3 months to prepare for a Half ?

Soul Stretcher

Experience:

Ran Longford Half in 2008 ( I hr 58 mins)
Ran Florence Full in 2008 (4 hrs 15 mins)

Took a break from running. Got badly sprained ankle last September in a game of soccer.

Ankle coming back now- just the odd twinge now and then. Have put on about 3 stone through lack of exercise and over-eating.

Thinking tonight about doing Longford Half at the end of August. Both to get the Feel-Good Endorphins going again in my body and to shift 2/3 stone.

Exactly 3 months to prepare. Is this do-able - starting from scratch ? Or am just setting myself up for disappointment ?

I've a feeling I could do it (hopefully in a faster time ) but I'd appreciate any input from experienced runners (as I wouldn't be experienced - more a hobbyist - don't follow training plans as such).

Krusty_Clown

Definitely achievable. But if you're planning on beating your PB, it will take dedication. Time to pick that training plan, and stick to it!

RoyMcC

Crikey SS you must have been leading a wild old life to put on three stone Don't try and lose it all in three months though. If you're going to take up your running again then you need to take both running and dieting nice and slow. You'll need a reasonable fuel intake to maintain a running programme.

Like Krusty says, follow a doable programme and set yourself a definite target for Longford. Then take a look at your diet. Cut out some of the crap and add good stuff. You'll know how good it is to be in shape and running well so you have a great incentive to get back to where you've been. Line up a full marathon for (say) 12 months time as well.

All the best.

Soul Stretcher

Thanks Guys ! Yeah definitely want to do another Full. This year's DCM is too soon but maybe a European City next Spring (make a long weekend out of it !).

Basically I'm a bit of a Chocoholic. My running used to balance out my chocolate intake. After the Sprain though, I kept eating the same amount of chocolate so I was taking in too many calories and voila !! :pac:

I miss the Feel-Good aspect to running... My 45 mins a day or so used to give me loads of energy which was great... I also want to get back into horse-riding (after I lose the weight obviously - think of the poor horse!:D).

I've never followed a Guru's "plan" before.

What I've done before is:

Short runs of 3/4 miles 4 times a week for 4-6 weeks.
Increase distance to 6/7 miles 4 times a week and basically keep doing those for months. Do a Long-Run of 10/11 miles once a week/once a fortnight. And that's it.

I think that will work fine for the Half but I may need to look up a Guru plan for the Full (to do it comfortably).

macinalli

Soul Stretcher wrote: »

What I've done before is:

Short runs of 3/4 miles 4 times a week for 4-6 weeks.
Increase distance to 6/7 miles 4 times a week and basically keep doing those for months. Do a Long-Run of 10/11 miles once a week/once a fortnight. And that's it.

There's a good discussion here on the need to have a plan for each session, rather than doing the same thing each time you head out. I think the first part of your plan is fine - you need to get the body used to running again. After that though you should think about throwing in intervals, tempo runs etc but also some slow recovery runs. This is my 1st year doing this properly (have joined some experienced runners who are setting me straight) and I think it's great; the fitness has improved and the weight is coming off. It's no more physical effort than what you've planned, but it will give you more out of your training. Good luck!

Krusty_Clown

Soul Stretcher wrote: »

Thanks Guys ! Yeah definitely want to do another Full. This year's DCM is too soon but maybe a European City next Spring (make a long weekend out of it !).

I heartily endorse Barcelona Marathon in March. It's a great marathon for a PB (and a great city too!).
Try a plan. You might find the discipline might help you. Hal Higdon is often a great place to start.

Soul Stretcher

Barcelona it is so !! (I've said it out loud now so I've got to do it !:D). It's a city I hear great things about. I'd also love to do Berlin and Edinburgh over the next year or two.

I'll look into the Hal Higdon plan. At the moment I don't even know what "intervals" are exactly.. but I guess you learn something new everyday !

Oisin11178

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I heartily endorse Barcelona Marathon in March. It's a great marathon for a PB (and a great city too!).
Try a plan. You might find the discipline might help you. Hal Higdon is often a great place to start.

Are you getting commision from Barcelona krusty:-)

Macanri

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Are you getting commision from Barcelona krusty:-)

Yes and from Garmin:D

OP: Intervals: 10 - 15 min WU, then a no. of set distances at a hardish pace (say 400m at 80% effort) with a short time for recovery between each, and then a 10 -15 min cool down run.

But they should not be done until you're running for a good few weeks, to avoid risking injury.

Krusty_Clown

Macanri wrote: »

Yes and from Garmin:D

Don't forget HalHigdon, Mizuno, SportsInScience, Wiggle, and sub4.ie.
I'm a brand whore.

Wonkagirl

macinalli wrote: »

There's a good discussion here on the need to have a plan for each session, rather than doing the same thing each time you head out. I think the first part of your plan is fine - you need to get the body used to running again. After that though you should think about throwing in intervals, tempo runs etc but also some slow recovery runs. This is my 1st year doing this properly (have joined some experienced runners who are setting me straight) and I think it's great; the fitness has improved and the weight is coming off. It's no more physical effort than what you've planned, but it will give you more out of your training. Good luck!

I'd agree with this. I started doing bootcamp (well, keepfit.ie but similar thing) and we do interval running, and i've had a few PBs in 10k runs since.. you'll definitely need to add in some endurance/tempo/interval runs at some point, but get back into the swing of things for the first 6 weeks anyway.. and give up the chocolate- incredibly addictive, full of sugar AND caffeine. bad!

liam7831

Anyone have any links for a training schedule for eg three months from now for the half marathon as suggested by the poster. any help appreciated

Wonkagirl

liam7831 wrote: »

Anyone have any links for a training schedule for eg three months from now for the half marathon as suggested by the poster. any help appreciated

here you go liam.. here is hal higdon's 12 week half marathon training..

http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/index.htm

Soul Stretcher

Thanks for the link !

I see that Dublin Half Marathon is on at the end of September.

I'll see how I am at the end of July and decide then whether to do Longford Half or Dublin Half...

but I'll definitely do one of them ! Thanks for the help folks !