Half Marathon Training Advice

I'd love your opinion - if you think this is reasonable or if you think I'm being too hard on my body.  I just decided last weekend that I'd like to try for a half marathon on Sept 21.  I did one last October, but since then I developed in injury and took several months off.  I only re-started again this year in May/June.  I worked myself up to about 21 miles last week with my long run of 7.5 miles.  I had been increasing both my weekly mileage totals and long run distance by about 10% each week.   In case this matters, the injury is a small tear in the labrum of my acetabulum (in my pelvis).  It can't be fixed without surgery and my orthopedic doctor said I can run as long as it doesn't hurt too bad.  As long as I run slowly, I'm ok.  It still hurts, but it's manageable. (Since it only hurts when I run, I'm not going to get the surgery.)  I'm mentioning this because my runs take a long time (12-13 minute miles) and I weigh probably 40 lbs more than I should.  So I'm putting a lot of stress on my joints (with my weight) for a loong time (since I have to run so slowly)

  Anyhow, my runs this week were 3/4/-/4/6/-/8.6 today (- means rest)

This is my plan for the remaining weeks.  Is this too agressive?  Should I reduce my shorter runs?  Or does it look ok?

-/5/-/4/6/-/10,   -/6/-/4/6/3.6*/11,   -/4/4/6/-/5/4,  12.4**/-/6/4/6/-/9,

-/4/-/5.5/6/-/8, and -/4/-/3/2/-/13.1 (race!)

*might not do this run since we're driving to Maine that day

**this is a 20K race - tell me if you think I'm crazy to do this too!

Thanks for any advice you may have!!!

Hmm, you know how I feel about running in general - only in emergencies - but your goal belongs to you.

 So let's see what we can do to get you there, yeh? Are you planning any specific crosstraining? Have you entered your goal into the Runner's world smartcoach program to get a personalized schedule?

 If the Smartcoach gives you the go-ahead, you're careful with your nutrition, and you join the rest of the gang doing the No business running (without this) workout you should be able to reach the goal. Pay attention to what the smartcoach program says though - there's a whole lot of running experience that went into creating that.

 Oh, yes - spend some time on Hal Highdon's site as well and see if your plan makes sense in light of what he'll teach you :) 

Forgive me for not responding to this post--I had glanced at it, and thinking that others would have given their opinion, didn't give my response.

Let me start off by saying that this is not a reasonable plan for you. While I think that the plan is manageable for someone who is completely healthy and has more running experience, here are my specific concerns given your situation:

1. You say that your injury only hurts when you run. While I don't know anything about this type of injury, I wonder if a running program, especially a long-distance training plan, could worsen your injury. I'm afraid that once you're done with these two proposed races that you'll be in so much pain that you'll may never want to run again.

2.  Why do you have a 20K race scheduled 20 days before your half-marathon? True, I have seen more experienced distance runners compete in "tune-up" races before their target race. However, they are always shorter than the target race, and they take place before the taper period begins. If you were talking about a 5K or 10K, I would reluctantly say to go for it (especially given your injury), but a 20K is almost the same length as a half marathon. I think that if you were to race, you should choose one or the other.

As someone who loves running as much as I do, I applaud you for your desire to return to the sport after your injury. However, given that you are still dealing with your injury, I don't think that it is a good idea to be running longer distances or racing. Please consider the option of getting surgery, especially if you want to continue running.

Joy,

Saw your response towards melkor on RATW thread and had to check out what bad advice he gave you to make you not run 1/2 marathon.  I would have to say for a non runner Melkor gave you good advice (especially liked smart coach link I had not ever seen).

I would go with what WRM is saying as he knows what he is talking about and 2 near 1/2 marathon races in three weeks would be asking for issues if you already have pain going into the process.

I also agree with the concern about training for races with an injury that only hurts when you run.  I recommend getting a second medical opinion.  Maybe there is other exercise you can do while your injury heals slowly, or perhaps the surgery is in order.