One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to run another half marathon this year and since I’m well into week 4 (out of 11) of training, I figured it was time to share exactly what I’ve been up to. First of all – let me preface this with the following disclaimer – I am clearly not an expert runner. Nor any sort of personal trainer (again.. clearly). But as someone who had never ran more than 1 or 2 miles in her life and has now trained for/ran 2 previous half marathons I like to think I’ve gained some valuable insight. I’ll be sharing more as I go, but to begin – here are my quick tips for getting started and the schedule I’m following.
1. Determine if a Half Marathon is right for you – this one is unique to each individual, but I can tell you that if you can comfortably run for 3 miles, I truly believe you can train to run 13.1 miles. You’ve just got to find the motivation and the training plan that works for you.
2. Find a race and sign up – this sounds obvious but I never feel fully committed to the race unless I’ve registered and have a hard date I’ve got to stick to. April 18 here I come!
3. Gather your supplies – I’ve got another post coming that will highlight some of my favorite gear, but to get started you’re going to need a solid pair of sneakers and a few quality sports bras.
4. Find a training schedule – there are tons available online, but I went for one that had shorter runs during the week (when I’m short of time) and weekends that consist of 1 long run and 1 day of rest. Which leads me to my next point…
5. Carve out the time – This is probably the biggest. I already wake up too early and go to bed too late.. without adding in 16+ miles per week to my life. But I put the below schedule on my calendar and it’s non-negotiable. For 11 weeks, every Monday I’m running 2 miles and every Saturday I’ve got a long run. If you really want it, it has to be a priority.
