5 replies to this topic

[fifafairplay]

Hey all,

I'm considering doing the Half-Marathon event of Run Melbourne on the 28th of June.

I've never ran near that distance before - I currently do 10km's on a regular basis, usually in a bit over 50 minutes, and 1500 metre swims in about 20. I beep test about 12.4.

I'm 19, dunno how important that is though.

Looking to step up the training in the next 10 weeks - but is it unrealistic to think i'll be able to do it?

Should I just enter the 10km event and focus on reducing my time for that? I'd hate to conk out 15km in...

Any advice would be much apprieciated,

fifafairplay.

[20thCenturyBoy]

Easily doable if you are doing regular 10kms. What's your total mileage per week? Also what time goal do you have? FWIW when I did my first half I only trained up to 18k a couple of times, most runs were less than that. And I'm twice your age. Just keep your mileage up and increase your long run maybe by 2k each week to around 20km. Don't forget to include a final taper week of relatively light running.

[wombatoutofhell]

Welcome to Coolrunning.
Shouldn't be a major problem for you-you seem to have a good base. Build your long run up to 18 or 19km by about the start of june and you should be fine.

[maryclaire]

welcome, fifafairplay. You should quite easily be able to build to the half marathon if you have a well-planned program. Yesterday's Age newspaper had the 1st of a 10 week program for the 3 events and the first week for the 10k and 1/2M were very similar except for the long run at the end of the week. I thought it was a really good program, IMO, as it gets in plenty of intervals that look challenging with a lot of easy running in between. I am not sure what base is assumed before starting that program, however.

Good luck!

[Runc]

I was in the same situation when I decided to do my first half but I only decided 6 weeks beforehand. I was doing 10kms in about 52mins 3 times a week and I started doing one longer run every week for 5 weeks ( 12km, 14km, 16km, 16km, 18km) and hadn't run more than 18km before the race. You have more time than I had so you should be able to follow a plan like the one MaryClaire suggested if you like. The main problem with increasing distance is the risk of injury and you might feel a few niggles even increasing by a few kms so make sure you do it slowly and have good shoes etc. etc. I cant rem my time but it was arond 1.46 I think but that was feeling comfortable throughout and being very cautious (really wanted to make sure I finished). My first half was at Melbourne marathon which was so well organised and a really nice flat out and back course. I did Run Melbourne last year and didn't really like the course I must say, it was two laps which is a bit tedious. I spend the first few kms stuck behind people and the path was so narrow it was impossible to pass and then there is a sharp hill at the end of the lap to look forward to. So have a good race plan as well, no point going too crazy and you want to have energy for the final hill and to finish ( mind you the route might not be the same this year??)
Best of Luck,
Caz

fifafairplay, on Apr 20 2009, 12:44 AM, said:

Hey all,

I'm considering doing the Half-Marathon event of Run Melbourne on the 28th of June.

I've never ran near that distance before - I currently do 10km's on a regular basis, usually in a bit over 50 minutes, and 1500 metre swims in about 20. I beep test about 12.4.

I'm 19, dunno how important that is though.

Looking to step up the training in the next 10 weeks - but is it unrealistic to think i'll be able to do it?

Should I just enter the 10km event and focus on reducing my time for that? I'd hate to conk out 15km in...

Any advice would be much apprieciated,

fifafairplay.

[fifafairplay]

Thanks guys, big help. Confidence gone up right there.

Um mileage per week is hard to tell - I've been doing a straight 10km at least once a week, plus usually a few soccer matches (im a ref) where I'd do 12k's+ in a 90 minute period stop start (its hard to tell without using a GPS device), then usually a 1500 metre swim and, training every Thursday (mostly fartlec stuff).

I actually was inspired by the liftout in The Age yesterday maryclaire! - though I have to modify the regime to suit my current mix of training/matches.

All the advice is appreciated guys, thanks!