I did it!!...now what?

Hey! Congrats! That is an awesome accomplishment! It makes me wish I was still living in San Fran, and I would have done it with you!

How many miles are you running a week? In my opinion, if you want to take it to the next level, getting that number up to 50 will help you accomplish that. Studies show that under 25 is bad, 50 is the best, and over 75 makes a negligible difference.

Thanks spacekat!

Well...training for the half I was up to 20 a week. Under 25 is bad? Really? 50 seems like SO much...hahaha

I mean, that's for running a full marathon. My source is Hal Higdon's book that RunningEsq recommended to me. But - what are your goals? To improve your time for a 1/2 marathon? To run a full one? Maybe you just like to run for your body, mind and health.

I totally reject that the only end for running is to do a marathon. It's a great goal. I actually just got back from Florida, where I spend the whole week outside training. But, my body is paying the price - I can barely walk today, my tendons in my leg are so tight. Moving those miles upwards will be tough.

Ask yourself what you want to do, and we'll give you advice how to get there. In the meantime, I think you should just be really proud of what you've just accomplished!

Congratulations!
You will get hook to running just like me.
I thought about the SF marathon also, but I am planning on a vacation around July 4th, and that's wot stopping me to sign up.
As for running mileage - I am training for the Big Sur marathon, and my average mileage per week now is 50 miles.
For off season, I try to maintain a 35 miles week, and my long run is down to 14 miles.
Just as spacekatgal said - depending on your goal, you may want to train differently.

Thanks ladies!

Eventually I would like to run a full marathon...but I think the soonest I would go for that would be the Long Beach Marathon in October, or sometime next year. For now, I want to focus on improving my time for the SF Marathon. I just don't want to burn myself out by running 10 miles every weekend, but then again I don't want to have to start from scratch when it's time to start training again. Thanks for all your advice!

SKG: 50 mpw is high, and it's especially high for a half marathoner (that's not an elite runner... the elite 5Kers put in 70+ mpw)... running that much will likely improve the OP's half marathon time, but its really not necessary ! when I was marathon training I was maxing out at 42 mpw, and even Advanced Marathoning's most popular plan maxes out at 55 mpw, and that's for someone trying to BQ !

AZDaisy: congrats on your race ! You don't want to burn out, mentally or physically right now, so take some time off if that's what you want to do. You don't need to do a 10 mile run each weekend --- my advice would just be to keep up the running fitness and building volume. Don't stress about how many miles per week (mpw) you're getting in right now.

Thanks runningesq! Yeah...I'm not *dying* to go on a run just yet, so I'm gonna wait another week or two.

I think you should mix it maybe run ten one weekend, six the other just to keep your body used to it. But don't feel guilty if you miss a day or two.

That's awesome- congrats! It's important to rest so you don't burn out too fast. Rest for a few weeks, but try to stay trained by running a few days per week for a short easy distance. In your down time, try out other forms of fitness to stay in shape. When you're ready to train again in April you can lengthen your runs to prepare for the half marathon. For now, rest and maintain your fitness. Run Happy!
-Sabrina
The SF Marathon Staff

Thanks for the advice guys! I guess I was mainly worried that if I ran 6 one weekend and 10 the next that my muscles wouldn't be able to take it. Or if I ran 10 every weekend I would burn out before it was time to seriously train. But I'm just gonna take it slow and listen to my body