Completing a half Marathon is not something you can do without
some serious training. That said the training doesn't have to be that
extreme or held to an any rigid regime. There are a few main points to
follow to ensure you'll complete your first half marathon without any
injuries or needs for medical attention during your first race.
If
you can't already run 4km without stopping I wouldn't enter a half
marathon to start with. If you can, and you have at least 3 months till
the race day then it should be an easy task assuming you don't get any
injuries during training. Avoiding injuries is always the number one
priority.
Measure Your Progress
The most important motivator
in my view is to record your runs and be able to see improvements over
time as you analyse them later on graphs. The most popular
fitness/running monitors based on the upgradeyourbody fitness directory
are currently Garmin Watches, followed by iPhones with apps such as
Runkeeper. Which ever you choose, the main thing is to be able to record
your distance and average pace using GPS. There's no better motivator
than watching these measurements improve over time, and in my opinion
there's no better competitor than yourself.
Two Short Runs A Week
When
training for my first half marathon I used to run twice through the
week. These should be your shorter runs where you focus on improving
speed. A short run can be anywhere from 4km minimun to around 8km. Try
to run the same track each time so you can compare times and pace and
make your goal to improve the overall pace. Running for at least 30
minutes should be the aim and it can be increased to anywhere up to an
hour as the half marathon day approaches. Be careful though not to make
your short runs so long where you'll become reluctant to do them at all.
If you find yourself thinking it's too hard to go for a run consider
shortening it or making it easier by making your front door the start
and finish line.
One Long Run A Week
On the weekend pick
either day, depending on other schedules. Keeping it flexible will keep
you happy. This run should be an endurance run. The goal here is to run
as far as you can without doing injury, or wearing yourself out so much
that you can't perform your two weekly runs. For me I started my long
weekend run at 8km and increased it by around 10% each week. The goal
should be to get up to around 2 hours worth of running for your long
run. Any longer than 2hrs and you'll find the recovery time is too long
and painful. So the main point here is to remember it's not about pace
its about endurance. Take it easy and most of all don't get injured. If
you can work up to running for two hours, no matter the pace you can do a
half marathon.
Supplements For Half Marathons
You'll soon
notice during your long run each weekend that running after one hour
becomes incredibly grueling. After the body has used up its readily
available reserves of easy to burn carbohydrates, burning other sources
of fuel is much harder. Your legs become tired, heavy and the psychology
tells you to stop and walk or give up. At this stage it's greatly
beneficial to consume any of the energy gels that are readily available
on the market.
Energy gels usually come in plastic tubes which
contain about 100 calories and some come with optional caffeine.
Caffeine is more psychological, as its known to the professionals to aid
in covering pain during extreme exercise and increase endurance. For
me, around 10 minutes after consuming these 100 calories you feel your
legs come back to life and the energy boost usually lasts for around 20
minutes. Everyone is different so experimentation with brands and
frequency of use during your long runs will help you understand what to
consume during your actual race.
Psychology Of Running A Half Marathon
The
average time for a beginner to complete a half marathon will typically
be 1:45 to 2:30 depending on age and fitness level. Running continuously
for this length of time is not natural and you'll fight a constant
battle to not stop and walk. That urge that keeps a successful runner
going through the pain all comes down to psychology.
If you need
to stop and walk, it's always OK, as long as you intend to get going
again once recovered. The main thing is to keep focused that you'll keep
going as fast as you can. Beating previous personal record paces or
distance records always provides a great sense of achievement that keeps
long distance runners satisfied and motivated.
Having said that
if you ever feel sick or unwell during a training event it's important
to stop and recover properly so you can resume training with the least
downtime.
Two Weeks Before The Half Marathon
Now is the time
to begin your training wind down. Nearly all half marathons are held on
weekends so make your last long weekend run two weeks before the event.
It takes two full weeks for the body to recover from a half marathon
which is the reason this will be the last long training run. Be careful
again to take it easy and focus only on running for 2 hours. As a
beginner you should be able to now run at least 17kms in two hours,
meaning you will probably run your half marathon in 2:30.
For your
weekly shorter runs which are normally go as fast as you can, it's time
to introduce tempo runs. Tempo runs are where you warm up for about 10
minutes, then run flat out giving it all you've got for 30 seconds, then
run slow for a 1:30 or so to recover and do it again. This is repeated
until the end of the run. I found the Runkeeper App on my iPhone was the
best for programming this. After setting the intervals, it has voice
prompts that tell when to run hard and when to recover. Overall, this
technique will teach your body that it can run at a faster pace and has
been proven to have significant results.
The goal of tempo running
is to not have to stop and walk. You should feel what your body can do
and push only so hard during the fast running that you don't need to
walk during the recovery. Run as slow as you like to recover, but listen
and feel to your fitness level so that when you run hard you won't be
so exhausted that you need to walk to recover. Tempo running should
teach you to feel how hard you can run, and how to run slow enough to
recover without having to stop or walk.
On the last weekend you can actually take it off completely or go for half a long run. It's up to you.
During the last week do one more tempo run early in the week.
The
day before the run you should be feeling heavy and lazy again. This is
exactly what you want because it means your body has recovered from all
the training, your muscles are recovered, and energy reserves are
resupplied. If you're feeling keen you can do a quick 10 minute warm up
just to get those legs moving again but don't over do it. You'll now be
fully trained and recovered, ready at peak performance for race day.
The Night Before Your Half Marathon
Carb
loading the night before a half marathon is key because carbs are the
preferred fuel to burn during running. Eating processed carbs like white
pasta will burn faster, but since it was the night before and still
twelve until the race, I decided to eat wholemeal pasta with a little
mince. 60% carbs, 30% meat and the rest as vegies should be fine. Home
made spaghetti bolognese was my choice in the end. Obviously avoid
alcohol at all costs and drink plenty of fluids all day.
Morning Of The Half Marathon
Eat
a light breakfast based on white carbs. White toast with you're
favorite spread or a banana but just enough to stop the hunger. You can
also choose to have a good strong coffee as the caffeine will stay in
your system for 6 hours and increase endurance. Pack your energy gels
and head off to the event.
All the training and preparation above
will ensure you finish comfortably and achieve your goal of completing
your first half marathon!
