Me - 55 yo male, 6'0", 240 lbs. Had a history of distance running with several marathons and a lot of half marathons under my belt in the 90's. Quit running in 2002 - gained a ****load of weight. Started running again a year ago January - have lost about 40 lbs since then.

I am presently running about 16-18 miles a week with my long run being 5-6 miles on the weekend. I ran a very hilly 5K on Saturday and felt good enough to go out for a 6 miler recovery run this morning. I also am doing Camp Gladiator three days a week which I think has helped my running a lot.

I was toying with training for and running a half marathon this fall. But I was looking at the Hal Higdon Intermediate 1 program and I've kinda done the first 3 weeks prepping for the 5K I ran yesterday. There is a Mellew half marathon on June 25 that I would be ready for if I jump in the Higdon program at Week 4. This particular marathon runs along the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth and is very flat.

Thoughts from y'all? I want to do the Cowtown in Feb. 2018 and if I do this in June, I'll have a nice long rest over the summer to keep the pace I've built up and hopefully do a good time in the Cowtown.

My very uneducated opinion is I'd imagine you could do a half in that time frame. But I'll defer to the more experienced guys to chime in.

I really just wanted to say a half in Fort Worth in June sounds miserable.

It starts at 7 AM. June is usually not too bad yet.

Yeah I think its doable. I assume this is the Jalepeno one by mellow.

Running along the Trinity is almost entirely flat. There can be a strong wind of the water sometimes. I think its feasible to do in 8 weeks with a 15m/wk base built up. Just need to increase your long runs on the weekend and see how you cope. I have a feeling this summer is gonna be a hot one.

If it helps - I normally do most of my running on the Trinity Trail. I know the route very well.

And yes it's the Jalapeno Half.

I'm tempted to hit the next two weeks training and see if I hold together.

Sometimes in June/July/August it doesn't matter if you run at 5am, it will be hot and muggy in North Texas.

Given that you are already running some, I don't think a half marathon in 8 weeks is out of line.

I'll warn you that Mellew has a reputation for screwing up races. I believe the Jalapeno Half a few years ago had a few aid stations run out of water.

If you want a good DFW race that is around that distance, I'd look into Too Hot To Handle (15K), it's in July, it would give you a little more training time.

No problem. Get after it

You can ABSOLUTELY do it.

You can easily do it. Just don't try to do it too fast.

7-8-7-8-9-10-taper-Race.

Yep, up the mileage on the long runs, and taper more than Higdon suggests. You can do it with your base plus 8 more weeks to prepare.