Half Marathon in a month

You mentioned that you did 8 miles slowly only the other weekend - that's great. Work on getting up to 10miles before race day and then give it your best shot. You can do it. Don't worry about your pace - any finish will be a PB for you. Enjoy the journey and train more wisely next time. Good luck!!!!!

blues4miles wrote: »

UG77 wrote: »

DNF ~ Did Not Finish. I'm guessing.

Really digging the, "I'm doing it anyway" attitude.

Do you have just 1 day per week where you have your "long run" ? If so, for the next two weeks have that run be 10 miles. Your other runs during the week can be shorter. For the 10 miler nice and easy. You're not trying to win the half marathon, so don't injure yourself. The last week before the half marathon you're probably going to want to ease up a bit, only run 8 miles on your long day.

To me you're already running long enough distances to push to 13, so you should be fine. You're running it to finish it and you should be able to do that without any issues. When I trained for the Marine Corps Marathon I ramped up from 6 - 8 mile long runs directly to 13 milers without intermediate steps, but I was pretty much a running machine back then.

Actually I agree with this guy. Two 10 mile runs a week for the next 3 weeks, then drop down to 8 as your long run the week before the race. You might not collapse during it or give up running as a result of how crappy you feel finishing it.

aub6689 wrote: »

Aed0416 wrote: »

I don't know if you can do it effectively and safely. I' running a half on the 6th and will be starting to taper after my last long run this Saturday. If I were in your shoes I would try to work up to a 10k prior to the race and then on your race day run the first half and walk the second. The race may even offer a 10k event and they may let you switch.

Isn't a 10k only 6 miles?

Only? Quite the chutzpah you have there. Completing 6 miles at a good pace is a LOT harder than merely finishing walk/jogging a half. Also it's almost the total difference between the longest run you've ever done and the race you are about to do. When you get to the 7 mile mark in your half you can ponder how you have 'only' a 10k left.

Anyways, good luck with your approach.

In fairness, she did say in the OP that she's run two HMs before, so it's not like the concept if foreign to her.

If she can run a 8 miles at a comfortable pace...stretching it out to 13 in a month seems doable. It may not be a PR, but if it's about finishing, having fun and not eating the money, it seems reasonable.

aub6689 wrote: »

blues4miles wrote: »

gabbo34 wrote: »

blues4miles wrote: »

UG77 wrote: »

DNF ~ Did Not Finish. I'm guessing.

Really digging the, "I'm doing it anyway" attitude.

Do you have just 1 day per week where you have your "long run" ? If so, for the next two weeks have that run be 10 miles. Your other runs during the week can be shorter. For the 10 miler nice and easy. You're not trying to win the half marathon, so don't injure yourself. The last week before the half marathon you're probably going to want to ease up a bit, only run 8 miles on your long day.

To me you're already running long enough distances to push to 13, so you should be fine. You're running it to finish it and you should be able to do that without any issues. When I trained for the Marine Corps Marathon I ramped up from 6 - 8 mile long runs directly to 13 milers without intermediate steps, but I was pretty much a running machine back then.

Actually I agree with this guy. Two 10 mile runs a week for the next 3 weeks, then drop down to 8 as your long run the week before the race. You might not collapse during it or give up running as a result of how crappy you feel finishing it.

aub6689 wrote: »

Aed0416 wrote: »

I don't know if you can do it effectively and safely. I' running a half on the 6th and will be starting to taper after my last long run this Saturday. If I were in your shoes I would try to work up to a 10k prior to the race and then on your race day run the first half and walk the second. The race may even offer a 10k event and they may let you switch.

Isn't a 10k only 6 miles?

Only? Quite the chutzpah you have there. Completing 6 miles at a good pace is a LOT harder than merely finishing walk/jogging a half. Also it's almost the total difference between the longest run you've ever done and the race you are about to do. When you get to the 7 mile mark in your half you can ponder how you have 'only' a 10k left.

Anyways, good luck with your approach.

In fairness, she did say in the OP that she's run two HMs before, so it's not like the concept if foreign to her.

If she can run a 8 miles at a comfortable pace...stretching it out to 13 in a month seems doable. It may not be a PR, but if it's about finishing, having fun and not eating the money, it seems reasonable.

I just don't like the attitude that training to run a 5k or a 10k well is somehow lesser than a half marathon. Being adequately prepared to actually race a shorter distance can be a lot harder than walk/jogging a half or even a full marathon. People should reconsider pushing themselves and better training rather than picking races they think will get them Facebook kudos is all I'm saying. Yes she ran a half before, but obviously didn't maintain her training. It's sort of like the folks that can lose 30 lbs, and then regain it, and keep yo-yo-ing. I'm just suggesting things that might keep a person running year round.

But the OP ran the race, survived, that's all good. Hope she picks her running back up in a week or so so she can keep running races year round and have an adequate training base.

I'm sorry that you took my comment that way or if I somehow offended you. When I said only 6 miles, it was because I am more of a duration runner. At the time of the thread I knew I could run over 6 miles and I like to run at a steady 6.0 mph pace because that is what feels good. I don't do 10k's or 5k's because I thought I'd feel the need to go faster.

Also your assumptions are inaccurate- if you'd like to be facebook friends, you will find facebook kudos for the cakes I make instead. And focusing on weights and HIIT over duration training, isn't the same as yo-yo dieting, I continued training and running just hadn't logged a lot of mileage. I'm sorry if my stubbornness was read as arrogance, but I was merely asking for suggestions.

My apologies. I should have made it more clear the response you are responding to was not directly accusing you of the things I was complaining about. But I can see I came across as rude so I'm sorry.

I don't know you on Facebook (which is probably a good thing so I don't have to drool over your cakes). My complaint was a general one. There seem to be a lot of people who think there is only glory in the half or the full marathon. That somehow a 5k or a 10k isn't perceived as challenging "enough" even though a lot of these people start from nothing. I simply meant that 5k and 10k are challenging distances in and of themselves, to which you alluded to in your post and sounds like you agree with me, and wish more people would go after them first. The steady easy-as-you-go approach with incremental challenges is more likely to keep people running. Trying to get from 0 to 13 miles (which obviously wasn't you OP as you were already up to 6) in a short amount of time is akin to the folks who come on here trying to lose 30 lbs for a wedding next month.