Thoughts on Half Marathon Training

With this big day coming up on Sunday, I thought it would be fun to wrap training with some final thoughts on the whole experience.

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The Facts:

I’ve been caught in the comparison trap.

I’m naughty and keep comparing this year’s training process to last year’s.  I know I shouldn’t because, hey, it’s a year later and it shouldn’t matter what I did a year ago, but it’s so hard not to!

Does anyone else feel this way?

It’s especially hard when I’m running the exact same race, at the exact same time of the year, with the exact same running buddy.

At least I had a change of scenery.

The race last year went so well that I think I have everything about the experience idealized in my mind.  Which made me have very high expectations for this year.  I kept feeling like I was doing something wrong if I had a bad run or felt tired because “I didn’t feel tired last year!” or “Last year, all my runs were perfect!”  As it turns out, I did have bad runs last year, and I did feel wiped out at times. <— The nice thing about having a blog, is being able to look back at past experiences and get the facts straight.

I’m running slower this year.

I run a 19:53 minute mile.

Kidding.

Yes, I’ve been groaning every time my Garmin beeps and tells me how fast slow I’m running, but in actuality, I don’t really care.  I’m more concerned with finishing the race with a smile on my face, than setting a best new time.

Mentally, training is so much easier this year.

Okay, so maybe I had a mild freak out moment during my 11-miler, but otherwise all of my long weekend runs went great.  I just went out and did it, end of story.  I’ve felt much more confident in my running abilities 🙂

Physically, training has taken a bigger toll this year.

I don’t recall feeling sore after runs last year, whereas this year, I can definitely feel it after a long run.  My ribs feel sore??  Is that weird?  And my calves need a good stretching afterwards.  But nothing long term, which is a-okay with me.

Apart from minor soreness, the biggest thing I’ve noticed is that I’m so hungry after long runs this year.  Last year, I felt like running really turned my appetite off, but it’s been quite the opposite this year.  Every couple of hours I feel famished and to be honest it’s kind of annoying that I can’t find anything to satisfy my hunger.  Obviously, I love food, but sometimes I like to live and not be interrupted by hunger, grrr.

It’s really hard to train with someone who’s doing a full marathon.

I knew this would be tough.  I honestly don’t think I’ll ever run a full marathon.  13.1 miles is quite enough thankyouverymuch, but it’s hard to train with someone who considers your long run to be their warm-up.  And then goes about their day unphased by having just run 20 miles.  I’d be lying if I said, I haven’t had feelings of inadequacy while running with Joey, but then I remember when 1 mile was tough, and how far I’ve come since then I feel like a rockstar 🙂

The training experience isn’t always fun.

I might have been smiling then…

Um, I never want to run at 6 AM ever again.  And I never want to go on a long run, then scramble to shower and make it to work, where I stand on my feet for 8 hours.  I haven’t loved every second of training and as it gets closer and closer to race day, I get sicker and sicker of weekday 5-milers and weekend long runs followed by work.  I was so lucky to have been in school last year and been able to have the weekends off so I could have time to both run and fully recover.  I just keep telling myself all my hard work and not so fun runs will pay off in the end.

Yoga and massages are always important in my life, but they’re extra nice when I’m training.

Nuff said, right?

 

Well I’m proud of you if you made it through all that. 

And now that I’ve unloaded a word bomb on you, I’d say I’m completely ready to rock my half marathon on Sunday. 

Pun fully intended.

Happy Friday!