Trying something new....

So my running friends, coach, & I, have decided that running 5k's and 10k's over the summer is getting uneventful....so we want to try something new. My coach is looking into some Half-Marathons for us. =) The farthest most of us have ran at once is 9-11miles. I think we can do it though...as long as I have either my music on me, or a strong running partner who won't leave me so I can talk, I'll be good. =) But seriously though, what would posses anyone to want to run that far? lol

So, my questions for everyone is:
Have you ran a half before?
What should I expect & how did you train?
When you've wanted to try something new, why did something new seem nice & why did you choose what you chose?

i ran a half, but i wasnt racing it or anything. it was more for shits and giggles.
that was my first time above 10 miles. if your looking to complete it, you probably wont have to train any different from what your doing now. if you want to do well, wait for someone elses response.

as a general rule, i dont usually like to try new stuff. if what i have works, then theres no need to change lol.

Like alex said if your only trying to complete it your cross country training will be fine but if you want to do good you'll have to start increasing your mpw after track ends. You won't really need any speedwork at all (since this is your xc base you shouldn't be doing speedwork anyways) so you can use those days as long days.
Monday- Long day 6-8
Tuesday- Tempo 4-7
Wednesday- Easy 4-5
Thursday- Really Long Day 8-9
Friday- Easy 4-5
Sat-Sun- Rest one day build up run the next

I've done the distance many times before, but never actually raced it. RWS has the right idea, but I'd make the long runs up to 11 or 12, and the other long day about 10. Long runs like that really help build strength for XC too.

Running With Scissors wrote:Like alex said if your only trying to complete it your cross country training will be fine but if you want to do good you'll have to start increasing your mpw after track ends. You won't really need any speedwork at all (since this is your xc base you shouldn't be doing speedwork anyways) so you can use those days as long days.
Monday- Long day 6-8
Tuesday- Tempo 4-7
Wednesday- Easy 4-5
Thursday- Really Long Day 8-9
Friday- Easy 4-5
Sat-Sun- Rest one day build up run the next

This kinda looks like my summer from last year...so it'll work. =)