1/2 marathon here i come!

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gingerfoxxx
gingerfoxxx Posts: 267 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been a 5k/8k girl for the past couple years, but i have decided to really push myself and run a half marathon this fall. To all the seasoned runners-

What is the best advice you can give for someone running their very first half marathon??

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  • FryingPanda
    FryingPanda Posts: 99 Member
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    Find a good 12 week training plan for you and stick to it. :smile: I am running my second 1/2. I ran my first and half assed the training thinking I was in good enough shape. Various parts had a bad hurt for a couple weeks.

    Though I am sure you are not as foolish as me... Not sure many people are. :laugh:
  • corsayre8
    corsayre8 Posts: 551 Member
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    Jumping in to see what the seasoned runners have to say here. Planning on also doing a half this fall.
  • shellbell1993
    shellbell1993 Posts: 315 Member
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    Train consistantly (as much as possible, do not stress, sometimes life gets in the way) Rest, water, proper shoes, strectching, eat healthy foods for strength and race day try to enjoy the feeling of people cheering you on! You will be just fine :)
    Good Luck and if you have any questions you can add me and ask away!!!
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Definitely find a training plan. There are tons of them out there free of charge. I used one of the plans on runnersworld.com for my first half.

    The toughest thing for me was just convincing myself that I could run for that long, so long runs were important for me. Long runs were a lot more enjoyable with a buddy, too.

    All but one of the halfs I ran were "destination races", meaning I traveled to them with a group of friends. That also helped to make the whole experience a lot more enjoyable.

    You can definitely do it!
  • hdchic78
    hdchic78 Posts: 31 Member
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    increas you rmileage slowly and comfortably....I'd pick a 12 week plan that has at least 6 runs over 8 miles....don't fret over the time your long runs take -- you WANT them to be about 2-3 minutes slower per mile than your "normal" pace......be sure to pepper in some "fun" runs, as well as some wire-less (no gamrin, ipod, cell phone) runs...GOOD LUCK!!! I'm running my 6th half this Sunday, and am nervous as can be :-)
  • guidnca
    guidnca Posts: 64
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    You can run a 1/2. It is doable. .

    Runners world
    Hal Higdon
    Cool Running
    have plans online find one and follow it.

    If there are a group of runners in town, join them. They will help you on those long runs.
  • inatay7
    inatay7 Posts: 141
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    I'm not a seasoned runner...... but I spent 12 weeks preparing for mine in a group with professional trainers, we did track work on wednesday nights, working on running style, with some strength work in there too. On saturday mornings we did endurance distance runs starting small in the earlier weeks, gradually increasing our distance as the weeks progressed, I also suggest you take some time to suss out what works for you in regards to fuel belts and possibly energy gels. In between we were encouraged to do some swimming, cycling and more running. I didn't follow the program as well as I could have but I had the most amazing time........ you will love it, it will be well worth all of the hard work you put in, a feeling like none other! Good luck!!!!

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