Half marathon - any one doing one?

[Cherryminx]

There was a thread last year which I looked at in admiration as I struggled through C25K and then went on to run a 10K. So I can hardly believe that in a fit of madness I've signed up for a half Marathon in May.

Training starts tomorrow! Would anyone like to join me?

Night runs are fun, although I did one up a big hill last year and running down in the dark was quite scary!
Another week finished, with absolutely beautiful run up nearest large hill, stunning views from the top all the way to the sea 20 miles away. Was pretty slow but that's ok. Hope your training is all going according to plan.

I nearly ended up running in the dark. Events were conspiring against me getting out but I just about snuck in eight miles - the sun was plummeting over the horizon. One hour thirty on the dot so was pleased and it felt very comfortable and I really enjoyed it.

Sea views sound fantastic emummy, hills can definitely be worth it.

I did see about those night runs FiftyNine how far are they? I don think there were any near us or I'd have paid more attention!

The night run sounds like lots of fun. I got in my 15k this morning in 1hr 24 which is not too bad. I plan to up it to 16k or so next week. I didn't manage any other runs this week - too busy at work for lunch time runs and I couldn't motivate myself to go out in the dark in the evenings. I am looking forward to the clocks going forward to make evening runs more appealing.

Fantastic going with your hilly parkrun chutney, well done.

Fleece lined poncho is an awesome idea fiftynine, much easier than trying to use a towel I would say.

I love running in the dark myself but I do live in a well lit town. Might feel differently if I was in the middle of the country :) I've always been a night owl so feel more awake from evening time, during spring/summer it's cooler then.

Sounds like a cracking view emummy

Tried my run today and shin is still niggling so a quick 20 minutes and I was home again. Getting a bit peed off with it now and anxious it won't be rested on time or I'll lose lots of fitness. It's not agony and I can run on it but worried if I do I will make it worse.

Have borrowed dsis's crosstrainer for the week. Anyone know what sort of times I should be doing on it compared to running?

Sirona I have googled and they are called Dryrobe. Hope your shin feels better on the cross trainer - sorry, no advice to offer about how long to go on it.

Well done Jaggy and chutney

The night run I'm doing is 7K - there are shorter ones for families of about 2K I think. i'd never headroom them until a friend of mine did one last year.

Bournemouth marathon festival have a evening 5k ( in october)that I believe you run on the pier too.
I keep looking at that but think I might do the half marathon instead although that depends on how I get on with my first half

I now have 3 weeks until my first half
I am running 12 miles tomorrow morning and have finally got some shot bloks to try. I also got some high5 rehydration tablets to put in my water so will be experimenting tomorrow.

Last monday I ran 11 miles and really struggled just over the 10 mile mark I am hoping tomorrow will be better. It will be my last long run before the half.
The good thing is all my training routes have been hilly whereas the half is flat with minimal hills. Next week I will start tapering.

I have also booked myself on a 10k two weeks after the half hoping that is not a mistake!
I have in my mind that I would like to be in a race each month so thats april taken care of.
I have missed my normal 10k in may thats fully booked when last year they struggled to fill it!
June looks busy I have entered 2 10ks.
July I am doing a midnight walk 6 miles with my mum but will probably do another 10k
August not sure yet but have a few ideas
September may see my greatest distance yet its a local 16 mile run but its incredibly hilly and a tough coastal trail run with minimal road sections. I might pass this one up until next year though.

Well done Jaggy

Lifestyle sports organise a Run in the dark in association with the Mark Pollock trust here if there's any close to you. Know it's November so a bit away though.

They look good fiftynine but I really couldn't justify that price for myself and the amount of use it would get. Maybe if I was like the sis who goes surfing and camping a lot I could.

How did your 12 miles go Sven? Sometimes you just get a bad run for no rhyme or reason, one of those annoying things. I hope yesterday was better for you. What are the shot bloks like, I've seen them sitting in Sweat Shop and often wondered if they are any good? 3 weeks!! It's exciting isn't it? I did a 10k a week after my half and got a pb so it's definitely do-able. Only thing was I did have a lot more aches and pains and had to take a couple of weeks off after that.

My own is now just 17 days away and did my last long run today. I know my shins been annoying me but did a lot of stretching last night and it really helped. It is my mission this week to stay on top of my stretching and not do it once or twice then not bother!

I stayed around the town just in case I had to head home but was fine. 13.4 miles and another 2 minutes knocked off my pb. I'm now wanting to chase a sub 2hr which might be slightly optimistic, especially if it's windy that day as it's a coastal route that can get strong headwinds. Keeping my fingers crossed it'll be a calm day.

Sounds like it's all going to plan Sirona, good luck for the race. I use shot bloks, strawberry flavour, just bought 3 packs today! They can be quite chewy on a warm day, but I definitely prefer them to gels, they're like eating a lump of firm jelly maybe? And nice flavour

Hi folks

4th 13 miler done on Saturday. But slow! I took the dog with me and it didn't help. Normally I leave him behind if I am doing anything longer than as 10k. Always looking out for him and waiting for him when we needed to cross a road. Not doing it again!!

Well done Irian and sirona.
My 12 miles was very good. I highly recommend shot bloks and the high5 tablets. They made such a difference.
I was debating having a 13 mile run on Monday. My half is on the 20th so two weeks on sunday.
I am so unsure as the 12 was such a good run and it would be good to finish my long runs on a high for my confidence.

I meant to add I took a shot blok on mile 3,5,7,9,10 and 11.

Thanks sven. I will look into shot bloks - I do get a dip in energy at around 8/9 miles and my pace does right down (from a pretty low starting point )

Everyone's getting very close and all doing great! That's good about your shins Sirona, hoping for a calm day for you.

