From Half to Full

[Mad Stitch]

A question for those of you who have completed (or are signed up for) a full marathon. How many half marathons did you participate in before attempting the full? I was talking with a co-worker who is a runner and he said he did 7-8 half marathons before his first full in Chicago. I thought that was a lot so now I’m curious how much experience others had before a full.

 

[Ariel484]

A question for those of you who have completed (or are signed up for) a full marathon. How many half marathons did you participate in before attempting the full? I was talking with a co-worker who is a runner and he said he did 7-8 half marathons before his first full in Chicago. I thought that was a lot so now I’m curious how much experience others had before a full.

I signed up for the 2012 WDW Full right after the 2011 Princess Half (my first). Between the Princess Half and the WDW Full I did 2 other half marathons and one 10-miler.

I feel like if you're able to complete a half you're able to do a full. Number of half marathons completed doesn't seem as big a deal to me as having the desire and discipline to actually stick to a full marathon training plan. :shrug:

 

[joel_maxwell]

I did a 10k, then 5 halfves before my full. I had been running for a solid year and a 3 months. I thought I was ready mentally for my first Full but I wasnt. the last 10k was he-ll.

I dont think it is how many halves you have completed. Yes, those give you experience in pacing and not getting caught up in the pack and running against you "plan", but it is the stamina and mental stamina that I gained over the next year of just solid running (not necessarily in events) that led to my sub 4 negative split full.

It was experience, not events that did it.

EDIT: Yes, events give you experience from a hydration standpoint, nutrition restrooms etc, but if you do the full schedule, you will have to address these issues too which will make you more independent and not rely on the events location of water stations, nutrition stations etc.

 

[dreamfinder]

I did one half prior to my first full. Or maybe it was two. But it was mostly to see how I did over that distance, and to get a time for qualifying. Doing one or two prior is good for the experience of the race. I'd also recommend doing at least 1 Disney race prior to doing the full, just so you can see how they handle events. You don't always get that luxury with other events, as most events don't have more than 1 event in a given area run by a given event management group.

 

[Kristia]

I think it depends on what your goal is. I did the Disney Marathon before doing any halfs. I just jumped in and went for it! I ran with the goal of just completing it in the time allowed and having a good time. During training, I did a bunch of 5ks and a couple 10ks. I had planned to do a half marathon in the fall before the marathon, but an injury really set me back in my training and I wasn't able to do it. I followed the marathon for rookies program and only made it to 15 mile training runs before the full. I did ok until mile 18 and then I really slowed down. The last 5k was pretty much at a walk but I finished and had an awesome time.

 

[lukacseven]

My first half was Disney '06. I did two 10 milers and two other halfs before my first full - '07 Disney.

 

[JillC LI]

A question for those of you who have completed (or are signed up for) a full marathon. How many half marathons did you participate in before attempting the full? I was talking with a co-worker who is a runner and he said he did 7-8 half marathons before his first full in Chicago. I thought that was a lot so now I’m curious how much experience others had before a full.

I had never run further than 10K before signing up for the NYC Marathon. I had never run a single half marathon or anything close to that distance. But with propoer training, I was able to finish the marathon. I don't think prior racing has anything to do with it. It's about proper training for the distance you want to complete. Of course I didn't have any notions about speed - I just wanted to finish. Since then I've run some Halfs.

 

[Mad Stitch]

Thanks for the replies all. It sounds like my running experience is on par with the rest of you for a first full marathon attempt. I’m impressed with those of you who jumped right into a full marathon before doing a shorter distance first. That just sounds like craziness to me.

 

[Fievel]

We're about to embark on the training for the full. My wife is getting a hold of her IT Band issues, and I have a right hamstring issues. We're just making sure we address those properly with our doctors before we really get going.