Dilemma-First Half-Marathon

My wife and I want to sign up for our first half marathon.  It's the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis on Nov.7th.  I know that we can do the 13.1 miles but they have a time requirement for the first 7 miles.  They want you to be under 15 minutes per mile.  They say that they welcome walkers but that seems a rather fast pace for 7 miles.  They have a time limit of 6.5 hours to get the entire race finished.  So what I'm asking  is.....is 15 minutes per mile a fast pace?  We're newbies to the half marathon thing.  I think that if we really apply ourselves in the next 3 months we can make it but I'd really like your opinions.  
Thanks,
Duane 

A brisk walk of 4 mph would bring you in exactly on time.
For me, 4 mph is about as fast as I walk before I consider starting to jog a little.
http://www.bx3.com/phil/tri/tricalc.asp
This site has a lot of conversion calculators to help you figure your pace and speed etc.
That is kind of a determined pace for 7 miles of walking, but if you could add a couple minutes of jogging into that, you could certainly do it.

Maybe you could try it one day at a track or some known distance location.  Try jogging a couple minutes or a few hundred yards, or whatever feels comfortable, then walk.  Do it for a mile and see if you think you can keep that up for 7 miles.

I think you can do it!!!!!!

If you look back a couple posts I put up a post for someone that was asking about training for a 1/2 marathon.  There are a couple 12 week programs in there for the whole marathon.
You could also try doing the couch 2 5k.  If you could run just a couple miles, that would probably put you well under the time requirements.

Scott

I could not find enough info on the site but it looks to me like the 6.5 hour cut off is for the full marathon.  I would think that the halfers would have a more generous time allowence especially if the half and full use the same course.  The cut off time also starts as soon as the last person crosses the start line.  For a race with a few thousand people, it should buy you a few minutes.

The way that the site proclaima that it "welcomes walkers" I would think that you will have no problem finishing the half.

Hell, you already did the hard part!  - signing up.

Scott and Scott, Thanks for your input.  I really appreciate your advice and support.

This is how the web site has it broken down for marathoners and half-marathoners.

"All marathon participants will be required to maintain a 15 minute per mile pace.

Half-marathoners will be required to maintain a 15 minute per mile pace for the first 7 miles. The last 5 miles can be at much slower pace and still beat the course closing time of 6½ hours (2:30 p.m.)"

The way I figure it is that we are on the cusp of being able to walk the first 7 miles in that time now.  Given 3 more months we will be: 1) leaner 2) in better condition 3) have cooler weather 4)on race day we will have the adrenaline of being in our first half-marathon to help us along.

I think this is an excellent motivator for us to get in better shape and start running some more.  I think that we will start using the treadmill some more to get more accurate timed distances for our training.  I like the idea of running/jogging as much as we can and walking the rest.

Duane 

When you use the treadmill add some incline to it, or you will find that you end up going further on the treadmill than you can on the street.

Here is a chart that shows approx what you should set it to so that you get the same amount of effort sensation.

http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_running/run_treadmill_chart.as p

Scott

 Scott, thanks for the info. and the tip.
Duane

sounds like a great challenge... at the rate you are going, don't be surprised if you can run the thing come Nov....

i think i am going to sign up for my first half marathon in november as well (Atlanta half/full marathon is on turkey day).

btw, i ran 8.5 miles in Indianapolis, mostly downtown by the white river and canal.  great flat area, terrible run due to stomach issues.  i saw your post about eagle creek, i used to live in the AMLI apartments next to the colts training facility, but this trip i was cabbing it, so stuck to downtown...

 Small world....I lived at the Oaks of Eagle Creek Apartments right beside your complex.  I loved living there.  I was over at Eagle Creek all the time.  Good luck with the Atlanta half-marathon.
Duane

 I think you can do it -- I can walk at 4mph and keep it up for awhile.  I just walked 7 miles this weekend (the 2nd' half of the half marathon course I signed up for) and I did it in 1hr 55 minutes 115/7=16.42 mile pace -- It would have been faster however I slowed down when I was looking for the right turn to take and actually back tracked a bit as well to get back on course.  

With the race - I plan on running more and walking less.  Mine is a week before yours.

You can definitely do it if I can do it with my short short legs!

 Good luck with your race!  You sound like my wife....she's always saying that I have longer legs than she does but I say yeah, and you're 105lbs lighter than me.  LOL
Thank you for the support.
Duane