The Half Marathon Training Starts Here

I’ve entered the Edinburgh Half Marathon in late May with my better half, and my 12 weeks training schedule starts on Monday.

I’ve been easing myself into shape over the last few weeks, aiming to get out for a run a couple of times each week. Although I took a few weeks off during December and early January I do seem to be getting back into my stride.  Today’s ‘long run’ – 7km or just over 4 miles – took me 38 minutes.  I felt pretty good (in a tired but healthy kind of way !) and know I need to focus on building stamina and strength in my legs.  I’m nursing a slight muscle pain in my right leg; hopefully it’ll pass.

However, I’m going to have to step up the pace.  The ‘intermediate’ half marathon training programme includes four runs a week: a tempo run, an easy run, speed work and then a long run.

At this stage it seems somewhat daunting;  I’ve never run a half marathon.  However,  back in 2010 I’d never run a 10k before, but once I set my mind to it and trained from a standing start in 7 weeks I got through it in a respectable time.  So, best foot forward …

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6 Tips for Training for your first Half Marathon

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