Well done Helen excellent news, you've acheived something that I hopefully will be doing for the first time in around a months time. Like yourself I am up to a 11 mile long run at a slow 10min/mile pace at the moment although I'm leaving that out this week because of my 10k race.

After a couple of days I'm sure you will feel  better and be planning for the next one, upwards and onwards to a full one.

Hi Helen, I always do half hour of abs, legs and back as a warm up before my run, and the days in between running I increase that to all body parts with weights.

The one thing I am missing at the moment is that I usually bike to work as it's only 3 miles away which I won't risk in the snow/ice. I find all of this adds to body core exercising. I also look for opportunities to exercise such as I work on 8th floor so I very rarely take the lift.

That sounds like a good strategy which I come to a similar conclusion which is don't train too hard near to the event and definately ease up the week before by running shorter easier distances (for me 3 to 5 miles) with a mixture of easy and interval training, along with some diet strategy such as carb loading a day or two before the event and don't worry if you put on a bit of weight as that will only be temporary, it's best to fuel up the body reserves in advance plus of course an increase in liquids, as no matter what you are planning for on the day at some time you will want to push your body a bit more than you would normally in training.

Also who would want to finish just behind the runner in the chicken outfit?

|Hi again,
Running the race distance prior to the event is a good idea seeing as this is your first 1/2 marathon. And as the other gentleman says, doing so would be a good gauge so you know what you're really up against.   But do it well ahead of race day.  I ran 14 miles about 2 weeks before my half marathon and I blame this for my struggling on the day. I originally had the notion that the harder I train, the easier the run would be.... .....WRONG !!!!  It was only during the last week of training that I actually realised I'd got it wrong...by which time it was too late.

I've since discovered that the best way to build up your stamina is to alternate your runs between high tempo and easy.
For example.... Run 1) do a nice easy run of say 5 or 6 miles .    Run 2) do say 4 miles but do it as 1mile warm up, then 1/2 mile in 4 mins, 1/2 mile in 5 mins, 1/2 mile in 4 mins, 1/2 mile in 5 mins then 1 mile slow to cool down.   Run 3) a nice easy 2 or 3 miles.
If you repeat this method each week (but vary your distances)  it will build up your stamina and, the better your stamina is, the more enjoyable running is. (atleast this is what I find)

Hi Helen, whether it's the right or wrong way to approach a 1/2 I am looking at running the full distance about 4 - 6 weeks before the event just to gauge how long it will take me as it's the first time I will be competing in one, after which I will have a benchmark for improvement. The 10k does not pose a problem as I am running that now quite comfortably.

The main issue is next year when I am looking to entering my first full marathon and taking everything into account including the wealth of advice available I will probably only be training occasionally up to the 20 mile marker.

Hi Helen.
If I can offer one bit of advice from my own experience, it would be....,.... Dont peak too late in your training.   Ideally you should be looking at peaking your training approx 3 to 4 weeks before race day. Then progressively reduce the amount of training you do in the remaining weeks. Most crucially, dont stretch yourself in the last 10 days. It is possible to suffer burn out in the event if you stretch yourself too much in the last few weeks of training. Trust me, I speak from experience.

Good luck and stay focused   ;-)

Hi Helen, to cut a long story short I intially needed to lose a bit of weight (about 3st) so last March for the first time I went on a diet and with that choose my method of exercise which was running. I have always run solo and most critically very first thing in the morning, as if I ran after work then there would always be something either stopping me running or I wouldn't be in the right frame of mind.

I started off with a 1 mile jog and every now and again I would extend my circuit a little bit more and run a bit faster time, by September my circuit extended to 3.5 miles. I think the big milestone was when the diet was working so well I refocused my effort into running and crucially using GRG to map out lots of routes with various degrees of effort and length.

So really what works for me is the ability to plan in advance the variety of routes/running style and set my weekly goal currently between 20 - 25 miles per week.

Along with some quite heavy investment in gear and a good range in music to listen it's kept my interest which a few months ago I thought I wouldn't keep this up. Additional to this of course is getting the right diet balance which gives you the energy to do the exercise.

With regards to races, I have yet to run a race but my money's down and paid up for one 10k race and one 1/2 marathon this year. I have mapped out a 10k course and running now and again primarily for time improvement. When I do get into the races my mindset will be there's always someone who will be quicker then you, just run at the pace that is comfortable for you and if you do find that you can go a bit quicker then do so at the last quarter and not at the start (the hare and tortoise principle), the achievement is getting to the end.

All in all it's mind over matter and goal setting, and for me reaching the big 50 (must be the middle aged crisis !!!) 

Hi Helen,

You started running about the same time as me and I have put my name down for the Coventry HM end of May. My approach up till Christmas was to run at three times per week and increase in distance. Now I have changed focus and now run every other day which means one week I run 3 times and the other week I run 4 times.

My current target is 20 - 25 miles per week so the 3 run week I tend to run longer runs at easy/steady pace with one of them being +8 mile and increasing every 4 weeks. The shorter runs of about 4 miles tend to be a mixture of steady/interval/tempo runs to build up stamina.

I am now at the stage where I am considering drinks supplements on the longer runs to prevent tiredness and I regularly review my diet, especially over xmas I put on 9 lbs in weight which I need to get off by end of February.

By start of May I hope to be running comfortably 13 miles ready for the HM, also I would have completed at least one 10k with others to experience racing.