16 replies to this topic

[EzzaNZ]

Hi Everyone!

I've spent a good few hours going through the boards here but there were a couple of things I wanted to know, I apologise if it's all been asked before!

I have decided to enter the Blackmores Half Marathon. I am not kidding when I say I can only run about 2k at the moment!

By way of background, since May last year I have lost just under 20kg. I am 25 years old. At the moment I am training 5 times a week (Mon-Fri 40mins cardio + 30mins weights/sit ups/stretches etc). On the weekends I take long walks/jogs and swim laps.

My question, really (god i'm rabbiting on!!! ) is where should I start? Obviously I just need to start running. Is my best bet to run 10 minutes/walk 10 minutes and build my way up?

Usually for my cardio I do the bike or the crosstrainer but will swap that for the treadmill from now on (with perhaps a day of cross training, because I love it!!).

How many days a week do you train? From what I can gather short runs during the week lead to a big run on the weekend?

I feel really positive about this goal, I know i've left myself enough time and if I train hard enough I know I can complete it, i'm just not sure where to start!!!!

Sorry for being such a NOOB! Haha. Thanks for reading, hope someone has the time to give me a push in the right direction.

Thanks

Erin

Edited by EzzaNZ, 24 February 2009 - 02:56 PM.

[EzzaNZ]

Thanks so much.
I also just found the Couch to 5K - which will be good for me to base it off, i think i'm a TINY bit ahead of "Couch" so i'll modify it a little bit.

Am so glad to have found this site!!!

[bigbaz]

EzzaNZ, on Feb 24 2009, 03:56 PM, said:

Hi Everyone!

I've spent a good few hours going through the boards here but there were a couple of things I wanted to know, I apologise if it's all been asked before!

I have decided to enter the Blackmores Half Marathon. I am not kidding when I say I can only run about 2k at the moment!

By way of background, since May last year I have lost just under 20kg. I am 25 years old. At the moment I am training 5 times a week (Mon-Fri 40mins cardio + 30mins weights/sit ups/stretches etc). On the weekends I take long walks/jogs and swim laps.

My question, really (god i'm rabbiting on!!! ) is where should I start? Obviously I just need to start running. Is my best bet to run 10 minutes/walk 10 minutes and build my way up?

Usually for my cardio I do the bike or the crosstrainer but will swap that for the treadmill from now on (with perhaps a day of cross training, because I love it!!).

How many days a week do you train? From what I can gather short runs during the week lead to a big run on the weekend?

I feel really positive about this goal, I know i've left myself enough time and if I train hard enough I know I can complete it, i'm just not sure where to start!!!!

Sorry for being such a NOOB! Haha. Thanks for reading, hope someone has the time to give me a push in the right direction.

Thanks

Erin

Sounds like you are in the same boat as me, i am also training for this event, i have lost 11kgs this year, i am 23. almost 24, am training 5-6 times a week, i can run 2km at a 5min pace but not much more, longer runs i can do at about 6min pace on a relatively flat course, but only ever gone about 10km as my longest run, hoping for sub 2 hr pace, i am also aiming for sub 75mins in the city to surf

[silverfish]

Hey!! this sounds like me too I'm 23, longest run I've ever done is 10km, but currently I can only run about 2km nonstop too. Are you following a training program? I'm using Hal Higdon's one - going to use the "training for the 10k run", then "training for a HM".

http://www.halhigdon...ng/10kintro.htm
http://www.halhigdon...athon/index.htm

PS. For any Sydneysiders - you could consider training through Cantoo? Although you do need to commit to raising $1,250 (funds will go to medical research).

http://www.cantoo.or...ng-program.html

[bigbaz]

silverfish, on Mar 16 2009, 10:43 AM, said:

Hey!! this sounds like me too I'm 23, longest run I've ever done is 10km, but currently I can only run about 2km nonstop too. Are you following a training program? I'm using Hal Higdon's one - going to use the "training for the 10k run", then "training for a HM".

http://www.halhigdon...ng/10kintro.htm
http://www.halhigdon...athon/index.htm

PS. For any Sydneysiders - you could consider training through Cantoo? Although you do need to commit to raising $1,250 (funds will go to medical research).

http://www.cantoo.or...ng-program.html

Nice to see that i am not on my own in this battle, lol, yeah i am a sydneysider, on the northern beaches, and well my running will have to improve now, blew my clutch and a piston in my car yesterday so that puts me on my feet for a while. My training schedule is all over the shop at the moment

Monday, Wednesday, Friday i do boot camp, this is mainly cardio work, but gets me all my hill training and speed and interval training i could ever need.
Tue, Sat i do 5km runs 2km rowing machine, 45mins bike, i will be replacing some of this for more weights training though
Need to ad a long run into this, at the moment i am only doing a long run once every 3-4weeks which i realise is not enough to compete to the level i want to.

But i did realise on the weekend that one of my mates houses in St ives is exactly half marathon distance to my house, so that could be a nice one to try

[EzzaNZ]

Hey Guys!

Looks like i'm not the only one in this boat then!!

