I ran in my first Half Marathon this past weekend. 13.1. miles and I thought I did all right. The course was pretty flat, with the exception of one LONG hill near the halfway point.
My finishing time was 2 hours 7 minutes. I had initially hoped I could break 2 hours, but realized early on that missing the week and a half of training wasn't going to allow that to happen.
I still feel good about my time and am happy with the pace I kept. My knees didn't give me too much trouble, but my legs definitely got tired. By mile 9 I was struggling a bit. As I was struggling to put one foot in front of the other, I couldn't help but think, "how the heck am I going to run twice this distance?"
26.2 miles; with just one freaking month left in my training. I couldn't help but think, maybe these 13.1 should have been easier. But, they weren't terrible. I was able to push it at the end through the finish line and I felt fine afterward, other than just feeling totally exhausted. Nothing really hurt too bad.
I am going to commit to sticking with it til the end of training; stretching, foam rolling, icing, running and strength training at least twice a week. I am going to try and get to bed earlier and drink tons of water and little alcohol.
I am going to try and stay better organized in my day to day. Life has gotten so crazy lately and things like cooking at home, grocery shopping and overall house tasks have kind of gone out the window. When this happens I feel so anxious. I can't relax and then I end up staying up later, ordering take-out, zoning out on the computer... all the things I want to be doing less of.
There are so many things I cannot control in my life. I can't control the craziness of my husband's schedule. I can't control the mood of my children each day. I can't control the amount of homework the kids have or the scheduled time of their sports practice and games.
But I can control my outlook, I can control what time I go to bed (most of the time). I can control how much water I drink and I can control the amount of screen time I allow myself. I can control whether or not I get out and run, whether or not I strength train or stretch; because there is always time. Even when life feels overwhelming, I can still find the time.
I just have to chose to use it in a way that will make me feel better; a way that will get me closer to my goal of running a marathon.
When I started this training thing, I thought I could try and run this thing in 4 hours. Now, having a bit more experience and perspective, I am aiming for 4:30, and to run the entire thing; no walking. This would require me to keep about a 10 minute pace which I think is doable. While I definitely felt my legs getting heavy and tired at the end of 13.1, they weren't done. I think I will be able to push through, however slow.
But..... I'm still kind of scared. This is going to be really, really hard. I always knew it would be, but now that I have some perspective, I see just how hard this will really be. It is going to be an insane battle of the mind and will.
Here's hoping I have enough willpower to get me through.
Also, seeing these faces around mile 13 was a definite booster.
My finishing time was 2 hours 7 minutes. I had initially hoped I could break 2 hours, but realized early on that missing the week and a half of training wasn't going to allow that to happen.
I still feel good about my time and am happy with the pace I kept. My knees didn't give me too much trouble, but my legs definitely got tired. By mile 9 I was struggling a bit. As I was struggling to put one foot in front of the other, I couldn't help but think, "how the heck am I going to run twice this distance?"
26.2 miles; with just one freaking month left in my training. I couldn't help but think, maybe these 13.1 should have been easier. But, they weren't terrible. I was able to push it at the end through the finish line and I felt fine afterward, other than just feeling totally exhausted. Nothing really hurt too bad.
I am going to commit to sticking with it til the end of training; stretching, foam rolling, icing, running and strength training at least twice a week. I am going to try and get to bed earlier and drink tons of water and little alcohol.
I am going to try and stay better organized in my day to day. Life has gotten so crazy lately and things like cooking at home, grocery shopping and overall house tasks have kind of gone out the window. When this happens I feel so anxious. I can't relax and then I end up staying up later, ordering take-out, zoning out on the computer... all the things I want to be doing less of.
There are so many things I cannot control in my life. I can't control the craziness of my husband's schedule. I can't control the mood of my children each day. I can't control the amount of homework the kids have or the scheduled time of their sports practice and games.
But I can control my outlook, I can control what time I go to bed (most of the time). I can control how much water I drink and I can control the amount of screen time I allow myself. I can control whether or not I get out and run, whether or not I strength train or stretch; because there is always time. Even when life feels overwhelming, I can still find the time.
I just have to chose to use it in a way that will make me feel better; a way that will get me closer to my goal of running a marathon.
When I started this training thing, I thought I could try and run this thing in 4 hours. Now, having a bit more experience and perspective, I am aiming for 4:30, and to run the entire thing; no walking. This would require me to keep about a 10 minute pace which I think is doable. While I definitely felt my legs getting heavy and tired at the end of 13.1, they weren't done. I think I will be able to push through, however slow.
But..... I'm still kind of scared. This is going to be really, really hard. I always knew it would be, but now that I have some perspective, I see just how hard this will really be. It is going to be an insane battle of the mind and will.
Here's hoping I have enough willpower to get me through.
Also, seeing these faces around mile 13 was a definite booster.
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