Couch (and massively overweight) to half marathon

[Moneymoneymoney1979]

I'd like to do the Great North Run next year. I currently do pretty much no exercise apart from gentle walking. I'm about 7 stone overweight.
Does this plan sound sensible or would you add/change anything?

52 weeks to go:
6 weeks - increase walking distance, frequency and speed of walking e.g. walk dog twice a day but increase distance and speed. Add in extra round the block walks too.
18 weeks - couch to 5k (do each week twice so it's built up more steadily).
10 weeks - get from 5k to 10k. Introduce swimming too?
Rest of the time - build up getting from 10k-at least 10 miles. Really work on best nutrician as distance increases.

I think it's absolutely possible, but if you don't radically change your eating habits from the very start, no amount of exercise is going to combat a poor diet. You need to focus on your nutrition from the very beginning.

Thanks.

My suggestions would be to make sure you can walk 5km (or even 6km) comfortably before you start your Couch to 5km. So you might need to add an extra week or 2 at the beginning, depending on what distances you are walking at the start. The Couch to 5km will push your speed, so you need to have distance and kind of ‘muscle fitness’ down, or you won’t be able to keep up or will get an injury.

Secondly - i would think about doing each week of Couch to 5km 3 times, not just twice. That way you are getting properly fit for each stage before you move on, and you are letting your muscles develop and increase each step, thereby meaning less injuries. Don’t underestimate how your knees and feet are going to feel with all this work! Give them a chance to ease into it, and rebuild themselves.

There are 2 ways to repeat a week (or do it three times) - that is to simply do it as written twice, OR do Monday session twice, then the next day session twice etc etc so you do a slower build up.

you may worry this will leave you less time at the end to increase your km, but in my experience, it is far easier to go from running 6km to running 7km, than it is to go from running 1km to 2km. Give yourself more time at the start getting the foundations and the basics right, and the rest will take care of itself as your fitness improves.

Thanks. Yeah doing it 3 times might help. Could do earlier weeks twice and then later weeks 3 times maybe.

I was about 2-3 stone overweight when I started trying couch to 5km. How are your knees? I had to mix it up with the elliptical trainer so I wasn't pounding down on my joints at the beginning too much. That meant I did have to do every week at least 3 times. I would definitely add something in (doesn't have to be elliptical) that isn't hurting your knees/feet while you're overweight. You can do less of it as the weight comes off you!

(Btw I am still trying to move from 5-10km but I do work FT out the home so I find it hard to fit training in!)

My knees are ok in general apart from when I get up from sitting down.
I made a start today and walked for an hour and a half.
Tomorrow's goal is 2 walks of an hour each.

Hopefully you already know this but GNR you either have to apply for a ballot place or commit to fundraising for charity. The memberships with guaranteed entry for next year are sold out.

You can also try eBay for a race number close to the date though - it's not allowed but most people seem to get away with it. I hope you manage to get a place if you want one.

How old are you? That’s probably the most important question.

7 stone is a lot to lose - easier if you’re younger and less risk of injury.

but I love your confidence. I am significantly overweight as well and fear of injury probably making me worse.

Start doing park run every week now, you can walk it to start off and build up to running

I'm nearly 40.

I would start with a 5k and a 10k and see if you enjoy them. Enjoy not endure. A half marathon is then about 20k.

i know so many people who made a big thing about a famous race and then hated the training and/or got injured. When you can happily do a 10k then enter a half marathon? There are loads of them around.

I've done the GNR before and it's a great race. That's why I want to do it.

Good luck!!
Definitely worth taking your time as other have said to avoid injuring yourself early on

I'd also look at signing up to a 10K in the summer as a mini goal? If you are in the north the Darlington 10k is at the start of August and a nice flattish 2 loops

Also look at joining a local running club - they may have a C25K group or joint once you have got through it. The coaching and support from my club is invaluable

It wasn't planned that way but I went from week1 C25k to HM in 364 days. It took me 5 months to get through C25k (I had a young baby, was recovering from SPD and started working again which slowed it all down) I mainly ran late at night after the cluster feeds.

When 5k was getting into sight I signed up for an 8mi event with the intention of run/ walking, trained up to 6mi and surprised myself on the day by running 8mi. I then found myself talked into running a HM for 4 months later.

I did a 12 week beginers plan starting from 10k (and I struggled to keep milage up straight after the race).

The hardest bit is usually the first 5k. From that point it's building stamina.
If things are tricky, "Jeffing" run/ walk intervals are perfectly acceptable at any distance.

Make sure there is a monthly "rest week" where the milage scales back. Do some strength/ mobility work too to help reduce injury. Brisk walking is a good starting point as it will help with stamina.

Unfit to HM in a year is viable though. I ended up doing C25k because I'd finally stopped limping and was fed up of puffing everywhere.

If you need inspiration, the movie “Britney runs a marathon” is great. Based on a true story and shows the ups and downs of learning to run whilst literally on the couch, overweight to a marathon.

Great idea to do along side sorting out your diet

As exercise won't make a impact on a bad diet.

I wouldn't be running a marathon if quite overweight just due to the impact on your joints and skeleton

I would concentrate on diet mostly first and once you have lost 5/6 stone then ramp up the exercise.

It's not a marathon. It's a half marathon.

Love that film.

I think you’ve been given some great advice. A few suggestions from me;

• check out local running clubs to add a social element. Some run couch to 5k some hold 5-10k programmes. Some are purely social and have a big mixture of runners.
• do a mobility programme alongside. You can probably find some for free on YouTube. I do an online one with a monthly subscription. It will help keep injuries at bay.

make sure you update us in a few months time and let us know how you are getting on!

Would you consider engaging the services of a fitness professional to help you prepare? I am very active and not overweight and for me my running has stagnated at the 5k mark, just because I'm not a natural runner. I am starting from a place of already being physically fit and I would not do what you are proposing without professional help.

I'd be really concerned about the impact on your joints. You said your knees already hurt when you get up!

I would start with diet and focus on getting fit and strong in a low impact way, and then start running. To reduce the risk of injury.

Well this is all very depressing. Thought I could do it but so many people think it's not possible.

Most people on this thread think you can do it - there's only a couple of naysayers. There's certainly nothing to be lost in trying is there? Lots of people walk half marathons these days so surely the worst that would happen would be you run/walking it?

Only advice I would add is try and fit in some cross training if you can - building up the muscles in your legs will really help avoid injury. Ideally get some yoga in too as stretching will help stop everything getting tight.

I think it's definitely possible, your plan seems like a sensible build up. You really need to be able to walk 5k at a brisk pace before you start C25K. I would definitely look at your diet for weight loss though. Plenty of overweight people run half marathons but it can't be easy and it will increase your risk of injury.
Also bear in mind how hard it is to get a place in the GNR so you might need to fundraise for a charity place.

@Moneymoneymoney1979 - I'm sorry you've taken that from what people have said, that definitely wasn't my intention. It's just I'm speaking from experience when I say that setting small goals is a good idea. If I had gone from being inactive to targeting a half marathon I would have given up for sure but instead I have got to a place where I can run 5k comfortably. That's no less of an achievement given when I started I could not even jog for 60 seconds. Absolutely the same is applicable for you - set small goals along that journey to half marathon, build your confidence and you will get there in the timing that's right for you and your body.