Any updates? You’re getting pretty close.
I crapped out. 
It took me a good three weeks to recover from that 9.5 mile run, and by that mean being able to run with all the joints in my feet and my knees hurting only moderately. When it came time for the 11.5 run, I just couldn’t make myself do it. Maybe my expectations were unrealistic, but my vision for finishing a half-marathon was finishing feeling good – not beat to death and in pain.
The real issue was that training was making me hate running. Instead of looking forward to my morning run, I dreaded it.
So I’m going back to my usual 3-3.5 miles – without pressure. I do think I should kinda train without training FOR anything, if you know what I mean – be a little more deliberate about adding some hill work, some interval work, etc. on a regular basis.
There’s a 5/10K turkey trot on Thanksgiving Day near me. I did the 5K two years ago, and I’m pretty sure I can handle the 10K, so I sorta have my sights on that.
I really appreciate everyone’s support and good advice, and it shall not be for naught!
For what it’s worth, I still think you could go out in a few weeks and run a pretty solid half marathon, especially if you use a pre-planned run/walk strategy.
My wife and I are going to run one at the end of October, and I don’t plan to run much more than an hour at a time a few days a week. Keep in mind I just did an Ironman, but it’s just not necessary to do that much. Even leading up to the Ironman I didn’t do anything longer than a 15mile run.
Which is what I plan to do over the next few weeks. Two or three days a week I’ll do 1 hour runs; 10min warm up, 40min at threshold, then 10min cool down and drills. The trick to distance running is figure out what pace to train and what pace to race at. I’ll do those short runs at 7:30min/mile, then I’ll race at 8. If you run them at 12min/mile you could race it at either 13 or 12+walk.
Most important things are to enjoy it and stay injury free.
I’ve been running three times a week for the past four months with no issues. Lately my knees have felt a little funny, though. There’s no pain or soreness during running or any part of the day, but there’s a slight pressure behind the kneecaps that feels like it would go away if they would “pop” (like when you pop your knuckles), only they never pop. Following the R.I.C.E. concept, I’m icing both knees right now with ice packs and ACE bandages, and that seems to help the feeling go away. I don’t want to start taking medications for this feeling (again, no pain). Is this likely something that will get go away over time, or should I accept post-run icing as part of getting older?
I’m training for a Feb 1/2 marathon using the Galloway run/walk and am on good pace to get there. I just don’t want to trash my knees.
Stats: 40 years old, no previous knee injuries, run 10-12 miles a week with same mileage on a bike, BMI is normal.
Thanks for any advice.