Half marathon training, starting 1/1/23

[JessicaBrassica]

Hi,
I'm planning to start half marathon training in n Jan 1st. Aiming definitely for an event on May 13 but plan designed around a race on 22/4. Just in case.

Anyone want to join me?
I've done several halfs before but not run a good one for a few years.
I'm using the Garmin beginner 3x a week programme.

Anyone want to join me?

@shamoola I took it easy for first 6, upped it a bit 6-9 and then at 10 I realised if I could find the last 5k at 10 minute miles I'd hit the stretch target so went for it.

You can do it!!!

I'm doing Royal Parks next 👍👍

@TheOrigRights Oh MY GOD!!! That's insane - I can't imagine keeping up that pace for 13 miles!!!!!!

@theworldhasgoneinsane another INCREDIBLE time wow!!!

Im so glad you enjoyed it too

Well done all who raced today. Some great goals being smashed, it's so exciting!

Phenomenal effort in Cambridge you guys.

That was some fantastic discipline on the pacing @FusionChefGeoff and to great effect.

And to shave that amount off your target time @theworldhasgoneinsane is brilliant. I'd like to think that'll be around my game plan for LLHM but I'm not confident of my pace.

What can I say @TheOrigRights - fabulous!

It was a local fund raising race @OhOneOhTwoOhThree - fifth time we've done it. Husband and son keep saying that at 'that pace' they might try the 26 mile option next year I will be sticking at 15.

@chutneypig the last time I ran Cambridge I was aiming for sub 2 and set off waaaaay too fast. I managed a PB and a phenomenal effor but didn't break the 2 hours and it was the most miserable 2 hours I've ever had running. I HATED it so swore never to make that mistake again!

I'm excited at the potential for my next one now.

I wasn't able to do any speed work and due to injury I was pretty much only doing 1 long run a week for the last 6 weeks supplementing with gym sessions instead.

So if I'm disciplined and try not to let my fitness drop too much I could look to make another improvement.

@theworldhasgoneinsane @chutneypig and anyone else who has experience of fundraising.....

I don't usually but my Oct race is a charity place so I'm keen for ideas / tips on how to raise money other than just asking my family and friends / posting a couple of things on Facebook.

Hi @FusionChefGeoff
I did mine mostly through Facebook and Instagram and kept sharing regular updates. I also made a poster and sponsor form to put in a social club where my dad goes (he has MS and I was raising money for the MS trust). This was for people who don't have Facebook and wouldn't donate online as modern ways of donating don't reach everyone. I raised an extra £100 doing it that way. You could do this for places where you know people but aren't Facebook friends?

Hope that helpful

Hi all, haven't checked in on this thread for ages, but just popped on to say congrats to the Cambridge half marathoners from yesterday. I also ran it and finished in 2:08 which is a PB for me. I was really pleased - I really had no idea what time I could do and knew I would be really happy with anything under 2:10 and disappointed with anything slower than 2:15.

I know it's stupid, but I am kind of annoyed with how I ran the race though - and this was due to lack of preparation of strategy and lack of understanding around target time! I ran the first part of the race a bit too quick, whereas looking online I realise now that general advice is to go easy for the first three miles. I was then on at a steady pace until I reached 9 miles at which point I started to fade a bit. I'm not sure if the was psychological - ie I wasn't prepared for it to be mentally tough, or if I had just burnt myself out in the first part of the race. Thankfully I didn't look at my watch for the duration of the race (though I could tell I had slowed down). And ultimately I was really pleased with the overall time which I guess is the main thing.

I kind of want to do another one now though and train for a target time.

Well @twotoedsloth same time as me and I was also very pleased!! What was your start time time? May have been close to you on the way around!

That must have been tough towards the end but your time was really good and you made it, you've learnt from it though and will know for next time. Well done!

@twotoedsloth that's amazing what an incredible time!! Did you fuel / hydrate properly? That can also really impact the last 5k.

I definitely suffered when I ran too fast early on - sounds like you know what to do. Keep an eye on your watch to slow you down!

