Hi all! Thought I'd ask the educated crowd if anyone had any training advice/tips/thoughts on training for a 20K...a friend mentioned it and we decided to do it...it's in 11 wks. I already run in addition to doing Cathe videos, usually running 4-5 miles on the treadmill at about a 2% grade and between 6.2 to 6.7 mph (occasionally doing blasts up to 7.0). Thought it would be fun to train for one but I've never done anything longer than a 5 K...so any thoughts are welcome!!!
julie
Lets see...I've done 10K, 15K, 30K and 50K....but never a 20K!......is it on trails or pavement?...That's 12.4 miles. A general rule of thumb I used is to run double the race distance weekly, so that would be about 24.8 miles a week for you. You might need to work up to that. If you have any of the Imaxes they are good for leg strength and improving speed. I'd also think about a long run of 7-10 miles once a week. Also any run over an hour you might try drinking a sports ade of some sort. Gatorade, Accelerade etc. They sometimes have samples at any sporting good store around you. Good Luck!......Carole
Just build up slowly, no more than a 10% increase per week! And remember that running outside is different from running on a treadmill, so I'd suggest you do at least one run per week out on the road to get a feel for it. And if possible, see if there's a short fun run or road race and sign up. Just so you have one race under your belt and you know what it's like.
Personally, The non-runners marathon trainer is my bible for running and you can easily adapt the training schedule for a 1/2 mary. But also check out Hal Higdons website. He's got a training schedule for novice runners that would probably suit your needs.
