18 replies to this topic

[Shnooks]

Hi All!

I am so excited to get on the Gold Coast training programe but I am still finding myself tossing & turning about whether to go the HM or 10km?

I've been an runner for about 12mths however having been a bit lazy over the festive period and really only getting back into it now.

Last year I was only doing a max of about 8km, but would really like to get stuck in this year and push myself much harder. I'm back on the pavement this week and just starting out with a few 3km runs (very hilly area!!) for the next couple of days and then probably start hitting the 5km & 8km regular circuits next week.

Now the question is......would I have enough time to train up for a HM by July (and just aim to finish) or should I scale my ambitions down and instead concentrate on just getting a really good time on the 10km?

Sorry guys for the newbie post but I am just so pumped to get started and really love having that defined goal in my head!

TIA

[Bellthorpe]

How many races (fun runs) have you been in so far?

How many will you have been in by the time of GC?

If your answer is 'none', you are not ready for a half ...

[Shnooks]

Bellthorpe, on Jan 12 2010, 08:42 PM, said:

How many races (fun runs) have you been in so far?

How many will you have been in by the time of GC?

If your answer is 'none', you are not ready for a half ...

Last year I only did a few of 5km & 8km fun runs, however over the next 6 months I plan to do as many as possible! As a minimum the 5km International Womens, the 10km Clem Jones Tunnell and the Sports Super Centre Series (as per below),

2010 RACE DATES AND DISTANCES:

Race 1 - Sunday March 14th 5km race for all
Race 2 - Sunday April 11th 8km and 5km
Race 3 - Sunday May 2nd 10km and 5km
Race 4 - Sunday May 30th 15km and 5km
Race 5 - Sunday June 20th 10km and 5km

However open to suggestions

[Bellthorpe]

Great! In that case, you might consider the half.

Were I you, I wouldn't, I'd spend the year trying to 'nail' the 10k, learn about pacing, get some speedwork going. Then over summer increase distance and really prepare for the half.

But given what you propose, a half is not impossible.

[paigebaby]

Why not hedge your bets. The Gold Coast Marathon website has a great beginners 1/2 marathon training plan that actually starts today. Its a 25 week program instead of the usual 16.
Why not start following that, and then when the event gets closer, decide how your going as to whether you register for the 10km or half. That way you give yourself time to build up the distance, but if you find it too much or get injured you can go the lesser distance.

[walshy2]

everyone is different but from my experience you can do the half

I started running again (ran lots in teens and twenties and played rugby league till 27yo) at age 35 in Oct 2005

Lost 20kg between Oct 05 and March 06 and ran my 1st race in a 11km race in July 06 in 45:06 and then ran my 1st half in Sept 06 in 88:46

went out way too fast and paid the price and learnt a lot that day

if your aim i to finish a half you have lots of time to prepare and achieve it in my opinion

[Jane06]

Schnooks - what motivates you more - training to run a 10km as fast as you can, or achieving a longer distance of 21km? Which goal of the two will you enjoy most achieving? Both are admirable aims.

I agree with all of who have posted that you can do either, but I think the training would be different depending on which goal you choose. So if I were in your shoes, I would pick a goal now, and then train accordingly - eg focus on pace, race strategy for the 10km time goal, or increasing the distance while not incurring injury for finishing 21km.

[Jimboy]

Hi Shnooks,good to see your enthusiasm.Your profile being so scant it makes it difficult to advise you.Based on your remarks and short running career to date,here is mine for what it may be worth.
If I were you I would go for the 10K for the following reasons.
1.Both distances have their own special appeal so neither is esssentially a better experience.
2.Based on my experiences at GC I can assure you you have a great chance of a big pb in the 10K.I have run my years pb every time over many years doing GC 10K.This would set you up for a faster half marathon in the future.I do not know what your current times are at the distance but I note that they intend a split race there with < 60mins and >60mins types being separated.Whichever group you are in the field size should be lower and more conducive to a fast time.
3.Most importantly I feel that with your limited racing to date a 10K would be the easier to train for through the summer months we have left and to more quickly recover from.
Best of luck in whatever race you decide upon.

[swaggerer]

Shnooks, you have received some pretty sensible advice from those above. So it is back to you.

