Need advice: Full or Half

[tedhowe]

Hi all, I'd really like some advice on whether I should transfer my half marathon registration to the full for January.

Please excuse the length of this post, but I'm trying to lay everything out to give the best background.

Here are the relevant facts (I think).

1. I am (as John Bingham would say) an "adult onset athlete" - 43 years old, currently 245 pounds... down from a high of 347 in April 2010 when I started getting healthier... down from 321 on January 5th this year when I got serious about making the changes I started permanent and effective. Never an athlete before April 2010 when I started taking Taekwondo classes with my daughters.

2. I started running with C25K on January 28th of this year. Within about 10 days I had fallen in love with running. Before the end of the program I had signed up for two 5K races, a 10K and had my sights set on the WDW Half Marathon in January... which I signed up for on the first day it was available.

3. A few weeks later, I decided I didn't want Disney to be my first half... worried about nerves overshadowing the vacation at WDW the week before the marathon weekend, so I signed up for the Philly Half Marathon on Nov. 18 and moved my first half up by about 8 weeks.

4. After C25K, I continued with B210K... and spent April and May running a couple of more 5Ks and extending my long runs to the 7 - 8 mile range.

5. By early June, I wanted to move the challenge up, so I registered for the Bird In Hand half marathon (September 8th) and a beach 10 mile race (this Saturday)... which have helped me stay motivated and progressing.

6. June 18 I started a modified Hal Higdon Novice 2 Half Marathon training program. Modified to fit the three races I have scheduled during the summer.

7. To date, that program has gone VERY well... I am loving running more and more. I'm getting faster and endurance is increasing as you might expect. Long run so far is 10 miles, PRs in 5K and 10K are 33:23 and 68:28 respectively. My 10 mile run was in exactly 2 hours. I have about 5 weeks left to my first HM and I feel like I could run it tomorrow if I had to.

8. This spring, I decided that I do want to run a marathon eventually... I think at the latest it would be the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2013.

9. When the new course was published for the WDW Marathon, I was very excited by the course and the fact that it is the 20th anniversary race, etc... and I toyed with the idea of switching to the Full at that point, but backed off. That was a couple of months ago, and I only had three or four months of running... and very little long distance running.

10. I realized the other day that the day of my first HM is exactly 18 weeks before the WDW HM... just right to do the Hal Higdon novice 2 marathon program and be ready for race day in January... even the HM training race in his schedule lines up with the program well.

So those are the facts that have led me to my current decision.

I'm much more comfortable now than 3 months ago with the idea of going for the WDW Marathon as my first full... but should I?

Am I really going to be prepared for this if I follow the HH plan?

I've been running 20 - 25 miles per week for about 4 months now and still have no signs of injury or significant fatigue... I listen to my body and step back for a couple of days when I need to.

I'm getting faster (slowly) as I run longer.

My goals now are to finish my 10mile race on Saturday in under 2 hours, the September HM in under 2:45, Philly Half in november in 2:30 or better and if I chose to go for the full in Disney, do it in about 6 hours.

Ultimately, I think I will try to wait it out until after the HM on Sept. 8th to make a final decision. If that race goes well, then I will shift from the Half to the Full and start right in on the Marathon plan. If it doesn't go as well as I'd like, I will stick with the WDW Half and try to improve on my HM - falling back to the original plan of the Philly marathon next year.

If the full sells out before that date, I'll just take it as fate.

So what are people's thoughts... I think the progress I've seen is telling me I can do this... but what do the more experienced people here have to say?

Thanks for reading this, and for your input.

Ted

 

[jmasgat]

I say....go for it. Training is going well, you seem to have a reasonable assessment of your capability/time goals and it sounds like you WANT to do it. And if you can wait til your HM (depending on how the marathon fills), then it seems to be a no brainer.

Good luck with your upcoming races.

Maura

 

[LuzzBightyear]

Wow, nice progress so far. Sounds to me you are truly in tune with yourself and have set very reasonable expectations.
I pretty much agree with your assessment, wait to see how your first half goes. If it goes well and you are committed to sticking with an established program, I say go for it. You are already used to running further than the HH marathon plans start out at, so I think you ready to start the marathon training.

 

[johde]

For me, the biggest question is going to be how quickly you recover from your races. If I go all out in a half marathon, it takes me a few weeks to recover and get back into regular training. Your 2:45 goal I think is doable. I've done 5 half marathons. I'm still around 300lbs from a high of 375 and my PR is 2:51 and I have a 33:59 5K PR. On top of that my half marathon time is a little soft due to the heat race day. That's the one thing that could cause a problem with a Sept. half. With the November half being so close to January, I would consider doing it as a supported training run instead of a PR attempt.

 

[Reep]

My biggest concern would be chance for injury and not enough time to train. But, the timing for you is pretty good considering your other races.

Reasons to switch to the full:
- a Marathon is an amazing event and you will feel an sense of accomplishment that just isn't there for a half.
- WDW marathon runs through all the parks, which is really fun, compared to only two for the half.
- WDW marathon finishes around Epcot lake, the half only goes around the big ball. This to me is the best finish of any marathon I have run.

Be careful though. If you decided to switch, increase your miles cautiously, and make sure you stretch and roll to avoid runner's knee and ITB as you build. Also, I would be careful that you don't go all out in the races between now and then. You don't want to increase any chance of getting injured as you build.

 

[carps09]

Thanks for this post. I ran the Disney Princess Half in February and planned on running the Disney Half in January, but I've been considering the full as well since I've continued training and it's going well. I think it's just scary committing to the full, but I need to commit! Go for it!

 

[stargazertechie]

You sound like you have it in you to do the full- so go for it!

I'm nursing an injury right now, and thinking about dialing it back to the half for this year... but that 20th Anniversary medal is entirely too tempting.

 

[Jeffreelancer]

If you choose to do the marathon you should fit the half marathons into your schedule and treat them as workout runs and not races. We think of them as long runs with a bunch friends plus bling at the end.

Also, something to consider from a time standpoint is your marathon pace will probably be slower than a HM pace. I am a coach in a running group and we tell our members to plan the pace to be a minute slower than their HM pace. You may do better in the race, but you will be more comfortable during the race if your expected pace is reasonable.

Wishing you luck in all your upcoming races.