Half marathon with no training?

[Gusanita]

Months ago I signed up to do a half marathon, before then I'd only ever run 10km max and had fully intended on training. However, since then things at work have been incredibly busy (16 hour days, travelling back and forth from US) and I haven't been able to train.

I have been running but only for short runs (~5km) so don't know whether it's worthwhile turning up on Sunday and seeing how I go or just giving it a miss?

I'm always up for giving something a go but really don't want to put myself in danger both physical and emotional. My first inclination is to not do it but want to confirm that this is the best option.

[Vocal Minority]

I wouldn't personally.

I guess it would be do-able if you took it real easy, and were prepared to stop if you felt in any way 'off'. I would say be prepared not to enjoy it!

[944fan]

People have done full marathons with no training, but they often don't do very well - or even finish.

It isn't a good idea really but if you are sensible then why not try it.

If you start to feel a lot of pain or dizziness etc then stop. Don't push through. Walk for a bit if you have to.

You will ache like buggery the next day.

[_Deano]

Didn't that fat bint Jade, from Big Brother, run a half marathon whilst training with kebabs?
Eventually she died a bit later.

I'd probably give it a miss if you've not trained for it.

[KernowSid]

Depending on your general health/fitness, I dont see this as too much a problem.

You WILL ache/struggle to walk for a few days after, with some blisters as your feet won't be used to the punishment, but I think anyone should be able to walk/run 12ish miles.

[Dr Murdoch]

Personally I would skip it as there appears to be little benefit but with risk of injury/pain.

Again if it were me, I would book myself in on another one and do it properly, it would be more rewarding/less painful.

[matsoc]

Now I wouldn't, I found myself in a similar situation some years ago and I tried and went well (apart for the following days pain but that's obvious). I was 25 and in good shape though as I was well trained in swimming and cycling. The risk of an injury is also something to take into account, running can be very harsh on knees and ankles.

[944fan]

_Deano said:

Didn't that fat bint Jade, from Big Brother, run a half marathon whilst training with kebabs?

IIRC she somehow got a place at VLM (probably because she was slightly famous), admitted that she had done hardly any training and was living off curries (which got a look of disgust from Gordon Ramsay) and promptly gave up about the half way mark.

[Fozziebear]

Age, weight, general health, mental condition are all factors in completing the task. If you feel you can jog/walk then do it, but be prepared for serious pain the next day

[Muzzer79]

If you don't mind walking for a bit then do it.

However, if you plan on running it (and why would you want to walk?) then I wouldn't.

I trained pretty well for my first HM. 10 mile training runs, regular as clockwork.

On the day, at 12 miles, my legs felt like they were made of lead. I finished, in a pretty reasonable time, but it wasn't easy.

[Taita]

Politely, you are all making a half marathon a lot harder than it is.

If you can't jog 12 miles when you have run plenty of 10k then there is something wrong.

Have a good scoff beforehand and just keep going - set a goal, shut up, and get it done.

Best of luck,

[Ayahuasca]

Go for it. A half marathon is within reach of anyone who is in reasonable shape, if they take it easy. I have done several half marathon trail runs without training specifically for them.

Why are you called 'little worm' by the way??

[Gusanita]

Ok, so I am happy to walk/jog it. Earlier I managed to do 8 miles in 1.5 hours so should be able to do 13... should! I haven't told anyone about it so unless I end up in hospital I can keep quiet about how crap it was!

[BrabusMog]

Go for it!

I was running 10k's last year quite a bit and randomly decided to do a half marathon. Managed to run my 10k pace + 30 secs for 12 of the 13 miles (which i had calculated in km) and then tailed off a bit slower for the last mile. This was on my first training run, not the half itself. Easily achievable if you're in reasonable shape, in my opinion.

[fuzzyyo]

It depends on your general fitness really. My girlfriend did a half marathon 3 days after returning from 4 months travelling and zero training in less than 1 hours 50 mins so it is possible.

[nick s]

fuzzyyo said:

It depends on your general fitness really. My girlfriend did a half marathon 3 days after returning from 4 months travelling and zero training in less than 1 hours 50 mins so it is possible.

You'd lose every bit of your fitness after a 4 month break! So unless she was an elite athlete with a lifetime of conditioning behind her beforehand, I find that hard to believe! Which half marathon was it?

[fuzzyyo]

Great north run. She used to cross country for her county and is naturally very fit.

[over_the_hill]

Gusanita said:

Ok, so I am happy to walk/jog it. Earlier I managed to do 8 miles in 1.5 hours so should be able to do 13... should! I haven't told anyone about it so unless I end up in hospital I can keep quiet about how crap it was!

So if you keep that pace going you are looking at another 55-60 minutes on the road. Does this sound like something you think you could do or were you dead on your feet after the 8 miles. You are only going to get slower and more tired as you go on.

[Ayahuasca]

over_the_hill said:

Gusanita said:

Ok, so I am happy to walk/jog it. Earlier I managed to do 8 miles in 1.5 hours so should be able to do 13... should! I haven't told anyone about it so unless I end up in hospital I can keep quiet about how crap it was!

So if you keep that pace going you are looking at another 55-60 minutes on the road. Does this sound like something you think you could do or were you dead on your feet after the 8 miles. You are only going to get slower and more tired as you go on.

It doesn't matter if it 'sounds like something you think you could do'! At the end of my first half marathon if anyone had asked 'do you think you could do twice the distance to complete a FULL marathon?' I would have said NO CHANCE. But I did. You don't know what you are capable of until you try!!

In this case prior experience will take Gusanita (little grub in Spanish...) the first 8 miles, and adrenaline, guts, and race day excitement will take her the rest of the way. I bet she finds it very do-able.

[over_the_hill]

Ayahuasca said:

over_the_hill said:

Gusanita said:

Ok, so I am happy to walk/jog it. Earlier I managed to do 8 miles in 1.5 hours so should be able to do 13... should! I haven't told anyone about it so unless I end up in hospital I can keep quiet about how crap it was!

So if you keep that pace going you are looking at another 55-60 minutes on the road. Does this sound like something you think you could do or were you dead on your feet after the 8 miles. You are only going to get slower and more tired as you go on.

It doesn't matter if it 'sounds like something you think you could do'! At the end of my first half marathon if anyone had asked 'do you think you could do twice the distance to complete a FULL marathon?' I would have said NO CHANCE. But I did. You don't know what you are capable of until you try!!

In this case prior experience will take Gusanita (little grub in Spanish...) the first 8 miles, and adrenaline, guts, and race day excitement will take her the rest of the way. I bet she finds it very do-able.

I assume you did the marathon some time later after more training and experience. We are talking about the here and now. On the very same day as your first half marathon could you have gone on and done the same again.

With a previous longest of 10km and not much above 5km recently (how often / how many times a week ?) there is only so much that adrenaline and race day excitement will give you and unfortunately this tends to all spill out in the first half of the race.

I'm sure the OP could get across the finish line but they need to ask themselves what condition they will be in and how long is it going to take and are they happy to accept that. Based on the above they are looking at 2.5 hours. If it drops down to a walk in the closing stages that will very quickly drift out towards 3 hours.