I guess it depends what you are after. You would be quite capable of covering 21.1 k but not at your potential.

A good hard-as-possible ten k will set you up for a good hard-as-possible 21.1k later when you be stronger. It takes a while.

Anyway, whatever you choose - have good one.

Cheers,
Ronnie.

[blush]

what a great thread!! I'm facing the same decision myself at the moment, but probably looking at the Jetty to Jetty run rather than the GC (I hate crowds!!)

The advice given is great... now I also need to choose, do a better time at the 10k or do a half just to finish. hmmmmmm

[Didge]

paigebaby, on Jan 12 2010, 09:21 PM, said:

Why not hedge your bets. The Gold Coast Marathon website has a great beginners 1/2 marathon training plan that actually starts today. Its a 25 week program instead of the usual 16.
Why not start following that, and then when the event gets closer, decide how your going as to whether you register for the 10km or half. That way you give yourself time to build up the distance, but if you find it too much or get injured you can go the lesser distance.

This is my plan. Training for the half, seeing how my back holds out, and if it's good I'm ready for the half - if not, I'm well prepared for the 10.

[DoggieDoctor]

Shnooks, on Jan 12 2010, 09:04 PM, said:

Last year I only did a few of 5km & 8km fun runs, however over the next 6 months I plan to do as many as possible! As a minimum the 5km International Womens, the 10km Clem Jones Tunnell and the Sports Super Centre Series (as per below),

2010 RACE DATES AND DISTANCES:

Race 1 - Sunday March 14th 5km race for all
Race 2 - Sunday April 11th 8km and 5km
Race 3 - Sunday May 2nd 10km and 5km
Race 4 - Sunday May 30th 15km and 5km
Race 5 - Sunday June 20th 10km and 5km

However open to suggestions

I did as above a few years ago and ran the 25km leg of the Gold Coast 100 with 15km being my longest previous run, and ended up very lame for 6 weeks. Missed out on my planned HM at GC. My only suggestion is, the SSCS runs are great fun but don't do as I did, and rely on them as a major part of training. If you are doing a HM, make sure your longer runs are longer than the 15k I did.

Good luck
DD

[RunSpotRun]

Hi,
Have exactly the same dilemma. I'm a late starter to running. At 45, I started running and did my first 10k (B2B 2008), I also did the 2009 B2B 10k, and am keen to attack something a bit bigger and the GC half is supposedly nice and flat, so I thought it would be a goodie. I don't have a lot of experience, but I am taking it very seriously and intend on sticking to the training schedule and doing my warming up/ cooling down/ foam rolling etc religiously.

I figure that I'll decide which one to do by the end of April / mid May as by then the training program will have ramped up to running for 1h30m and I will know if its too much by then.

Friends (non runners) say I'm crazy - but I say there's no reason I can't do it. I've trained with weights for several years, and feel strong and fit, so all I need to do is follow the plan, put in the kms (and play lots of mind games with myself) At least I hope thats it.

Carol

Edited by RunSpotRun, 25 January 2010 - 12:05 AM.

[lonewolf364]

Hi Shnooks,

You need to ask yourself this question,

Is a 10km jog/run becoming too easy for you and you want something more challenging? If your answer is "yes" then start training for a real challenge like a half marathon.

I did my first Sydney City 2 Surf (14km) in August 2008 only having started jogging in Jan of that year for the first time since leaving school which was more than a quarter of a century beforehand.

I completed that event in 122 min followed by the Sydney Running Festival in Sept 2008 where I completed the 9km funrun event in 65 min.

The 2009 City 2 Surf was a more pleasant jog which I completed in 105 min. By that time, I was regularly training at 10 - 14km distances and was ready for something bigger and more challenging. My recovery period was alot quicker than in 2008 so I registered for the half marathon with 5 weeks to spare before the event.

Started off the half marathon well (completing the first 7km at 6.5min per km pace), my calf muscle started to spasm after 17km but I still completed the last 4km at mainly walking pace to acheive a time of 2hrs 44min 6sec. - 7min 48sec per km avg - (my goal time was between 2hr 30min and 2hr 45min). There was no way I was going to give up if I could put one foot in front of the other one.

