First Time Half Marathon (17 year old County Squash Player)

So, in the very near future, I would love to start running in half marathons.

Now, I am only 17 at the moment and havn't run in any competetive races or runs and need tips and help.

I am, what I describe as very fit.

- I play county squash at a high level

- I play in many national tournaments

- I run every so often around the village that I live in

So, I have no idea what to do in my training what sort of time I should be aiming for and an explanation as to the best way to try an run a half marathon.

I would love to hear all different ideas, because I like to mesh together ideas when I do sport...

Hopefully I can make this a good milestone in my life!

Thanks,

Elliot

I think you need to try a little bit of running before we can properly advise you really. Most of your current run training will probably be based on short fast sprints, and lateral movement as well. Whilst you may be specifically fit for your sport, and obviously have some general fitness to get you through matches and tournaments, it is hard to assess how this would translate to long distance running. I suggest maybe you get yourself down to a 5km parkrun on a Saturday morning and see how you get on trying to run that distance, taking it slowly. This will give you a benchmark of what to expect from yourself over a half marathon, and where to pitch your training - whether you need a beginners run-walk programme, or whether you could go in at a programme designed for a more experienced athlete.

I came into running from a background of playing squash 4 times a week.

I found I had great pace but needed to work on my stamina for the distance.

I would expect you can manage a 5k quite quick with no difficulty.

If you want to go for 1/2 marathon distance then you need to start working on long runs.

I started of with 45 mins and added 5 mins a week.

Pick a day a week for your weekly long run, I do Sunday. Start with 45 mins or an hour if you find it easy and gradually increase.

How many runs a week do you have time for?

Will this be I addition to your other sports?

If yes how often do you play or train for squash?

Well, I know squash involves short fast sprints. However I have always been good at cross countries and long distance jogs.

I do roughly 2 runs a week which all vary in length.

Today i ran just over 4 miles in 40 minutes.

I was shattered after it which made me wonder whether it was because I was running faster than I should...

If your target is half marathons then you need to be able to run for longer than 40 mins.

One of you weekly runs needs to be a long one, you want to be able to run constantly for about 2 hours before your half ideally.

You could slow down a little and see how you go, either way you need to build slowly on the time you spend running. Next week try going 45 mins, then 50, 55 etc.

On your other weekly run try to alternate your speed a bit, include some faster paced efforts with slower jog recoveries.

Feeling shattered after a hard run is fairly normal for me.