Might have a look at the Bournemouth festival Sven.

I share your pain on the pace dip Irian. I'd been very keen and did 10k on my way home from work, had the afternoon off. I'd been so looking forward to it and was aiming for a good pace (I've been doing run/walk to up my distance long runs) but it was a struggle. I'd hoped to knock a lot off my time as my parkruns have been getting much better but only just scraped my fastest time, by a few seconds. Even my jelly baby stash didn't help much.

A few seconds is good chutney.

My dog passed away over a year ago but I could never have run with her Irian. She was too nosey and wanted to stop every few seconds for a sniff/wee.

Glad it went well Sven. I'm the same and mine's the 19th, not sure whether to do a longer run on Tuesday or not. See how things pan out time wise I think. I prefer the SIS hydration tablets myself, found the High 5 one I tried had that artificial sweetener taste I dislike.

Might pick up some shot bloks next time I'm in town then and give them a whirl.

Just did a small 3 mile run today. Was out last night drinking and feeling a bit hungover so I'm impressed I even made it out the door tbf

Yikes, I'm running a HM tomorrow

Life has got in the way and my last run was my parkrun a week ago. I'm calling it tapering

See you all on the other side tomorrow afternoon

Best of luck to you Fifty!

Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Best of luck for tomorrow FiftyNine. Is the weather to be good for you? Tapering it is indeed. You must go eat all the carbs in the house now too

Good luck fifty

Good luck FiftyNine, looking forward to hearing all about it.

So how are you guys with HM this month seeing the runs going join the couple of weeks before. I've heard a lot about tapering but don't have a real sense of how much/little that means.

Good weekend here, great parkrun yesterday and nine miles today, farthest yet but an improvement in average pace. Can't complain. Plus it was even sunny for a bit of it, although has the odd snow flurry later on.

Well done for your nine miles chutney, how did it feel?

I think they say 10 days before start to slow down.

Looking at Garmin connect for the one I did, I hadn't done anything other than one gentle 6.5k two weeks before, but I'd had a sudden bout of IBTS in my knee the week before so was resting.

The week of the hm I did a 10k 7 days before, 30mins 5 days before and 22mins 3 days before, then rested. All at an easy pace. I'll probably do something similar again next week.

Well I survived . My garmin was measuring slightly short from the first mile marker, so it told me I'd only 12.98 when I finished, but I'll take a HM anyway

The weather was pretty good, it stayed dry and cold, and when the sun shone it was lovely (was not so lovely when it went in because you were both cold and sweaty - not a nice combination). Quite a lot of the course was off-road so a bit challenging, and there was a big hill around mile 10.

I did feel the lack of training in my legs, I flagged at mile 10 and walked a bit of mile 11. But my time was around my usual - waiting for the official result but about 2:23, pretty much the same as 2 years ago at the same event but on a slightly different course.

Lovely DH had a roast chicken dinner waiting for me when I got home

This has, however, given me the kick up the backside I needed to train properly for Sheffield next month

chutney looking at the BUPA 9 week HM plan I have saved on my computer and should really use more often, week 7 is the heaviest mileage. In week 8 it suggests:

M - rest
T - 2 miles + some intervals what are they? and another 2 miles
W - rest you will need it after T
Th - 5 miles incl some more intervals
Fri - rest
Sat - 5 miles
Sun - 10 miles

and race week:

M - rest
T - 2 miles + more blooming intervals
W - rest
Th - 2 miles easy
F - rest
Sat - 2 miles easy
S - HM

Which is probably better than what I did in the last two weeks.

I also forgot to vaseline my feet, so little toe has a nice blister. I think I need new shoes as the pads of my big toes were hurting towards the end and now I'm home my knee hurts. But apart from that (!) I had a great time, it was fun and friendly and because I wasn't properly trained I just decided to enjoy the run and not push it. The marshmallows at the 9 mile water station were an added bonus, as were the hot cross buns at the end

Oooooo it sounds lovely. Very well done. Time to break in some new shoes then. Marshmallows are a bit odd, I'd have thought they'd be difficult to swallow. But I would try

I think everything feels ok Sirona, last mile was hard but I gained DS with me which helped, they'd been for a walk while I ran.

Thanks for the tapering ideas, very useful indeed.

Well done fiftynine. Have a nice rest stuffing your face with chocs etc. Hope blisters and achy knees get better soon.

Did my first 10 miles today. It was hard although have taken up whoever it was upthread suggestion of talking book to listen to which did distract me a bit. Apart from when it got to a quite graphic bedroom section - had to fast forward through that .

When I got home was knackered and also freezing cold even though not that cold outside. Think its because I am quite thin so get cold easily. I had to get into bed under duvet to warm up. Can't wait for weather to warm up.

My shoes are looking a bit worn out due to running through mud and general winter wetness. Am thinking of buying a new pair the same as they are cheapish online now due to being old season model.

Well done Fifty, good result!
12 miles from me this morning, need to work up to 15. It was a beautiful morning but chilly. Decided to give my legs a break and did it on a flattish route for a change, next weekend we'll be back up the big hill, weather permitting.
Am hankering after new shoes too, think my current trail shoes might be too tight at the toes. Will need to wait for birthday money in June tho

Well done Fifty! And well done Cherry and emummy on the 10 and 12 miles.

I did 10 miles today for the first time since before I had dd. It went pretty well and took me 1 hr 29. I think I will need to break out the jelly babies and start taking on some fuel mid-run. I usually just eat a few slices of toast with nutella and have a pint of water pre-run which has been fine so far but I suspect I will need something mid-run to go further than 10 miles.