Two Week Layoff - Half Marathon 9 weeks Away - Can I Do It?

Ok, I'm 21 years, 140 lbs, and I've been running for a little over a year now. I had not been training specifically for anything, but I was at a point of running a little over 20 miles a week split up into 3 days out of the week for about 2 months.

Lately, I had been running 10 miles at a time once a week for 3 weeks.

Due to school, I haven't done a long run like that in about 2-3 weeks. I can still run 6 miles fairly easily, but I had been looking into a Half Marathon which is about 2 months away.

I don't have a lot of time on my hands, but I wanted to know if my past running condition would allow me to train less often and still be able to complete the half marathon.

I'm not looking at my "time" but more concerned about finishing.

If started to run again, what would be the best way of training if I had maybe one day out of the week to actually do a "LONG" run? And, also, would this type of training be sufficient? Oh, and I have been cross-training during the time off.
Thanks!

Answer by Dominique:
Hi there,

Thanks for your question about running a half marathon. Let's cover off on the following:

1. Racing vs finishing a half marathon
2. Suggested long run for a first half marathon
3. Other runs - What to do for a first half marathon

Racing vs Finishing a Half Marathon

Generally, for half marathon training I recommend running four times per week at a minimum. That is, if you are after a specific time goal.

You can finish a half marathon on less than that. Three times per week is where I draw the line. Run less than that? Then you are really not moving forward with your running. When running three days a week you can make some progress still. Complementing your running with cross training is a smart idea in that case.

Every little bit helps. Now, as you have correctly identified, the long run plays an important role in half marathon prep, so let's tackle that next.

Suggested Long Run for a First Half Marathon

If I am reading it right, you'd like to know how many long runs you should do per week and how long your long run should be.

For a first half marathon, one long run per week is sufficient. During a typical first half marathon campaign you will find that all your runs get a little bit longer over time. A program may start with 3 miles / 30 minute runs and slowly build the short runs up to 45-60 minute runs.

You may find that what was considered a long run at the start of your half marathon running program is a pretty normal short run towards the end!

Generally speaking, I'd like to see a longest long run of 11 miles before a first half marathon. It's only 2.1 miles off from the half marathon distance. You can trust on adrenalin and pure willpower to do the rest during the race. I used to think 10 miles was the necessary minimum, but I have found that for some of us that gap between 10 and 13.1 miles is too large, psychologically. 11 miles as the longest long run provides a lot more mental comfort that you have done enough to carry yourself through to the end.

You are in a magnificent position. You have already hit 10 miles in the recent past. All you need to do is build back up and go a little bit further. With nine weeks to go, you should be able to do multiple 10-11 mile long runs.

To get back into it, you'd be able to do an 8-miler this week and a 10-miler next week and then see how you go. You have done that kind of distance recently and have done cross-training in the meantime, so you can usually be a little bit more aggressive when building up again.

Of course, do listen to your body and be careful to not overdo it.

Other Runs - What to Do for Your First Half Marathon

For the other two runs, assuming you are doing three per week, I would recommend you treat those as supporting runs for your long run. It would be good if they were to build up to be 45 - 60 minutes in length.

Most of them can be done at an easy pace, but it can be useful to do a little bit of speedwork as well. It does help develop your fitness, your endurance and simply put, easy run after easy run can sometimes just be plain boring. I'd rather see somebody who is doing limited running to almost all their runs at an easy pace. But I appreciate that when that is just too boring, you may not even do three runs per week. So, have a look at my running workouts page for some ideas of workouts to do.

I can highly recommend tempo runs. Your half marathon pace is reasonably close to tempo pace. Tempo pace is a great support pace for half marathon preparations. The tempo running will help you explore where your lactic acid threshold is.

Do the tempo running consistently every week up to your half marathon. I find that after tempo running for 4-6 weeks I really start feeling strong, it works very well for me, I hope it does the same for you.

Despite what you are thinking, you are actually in a really good position to be finishing your first half marathon. Put in the work three times per week complemented with some cross-training, build up that long run a little bit more, do some tempo runs and you will, no doubt, finish that half marathon in nine weeks time.

Best of luck with your half marathon.

Kind regards,
Dominique