Just found this thread.
I'm running a half marathon (SB Wine Country Half) in 3 weeks, May 13.
I have only done 2 before, in 2009 and 2010. My last one was the same race SB Wine Country half. My goal back then was to beat a 10:00 mile, so 2:10:59. I finished in 2:11:04. Dang it (I'm female and 5'2".) Injury sidelined me. I suffered from piriformis syndrome, which caused sciatica pain. It came on about 3 weeks before the race. I tried physical therapy. In the end, I had to quit running. I took a year off. Trained for a triathlon, short distance, and started running in vibrams. Cue the achilles tendonitis.
Anyway, then I had a baby at 42, and I figured my running days were over. A year ago, I started up again on a whim, but using my own made-up run/walk combo to avoid injury. It worked. I increased my run splits. Then I increased my pace a bit.
So I am now doing Galloway, currently at about 4 min run/ 1 min walk. Coming in around 11:45 to 12:30 per mile. Longest run has been 9+.
I'm on the ramp up, so my schedule will be:
This weekend: 10 miles
Next weekend: 11
Following weekend: 8-9 miles
Race weekend!
The hard part for me now (and it was the same before 7 years ago), is boredom. I am running with a training group - but half of the people are running the 1/2 marathon but run at a 9:00 mile. The other half run more my pace, but aren't training - so they are doing more like 4-5 miles. It's very lonely running 2 hours by yourself. I can manage 1 to 1.5 hours just losing myself in my thoughts. Then it gets tough, even running with an ocean view. Only a few more weeks though. I'm now at the point where I need to think about water and gu. Of course I got rid of my fanny packs with water bottles years ago...figuring I'd never need them.
So. The next thing that my coworker is doing, and that I've been thinking about for a couple of decades, is the Pier to Peak 1/2 marathon. It's Labor Day weekend, so a really hot time of year. 13.1 miles up hill, from the pier to ~4000 ft. In this case, I'll probably do way more walking than running. If I manage this 1/2 marathon without injury and without being miserable I may do it.
But again, it will be lonely. There's a different training group in town a friend has done. It's all summer, $225, 3x a week. I can afford that - but again, my age (almost 47) and physical limitations (short, stocky, prone to injury) make me wonder if I'll be running alone again. It's not worth $225 for a training plan and group fitness if I'm by myself. Max times for that one seem to be 4.5 hours, but I hear from a friend they let "walkers" start early.