Half to marathon in two months???

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 BusyLizzie 10 Mar 2017
I've run a half marathon a few times and am reasonably comfortable with that distance although I don;t do it vvery often, nor very fast (aiming for 2:10 this time).

I've always said that I don't have time to train for a marathon, and don't want to put my elderly body (54, started running at 48) through that sort of pounding.

And now I've been horribly tempted by friend who wants to do one and would enjoy having a chum to run with, and I would enjoy doing a long run with her. It's at the end of May. Furthest I've ever run is 14 miles, furthest I've ever walked is 20 miles. Alternating running and walking, as my friend is planning to do, doesn't sound too daunting.

I think I need someone to tell me I am bonkers and should get back to my knitting.
 bouldery bits 10 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

Clock's ticking.

Get it done.
 Wainers44 10 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

I think I need someone to tell me I am bonkers and should get back to my knitting.

You are bonkers, knitting while running is madness.


...go for it!!!
 SouthernSteve 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

Go for it. Train with the run walk technique and stick to it on the day (its very easy to get carried away).

There is some information about run/walk here http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/run-walk/ and it is helpful if you watch can alert you to you to change over.

There is a risk if all of your training uses this technique that you will not increase your VO2 max and lactate thresholds and hill work or one faster/continuous run a week will help with that. However using run/walk should mean you can increase you mileage quite quickly.

HTH.
1
 DancingOnRock 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

Your body is not old.

You could get round but it will hurt and it will hurt afterwards. I would say 8 weeks is the absolute minimum if you've run marathons before.

What's the longest you've run recently and how long ago did you run it?
OP BusyLizzie 11 Mar 2017
In reply to DancingOnRock:

> What's the longest you've run recently and how long ago did you run it?

I did 14 miles a few weeks ago, and will be doing 13 next week.

Certainly this would not be a good plan if I were planning to run the whole 26 miles...

I haven't decided yet whether to do it, and it depends to a large extent on my friend who may decide she is not fit. What has surprised me is how excited I am at the prospect of doing it, so maybe if not this one then another one later in the summer.

OP BusyLizzie 11 Mar 2017
In reply to SouthernSteve:

Thanks, that's an interesting webpage.
 DancingOnRock 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:
If you are already at 14miles then most of the work is done and you could probably pick up a 16 week beginners marathon plan at the 9-10th week. Which would leave plenty of time.

Which marathon are yuh looking at?
Post edited at 08:13
OP BusyLizzie 11 Mar 2017
In reply to DancingOnRock:

Thank you, that is ery encouraging.

THis one:
http://www.womencan.co.uk/

I hadn't heard of Kathrine Switzer and had no idea that women were not allowed to run marathons until so recently.
 Dark-Cloud 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

More than doable, I am 47 and tinker with running, did a trail half marathon a while back off not much training other than getting out on the hills at the weekend. 13 miles isn't that far !
Moley 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

I'm sure you can get round and finish, the questions you should ask is will you enjoy it and is it worth putting your body through it at short notice?
If you were saying i really, really want to complete that marathon you would have the motivation, but possibly wait until there is an event that inspires you?
OP BusyLizzie 11 Mar 2017
In reply to DancingOnRock:

>you could probably pick up a 16 week beginners marathon plan at the 9-10th week.

Now that is a good wheeze.

 ClimberEd 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

Easy shift.

Lots of evidence that you can run a marathon with your longest training run only 2 1/2 hours.
Just pace it right on the day.

Good luck
 digby 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

> and don't want to put my elderly body (54, started running at 48) through that sort of pounding.

Not old. And don't put up with pounding. Get shoes that allow you to run smoothly. I'm not a natural distance runner and over 60. I trained for the London marathon in part by running ever longer distances on the long runs. The distance at which it really started to hurt became further and further. I reckon you have to go through this. Distance allows you to run distance. It's not all that pleasant but having a strong focus on the race is great motivation. I could have done with a few more weeks preparation but it was my first marathon and I didn't really know how to go about it.
 DancingOnRock 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

> >you could probably pick up a 16 week beginners marathon plan at the 9-10th week. Now that is a good wheeze.

It's exactly what I do. I stay Half Marathon ready all year round and run maybe 8-10 of them with maybe 4 of them as hard races. I then pick up my training 6-8weeks before a marathon to top my mileage up.
 mbh 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

I'm 54 too and do lots of slow running, with sneaky hands-on-knees pauses for gasping along the way. I have no doubt you could do it iif you have already run and walked the distances you say, and intend to run/walk it. You just need to be happy with a run/walk time.
cb294 11 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:
I always wonder why people make such a drama of a marathon, especially if they just want to reach the finish and are not aiming for a specific time.
Unless you are terminally unfit, just getting through only requires some mental toughness and a bit of pain resistance. If you don´t stop jogging, and don´t overpace yourself, you will get there in the end. If you have been doing halfs already, and go for a regular run anyway I would not worry.
Training is of course required if you set yourself an ambitious time limit, but 4:40 or so should be dead easy from your baseline.

CB

PS: I did not specifically train for the one true road marathon I ran, but was younger then and had a good baseline fitness (8-10km once or twice per week).
Post edited at 18:21
 DancingOnRock 12 Mar 2017
In reply to cb294:

You have answered that question within your post.

"Sure it request some mental toughness. ".
OP BusyLizzie 12 Mar 2017
In reply to DancingOnRock:

> It's exactly what I do. I stay Half Marathon ready all year round and run maybe 8-10 of them with maybe 4 of them as hard races. I then pick up my training 6-8weeks before a marathon to top my mileage up.

