You were all so helpful with the previous advice i asked for that I wonder if i may ask some more.. At the minute everytime my hubby goes out for a run he runs more or less the same distance for a few days then ups it (hes currently upto 06 miles) after coming on here yesterday for my first time and the advice i was given I gave him a telling off when he came home from work and said he shouldnt be upping the amount by so much. But as this is the first time he has run he isnt too sure about how he should be training, (he does look on here for advice but was too shy to join hence the reason i did) at the minute he gets out 03 mornings a week, he is wanting to get to 13 miles distance so he can run an half marathon in May, so plenty of time for training, what i wanted to know is, how many times a week should he be doing the long runs is it daily (as in each day he gets out) or should he do so many small runs say 5k ish or should they always be the long runs? hope this all makes sense. Thank you in advance

Ask a dozen runners on the Forum how they started running and you'll get a dozen different answers. It's an individual thing. I began running up to three miles five times a week for the first couple of months. Then I threw in a 5 miler once a week. A month later a 6 miler once a week until, after five months, I could handle the occasional ten miles. Ten months later I was running marathons. But we're not all distance runners. My first 10K nearly killed me but a ½ marathon the very next day was a doddle by comparison. It's the opposite for some people.
Initially it's largely a matter of trial and error to find our optimum racing distance and train specifically for that. Different race distances require different training regimes. If he's set on the ½ marathon I suggest he follows a basic training programme such as can be found in any good Handbook (Tim Noakes's Lore of Running and Bob Glovers The Runners Handbook are two of the best, and can be bought through Amazon) or visit www.Halhigdon.com for training schedules.
Before he runs the Sheffield ½ marathon I suggest he enters one or two shorter, sharper races: e.g. Wombwell 5 (Feb 18th), Wakefield 10K (March 25th), Rothwell 10K (April 29th), or maybe a ten miler, to get used to race situations and learn to pace himself over different distances and see which he feels most comfortable with.
Cheers!

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Give me the hills!

Generally I agree with runningfox...especially concerning entering shorter races first.

A lot of people train as follows:-
Monday-rest
Tuesday- speed/hillwork
Weds- rest.
Thursday- mid distance steady run
Fri-rest
Sat-strides/short run
Sun-long run.

The distances depend on ability etc and can be increased gradually.

i quite envy your hubby, getting into this kind of thing and learning how it all works is quite satisfying, especially when things fall into place.

the first thing i'd say is to understand that everyone is different, sizes, speeds and how their body adapts to running & training. so any schedule you get from a book or download is going to be generic, targetted at a specific group. good for guidance & ideas but not necessarily gospel for you.
training is always an experiment of one person, try things, test them out & see how well they work for you.

he's done really well to get to this stage (especially at that unearthly hour!).... come on get registered.

a typical beginners schedule would start out with run/walk sessions but obviously he's passed that stage, although the main purpose for that is to give the joints & tendons etc a chance to adapt & strengthen to the impact of running (as well as building cardio fitness).

after that they usually go to 3 - 5 times a week, usually made up of one long run and a couple of shorter ones (the shorter ones usually target specific things like speed, or pacing, or strength but i wouldnt worry too much at the moment).

make sure he gets at least one day off a week as recovery is as important as the training.

a generally quoted rule is not to increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% a week, to prevent doing too much too soon & give your body & joints a chance to adapt.

i ran with a group at the gym with a guy who had just started out, it was a real pleasure seeing him enjoying it & seeing improvements and running a few races with him. i still see him at races occasionally and he's now done a few halves.

i think thats all i wanted to say.

keep up the good work.. and the supporting role telmadee (by the way when do you start your training schedule?)

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I run twice a week, 5 miles on a Tuesday night and anywhere between 3-5 on a Sunday morning (I also play squash and football during the week as well)

A couple of months before my HM I was trying to keep to 5 miles on a Tuesday and I had built up my other run to be nearer 10, I did not always make it I have to say

He sounds like he is well on track, but beware, I did try and increase the frequency of my runs and I paid the price with injury.

Once again thank you all so very much for this much appreciated advice, he only started at the end of september so i think he has gone for it too fast too soon, but he is competetive, but i will make a point of telling him what you ahve all said and how Granty, you paid the price etc, i ahte to feel like im nagging him, as i did say i would support him 100% and i have apart from worrying that he will over do it and end up really ill, and its not cos we all know what men are like when there ill lol.
You are a fantastic bunch of people, I got quite emotional last night when i showed him the other posts its amazing for people who have never met us to show their support and help/advice in this way, it means a great deal. xxx

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Best wishes from Dawn

I assume he knows this already but make sure he has the correct shoes - I was out for 3 months almost with various injuries. I've only recently been running properly again for the last month or so.

I'm also training for my first half in May and I'm following one of Geoff Galloway's plans (although I admit I've been running not run/walking). Generally on his beginners training plan you do a couple of runs in the week typically Tues/Thurs for 30 mins and then the long run on a Sunday. The programme starts off at quite low mileage but you can pick up further along the programme depending on how far you can run - I started it at about 4.5 miles. The long runs are increased by about 0.5 miles a week but sometimes he steps it back a little to allow for shorter races or time trials.

I was advised to avoid hill/spped work until I'd built up my endurance base, which I think may be 25 miles. Speed work can hurt and the last session took me two weeks to recover.

I've got a 5k at the beginning of December and I'm looking for a 10K for the new year.

Is hubby keeping a training journal? They are really useful - there's one on here or he can used pen & paper or an excel spreadsheet.

Agreed, really useful for logging ones progress, or finding out what it was that injured you!
I've a record of every single run I've done for the past twenty years. The training blog on here is a good idea to help keep you motivated - but I'd do a separate one too. I just use an ordinary notebook.
Cheers!

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Give me the hills!

Hiya thanks for that you guys, firstly he has got a good pair of new running shoes (£109) he saw people talking about them on here he tried numerous pairs (im not a 'normal woman' i hate shopping lol but i went along with him for support, he also got a pair of the 1000 mile socks from the outdoor shop and then some running socks too. As for the journal, im terrible at making lists etc, I breed budgies and so i keep journals with them, but so far all we have done with him is planned numerous routes and clocked up the exact mileage via the car mileometer, then i drew a map and numbered each route and the mileage, i also started this week jotting on the back of it, the tiems it is taking him to do the route, so we can compare week to week how much faster he is getting, but i will use excel or soemthing and make one for him ( its make me feel needed lol) i also have been the one contacting companies and people for sponsorship for the charity he is running for, so at least i feel liek im doing something even though its not strenuous. This site has helped so very much though i must add.

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Best wishes from Dawn