Decisions, decisions

[Jay66UK]

Last year I did the Great Manchester 10k run in May and then the Wiggle Manchester Half Marathon in October.

Whilst I enjoyed the 10k, schlepping into Manchester “just” to run 10k seemed a lot of effort. And the Half was awful weather and (although I’d done three in training) a long long way, such that I’ve not run over 10k since.

Email today for the Great Manchester Run again and I’m pondering whether to do the Half.

Upside: it’s 18 weeks away and the weather should be better than October. And this has a shirt at the end (controversial Wiggle Half issue).

Downside: it’s been quite a hot day the past two years; I hated travelling home in post- 10k and Half running gear; it’s not cheap; I’m not sure if I want to be running so far.

Any advice? (Also posting on the 10k Group so don’t feel obliged to reply to both.)

[HoagyM Half Marathon]

Think only you can decide this one Jay, but a few thoughts FWIW...

18 weeks is ample to get from 10K to HM, especially as you’ve done it before, so no issues about being able to do it, that’s a “tick”.

May sounds to me like a good time, mainly because I hated some of the HM training in Jan-Mar last year, when I forced myself to run long distances in grotty weather. So I personally would be happy with that time of year (my only HM this year is October, which also avoids long training runs in the winter).

If you don’t like travelling in your running gear, take a rucksack with a change of clothes. e.g. I will typically wear a tracksuit or similar to and from a race, popping it into the rucksack (and the bag drop place) for the race itself.

So you can do it, the time of year seems OK, and travelling in running gear shouldn’t be an issue.... the question is do you actually want to run the race?

Only you can answer that one - personally the only race I didn’t really enjoy (due to weather) was the Nov 2017 MoRun, which is why I didn’t do the 2018 one. So you need to ask yourself if you enjoyed it and whether the long journey into Manchester is worth it.... to you.

[LoungeLizaard in reply to HoagyM]

Great advice 👍

[Tbae Metric Marathon]

That’s the great thing about this running malarkey Jay.On a journey with so many choices.

Every best wish with your decision.Good thing to whatever,it will be a good one for you.

You have come a long way.👍

🏃‍♂️⭐️👏👏💥☄️

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

I don't know you well enough to be sure but it doesn't quite sound like your heart is in it, and that wouldn't bode well for me.

Why do Manchester again? There are so, so many options for half marathons - is there maybe another one that takes your fancy? I love the sound of the Stockport one but that's Feb, and the Chester ones get great reviews too - still a bit of a schlepp but at least it would be somewhere different. I'm sure there are lots of other options around you too. Hopefully reading the various replies will help you see where your head's really at. Let us know what you decide 🙂

[Katnap Marathon]

You can't choose the weather. It was just bad luck. But you now have waterproof socks 😁

[Sandie1961 Half Marathon]

Sounds to me that you are looking for reasons not to do it; the perceived positives seem to be outweighed by the negatives. Why not look for something further away and make a short break of it - come and join us at the London Vitality 10k in May. Going to be fun 😃😃

[misswobble Marathon]

Logistics for me would be the issue rather than clothes or distance to run. If it’s a pain in the arse to get there, I ain’t going 🙂