja9smakinachange Posts: 144 Member
    If you can comfortably run for 30 minutes now, then you'd be fine and just search online for a plan that works with your schedule. If you cant do 30 minutes (regardless of pace) I'd try that first... things like C25K are great but those alone can take 8 weeks, which would be hard to build from 5k-20k in the remaining 8 weeks.
  • kenziberry
    kenziberry Posts: 164 Member
    Thanks so much for all your support and advice.
    Right now I can run 20-25 minutes at about 6.0-6.5
    but then I get bored, its not that I cant keep running I just think about lifting more and would rather work on that

    So I will just stay extra focused when doing my runs, thank you for all the suggestions.

    much appreciated!
  • kenziberry
    kenziberry Posts: 164 Member
    I tried to pull up the website you sent and it says eror
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
    My $.02 - get some more miles before committing to a half

    also, get off the dreadmill! you've got to get outside and pound the pavement (track, sidewalk, trails, etc.) as much as possible

    here's a good program and the price is right (free), but there's no need to be in too big a hurry

    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51312/Half-Marathon-Novice-2-Training-Program
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    My $.02 - get some more miles before committing to a half

    also, get off the dreadmill! you've got to get outside and pound the pavement (track, sidewalk, trails, etc.) as much as possible

    here's a good program and the price is right (free), but there's no need to be in too big a hurry

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

    This is the program I chose. There is an app for the iPhone also. The race I entered is March 15, I entered that not he app and it tells me to begin training December 22. It gives the training for each day similar to the c25k apps. I say go for it, but like someone else said, get outside!
  • kenziberry
    kenziberry Posts: 164 Member
    ya its hard to get outside in the winter, I live in the UP and there is about 3 feet of snow.....I prefer to be inside during the freezing months
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    Easiest way is to just keep on upping the distances gradually. Dont worry too much about speed and time, although personally I motivate myself by trying to beat my best time.

    Why not see if there is something like a 10k before hand?
  • _Josee_
    _Josee_ Posts: 625 Member
    ya its hard to get outside in the winter, I live in the UP and there is about 3 feet of snow.....I prefer to be inside during the freezing months

    Just my opinion: If you plan on running the next 2 months on a treadmill, a half marathon in 3 months is NOT realistic. Maybe you'll be able to do it, but the chancee you'll be miserable while doing it are high.

    A treadmill will NEVER compare to running outside. And you CAN run outside even if it's winter. I live in Québec, Canada and I run outside... Snow on the ground and -25f cold and all.

    If you don't want to do that maybe you could find a race in the fall ? That way you'll be able to train outside this summer ?

    Just imagine: you find running more than 25 minutes boring right now (and I'm right there with you.. I call it the dreadmill), imagine doing a 2h30 long run on a treadmill. WAY better outside! :)
  • Kdhuynh54
    Kdhuynh54 Posts: 26
    I actually signed up for my first half around that time too!! This definitely would give anyone enough time to train i think. I'm currently up to 9 miles as my longer runs and trying to work in smaller runs into my lifestyle. Hopefully I'll be done training in another month or so and will go on to train for a full marathon despite the half race being in March. Definitely would buy some warm gear and suit up for outdoor running to train instead of a treadmill. I'm out there even during rain and snow and sleet. Happy training!
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    My $.02 - get some more miles before committing to a half

    also, get off the dreadmill! you've got to get outside and pound the pavement (track, sidewalk, trails, etc.) as much as possible

    here's a good program and the price is right (free), but there's no need to be in too big a hurry

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

    Exactly what I was thinking.

    Build to half-marathon distances gradually, enter some shorter races first just to get some race experience before tackling a pretty challenging distance. And get some road miles, running on a treadmill is nothing like running on the road, with the right gear you can run outside all year 'round (save the treadmill for when there's freezing rain or a blizzard)
  • CarmineDeMarco
    CarmineDeMarco Posts: 39 Member
    My $.02 - get some more miles before committing to a half

    Exactly what I was thinking.

    Build to half-marathon distances gradually, enter some shorter races first just to get some race experience before tackling a pretty challenging distance.

    Exactly what I was thinking, too. Why not run a couple/few 5Ks in the spring, then move up to 10K race distance, before attacking 13.1 miles? Why the hurry to do a half?

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