At the moment i've been just working at getting my fitness up. I'm running 5K three times a week (treadmill - Mon, Wed, Fri) and am trying to cut the time down before increasing it. Then i'm doing a "bigger" run on Sunday's (outside). I'm also doing my normal strength training on Tues/Thurs.

I can see myself getting fitter and fitter every day so i'm really enjoying it!

Silverfish - those links are really helpful! I havent really be using a training plan so to speak, but i think i might start to look at those.

[EzzaNZ]

Baz! I'm in Northern Beaches as well! Just on Fairlight Street in Manly, at least we have lots of nice places to run!

Edited by EzzaNZ, 16 March 2009 - 10:04 AM.

[bigbaz]

EzzaNZ, on Mar 16 2009, 10:59 AM, said:

Baz! I'm in Northern Beaches as well! Just on Fairlight Street in Manly, at least we have lots of nice places to run!

Yeah lots of nice places to run on the beaches, i am in narrabeen, but do a lot of my runs in manly, i like the manly dam track and also the manly to spit bridge track, north head is also good, we are quite blessed with some nice areas to run

[silverfish]

The links are great, but sticking to the training schedule is the tough bit

good luck with it, do post on CR about your progess

[bigbaz]

silverfish, on Mar 16 2009, 12:23 PM, said:

The links are great, but sticking to the training schedule is the tough bit

good luck with it, do post on CR about your progess

Alright added some longer runs to my training schedule

My week looks like this

Monday AM 1hour 15mins Speed Agility and Strength Cross Training (Includes about 4km running)
Monday PM 11km run took about one hour 5 minutes
Tuesday AM 1km warm up run followed by weights workout
Wednesday AM 1hour 15mins Boxing / Sprints
Wednesday PM 11km run
Thursday - Rest Day
Friday AM 1 hour 15mins Running and Lunging circuit
Saturday AM - 1km warm up run 5km run with the narrabeen CR crew 2.5km to chiropracter, 3.5km home Total 12km
Sunday AM - Long run, undecided route or distnace as yet

The three am sessions on Monday, wednesday and Friday change each week, but overall are a cardio based fitness program

[Timbo76]

Welcome to Cool Running.

At the risk of sounding like everyone else, your's is a similar journey to mine. I'm 32, and lost 20 kilos last year, with a little bit of running (2 runs a week for a couple of months). Of the basis of this I decided to complete a Marathon and I am now in the final stages of training for Canberra on April the 19th, (Prevoiusly having run 10km max).

I have to echo Ironkids point about the %10 rule, slowly building up your distance and times helps avoid injury. Are you using a website like'mapmyrun' to keep a record of your progress? I find this really useful to see how you are going. I really think it is just about getting out on the road/trail and getting the km's in your legs. The more you run, the better you get at it and the more enjoyable it becomes. From there you get the experience to find out how quick you wantt to go, and what sort of training you want to do.

[jaspina]

Hi,

I'm also a newbie training for the Blackmores half. I'm only running three days a week (two 5k runs and one long run, increasing by 1k each run. Due to run 8ks on Sunday). I haven't started any speed training (I hate it) or cross training yet, but am slowly pushing down my 5k time (managed my fastest pace today at 6:24). Seems so slow compared to others.

Big Baz, that's a heavy training schedule! You have my respect.

How's your training going Erin?

[no idea]

Fairlight st??? I run past your place a couple of times a week. I'll wave as I plod past

[fifafairplay]

Quick question:

Should I ditch the excerise bike?

I've been doing 10km and 15km "sprints" on the bike - I do 10 in 17:30 and 15 in 29:10.

But will this help me in half marathon prep or not?

[no idea]

Hi Jaspina,

Just be careful not to push things too fast. There is no need to go with a watch even to start with. Maybe once a month do your 5k run and check the time. If you try to run ever run faster and faster you will get injured. And prob depressed because there will be days when you won't go faster. Slowly increasing your long run is great, but that run should be even slower. For the next few months or even right up to blackmores I don't think you need speed training, just keep base building. Cross training never hurts if it is an extra session to what you would run
good luck

[qazxs]

fifafairplay, on Apr 20 2009, 07:59 PM, said:

Quick question:

Should I ditch the excerise bike?

I've been doing 10km and 15km "sprints" on the bike - I do 10 in 17:30 and 15 in 29:10.

But will this help me in half marathon prep or not?

Hi Fifafairplay,
Don't ditch the exercise bike altogether, incorporate your bike work into you weekly running schedule.
The bike will give you a good cardio workout which will improve your overall fitness yet has less impact on your legs so use it on your recovery days.

[HillsAths1]

Hello to all the Noobs.

Congratulations on making the visit to us and hopefully we will see you around a bit more.

IMO I believe you would all be better served by doing more running than cardio classes/Boot camps/weights/et etc.

All of those cross training type workouts are great however if you have limited time to do sessions then you would be much better served doing runs if you want to be a runner.

If you have plenty of time on your hands(or feet) then other sessions are good, but if you are only doing a couple of runs a week then that is not enough.

I also suggest finding a local group of runners who have similar abilities and goals, as this will help a lot.

Good luck in your quest.