Attempting my first ever Half Marathon!

S

Solomon76

Member
It has been a while since I’ve posted, but here is a very brief rundown of my weight-loss history:

Three years ago I tipped the scale at close to 240 pounds which is the heaviest that I have ever weighed. In the Spring of 2008 I began riding my bicycle just about everywhere I went. Over the course of 9 weeks I lost over 30 pounds and bottomed out at just below 195 pounds.

For the past 2+ years, I’ve been able to keep my weight under control by modifying my eating habits and being a lot more active than I was before my weight loss. But like most of us, I tend to overindulge during the Winter Holiday season and have to recommit at the beginning of the New Year to get back to my pre-Holiday weight.

Fast forward to this year… I’ve already found myself making excuses of why I don’t want to work out because of the weather and eating way more than I need to. So yesterday I registered to participate in my first ever Half Marathon, which will be held at the end of January (run info: ). I’m currently in what I would consider 10K run shape, so that gives me right at 6 weeks to work my way up to 13.1 Mile run shape.

I decided to make this post because I’ve found this forum to be a great place for support and motivation, and I’m going to need every bit of both that I can possibly get.
 
good look. i`ve started running to try and shift some fat and i really love it so i see where your coming from. i`m counting down the days untill i can do a half marathon.
 
Solomon76 said:
It has been a while since I’ve posted, but here is a very brief rundown of my weight-loss history:

Three years ago I tipped the scale at close to 240 pounds which is the heaviest that I have ever weighed. In the Spring of 2008 I began riding my bicycle just about everywhere I went. Over the course of 9 weeks I lost over 30 pounds and bottomed out at just below 195 pounds.

For the past 2+ years, I’ve been able to keep my weight under control by modifying my eating habits and being a lot more active than I was before my weight loss. But like most of us, I tend to overindulge during the Winter Holiday season and have to recommit at the beginning of the New Year to get back to my pre-Holiday weight.

Fast forward to this year… I’ve already found myself making excuses of why I don’t want to work out because of the weather and eating way more than I need to. So yesterday I registered to participate in my first ever Half Marathon, which will be held at the end of January (run info: ). I’m currently in what I would consider 10K run shape, so that gives me right at 6 weeks to work my way up to 13.1 Mile run shape.

I decided to make this post because I’ve found this forum to be a great place for support and motivation, and I’m going to need every bit of both that I can possibly get.
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Sweet!!! pounding the pavement eh?!? :smash::smash::smash:

I started running at about 20 pounds shy of my goal, and now am up to 10K shape as well. I always wanted to do a half-marathon, but am going to wait until next year after I can run 6.2 miles in about 45 minutes, then I will work on the long-distance stuff!!

Best of luck friend, and keep on the path. I'll be waiting to see the results.

-mellon
 
Began Training!

Thanks for the comments. I just ran 4 miles in 35m 37s with an average speed of 6.7mph.

I've been back in the U.S. since late August. I haven't ridden my bicycle since being back in the states and it shows. Right before leaving Germany, my average 4 mile run speed was 7.5mph.

I guess that's what happens when you go from cycling over a 100 miles a week to driving everywhere you go.
 
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10K (6.2 Mile) Run

Yesterday I ran 10K (6.2 Miles) in 57m 22s at an average speed of 6.5mph.

I'm going to try to work my way up to between 7 and 8 miles by next weekend.
 
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i ran 4k in 40mins today, was my 1st run outside away from the gym. was hard work but wasnt to bad, very pleased i bought a garmin to run with.
 
Good job scottsblue. I have two garmins, a forerunner for running and and edge for cycling. I think that they are great tools for analyzing my rides and runs. I'd recommend a GPS watch or using a smart phone as a GPS device to anyone that wants to compare and analyze there run/ride data.
 
could you help me out solomon, i`ve loaded up the data disc but cant seem to upload my runs. is there a special button u need to press on the watch?
 
If you're running Windows, make sure that the Training Center (TC) program is installed on your computer. The Training Center (TC) program should start up when you connect your Garmin to the computer. If the TC program doesn't automatically start when you connect your Garmin, open the program and click the "Recieve from Device" button at the top left of the screen (look for a right facing green arrow). When you click that button you should hear your Garmin make a serious of beeps and a message should appear on the screen saying that the data has been successfully transferred. If that doesn't work, you may have to download a driver from the Garmin website. Give this a shot and let me know if it works for you. Can you load your runs to the Garmin Connect website from your watch?
 
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ok i did it but its only showing pace, i`m more concerned with caleries, time and distance.

my garmin watch has made me really determind to get back out there. i`m dieing to beat my time now and cut out the walking.
 
Which Garmin do you have? If you have the 305 with the heart rate monitor, the calories are based on your heart rate during the time you exercised. If you have the 205, the calories are based on the average calorie burn for your age, height, and weight. Did your runs load to the TC program? If so, you should be able to click on the "Totals" tab and see an overall summary of your run. You can also change the data fields of the graph at the bottom center of the page.
 
