Would you run a half-marathon with two weeks notice?

[DisneyRunner]

Here is the scenario. My sister ran Chicago, 26.2, on Sunday. She calls me up to ask if I would be interested in running a half on Halloween weekend. My longest run to date has been six miles. I've been running consistently four days a week with runs in the four and five mile range on those days. Would it be possible, using run/walk, to accomplish this in the three hour time limit? Or would you say no, due to lack of distance training?

 

[JillC LI]

It really depends on your goals. Jumping from running 6 to 13.1 miles in 2 weeks is a huge leap and could cause injury. If your sister just ran the full marathon, she will easily be able to complete a half while you will be struggling to finish let alone keep up. But if your goal is to simply be there at the starting line with her, run/walk the whole race, and meet up with her at the finish, then there's nothing to lose. If it were up to me though, I wouldn't enter a Half until I was ready to run the distance.

 

[Phonedave]

Yeah, your a little close on that one given your training distances.

How fast are you running those 6 miles ?

You are going to need around a 13 - 14 minute pace to finish in 3 hours.

Maybe if my weekly long runs were in the 8 - 9 mile range I would say yes, but to go from 6 to 13.1 is a bit much. Maybe with a walk/run I would say yes.


-dave

 

[Donald Duck]

I second what dave stated about your training runs. It might be too soon. But it all depends on how hard you train.
My daily/weekly mileage is unusually high, and I wouldn't have an issue with 13.1, but that's me. If you're only at 5-6 miles though, I would say you could run/walk it, but again, it all depends on your training. If you have doubts, then you should listen to your body.

 

[dreamfinder]

I imagine you could run/walk it, but it may throw you off for a bit. A 13-14 minute mile is at least a bit of a jog, so it's not out of the question, but really depends on your overall fitness. You would most likely be sore for a while. I agree with Phonedave that if you were doing 8 or 9 mile runs then you should be ok, but jumping from 6 to 13.1 may be pushing it.