I am really taken with that way of putting things. Put like that, I am 10k-ready all year round and then top up my training before a half marathon. Soooo ... if I raise my background readiness level - instead of slipping back as I usually do after the Reading Half in spring - I can push on for something more exciting.

My thanks to all for so many hugely helpful comments here.
In reply to BusyLizzie:

I got in roughly the same situation after training for a half marathon a couple of years ago. Got it in 1.59 something which was under the 2.00 I was aiming for then discovered that the bus service was screwed up by the road being closed for the race and there were hardly any trains. So I decided to walk home and ended up doing about 22 miles.

It wasn't a big deal and I could easily have notched up the last 4 miles and got a marathon distance. I reckon if you can do a half marathon in a bit over 2 hours and you deliberately cool the pace a little and don't mind walking at the end, the last few miles won't be fun but you will be fine.

One thing that is different about the longer distance is you need to be more careful about blisters, chafing, energy input and staying cool if its hot or warm if its cold/wet. After the half marathon in the rain my cotton socks / T-shirt were soaked through and chafing which sucked on the long walk home. More technical clothing would have been a good idea or someone waiting to give you an extra layer at the point you think you will start walking. Glucose sweets really helped.
 Mick Ward 13 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

> What has surprised me is how excited I am at the prospect of doing it...

It's good to be excited. Live those dreams!

Mick
 fimm 14 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

1) That looks like a trail/off road marathon so will be less brutal on your legs than a road marathon.

2) I know a couple who in their mid/late 60s decided that they would like to run a marathon, having never run one before. They both finished.
 RX-78 14 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

oh, my wife is doing this as part of a 2 woman relay team, hopefully I will be enjoying the beaches nearby while the run is taking place. Good luck.
OP BusyLizzie 14 Mar 2017
In reply to fimm:

Thank you - very encouraging!
OP BusyLizzie 14 Mar 2017
In reply to RX-78:

Hah, enjoy the beach!
 ramraider 14 Mar 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

just do it ..... I started running at 48 , did my first 50 mile ultra at 49 (ladybower ultra)... if you can run 14 miles you can do a marathon , its all in your head .... find a steady pace you can just keep going at ,think of the pace you would like to be running at the end and aim to run that pace throughout .. rehydrate and re fuel well and think about that shiny medal hanging on your wall ... good luck and let us know how you do
OP BusyLizzie 22 Apr 2017
In reply to ramraider and all:

> ... good luck and let us know how you do

After so much helpful advice from so many I had better 'fess up to the evolution of my plans. Several things have happened:

1. I did the Reading Half, 11 minutes faster than last year - 2hrs 9 - training works! But I was Sooooooo knackered, almost as tired as you feel after childbirth.
2. Since then I've done a couple more 13 mile runs, at a gentler pace, and felt very good afterwards.
3. My running friend decided, very wisely due to injury, that she wasn't doing the marathon we'd planned.
4. Another friend is helping me with some weight training, and it has turned into a bit of a project and is actually making a difference to my climbing.

So my plans have shifted a bit. This summer's objectives:
- stay "half-marathon ready" and do a few longer runs too, build up speed on shroter runs and do the Oxford Half in October in 2 hours.
- get stronger (anyone who has seen me struggling with an overhang will understand this)

I would still like to run a marathon, but do not feel to be in a rush to do so and would like to have built up enough distance running to not feel totally wiped out by it as I did after the Reading Half. Will come back to that, probably when a particular race takes my fancy.

Thank you all!
Lxx

 Roadrunner5 23 Apr 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

Easy... to complete.

Off a half marathon you will complete but far to close to run a time you could.
 Ridge 23 Apr 2017
In reply to ramraider:
> I started running at 48 , did my first 50 mile ultra at 49 (ladybower ultra).

I have two things to say;

1. That is bloody impressive.
2. I really, really hate you

In all seriousness, that's an incredible progression (to me) in distance. How did you avoid overtraing/injury?
Post edited at 09:38
 SouthernSteve 23 Apr 2017
In reply to Ridge:

> I started running at 48 , did my first 50 mile ultra at 49 (ladybower ultra).

That is amazing. I wonder how many years of labouring up hills as a fit hillwalker preceded this?
 summo 23 Apr 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

I think you could run one now. The difference is only the pain or suffering. The theory is that what ever your usual long run is, you could double that and run it on stubbornness alone. But you want to 'enjoy' it, so I'd just focus on increasing your longest run up into the late teens, for one month, then start to taper. If you get a long slow run around the 19/20 miles mark that will reassure you that you can do it.
OP BusyLizzie 23 Apr 2017
In reply to summo:

Yes, I think that's right. Just needs a particular marathon to take my fancy (but yes, I am conscious the clock is ticking).
OP BusyLizzie 02 May 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

See above, to complete the feedback - a marathon HAS taken my fancy. Some friends are moving to Rutland Water, and if you look at a map you will see that Rutland Water demands to be run round, and there is Rutland Water marathon in September, so i have entered. So I have a wee bit longer than my original plan, and it's going well so far - ran 15 miles on Saturday, not too fast, felt fine.

Yippee.

I will now shut up and get on with training...
Thank you all.
Lxx
 Yanis Nayu 02 May 2017
In reply to BusyLizzie:

Good on ya! Best of luck!
OP BusyLizzie 03 May 2017
In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Thank you!!

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