Forums >General Running>Training for a marathon to run a half marathon
Hi! I'm sort of new here. Lurk a lot but rarely post. I am a 46 yo female and have been ruining off and on for years. My MO: I will run for a while, quit, start back, quit. Usually when I start back I will use a half marathon to motivate me to run regularly. It works but as a result I never have a real solid base. I am training for my fourth half and true to form my base is weak and I am slow. My training log looks wonky because I just added runs to it and put them all in as easy and some of them have no times. So it will be hard to follow. Anyway I was thinking of running my first full marathon in September but I don't want to go into it knowing its going to take me 5 or 6 hours. I want to run my half faster first. I'm about 2 1/2 hours on the half. I've started adding some tempo runs and that's helping but my gut tells me I need a lot more miles. So my strategy is to follow full marathon training plan beginning in may but actually run the half in September. Is this logic flawed? If all goes well I will actually run a full in December
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If your current mileage average is below the recommended level for the start of the Half training, you might want to gradually ramp up to meet the start requirements, and then start the training. Hopefully that will still be a decently compelling goal to keep you going.
(I know lots of people have the same issue -- needing a goal race, to help get out the door in a consistent fashion.)
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
Feeling the growl again
For most people, there is no need to differentiate training between a half and full marathon. The only real difference for the average runner would be not doing a few of the longer long runs and using that energy elsewhere during the training week.
So to answer your question no, there is nothing wrong with your plan. But I would cap your long runs for the HM portion at 16 miles or 2.5 hours, whichever is shorter. Your log is not public but I would recommend holding off on a full marathon (given your stated goals) until you are consistently over 40mpw and have a few weeks during your cycle at 50+.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Thank you. I didn't realize it wasn't public. I am only at 24-25 mpw now.
To echo what Spaniel said My Half PR came after marathon training season, in which my longest run was 18 miles (about 2:50). If running under 50 miles a week, the half and full training plans I was recommended look remarkably similar, with maybe a bit more emphasis on tempo workouts for the half, and the longest run being 16 miles for a half, and 18 for the full.
Running consistently and as many days a week as you can will give you the best improvement than any training plan, the plans themselves maybe good to squeeze out an extra minute of two, but the bulk of your improvements will come over time and miles on your legs.
+1 to what Spaniel said. With a solid 40 MPW base, and a few weeks over 50 miles, you should be able to finish a marathon in twice your half marathon time plus about 15 minutes.
24-25 MPW was, for me, more than enough to run a half marathon. But I needed six months of 40 MPW to run a marathon.
Thanks for all the input! I think I have not ever fully met my potential because I am undertraining. I know I can run faster than I do. The few tempo runs I have sprinkled in have shown me that. Although I will still be proud of myself if I run a five hour marathon for completing the distance I want to do better than that and I want to run a quicker half marathon too. I just need to dig deep and put the miles in. I shouldn't need a training plan to motivate me especially if I want to move to the full marathon level. I need to stop being a wimp.
Next weekend is my half. Based on my training it's pretty clear that this one will be business as usual. 2 1/2 hours. Bleh. I'll do my best but consider it more of a training run than anything else. Based on your responses I need to get up to 40 mpw minimum so I will begin working on a training schedule for that loosely based on a full marathon plan and run another half in September. I'm in South Carolina so the running events dry up around here after May, it's just too hot, and ramp up again in the fall.
I love reading these forums and advice from all of the experienced runners here. Thanks again!