Training for a Half Marathon (when you haven't been running): Tips and Advice
Happy Friday and Happy 1 month away from the BMW Dallas Marathon!
I woke up this morning and that is the first thing that popped into my mind. I’m excited, getting nervous and wondering how I will feel that day of the marathon. I started training for this half marathon mid-August. It’s been an experience to say the least! Read more about the annual BMW Dallas Marathon here.
Quick background: I was an active athlete my whole life while in middle school, high school, college, and grad school. Running had always been “my thing”. It’s the one thing I was really good at. However within the last few years, its been a struggle! Honestly, sometimes it was a mix of laziness, but a lot of times it was more because life priorities and responsibilities change. There has been so much that has gone on the last 2-3 years, From getting married, to buying a house, to leaving my full time job and being on my own “work-wise”. My mind obviously was not thinking “oh yea Vanessa, you need to go run too!”.
When the BMW Dallas Marathon approached me about partnering, I volunteered to run as it was not part of the partnership. This was my chance to get back into running again, and pushing myself to do so because if there is one thing i’ve learned while my time as an athlete is, you have to prepare. It’s so much true now that I am older and my body is not the same! Truth be told, I ran a half marathon almost 10 years ago, however I was in the best shape of my life. I totally feel the difference now that I literally started from scratch- From Mile 0.
So if you are reading this and thinking, “Oh well she can do this because she used to run” or "well I have never ran or worked out in my life so I can’t do this”… you CAN totally do this! When I started training for this half marathon, it felt as if I never ran in my life! Here are some tips and advice:
Research a training program
This is so important, so that you don’t start this journey blindly. The app that I used is the Nike app, which allowed me to input what I was training for and based on where I was at in running distance at that time (which I input 0), it then formulated a 17-week program. There are pros and cons with this app in that if you miss a weeks worth of a workout, it doesn’t let you go back and even if you ran 3 miles when the program tells you to run 1 mile, it doesn’t take YOUR run into consideration. I can explain more in detail in another post, but for the most part I recommend looking around to see what apps or even training programs off of Pinterest can be a good fit for you.
Build Up
When I started running, this is what my first week looked like:
Week 1
Monday: .75 miles
Tuesday: Rest Day
Wednesday: Benchmark: warm up 7 minutes slow run, run at a fast pace for 3 minutes, run back at a slow pace for the last 5 minutes.
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: Long Run: 1 mile
Sunday: Rest day
This is just an example. So start slow and build up each week is the best thing you can do to start prepping your body to run longer distances later.
Run at a comfortable pace
So having had been an athlete for many years, I remember some of my best times and pace. This was hard for me to understand that I was not there anymore. It was a mind game of how much slower I had gotten. That was until I stopped being hard on myself, and just listened to my body. Even if i was going at a slower pace than what I remember, I was STILL seeing progress. Listen to your body, run slow, finish the workouts and increase pace and distance later. You will see a difference.
Change it up
Find a workout program that incorporates speed workouts too! This is an area where I used to be good at (running track), but I can’t seem to get my form together! haha! Still, running speed workouts, for example, 6 rounds of 200 meters at a fast pace (if not a sprint), really helps in opening up the lungs! I highly recommend incorporating some speed workouts into your marathon trainings. Its good practice for the heart and gets your stronger.
Eat well and Stay hydrated
You all already know this! I wanted to include it on here to be thorough. What I have loved most about training for the half marathon, is that I drink more water. I’m not very good at drinking water, but when I’ve ran in the mornings, i’ve been able to get it out of the way. I will note though, as you start getting into your longer distances (because you will get there!), practice with eating some of the items you might during the half marathon. For instance, gel packs, or soft chews which put electrolytes and rehydrates your body when you feel fatigue. This will give you a sense of how you feel, what product works, what product may make you feel sick if you are sensitive to them, etc. These are an example of what I am talking about: GU Energy
Mind over Matter
This is the big one! When i started I felt super confident. I felt like “eh I got this, I used to run,” bla bla bla. NOPE. Again, i felt like I had never ran in my life. So then reality set in and that was a mind game. There are moments when it feels easy, and there are many other moments when its hard. Sometimes I have felt like I hadn’t made much progress as I would still feel very tired. But if you just keep pushing through, you start noticing things you could do now that you couldn’t do before you had started training. For me, even though I would feel so tired sometimes after a run, i would notice my time per mile had improved. Or I was able to run an extra .50 meters. When you train, keep in mind it won’t be easy (this is if you are starting from scratch), but what matters is that you ARE doing it.
Come race day, i have no idea how I will feel. I have no idea if my knees will hurt (i have bad knees from all those years of running, jumping-volleyball), but HOWEVER i finish the race, I WILL finish the race.
The BMW Dallas Marathon is December 15th! Wish me luck!
