Question:
I would like to run a half marathon
, (my first), at the end of Sept.
I ran 2 5K races last summer, both
times were exactly the same, 25.23
min. I was happy with the time because
I thought I would not finish under
30 min.
I started
to run for the first time about
3 months prior to the 5K races.
I was in touch with someone knowledgeable
who helped me with the 5k's, but
I don't have him to help me this
time. Basically I run 3-4 miles
5-6 days a week at about 10 min.
miles. I am not real concerned with
having a great time in the half
marathon, although I don't want
to finish last, or even next to
last .
I think I
would be happy if I did 9 min. miles,
and finished without ever walking.
How do I train to achieve this by
the end of Sept? Is this a relialistic
goal?
Answer:
Sounds to me like you are already
ready for a half marathon.
When I did my first half my goal
was to make it to the finish before
the first full marathoner. I planned
to run the first 6.2 miles and then
walk from there to the finish since
I was barely ready for a 10k at
the time.
The only problem was my IT Band
problem made my walking slower than
I'd planned on. I still finished
in 2:34 and was happy with that
because it was right before the
first full marathoner.
I won't be so crazy with my first
full marathon though. I started
my 18 week program tonight.
