Half Marathon!!

Five months should be fine. Try the Hal Higdon plans, or Runners World.

I ran my first Half Marathon last year at a turtle like pace of 14:08 minutes per mile. I'm working towards beating that pace this May. I was self conscious about my pace until I did the race and realized that everyone that shows up and finished is overcoming a personal hurdle that really erases any hint of embarrassment. I found my slept surrounded by heros and support that was astonishing. Work hard and you'll be proud of your race regardless of your final pace.

Start gradually increasing your mileage now, then start a plan 12 weeks before your race that fits your schedule and the mileage you are doing. Higdon's plans are good and free. I think you'll find that as your mileage goes up your pace will go down.

I've now run two half marathons and when I've trained for them I tried to do two short runs (my route is ~4 miles) on the weekdays and a slower, longer run at the weekend. I try and up the distance of the long run by a mile every few weeks (depending on how much time until the race!) and aim to have run ~11 miles by maybe 3 weeks before raceday. I'm by no means an expert at running (and also very slow paced!) but I find sticking to set online training plans difficult and this has worked for me

@Imperfect_Angel June is attainable. As many have said start increasing your distance now.
In fact don't wait until 12 weeks out to start the training plan. I would suggest you could start it now as suggested by this Blog
I might even double the plan. That is do each week twice ( especially the early weeks ) giving you lots of time to slowly increase your distance and allowing you to have extra down/recovery-taper weeks. Time on your feet is more important than Pace at this point in your running training. Most people I interact with in my little club use a plan as a guideline and modify it to fit their life.
Another good reference is this compilation of Links.

If you can find some local 5k and 10k races you should register for them just for the experience of a race, especially the start and the Pack Dragging you out at a pace that is to fast for you to maintain through the event. Pay attention to your pre-race meal timing and Bathroom routines based on expected start time. If you have a "regular" 9:20 bathroom routine and the race starts at 9:00 you need to make some adjustments.

Most important note; Nothing New on Race Weekend/Day. Wear the clothes and shoes that you have been training in/comfortable in for the temperatures. The Race shirt, put it aside for Post Race wear and future short training runs. It's a rookie mistake to wear the race shirt and find out that it has material or a seam that irritates. I had a Race shirt that had a Chevron of Reflective Material on the Back and Chest that looked great for night running. It was a disaster as the seams irritated the nipples and the shoulder blades. I believe it ended up in the Sally Ann Bin. Its not the time to experiment with that new Mexican/Chinese/Italian restaurant that you have never been to.

http://running.competitor.com/2014/08/training/running-101-how-often-should-you-run_12188?utm_medium=whats-hot

http://running.competitor.com/2015/07/training/pre-race-dos-and-donts-for-beginner-runners_132707

http://running.competitor.com/2015/10/training/how-to-train-for-your-first-10k_137447

http://running.competitor.com/2015/05/training/how-to-train-for-your-first-half-marathon_128475

Imperfect_Angel wrote: »

The weather in Scotland is terrible ATM to run outside

You're in Glasgow, the weather is better than it is here in the South of England, at the moment...

As far as nutrition is concerned, personally I wouldn't worry too much for a half marathon, but if you do need something on the move you can either get chews or gels. I've used both, and find either effective.

The main thing is to be adequately fueled before going out; porridge & banana or something like that.

Imperfect_Angel wrote: »

@lporter229 What you said about chews......what are these meant to do exactly? Please excuse me but I'm a bit lost, if you could kindly explain x

Chews are something like Cliff Shot Bloks - a small chewy square a lot like a dense gumdrop. Three small pieces have 90 calories, 23 g. carbohydrate, and (for the one I like best, Margarita flavor) 150 mg. sodium and 20 mg. potassium. Some people eat Swedish Fish, jelly beans, etc. for the sugar boost, but those don't have the added sodium or potassium. There are other chews, just as there are a multitude of gels to try out.

Start training with some sort of fuel when your runs get up to 9 or 10 miles if you plan to use something during your race. Many people don't, because you should have enough stored glycogen to keep you going for 13 miles, but there is both a physical and psychological boost to ingesting something sugary every 45 minutes or so in a long race. I had a hard time getting my stomach used to eating concentrated sugar when exerting, but eventually I found some Gus etc. that my stomach tolerates. Shot Bloks were easier to digest, but can be harder to chew, especially if they're old. I've also used dates and raisins.

I use this 10-week training plan:

http://www.marathonrookie.com/support-files/10weekhalfmarathonschedule.pdf

June is more than enough of you can run a 5km you need to build up your mileage , try look at Run Keeper app they have good free training plans , you likely will need to be running 4/5 times a week including the all important long run, doesn't need to be 20km just start with 8km next week 10km next 11km etc etc gives your body time to build up and be used to the distance.
I went from c25k to half marathon on 10 weeks training but went running 5 days a week 2 5kms 2 8-10km and one long run , wasn't following a plan per say which now from a few races have learnt my mistake.
Running a race gives a crazy nervous buzz it's amazing it's the training that's exhausting and can be monotonous so look at different routes to do maybe few months in try farklets, splits etc helps with your speed and keeps that 5km run from being dull as anything .
Long amount of training you might get sick, exhausting, hurt, lose motivation don't beat yourself up if you need an extra day to recover or need a rest day but stick to a plan , oh and for the love of god practice your pre race breakfast and what you will eat/drink during the race trust me nobody wants a sudden shock to your stomach half way through a race. Keep hydrated , don't need to have gels for long runs but can help I love having gummy bears as an extra boost or naked bar but everyone is different.

You can add in cross training like swimming, biking maybe weights
Yoga for Runner's is really good especially on those calves.

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

Five months should be fine. Try the Hal Higdon plans, or Runners World.

I've followed Hal Higdon's plans for all of my races! I've ran 2 full marathons and 3 half marathons. His schedules are so helpful..definitely recommend trying it out!

The minimum training time is 3 months, so 5 months should be plenty of time. I'm signed up for one at the end of April. Happy running!!

A few years ago I could only run 3k at this time of year and I ran a half in June (my first one). I used couch to 5k, bridge to 10k then a half marathon training plan, and am doing the same this year. You can do it! There were so many encouraging people it was really amazing. Super fun experience and you'll feel very accomplished!