Author Topic: Run half marathon in October  (Read 5544 times)

ender

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Run half marathon in October
« on: May 30, 2015, 05:07:55 PM »
I was asking about running a half-marathon here earlier and after a lot of positive feedback, I'm going to throw down the gauntlet. I've wanted to get healthier for some time now (failed at that goal).

One of my life goals is to run a marathon. No particular reason, but it is on my bucket list. But I keep getting older and I'm sure this isn't going to get easier as I age.

Difficulty for me is without a concrete plan, something like weight loss is impossibly hard. I'm going to stop focusing on deprivation and start focusing on positive action, such as this.

Fortunately here, something like this is a training plan checkbox thing to do. Here is the training plan I synthesized from a bunch of different ones online - if anyone has thoughts or suggestions let me know.


dandarc

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2015, 05:21:38 PM »
Good luck - looks reasonable to me! 

A lot of plans have "fall back" weeks where the long run isn't quite as long.  Maybe something like: 3 3 3 4 3 5 3 7 4 9 4 11 5 6 14 6 7 in your mile-based long runs.

I'm sure others will have a different opinion on that.

Might join you on this run a half in October 2015 - maybe it is time for me to finally run the "Boston Mini Marathon" on Oct 31.

Insanity

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2015, 06:08:47 PM »
Good luck!

SingleMomDebt

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2015, 06:23:01 PM »
I claim insanity and ran my 1st (run ever) marathon in high elevation with beautiful view (Lake Tahoe) with 16 weeks training (its amazing how far stress can fuel a person). I love Jeff Galloway's run-walk training. Have fun!

Able was I ERE

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2015, 07:10:31 PM »
Good luck!  I'm thinking of training for an October half -Marathon as well.  Thanks for the motivation.

tofuchampion

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2015, 07:51:58 PM »
I'm doing an early November half with a friend. Good luck! I've done one before and it's a fun distance.

Bill76

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2015, 10:21:48 AM »
Looks like a reasonable plan, except there's no taper!  On the long Saturday runs, I would take out the 3rd week of three mile runs, move the rest up one week, then only do about 8 miles the week before the race.  That should help your body recover a bit more from the ramp up during training and give you fresher legs for race day.

For your cross training, don't neglect the squats and lunges.  They'll strengthen the hips and glutes to avoid IT band pain.  Good luck!

ender

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2015, 09:51:24 AM »
First 15 minutes on Tuesday was... rough. But I survived.

Tonight's will be interesting, though :)

Looks like a reasonable plan, except there's no taper!  On the long Saturday runs, I would take out the 3rd week of three mile runs, move the rest up one week, then only do about 8 miles the week before the race.  That should help your body recover a bit more from the ramp up during training and give you fresher legs for race day.


I will probably do something like this, I've had a few people suggest it now.

Able was I ERE

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #8 on: August 14, 2015, 06:54:09 AM »
How's your training going now?  I'm about to sign up for that October half-marathon

brooklynmoney

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #9 on: September 06, 2015, 05:59:46 PM »
I'm doing an October Half too. I haven't done a half in a year and a half, so quite out of shape. Training has been rewarding though. Doing a long run of 8-10 miles tomorrow. Good luck in your training! I agree w/ the poster who said don't ramp up too fast. The first time I trained for a half I went from 0 to running like 20 or 30 miles a week and go shin splints (duh).

Jon_Snow

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2015, 11:07:56 AM »
Another half marathon booked for October here, my second this year. Would really like to be sub-2 hours, but my life won't end if I don't.

IT band problems in my right leg are the possible fly in the ointment in hitting this goal. Will be hitting the foam roller hard in the next several weeks to see if I can loosen it up.

Heading out on 10km run...right now.

ender

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2015, 07:19:28 PM »
Another half marathon booked for October here, my second this year. Would really like to be sub-2 hours, but my life won't end if I don't.

IT band problems in my right leg are the possible fly in the ointment in hitting this goal. Will be hitting the foam roller hard in the next several weeks to see if I can loosen it up.

Heading out on 10km run...right now.

