Half marathon 2 weeks from today...Can I do this?

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Replies

  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    edited April 2015
    teacton11 wrote: »
    You don't need to be trained to go that distance, you just have to be trained to go that distance in a timely manner.

    Indeed... pace matters. And with that in mind I'll advocate for the other side now.

    Despite what I said up thread, if the OP has been following a regular running routine with regular longer (6.5miles) runs, not just a single 6.5 mile run once or twice a month, then she probably could come up with a run-walk strategy and go the distance. 8 or 9 minutes per km for 21km = 168 to 189 minutes or up to about 3h10m.

    If you are fit enough such that your heart rate recovers decently during the walking periods, and you don't have any other foot/limb/mobility issues, you probably will complete the run well within the time limits.

    That said, personally I would not do it if I wasn't trained and prepared to run (not run-walk) the entire course because that's important to me. I'd worry that I might ditch discipline and run the whole thing and come out fighting an injury I'd regret for weeks. Maybe the OP has better discipline than I do.

    I'm training for a few half's later this summer and fall. Ask me later if I stuck to my plan... I'll be honest. :smile:


  • Robertus
    Robertus Posts: 558 Member
    As long as you go into it prepared stop if you feel any pain, it doesn't hurt to give it a try. Take it easy, listen to your body, and have fun. If at any point it stops being fun, call it a learning experience and pat yourself on the back for being wise and wonderful.
  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
    Might not be popular opinion but my mom (she was about 55 at the time) did a half with me (walking) having probably only gone 3m tops in preparation. She was probably one sore cookie for about a week after, but she did it and didn't go over the max time. I think I had only gone about 6m in preparation for it. I wasn't doing it for time, I could have gone faster but was with mom. Walking the whole thing actually proved to make me more sore than if I would have walk/ran. Give yourself a break as far as how fast you go, listen to your body, HAVE FUN. You can do it.
  • olivia_june
    olivia_june Posts: 111 Member
    Did anyone read my post, where I said that I twisted my ankle very early but still finished the race? I'm well aware that getting injured is a possibility (as it is for any distance).

    And those who are saying "why bother?" are race snobs. Back of the packers still finished the same amount of distance as those who cross the finish line first. The point is to set a goal for yourself and then follow through and achieve it. Like I said in my post, my time was awful and I was dead last, but I'm still hella proud of myself. I only started really running this past September (my first 10k was Sept 26th, I did it untrained), and then started training for my February half in October. Took a month off in December, and a few weeks here and there for injury/illness.

    Basically my post boiled down to whether the OP wants to do it or not. The only motivation you can get is from yourself. If you want it bad enough, you'll achieve it, even if it's not up to others' (aka race snobs) standards'. Everyone starts somewhere.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    Did anyone read my post, where I said that I twisted my ankle very early but still finished the race?

    One might consider what you described as a particularly idiotic thing to do. Twelve miles on potentially torn ligaments is enough to cause permanent damage, never mind the propagation into the knees and hips and causing secondary effects.

    If you're going to set a goal for yourself, then train for it to give yourself a baseline for improvement. My personal goal at the moment is sub 2Hrs. I could probably have achieved that at my last race, but the injury that I did pick up slowed me down by about 15 minutes. I made the decision based on knowing what had caused the injury and enough understanding that I knew it wasn't going to cause a permanent problem.
  • liz4440
    liz4440 Posts: 15 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    Did anyone read my post, where I said that I twisted my ankle very early but still finished the race? I'm well aware that getting injured is a possibility (as it is for any distance).

    And those who are saying "why bother?" are race snobs. Back of the packers still finished the same amount of distance as those who cross the finish line first. The point is to set a goal for yourself and then follow through and achieve it. Like I said in my post, my time was awful and I was dead last, but I'm still hella proud of myself. I only started really running this past September (my first 10k was Sept 26th, I did it untrained), and then started training for my February half in October. Took a month off in December, and a few weeks here and there for injury/illness.

    Basically my post boiled down to whether the OP wants to do it or not. The only motivation you can get is from yourself. If you want it bad enough, you'll achieve it, even if it's not up to others' (aka race snobs) standards'. Everyone starts somewhere.

    I agree with you Olivia,
    I have been training for a half marathon since early this year. I havent been the most consistent with my training. but just to see where I was at, I randomly signed up for one in March. Did I run the whole 13.2 miles? NO. But I did finish and I was proud of myself for finishing. The race I participated in had a cut off time of 3 hours, so I already had the clock against me in this one. I ran the first 6 miles, and after that did a run 3/4 of the mile walk 1/4 of the mile pace until I finished. And at the end I was glad I finished (finished under the 3 hour mark), and it has even made me more focused and motivated to finish better in my upcoming half in May. I think it is all about why you want to do a half. Everyone has to start somewhere and I think run/walking a half is just as good as any place to start.
  • veganbettie
    veganbettie Posts: 701 Member
    I think everyone runs their own race...some may feel comfortable walking and running, some may only be happy if they run the race in a certain amount of time...

    personally for me if i have to walk at any point during a race i feel like i failed so....there is no point in doing a half if i'm going to have to walk. But i've yet gotten to the point where I want i'm super focused on time. I'll run slower than a turtle, but i'm still going to run it....which means i have to train for it....which means i have to have time to train for it.

