half-marathon training help!

ginabean82

Hey girls,

 

I am running my first half marathon in May.  I have been running consistantly since I was 14, with maybe only a month off when I sprained my ankle when I was 22.  I am now 29.  Is there any special training programs that anyone can share with me?  Even though I've been running for 15 years, I am still nervous about this!  I really want to do good, but I have a feeling I wont.  I run 5-6 days a week, about 4-5 miles a day.  Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  

Bawelu

Hi ! I've run about 4 half marathons and a couple marathons and I live by halhigdon.com training schedules. My piece of advice if you're going to increase your mileage from 5 miles all the way to 13.1 is to make sure you incorporate some cross training like Spin classes as well as some weight training. You definitely don't want to injur yourself! I have a half marathon coming up in early May as well...best of luck!

J&K10910

Ditto on Hal Higdon's site and plans.

ginabean82

thank you girls!

StephBeanWed61502

Just chiming in to say I used Hal Higdon's program to train for my first half, and I really liked it (and finished way faster than I thought I would, which was a nice bonus).

kpdorr

Hmmm- I was set on the coolrunning.com plan for half-marathon training, but now all the suggestions for Hal Higdon makes me want to reconsider...

mehgank

I'm a Hal Higdon gal too! I used his 12 Week Novice Program for my first half, and I finished in 2:32. I swear by his expertise.

erincredible85

I did my 1st one last year and used the plan for Girls on the Run Solemates.  You ran 2 tempo runs and a long run on the weekends as well as 2 cross training days and at least 2 days for strength.

Most plans say only run 10 or 11 miles before the event but I ran the entire course before it.  It was in the mountains and I was super nervous.  If I hadn't done 13 before the actual day I would have freaked out.. 

Definitely train along the course route if you have access.  You'll have some familiarity and it will make you feel much more comfortable.  I also ran with my own water belt.  The water stops are scary and I spilled them everywhere on myself.