October Half Marathons

Hi all

Absolute newbie here - just registered for my first ever Half Marathon: Henley Half on 12th October. Noticed there are 2 other HMs on the same Sunday - Oxford and Royal Parks in London, anyone else training for those?

I'm yet to pick a specific training plan.. Trying to find a 12 week plan that wouldn't involve spending 15 minutes to untagle those cryptic tempo/interval sessions. Any recommendations perhaps? Main goal being to finish in one piece, but sub 2:30 would be good and sub 2:15 absolutely dreamy! image

Anyway, just thought I'll say hi and see whether anyone is in a similar boat. Would be nice to share experiences, training tips - I will take all the support I can get!!

Happy running!

Comments

  • How much are you currently running?

  • Average 10k a week (2 x 5k runs) for the past 4 months plus one all-day hike in the mountains at the weekends (currently live in Zurich) for general fitness.

    Sounds very little, but I'm hoping 12 weeks will be enough to up the mileage sufficiently!

  • I wouldn't worry about intervals and speed sessions at all then. Your main aim is to gently increase your mileage over the next 12 weeks without getting injured before the big day. About 10% increase in mileage a week is the golden rule of thumb. I'd think about trying to do a long(er) run at the weekend  (keep this nice and slow) and add a km or two to this each week. Then have two shorter runs in the week - you can run these at a quicker pace if you like, but not too hard - gradually increase the lengths of these runs. 

    I find some nice easy stretching after my run has kept an injuries at bay.

    The mistake I made when first up-ing my mileage was too much to fast (and had to take a whole month off!)

  • What Rich said, plus squats and lunges to avoid knee problems. And have decent trainers!

  • Ooooh thanks so much! Really appreciate the advice. Put me at ease a lot, I was beggining to worry how to deal with anything beyond putting one foot in front of the other, nevermind '400m sprint then 2mins rest x 3' puzzles.

    So weekly training plan will look as follows:

    • 3 x 4-6mile runs during the week
    • 1 cross training session (inc squats and lunges!) 
    • 1 long run at the weekend (starting at 6miles (going up by 1km/1mile each week).

    Nice and easy image

    Well, now that the plan is in place I guess I have no more excuses not to start running!

     

  • 3x4 mile plus 6 long weekend is 18 miles in your first week?

    Might be a bit much if your currently only used to doing doing 2x5km (around 6 miles)

    Whilst you probably have the fitness with your long walks in the mountains I'd be a little worried about your knees, ankles and the supporting muscles etc. They take a little longer to strengthen and get used to the extra workload.

    I'd maybe start with a little bit less or at least don't be too worried about dropping one of your midweek runs if you don't feel up to it.

    Good luck, and keep us up to date with how you get on.

     

     

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