    I run with a stroller and with out...and really there isn't too much different to me other than i get distracted by my toddler every two minutes when i have the stroller....i mean it IS on wheels, it doesn't add that much resistance to me...Hell i ran my first 5k with my toddler and went through the whole C25K with it. I'm decently new at running but 6 miles seems a lot different than 13.1
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    And those who are saying "why bother?" are race snobs.

    Not necessarily; it could be they are less than artfully expressing their own preferences rather than looking at the "back of the packers" in a negative light.

    I can walk 13 miles any day of the week - always could, even at my least fit - but I can't run 13 miles at a decent pace without training properly.

    I enter "race" events for myself only and suspect most are the same. When I enter an event it's for that extra bit of community-inspired motivation to keep my pace up throughout the race. How someone else finishes never enters my mind.

  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
    edited April 2015
    olivia_june wrote: »
    Did anyone read my post, where I said that I twisted my ankle very early but still finished the race? I'm well aware that getting injured is a possibility (as it is for any distance).


    Yeah, i read it. That was a really dumb thing to do.


    eta: running with an injury does not make you 'gritty'. It is not a virtue. As someone else pointed out, we are not pros. There is no Olympic gold on the line. No sponsor will drop you. Your livelihood does not depend on you finishing a race with torn ligaments. Sure, we all read stories of Scott Jurek winning the Hardrock 100 on a busted ankle or whatever, and its inspiring. But remember: He is Scott Jurek, and you are not.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    If you can do 6.5 miles now + more, don't decide yet. Try a 9.5-10 mile long run this week and decide if you would feel ok walking another hour/have time to finish at that pace.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    And those who are saying "why bother?" are race snobs. Back of the packers still finished the same amount of distance as those who cross the finish line first.

    I'd wager that the level of enjoyment was vastly different in both groups. The whole not being injured thing is more fun too. I'm just a weekend hack at running. I don't want to struggle with a race. If it's not fun I won't do it.
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    Did anyone read my post, where I said that I twisted my ankle very early but still finished the race? I'm well aware that getting injured is a possibility (as it is for any distance).

    And those who are saying "why bother?" are race snobs. Back of the packers still finished the same amount of distance as those who cross the finish line first. The point is to set a goal for yourself and then follow through and achieve it. Like I said in my post, my time was awful and I was dead last, but I'm still hella proud of myself. I only started really running this past September (my first 10k was Sept 26th, I did it untrained), and then started training for my February half in October. Took a month off in December, and a few weeks here and there for injury/illness.

    Basically my post boiled down to whether the OP wants to do it or not. The only motivation you can get is from yourself. If you want it bad enough, you'll achieve it, even if it's not up to others' (aka race snobs) standards'. Everyone starts somewhere.


    And I bet if you had properly trained from the get go you wouldn't have had to take time off to recover from more injuries.

    How do I know this?
    I've been battling injuries for years until a few weeks ago.
    My training in 2012 wasn't the smartest and it lead to being out of racing for most of 2013 and 2014.
    I'm now benched with a broken fibula and will have to start over from scratch with training once I'm healed.

  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    And those who are saying "why bother?" are race snobs. Back of the packers still finished the same amount of distance as those who cross the finish line first. The point is to set a goal for yourself and then follow through and achieve it.

    Race snob? Maybe. But you missed my entire point. The OP was saying she HAD a goal to do one in the fall and was planning on training for it. Jumping the gun and doing it NOW is only going to result in disappointment and likely a lack of desire to run every again. So, in that case my "why bother" attitude is not "race snobbery"
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    Did anyone read my post, where I said that I twisted my ankle very early but still finished the race? I'm well aware that getting injured is a possibility (as it is for any distance).

    And those who are saying "why bother?" are race snobs. Back of the packers still finished the same amount of distance as those who cross the finish line first. The point is to set a goal for yourself and then follow through and achieve it. Like I said in my post, my time was awful and I was dead last, but I'm still hella proud of myself. I only started really running this past September (my first 10k was Sept 26th, I did it untrained), and then started training for my February half in October. Took a month off in December, and a few weeks here and there for injury/illness.

    Basically my post boiled down to whether the OP wants to do it or not. The only motivation you can get is from yourself. If you want it bad enough, you'll achieve it, even if it's not up to others' (aka race snobs) standards'. Everyone starts somewhere.

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  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    glevinso wrote: »
    olivia_june wrote: »
    And those who are saying "why bother?" are race snobs. Back of the packers still finished the same amount of distance as those who cross the finish line first. The point is to set a goal for yourself and then follow through and achieve it.

    Race snob? Maybe. But you missed my entire point. The OP was saying she HAD a goal to do one in the fall and was planning on training for it. Jumping the gun and doing it NOW is only going to result in disappointment and likely a lack of desire to run every again. So, in that case my "why bother" attitude is not "race snobbery"

    Basically, why rush?
    Her original goal is reasonable. It was perfectly acceptable to her before learning of this race. The only reason she considered running this race was the opportunity presented itself.
    I've been a back of the packer, I've moved up a little to a back of the middle of the packer. I also don't see the point of grinding out an unprepared run just to finish for the sake of achieving the goal a little early because you have the chance to.
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