Can I run a half marathon?

[SueAppleRun]

A friend has asked if I want to book next February’s Brighton half marathon, any advice gratefully received

[K8nno Graduate10]

Do it.

[Hidden]

You go for it there's nowt stopping you 👍💪

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

I don't see any reason for not running it, next February, hopefully by then things will be back to a sort of normal and the run can go ahead, plenty of time to practice.

[Coddfish Graduate10]

Noting your badge says 60 minute graduate, I am wondering what the longest distance you have run, and how comfortable you were?

My own experience might be useful. I am an early 60s female, slow plodding runner, short legs, various historic non-running injuries that affect my gait, with a BMI just a little the wrong side of 25. I have been running since 2015. In 2017 I committed to the Great South Run, which is 10 miles/16k. Training up to about 12 or 13k was relatively straight forward but I found it difficult to get beyond that. Partially because of the sheer elapsed time involved given my pace is over 9 minutes per kilometre if I am looking at a distance above 10k. My race PB for 10k is 1 hour 28.

I got in one or maybe 2 runs in the 14-15k mark before doing GSR 2017, and I just about got round the GSR itself, saying ‘never again’.

A bit like childbirth, the itch to do it again came back. In 2019 I trained for the London Vitality 10k and that went well. Full of enthusiasm, I decided it wasn’t a problem to build to 16k again for GSR 2019 with another 5 months to do it in. Various set backs occurred and I couldn’t get beyond 12k. I ran GSR 2019 somewhat unprepared, and struggled to the point where I walked most of the last 4K and could barely hobble up the finish tunnel. This time I said never again and meant it.

A half marathon is 21k. That’s more than 4 back to back parkruns. It would be well beyond me!

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate]

Well i’m going to look up a training plan and see if i think it’s achievable, I will be 65 by then, the furthest i have run is just over 6k but i felt o could have run on, i think i might go out for a see how far i can run this week and then decide, it’s our year anniversary on thursday,

Thank you for sharing your experience it’s really helped

[Coddfish Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

I don’t want to dampen enthusiasm but please bear in mind progression is not linear. Experience has told me my maximum is around 12k. At 10k it always feels straight forward and that if I keep training I can easily build up beyond there, but it doesn’t work out that way in practice.

Another consideration is the race time limit and whether you can complete the distance within the time, bearing in mind your pace will be slower than the pace you can run 6k in. The website says it’s 3.5 hours. If you are not running at a pace that is consistent with that, you get picked up by the sweeper van. That’s just a tad faster than 10 minutes per kilometre.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Coddfish]

Now that’s something to think about i may not be able to be fast enough however hard i train thank you for your advice

[SlowLoris]

Do you want to?

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to SlowLoris]

Yes but may not be able to

[SlowLoris in reply to SueAppleRun]

You are able to.

Just be patient with the training. Most plans (and advice) are written for people half our age. Build in consolidation periods for your body to catch up.

Most of your mileage should be at your easy pace. That doesn’t mean all of it has to be. Hills are good. You can also add in some shorter faster runs.

You have lots of time. Be patient and avoid injury. (If only I had the sense to follow my own advice!)

You can definitely do it.

[Hidden]

Yes you can!! I think if you continue to build up and keep a steady pace you can get there because it's all about stamina. The Running Channel on YouTube is absolutely brilliant and if you watch Anna on there she'll give you loads of inspiration and tips. There is a specific video on HM training as well as her running one. She will get you motivated!!

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Hidden]

Thank you

[Hidden in reply to SueAppleRun]

Just discover and explore how you feel. You've plenty of time so don't feel pressured. Why not go for it.? A guarantee will be that you'll end up running further than ever before so there will be an achievement. Just slowly extend your long slow run every other week or so by 1km.

It's 21.1km so see how you feel as you get going. Plenty of time left so just have a go. That way there's no regrets.

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

I’m sure you could do it if you really wanted to, and didn’t mind if you needed to walk run some of it. However, my advice would be to sign up for your first 5k race, and then your first 10k race. Running with others on closed roads is so much fun, crowds will be cheering you on, and you get a t-shirt, bling and goodies. I loved my first 5k Santa run along Southsea seafront, especially as watching it the previous year was my incentive to start c25k. My first 10k, just before my graduation 1st runniversary, was the Great Bristol 10k. I was given an official time, and got to run with cheekychipmunks for some of the way, and it really was something else. Bands were playing along the route and there was a fabulous atmosphere. Because I had run 10k before, there was no pressure , but total enjoyment. A shorter race also gives you the experience of feeling the butterflies, knowing what liquids and nutrition you might need as you extend.

After another 10k race, I increased distance to 10 miles, and did the Great South Run. Wow, on my doorstep, and fabulous , I haven’t ruled out doing it again, but I decided 10 miles was far enough for me. I hope this helps.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

How long do you want to be out running through those long winter runs in preparation if you’re happy running 60mins just now? That’s not a no, that’s just thinking back to cold winter weather on 2 to 3 hour runs. 🤗

[sTrongFuse Graduate10]

Part of it is the desire to do it. If you think you might want to,.., or it might be good if..., then you probably won't. Actually wanting to do it is the best place to start from.

After that, the only way is to build up gradually. It took me 4 months to get from 10k to HM, just slowly stretching out one run a week, 500m here, 1km there, 15-20 minutes somewhere else.

