Am I kidding myself?

[SkiMonday]

I'm currently working on distance in preparation for an hm in September, my longest run so far being 15k. Pace is much slower than it was at 5k but it feels like I could keep it up for hours. Am I kidding myself? Could it be the effect of bumbling along in a semi trance like state or does a "comfortable" pace make distance that much more achievable?

In practice, I'm keeping well within the 10% rule because it's more important to me to maintain regular exercise than it is to improve performance.

[Clairecandothis Marathon Half Marathon]

You are well on track for a half in September and your pace sounds about right for training runs when increasing distance is your main goal. I ran my first half last September and by this stage last year I had only just run 10k so you are ahead of me! I'm beginning to look into training in heartrate zones now and apparently the slower we run the faster we become! A half is a demanding distance and needs respect thrown at it. Once you reach about 19k you will know you can do it. 😊 You can then play around with race pace and training pace and maybe some intervals. But overall you want to feel like you can keep going because on the day you will have to! It is definitely better to go slower and finish on a faster 2k than start too fast and then struggle. (Personal experience of my 2nd half 🙈😂) Good luck with it all.

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Clairecandothis]

Thanks Claire. Once I'm up to the distance, I'm thinking of a few trial runs to get an idea of pace, although, when I tried power walking an event, I found that the "event buzz" gave me a pace quicker than anything I'd done in training. Maybe I should aim for a smidgen faster than a comfortable pace and open up for the last K?

Anyhow, from what you wrote about heartrate zones, I should end up being really quick!

[GoGo_JoJo Ultramarathon]

No, you're not kidding yourself at all. Finding a comfy pace you can keep going in is the perfect way to start extending your distance.

Just take it steady with the increases and you'll be amazed at where you'll be come September. 👍😉

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Sounds perfect. You've lots of time left to convince yourself you can do it and in style!

[Colinsmith Half Marathon]

You’ll be fine, just keep on with adding 10%. Plenty of time to get to 21km. Sounds like you’re running comfortably which is great.

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Sounds perfect to me! xx

[misswobble Marathon]

Ive asked myself that question numerous times. I always ignore myself and press on

Sounds like you're being very sensible. Keep chipping away at the distance using the 10% rule and you'll get there. I'd go steady on the longer runs as you want to be in good fettle for race day

Bumbling about in a trance is good for chewing up miles but on your shorter runs you can mix it up and do a bit of speed play

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to misswobble]

Yes, my bumbling seems to be going well! It's just a bit of a shock when I get to the last k where I signed up to to Abi's speed challenge.

Currently, one of my short runs is a set of intervals (to try and improve for the speed challenge) and the other involves circuits of a local hill (because the HM course isn't flat!)

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon]

Thanks for the advice, seems I'm doing the right thing with my HM training routine. Really must try to do some cross training though!

As for the question of "can I just keep going", I'm tempted to keep adding 10% a week and see what happens (but maybe not 'till after the HM).

I'm surprised that my slow runs now feel easier than the power walking that I was doing before I started running. Although the runs are faster, I think I put more effort into the walking than the running.