First Half Marathon - Hope I Finish in Time

I can't give you specific advice without specific details - but either tempo runs, interval training, or a combination of the two will help with your speed.

I try to do speed work twice a week for marathon training and half marathon training but I've been running for a while. If you do incorporate any speed work, I had a coach who told me the next day should be recovery (so about 1-2 minutes slower per mile each mile) and the day after, an easy day. Take enough time to recover if you do them! I wouldn't go from none to two in one week either, but try incorporating it

What is your current pace, and what is the allowed pace for the half?

I can't even begin to tell you how scared I was for my first half. I had no idea what to expect, and knew that there would be a ton of hills. There was a 3:30 course time limit, and I was training for a conservative 13:50 pace. I ended up running it in a 13:00 pace...keep in mind that the excitement of race day will help you go faster than you do in training.

How long have you been running distances of 3+ miles? That answer is needed for me to give advice. What's your current pace?

Speed intervals and tempo runs are your friend. They will help you get faster in no time.

For speed intervals do a half mile jog then 1/2 mile faster run until you've done however many miles you needed to do.

Tempo run if say you're doing 3 miles you run 1 mile at your normal pace, 1 mile a bit faster, and then cool down with a 1 mile normal pace run.

When I trained for my half Sunday was my long run, Monday was a 'regular' run, Wednesday was either tempo or speed, Thursday was a painfully slow recovery run. When I started I was a slow-ish runner. By the middle of the third week of my training a 9 minute mile felt like a 10 minute mile to me and a 10 minute mile -- which was supposed to be my recovery pace -- seemed like I was walking.

To be last, you would have to walk. Yes, people walk half marathons.
Don't worry with speed; just building up to running 13 miles will make you faster.

Good luck!

Funny story about the first HM I ran. It was the Air Force HM in Dayton Ohio. Traffic was so bad that I actually started the race 10 minutes late (No biggie, chip timing) and others were still on the highway getting parked.

So I get to the start and I go. I come up on this one lady, a big lady, carrying a bag and walking. I get closer and closer and i twas a big mcdonals bag, and she was eating a sandwich!

I venture to say she was going to be last, and the first person to actually GAIN weight, during a HM!

To be last, you would have to walk. Yes, people walk half marathons.
Don't worry with speed; just building up to running 13 miles will make you faster.

Good luck!

Funny story about the first HM I ran. It was the Air Force HM in Dayton Ohio. Traffic was so bad that I actually started the race 10 minutes late (No biggie, chip timing) and others were still on the highway getting parked.

So I get to the start and I go. I come up on this one lady, a big lady, carrying a bag and walking. I get closer and closer and i twas a big mcdonals bag, and she was eating a sandwich!

I venture to say she was going to be last, and the first person to actually GAIN weight, during a HM!

I'm running the marathon this year. Gawd I hope to see some of that action. I ate fresh pancakes while running the Pittsburgh half. Good times.

you will finish in time if you respect the race, and respect the training you need to put in for it. you can find many half marathon training plans out there, most of them at least 12 weeks long. start as soon as you can. don't let it be a month before race day and the longest run you've done was 4 miles.

you may or may not require nutrition on race day. you'll discover this on your long training runs. you need to experiment with what you want to eat. do you want gels, jelly beans, gummies, or just electrolyte mix in your water? are you going to carry water as you run, or just go aid station to aid station? if you are going to carry water, will it be on your belt, or will you carry it?

Honestly, just finish. It's your first time, you are going to learn quite a bit during, a race is a lot different than just training. I guarantee you will not be last, and even if, you just did a heck of a lot more than people sitting on the couch at home. Nothing embarrassing about putting in an effort like that.

Some tips: if you are looking to increase speed at some point, you will need a bit more leg muscle to assist with it, in addition to some extra anerobic endurance. Try adding plyometric workouts once or twice a week, and increasing your protein intake a bit. You can also look for routes with more hills, and read up a bit on proper running technique for climbing hills (helps keep you from burning out on steep hills during a race).

Also, DO NOT TRAIN TOO FAST. I did exactly this, and it totally messed up my knee, to the point of superficial damage to my cartilage that took about 9 months to heal. Step up the mileage slowly, no more than an 1 mile to your distance workout every week or two.

Lastly, just general race day tips: Use a camel back or some kind of water bladder. Biggest newbie mistake I made involved running a half marathon in July heat with minimal water during the race ( I always ended up on the wrong side of the water stand, and would just end up skipping because I didn't want to slow down and mess up my time). I hit mile 10 and my muscles locked up really bad. Also, contrary to what people might tell you, eating a big meal the night before is not the best course of action. Just stick to your normal eating routine, and maybe have a protein bar or light snack like a banana before your race.

And most importantly, have fun

I'm signing up for a nice flat half marathon along the ocean, and I'd love any tips on cranking up my speed. I can run a long ways at a slow pace, but I haven't naturally picked up speed like I expected to after running for a while. When I speed up, I get tired a lot more quickly. I'm a little worried I'll be among the last to finish.

Somebody has to be "last." Don't worry on your first about how far back you finish. To borrow from John Bingham, your goal should be to finish the same day you started. Unless the minimum pace is significantly faster than 16:30 per mile, you should be able to nearly walk the entire distance at a moderately fast pace.

When you say that you haven't picked up speed, where does the problem seem to occur? Huffing and puffing (cardio limits)? You probably need to slow down. Muscle exhaustion? Probably need to slow down even more. Joint aches and pains? You guessed it.

You should be gradually building up distance every couple of weeks on a long slow run. The long endurance run will (eventually) add to speed. On shorter run days (minimum of two days during the week) you can work on some specific speed exercises. Speed work is taxing and increaes the risk of injury, so be careful. Most speedwork involves running short distances at a moderately fast (for you) pace and then doing a walking recovery to the next run set.

A good way to keep up with your progress is about once per month, get out on a track and run a single mile at the fastest sustained pace that you can run. The goal is to run 4 (assuming the track is 1/4 mile in length) evenly paced laps AND being able to finsih the laps but not feeling like you could run another half-lap at that pace.

I was training for a marathon last year(my first. I skipped over the half-distance and went for the full). When I started out in April 2013, my sustained mile time was 11:40. By October 2013, just before my marathon, my mile time was 7:40 per mile. As a rough rule fo thumb, if you train for the complete distance (the series of endurance runs and shorter maintenance runs), your half marathon pace could be as fast as 1.2 times the mile pace (but that is running pretty hard in the race). For your first, plan to finish. I personally, don't like to become part of the furniture after running a race.

Where are you running this nice flat beach course? I'm running one in October in Myrtle Beach, SC as the final race before my next marathon in early November.

Are you running Long Beach? There's plenty of walkers. You won't be last.

If you are running LB, you might consider training with AREC or Sole Runners. They both have good programs and are very inexpensive (AREC's is free with a club memebership)

I'm running Long Beach. I'm a Long Beach Beach Bum. This will be my 5th year straight running.