Drunkenly agreed to run a half marathon in April – don’t even own running shoes and have not run more than a couple of miles in the last few years (not cumulatively lol)

Obviously achievable as i am relatively fit but need a training plan and some shoes!! Where do i start?

Find your local parkrun and give that a go.

Try the Garmin beginners training plan.

Get some comfortable running shoes (I use Asics Gel Cumulus) and get out there. Start slowly doing 2 miles and see how you go. I made the mistake of over doing it when I started out and picked up an injury which meant I couldnt run for 2 weeks.

runnersworld.co.uk/forum – ask the same question (or search for it) and get a shed load of (mostly) useful info. – site seems to be down at the moment, but should be back up shortly

Get some inexpensive cushioned shoes. Use the ‘couch to 5k’ training plan. Don’t overdo it. Don’t step up by more than 10% per week. After your first 5k follow a beginner’s half marathon training plan from bupa, runners world or similar. It’s addictive, be warned!

Yeah the parkrun could be a good shout soon, be warned that its a race (of sorts) and so its very easy to get caught up in it. The positive side of this is that being fairly fit you’ll push yourself a wee bit harder than you would otherwise and probably suprise yourself. the negative is that you’ll hurt like hell the day after.

The usual response to starting out (that i ignored, injured myself, then went back to) is start slowww. For the first few weeks of runs you want to be going slower than you feel like you could/should be going, and also a lot shorter distance than you are capable of. At the moment your fitness way outstrips your bodies capabilities so you are just trying to acclimatise all of your joints to this new form of exercise and impact. If you just go out now and run to the limit of your fitness i give you about 3 weeks until you hit your first knee or foot related injury.

There are loads of plans for starting running on the web however unfortunately a lot of them assume you’re starting from low fitness, eg. couch to 5k. I looked through some of them to get an idea distances and frequency to run and went ad hoc from there. You’ll know when you start to feel comfortable and want to push up the milage.

Oh and a good tip that I got when starting out was: Time on your feet is key, dont worry about speed at the moment as that will come. Its a lot easier to injure yourself trying to go too fast.

Although Couch25K is for fatties, it does still prevent a fit non-runner from doing themselves a mischief by doing too much running too soon, as alluded to above.

So i bought some trainers yesterday (New Balance 680 V2) – did 6km last night – felt pretty good :0 Legs are a bit wooden today but sure that will ease over the next few weeks 🙂

6km eh! so you ignored all the advice you asked for then lol!

Legs are a bit wooden today but sure that will ease over the next few weeks

Did you stretch after? If not, you should, you really should.

I did stretch yes 🙂

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/how-to-stretch-after-a-run.aspx

So i bought some trainers yesterday (New Balance 680 V2) – did 6km last night – felt pretty good :0 Legs are a bit wooden today but sure that will ease over the next few weeks

Seriously, the “avoid overdoing it” thing everyone has been going on about is Really Good Advice. 6km is probably too much as a beginner, you really ought to consider building up slower.

(Which is not to say you’re guaranteed to get injured, it’s just a lot more likely…)

On that Garmin training plan it says week 1 – easy run 30 mins – thats what i did (6km in 28 mins)

every cyclist ive seen/known start running does exactly the same.

heart and lungs work just fine, once warmed up, legs are fine too.
run too fast and too far.
gets injured.

you need to start with a pathetically short distance at what will feel like a very slow jog.

EDIT
and 6k in 28mins, is 45mins for 10k pace – which is not slow, its not fast either, but it sure aint slow.
prepare for shin splints and stress fractures.

I dunno, between broken arms number 2 and 3 I pretty much walked out the door and ran a 5 mile loop 3x a week without injury. Started off walkig a mile, running a mile, walking, running etc untill I could do the whole thing after a couple of weeks. Pace was pretty slow, about 10-11 minutes a mile but I didn’t get any injuries. I know I should have started slower/shorter but gettign changed and generating more sweaty washing for a 10 minute jog seemed pointless so I just opted to go for a long walk with as much running as I could achieve.

Stopped after break number 3 as I just couldn’t be arsed.

Maybe I got lucky, but I’m usualy quite prone to knee injuries, shin splints etc.

Unless you’ve got bungee cords for tendons and vulcanised rubber for bones, you keep that up and you’ll be in some serious trouble, if you’ve really gone from nothing to 6k easy in 28mins. Or you could be one of the 5% or so genetically gifted. Either way, you’ll find out soon!

It’s addictive grim, be warned!

Best advice – intervals. For endurance and speed and everything. Don’t just plod for longer and longer.

We’ve got no idea what his base level fitness is. If he truly went for an easy 30 minute run and was able to run at 4:30ish pace for all of it then maybe he’s just very fit.

You’ll know what you’ve done depending on whether you get DOMS or not.

