This half marathon cycle has flown by. I started the week of November 13th and my race is on March 17th. So from the start of the build to race day it has been 18 weeks of training. That is honestly crazy to think about. Currently I have put in 12 weeks of training. Like I said above, it has flown by. I only had one week off between my 5k in November and the start of this half marathon block. The first month of the build was rough as I was dealing with stomach issues and personal things going on in my life. My second month through the holidays I was consistent, but things really started to pick up in January.
January was a pretty good month. I feel like January was the section of the build where you are putting in the work and aren’t seeing the results of the work just yet. January highlights were I ran eight miles for the first time twice, I PR’d my 10k in training without trying, I started training with my strength coach biweekly instead of monthly, I started incorporating gels into my long runs, and my body for the most part handled the increase in volume and intensity surprisingly well. The challenges January brought me were a lot of body image issues, interrupted sleep more frequently than usual, and some self doubt after a few of my runs.
Huge takeaways from this build so far are running my easy runs truly easy. Not basing them off pace or even heart rate but on effort. It definitely is a skill and has taken me time to figure out what easy is for me. But what has helped me is not looking at my watch because when I do I get defeated in the moment if I look at my pace, not listening to music because music can easily get me pumped up and have me start running faster without me noticing, and listening to my body both during the run and throughout the week. During the run I am making sure I can sing or speak in full sentences, I check in with my breathing making sure I am breathing only through my nose, and then also a full body check in analyzing how my body feels. After a few weeks of doing the above I have noticed my body responding better. I don’t have as much pain in my right foot and I just feel more recovered. The only two things that have changed are running my easy runs slower and I also have made sure that I am running on dirt paths for around half of my weekly mileage to help with the impact.
Going into the final four weeks before the taper I am feeling really excited to give training my best. Last week was my first nine mile run and it had half marathon pace built in it. The session went really well. I felt really in control of the pace and it gave me the confidence that I felt I needed to head into these final four weeks. My biggest hopes for this last month of hard training are better sleep, staying in good health both musculoskeletal and immune, and to continue to feel more fit with each week that passes. It has been so much fun training for this half marathon and sharing more of the journey through this blog and by being more active on Instagram. I am extremely grateful for the support I have received from everyone. So if you are taking the time to read this, messaged me, commented on posts or IG stories, have encouraged me in person, or have financially donated to my charity of choice, Tunnels to Towers- thank you!!! A lot of my why with my training and racing endeavors is to inspire people to commit to hard things or work towards their goals whether it’s fitness related or not. So I can’t help but thank everyone for giving me the encouragement to stay inspired and to continue to show up and work hard. Cheers to community and running!
-Shara