Question about my 1/2 marathon training...

[froglegs]

So about 5 weeks ago, I rather impulsively signed up for a 1/2 marathon on 1/20. At that time I was only running two or three times a week, 2-4 miles at a time. So with the help of the training schedule creator thing on the Runner's World website, I cobbled together a schedule which I have for the most part been sticking to (the exception being when I pulled a hammy and then got sick a couple weeks ago and took a few days off).

My plan is rather aggressive in that I am increasing mileage quickly. Other than one tempo run per week, I am just focusing on increasing mileage (no speedwork). I cut back on the cycling, and am now up to 4 runs and around 18 miles per week. My long run yesterday (and longest to date) was 8.5 miles.

So now I have five weeks left, and I was hoping some more experienced runners might be able to help me figure out how to approach these last few weeks.

My plan looks something like this: 10mi next Sunday, then 11, then 12, then 7 the Sunday before the race. 3-4 easy miles on Tuesdays. I also run on Thursdays, tempo runs of increasing length, from 4 miles this week up to 7 miles (including warm & cool) a week and a half before the race. Then 2-3 easy miles on Saturdays. The last week is just a couple of easy 4-5mi runs with nothing for two days prior to the race.

Any & all comments and suggestions are welcome..... thanks!!!!!

[anakiwa]

Sounds reasonable to me. If it starts to feel like too much, back off faster.

Good luck in your race!

[michelem]

Sounds good. I had big plans for my 1/2, but my training got waylaid by real life - injuries, illness, and such. So, my longest run was about 9 miles and that was well over a month before the race. I barely ran for the 6 weeks prior. I finished in a respectable time. I only wonder how well I would have done had I been able to train properly! You'll do just fine . . . :)

[Grog]

I'm not a half-marathoner veteran, but it does look good to me too.

I'm not sure you really NEED to run the 12-miler though. You could stop at the 11-mile mark and leave it at that. That will give you a little more time to taper and reduce your mileage. You don't want to get to race day exhausted!

Enjoy!

[froglegs]

hmmmmm..... skipping the 12 miler doesn't sound like a bad idea. I could do the 11 in 2 weeks and then start my taper, or take an extra week to work up to 11.... or maybe just 10. I feel OK now, but considering that just 5 weeks ago I was only running about 5-8 miles a week, I am a little worried that I am increasing mileage too quickly and that it will catch up to me.

[Grog]

I'd think I'd take a bit more time to get to 11, making sure you insert an easier week in there somewhere (maybe next week, depending on how hard you've ran in the past few weeks...).

If you can run 11, you can run 2.1 more!

Good luck!

[kiwi girl]

I've run a couple of half marathons using a training program where the longerst run was 10 miles - it seems to work OK for me