Doing the half

[Stevil]

I don't know what others here do to keep fit and fight the bulge, but I used to run the Auckland half marathon.
Had done so for three years in a row, then a couple of kids came along and kept me busy.
Now I'm having another go at it.

Some time in October will be race day. My goal is to beat my best time of 1hr 39 minutes (99 minutes) which is 12.7 km/hr
Being 4 years older and 6-8 kgs heavier and not having done any exercise for 4 years, it's going to be a very difficult ask. Hopefully, I lose the weight along the way, but I'm not get any younger.

On Tues I ran 5.7 km in 34.5 minutes = 9.9 km/hr
Tonight (Thurs) 5.7 km in 32.75 minutes = 10.4 km/hr

Anyway, it seems daunting at the moment, I also feel old.
Auckland marathon is quite good because it starts at 6am before the sun gets up and makes everything hot. The exciting bit (and challenging) is the harbour bridge, they close down two lanes so that we can run over it. It is 1 km uphill and then 1 km downhill.

[Siz]

Wow, best of luck with that.

Some sustained and dedicated training required. Whenever I need a quick boost to my training I do Spinning classes (on stationary bikes). Three sessions over three weeks at my local gym (I have a memebership which gives me free classes) really gets the fitness going in short shrift. Otherwise, it's just mileage interspersed with 'intervals' (yeugh!). You got a heart-rate monitor? I definitely recommend using one as it is an easy guage of fitness and you can see small improvements which is a real motivator (if you drink lots of coffee this can give some horrible rates - I was red-lining at 220bpm before I had a few 'flutter' scares which made me give up my tripple espressos. Now I'm down to a more normal 190bpm red-line).

So, you're gonna be jamming up that bloody bridge eh?! My father-in-law lives just north of the bridge and I know first-hand what a PIA for traffic it is at the best of times...

I'm in training for a 120mile day-ride (London-Brighton-London) in July. It's pushing the boundaries for me but that's what it's all about! I'm certainly finding that training is coming easier now the kids are a bit older (7.5 and 5). Since I got my new bike last month my motivation is high too.

Have fun with those intervals...

[DeterminedJuliet]

Good luck!

I picked up running for a couple of summers and the furthest I ever got at one time was 5 miles. Half a marathon would be quite an accomplishment, I'd think!

[McQ]

Keep fit? What's that?

The up side to your being older is now you're wiser, right? So you can use your wisdom to train smarter and get into tip top condition. A half marathon is quite a lofty goal, but since you've done this one before, you know exactly what you're in for. I'm sure you'll do fine. Will you keep us posted on how training goes? We can be your virtual cheering section!

[Ali]

Good luck!  Hubby is a runner too (although currently injured, poor guy.)  I don't have any training tips because running is too hard on my knees and hips, but best of luck to you.  A half marathon is a very lofty goal indeed!

[Tank]

Good effort there Stevil 

[Beachdragon]

Good luck to you!  I'm lucky if I can climb 4 floors in my building.  But some day I'm going to get up all 9 floors!  I'm hopelessly out of shape.

[Stevil]

Thanks all.

Yes, injury and disease is my biggest barrier.
Train too hard, too soon and I will surely injure myself.
The kids are disease ridden things, bring everything home and its worse than rats because I'm susceptible to everything they catch.

[Sweetdeath]

Good luck with everyone, Stevil!
I can only run 2 miles right now. Well...fast jog it. Just finishing is an accomplishment.

[Whitney]

My goal is 10k   It's doable for me long term and doesn't take a huge time commitment for training since you can run a 10k in under an hour pretty easily once stamina is built up.

But I'm basically benched for the next 8 weeks (already benched myself for about a month now) and then I have to ease back up to running again.  All I did today was some band exercises and a few sets of a tip toe raises (forgot what they are called) and my ankle is sore...very frustrating.

Running is really great for staying fit...I actually miss it and keep having the thought to throw on my shoes and then remember that I'm not suppose to yet.  We have a decent sized group of runner atheists and have started trying to organize races together.

[xSilverPhinx]

Good luck, Stevil

[Stevil]

Saturday (week-end gives opportunity for longer run)
8.8 km at 53 minutes    9.96 km/h
incl 3x1 minute walks (started off too quick)

[Stevil]

I'm in training for a 120mile day-ride (London-Brighton-London) in July.

Oh, wow, that's over 190 km.

In NZ we have the around Lake Taupo ride which is 160 km.
I don't ride bikes. But just looked up the winning times, it's about 3hr 40min, I'd imagine for a non elite athlete maybe it would take 4-5.5 hrs, that's timewise significantly longer than running a full marathon. I don't know how someone can do continuous exercise for so long. That's very impressive scissorlegs.

[Tank]

Riding a bike is a little over twice as energy efficient than running, hence the ability to ride further than you can run.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance#Energy_efficiency

[Stevil]

Running is really great for staying fit.

Yes, better than going to gym as they have time limits on the machines, and running outside you get a better view. When I am working in Wellington I get to run along the seaside.
Cheaper too, just costs a pair of running shoes.

But the impact can be tough on the body and the rain or frosts can be a downer.