DIY Fitness

How I trained for my first half marathon

I've been running seriously for about two years now. I've participated in the SunRun training program twice, this time around aiming for a faster time. The training worked, and my 10 km time was 53.38 minutes. Not too shabby for these little legs of mine. Since I was beginning to actually like running, I started thinking about pushing myself further and training for a half marathon.

For awhile, it was just talk. When anyone would ask me about my running, I would throw it out there that maybe one day I'd like to run a half marathon. I always thought I'd want to participate in a full training program for my first one, and kept coming up with excuses to myself about why I had to wait, perhaps a whole year. 

At the beginning of June, I overheard a coworker talking about a half marathon his sister was participating in. The run was the SeaWheeze half marathon put on by Lululemon. Being a fan of the clothing brand, I decided, this is it, this is going to be my first. In two minutes I had paid my registration, and was signed up to run 21.1 km. 

At that point, I had never run more than 10 km, so it was definitely going to be a challenge. I think that group training sessions for runs are very beneficial, and have seen it for myself with the SunRun, but for this one, I decided to go it alone. 

With just over two months to prepare, I didn't have a lot of time, so every day counted. I decided that I would do three 5-10 km runs during the week, depending on how much time I had (I like to wake up around 5-5:30 am and run before work). Then, on either Saturday or Sunday, I would do a long run. 

The amazing shoes I bought before my training.

I started with 12 km, then 15, then 17, all the way up to 24 km. Running that far was a bit unintentional as I didn't realize the lake trail I was running was longer than 20 km, and I ran it twice. Two weeks before the run, I knew I could do it! I did one last long run the Sunday before, and took the week off so as not to be sore and hurt myself. 

The day of the half marathon, I was so excited. I knew I was ready, and was just bursting with energy. As soon as I crossed the start line, I was off like a rocket, iPod on, headphones in, feeling good. 

I have to say, Lululemon put on a great event. Along the way there were people rappelling down the side of buildings, people dressed as mermaids along the Seawall, people dressed up on standup paddle boards, and so much more. There were also some amazing signs being held by volunteers. Some that come to mind are: "It smells like baking because you're a stud muffin"; "you've got the eye of the tiger and legs of Gisele"; and "your legs are sore from kicking so much butt!". 

It was all good until about the 15 km mark. At that point I started to feel some pain in my hips, forcing me to slow down a bit. But I kept on running. I just kept thinking to myself "one foot in front of the other."

I'm smiling, so it can't have been that bad!

I finished with a time of 2:11.17. I'm pretty proud of that time because, regardless of the pain, and the voices in my head telling me to stop, I pressed on and ran the whole way. 

Maybe next time I will partake in a group training program, but from this experience, I know that it can be done alone. Break it into small steps, and it becomes manageable. All it takes is perseverance and dedication. Believe me, if I can do it, you can do it.