Good luck Derek with your half marathon, let me know how you do. I read some where that it was best to run the full distance before a half marathon but most training schedules say run up to about 10 miles. I think I will follow your advice and try to build up to the full distance. I had been running 10k prior to the race and this made me fill more confident as I visualised where I would be on my training runs to the KM markers.

Well done Carol the first race is always a voyage of discovery and you have plenty of time to work up to your half marathon by steadily increasing the distance of one run per week.

As you may be aware I am running my first half marathon in a couple of weeks time and I have actually been running the full distance once a week for the last three weeks and increasing the pace each time, I am now tapering off until the event.

You may want to do another 10k before the HM as they do get easier each time and everyone is different which for me adds to the enjoyment.

Soon you will be running up and down the Quantocks !!!!

Well I did it, my first 10K! My official time is 56mins 41secs. I am well chuffed with the time. Thanks for all your advice the Bristol half marathon is next in September.

Thanks Derek, quite nervous but excited aswell I have a lot of sponsors for the 10K so I want to do well. I'm trying to set myself markers compared to my training routes to keep my pace steady but as you said I'm sure the adrenaline will kick in and I will have to be careful not to go out too fast. I'll let you know on Sunday how I did.

Good luck on Sunday Carol, once you start the race the adrenalin and sense of occassion will carry you through and it may surprise you how well you will do at the end. It's always sensible to set yourself a marker at the start and if you feel good during the second part of the race up it a little. Let us know how you get on.

Thanks Helen and Derek, I thought I was progressing well but needed to hear it from more experienced runners. The Bristol 10K is on sunday and I have worked out I should finish around about 55mins. I had a really good run on monday 5.5miles in 49 mins. Just reading all your advice keeps me on track you never know I might even try a full marathon.

The Bristol 10K is a pretty flat course it runs alongside the harbourside, under Clifton Suspension Bridge along the Portway before back tracking at the 5k marker along the otherside of the river and back to @ Bristol. The Half Marathon follows the same route but obviously twice the distance.

Hi Carol. As Derek suggests, try doing one longer run each week, perhaps at the weekend, gradually building up your mileage.  Don't worry if you don't manage to build up to the whole race distance - I had only done 11 miles prior to the race but was OK on race day.  You might like to have a look at the Hal Higdon half marathon training plan for novices for a few pointers of what you could be doing.  There's also another thread on the forum about training for a half marathon which might be of interest to you.

Good luck - I think you're doing brilliantly considering how little time you've been running.

Hi Carol you are really doing well in both distance and time considering the short time you have been running. I am running my 1st half marathon in 4 weeks time. Unlike the 10k this is more about distance than speed and I suggest you build up to one 14 - 15 mile run per week at an easy pace, I use heart monitoring for this and in my case keep my heart rate to around 135bpm or below.

I am up to 11.5 miles at the moment and run 1 mile more each week, this should get me near the mark the week before, also don't forget to start tapering at least one week before the race, which means more rest and cut the overall weekly mileage by at least a third. I would also suggest that if you can up your days from three to at least four a week and train hard one day, easy the next.

Think that it is double the 10k and when the race starts I suggest you pace the first half steadily and if you feel good after that you can think about increasing the pace slightly, overall based on your time I would be pleased for around 2 hour time for your first run. 

Good luck for the Bristol 10k, do you know the course? and is it hilly?

Hi everyone I'm running the Bristol 10k on the 9th May for The Prostate Cancer Charity. I've been running for about 2 months now after having lost 3 stones, I'm progessing well running 5 miles in just under 50mins, 3 times a week. I have also signed up for the Bristol Half Marathon in September. Can anyone give me some pointers on how to increase the distance up to the half marathon?

So that's the secret thanks Lisa.

Ann, it was quite busy in Fradley although I did keep one eye out for you both at he start and finish.