I had surgery in June so I was not working out at all for a while. I began running again about 8 weeks ago. I am planning on running a half-marathon (my first) on September 14. I have done two long runs 8 and 10 miles. Now there is an opportunity for me to do the NYC marathon on Nov. 2. Do I have enough time (10 weeks) to build up the miles?

What kind of surgery? Any pain during your 8 - 10 milers?

Jaw surgery, so no pain during my runs.

If your long runs are at 10 miles currently, 16 weeks is ideal to build mileage for the marathon as it allows slow build up, rest weeks, and a taper before the marathon. Having said that, if you are more-or-less looking to finish the marathon, you could probably train in 10 weeks. If it were me this is a program I might follow (assuming I felt pretty strong for 13.1):

Week of Sept 15th: light miles to rest/ recover from the half
Week of Sept 22nd: 15 mile long run
Week of Sept 29th: 17 mile long run
Week of Oct 6th: 18 or 19 mile long run
Week of Oct 13th: 20 mile long run (early in the week if possible)
Week of October 20th: taper week- 10 mile long run
Week of Oct 27th: Rest week- no more than a 4 miler before the marathon

Run at least 4 days a week, try to get in a workout or tempo run on non-rest weeks, take the long runs slow.

If you have the ambition, I say give it a try but listen to your body... if you start to experience too many aches and pains, better to wait this one out and train properly for another marathon down the road. To give some perspective... I'm currently taining for Chicago (Oct. 12th) and I am doing an 18-week training plan that includes four 20+ mile long-runs and a three-week taper. With 7 weeks to go, I've already done 20 twice.

In any case, Good luck with the half and your future endevours!

If you've done a couple marathons and your fit then taking on NYC on less than 3 months training is doable. If this is your first one, you're cutting it short on training and will probably have a tough time. If you just want to finish it and you don't have any other viable marathon options further out in say January/February then sure you can do it, but don't be foolhardy about it. Good luck