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So, I finished my half marathon on Sunday! (see original post here) It felt really good. I was healthy. The weather was fabulous. The energy was great. My time was 2 hours and 4 minutes (9:28 pace). And the results are in:
I placed 858th out of 4080 women! I am thrilled! For some reason I thought that I was more in the middle of the pack. I think I got 156/678 in my age group of 30-34.
Would I do it again? Yes, yes and yes.
Do I plan to run a full marathon? No, no and no.
I love the distance of a half at this point in my life. It was easier to fit in the training and to accomplish. I plan to run a few more and try to get that time under 2 hours. Then when the kids are a tad older and I can escape for 15-20 mile training runs then I might try for the full.
Many of you have asked me about my training so I will share with you what I did. I use the MapMyRun app to track my runs. Please keep in mind a few things. First, I am not a professional and this is my experience. You can google loads of official training regimens. I skipped a few workouts. I put the skip in there. I want to be honest. It’s hard to always stick to a plan. So, most skips should have been a cross training day. Rest days are legit. Second, I trained in 6 and a half weeks but have a running background and could easily run 5-7 miles at a time before this 6 weeks. So, gauge your body. Challenge your mind.
Basically each week consisted of 2 mid length 3-5 mile runs, 1 long run that increases by a mile per week, 2 crosstraining days to bike or lift and 2 days of rest.
Week One: off / off / 5 mile / long bike / rest / 6 miles / rest
Week Two: 3.1 miles / long bike ride / 5 miles / lift weights / rest / 7 miles / rest
Week Three: 4 miles / skip / 5 miles / lift weights / rest / 3 miles / 8 miles
Week Four: light bike ride / rest / 4 miles / lift weights / 5 miles / rest / 9 miles
Week Five: rest / skip / 3 miles / lift weights / 4 miles / rest / 11 miles
Week Six: rest / 4 miles / skip / 5 miles / lift weights / rest / 7 miles
Week Seven: rest / 3 miles / fartlek / bike ride / 4 miles / rest / Race Day
So, wherever you are at. Good luck! If you love to run then go find yourself any old race to sign up for. That is the motivation in and of itself. I know that many of you guys were training for runs too! Comment below! I want to hear about them!!
PS. I didn’t lose a pound. And no it wasn’t one of those gain muscle type things. But I did find an unexpected award. Peace and freaking quiet. Those long training runs cleared my head and kick started my soul. And my kids think that my medal is amazing and that I ‘won’ the race. Ehh, who am I to disagree. I kind of think I won too!
