Couch to Half Marathon in 12 weeks?!

[TheBrilloPad]

Can it be done?! Level of fitness is none. Literally, none since I left school 15 years ago. I don't go to the gym, I don't do workout videos. I walk a lot, but nothing strenuous. I'm not overweight and I have fuckloads of determination and really want to complete a particular half marathon in 12 weeks for a charity so so close to my heart. I don't even own a pair of trainers at present - can it be done with a decent training programme and loads of enthusiasm?? Or am I living in a dream world??

[TheBrilloPad]

Oh, and I don't care about what time I do it in, it just needs to be done in under 3hours 15mins when the race closes. Doable?!

[Pmurt]

I'm not sure. I did couch to 10k in twelve weeks in a similar position to you. It was hard work. Have you ever run? How many km is a full marathon?

[TheBrilloPad]

A half marathon is 21K. I did a 10K about eight years ago (pre kids though...) with little training at all - just a run a few times a week starting about six weeks in advance. Ran it in an hour, so not fast at all, but I was physically capable of it then. With two kids under three now though, not sure if I'm just living a pipe dream thinking it's possible, and wanted to put some feelers out.

[Pmurt]

I think if you did a 10k that easily 8 years ago then you might be ok. An hour is quite fast for 10k! Certainly respectable. I had never run before and I started in my mid 30s after three kids.

[LevantineHummus]

Why though? If the reason is major to do a half and not a 10k then go for it. If the reason is for health, then it's always better to build up with a proper training programme, which tends to be slower to reduce injuries.

So can be done yes, but if you want to keep running afterwards, why not build up more slowly and actually enjoy it more? It certainly won't be fun training in that time period!