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Training for a Half Marathon for May 2020

MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35Half Marathon
15 Replies

Hi all I'm so glad I've been directed to this group as I have a half marathon booked for May. I recently ran 7 miles for the first time so I'm looking to build myself up to the half in a sensible way as I recently pushed myself too much and it wasn't good. I ran the 7 miles at about 9.5 minutes but it was a goods night, not much wind. My usual pace is an average of 10 minutes a mile I'd say. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Is there an app to follow like the C25K?

Thank you :-)

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MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35
Half Marathon
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15 Replies
GoGo_JoJo profile image
GoGo_JoJoUltramarathon

Welcome aboard! There isn't a HM plan like c25k but there's loads out there.

You've reached 7 miles and you have loads of time to reach your goal. You have also learned that hard way of how not to do things which is actually helpful.

How often do you usually run? Road or trail? (I'm guessing road from your pace) What's a normal week look like for you?

10 min miles is a nice steady pace to work from.

MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35Half Marathon in reply to GoGo_JoJo

Thank you for your reply. Yes it's road and I try to run three times a week. It is ok to run consecutive nights or is it best not to? I'm not sure if I need to keep increasing my distance or do two shorter runs each week with one longer one, for example, run 5 tomorrow night, 4 Thursday with an 8 on Saturday. Does that seem right? Or would I look to increase on each run? Thank you

GoGo_JoJo profile image
GoGo_JoJoUltramarathon in reply to MDaw35

Oops, yes, the HM plan was there, I missed it, here's the link healthunlocked.com/marathon...

5/4/8 sounds good to me. I never followed a plan, I just made my longest run a bit longer each time. You've got plenty of time to play with so you could even just lengthen by 1 mile at fortnightly intervals and you'll be there in under 12 weeks.

No don't increase every run, you still need shorter runs too.

Just take it steady, have fun with it and most of all enjoy your runs! 😁

MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35Half Marathon in reply to GoGo_JoJo

Thank you so much I'll go with the two shorter runs with a longer one each week or even fortnight, depending on how I feel :-)

misswobble profile image
misswobbleMarathon

We usually have a half marathon planned pinned to the right hand side.

Just go steady. It's about distance now.

Good luck.

MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35Half Marathon in reply to misswobble

Thank you :)

roseabi profile image
roseabiUltramarathon

Hi again! Welcome to the forum!!!

Here is a link to the plan that some of the others have mentioned:

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

linda9389 profile image
linda9389AdministratorMarathon

Before training for my first HM, I used to run every other day. Once I got to longer distances though, and mixing up pace (long slow, middling and HM pace runs), I moved to taking two days off between runs. In theory these two days were for strength or cross training - sometimes that's how they were in practice too ... sometimes not 😀.

There are lots of different approaches, but essentially you're slowly increasing the long run until you hit the distance. Nothing new or scary there, right? 😀 Good luck and enjoy.

MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35Half Marathon in reply to linda9389

Thank you 😊👍

Sqkr profile image
SqkrHalf Marathon

Hello and welcome! You've got lots of time and will be mega ready when your half comes round 😊 Stick around, dig about old posts and ask lots of questions if you're not sure about anything. You'll get lots of answers, sometimes different, but all good—that's the beauty of long distance vs c25k I think, you find your own best way to tackle the distance. Just make sure you remember to enjoy it too! And tell us all about it as you go 🤩

MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35Half Marathon in reply to Sqkr

Thank you very much 😊

Whatsapp profile image
WhatsappHalf Marathon

If your HM isn't until May then maybe you should plan a few other events in between. Otherwise it is going to seem a long 6-7 months leading to that one event a 5k, 10k or two in the diary will give you a nice interim boost.

MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35Half Marathon in reply to Whatsapp

Yes i see your point, I'll look into this 😊👍

Windoze profile image
WindozeHalf Marathon

Welcome to the forums! Agree with WhatsApp. A standard HM plan gives you 16 weeks of training.

For ex my next HM is end of march at the start of jan I will look at starting a plan.

Some winter 10ks are a good option 😎🏃‍♂️

MDaw35 profile image
MDaw35Half Marathon

Great, thank you and good luck with yours 😊

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