Need some help folks!!
Been a regular gym and football goer for 2 years so in good shape. Took up running 5 months ago and have run once a week every Friday since. Did the Sutton Coldfield 8.5 mile 'fun run' @ 10min/mile within weeks of starting back in June. Since then iv run 7-8 miles most Fridays. Three weeks ago I ran 9 miles, two weeks ago 10 miles and last Friday I completed 12 miles @ just under 9 min mile (1h 44m).
Iv got the Birmingham half marathon on 14th Oct, 12 days away. After Fridays run I decided up the days I had left with the intention of doing 2 more 12 mile long runs before the marathon for practice. Therefore I'm meant to run tomorrow, rest 4 days, run 12 miles again on Monday and then have 5 days rest before the big day.
Thing is, even with lots of sleep and good food/rest my quads seem really tired from last Fridays run. Im not dying but my legs still don't feel 100% recovered.
So what should be my priority?
1) Fit in another 2x long runs because I need the experience at that distance.
2) Rest more now and only do 1x more long run and have 6-7-8 days rest again before the day.
3) Something else?!
My target is sub 2h half on the day!
Rest.
More info tomorrow, but rest. If you run, then short 3-4 miles runs2- 3minutes sleeper mile than intended pace, but with 1 mile at race pace in the middle. But I would only do 1 of these
EDIT: SO the issue is you have basically done a race within training. It can take weeks to recover from a race like a half marathon. If your target for a HM is under 2hrs and you ran 12 in 1:44 then that was when you had your race, you should have saved that effort for race day.
The distance itslef is fine. For a HM it is good to get runs of 14 to 16 miles under your belt. But these should be at a pace 2-3 minutes slower than you intend to race at, as should almost all your running. These are harder effort also need to be around 4 weeks before race day so you can recover.
Not much you can do about that now. Extra sleep and reduce stress will help. Swimming or walking will help active the muscles without stressing them. You can also do some massages.
You have to realize there is absolutely nothing you can do between now and race day that will help with fitness or your ability to race well. Useful adaptions takes months, or even years of training. However, there are lots of ways you can screw up and ensure a bad experience. Number 1 would be to go for more long runs. They will do absolutely nothing for you at this stage beyond damaging muscles that wont repair fully by race day.
Once your legs feel better then I suggest doing 1 or 2 runs of 3-4 miles. Perhaps if you feel good this Thursday-Friday something up to 5 or 6.. Do 1 or 2 miles at 11:30 pace, 1 or 2 at 9:00 pace and 1 mile or so at 11 pace, given you want to run at around 9min/mile on race day.
2 days before race day something like 2 miles with 1 mile at 11:30, 0.5 to 1mile at 9:00, may being finishing at 8:45, then 0.5 miles at 11 pace. This will loosen your legs.
If 2 hours is you intended finishing time, then make sure the first mile is done at 9:40-10:00 pace, cut down 10-15 second a mile until you hit 9:00 pace. From mile 9 to 10 you can take stock and see about speeding up about 10-15 seconds a mile. Once you have a mile to go you can see about opening up more.
Maybe if you run backwards you could reverse the aging process? 
Maybe closer to the time as my fitness has improved I might reassess my goals and aim for a time, but not at this moment.