The reality of this HM is starting to hit me. This morning I thought to myself, "I'll see if I can make it 10 miles." So at about the 5 mile point I knew that I wasn't going to make it the full 10 miles without walking some of it. So from that point my plan was to run 6.2 miles (10K), walk for about .75 miles, and run the last 3.1 miles (5K). The plan worked fine up until about 1.3 miles into the final 3.1 mile stretch. All of a sudden, my lower back tightened up on me. It didn't completely stop me though. I ended up walking until I had about 1 mile left and then finished the rest at a slow jog. I'm sore as heck now and my nipples are killing me from rubbing against my shirt. But I did finish the 10 miles, although I want to be able to finish it without walking. My goal for the HM is going to be to try to finish without having to walk any of it.
 
10 Mile Run

I just finished running 10 miles in 1h 39m 06s at an average speed of 6.1mph and I didn't have to walk any of it!

I was only going to attempt somewhere between 6 and 8 miles, but I emailed a buddy that runs all the time about my back cramping up on me the other day and he replied that it has happened to him as well. He suggested that I try the same distance again to see whether I needed to continue to build up to it or not. Now that it is over, I actually don't feel that bad considering that I just ran 10 miles. But I was really feeling it for the last 2 or 3 miles.

Now I need to work up to a few more miles and work on improving my speed.
 
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Solomon76 said:
I just finished running 10 miles in 1h 39m 06s at an average speed of 6.1mph and I didn't have to walk any of it!

I was only going to attempt somewhere between 6 and 8 miles, but I emailed a buddy that runs all the time about my back cramping up on me the other day and he replied that it has happened to him as well. He suggested that I try the same distance again to see whether I needed to continue to build up to it or not. Now that it is over, I actually don't feel that bad considering that I just ran 10 miles. But I was really feeling it for the last 2 or 3 miles.

Now I need to work up to a few more miles and work on improving my speed.
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You're doing great! My first 10 miler two years ago was 1:41 and you beat that in a training run. You have a Garmin GPS watch? I love my Forerunner 405. They're the greatest things ever.

Don't ever be afraid of walking. I remember when I first started running, it was such a huge deal to the first time I ran the whole 3 miles, then 5, then 8. But after a while you won't care. I even had to walk some of my marathon. Just make sure you're running fast for the finish line photographers.;) Run/walking is actually a technique. The Galloway Method.

And if you keep up long distance running, you're always going to hurt. It never gets easier. You just get better able to stand the pain. That's probably a good part about it. Everything else in your life feels like it hurts less.
 
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I have the Garmin Forerunner 205 and I like it a lot.

I ran 5K on Monday evening, but I wasn't happy with my average speed. I'm blaming it on the fact that I was still sore from the 10 miler the day before.

I didn't run yesterday so I'm going to run today after work. I plan on running 10K once I get home, but I'll see how I feel when the time actually comes.

I'll probably run another 5K before the weekend and then an 11 mile run sometime over the weekend. The following weekend, I'll shoot for 12 miles.
 
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I just got back from a 10K (6.2 Mile) run. I started out pretty good. I really thought that I was going to beat my 10K time from 24 Dec (57m 22s). However, I finished with a time of 57m 34s and a average speed of 6.5mph.
 
I just got back from an 11 Mile run (my personal longest run to date). I was feeling pretty good for most of the run. I slow down around mile 7 or 8 and really slow down after mile 9. However, I completed the whole 11 Miles without having to walk any of it. I probably could have squeezed out another mile at the end, but I still have 3 weeks to work up my mileage before the Half Marathon. My run time was 1h 49m 09s at an average speed of 6mph.

If my body allows me to, I'm going to run 3 miles tomorrow with one of my neighbors.
 
hey solomon, congrats on the 11 miles!! I have also decided to do a half-marathon in May, and I have friends that have been doing half/ full marathons for many years... they say whenever you do your "long" pre-marathon runs, to 100% rest the next day. I know you can probably GET yourself to run, but I would strongly advise rest! Google some training schedules for marathon running, and they will confirm the same thing. You need to let the muscles rebuild, in order to get stronger for the next long run! Good luck friend, freakin' awesome distance!!
 
Solomon76 said:
I just got back from an 11 Mile run (my personal longest run to date). I was feeling pretty good for most of the run. I slow down around mile 7 or 8 and really slow down after mile 9. However, I completed the whole 11 Miles without having to walk any of it. I probably could have squeezed out another mile at the end, but I still have 3 weeks to work up my mileage before the Half Marathon. My run time was 1h 49m 09s at an average speed of 6mph.

If my body allows me to, I'm going to run 3 miles tomorrow with one of my neighbors.
Click to expand...

It's lame to say, but you might want to rest the day after a long run. And it seems like at that distance, you're probably ready now.
 
Melancholy/HuskyMarathoner, I'm not disagreeing with either one of you because I don't consider myself to be a runner. However, according to the Half Marathon Training schedule on about.com () it is suggesting to do an easy run on the day after the long run. Even the Basic Beginner training schedule suggests to do an easy run on the day following the long run ().

Once again, I'm not disagreeing with anyone. I was just using the about.com training schedules as a basis for my training.
 
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