12 miles tomorrow
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Anonymous
This is all good advice. Thank you. I will try the timing of my gummies like you suggested on my run tomorrow. I also like the idea of splitting up the race with 3 miles of running, and 1 min walking. My legs were getting get tired towards the end. One question: When I ran last weekend, I noticed I had a hard time breathing at the 10 mile mark. It was challenging trying to get a good deep breathe. Is that normal? |
Anonymous
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Is this the 1st or 2nd time you have completed 10 miles? If so, it's normal.
If you do 11 or 12 miles for your next long run, you might find you get through 10 miles ok, but struggle with the last mile or 2. Once you get to a point where 10 miles is your "base", and you are running it regularly over several months, breathing should start to get easier. We could talk the entire 10 miles (or 13 or 18 etc) without gasping. I noticed when I returned from a vacation where I hadn't been able to run, I wasn't able to talk while running for several weeks. Also, make sure you are doing 2 or 3 shorter runs during the week, along with a day or 2 of strength training. If you get busy and cut these short, it will affect your breathing and muscle strength on the weekend long run. We used to joke that we knew we were "real runners" when our reaction to a 10 mile run in the schedule, was "oh good - it's a short run"! |
Anonymous
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Also, regarding running the full mileage in training - many (most?) groups take you 10 miles in training for a half and 20 miles for a full. I guess the reasoning is on race day, you will have the mental excitement to carry you through the final miles. And you don't risk injuring yourself on that last "unneeded" long run prior to the race.
However, my training group is very well known in the running world (they host and provide pace runners for all Disney races and many years Kenyan Olympians joined us for training). They had us run 26 or 27 training miles for the full and 13 for the half. Their theory was you come into the race with full confidence that you can complete the distance and you can test out all clothing, fuel, etc and know your plan for race day will work for you. I moved away 7 years ago, so not sure what their current practices are. I would be fairly comfortable stopping at 10 for a half, as the increase of 3 miles is probably close to what you would have increased in a training run. But just as I mentioned how the first time you hit 10 miles can be a struggle that last mile, I would hate to have just barely finished 10 miles once and then try for 13 a few weeks later. At least run 10 miles several weekend before the half, so it's not a "new" distance to your body. As for the full, I think it is just cruel for training groups to take runners up to 20miles in training and make them think this is adequate for the full 26. Yes, most will complete the full, the the last 6 miles can be agony (known as "hitting the wall"). They should at least take them up to 23. There is a saying in full marathons that the first half of the race is 20 miles and the second half is 6 miles. But because I had run 25+, miles (I cut out just short of 26.2 to make race day my 1st official marathon) it was exhausting but not agony. I decided to be a "one and done" marathoner, mainly because my kids were young and the weekend runs were taking me away from home duty for too many hours when combined with the long nap I needed after running! I ran the next 14 years in the half group, which is a very pleasant distance. On race day, don't let the crowd excitement have you running the first miles faster than you trained for. This will bite you 8 miles later. Know your planned pace and adjust as you hit each mile marker. All those dashers will eventually slow down to their trained ability and in the last few miles, you will pass by some of them, as you run exactly at the pace you planned. With good training and a good pace for your body and ability, the last mile "should" be able to be run faster than the early miles. Not saying I did that (as trained pace setters, we ran very consistently mile after mile). But if you are reallly slowing down for your last mile after you have run that distance many times, you probably should slow up a bit in the early miles. If it's the first 3 times for that distance, yep you are going to run the last mile slower! I loved doing 3&1's. When I ran alone and didn't wear a watch, it worked out to just run until I was a bit winded, then walk quickly till I was breathing easy, then start running again. Very close to 3 min run, 1 min walk. We converted SO many runners during big races who were running at our pace (you start grouping by mile 5) but noticed we got to take walk breaks while they had to run the entire time. And like I said when my pace group started doing run/walk intervals, our overall pace improved. My club had 500+ runners and I don't think the elite runners did intervals, but those of us in the slower paces did 3&1 intervals and most new runners quickly became converts. |
Anonymous
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Some amazing advice on here. Thank you. Yes, this is all new to me. I am a first time half marathon runner.
Today, I ran 18km, and split up my run into 5km segments with 1 min of walking at each 5 km as suggested. I also tried some gels with a bit of caffeine, which helped. I managed to keep my pace the whole time, and shaved off quite a bit of time from last weekend. The viewed my walks and gels ad treats along the run, and I looked forward to them. Next week, I will do the same run but will add a third gel for the last 3 km, therefore a full half-marathon distance. I was told the Roctane ultra endurance cold brew coffee is good for the last push.  Each weekend is building my confidence.
I am actually enjoying these longer runs and am started to feel the endorphins. I ran without music and listened to the spring birds and water on the creek. It was enjoyable! |
Anonymous
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Congrats on a great training run! Sounds like you have a good plan for the half.
Just keep doing what you've been doing and don't try anything new on race day. |
Anonymous
| OP here. I ran my first half marathon today and it was so much fun. I might have to do it again. Now I have a baseline: 2 hours and 8 mins. I am 51! |
Anonymous
| I always found that first long run near race distance was a great "shakedown" for the real thing. You try the clothes you want to race in, you work through your nutrition and liquid intake. See what chafing happens etc. The first time at that distance was always difficult for me, but the second time (or race day) my body was ready. I usually did the full 13.1 2 weeks out because I needed to the confidence I could handle it. And as others have said - it's not about the time it takes you to run it - its about figuring things out and getting your body ready to handle that amount of running. |
Anonymous
Congrats, OP! Great work! |
Anonymous
Sick! I’m one of the posters you chatted with up thread. So glad you made it through, had fun, and showed up without injury. You should definitely do it again. Also these halfs are super easy to find all over the world. And you can just show up with your gear and run (and can usually even buy your nutrition there at the expo at bib pickup if you don’t want to check a bag with that stuff). 🚀 |
Anonymous
Thank you very much for all of the advice, and I appreciate the other posters who posted as well. Great idea to plan trips around races. I think I might be hooked! |
Anonymous
Endurance sports are a lot of fun. And it gives you something to work on all the time. I saw one of those TikTok style videos with lance Armstrong recently. Not the most popular guy I know. Anyhow, he was in a parking lot pushing cars around with some guy training for the mile record pushing a 2 ton car or some shit. He said “people ask me what I’m training for, and I tell them dumb shit like this.” What a time to be alive! |
Anonymous
Congrats, op! |
Anonymous
OP here. Training for dumb shit is fun! Sometimes I wonder why I am running with a sandbag around my neck, pulling a frigging heavy sled, or lifting Atlas balls for the “strong man” workouts as part of CrossFit. It’s fun! Yes, what a time to be alive and active! |