Best advice – intervals. For endurance and speed and everything. Don’t just plod for longer and longer.

For reaching peak speed and personal bests – absolutely. As a new runner, I’d not worry about this until you have your base fitness sorted and can run the required distance injury-free.

Best thing you can do if you’re brand new to serious running is join your local club, they’ll know more than any amount of your own internet research. They’ll be able to advise you on shoes, training plans, the main do’s and don’t etc. My club has formal coaching sessions with trained coaches – their knowledge is worth the annual fee alone (which is only £25 a year). You’ll be surrounded by experienced runners who have a lifetime of knowledge to pass on.

New runners tend to let their desire to achieve run well ahead of what their body’s capable of and then you’re injured or the whole experience lacks any kind of enjoyment (and running’s not a whole barrel of laughs anyway!).

You don’t get good race times by just buying some shoes, doing a few training sessions and then turning up on the day and beasting yourself…

What soobalias said +1

You might get away with a long run but I would start with very small runs just to give you’re legs time to get used to it.

I’ve been getting into my running more recently – key for me has been stretching plenty; keeping knees warm; mixing it up with short hilly ones and relaxed longer ones. the main thing though is just enjoying the fresh air – I’ve had long times away from running, but seem to be enjoying it more now, thinking of it helping the bike fitness and allowing me to eat as much crap as I want to over Christmas!

We’ve got no idea what his base level fitness is. If he truly went for an easy 30 minute run and was able to run at 4:30ish pace for all of it then maybe he’s just very fit.

You’ll know what you’ve done depending on whether you get DOMS or not.

He’ll know tomorrow I’m betting.
I’ve run on and off for ages, and know quite a few ‘runners’ and all would be delighted with a sub 45 minute 10Km.

As a new runner, I’d not worry about this until you have your base fitness sorted and can run the required distance injury-free.

I disagree. I’m no kind of runner, and intervals helped me loads even in terms of being able to run without feeling shit, and to be able to sustain a reasonable run for more than a couple of miles. I’ve never done a running race or cared much about time. It hugely improved my comfort and ability to simply run.

I think it depends on your definition of “interval” if you mean tempo type intervals where you push for a km then ease off for a km etc. then maybe it will help improve faster, but if you mean 200m HIIT type repeats then I think you need a solid base to work from.

Well, 8x200m did wonders for me. But then I was no couch potato. I’d been running now and then for a year or two by that point. If you don’t hurt yourself then I reckon it’s worth a try.

Well, 8x200m did wonders for me. But then I was no couch potato. I’d been running now and then for a year or two by that point. If you don’t hurt yourself then I reckon it’s worth a try.

You’re 100% right about intervals for maxing your speed but OP is not in the same situation as you – you were running regularly before you started speed sessions. He’s brand new, his body wont be used to running at max heart rate and he’ll likely pull every muscle under the sun.

The main caveat here is what you mean by an interval session. 8×200 at half marathon race pace with 2 mins rest between sets will be steady away and is not the same as 8×200 at 3k pace with 1 min rest, when you’ll hit max heart rate and be pushing hard as hell to complete the last couple of 200s.

every cyclist ive seen/known start running does exactly the same.

heart and lungs work just fine, once warmed up, legs are fine too.
run too fast and too far.
gets injured.

i’m an expert in this. do it every winter!

you were running regularly before you started speed sessions.

I was running *irregularly* but you are right it wasn’t from cold.

I’m talking about 200m max sprints btw.

i’m an expert in this. do it every winter!

+1

I get going on a gentle run, get over excited and have a couple of weeks off because I’ve hurt my legs.

every cyclist ive seen/known start running does exactly the same.
heart and lungs work just fine, once warmed up, legs are fine too.
run too fast and too far.
gets injured.

Ditto for me too. I stepped up my distance and pace way too quickly and ended up with a calf strain which put me out for weeks. Started again now, but more slowly. My fitness far exceeds what my legs will put up with at the moment, but there is a natural desire to progress with every run, which is hard to control.

I’m still alive and legs in 1 piece. No longer hurt the next day 🙂

Stop asking for advice off overweight IT managers then 😉

Intervals are the most effective way to build fitness. Basically anything that stresses your heart/cardio vascular system is beneficial. Steady paced running adds value but is less.
Stretching is over rated warm up/down using mobility exercises/slow jogging etc is better.

i’m an expert in this. do it every winter!

aye go out in the cold wet dark, run for an hour, about a week later once your legs work again go out and run for and hour, repeat until you’re running a decent distance
or bored
or winter finishes
doms pain and silly walks will feature heavily
🙂

don’t believe all the bs about running shoes, but that said a bad pair of shoes will nail you.

join your local running club, works wonders for keeping it up.

i find a gentle few mins walk after running is far more beneficial than any amount on post run stretching.