I felt over the moon with this result which several months earlier would not have dreamed possible.

This year I look forward to doing 2 half marathons (the SMH HM and the Syd Running Festival HM) with plans on beating my time set in 2009 as well as an improvement in the City 2 Surf (my goal for that event is a time under 100min)

Good luck with your decision on which event you want to do. In the end just listen to what your body is saying. Any completed event is a great achievement which puts you ahead of 99% of the population out there.

I hope that I have helped you with my story.

[DNL]

Shnooks, on Jan 12 2010, 09:25 PM, said:

I am so excited to get on the Gold Coast training programe but I am still finding myself tossing & turning about whether to go the HM or 10km?

Shnooks
The mere fact that you are asking the question about running a half means you should run the half in my opinion.

I've only just started back to running more seriously, and I will be aiming for the half in Canberra in May. It is around 13 weeks away. I did my first 10k yesterday in a very un-respectable time of 1:28.

My goal is to run a half....I'm not about speed, just running the half. I will be doing a 12 week prep program and I'm cross training with swimming, walking and next week cycling and weights. Oh yeah, and along the way, I need to drop around 12 kilos.

Can you get yourself ready between now and July - you bet you can. Train for the half, run the half, enjoy the half and when you cross that finishing line, jump for joy! If nothing else, as Didge said, at least you'll be well prepared for a 10k.

cheers
Dave

[Bellthorpe]

Quote

The mere fact that you are asking the question about running a half means you should run the half in my opinion.

I disagree. There have been a arguments for both distances in this thread. My view is that one should run a half when one has become proficient at racing 10k.

[Davo83]

Bellthorpe, on Feb 14 2010, 10:39 AM, said:

I disagree. There have been a arguments for both distances in this thread. My view is that one should run a half when one has become proficient at racing 10k.

I agree with Bellthorpe. If you are keen to run for many years to come and want to maximise your potential, then i would work at the shorter stuff and move up later, as IMO your body, times and enjoyment will reflect the end result.

But at the end of the day it comes down to what motivates you to run.

[Quinkin]

First let me say that at the Gold Coast you are on a winner whether you choose the 10km or the 1/2. Both great events, at a great running festival.

On the question of 10km vs 21.1km

It seems to me that you are attracted to the challenge of completing a Half Marathon. So perhaps you have answered your own question. And I think you can run the GC half marathon, and by July you will be well trained for it, you might even do more than just finish.

My decision to run a Half Marathon was based on my training not racing proficiency. I had reached a certain training volume, including several 20km runs and many mid week 16km runs that I knew I could cover the distance and not end up injured.

I was not concerned about my proficiency at running 10km. I'd run a 42:00 minute 10km as a 47 year old. How do you measure proficiency at 10km races anyway? Seems awfully arbritrary. Am I proficient when I break 40 minutes; 38 minutes or when I reach the age graded proficiency of my younger years?

I suspected I might do a time that I would comfortable with at my age and my level of training.

I have seen the question decsion to run a half put this way:

1) train sufficient to finish the half marathon
2) train sufficient to run a time you are satisfied with
3) train to a level that maximises your potential.

I think my preference is number 2.

I've seen the arguement: don't bother running a half until you can cover over 50 miles a week for months. I wonder if some people would ever toe the of a half marathon start with this philosophy?

I run Half Marathons for the challenge, my times are still improving; I run 10km with the goal of running sub 40 as a master. I going to run the GC 10km with the hope of setting and PB and fingers crossed giving sub 40 a red hot go.

Edited by Quinkin, 14 February 2010 - 03:09 PM.

[ican]

I am a 43 year old mother of 3 young kids, recreational runner so my advice is most definately from a novice standpoint. After a couple of years running I entered fun runs and pretty quickly set and achieved goals completing a half marathon goal and a marathon, before setting a fast 10k goal. I appreciated all these achievements and my fast 10k achievement is as sweet as my marathon achievement. I think as a novice for me plodding away got me my distance goals but the 10k goal was much more intentional and deliberate and consequently just as rewarding.

I say train for the half and this will improve your 10 k times and then go for the 10k pb after the half.

Good luck and have fun!!