very little training, new shoe disaster, imminent half marathon!

here's the thing... 

2 weeks til GNR. i have completed one half before in december. stopped running. started up again 11 weeks ago in preparation for GNR which clearly is not enough time to start with when starting from scratch again. so that's problem number 1.

problem number 2: training has been seriously hindered by a lack of motivation, general life stuff, a bit of non serious illness, moving house and holidays

problem number 3: my shoes hit the end of their life last week. they were not giving me the support i needed in my arch and i was getting foot pain about 3 miles in which would gradually get worse and then linger for a couple of days. not ideal but i had to get new shoes. anyway - took new shoes out for a disastrous 7 miles this evening. they are definitely going to cause me big nasty painful blisters on inside of heel/arch. 7 miles was sore. 13.1 will be unbearable. i have not experienced blisters before really.

so - my questions. do i run in foot hurty non blistering old shoe or blister inducing new shoe? if i wear the new shoes constantly between now and then will they soften up and not rub where they do?

next question - not so much a question but a plea - my training has been poor. my longest runs have been 1 of 8.5, 2 of 8 and a couple of 7. these have been padded out with a few (not enough) 3.5 and 5.5 mile runs. please tell me encouraging tales of surviving a half on poor training. i'm not worried about time. i'll be happy to plod it out in 12.5 min miles. is this really achieveable? most of my training has been at 11.5 - 12 mm pace and on the whole once i get my rhythm going at a slow pace i do feel as though i can just keep going.

my last half i got round in a slow 2.26 but generally felt comfortable all the way round.

any advise (particularly on the shoes) would be appreciated.

plod.

Sounds a bit like my training for Bristol next week plodmonster.  Except my trainers are okay (I think) thankfully.  I think you'll be fine if you take it easy and just enjoy the atmosphere.  Don't know about trainers though, I'm not an expert, just a slow plodder who always threatens to train hard but somehow never quite gets there!

I ran into a similar shoe problem up to Hamburg Marathon this year. My advice is to get the new shoes and live in them, and then either convince someone to come with you and cheer you and carry your old shoes around with them. If you get desparate you can change shoes.

As for the training, there's not much you can do now. Try to think positively about all the training that you have done - and you have trained a bit I can see, and take it nice and easy on the day. Enjoy the race and try to relax.

Good luck. I hope it goes really well for you.

Personally i would try and get some more new shoes - totally different brand. In my experience running trainers either cause you blisters or they don;t - i.e. you don;t break them in.

You could try putting the insoles from the old shoes into the new ones. Or get some other types of insoles such as sorbothane or superfeet and put those in either pair and see if it helps. OR scour ebay for a new pair the same type as your old faithfuls.

Re training - yeah well these things happen. Take it easy - you might be better considering run walking i.e. run 10 mins walk 1,etc etc the whole way FROM THE START - this can make a considerable difference to your time and help you enjoy it rather than it being a total slog.

(make sure you do it the whole way though - don't run till you are knackered and then start walking).

Good Luck

Foot hurty non blistering trainers = wheelchair.

Foot hurty blister inducing trainers = infections + pain + tears and then a wheelchair.

Get some proper trainers on your feet that don't hurt !!   If you don't you'll be lucky to reach your normal mileage never mind finish a run/walk/run/walk regime. Have alook at the socks as well, sometimes they can be the annoyance rather than the trainers themselves.