First half marathon

[Tkaye]

Hi,

Can I pick your brains about half marathons, I’m toying with giving it a go. At the moment I’m up to 10k at around 1 hour 10 give or take. Any advice gratefully received, I’m looking at various plans, its the practicalities that are foxing me. Do I start the training now and then if I manage to reach the distance should I look to maintain the distance by running it once a month or should I wait nearer the event and look to finish the training with the race itself?

Thanks

[Beccym Marathon]

If you can do a 10k you can probably do a half. I have done Brighton half 3 times which is at the end of February we start training in November.

I usually do short runs in the week and a long one at wkd.

I would recommend joining a running club if you are doing your local one there will be a training program probably. Good luck

[Happyrunningfeet]

Good luck if u do give it ago. I haven't reached 10k yet but graduated c25k in March and signed up for HM in October one if the members posted a link on my c25k post. I'll see if I can find it and share it with u

[Happyrunningfeet in reply to Happyrunningfeet]

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

[Tasha99 Marathon]

I didn’t follow a plan. I just went up a bit every other week or so. Once you get there, yeah just do it every few weeks - or choose a marathon plan and keep going 😜

[misswobble Marathon]

I do believe our very own Roseabi has a pinned post about this very subject. Check it out.

I always run to a plan as it eliminates over-running which is my dread. A plan gives you chapter and verse so there's no doubt about what to do.

[Razouski Half Marathon]

There are some really useful plans on the internet and you can adapt them to suit your needs. I used an Asics plan, where you can put in your details (like your 10k time and the date of your intended race) and then it works out a suggested plan for you. I then tweaked it to fit in my strength and fitness activities.

[Windoze Half Marathon]

Get a plan together. Get your runs in short,long and speed each week. It will really help. I may not have made it through my first HM without preparation. Also think about nutrition and hydration for your run. Key factors for some, 13miles is a respectfully long way to drag your body round 🤪😎

Also it's around timing. Many plans will say 8week plan for a 10k or a 16-20week plan for a hm/marathon. It's timing your training plan to the race date! Takes a bit of planning but worth it.

[Biddy62 Half Marathon]

Recently signed up for my first HM in October. Running 10K similar times to you. I found some good training plans on the Runners World website. Now need to programme them in to start very soon. Good luck. Let us know what you decide 😜

[Tkaye Half Marathon]

Thanks for excellent advice, as I’m a solo runner my club is all of you and I do appreciate all of the support everyone on the forum gives. I’ve found a plan which suits my shift pattern and will start to extend the distance on my next long run. The half I plan to enter isn’t until next March, so I’ll try to complete the training and get the distance under my belt with a view to repeating the training plan so every couple of months I’ll finish the distance. Hopefully by March I should be ok to go the distance within the cut off time.