I am now into the 8th week of my 10 week half marathon training program. I’ll give you a little recap of how training has been going.
The first 3 weeks of training went really well. The longer runs were hard, but I managed to get through them just fine.
Next, I made a big mistake… I missed the 4th and 5th weeks of training because of my Disney World trip and preparing for my Disney World trip. I was supposed to run 7 miles the Saturday after I returned from my trip, but after not running at all, I only managed 5 miles. The next day, I decided to try for 7 again. I made it 6 miles and immediately regretted it. Normally, after running, especially the longer runs, I feel great. Not in this case. Going from not running to running 11 miles in 2 days was too much for my body. My lower back hurt so bad immediately after the 6 mile run I began to think I had seriously injured myself and wouldn’t be able to run the race.
Luckily for me (and my bank account), my dad is an orthopedist. Driving home from the gym, I called my dad. He knows that I am the queen of complaining and whining, so he said I probably just strained my back. He advised me to take a couple of days off, take some ibuprofen and do some core and back strengthening in the mean time. The next night, I was complaining to my boyfriend because my back was still really hurting, despite following my dad’s instructions. It even hurt to walk. He also gets sick of my complaining, so he suggested I call his dad, who is a physical therapist (double win for my bank account). His dad walked me through some stretches over the phone and then suggested icing my back. Since I never really got injured growing up, I was pretty unfamiliar with icing body parts and the idea of it wasn’t so appealing. Nevertheless, I did the stretches and then laid on an ice pack and it was actually wonderful! I continued doing the stretches throughout the week and then decided I should ease back into my training.
That Wednesday, after taking 2 days off, I decided to give running another go. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and felt fine. I was still having minor back pain but it was mostly gone — nothing like before. I went ahead and took Thursday (and accidentally Friday) off. Saturday I ran 5 miles without any trouble.
The following Monday, I ran 8 miles. I had been nervous about this run because it was my first outdoor run by myself, not to mention the fact that the furthest I had run thus far was only 6 and it had been a while. Yes, I had been running on the treadmill at the gym prior to this. This was partially because it had been cold and getting dark early, but partially because I didn’t have anyone to go with and the idea of running outdoors alone freaked me out. I thought if I didn’t have the treadmill or a buddy to keep me going, that I couldn’t do it. As I’ve mentioned before, running is completely a mental thing. The only reason you can’t do it is because you don’t think you can.
Well, I’ll be honest. This 8 mile run was pretty hard. The first couple of miles were the worst. I kept thinking I wouldn’t be able to run the half, and that I should just quit and pay my dad back for the registration fee. About 2 miles in, I had to stop to wait for a light to turn so that I could cross the street. It was then that I told myself, ‘you know what, you can do this!’ I thought of the 5K I ran on Thanksgiving and how so many people, both much older and much younger than me, do it. I thought of all of my friends that would say ‘told you so’ if I quit. This was the perfect motivation. Instead of all of those negative thoughts. I started focusing on where I was going and how beautiful the area was on that sunny evening. I didn’t stop again until I had completed the 8 miles. It was the best feeling in the world! I had finally experienced the runner’s high! I know people hate when other people post about working out or fitness on social media all the time, but I just felt so great and was so proud of myself that I wanted to share it with others, so I tweeted about it. Sorry everyone, I guess that makes me that girl. Oh well!
It was that 8 mile run, when I knew I could run the half. I also realized that I really love running. I had been toying with the idea of other races in the future, but kept thinking I’d have to wait and see how my first half went. This run was pretty much the deciding factor for me. My first half most likely won’t be my last. This run also opened my eyes to how much better running outside is than on a treadmill.
That week I was able to catch up to where I should have been in my training. That Saturday, which was this past weekend, I ran 9 miles. The best part about it was that I felt like I could’ve kept going. The 3 mile recovery run I did Sunday was honestly harder than the 9 miles on Saturday (mostly because my legs were sore).
So this is where I am now: back on schedule in my 8th week. I’m actually starting to get excited for the half. I just really hope it isn’t freezing or rainy… I’m a wuss when it comes to the elements.
I almost forgot, I have a couple of tips to share for fellow runners training for a half! My older sister, Megan, who has done a million races (okay, I’m elaborating, but she has done a bunch), told me that I needed to start thinking about what kind of energy/food thing I was going to use during the race. This had not even crossed my mind. She said that I need to try some out while I’m training so I find one I like and can use it for the race. I had heard of the goos and nothing about them sounded appealing to me — especially the texture. Yuck! Megan told me her favorite are Shot Bloks, which are made by the Cliff Bar company. I found them at Target and bought a pack. One pack has 6 bloks and Megan said to eat 3 about 40-45 minutes into a long run. The first run I tried this on was the 8 mile run. I bought the strawberry flavor and they were actually pretty good! They are essentially big gummies, so they’re easy to eat while you’re running. The only thing I didn’t like, which would be the same for any of these energy things I guess, was that I had to carry them with me. Megan suggested a running belt to hold them, but that’s basically a glorified fanny pack, which I’m not crazy about. I used the second half of my pack of Shot Bloks on the 9 mile run and decided that they are what I will use on race day. I still haven’t resolved the issue of carrying them, but I still have a little time to figure that out…
My other tip came from my friend Claire. She has completed a half marathon and prior to that, to my knowledge, hadn’t been a big runner, so I really valued what she had to say since I’m in a similar position. Now that I’m thinking about it, she may have done cross country in high school, but I don’t really remember her running much in college. Anyway, Claire said no matter what you do, or how slow you have to go, don’t stop running. She said when you start walking, it is so much harder to run again. I think this is true, just from my long runs. I’m not a fast runner by any means, in fact sometimes I feel like I’m barely moving. Every time I feel like stopping I just think of Claire telling me to keep going. It really does make it easier! When I say I’m slow that is no exaggeration. I run a pretty consistent 10-minute mile. In the future I hope to get faster, but for my first half, I just hope to run the whole thing without stopping.
That’s all for now! I’m sure I’ll post again soon with another update since the race is coming up so quickly!
warmest wishes, J 