10k to Marathon in 6 months?

[Treseme]

I can very comfortably run a 10k a few times a week at a nice 11-12 min mile pace. I'm a plodder.

I've done two half marathons (just on my own, not in races) and I didn't find them too difficult, plodding along!

A colleague loves running too, she's done quite a few marathons. She's suggested we run a marathon together in 6 months time.

I feel like my comfy 10k is WORLDS away from an actual marathon, and as the furthest I've ever gone is half a marathon (4 months ago now) --- is 6 months enough time to train?

I can only run 2 or 3 times a week now, is that enough?

I do strength train 3 times a week, dumbells and barbell weights, and the odd bit of yoga for the satisfying stretches, to avoid injuries.

I'd never considered a marathon before, the idea scares me!

Depends...

Are you happy to walk large sections of it, find it very difficult, and risk injury? If so, you could train enough in that time to get round.

If you would rather run most of it and go into the marathon feeling like you have a fighting chance of doing yourself justice and not breaking yourself in the process, I would aim for a marathon next autumn instead, with a couple of spring half marathons in the calendar and then your longer runs over the summer.

The other bonus of that option is that it's also far easier to train for a marathon over the summer as the days are longer. When you're getting up at 5am to do your long runs, it's nice not to have to do the first half of them in the pitch black...

I can only run 2 or 3 times a week now, is that enough?

Not if you want to run most of it and not get injured, no. You would want 3-4 runs a week, plus cross training and strength work. It's good that you're already doing strength work and yoga.

It took me a year to move from half marathon to marathon and I ran about 1100 miles in that year.
It’s the long runs you will need to work on. The more times you run past 16-28 miles the more you train your body to operate on burning fat not just carbs.
But running is at least 50% mental so if your determined you can do it.