Half Marathon Training
When I was in college, I got into running. It was quite a
departure from my current sport experience. I was a swimmer all through
elementary school and high school. Swimming was where I could be completely myself.
When I was under water, the whole world just faded away. Sound is muffled, and
I could explore my thoughts without interruptions. The rhythm of my breathing,
strokes and flip turns all allowed for me to turn deeper inward and focus on myself.
It wasn’t until later in high school, but really in college that I was able to
translate that peace into running. Like swimming, running has a rhythm. In
fact, that’s how my strength and conditioning coach taught my swim team to run,
with a breathing pattern. It was the link between the two sports that we could
focus on beside from the exhaustion in our legs and lungs. When I finally
learned to zone out and experience the beauty of running, I fell in love with
the sport.
Training Plan and Consistency
Now I mentioned before that I was training for a half, and I
talked about that a bit in my post about the 5k I ran (here). But here is a
full overview of what I am training for. I’m working towards a half marathon in
October. I have never run a half marathon before, and I am a little nervous.
While I was able to run 9 miles non-stop in college, it has been at least four
years since I was able to do that. We have been essentially following Hal Higdon’splan for a novice half marathon runner with a few modifications. In this plan
we run four times a week. We increase the distance of our two mid-length runs
by ½ a mile each week, and our long run increases by 1 mile each week. So far,
it has been great. Normally I struggle with shin splints, but with the slow ramp-up
we’ve done they haven’t been nearly as bad as they are normally.
Foam Rolling and Stretching to Prevent Injury
The most important thing I have done (thanks to my running
buddy for making me stick to it 😊 ) is stretching and foam rolling after each
run. Now, I have not previously been very good at this. In fact, stretching is
my least favorite thing to do. I have never been flexible, and it seems so
fruitless to me. Being an impatient person, I have not often been willing to
put in the time and work required to keep myself injury free. But this time
around, I have been stretching and rolling after each run. My running partner
and I even brought our running time up to be earlier, so that we would continue
to have time to stretch and roll before heading to work. Obviously, my shins
still hurt a little, and my muscles still ache after long runs, but I know our
dedication to injury prevention will help us later as well.
Runner’s High And Maintaining my Pace
We are currently one month into our training plan, and
Friday we ran 5 miles. I cannot remember the last time I ran five miles, and it
felt amazing. I finally achieved a runner’s high, which I haven’t been able to
yet in this training cycle, and it propelled me through the run. I kept my pace
steady in the beginning keeping between a 9:40 – 10:00 pace, and then the last
mile I was able to increase the pace to a 9:00-9:30 pace. The main reason I
have been able to get this far, is because of the consistency I have had with
my running buddy. We keep each other accountable, and that has allowed me to grow
in speed and distance. Like any training program, most are not any better than
the other, but picking a program you will stick to is the important piece that
most people miss. Now that my body has acclimated to the running schedule, I’m
going to add weightlifting back into the equation. Cross-training is so important,
and I know the extra training on my other muscles will help me in my running as
well. My goal for the next week is to run 4 days a week, and weight lift 3
days. If I can maintain that, I may bump it up to 4 days a week.
Here are my tips for starting up a half-marathon training plan:
1.
Find a Running Buddy! One that will keep you
accountable and not bail on you 😊
2.
Look on the internet to find one that you can
stick with. Obviously do your research and don’t just pick the first one you
see. (Again, I really like Hal Higdon’s training programs so far.)
3.
Ask someone who has trained and see what they
liked. The only reason I knew about Hal Higdon’s plans was because I asked my strength
and conditioning coach what program she had done.
4.
Make stretching a foam rolling a priority. It is
important to maintain your ability to keep running. You only have one body;
protect it.
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