Half Marathon!

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Stephanieb325
Stephanieb325 Posts: 174 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
For all you runners out there, do you think it possible for someone to complete a half marathon, with little training? Half Marathons are 13.1 milies long. I had been training for the USAF Half Marathon and I had gotten sick for the past month and haven't been able to train as well as I have been training and I have been training since June. Baby steps of course but then half way through August I had gotten really sick. I am doing better now and the race is 2 weeks away and I have been doing the best I can with training. I was just wanting some feedback on if this was realistic to complete without good intense training. I will be running, jogging and even walking to complete. Please let me know what you all think!

Replies

  • willywonka
    willywonka Posts: 743 Member
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    Hi there, what has been your longest run to date and when is the half marathon?
    :flowerforyou:
  • Stephanieb325
    Stephanieb325 Posts: 174 Member
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    I ran up to 7 miles in July and I am able to walk/jog/run 9 miles as of this past weekend. The Half Marathon is 19 Sept. 2009
  • stephcheers
    stephcheers Posts: 105
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    Way to go an committing to do a half marathon. I ran one this past May and loved it. I was able to follow a training schedule and when the excitement of the race was in the mix, I felt like I wanted to run a couple more miles at the end of it. So I highly recommend training for the best physical and mental results. (Keep that in mind for the next one). And you should have enough time to get in at least one "long" run before the race. Shoot for 11 miles this weekend.

    That being said, I ran with a couple people in that race who had NOT trained nearly the amount of time I had, for various reasons. Both these runners had never ran over 7 miles, but would be considered "active" and "healthy" people. They needed to stop and walk at various points after about 9 miles and had to deal with some body aches that they had never experienced. In the end they were both very proud of their accomplishment of completing the race, but they were sore for almost a full week afterward. (Mostly sore leg muscles). And as far as I know neither of them is planning to run another 13.1 miles anytime soon.

    I am running a 10 miler on Sept. 12th and I chose to do this distance, because of the amount of time I was able to commit to training. I love to run and more importantly I like to be able to "walk" afterward with a smile on my face!

    Go for it! You will learn a lot about what your body is capable of doing. :wink:
  • emorym
    emorym Posts: 344
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    If you continue training for the next couple weeks you should be able to do it. Also keep in mind even if you have to walk some of the course as long as you complete it it still counts. I did a half last spring in just under 3 hours. I did the run/walk method. I walked half the race of course, I ran the other half. The point is I have a finish time behind my name in the results. I felt great having finished and I am training for a full marathon next spring complete with walk breaks throw in. I am also planning on finishing that one :smile:
  • Stephanieb325
    Stephanieb325 Posts: 174 Member
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    Thank you so much for your responses! They really helped me out! I am going to try to be positive but I am very worried about the aches and sores that you speak of. I am going to do the long run or attempt to do it with a buddy that has done it a couple times and see how I do. Crossing my Fingers!
  • iRun4wine
    iRun4wine Posts: 5,126
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    I agree- I am my no means a running expert, but I would say keep training hard, but not too hard that you push yourself to the point of injury, and do the best you can on race day. If you walk part of it, you walk part of it. You'll still complete the half, and do something awesome! :flowerforyou:
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    At this point, you don't really know. If you have already paid your entry fee, you might as well go and have fun. Run as much as you can and just enjoy having a workout with a bunch of new friends!

    Unless you get caught up in a self-destructive drive to finish at all costs, the worst that can happen is that you have to walk a few miles. What I am trying to say is that you can do this in a way that allows you to enjoy the event without putting yourself at risk for a long-term injury. Just don't have any expectations and use common sense. You might do better than you think.
  • paulamma1
    paulamma1 Posts: 544 Member
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    Hmmm, there's not really a whole lot you can do in the next 2 weeks that's going to stand to you for the half.

    For example, don't try to jump from running a 7 mile long distance to running a 10 mile. Think about it, that's almost 50% extra!

    The best thing you can do for yourself is commit to partake but understand that you'll need to run/jog-walk the distance. That way you can still look forward to it without having any crazy goals and then be disappointed.

    A couple of tips: when you start out be NO where close to the front. With all the excitement on race day you can be inclined to go out a lot quicker than you want so almost hold yourself back.

    But most of all ENJOY YOURSELF!!! :flowerforyou:
  • Stephanieb325
    Stephanieb325 Posts: 174 Member
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    Thank you for your replys! I do agree that the run/walk/jog will come into play and the most important thing to me is to finish but not to damage or injure my body. I want to have fun and make new friends! I was just worried that I might be setting myself up for failure and I needed to know if it were possible to finish!

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