Hi chickies,

In a bid to keep myself on the wagon, I have signed up to the Bath half marathon in March 2014. I could feel myself slipping, you know the way...the odd chocolate bar, skipping work outs with the excuse oh i'll start up again tomorrow. I'm quite goal-centred and respond very well when presented with a challenge. So I signed up to my local half marathon. I have no idea how to go about training for a 13 mile run. I can run 5km in 33mins, so its not too bad, but I have a way to go. I was wondering if anyone had any tips/advice/training programmes/diet programmes for a novice runner? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi IsobelRose. Congratulations on all your success

A half marathon is a great goal to have and it's one I share with you. While I haven't trained or participated in one, one of the runner Chicks on this site shared this training plan with me. It is from the Toronto Women's Marathon site.

http://www.towomensruns.com/half_marathon.html

I like that it's 24 weeks; a full 6 months rather than the standard 12-16 weeks. It certainly looks doable. While I've been running for 3 years I still consider myself a novice runner in so many ways. I think that's why this approach appeals to me so much.

Good luck and keep us posted!