Hello all

[damienair]

Hi everyone, I’ve been running and bimbling along for the past 4-5 years mainly running 5K, but have also trained up for 10K road races on a few occasions and have ran/hiked a 13K Mountain Run twice. Before Covid I was running 3-4 times per week and had built longer runs up to 15K. But never had any interest in going any further. However over the past 2 years I have lost so much fitness and am struggling to find my mojo again. So I’ve decided to give a Half Marathon a go. Something to train for and work towards.

Some of you might know me from the Bridge to 10K forum. I’m looking forward to reading and learning from you all here. My run is on the 27th of August, so I have time to prepare. It is also taking place in the town where I grew up and where my parents live. The route will even pass by my parents house. Looking forward to the challenge.

Damien

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon]

Good luck with this challenge Damien 👍

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

Hi Damien; if an old plodder like me can make it, you will breeze your way through! Great idea not to put yourself under any time pressure. You will have found all the plans which have been posted here. I look forward to hearing about your progress. 👍🙂

[damienair in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thanks so much

[mrrun Ultramarathon]

Good training program, diet and hydration, perseverance and discipline, and you WILL do it. Half marathon is only ten kilometres (and some small change) longer than 10K, and as we all know, anyone who wants to do it, will do it. The key is to avoid injuries and you can do it by choosing the program that suits your abilities (and time commitment), and tweak your diet carefully. Diet is way more crucial than aimless running miles. Good luck & keep us posted! 👍👊👊👊

[damienair in reply to mrrun]

Thank you so much. Lots to learn.

[Teresa1632 Marathon]

One thing I learned was that if there is a time pressure during your training weeks, skip a run, but try to stick to getting the long runs in. PS: I went from 10k to HM in 4 weeks. Not recommended but it was grand (apart from the last mile, arrgh!).

Ran the Belfast half, enjoyed the whole thing especially talking to everybody on the way round, and the crowds cheering everybody on. The best craic! You'll love yours, especially on local roads.

[damienair in reply to Teresa1632]

Thank you so much. I love Belfast, that must have been a brilliant event. I’m going to be doing the Tullamore Half Marathon.

[TailChaser Marathon]

Hey Damien! Welcome! Good to see you here. As ever with HU, there’s loads of wonderful help on here. Good luck with all your training. 👏👏👍

[damienair in reply to TailChaser]

Thanks so much TC. The real reason as to why I’m taking this on is to regain fitness for parkruns and perhaps even tackle that 25:36 PB again.😜

[TailChaser Marathon in reply to damienair]

It will Damien, it definitely helped my speed 👍

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon]

Hi Damien

I thought you've seemed less active for a while now. Motivation can be elusive at times can't it. I was struggling with it earlier this year but, thankfully, seem to be back in the game now.

Entering the HM is a great idea, enjoy the journey!

[damienair in reply to SkiMonday]

Thanks so much. Yes this will hopefully give me the drive to get out there and push myself.

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Yay! Welcome to the community 😍😍😍

[damienair in reply to roseabi]

Thanks so much Abi

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Hello Damien 👋 How exciting and special to run your first HM through the town with such memories 😍 it’ll be so memorable.

You have plenty of time to train and enjoy it all. Are you going to use a plan or just add to your long run?

Whatever you decide, good luck and, most importantly, have fun! 🍀

[damienair in reply to Irishprincess]

Thanks Irishprincess i have had a look at a few plans. I think I’ll do a mix, 5-6k on Tuesday, interval or hill training on Thursday, parkrun on Saturday mornings and then a long run on Sunday. Add 1-1.5K onto my long run each week. Build it up bit by bit.

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to damienair]

That looks a good plan to me. Don’t forget to take it easy on the shorter runs.

Have you decided how you’re going to approach the ParkRuns? A couple of times now, I’ve done a ParkRun the day before a race. That really helped me to focus on maintaining an easy pace! It felt really powerful knowing that I had plenty in reserve but holding it back.

[damienair in reply to SkiMonday]

I am just hoping for a return to previous times. I’m currently running a parkrun somewhere around 31-32 minutes. I’d like to get back towards 25 minutes again and have good endurance for the longer runs.