I actually looked more at heart rate than pace to start with to make sure I wasn't over reaching in the early stages

Thanks all. I think with the race plan, I just had no idea what pace I would be able to run - I had followed my training plan really well, but concentrated on the distance rather than speed. I think I would look at my watch if I ran another one, but yesterday I felt like I would freak out of the pace was too slow, but also if it was fast as then I'd be worried I wouldn't be able to keep it up. But now I have more of an idea what I can do, it would be easier next time.

@FusionChefGeoff yes I hydrated at every station and probably had too many of the gel things as they were making me feel a bit sick by the end! Psychologically they may have helped me though.

@theworldhasgoneinsane great time, well done! I set off at 10:02, how about you?

Well done everyone on the fantastic running yesterday! Hope you are all resting your legs and eating whatever you like today!

I ran 10 miles on Saturday and was very happy, first time for me.

have a good start to the week everyone 😊

@twotoedsloth my set off time was 09.58 so probably saw you at some point!

Is anyone who has completed the half marathon going to keep training and do another, or a longer run? I kind of want to and really enjoyed the run but I hate the really long runs during the training!

Me me, but I don't hate the long runs! HM is my favourite and best distance.

I have one booked for 2 week's time, which isn't ideal, but it's part of our county Grand Prix series.

insane if you hate the long runs, why not fall back to 10Ks or 10 mile (fewer races at that distance though) and really work on improving your time for those? Or trail races, where the time goals are off. Or Tri?

I've run one marathon. I am very glad I did it - ticked it off, and it was London so the best one to do. The experience was amazing, but I absolutely did not finish it thinking I'd like to do it again, or beat my time or anything like that.

@theworldhasgoneinsane I will be going further later this year. When I was on a marathon training high last year I signed up for an ultra (only a small one, 50k, not race to the stones or anything like that). I ended up deferring to this year as something else came up that weekend. Just as well as I was really unwell in the run up to the marathon, had a horrible run/walk and didn’t run any further than parkrun from May to September and could not have trained for anything big.

I’d forgotten all about it until a week or two ago, when I went to book the Norfolk Coastal HM in September and remembered that I already had something that month.

So my plan is to follow a 6 month training plan for the ultra. It should start around now, so the distances I’m doing at the moment are a bit longer than they should be, and I will have a few weeks of respite after the HM in April before they build up again. As I also want to have a dabble at sprint triathlons this summer I will swim or bike on the cross training days, and drop my running from 5x a week to 4x. The training plan contains 2 marathons <wibble>.

Old me 10+ years ago would not have ever imagined making this post. C25K has a lot to answer for!

Definitely not doing another HM anytime soon. I enjoyed the long runs at first, but it became wearing the past few weeks. However once the memories fade I'd like to do it again. I'll probably do the Cambridge half again next year, if not something sooner.

In the meantime, I'd quite like to tackle a 10k. It's a distance I've only ever raced once and it would be fun to train for speed rather than distance.

@TheOrigRights I had thought about sticking to shorter runs like 10ks and working on my time, as the training for that is much more manageable time wise. I have 3 children and busy job and finding the time to regularly go out and run for 2 hours plus the gym is difficult. But I loved doing the half marathon yesterday, which makes me want to do it again!

Yes @twotoedsloth that makes sense, I did a 10k in November at Sandringham which is near me and that was good.

@OhOneOhTwoOhThree sounds like you are very dedicated and ambitious which is great! I just think I prefer short sessions like park runs, 10ks and gym classes! If I could do another half marathon again and not have to train doing long distances then I'd do it!

That's a very exciting plan for the year@OhOneOhTwoOhThree!! The triathlon work will be a nice mix.

@theworldhasgoneinsane I've got halfs booked for autumn but I'm planning on cutting back the mileage a bit before I start training for them. I thought I might try one of Garmin 5k plans to get my pace up (down?) a bit. My family are very tolerant of my long runs but they do cut into Sunday.