My shin got sore a while ago, and I stopped.. wasn't going to happen :(

I should get back to running some though, I've not had shin pain for a few weeks now.

bop

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2015, 07:53:34 PM »
I'm running my first half marathon on November 15 with my daughter.  In preparation, I've been incorporating one long run into each week's training.  Today, I ran 15 km (about 9.3 miles), the longest I've ever run.  It went well enough, sub 9-minute miles, which is my race goal.

And in the "Too Much Information" department...  I notice that when I go for long runs (more than 7 miles), my nipples start chafing.  (I'm a guy.)  Does this happen to any of you?  Today, I actually had blood stains on my shirt for the first time.  I did some internet searching, and decided to buy "nip guards" to wear on long runs (and in particular, in the half marathon race itself).  They seem to be similar to bandages that you place on your nipples to reduce the chafing between your nips and your shirt.  Hopefully they will solve the problem.

Bill76

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2015, 08:19:16 AM »
IT band problems in my right leg are the possible fly in the ointment in hitting this goal. Will be hitting the foam roller hard in the next several weeks to see if I can loosen it up.

Squats, lunges, and hip drops are your friends if you want to conquer IT band issues. Foam rolling helps loosen things up, but the long term fix is correcting whatever muscle imbalance is causing the pain.

Reference video for hip drop: http://running.competitor.com/2014/09/training/competitor-demand-hip-drop-exercise_114084

My running group started doing more of these things, and we've all pretty much eliminated IT band problems from our lives.  Good luck!

Jon_Snow

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #14 on: September 11, 2015, 08:45:44 AM »
Ooh, I like the look of that hip-drop exercise. Gotta be better than the foam roller - that shit could have been employed as a medieval torture device. Hate it.


sheepstache

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #15 on: September 11, 2015, 09:01:27 AM »
And in the "Too Much Information" department...  I notice that when I go for long runs (more than 7 miles), my nipples start chafing.  (I'm a guy.)  Does this happen to any of you?  Today, I actually had blood stains on my shirt for the first time.  I did some internet searching, and decided to buy "nip guards" to wear on long runs (and in particular, in the half marathon race itself).  They seem to be similar to bandages that you place on your nipples to reduce the chafing between your nips and your shirt.  Hopefully they will solve the problem.

Well you already bought them, but for future reference, you can also just use...band-aids. That's what the guy runners I know do.

dandarc

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #16 on: September 11, 2015, 09:06:15 AM »
And in the "Too Much Information" department...  I notice that when I go for long runs (more than 7 miles), my nipples start chafing.  (I'm a guy.)  Does this happen to any of you?  Today, I actually had blood stains on my shirt for the first time.  I did some internet searching, and decided to buy "nip guards" to wear on long runs (and in particular, in the half marathon race itself).  They seem to be similar to bandages that you place on your nipples to reduce the chafing between your nips and your shirt.  Hopefully they will solve the problem.

Well you already bought them, but for future reference, you can also just use...band-aids. That's what the guy runners I know do.
Body-glide is also great for this problem.

pbkmaine

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #17 on: September 11, 2015, 09:23:44 AM »
 Wow. Finally some advantage to wearing a bra.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #18 on: September 16, 2015, 09:54:33 AM »
Bill76, thank you, thank you, thank you for the link to the "hip-drop" exercise. I've been doing this religiously since you posted the link - and my IT band issue is  SO MUCH BETTER. I churned out a 12km run yesterday and only felt a bit of discomfort kick in at around the 9km mark - usually it makes an appearance at the 6km mark.

I just hope it may allow me to ditch the foam roller. ;)

Bill76

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Re: Run half marathon in October
« Reply #19 on: September 24, 2015, 11:23:20 AM »
Bill76, thank you, thank you, thank you for the link to the "hip-drop" exercise. I've been doing this religiously since you posted the link - and my IT band issue is  SO MUCH BETTER. I churned out a 12km run yesterday and only felt a bit of discomfort kick in at around the 9km mark - usually it makes an appearance at the 6km mark.

I just hope it may allow me to ditch the foam roller. ;)

That exercise is a miracle worker. It really is. Keep it up, and that foam roller might get a nice long vacation. :)

 

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