Well, in a moment of madness I have just entered the lottery for a place in the 2011 London Marathon. A 1 in 3 chance, but I won’t find out till October - plenty of time to prepare over winter.
I must be crazy.
Si
Awesome! Great job!
Now that it is summer, I am back on the bike, but I hope to run once a week or so, and will ramp back up in the fall. I think a half marathon is a little beyond my capabilities. 
Awesome! I’m impressed!
I WALKED a half marathon last June and will do it again this year. I just ran my first 5K a few weeks ago and am signed up for a 10K in September. Then a few weeks after that I’ll be in a half marathon – BUT: I’d intended to walk, but once I started running I thought I’d have trouble holding back. 
So I entered the regular half instead of the walking-only division, figuring I’ll run 5K, walk a mile or so, run some more, etc. But who knows? First I’ll see if I can run that 10K. I hope to try walking the 10K course I’ve mapped out for the first time today.
Congrats!!! I’ve got my first half on May 23, and I’m scared as hell! I’ve been having knee problems the last few weeks and have had to scale back my training a bit. 
My goal is, like yours, to come in under 3:00.
I hope I’m as sucessful as you!!!
Congrats! I’m starting all over again for, what, the third time? after hurting myself again.
I did one too! I just finished a half-marathon too! It was tough, but I stayed the course, and I perservered.
Just kidding. I sat at my desk and ate a pint of Chubby Hubby. Good job.
That’s great! I’m running about 2.5miles twice a week, and sometimes get a longer (3-5 mile) run in on the weekend. I can’t believe I’m actually doing it. I’m not surprised about you, though. You have determination!
Nzinga, Seated: Just the one? Perhaps you should start training. I’m sure you could improve.
All of y’all who are ramping up your training can totally do this, trust me. (Nzinga, that includes you and your quest for more Chubby Hubby, which by the way is a journey that I can fully support and appreciate.) If I can do it, I seriously think that anyone can. I was the kid who always got picked last in gym class because not only was I totally lacking in any sort of athletic ability, but I didn’t even care that I was lacking. At least some of the out-of-shape kids tried. I was the one who deliberately did my presidential fitness mile at a slow walk just to prove a point about how The Man couldn’t make me run if I didn’t want to. I spent my entire adult life significantly overweight. Actually, according to BMI, I’m still overweight. I am seriously NOT the type of person that you would think, “Oh yeah, she could be a distance runner.”
Um, my point with all of this is that if you just keep working at it, you can pretty much run as far as you want to. It just might take a while, is all.
I’ve got my first half marathon coming up in June, this thread is pretty good inspiration. I’ve already done two 10-mile runs so I’m pretty confident the distance isn’t going to be the problem. I’m trying to be smart in my training and not overtrain, that’s my biggest worry.
But the running has really helped me lose weight and get into better shape. I enjoy the changes, clothes fit better, and I can do more stuff.
OK, now this just puts me to shame because I’m NOT overweight anymore and no way could I run a half right now. Hell, I’m still on the couch after my 10K walk this afternoon! 
Back at it tomorrow, to try to catch up to MsWhatsit.
Congratulations!
What’s your plan next? Maintain the training, or start training for a marathon, or focus on shorter distances and speedwork or…?
I ran my first half last Sunday and it was so much fun I figured I’d try training for a marathon. I’ve picked a Hal Higdon plan (Intermediate I) as many swear by him and it’s not an intimidating plan, each run is relatively short except for the long run of course and except for the race pace run each week there’s no complicated speedwork.
I don’t have a marathon in mind though, perhaps I ought to look for one. I just love the idea of being able to run for four hours straight when a year or so ago I could barely have run thirty minutes at a go.
Right now I’m focusing on building up a stronger base of more mileage per week. I went into the half-marathon running an average of 15-20 miles per week, and I’d like to bump that up closer to 25-30 miles per week, with a goal of improving my time in the Columbus Half in October. Long-term, I am looking at running the Cap City Half again next May and then eek the full Columbus Marathon in October 2011. I’m building up slowly because I want to do things right and not injure myself.
I basically used the Hal Higdon beginner plan when training for the half I just did, and am planning to do the Intermediate plan for the October half. I modified it a bit to increase the mileage a little in the last few weeks, and didn’t do his recommended cross-training (because I had scheduling problems) but otherwise followed it pretty well.
I haven’t followed any particular training plan and with the half marathon 7 week away I wonder what I should do at this point. I’ve already gotten my long runs up to 10 miles, I don’t think I’ll go beyond that at this point until race day. I’ll be tapering the two weeks before the race, but other than that I’m not sure if I should just keep going at my current schedule. I’m doing 20-25 miles per week, plus some biking for cross training.
Sounds like a good plan, I really enjoyed the half marathon, it was a fun distance, and it can be really thrilling to watch your times go down with training. I’m thinking I’m going to repeat the first week of Higdon’s plan to make sure my base is really there before building up.
Good luck with your training!
I’m getting ready to do my first half marathon on Sunday. I started the C25K in August, and have done a couple of 5K’s since, and one longer race. I am really looking forward to this race, and maybe a marathon in October. This has been a big change for me.
I ran a 4 miler on Memorial Day and came in 10th of 10 in my age group! To be fair, I stopped for a cigarette and coffee. Several times. But still…
My wife is running the Newport Marathon tomorrow. She swears she’s not trying to qualify for Boston, but I know better.
Good on ya, MsWhatsit! Keep us posted.
I commend all the runners on here! I’m thinking about doing a walk for a charity this month but I may just donate instead. I can’t run very far anymore. Walking is more my speed but love watching the Boston Marathon.
Congratulations! It really does feel awesome, doesn’t it? Now go spoil yourself, you deserve it.
You’re doing absolutely fine, no need to do anything more. My longest run before my half in May was 10 miles and you’re running more miles per week than I was before race day. The difference between 10 and 13 in race conditions is practically nothing.
My husband started walking last spring, just for the helluvit. People started asking if he was training for The Mini (The 500 Festival Mini Marathon here in Indianapolis) and he thought they were nuts! Then he started jogging a bit, and signed up for it in October. There’s a really nice training scheduled provided for first timers, so he went along and stuck with it. He finished in less than 2 1/2 hours!