Half Marathon Training Reflection

I have been inspired! Katie from Legally Fit wrote a post the other day reflecting on her half marathon training, and she inspired me to sort of do the same! We are actually running the same one!

My first half marathon is only 12 days away so I feel like I need to go back and re-evaulate my training. I wrote up a list of goals for my half marathon training when I first started, and can honestly say I didn’t follow many of them.
Fitness Goals

• Cross-train at least once a week! (Biking, anyone?) This did NOT happen. I hardly had time to do any biking (I think I went once?) and when I had a REST day, what I wanted to do was REST, not go to the gym and get on a stationary bike. Oh well.
• Incorporate strength training into workouts (doing a couple of circuits of No More Trouble Zones a few times a week) I can probably count on one hand the number of times I popped in that video. Although I tried really hard to do some pushups after some of my shorter runs, but that didn’t happen often. Fail.
• Stretch (I really need to work on stretching more before & after running, especially now because of my hip) Again, I don’t usually stretch before my runs, but mostly after. Even then, I really lacked on stretching too. Mostly just out of laziness. (can I call myself lazy after running 10 miles? I’m not sure.) Thankfully I haven’t been having much trouble with my hip. It gets sore on ocassion, but nothing the foam roller won’t cure!
• Practice Yoga (I feel I will go insane if I don’t do yoga at least one-two times a week) This, also didn’t happen as much as I wanted it to. Again, I feel like I have zero time during the week on the days when I’m not running…lately I would much rather be baking, knitting, or in my bed watching TV. Another fail.

In reality, I know these aren’t really failures…I just decided to do other things with my time. My training has been going extremely well and I’ve hardly had any bad runs. I feel like this is a success rather than a failure. Although, I guess I will never know if my runs would have been stronger if I had, say, incorporated more strength training into my routine. Maybe next time!
Things I’ve learned from half marathon training

• Its not much different than training for a 15K, your long runs will just get longer
• When you want or have a social life on the weekend, scheduling in long runs can be a pain in the neck, although worth it in the end
• Running four or more miles after work is never going to be a pleasant experience
• The fall is my favorite time to run outside, so training for half marathon that is in October is ideal
• Clif Shot Gels/Bloks work wonders
• Running 10 miles does not give you an excuse to eat everything and anything in sight
• Running 10 miles does give you an excuse to believe you are capable of doing pretty much anything

I’ve also discovered that I’m getting faster, naturally. All of my long runs have been faster than while I was training for the 15K. I still can’t believe I ran 10 miles at a 10:15/mi pace. My goal first for the half marathon was to just finish, but since I’ve been training I’ve realized that I’m clearly going to finish, but that I may even be able to finish under 2:25. Maybe? I guess I won’t know until race day!

So, what comes next? Chris had been talking about running his first marathon soon. He ran his first half in 2009, in Pittsburgh, and had been throwing around the idea of signing up for the full. Well, he did it! In May of 2011, Chris will be running his first full marathon!! And, he asked me to join him. What did I say?

I said no. Because I know I won’t be ready to run a full marathon by then. Heck, I haven’t even run my first half yet. But part of me knows I could do it if I tried and wants to run my first full marathon with him. But the other part doesn’t want to yet. I want to enjoy the 13.1 distance a while first. Its still going to be a challenge for me. So, I signed up for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon! While Chris is running his first full, I will be there with him running the half! And I can’t wait. Woohoo!