I recently finished my first half marathon and am now sufficiently recovered (and back to being lazy with time on my hands) so now’s a good time to tell you all about it! For starters, my goal was to finish in two hours, and I did it in 1 hour and 56 minutes—woot!
Race day morning was a little rough. I was up and out the door on time, but it took me FOREVER to find a place to park! I thought I had given myself plenty of time to get my gear checked and get to the starting line, but that was definitely not the case. By the time I made it there I was fighting against thousands of people swarming toward the starting line while I was heading the opposite direction to get my gear checked! The National Anthem started playing before I even located Gear Check and I was stressed, stressed, STRESSED! Finally, I got my gear checked and started weaving my way through the crowd toward my starting corral. I thought I could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but then I turned on my GPS runner’s watch that I use to keep track of my pace (super important!) and it was so overcast that it couldn’t locate a signal. DAMMITALLTOHELL!!
Right about the time I’m taking a deep breath and resetting my expectations for my finishing time, a voice comes over the loudspeaker and announces that the start of the race is going to be delayed due to inclement weather headed our way. All runners should seek shelter immediately.
WHATTHEMOTHER?!
I decide to high-tail it back to Gear Check (which was in the Memorial Union on UW’s campus, for all my locals) so I can at least get my phone and call G and Jill (my spectators) to let them know about the delay. I then spend the next hour and a half sitting on the floor of The Union next to a trashcan while me and thousands of other runners crammed into my personal space wait for word on if there’s even going to be a race or not.
I’d spent months worrying about whether or not I was going to make it across that finish line—and now my biggest concern was just making it across the starting line!
An added concern was that I’d also spent the past three months training for a race that started at 7:00am. I planned all my long runs on Saturday mornings to start at 7:00am so I could test out different times, things, and amounts to eat prior to running to be properly fueled for the longer distances.
And now here I was—7:00am long gone—sitting next to a garbage can, glaring at the lightening outside, and starving my ass off. I finally decided to take my chances and inhaled a granola bar that I’d had the foresight to toss in my bag before leaving the house that morning.
Finally, an hour and a half later, they announced that the race was back on. I quick called G and Jill, re-checked my gear, headed to my starting corral, got a signal on my runner’s watch (yay!), did a few jumps and stretches to wake up my legs…and then we were off! I ran the first 3 miles in the pouring rain, but then it cleared up and we had pretty good weather for the rest of the race.
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| Mile 2. Soaking wet. Still raining. |
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| Mile 4 |
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| Mile 7 |
My friend Jill–almost 8 months pregnant!–jogged with me at the 7 mile mark (and later at the 9 mile mark) to give me a little pep talk. How awesome is that?!
Rounding the corner at Mile 8, and my first sighting of G and Kate! G and Kate (in her stroller) ran along side me for a little bit, too. It was so much fun seeing them!
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| I kicked all these guys’ asses. |
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| Checking my pace at Mile 9. |
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| Still more than 3 miles to go? Damn! |
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| Crossing the finish line! |
Once I saw that finish line I said to myself, “Okay, time to kick it up a notch!” and I tried to get my legs to go faster, but it was physically impossible. I didn’t have any notches left! I once heard that if you could sprint at the end of your race it meant you didn’t give it your all because you still had some gas left in the tank. It was pretty clear I was running on fumes at the end, and that’s how I KNOW I honestly gave it my all. Such an incredible feeling!
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| Me and my beloved finisher’s medal…which doubles as a beer bottle opener. |
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| My fans! G and Kate were at the finish line to cheer me on! |
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| My friend Jill, her husband Shane, and their son Brady also braved the weather! |
Jill and Shane are THE BEST spectators anyone could ask for! They popped up at four different points during the race (it was like “Where’s Waldo?”) to cheer me on, and even joined me afterwards for a celebratory beer!
Even though the morning got off to a rough start, it ended up being an amazing day! After one failed attempt, I had finally completed my first half marathon and the accomplishment felt amazing. My running felt so strong the entire race and I could tell my training had really paid off. Knowing that all that hard work paid off and that I gave that race my all…it was such an incredible feeling. I can’t even describe it.
Which leads me to my training. Many of you have asked what kind of training program I used, and the answer is I created my own schedule based heavily on Hal Higdon’s half marathon training programs. I did a mix between his novice and intermediate training programs, and tailored it to incorporate two BodyPump classes at the gym per week (my favorite strength-training class). You can see my actual training schedule below (click to enlarge) as well as adjustments that I made as I went. I think it worked really well for me and I’ll probably follow it again for my next half marathon.
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| My half marathon training schedule (click to enlarge). |
Another popular question is when I found the time to train. This was definitely a challenge as training was a HUGE time commitment. Before I even started I had to make sure I had G’s support, because I knew he’d have to pick up a lot of the slack I’d leave behind. On weekdays I stuck with my normal routine for most of the day, and then did my training after Kate went to bed at 7pm. Then I’d shower and have a handful of minutes to do something else (usually prepare our food for the next day) before my bedtime. I did my long runs (the most time consuming training day of the week) on Saturday mornings. From May to August there was pretty much no room left in my life for anything other than G and Kate, work, training, Jerseylicious, and cooking the occasional meal. G did nearly all of the cleaning and laundry during this time because I just didn’t have the time to help out. I certainly couldn’t have done it without his support, and I was so grateful to have it!
