Should I try my first half?

poconnor16

Hi all,

I've been tempted by an up and coming half marathon (Bandon half in May) which I've been told is reasonably flat. I've never covered this distance, and I'm still pretty much a novice. I did a 10k before xmas in just over an hour, so slow enough. So the aim would be just to finish the half.
I'm reasonably fit, just took a break from running for a few weeks. I went out for 3 miles last night and felt very confident. An awful lot of my running demons are in my head, so I think the half would really quieten a lot of them.

Any opinions? Is 8 weeks enough to train? Or am I pushing too far.....

ultraman1

as ur aim is to finish,why not go for it

poconnor16

I suppose I am questioning if it is possible for the average person without being in a multitude of pain and vowing to never run again.

Taking the Hal Higdon plan, its advises to train for 12 weeks and I only have 8

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

so should I jump right in at week 4?

Oryx

You already know you can run. Its just a question of getting used to a bit more distance. Yes, you could run this, just build the distance over the next 8 weeks. The only other thing to remember in the race is not to go off too hard, you have to adjust your pace a little to allow for the longer distance.

Mac Cormaic

poconnor16 wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been tempted by an up and coming half marathon (Bandon half in May) which I've been told is reasonably flat. I've never covered this distance, and I'm still pretty much a novice. I did a 10k before xmas in just over an hour, so slow enough. So the aim would be just to finish the half.
I'm reasonably fit, just took a break from running for a few weeks. I went out for 3 miles last night and felt very confident. An awful lot of my running demons are in my head, so I think the half would really quieten a lot of them.

Any opinions? Is 8 weeks enough to train? Or am I pushing too far.....

It weeks is plenty enough to train, especially if you have a base level of fitness already. All you have to do is focus on increasing your longest run by a mile every week between now and two weeks before the marathon.

brownian

There's no reason not to give it a go. And fair play to you.

But...do go slow. It's your first race at this distance, it's twice your longest race to date. Unless your training goes exceptionally it's probably wise to expect to run as/more slowly than you did at Christmas, despite the extra training you'll have. It's only human to feel stronger and more ready, after two months of training, but bear in mind it's a shock to the system.

Over-training and over-enthusiasm is (at least for me) the main source of injury.

Take it easy and get around in one piece - your motivation will rise and you'll be able to work on speed as well as distance, without a looming deadline.

Or - just go for it and hope nothing snaps. But that'd be poor advice.

robinph

I think if you have regularly been going out training and have raced at least a 10km then you should be able to cover a half. It is more than twice what you have raced before as others said, but once you take it handy you should be able to complete it and 8 weeks is plenty to increase from a long run of 6 miles to doing 10miles+, and then you just needing to cover an extra couple in the race...

Of course I know nothing about training plans or that kind of thing.

poconnor16

Ah cheers guys....as I said, I have no notions of running in a good time or anything, it would just be to finish it.

I've decided I'm going to give the training a whack anyway - 5 miles this weekend and increase my long run by a mile each week. I'll listen to my body and if it is putting up to much of a fight, I can always just enter the 10k run on the day and set a new PB.

I'm mentally telling myself though that I WILL run the half - I just think of all of you that run marathons, and the pain you endure!

TFBubendorfer

Good stuff, go for it.

But I'd recommend at least looking at some of the half-marathon training plans on the internet (e.g. Hal Higdon's) rather than trying to do your own thing. You don't have to follow them if you don't feel so inclined but they would give you a good idea of what's involved.

poconnor16

Yep, plan on following Hal Higdon novice plan - but will be starting in week 4.

I'll be running three times a week, two short (3/4 building to 5 miles) and one long. (starting at 5 miles and adding a mile each week)

Two nights cross training (tennis and walking, maybe cycling as the nights get longer) plus an easy evening of hitting a few golf balls up at the driving range. I consider the driving range a rest night plus sundays will be a do nothing day as well.

Thats the plan anyway, here's hoping..:)

TFBubendorfer

Good stuff. Good luck with your training!