Is it Possible? Yes. Is it Smart? No.
A few months ago I signed up for the Fox Cities Half Marathon, primarily because I had a discount code. Upon signing up, I decided to make this a PR half marathon effort: 1 hour 44 minutes. This would require me to run an average pace of 8 minutes per mile. Not completely outside the realm of possibility, I even did a workout that consisted of a 1 mile warmup, 1 mile best effort, and 1 mile cool down. Yes, I could definitely run at least one mile at that pace!
Fast forward a few weeks and I’m well into when I should have started my training program. My problem wasn't motivation, I was working out 3-4 days a week at my new-found-love, CrossFit. CrossFit an excellent option for building functional strength and a solid fitness community. But as any CrossFitter will tell you, they HATE to run. If running showed up in a workout, it was 200m at a time, maximum. As a coach, I'd tell my clients that consistency is key, and I knew that trying to be a runner and a CrossFitter at the same time was going to be a problem. I wasn't motivated enough to be lifting 3-4 days a week and running 3-4 days a week as well. Compound this with the fact that my life is a lot busier now than it used to be, so my weekends weren’t even totally free for those essential long runs.
I started working in the long runs where I could and eventually scared myself into getting into a nice routine. Enter the next roadblock: a cold and some travel. The week before I was set to be in Asia for two weeks I got a pretty nice cold. On top of an exceptionally busy week, it just didn’t feel like the right time to be adding additional stress to my body. I brought my running gear on the trip, but 85 and humid was the coldest day of those two weeks and no hotel gym to be found. Once again, I was out of my routine.
So, after three weeks off the wagon and majorly jetlagged, I set out on my last long run: 8 miles. I’ve always heard, "If you can run 8 miles, you can run a half marathon." I'm here to tell you that it's technically true, but I would not recommend this as a primary training strategy.
Race Day: The Wall
Race day, it's finally here! This would be my 9th half-marathon, so I know I am capable. I’ve got a great pair of shoes, and I’ve met the requisite 8-mile run. So, how did it go? Well - I finished. And I actually performed quite a bit better than I would have expected.
As you can imagine, the first 8 miles were great! Despite my training runs being 10-12 minute average, I was laying down 9-minute miles pretty consistently. Not the 8 I had originally intended, but enough to get me a sub-2 hour finish. I made it to mile 8, and the mental games started. This is the longest I’ve run so far….5 more miles to go….Just keep running. I found someone to pace myself with for the next mile. Then, at mile 9, I hit a wall. It was like all the energy was drained from my legs and replaced with cement and lactic acid.
Just a 5k left, but it felt like forever. Each mile was 10 seconds slower than the last. I felt like I was giving it all I had. Interestingly (but not surprisingly), the problem wasn’t my cardio or my strength. It was my endurance. My feet were cooked, and my quads were nearing their limit. Eventually, though, the finish line appeared in the distance and hope was restored. The chance of a sub-two was long gone, but I wasn’t far off my target. I crossed the finish line at a respectable time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 57 seconds. Not bad for someone who trained as if they were running a 10k.
The Lessons I Learned (So You Don't Have To)
So what’s the lesson here? Yes - you can finish a half marathon on minimal training, and yes, if you can run 8 miles you can run a half marathon. But you shouldn’t. If time and feeling good are important to you, I recommend building up to at least a 10-mile run and maybe not taking three full weeks off.
However, another big lesson is in training pace. Your long runs do NOT have to be at your all-out race pace. In fact, they shouldn’t. You can build speed and endurance separately and put them together on race day.
Want to learn how? Reach out for a customized training plan today! And you, too, can run your best-effort half-marathon safely and effectively.
