Half Marathon Tips

Let’s start with the most important thing that’s happening these days: the girls are three months old!

They’ve become super interested in everything around them, focusing on images and our faces, each other, and their giggles are the absolute cutest. It’s also really convenient that they have each other when I pop them on their play gym (bonus of having twins I suppose)! Both have officially doubled their weight and are growing out of clothes like crazy. I can’t wait to see how much they change and grow over the next few months. I also have one more month of maternity leave, so soaking it in the best I can.

Since racing season is upon us (and races are back!), I thought I’d put together some tips for running a half marathon. I’m BY NO MEANS an expert, so keep that in mind and am just sharing things that I’ve learned in the past (and drawing from many mistakes that I’ve made along the way):

Start slower than your ‘goal pace’. Maybe even a minute per mile slower than what you anticipate running the race at. Everyone goes faster at the beginning of races, so you’ll probably just be running your actual goal race pace if you start in a slower corral (if possible).

Have a few mantras and songs on your playlist that get you fired up. When the going gets tough (which it most likely will- normally miles 8 & 11 are the toughest for me), I like to draw upon positive mantras or pop a song on my playlist that makes me feel totally bada**. Macklemore or Eminem and my mantra of ‘attitude of gratitude’ normally do it for me.

Don’t forget to smile. Smiling relaxes your body and brings you happy endorphins. There’s nothing worse than doing something that you’re not enjoying. Try to enjoy the experience- even if it really is just a ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ sort of situation.

Do your training runs, but know it’s ok if bumps in the road happen. Be gentle on yourself if you have to skip a few runs, but stick to your training plan otherwise. Know that training runs build on each other, so skipping one isn’t a huge deal, but skipping several generally will lead to less-than-ideal situation. Also know that if your goal is to just finish and you’ve done 80-90% of your training runs, you’ll do great.

Don’t do anything new on race day. Yes, that includes new shoes, clothes, nutrition- any of these things can really hinder your race. Take it from someone who wore a sports bra that she hadn’t trained in before and finished the race with a terrible chafe that made showering in hot water nearly impossible.

Have fun and remember your WHY- Why’d you sign up for the race to begin with? Draw back on those initial feelings when it gets hard. Enjoy yourself and imagine how good it’s going to feel when you cross that finish line. Be your own cheerleader after each mile marker. And when it gets really tough, break down those miles into markers even smaller- maybe 1/2 mile or sometimes when it’s really challenging- I think about the next minute or tell myself to ‘just run through this song’ and then re-assess. It really is almost all mental when it comes to race day. It will go by so fast, so enjoying it and soaking in the experience really is the most important part.

-What tips do you have for someone running their first half marathon?

Las Vegas Half Marathon Training RECAP

Happy Thursday! Hopefully I’ve made it to the Grand Canyon by now (I flew into Vegas yesterday and pre-wrote today & tomorrow’s posts so I could be 100% enjoying our trip) with my Mom & Grandmother. We spent the night in the Grand Canyon last night and are driving back to Las Vegas this afternoon. Expo for the race is TOMORROW! YAY! Let’s recap my 16-week training cycle shall we?

  • I ran 627.89 miles this training cycle.

  • I climbed 30, 764’ in elevation!

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  • I paced a 100-miler for 19.41 miles through the middle of the night on the trails here in Steamboat at the Run Rabbit Run

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  • I peaked at 46.68 miles in Week # 16

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  • I switched from the marathon to the half marathon after week #5, where I started feeling burnt-out from marathon training and wanted a new goal

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  • I started out running 3/4 mile repeats at my Half Marathon goal pace (7:42-7:47) on August 28th with splits of: 7:47/ 7:47/ 7:41/ 7:41/ 7:35/ 7:30. I completed my last speed workout with 1 mile at Half Marathon goal pace (7:34), 3 x 1 mile at 10K goal pace (7:22) splits were: 7:14, 7:17, 7:19, 2 x 1/2 mile at 5K goal pace (7:04) splits were: 6:55, 7:11

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  • I ran a Half Marathon PR during a workout and placed 3rd in my Age Group (first time ever doing this!!)

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  • I ran early in the mornings, in between teaching skating, after work, in the heat, in the rain, overnight.

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While it wasn’t the perfect training cycle, I feel like I definitely gained some speed and am excited to test my fitness on Sunday! BRING. IT . ON.