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to damienair]

Sounds great. Mixing things up is always much more interesting 👍

[Cmoi Marathon]

Hi damienair , lovely to "see" you over here. Enjoy getting your mojo back, and have fun getting to HM distance! 👍😀

[damienair in reply to Cmoi]

Thanks so much. Looking forward to it. I’m thinking of joining the athletics club again. Would be good to have company for the long runs.

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

Damien the super hero! We’re with you all the way, and I’m willing to bet you’ll absolutely smash that HM. What a great goal and a fantastic place to do it. Good luck! 👏👏👏👏👏

[damienair in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Ah thanks so much Cheeky.

[00marks Marathon]

Welcome Damien! I hope your HM training goes well.

[damienair in reply to 00marks]

Thanks so much

[sTrongFuse Half Marathon 10 Miles]

Good luck. 5 months should be plenty I'd say. I started C25K in March 2019 and ran my first HM in November that year. Given that you aren't a novice, I'd say your timescale is realistic.

For me, I just carried on with JuJu's 10k plan, but just kept stretching out that long run, initially by around 500m or 5mins each week, then by 1k then, by the time I was getting towards the end, I was just free -wheeling and doing what felt right to my legs.

Hydration, nutrition, and not overdoing it, you already know. Just keep the progress steady and you'll get there.

From my ponderous first attempt in November 2019, I've got HM#18 (Edinburgh Marathon Festival) coming up at the end of May. It's largely downhill, so I'm hoping I might manage my second sub-2hr.

[damienair in reply to sTrongFuse]

Oh wow, fantastic running on your 18 HM’s. Best of luck to you on your quest for a second sub 2 hour Half Marathon. If I could achieve a sub 2:10 finish time I would be delighted.

[HeavyFoot Half Marathon]

Good luck, Damien. And good use of the word bimbling 👍

[damienair in reply to HeavyFoot]

Thanks, I sometimes fly a microlight, so just normally bimble around the Sky. But it has transferred into my running too.😀

[Blackberrypie Half Marathon]

Welcome Damienair, do you have a training plan in mind?

[Blackberrypie Half Marathon in reply to Blackberrypie]

I found the Nike run club plan worked well for me, there's something about audio guidance that helps get you going.

[damienair in reply to Blackberrypie]

Thanks for the lovely welcome. I have read a few training plans. Before Covid I was running 4 times per week. 5-6K on Tuesday, interval or hill training on Thursday, parkrun on Saturday mornings and a long run on Sunday. I’d managed to comfortably get up to 15K that time. The plans I’ve read are not too dissimilar, so i plan on just doing that. I’ll start my long run this Sunday with 7K and add 1-1.5K per week onto that. Hopefully that will work.

[GTFC Marathon]

What a top bloke you are! That's it. That's the message 😃

[damienair in reply to GTFC]

Did some hill sprints this evening. That was tough.

[GTFC Marathon in reply to damienair]

You're tougher buddy. You'll absolutely get there 😊

[damienair in reply to GTFC]

I did my first stint of Hill Sprints yesterday evening. I’m feeling it this morning. 😂

[nowster Metric Marathon]

As I said over on the Bridge forum, a Half Marathon is doable by following a similar regime to the Magic Plan. I've now done ten runs of 21.1km or longer since September. I've done HMs in the morning and then gone on to do a full day's work.

The Full Marathon is a totally different beast altogether!

[damienair in reply to nowster]

Cheers. Well I never thought I'd have any interest in a HM. But I plan to do this one and certainly stay at a regular weekly 10K distance at the weekends after that.

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to damienair]

That's what I said back in September! 🤣

Ten HMs later...

[R4inbow Ultramarathon]

Best of luck for your half marathon, you've given yourself plenty of time to prepare and I'm sure you'll do great.

[damienair in reply to R4inbow]

Thank you very much

[Decker Ultramarathon]

Brilliant! Best of luck Damien!

[Lizcanrun Half Marathon]

Welcome to the other side! It's just as lovely 😊 I too, am training for my first HM and line you, it's a sentence I thought I would never say!Good luck with the training!!

[damienair in reply to Lizcanrun]

You too , best of luck with your training plan and your first half marathon. Thanks so much for the welcome. Have a lovely weekend.