Half marathon with no training

[sunallsummer]

Probably a stupid question sorry but I’m not a runner so have no idea!

DH impulsively signed up to do a half marathon in 2 weeks and has done zero training for it. He’s slim and has normal fitness I would say but definitely not a runner and previously did a 5km and completed it but struggled

I know it’s his choice and he’s an adult to it’s up to him, but I’m just a bit worried about the idea of him running 21km with little to no training. I’m just not sure if I’m just being overly anxious but it seems so far to my non runner brain! Having said that, I know people do 10km without any real training and it’s fine, has anyone ever done a half marathon without any training and did it go ok?!

My concern is when he puts his mind to something he can be very stubborn and competitive so I think when the run starts he’ll actually go much faster than he should and it’s not like he’ll accept he’s not trained and take it at a slower pace. His plan was to drink a few coffee and get some pre workout for it and frankly I’m worried he ends up unwell after it

If anyone who knows anything about running can put my mind at rest and reassure me that I’m being silly and dramatic and he’ll be fine (other than a normal amount of tiredness afterwards) I’d really appreciate it!

Ooooft I think he's in for a bit of a shock. I've done two HMs with proper training and I find the idea that you can just rock up and complete one with on zero training and fuelled by coffee both amusing and irritating.

Maybe, and I'm sure some of them were lying. Others would be the ones who'd have the aptitude to run significantly faster if they trained (more than 1300 men ran sub 75 min half marathons in the UK last year vs 53 women). I don't think we actually disagree anyway - I agree it's a minority, but probably a bigger minority than it would be for women. Either way, it's not really relevant here as OP's DH is definitely not one of them.

Are you sure it's as many as 53 women running sub 1hr 15? That's really very fast!

Yes, it's way faster than I ever managed! You can see the UK rankings on powerof10.uk for different distances and years (click on the road & distance tab). They record rankings for women up to 1:40 and men up to 80 mins for half marathon.

Cool. Yeah..I was very good (not that good!)....10 years ago. Clinging on with fingernails at the moment.

How did he get on??

I think there is another week yet. But would love to know how his training is going.