UKC

So I somehow got myself involved in running a couple of half marathons, Morecambe in May and Hadrian's Wall in June (some of this is trail and some is road).

I ran one about a year ago in just under 2 hours, without doing any specific training (just general runs).


i know i haven't got that long to train, but what would be some useful stuff to do? At the moment I run maybe 3 times a week (not dedicated), the longest being about an hour and shortest about 20 minutes. Ideally I'd want to beat my old time, but am aware there are loads of factors that could affect this.

In reply to JonLongshanks:

I did the Rivington trail half last October without much training in about 1h50, pretty average but I had fun talked to people along the way.
Main mistake I made on the day was not listening for 'runners to the start line' so ended up right at the back which slowed me down having to amble behind the slower runners untill I could make a break.

Some stretching probably, do a bit of speed work, and make sure you are happy with your kit. You know you can do the distance so just work on injury prevention then you can push yourself a bit more on the day.

In reply to JonLongshanks:

To make sure you can do the distance, try stretch your long run. If you can get up to ten miles at 'race pace', then you should be able to last the full distance.

It's also worth going out for at least one run for the full time you expect to be running for (2 hours?) so that your body gets used to being on the go for that long.

In reply to JonLongshanks:

You are not running a great deal, so I would not worry too much about structure, I would just try and up the distance on your longer run and try and run fast on your shorter one. The main thing is getting the mileage up, so the challenge isn't running the distance, but doing it at a decent pace. The thing with half marathons is having the strength to carry your speed right through the race, I see a lot of people struggle from half way, this is lack miles in their legs. I did some work with a guy who had a half PB of 1:49, a could of months of longer stuff got his PB down to 1:36, I suspect he will go sub 1:30 this year.

In reply to JonLongshanks:

Interval training will make a big difference to your time. Try a 4 mile run, with every other half mile at as fast a pace as you can maintain. Then slow down for the other half a mile to a pace you can recover for the next fast one.

Build this up to 7 or 8 miles- add something like this to your training plan once a week it will make a big difference. Stretch plenty before and after.

In reply to JonLongshanks:

Run more. Make your long run longer, and make your short run longer - 20 minutes isn't really going to do much for you. Ideally you probably want your longest run to be a bit longer than 13 miles, but if you can't build that into your routine, try to get up to at least 90 minutes. You've about 4 weeks of meaningful training before Morecambe, so edge your weekly long run up by 10 minutes each week.