Half-marathon

[SoonerTexan]

FWIW, that is how the class I am doing is training us. We run together 3x a week, and there is an optional run on Saturday you are supposed to do yourself. I'm in the run walk group, so we run/walk 5 to 1 during the shorter distances during the week and 4 to 1 during the Sunday long runs. I'm in the base-building class (starts with the assumption that you can run a 5k) so right now we are doing 3 to 4 miles during the week and increasing the long runs by one mile a week (i.e. they started at 4 miles, then 5, this past Sunday was 6, etc. all the way up to 15). I think it has been pretty good for keeping me un-injured.

[MarissaNicole]

Okay I think I am going to start out by doing two 2.5 mile runs and a 3 mile run, then two 3 mile runs and a 4 mile run, and do it where I have two shorter runs about 3 or 4 miles and then increase the milage on the third run by a mile or so each week.....

[houseelf]

slow and steady increases always win the day. This will keep you running for the long haul.

Best of luck and may the motivation be with you!

[SoonerTexan]

IT'S DONE!!!! Did 4/1 run/walk with my running group until the halfway point, then hit a bit of a wall. I'm proud of how I handled it mentally though--recognized it for what it was (pace was too fast, heart rate too high), so I dropped back, walked a bit and was rewarded with a wonderful "groove"--I was able to jog at a nice pace the last 4.5 miles with very few walking breaks! No trouble from the hamstring. I finished strong and felt great!

Stats:

Time: 2:42:18
Avg. Heart Rate: 186
Max Heart Rate: 208 (I've never gotten above 200 before, so this is crazy)
Calories Burned: 2400 (This should motivate anyone thinking about running--though I did probably make a good chunk up with a nice Eggs Benedict breakfast afterwards)

It's amazing how much your mental state matters in these races. I probably could have pushed myself to stay with the group and finished faster, but having a good experience was more important to me. I'm glad I did run/walk too--it made it accessible and I was still able to surprise myself and ditch the walking later. Having a heart rate monitor helped a lot too. I wore it on all my training runs, so I could figure out when I was legitimately pushing too hard and when I was just wimping out.

Next Stop: White Rock Marathon in December! After this, I feel like I really can do it if I properly train.

[MarissaNicole]

Congrats! Awesome job!

[v-girl]

Awesome! I'm proud of you!

[Tenacious_D]

Great job!!!!

[scrub-jay]

Congrats!! I'm proud of you!

[Pollyanna]

Yay!

[L.Jane]

That's fantastic! I totally blocked that you were going to be doing the same one as a bunch of my cousins. Did you take pictures? Great job!

[SoonerTexan]

No--forgot to give DH the camera! I'm really not thrilled with how I look in pics anyway. Some were taken with my running group before and after--I'll track those down. The race also took some...no way in hell I'm paying for them, but perhaps I can take illegal screen shots, haha.

[HouseofWool]

Good for you!