Half Marathon..with little training

Well... no, you shouldn't.
But if you do, plan to severely negative split (do a lot of walking early on) and don't push it too hard.  And be prepared to hurt for the rest of the week.
Good luck! 

If you have no previous running related injuries, I don't see why you can't "participate" in a HM.  I wouldn't race it hard...but you won't die going 13.1 miles at a comfortable pace. 

It sounds like you have a good fitness background...so your body is used to the strain...it's just your joints and other running muscles that may be a little sore.  If you listen to your body during the HM, I think you should be fine.  Just be aware that there is some "risk" that you are taking for injury...but essentially...we are all taking a risk everytime we race...no matter how hard we train.

Edited by tri808 2010-04-26 12:21 AM

No.

Shane

If you've done numerous Oly Tris I cant see why you cant run a 13 miler. You can only do what you can. Go for it you got nothing to lose. Only one way to find out.

What is the purpose of doing this race? What are your long-term and short-term goals? What do you think you are going to get out of this race?

Thank you to everyone for your responses. I was hoping your feedback would be 100% go or no go, but it seems to be split.

Give u guys a little more information. I was actually targeting this summer to complete my 1st HIM. However, 8 months ago my and I found out that our first child eason her way. I pushed the HIM out to next summer and just signed up for an OLY in Sept. What is my reason for running this... To add HM to my list of endurance events. If I run I have no intention of racing hard, it would be more of a 9-10 min/mile jog. One of those just to say I did it races.

Instead of jogging a half marathon why don't you race a 5 or 10k - based on the limited knowledge of your run background and target tri for the season, IMO this makes more sense.

Shane

Good advice.  I would say you would get more race atmosphere if you were actually out there racing.

OK. Then what are you asking? If it's "just to say I did it", then does it really matter how well trained you are? Heck, you could probably suffer through a full marathon, to be honest.

If you are asking if it's wise, then the answer is no. If you are asking if you could finish, the answer is yes. Personally, I do not understand this mentality, but hey. If being able to say you did it is important to you, then I'd say you have your answer.

Bear in mind going up in running distance to fast can lead to injuries, so be careful.
However as you are doing a fair amount of training anyway I would have thought your body should manage it.

I kind of did the same thing last year. I pretty much raced myself into shape (5ks and 10ks). I would run about 15mi per week. I had planned to try and stay at 9min pace but all was well until mile 10 when one hip and the opposite knee began hurting. Needless to say I ended up walking probably a mile of my last 5k. My joints were not in condition for that kind of distance! I say if you want to do  it, go for it! You will learn alot!!!! Just don't expect too much and have fun!

So you want to run a HM just to say you did it. Not a great idea. If you were running it to gain some experience, then taking that knowledge to actually train properly for a race it wouldn't be that bad. A HM isn't so long that people in decent shape can't fake their way through. But if the whole purpose is just to say you've run 13.1 miles, then there really is no need to do a race. Just go out and do it on your own.

I like the racing atmosphere as much as anyone. I normally do between 30-40 races a year. However, I don't go into races with no real training.

Ok - there's no logs to look at, but: 1) If you're relatively in shape, 2) if you're relatively young and 3) if you can comfortably run a 10k, then you should be able to keep a 9 or 10 minute pace through a half.  What is a 9 minute pace compared to your 10k or training pace?  If its the same, then you should do the half slower.  (How much slower, who knows). 

If there's another half a little further out, you would probably be happier with the results of training for that one.  If you're looking for a good longer run, maybe a 10k like someone else suggested.  If you just want to put a checkmark next to "Half Marathon" - go ahead and run it. 

What's the longest you've ever run?

Like others have said, I'd probably discourage you from doing it.  That being said, if you are in decent shape you should be able to bust out an easy-pace half mary without inflicting serious damage on yourself.  Much different story if you were talking about a marathon.

OK, since I keep seeing it come up...

What does "decent shape" mean?

Because to me, running 10 miles total off 2 runs in a week is not really the kind of shape to be attempting 13.1 miles in one shot.

At this point I am leaning towards not running the HM. I think that is the safest thing to do and most of you seem to agree with that.

To answer one of the questions my average 10k pace is 7:45 min/mile.

There is actually a lot to lose, running healthy and pain-free being one of them. Secondary to that would be doctors visits, physical therapy, etc.

I think there is significant risk for injury here.
Is is worth it, just to say you "did it?"

 

I dunno... even at "only" a 9-10 min/mi pace, for someone who runs just 10 miles a week total, I think that's asking for injuries... but that's just me.  I have also run a half-marathon on little to no training, and I paid for it afterwards!!  So personally, speaking from experience, I wouldn't recommend it.

Yet another person here saying: "bad idea".  I'm sure you can survive it, but the risk vs reward doesn't seem to be high enough... or even really exist.  I'd say if you want to do a half mary, pick one out that's a little farther away and start building your mileage to get there.  Go see if there's a 5k or 8k instead.  Last thing you want is to go from 10mpw to 0mpw because your body wasn't ready.

I don't want to be mean, but it sounds like you need a bit of a reality check.  10 miles over two runs per week is not exactly stellar mileage or consistency.  That's assuming you do equal distance each of those two days, not sure if 3 and 7 miles woul  You'd be more than doubling your "long" run and running more in one day than you typically do in an entire week.  Biking 25-28 miles/week in one day is that same situation... neither high mileage or good consistency, regardless of whether people think biking fitness helps running fitness (that's another debate in another thread though).  Not saying you have to go run 50mpw in order to be ready for a half, but >2 runs/week (5 days/week would be more ideal) and a "long" run of 70-80% (~10miles for you) of your race distance is what I believe you should be at before doing a race of any distance.

It sounds like you're already leaning toward not doing it, but I just wanted to chime in with another "bad idea".

I've been training toward my first half mary by slowly and consistently increasing my distance each week.  I run at least three times a week with a couple shorter runs and one longer.  Overall I'm healthy and active but yesterday on my long run I started having knee pain at the end.  It was only about a mile longer than last week's long run, which was fine, but it was apparently too much for me at this stage.  If I'm having trouble going from 8 miles to 9 just imagine what could happen if you jump from 6 or 7 miles to 13.

Actually, I believe to "negative split" means to run FASTER the second half.  Why suggest the OP walks the first half and negative splits the second half?

It looks like chayes understood what negative split means based on "walking early on", But suggesting that someone with 10mpw could run a faster second half in a half mary is what I find odd.  It's highly unlikely he'll run a faster second half unless he walked the entire first half as a warmup.