Las Vegas HALF Marathon RUNdown Week 16: 10/29-11/4

Last week was probably one of my worst training weeks ever. Just putting it out there. I know part of it was because I was sick and part of it was because I was tapering, but man oh man did every single run feel just TERRIBLE. My schedule called for 5 runs instead of 6 (which I did) and I did not get in my surges, I cut-out my last 2 x 3/4 mile repeats at 5k pace in my speedwork (because running fast while sick is just really not fun), and reduced down one run by 1.5 miles. Overall, I’m proud that I took the sick days and really slowed down on my easy runs to keep my heartrate low (since I was sick - my heart was already working overtime), but I would be lying if I said that it didn’t mess with my head a bit and have me readjusting my goals COMPLETELY. I’m still playing it day-by-day so I don’t want to make any rash decisions and I do still really want to mentally push hard in my race, but if it’s not there- I’ve got to be OK with that. More on my goals for this race coming on Friday!

Monday, 10/29: REST DAY / 60 minute Jumpboard Pilates class at lunch

Tuesday, 10/30: 5.54 miles easy 10:50 135’ up

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Wednesday, 10/31: REST DAY

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Thursday, 11/1: 2.51 miles at 10:09 19’ up, taught skating, then 4.5 miles at 10:33 47’ up

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Friday, 11/2: 1.1 mile warm-up @ 10:03 21’ up / 3 x 1 mile at 10k pace (splits: 7:22 - good/ 7:41 (pretty bad)/ 7:44 (really bad) + 2 x 3/4 mile at 5k pace (skipped- I just felt like my speed was not there)) / 3.0 mile cool down (accounted for the skipped 2 x 3/4 mile repeats and instead did some easy miles) at 10:39 39’ up

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Saturday, 11/3: 3.5 miles easy @ 11:15 on the treadmill because it was an icy/snowy/ windy mix outside + 30 minutes of strength (and 30s Plank for another day down in the #Planksgiving challenge!)

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Sunday, 11/4: 9.38 miles easy on the trails @ 11:56 685’ up —> basically ran this in a blizzard on the muddest/ wettest trails. not so fun and it was definitely below 30* out. SO CHILLY. Probably my slowest long run for several years. I didn’t take a photo so here’s me before my run cuddling with Brady (also I kinda wanted to be here during my run too ha)

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Elevation gain: 966’

Mileage: 32.53 miles

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Shaken confidence in the taper- how do you deal with it?!?

What’s the weather like where you are?

Channeling that Nervousness Into Power

Happy Tuesday! The roads were STILL a complete mess this morning from Sunday’s snowstorm, but I managed to still get out for some speed work (which I didn’t realize that the roads had patches of black ice sooo that was FUN). I hit one of my 6 target paces, but I never gave up on myself and I continued to fight when things got really though so I’d say it was a WIN.

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So I’ve been starting to feel a bit all over the place the past day or so (it’s a lot of work to take care of all the furry ones with Alex gone for a work trip until tomorrow) and wanted to share my thoughts here because I’m pretty sure I’m not alone (and if I am…well it’s still out there)! “Twitchy bitchy” is what one of my running instructors at the Pilates studio tells me I should be and that is one of the best ways I can describe my feelings right now (plus a bit scatter-brained).

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Here are a few tips and tricks that help me harness all these bugs buzzing about in my head:

  • Looking over & reviewing my training schedule. What you’ve done in the past is a great confidence booster

  • Reminding myself that I am definitely in the BEST shape I’ve ever been in. Also that I WILL PR on Sunday. I’m not sure by how much, but I am going to get a new PR.

  • Making lists. Lists of things to do, things to pack, reminding myself to breath. It all helps me realize that it can be done by just working down the list.

  • Meditating. This is so key for me when things get crazy - it helps ground me and also make me realize how small these things that I’m obsessing over really are in the grand scheme of things.

  • Journaling. I love to write down my thoughts- sometimes they flow out really quickly and others it’s just a few bullet points.

  • Rather than worrying, reminding myself what I have to LOOK FORWARD TO! That post-race feeling, in the race the lights/ energy/ meeting new runners, the fantastic food, etc.

Here’s a photo of Stella thinking about her post-race food treat (she’s actually staying home in Steamboat, but really any particle of human food gets her excited):

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What are some things that you do when you start to feel scatter-brained and a bit “all over the place”?