Half Marathon Training Update
A little background first…while playing college soccer I tore my ACL and meniscus and ended up with a nasty staph infection. I got really sick and it completely set back my recovery process. The next 2 years I ended up having a total of 4 knee surgeries and my body just never fully recovered from the trauma. My dream/goal to run a full marathon after college with my sister was gone and I was left angry and confused. Being a competitive athlete was my life…I had to sit out my last (and final) year of soccer and figure out who the heck I was besides an athlete. After college I started getting really into low impact activities like yoga, barre, and spin. Running 3-4 miles was about the max my body could tolerate for a while, but being the stubborn person I am I tried training for a half marathon about 5 or 6 years ago. My body wasn’t responding well to the training and my chiropractor at the time told me to stop.
Since having Quinn I’ve slowly started running again and I ran a 10k over thanksgiving with my sister. I felt great training for that race and felt so accomplished when I finished with a solid time! I was on such a high that I texted a few girlfriends to see if anyone wanted to run a half marathon with me.
So here we are…one month to go until I run my very first half marathon. I’m running the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll half in June with a few of my girlfriends. Here is the course this year. Since January I’ve been keeping a 4-6 mile base endurance (1-2 runs per week). I’m loosely following this training guide. My longest run was a few weeks ago I did 8 and that felt pretty good. My goal is to continue to increase my milage until I get to 10 miles…my hope is that if I can do 10 I can survive the race! Right now I’m going on longer runs on Monday and Saturday or Sunday and continuing to do HIIT, barre, and yoga on non run days. I’m typically taking 1-2 rest days and sometimes a rest day might include a walk and/or gentle yoga.
To be honest my body doesn’t feel thaaaaat great as I’m increasing milage and I’m learning that I don’t actually enjoy going over 5-6 miles. I know I will feel so accomplished when this is done, so I’m hanging in there for a few more weeks!
I recently bought these shoes and they feel amazing on my long runs. I’ve been using a running belt similar to this to store my phone, car key, etc. I’m also bringing these energy gels or these chews on my 6+ milers. I prefer the handheld water bottle and use something similar to this. Lastly, I never purchased fancy wireless headphones as I had planned (honestly they all got such mixed reviews) and have been getting away with my cheapy amazon ones just fine! I’ve also been using my foam roller every night (I also try and roll out right before and after a run) and I’m using a foot roller like this one which is dreamy!
Thanks for following along and I’d love to here about any tips or tricks you have for half training!
You’re going to crush it!
Hi Alix! Based on everything you’ve said and all the working out you’ve been doing, I think your half is going to go great!! I just did my first one two weeks ago in Zion (it was amazing!) I’ve been having some issues with my hip, so I didn’t train as much as I’d hoped to, but I had the same logic you do: “If I can survive 10, I can totally do this!” I ran 8, 10, and 7 the weeks leading up the the race and then ran 9 the week after and felt okay. I actually already signed up for another one in June, so I’m not totally traumatized from it haha. I really didn’t want to have to do any walking at all, but the best tip I’ve heard so far is to walk through the water stations because it gives your legs a little break and allows you to actually take a few sips without spilling everywhere. GOOD LUCK!