Skip navigation
Community: Exchange advice in the forums and read running commentary Resources: Personal running log, calculators, links and other tools for runners News: Running news from around the world Training: Articles and advice about fitness, race training and injury prevention Races/Results: Find upcoming races and past results Home: The Cool Running homepage
Cool Running homepage  Search Cool Running Community

Up to Threads in Newbie Cafe (New Runners)
1782 Views 5 Replies Latest reply: Sep 30, 2010 1:39 AM by actmanman RSS
Bailey89 Rookie
Bailey89
1 posts since
Nov 11, 2008
Currently Being Moderated

Nov 11, 2008 9:27 PM

College student training for half marathon

 

Hi everyone!

 

 

My name is Lara and I am a freshman in college and I ran cross country all four years of high school but I got mono during my senior year so I had to stop exercising for awhile and sadly I never really got back into it. I ran off and on throughout the summer and I go to the gym occasionally but I have decided that I really want to get back into shape and be able to run as well as I could in high school, even better.

 

 

My friend and I decided we want to train for the Shamrock half marathon in Virginia Beach in March but we're not really sure how to train for it. I haven't done more than 4 miles in awhile and I'm not sure how to safely increase my mileage and how much speed work and strength training I should be doing. Any suggestions would be great!

 

 

Thanks so much!!

 

 

  • elliev Expert
    elliev
    42 posts since
    Dec 14, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    1. Nov 12, 2008 3:10 AM (in response to Bailey89)
    Re: College student training for half marathon

    Hi Lara!  Ironically my senior year of college I got mono too and stopped running.  I picked it back up about 2 years later and pretty much just ran ran ran averaging about 5 miles a day.  After I graduated college, I began to start racing and started with the Broad Street 10 miler here in Philadelphia followed by the half marathon.  My best bet was to folow a training lan (active.com has some great ones.)  You can choose what works best for you beginner, intermediate, or expert ... I would go with one of those for the first time and then you can see what you would need to improve on from there.  My advice for the first half marathon is just finish ... no worries about time, etc. From there you can set different goals/PR's for what you want to accomplish in future races!




    "A journey of 26.2 miles begins with a single step"
  • Jay Silvio We're Not Worthy
    Jay Silvio
    1,775 posts since
    Jul 9, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    2. Nov 12, 2008 7:39 AM (in response to Bailey89)
    Re: College student training for half marathon

    Lara,

    Welcome to active.com!  I have had a lot of success using the SmartCoach program that can be found at http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/smartcoach/

    Scroll down to the bottom of the page and input some basic data (you can approximate if you have to) and it will provide you with a training calendar up to 16 weeks long.  If your race if more than 16 weeks away you can simply repeat the first month or two until you reach the correct timeframe.  Also, I don't treat the schedule like it's set in stone, but rather use it as a guideline to determine what type of training I should be doing each week and at what intensity.  Please let us know if you have any more questions or comments.

    Good luck and happy running!

    Jay

  • Luker23 Expert
    Luker23
    55 posts since
    Oct 8, 2008
    Currently Being Moderated
    3. Nov 16, 2008 6:54 AM (in response to Jay Silvio)
    Re: College student training for half marathon

     

    Lara,

     

     

      I would agree with Jay. The Runner's World smartcoach is a fantastic tool to assist you in achieving your goal. I'm now a freshman in college and just completed my first half a week ago.  If a freshman in college can do it, you can too!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    -Luke.

     

     




    Marist College Cross Country- Run. Rehydrate. Run some more!

    Bel Monte 50K-6:11:53

    Lake Placid Marathon- 3:23:14

    UAlbany Invitational (8K)-30:38

    Philadelphia Marathon: 3:08:18

  • MikeDaMarine08 We're Not Worthy
    MikeDaMarine08
    2,497 posts since
    Aug 14, 2008
    Currently Being Moderated
    4. Nov 16, 2008 9:14 AM (in response to Bailey89)
    Re: College student training for half marathon

     

    Lara,

     

     

    I have used the Runnersworld site in training for both of my half marathons.  I too am in the tidewater area and would suggest http://www.kalerunning.com/ as well as the tidewater striders www.tidewaterstriders.com possible races to enter as part of your training.  The striders have a distance series that will help you with your Shamrock preparation.  You also might want to talk to the folks at Running Etc for more local running groups.  I hope this helps.  Good Luck!

     

     

    Mike

     

     




    MCM '09, '10, '11

    Richmond Marathon '09

    RNR Arizona Marathon '10

    RNR Mardi Gras Marathon '10

    Shamrock Marathon '10, '12

    Frederick Marathon '10

    Madison Marathon '10

    1/2 Sauer 1/2 Kraut Marathon '10

    Baltimore Marathon '10

    Outer Banks Marathon '10

    Seashore 50K

    Houston '12

    Flying Pig '12

    Next Race - MCM Baby!!!!!!

  • actmanman Pro
    actmanman
    47 posts since
    Sep 30, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    5. Sep 30, 2010 1:39 AM (in response to Bailey89)
    Re: College student training for half marathon

    It needs to also exist outside iTunes and I need to be able to post updates to reactivate it, and I don��t want it using my complete government name on my profile, can I get a Nic.




    -----------
    start write program since high school,anyone are welcome to try two program written by me:
    mp4 to mp3: a free mp4 to mp3 tool;
    mp4 to wmv:a free mp4 to wmv tool

More Like This

  • Retrieving data ...