That's a perfect long, slow build-up. I'm in the same situation but with only 10 weeks to go! As well as your three runs a week, schedule in stretching and your physio rehab exercises. They go on the fridge too! I had to eliminate anything else high-impact as cross training - swimming and yoga only. Good luck!

Yes, it is possible. I did it this year. Prior to January I hadn't run more than a mile in 2 years. Prior to that I ran but not anywhere near the distance I needed for a HM. So in January I joined up with Team in Training and was able to successfully complete a HM at the end of May.

A couple things that I learned in the process. First, don't try to pick up where you left off. For some reason I thought I'd just go out and be able to run 3 miles and feel fine. Big mistake. This attitude persisted for the first couple months and caused me great pain in my shin/calf during the last couple weeks of training and after the race itself. Which leads me to the 2nd thing I learned. Don't try to run through an injury. Had I taken some time off early I would not have been down for 3+ weeks in June. I was very lucky to not have major damage but... Lesson 3 - See a damned doctor when things are hurting and you don't know why.

Good luck.

MobyCarp wrote: »

It's possible. It will be more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge. The thing is, you need to build mileage. But at the same time, you absolutely need to avoid doing anything that sets you back with respect to aggravating old injuries.

So the mileage needs to be built slowly. My advice, for what it's worth, is to use what's left of December and January to build your base. Stop thinking in terms of miles per month, and start thinking in terms of miles per week. If you can add slowly, very slowly to avoid re-injury, and still get to 12 to 15 miles per week by the end of January, you'll be in pretty good shape to start a structured training schedule in February aiming at a half marathon in May. Don't even worry about stretching your long run out any further until February.

And meanwhile, about that winter weather . . . there is no bad weather for running. There is only inappropriate clothing. One of the things I've noticed in upstate NY in the winter is that we get a lot of weather that is much better for running than for walking or for standing around.

I like this advice. Build a base and then go from there. For me MobyCarp nailed it when he said it was a mental challenge more than physical. To me, once you get a solid base established unless you are going for some great PR or win your age group "physical" is not an issue as you can always "slow down" so you don't get hurt. "Mentally" you can think of it as your long run for the week and keep telling yourself to finish.

As above, I agree. Totally doable as long as you build your mileage slowly over the next four months AND you actually do the training during the four months (note: I am factoring the last couple of weeks at the beginning of May as "taper weeks"). Three days a week would be just about the minimum (say Tuesday and Thursday for 30-45 minutes, with a gradually longer run on the weekend.

I injured a hip flexor while training for my third marathon in three months in 2015 and ended up sitting out a total of six weeks to enable healing.

After healing, things were tight and I had lost some speed. But the slow buildup in distance got me ready to run a 5k race on July 4th (though I knew I would not be competitive in my age group). Still, I ran easily in the hot and humid conditions and missed a PR by a mere 10 seconds.

I gradually built distance throughout the rest of the summer and ran a half marathon in mid-October. Again, for me it was just a step back to marathon distance, so I ran it easily rather than as an all out race and was off my best time by three minutes. But it is all about a gradual increase.

Granted, I have become accustomed to running HM distances in preparation for marathons, but the same principles apply in terms of gradual building of endurance and doing the work to accomplish that.