Great work @Lamontaine - 10 miles feels good to get in the bag.

I'm not sure on the marathon front - if I did I'd like to do London - not alone there! - so I do enter the ballot. I saw on another thread someone mention being half marathon ready as a fitness state. That's really where I'd like to be. I like the half distance.

I've done a marathon so ticked that off. Probably wouldn't sign up for another half but my favourite bit is the long run - it's the long intervals that I don't like!

@chutneypig I've done the Garmin 5k plan (coach Greg) twice now and achieved PBs both times. So may go back to chipping away at that.

But probably what I'll do is have a few months of just enjoying the plodding and giving my body a break from running but it is time to get back on the bike as it's hopefully getting warmer.

I have also done marathons; part of me would love to do another but the time constraints of training are off putting, family life does come in the way and my weekends are spent ferrying children to various sporting activities. The half training time works as it’s achievable but also doesn’t leave me feeling too wiped out. I’ve taken a few days off after a fairly intense 7 weeks of training (basically starting from scratch) and I’m hoping that I’m now raring to go this week..

Good work @Lamontaine on doing your 10 miles!

@TheOrigRights how were the legs yesterday?

@shamoola I’m the same, I enjoy the long runs but hills/intervals are brutal! I get the fear before I even set foot out the door but I know they’re essential.

@theworldhasgoneinsane and @twotoedsloth just read back on the posts - well done on your times!! Amazing and inspiring. And to think you were running very close to one another - small world!

Well done to everyone for their weekend runs.

Yesterday, I treated myself to a hydration vest; I was struggling with water on runs over 8 miles and a bum bag was causing other issues. Tried the vest out today and it was great. I carried some extra gels, my phone, some cash and water...no problems at all with it. My 3rd 10miles is now done; maybe 2 more between now and The Half.

I have a ton of races entered for the next 6 months; I love racing! I missed my entire season this winter (for my main sport) due to covid so I'm making up for it now! My race season would normally be 3 out of 4 Sundays a month for 4 months but I only managed 1 (disastrous) race last season (shouldn't have even lined up but hey ho).
Anyway, running wise, I've just signed up for a half marathon trail run 2 weeks after my half. I've encouraged DH to enter the 10k event as well so hopefully he'll be ok for that. I am
(stupidly) pondering a local Ultra 50km at the end of July...

Talking of future plans i'm doing a local 10k a month after my half. I am not good in hot weather so will ease back to gentle plods on the trails over summer, maybe with the odd speed session thrown in as not having done them before this plan I do quite like seeing I can hit faster paces, even if only for a very short duration!
Long runs over the winter are hard with the short days and it does seem easier now, that puts me off spring marathons (well marathons in general!).
I'm entering a trail half in September with the focus on surviving the hills rather than a time goal.
My running buddy wants to do shorter races so may be tempted but we're also considering getting a women's team together for next winters cross country season which is well out of my current comfort zone!

Those on Garmin plans, how much did the mileage go up? I've had the Coach Amy plan running but haven't stuck to it religiously. My event is 10 weeks away yet she was asking for a 12 mile run on Sunday, 6.5 today plus another 4-5 miler later in the week, and a speed session (1 mile time trial followed by 4x400m at race pace this week, last week's speed session ended up at 6 miles with warm up/cool down). It feels like a lot with over 2 months still to go, esp a 12 mile run weekly. Is it because I'm not strictly adhering to it?

Hi 👋 I'm in. Entered a half for September.

In my 40s, overweight and unfit, but used to run loads pre kids. Never very quick (previous 10k 1:03 and HM 2:10), but good at just plodding.

I've been out for half a dozen runs in the last couple of weeks. Slightly demotivated as used to run 5k in under 30mins, but yesterday took me 45mins. Makes me see the volume of work I need to put in is pretty big to get back to that.

Glad to her others' training is progressing. I'm planning to use the next 2 months to get back to running 10k and build up baseline fitness again. then I'll ease off for a month or two before starting HM training properly - bit if anyone has any tips I'll gladly receive them!