Beginner Half Marathon Program Begins!

If you have thoughts of running the First Carolina State Bank Half Marathon this fall, your training begins now! I originally had plans of partnering with the race to make an official training team, and have several coaches, but I have not been able to work through details with Butch. That being said, we will still have a training program for those wanting to train.

The Program: We will follow the novice plan developed by Hal Higdon for a half marathon. Hal has some of the most popular and successful training plans you will find. Hal's plan is a 12 week program, ours is 14 weeks. We have added two extra weeks on the front end to allow for a little more base miles. We will also tweak ours slightly so people can race the Ford's Colony 10k. The Half Marathon is on 11/22/08.

The Base: People wishing to do this program should be able to finish a 3 mile run with limited walking. Runners who use the Galloway (run/walk) approach are also welcome to join us. Regardless of how you get your miles in. . . 3 miles should be "doable" for you. If you are not sure if you can do it, come join us this weekend and see how you do. We are a no pressure running group, and want to encourage everyone to try. Speed does not matter.

Who's Invited: Anyone who is willing to try! Old or young; big or small; experienced or a newbie. . . If you are willing to give it your best effort than come join us. Every RMEC member will confirm that training with a team of people is more motivating and a key to your success.

What's Included: The RMEC is a running group with several organized runs during the week. Some runs have a few people, sometimes we get 20 runners. You will be invited and encouraged to join as many of these runs as you want. If a run will be "supported" (fluids, energy gels, etc.) we will let you know. Ultimately we are giving you a plan, and a team of people to help motivate you.

What else could be included:

• Clinics - Most of our group (but not all) have several races under our belts. If the half marathon training brings out several new runners, we will try to coordinate some clinics about running, racing and training. In the past we did clinics on Shoes and Gear, Stretching, Core Strengthening, and Mental Preparation. These were great events, and we can do them again if we believe they will be well attended.
• Shirts - If there is interest we can order some "Training to Run 13.1" shirts.
• Training Races - We can either find some local races or create our own mini-races just for club members

What do I need to do: Bring a positive attitude and willingness to work hard at group runs and on your own. Come out and see what the RMEC is all about. If you like it, we would love to have you join the club. Club members gets discounts at Raleigh Running Outfitters, and on some local races too. Weekend runs will be supported, so you can save money on Gatorade too.

Again, everyone is welcome! If you think you might give it a try, send an email to us so we will know you are coming. Any details about your running background would be helpful.

Club Members: Now is your chance to bring out friends to run. The more runners that decide to train for the first half marathon, their more successful this will be. Everyone likes to train with a friend. Finding similar paced people with similar experience will help to build the confidence of everyone involved. So encourage people to join us over the next month and start training!