Could I be ready for a half marathon by Sept. 13th?

UrbanSavage · 08-18-2008, 10:22 PM

Never been a huge runner, the longest distance I ever ran was just under 8 miles. Just took a 2 week vacation in New York for my 21st birthday and drank close to 200 beers/drinks while there and completely skipped working out the entire time. Got inspired by my cousin who lives in NY and my buddy who I took the trip with because my cousin competes in triathlons, marathons and half-ironmans and my buddy is an ex-college runner who ran a lot of 10ks.

I usually do some form of working out every day. I'm pretty stocky/muscular at 5'10" and 200 lbs and not overweight. Just ran about 6 miles today and didn't feel too bad. I'm thinking if I just run about 5 or 6 days a week alternating between some sprint days and long distance days, I could run a half marathon by September 13th. There's a trail by my house that goes to the beach and if you run it both ways, it's 14 miles. I figure if I'm able to do that, I should be able to handle the half marathon. I don't really plan on doing well or anything, I just want to be able to run the whole thing without taking breaks to walk and stay at a respectable pace.

Gavriel · 08-18-2008, 10:55 PM

Yes. Plenty of people have ran halfs and full marathon's with little to no training.

Is it reccomended...well no. You open yourself up for injury, and your time will suck ass, but chances are you aren't going for time, just to finish.

Ian Coe · 08-19-2008, 04:28 AM

Well I would suggest you don't start running everyday if you haven't built into it.

I'm about 10 pounds off you and when I was doing about 25 miles a week, building up over a 2 month period from like a 8 mile run a week I sustained a knee injury (to be honest though that was from down hill running after hill sprints). If you jump to running what, say you try and get on average 8-10 miles a day 5-6 days a week from basically nothing you will get injured long before your marathon.

I would suggest 2-3 runs on grass or something cushioning, 2 medium distance at a good pace and 1 long say 9 miles.
Get your arse skipping or cycling or something and start doing some long sessions (say 90-120 minutes). Since a half marathon is going to take you ATLEAST 90 minutes I would get used to getting the body going for atleast that time frame and get your technique elsewhere.

You can do some sprints (hill sprints maybe but use it as one of your 3 runs, take out a medium paced run), but that should be used to build leg stamina rather then speed (unless you can run hills for 45 minutes or so, if so, enter some big fitness events).

Team Dragonfire · 08-19-2008, 06:52 AM

i've been looking into running the men's health urbanathalon in chicago (~10 miles) but i'm really gonna have to step up my running.

TheCanadianKid · 08-19-2008, 01:20 PM

i think so

UrbanSavage · 08-19-2008, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian Coe

Well I would suggest you don't start running everyday if you haven't built into it.

I'm about 10 pounds off you and when I was doing about 25 miles a week, building up over a 2 month period from like a 8 mile run a week I sustained a knee injury (to be honest though that was from down hill running after hill sprints). If you jump to running what, say you try and get on average 8-10 miles a day 5-6 days a week from basically nothing you will get injured long before your marathon.

I would suggest 2-3 runs on grass or something cushioning, 2 medium distance at a good pace and 1 long say 9 miles.
Get your arse skipping or cycling or something and start doing some long sessions (say 90-120 minutes). Since a half marathon is going to take you ATLEAST 90 minutes I would get used to getting the body going for atleast that time frame and get your technique elsewhere.

You can do some sprints (hill sprints maybe but use it as one of your 3 runs, take out a medium paced run), but that should be used to build leg stamina rather then speed (unless you can run hills for 45 minutes or so, if so, enter some big fitness events).

Awesome, thanks for the advice. My typical workout week involves some good jump rope sessions to warm up and cool down for workouts. Also, I train BJJ so I get some decently long training sessions in from time to time.

I have the beach just around 7-8 miles away so I try to run on the sand whenever I can. I was thinking about getting in some long cycling sessions, and possibly even dabbling in a little triathlon type training on my own at the beach to get some longer workouts in. I'll probably try to run 4 times this week, 5 times next week and then 6 times the next week and see what I can do.

Quirks · 08-21-2008, 02:32 PM

I'm also training for a half soon. I've made considerable gains over the last month or so with this schedule.

My typical program is:
Monday: off
Tuesday: 4 miles (trail running/hills)
Wednesday: 4 miles (trail running/hills)
Thursday: 5 miles (trail running/hills)
Friday: off
Saturday: 4 miles (road)
Sunday: 6 - 10 miles (road)

In the next month or so, I'll increase the mileages while continuing to train on the schedule. My short runs will probably be about 6 miles while my lsd day will be about 14 miles.

Good luck, you shouldn't have any problems if you can stay healthy.