Should I start with a 5k or can I go straight to a 10k or half marathon?

I need a challenge but not sure whether to start easy with a 5k or go for a 10k or half marathon. I can run for 30mins or more but not sure whether this is long enough to be able to manage a 10k or half marathon.

[Fingalo Graduate]

If you can already run for 30 minutes, I'd suggest the bridge to 10k plan, although I suppose that would depend on how far you run in that 30 minutes.

[HectorsHouse Graduate]

As Fingalo says, it depends a bit on how far you can run in 30 minutes.

10k + distances are very different to 5k's - they almost require a different mindset and 'game plan'. How far can you run at the moment? I'd suggest building it up.

(i'm currently building up from 10k to a half marathon. Every 1k I add to my distance feels almost unbearable - half marathons are a whole load longer than 10k's!!!)

[gdeann Graduate]

Hi Ebony! Are you running a 5K in 30 minutes? If so, move on to training for a 10K. My personal experience has been to run my first organized 5K the week I Graduated and then on to run a few others. I'm still not at a 30 minute 5K, but because of age, etc. I doubt if I may ever be. I did decide though, to start 10K training and am currently week 4 of a 6 week program. When I graduate, I will be able to run a continuous hour, but I'm sure I will be way off in my distance. Its nice to have challenges and goals as we move along to keep us motivated. Wishing you well! Let us know what you decide to do! Gayle

[Hidden]

Hi

I recently input a route that I once did outside on google maps and it came out at 4.1km however for the 40miinutes that I was out ten of those were the warm up and cool down walks of 5mins each so have no idea how much of that 4.1km is actually running and if it was equivalent to 5k (just over 3milkes). I have signed up for a race for life 5k on 30 june in leicester so will blog after the event as to how long it took.

[notbad Graduate in reply to Hidden]

If you're unsure of your 5k time why not do a Parkrun if you have one nearby? They'll give you an accurate time. As for your original question, a friend of mine went from never having run in Jan to a half marathon in Oct, she did a few 5/8ks as part of her training.

[WepreRunner Graduate]

Having given up on week 6 last year, I successfully completed a 10k without any difficulty and convinced myself that a half marathon would be no step up - how wrong was I?!?

I ran the first 2 miles and walked, hobbled and occasionally jogged the 13 miles in 2.44 but my legs were so painful, I couldn't even walk for a good hour after the finish. It put me off running for so long that I've had to start C25K from scratch this year.

Personally, I would say that, as long as you're happy at 5k distance, it wouldn't be 'too' much of a step-up to 10k, especially as the crowd can carry you along (not literally, unfortunately), but a half-marathon is a whole different kettle of fish. Everybody is different, though, so it really depends how happy you are at 5k. Personally, I struggle to find runs in the local area, so have to pretty much give them a go any time there is one nearby. If you have plenty of choice, I would go for a few 5's and 10's before considering moving up any further.

[Oldgirl Graduate]

After graduating C25K I went on to do interval training, Speed & Stamina from the Podcasts C25K+ which were a big help to progress onto 10K which took me about 2 months. I've only ever run 2 and both times were just over 66 minutes. I did find though that the thought of carrying on for 1/2M was mind blowing and beyond my physical and mental capabilites. So if after having reached the 10K mark and you are comfortable with this distance you would then need to build up gradually, they say add no more than 10% each time you increase your distance. (Thats not every time you run though) So you have a lot of miles/kilometres to run before you reach 1/2M. Good luck with your goal.

[shelleymcb Graduate]

Its taken me 2 years to get to half marathon training. I did c25k after not running for 25 years then moved up to b210k a few months after. I think that once you can run for a continuous hour, adding on a little more each week is do-able, on one long run each week.

most of the half marathon plans I looked at required you to be able to run for 30mins & then to build from that. some of them asked you to run/walk rather than going straight into running continuously, going on what time you were aiming for & beginner or intermediate etc.

it really depends on how you feel but I think that moving gradually is probably the way to go. that way you shouldnt be prone to injury from upping your distance too quickly.

have fun whatever you decide to do. shelley x