Half Marathon training...

Hi, I am new! I am looking to lose some weight but I am also embarking on my first half marathon in March and I was just looking for a little advice on how to go about training.

I am up to 5 miles so far (I have just moved to a new city which is very hilly, so it's a bit taxing atm!)

Anyway, I was wondering how I should start properly increasing my distances and the number of days I should be training. I'm not very strict at the moment with my regime because my motivation has declined somewhat with all these hills everywhere! So, I'm looking to spice it up a little...any ideas?

One more question (sorry!), as the nights are starting to get dark, esp. with the clocks going back next week...anyone have any tips for a young female running around a city in the evening?

Thanks for your help!

There are several online training plans available. Hal Higdon and Runners World magazine are two sources. If you do a search, you'll probably get even more.

I think most plans are 18 long. So you have some time before the "real" training starts. In the meantime, I suggest you find an upcoming 5k or 10k race and set your sights on that. By entering a shorter race before the half marathon you'll learn how to deal with the timing chip, the bib, and all that sort of stuff. That way the morning of your half marathon will be less stressful. Also, you can use your time in the shorter race as a benchmark for your training. McMillan Running has some information on that.

One last thing. Training on hills is very good for you. If the half is hilly, you'll be glad you trained for it. If it's flat, you'll run even better.

Another training plan to consider is Jeff Galloway's, www.jeffgalloway.com and his "run injury free" run/walk approach. I switched to Galloway from Hal Higdon's after picking the wrong Higdon plan and injuring IT band. Galloway's approach allowed me to heal while I continued to run. Galloway also recommends base building as being the foundation to establish before beginning to include hill training and speed work. I've found it to be good advice - for me at least. Being an older, newer runner (july 08), I find that in oreder to not injure myself I have to avoid to many "challenge" days.

Some other rules of thumb that I have seen, and agree with are not to increase total distance by more than 10%/week, and to make every 4th week an easy week with a cut back in mileage.

As to running in the dark. I run in the early morning (4:30 am) and the only time I run in daylight is on Sunday long runs and races. I see very few people or cars out at that time of morning. I might suggest trying the early morning, but if you can't, consider carrying or wearing a light of some kind, as well as a pepper or mace spray to slow someone down so you can out run them. Also avoid deep shadows unless you shine a light in them. I run in the center of two lanes inside subdivisions, or on the sidewalk of better lit main roads. Although I am more on the lookout for animals than people. We have cayotes and such to watch out for.