I personally thought she was crazy at first (So did Nathan!), but at the same time I thought it would be a really cool accomplishment if we really did it. Though I slightly dreaded my decision, I told Karly I would totally train for and do a half marathon with her.
With this new goal in mind I decided I should probably start running again... The winter time is so hard for me to be motivated to run, especially on a treadmill. But if we were going to be running over 13 miles I needed to get my butt back in gear.
January- The mile or two on the treadmill were hard, but I got some in every now and again.
Total Miles: 12.8 Average Pace: 11 min 55 sec
February- I decided I wasn't the biggest fan of running and didn't really do it... at all....
Total Miles: 4.62 Average Pace: 11 min 07 sec
March- Got better. Near the middle to end of March we found a schedule and decided to try and stick to it. Even when we were on vacation!
Total Miles: 25.6 Average Pace: 11 min 03 sec
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| You can find Half Marathon Training Schedules all over Pinterest! |
Total Miles: 42.1 Average Pace: 10 min 57 sec
May- I've never ran so much in my life! I knew a half marathon was something attainable!
Total Miles: 57.1 Average Pace: 10 min 43 sec
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| We were the only 4 that ran the 10k for this race! |
Total Miles: 56.2 Average Pace: 10 min 43 sec
June 21- I COMPLETED A HALF MARATHON! And ran the whole time too!
It was such a cool experience to see my body improve with both strength and endurance these past six months. I might not be the fastest runner, but I'm running! I'm really glad Karly had the crazy idea to get me to run with her.
10 Things I've learned from my Half Marathon Training:
- It is possible to get some sort of physical activity in each day. Even if it has to be quick, it's better than nothing.
- By training and sticking to a schedule you will see results! This is probably my very favorite thing about training... Seeing the results each week of how I was able to run for a longer time and farther distances!
- If you miss a day, don't let it get you down, make sure you get a workout in the next day and maybe push a little harder to make up for the day before.
- It is possible to wake up earlier in the morning to get a workout in... I am not a morning person, but it was always nice to get my workouts done with and out of the way.
- Proper equipment makes all the difference. Once I got legit/comfortable running shoes that fit, and some comfy work out clothes my body thanked me. Especially my feet! Plus I felt cute while working out so I was more excited to do it.
- Eating well and drinking lots of water is key! Every time I ate kind of crappy I could feel it affect my run the next day. (I decided not to drink pop while I was training and it feels good. I might have a sip here or there, but I think I'm giving up the soda pop for good!)
- Stretching out after a run is important! If I did good stretches and a cool down after my runs I wasn't nearly as sore as when I would forget to.
- Listen to your body. My left knee started acting funny, so we bought me a simple brace to give it some compression. At first I thought it was dumb and didn't want to wear it. (They aren't very fashionable... haha) But my knee sure did thank me for wearing it and I know it helped prevent an injury that could have kept me from racing my half.
- Switch things up. I'd try and get on exercise kicks, but they never lasted long because they got boring. Do different types of exercise to work different areas of your body and liven things up. (Bike, Run in new areas/terrain, Yoga, Pilates, Zumba, Weights, anything and everything!)
- Running can be fun and enjoyable! Especially if you have an awesome running partner like I do!
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| We tried to find matching outfits for our half... We gave up! haha |
You're pretty much my hero
ReplyDeleteThat wS the funniest ever!!!!
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