In most cases, you will not be able to run a half marathon or 21.1 km without sports and running training. In the best case, it will be possible to partially walk and partially run this distance, and to a greater extent - to walk. The exception is genetically gifted runners.
Who can run the half marathon
If a person has not trained for more than six months or has never run more than 10 km at all, he will not be able to run 21.1 km. This is obvious to everyone.
If a person went in for sports: exercised on simulators, swam, practiced gymnastics or yoga, as well as other sports, he also cannot run even half the marathon distance.
The only way to prepare and complete the half marathon is to run regularly. Pro runners say that 7 weeks of preparation is enough for a 21.1 km race. There is a chance to run a half marathon without preparation, but the damage to health will be enormous. Moreover, after such an experiment, a person will forever hate running in all its manifestations.
What happens if you run a half marathon without preparation
First of all, you will often have to switch from running to walking. Even if the first kilometers were covered at a good pace, after the 10th - 12th km the strength will run out. The runner will have to step or stop altogether to regain breathing. The remaining kilometers will most likely have to go on foot and in a rather exhausted state.
Moreover, each stop and each transition from run to step will add less strength, and it will be more difficult to return to running each time.
Secondly, problems with an imbalance of ions and electrolytes will begin. This is a problem for all runners who refuse to eat and drink at a distance. But for untrained half marathon runners, this is a common problem. An imbalance in electrolytes leads to disturbances in thermoregulation, an imbalance in the balance of ions - to spontaneous defecation.
Thirdly, an unprepared athlete will begin to feel pain in the muscles of the legs, increasing with every kilometer and regularly turning into cramps. Sooner or later, these pains will get wild and start to lead to disorientation and dizziness. In this case, the runner leaves the race at the first medical aid station.
Those who are obese or flat-footed are likely to have to end their race with a traumatologist. An untrained heart at a 20 km distance can suffer from heart failure, arrhythmias and even heart attacks.
After 1 hour of continuous running, an untrained body will take glucose from the blood to work the muscles, and this can lead to fainting. Experienced marathon runners turn to nutritional gels to prevent this from happening. They will not help inexperienced people: the body in a state of stress will not be able to assimilate them.
The problem is that experienced long distance runners train their bodies separately to digest food during stressful times. Moreover, many professionals can safely cover long distances without power at all, albeit at a slower pace than they can.
