Need Half Marathon Advice

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ardeornellis
ardeornellis Posts: 198 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been training for a half marathon for several months.. I am running my first half December 4.. On October 15 I ran half marathon distance in my training.. I'm not sure what happened since then...Life maybe.. We finalized our baby girl's adoption, and had several family birthdays.. Lots of celebrating going on..:) I have totally dropped the ball on my nutrition and training.. For about a month I have averaged only 15 miles a week and have eaten like nutrition isn't a factor... I ran 6 miles Tuesday of this past week and 11 miles last Saturday.. I didn't run my long run yesterday.. I have no doubt that I can still run half marathon distance, but here's my question... I want to get back on board and be the best I can be on race day.... What is the best training and nutrition plan for the next 2 weeks.. I know its time to taper, but I tapered a month ago..Ugh... I would really like to get another good long run in before the race... I really have good endurance so I won't have to have tons of rest for the race, but just not sure where to go from here... Hal Higdon doesn't have a "so I fell of the wagon just before the race and need to get back on training plan".. I function so well with a plan and I feel like I am in limbo waiting for my race.... HELP!!!

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  • kated930
    kated930 Posts: 132
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    I have been training for a half marathon for several months.. I am running my first half December 4.. On October 15 I ran half marathon distance in my training.. I'm not sure what happened since then...Life maybe.. We finalized our baby girl's adoption, and had several family birthdays.. Lots of celebrating going on..:) I have totally dropped the ball on my nutrition and training.. For about a month I have averaged only 15 miles a week and have eaten like nutrition isn't a factor... I ran 6 miles Tuesday of this past week and 11 miles last Saturday.. I didn't run my long run yesterday.. I have no doubt that I can still run half marathon distance, but here's my question... I want to get back on board and be the best I can be on race day.... What is the best training and nutrition plan for the next 2 weeks.. I know its time to taper, but I tapered a month ago..Ugh... I would really like to get another good long run in before the race... I really have good endurance so I won't have to have tons of rest for the race, but just not sure where to go from here... Hal Higdon doesn't have a "so I fell of the wagon just before the race and need to get back on training plan".. I function so well with a plan and I feel like I am in limbo waiting for my race.... HELP!!!

    I honestly think you'll be fine! If you have ran 13 miles in the past month, and have continued to run during the week including 11 miles last saturday, you'll be fine. I say up one of your long runs over the weekend if it will make you feel better, and just do what you can according to the Hal Higdon schedule- I think that's what you're using. Honestly- the day of the race you'll have so much adrenaline you will be surprised at the energy you'll have while running!
    Nutrition wise- I don't know how you eat but it must be decent if you're on MFP and can run half marathon distance!
  • peachyolives
    peachyolives Posts: 46 Member
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    First of all, congratulations on the new family member!!! That's super exciting! I can imagine why you would have "fallen off the wagon," so definitely don't beat yourself up about it.

    I ran my first half marathon on Nov 5 (and about to do one for Thanksgiving). I didn't follow any specific plan, but here's what I would recommend/what worked for me.

    If you're concerned about your abilities at this point/just want to get an idea of how long your half marathon will take you, I would recommend running one more long run of maybe 9-11 miles. There's really no need to do the entire half marathon distance. I ran up to 11 miles before my first one, and I was very pleased with my results (finished in 1:55:02). Believe me, if you can run 10+ miles you have no worries about finishing your half marathon.

    Also, for my training I only ran 2-3 times a week. I'm sure running more is fine, but I like other types of workouts as well so I did a lot of cross training (spinning classes, elliptical, etc.). So, my idea of a good last two weeks would be something like this:

    2-3 runs in the 1st week, with one long one of 9-11 miles and two shorter of 3-5 miles each
    2 runs in week before race, both short/moderate distance (I ran over 7 miles a couple of days before the race and was still fine, but just think about how your body generally responds).

    I hope this helps, and of course, take everything with a grain of salt!

    Best of luck!
  • ardeornellis
    ardeornellis Posts: 198 Member
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    Thanks so much... This is what I had in mind as well.. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't way off....

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