From my first 5K to 1/2 marathon HELP

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mpmartin92
mpmartin92 Posts: 10
in Fitness and Exercise
Completed my first 5k yesterday at the OKC Memorial. I AM HOOKED! A year ago i could barely run a mile and set a goal with all my weightloss of running the 5k at yesterday's event. One of the best things I have ever done along with losing all this weight. I am currently running 5-6 miles and have set a new goal to run the 1/2 marathon next April or this November in Tulsa Oklahoma. With all my weight loss to this point, 168 pounds, I have really focused a bit more on toning in the gym but have no idea how to train for a 1/2 marathon, any help???

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  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
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    November shouldn't be too soon. There are tons of half marathon training plans. Lots of people like Hal Higdon's plans. And they're free. Basically just pick a plan and count back weeks from your half to find your starting point. Between now and your "official" training start just work on adding miles and building a good base.

    I ran my first 5K a couple of Februarys ago and ran my first Half the following December.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    November shouldn't be too soon. There are tons of half marathon training plans. Lots of people like Hal Higdon's plans. And they're free. Basically just pick a plan and count back weeks from your half to find your starting point. Between now and your "official" training start just work on adding miles and building a good base.

    I ran my first 5K a couple of Februarys ago and ran my first Half the following December.

    All of this.

    I have used Hal Higdon's plans myself. There are several different ones available for people with different abilities and goals. I'd definitely recommend it (and like above poster noted, they are free).

    ETA - when you click on the plan, it gives an explanation of where you should be training wise before starting the plan. That should help narrow which one would be best for you.
    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51130/Half-Marathon-Training-Guide
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    Hal Higdon has 5 different half marathon training plans. They are all 12 weeks long. Since you are running 5-6 miles at a time now, the Novice 2 program would probably be a good one for you. Here's the link to all of the Hal Higdon plans:

    http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51130/Half-Marathon-Training-Guide

    I'm doing my first 10K next month and then using this training program for a half in the fall. Good luck and I'm glad you liked the 5K so much!

    ETA: whoops sorry, this is basically a duplicate of the above post!
  • brandiuntz
    brandiuntz Posts: 2,717 Member
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    Congrats!! I took up running in Jan. 2013 and have since run 5k's, 10k's, and two half-marathons.

    The way I trained was to slowly increase weekly mileage. After feeling comfortable with the 5k distance, I built up to 10k. Ran a few 10k races, felt comfortable with that distance, then started on a training plan for half-marathon and ran my first one in November last year.

    You can look up training programs that give you specific guides for adding mileage. Main thing is to run consistently and to not add more than 10% a week to your distance to reduce your chance of injury.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
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    Way to go, and that is insane weight loss! There are so many plans to pick from. As sjohnny said, Hal Higdon is popular, and is what I used myself. There's also Galloway plans that are a little gentler, and many in between. Are you running 5-6 miles in one go, or is that per week?

    I'd also encourage you to check out [ http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/94-long-distance-runners ] There are lots of knowledgeable people there with varying experience and ability.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    All of the above. I just want to throw out Jeff Galloway's plan - that is what I followed for my first half aside from some tweaks to the mileage plan. I liked his method because I prefer to do walk/run intervals. Some people would argue that I'm not "running" a half if I do that, but I don't care...at the end of the day I'm now 85 lbs down and completing half marathons...the rest is just schematics!
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
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    All of the above. I just want to throw out Jeff Galloway's plan - that is what I followed for my first half aside from some tweaks to the mileage plan. I liked his method because I prefer to do walk/run intervals. Some people would argue that I'm not "running" a half if I do that, but I don't care...at the end of the day I'm now 85 lbs down and completing half marathons...the rest is just schematics!

    Schematics huh?
  • sazrina
    sazrina Posts: 99 Member
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    Hal Higdon, I'm two weeks away from my first half and have been following his novice plan. I really like how the long run's increase and how you can cross train still, couldn't give up my spin classes
  • Kelly_Runs_NC
    Kelly_Runs_NC Posts: 474 Member
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    There are tons on-line for free, Just google free half marathon training plans...also a lot of sites like running times and womens running will even have receipes and calculators for pace etc...

    You;ll be fine. Just trust the plan and take it slow...don't increase your miles too quick.

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