I ran a Half Marathon somewhat undertrained and didn’t die AMA

[Stayinganontoday]

my longest run before it was 14k, stopped running for almost 3 weeks… and hadn’t run a HM in many many years. I still finished just below 2:30 and it was hilly! (130 floors according to my Garmin).

How old are you? This could be quite dangerous for some people.

I done exactly this in 2024 , did you get the fear at the start line ? ( I absolutely did )

My only fear was that I’d have to end up walking. TBH I did walk all the hills (but so did most runners).

I’m 42…. And I don’t think it can be “quite” dangerous. As long as you’re sensible I think the worst case scenario is some sort of muscle tear.

Well done! I think once you reach a certain volume of running and base level of fitness you can manage a HM reasonably okay. I did a HM a couple of weekends ago and my longest run before that was 12km. Just decided to go out for a run and kept on going! Felt a bit achy for a couple of days and lost a toenail but otherwise unscathed and it’s nice to think I am basically ‘half marathon ready’ with my current level of fitness, which is aimed more at 10k races.

I do plan to properly train for the next one as I have a goal time in mind and that will require some work!

Was it the GNR? I’m interested actually if so, I’ve seen a lot of people talk about it being very hilly but it only looked about 130m elevation from people’s Stravas. What was it that made that amount of elevation gain particularly difficult? So I can decide if I ever want to do it!

exactly! In fact from a cardiovascular pov it showed me I’m in great condition. I wasn’t necessarily tired, my legs were tired.

The GNR?

No, it was just my local one. 800m of elevation.

Ooh that’s far more beastly!

I’ve got a trail race in a few weeks with that kind of elevation and I will definitely be walking those hills!

That’s a great time for that kind of profile.

Good luck!! I’m normally not a fan of walking hills but I had no choice this time!

Just sending kudos. I did a 50k ultra with 4 months training and before te training longest walk was 5k so a shock to the system.

can I ask what prompted it? Mine was stubbornness. Someone said I couldn’t do it therefore I had too 😬

I'm a bit uncomfortable with this thread given the two deaths of people running the great North run this weekend.

Did you lose a toenail?

how do we retain toenails in HM? I've just lost mine after 3 Months.

You weren't that undertrained. The usual advice is to run up to 16k. My longest run beforehand was 19k so I was definitely more prepared but a ll my training runs were loo stop filled so harder to do without the loo and rest that gave me.

Well my DH and I kind of met at that same HM 10 years ago, and we’re running Manchester Marathon next year, so it was a nice opportunity to run it together.

and I think I’ve only ever lost one toe nail, and that was when marathon training.