half in October? (Read 653 times)

I'm not sure if I'm being a little overambitious, would appreciate opinions... Basically my plan is to add half a mile onto my weekend run every week, with every 5th week being the same distance as the 4th just so I'm not constantly building. My other three runs during the week will be between 3 and 4.5 miles each. I should be at at least 20 mpw for the last 12 weeks before the race and have a few 12 and 13 mile runs in the last month. I looked at all the base building and half marathon novice training plans I could find on lilne and it seemed to make as much sense to me to just do it this way rather than follow a specific "formula." But I could be wrong. No time goals or anything, but I'm not out to "just finish" either...would like to run it rather than walk much but I'm not opposed to walking breaks when I need them.

I am new to the half-marathon scene (with my first one a week away), but for what its worth, I think your plan sounds great! I followed Hal Higdon's 12 week beginner plan and I wish I had a few more weeks to train. I would have liked to have increased my weekly mileage more gradually. Good luck with your training!

You're program is similar to what I did to train for my first half (completed just a few weeks ago -- yay!), except that every few weeks I would drop my long run down to closer to 6 miles or less for recovery purposes. And for a few weeks towards the end I was doing 5-6 mile mid-week easy short runs, so as you get closer to goal you will probably feel more comfortable increasing your mid-week or short run mileage, as well. I found this helped considerably with my conditioning but the biggest impact was mental. 6 miles is nearly half a half marathon. It made the longer distance seem less daunting. I felt very prepared and the race went fabulously and all according to plan. The training also went very well and I have to say I only had one rough day that I can remember. With all the time you have to train, which is about how long I trained, I doubt you will have any need to walk, other than, of course, taking a little break at the aid stations. I started off in the very beginning with run-walking the long runs, and by 2 or 3 months out (long runs getting up to 8-9 miles) I wasn't doing any walking anymore.... I also recommend throwing in a 10K race sometime near your half marathon. I ran one and it was so much run and went so well that I think it helped me get mentally prepared for the half marathon. You'll do great!