I worked my way to 10 miles, stayed there for a few weeks and then just went for it. I did my second one on January and my third a couple of weeks ago.

Obviously, I'm not you and you're not me. What worked for me might not for you and, as Coddfish says, you may find that you just find a ceiling that you can't get through. In my case it is HM; I know I'm almost certainly never going to do the full Monty.

Good luck and whatever you do achieve, just remember it is an achievement whatever distance you get yourself to.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to sTrongFuse]

Thank you, I’m going to push myself over the next week or two and see what i can do, I would really really enjoy having something to aim for and Willow has said he will watch me train or pick me up from long runs etc

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

Don’t forget the 10% rule when increasing distance sola. We don’t want you getting injured.

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

I managed a HM distance run last Autumn. I started building up distance on holiday in summer over some fairly hilly territory. I built up week by week to 10 miles (sometimes adding 2k per long run), and then I went up to 18k.....and drifted on to a HM one day ....I felt good and just sort of kept running! I keep saying that the 5k increments after C25k get easier so long as you put in some strengthening exercise too. I did this at age 67, so no age excuse for you! It took me 2:43:46 . You do need to carry food and drink at that distance or you may run out of energy. Definitely doable but you would have to really want to commit to it.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thank you, it’s what’s possible so i’m going to push myself a bit over the next couple of weeks to see if i can go further and a bit faster because at the moment i doubt i’d get to the end in time

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

Faster and longer is good, but need to be done in different runs to start with...up the 5k pace, but keep the long runs nice and steady. I have just got my 10k pace within 5 minutes of my 5k pace and will try to spread that on to longer runs. Certainly for me the pace increase has been a question of steady progress rather than suddenly finding a new gear.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Beachcomber66]

I’ve already started pushing up hill as before mostly ran on fairly flat ground, pushing uphill at a pace that wasn’t imagineable a year ago

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

Hills are great! I think you are up for the HM. 😊

[Leosmit Graduate10 60minGraduate]

The fact that you are still calling her ‘a friend’ after she suggests a half marathon to you, shows that you must be keen! 😉

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Leosmit]

We work together and she is great but maybe a bit unrealistic as about half my age

[UpTheStanley Graduate10]

Hmmmm …...

I'm 68, have always run a bit for fitness, but started treating it more seriously a couple of years ago. My starting point was being able to run 5k regularly in around 25 minutes, which is rather different from starting by doing C25K. After 6 months or so I was up to 10k in 55 minutes, and entered myself for the 2019 Great South (10m/16k). Last spring and summer I extended my max distance up to HM, going up by 2k a month, in order to feel confident that I could handle the GSR come the day. It worked (under 90 mins for the GSR), but I didn't enjoy those runs in the slightest. I had to make myself run slower than my comfortable pace to make the distances, and the runs seemed to take hours - 2 hr 40 for the final run. One of my targets for this year was to resist entering a proper HM - which I think I've probably now achieved by signing up for the New Forest 10k.

So … can you run a HM? Probably yes, you've got time enough to build up to it.

If so, will you enjoy the race? Almost certainly yes, the atmosphere will be fantastic.

Will you enjoy the process? Back to hmmmm ….. I didn't in spring and summer, you'll be doing the hard yards in winter.

If not, will the achievement make up for the pain? Probably, I guess.

My final thought is that I doubt I would have got there if Dexy5 hadn't been building up to GSR distance at the same time, which meant I had her for company (and speed regulation) for the first half or more of my longest runs. So keep Willow on side

Good luck, whatever!

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to UpTheStanley]

Thank you, Willow doesn’t run as far as me now but we start together and we end together even if he’s had a wander off and sit in the car in between, thanks for your insight I am almost decided and as i have loads of time so am going to run for fun and fitness and decide after about a month, at the moment i am certainly not fast enough, the hill we went up today is really steep and almost a kilometre to the top, if i keep going up and then down my legs and lungs will strengthen and stamina improve, we go up faster and with less puffing and panting than we did a year ago so i think it’s a good place to march up on rest days

Stay well and safe both you and Dexy5

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

Yes you can!

I say that because I can. Says it all! 😅

Go for it. 👏👏👏

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thank you for that i’m now just concerned i might never be fast enough to get round in time

[Annieapple Administrator]

👍👏Something positive to aim for!! Reach for the stars!! ⭐️

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Annieapple]

It’s a huge distance for me but i am going to aim to increase steadily even if i don’t enter the race,

[Annieapple Administrator in reply to SueAppleRun]

Absolutely! Xx

[Sandie1961 Graduate10]

You have loads of time to build up to it, but I would suggest you take it bit by bit. Start out by aiming for 10k (maybe using ju-ju’s distance based plan), then try to get to 10 miles, after which a HM is only another 5k. See if you can do an event at each distance (depending on how quickly they are allowed to start again) and evaluate how you are feeling at each stage. Just setting your sights on HM when your longest run is 6k is a huge jump and you will get so much satisfaction from achieving the intermediate distances. A HM is a real challenge physically and mentally and, believe me, dragging yourself out in the depths of winter to run for 2+ hours takes determination. Good luck x

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Sandie1961]

Thank you, I have wanted something to aim for and yes i know it’s a huge jump but a long way away i shall increase distance over the next month before i finally decide, and keep up those hills