I’ll end with a breakdown of my splits for those who are interested:
Mile 1: 9:02
Mile 2: 8:47
Mile 3: 8:51
Mile 4: 8:49
Mile 5: 8:50
Mile 6: 8:52
Mile 7: 9:02
Mile 8: 8:36
Mile 9: 8:58
Mile 10: 9:10
Mile 11: 8:37
Mile 12: 8:40
Mile 13: 8:24
By my watch I finished 13.1 miles at 1 hour 55 minutes and the course was an extra 1/10th of a mile long (other runners with GPS watches reported the same), however my official chip finish time was 1 hour 56 minutes.
I’d love to hear how your training/experience compares! And, as always, feel free to let me know if you have any other questions!
Awesome job! How fun that your friends met you in four places and snapped those great pictures. I do 5Ks and am going to do a 4 mile trail run in a couple of weeks, but haven’t considered a half because of the time commitment – maybe some day! Your splits are fabulous; you must have had some gas left because the last mile was your fastest! I can’t imagine having an hour and a half delay. I would have been starving, too.
What’s on your playlist? I’m always in need of new songs.
That’s awesome that you finished within your goal, congrats
I’m in awe of you my smoking hot friend. You ROCKED that marathon. I love you so much for it. You are an inspiration. Keep it up.
congratulations! that’s quite an accomplishment!
Way to go! I’m running my 4th mini in April. It’s my 1st after 2 kiddos. I hope I can do get less than 2 hours!!!
Wow! Congratulations on crossing that finish line and getting that awesome new bottle opener. You make running look easy!
jbhat
Congrats to you! I actually just started running last year and finished my first 1/2 marathon on Sunday, which is a huge accomplishment for me considering I couldn’t even run a quarter of a mile a year ago. I almost cried when I crossed the finish line I was so proud of myself. When I started running, my husband did too, so training was interesting, but awesome because I have a great group of women to run with on T/Th and Sat mornings. I do 3-5 miles 3 to 4 days a week and on Saturdays I would do my long runs as well. I actually just increased a mile a week until I was up to the 15 mile mark a few weeks ago, just to make sure I could complete the run. I am already looking forward to my next half, or gulp, possibly a full. We will see. Congrats again!
Congrats on training for and (finally) running your first half-marathon! I popped my half-marathon cherry last November and am doing the same race again this year (in less than two weeks, gulp!). I overtrained last year (You mean you’re not supposed to run 3 days a week in addition to the one long training run?!) and ended up with a messed-up IT band halfway through my race. I still finished fairly strong in 1:51, but I know I can do better so that’s why I’m going for a redo on the same course this year.
My half-marathon post:
http://mcmania-ourlifeasweknowit.blogspot.com/2010/11/half-marathon.html
Stephanie
So awesome! It must feel great to have accomplished this!
I finished my first half October 16th… 2hrs 32 seconds. A great time for someone who didn’t start running until March, but man was I ticked! The good news is I have some definite motivation to run another. I know I can make it in under two hours. And I WAS able to sprint to the finish, I know I didn’t give it all I had, I was just so worried I wouldn’t make it to the end!
Anyway, I based my training off Hal Higadon’s Novice plan. I thought it was a great one, I just had to tack on a couple weeks towards the beginning because I wasn’t running all that much when I decided to do the half.
Congrats on achieving your goal, I’m sure it feels amazing!!
I ran a half-marathon a few years ago, and like you, I was on FUMES at the end. My running partner and dear friend said, “Look, I can see the finish line!” and even that wasn’t good enough. I need to just FINISH at that point.
Hoping to do another someday, but in the meantime, 5K and 8K ‘fun runs’ will suffice!
Great job!!! You finished with a really good time! I, too, just completed my first half on Saturday(recap on my blog). I totally know what you mean about fitting life in while training, it definitely takes over! I loved my training though and seeing what I could push my body to do. I even had days where I’d run and take a fitness class or hot yoga. I think the cross training is just as important! I followed a plan from Runners World but I want to look into other options for my full in May. Congrats again!
Great job!!! You finished with a really good time! I, too, just completed my first half on Saturday(recap on my blog). I totally know what you mean about fitting life in while training, it definitely takes over! I loved my training though and seeing what I could push my body to do. I even had days where I’d run and take a fitness class or hot yoga. I think the cross training is just as important! I followed a plan from Runners World but I want to look into other options for my full in May. Congrats again!
Congratulations! That’s so awesome that you had such great support. I hope to run a marathon one day.
Awesome! What an inspiration for mom’s! I am dying to get back into running and now that my LO is 1, I think I should just go for it!
You. Are. Amazing! I’ve been playing around with the idea of running a big local mini marathon in April (begin training after holidays) and this post might have just sealed the deal! Congrats on your awesome run and finish! What an accomplishment!
Wow!! So awesome that you made the time to train and run! I haven’t done a half marathon since I had the babes – not sure I could ever find the time. Congratulations!
Hey Dusty – a MAJOR congrats on your race, I am in total awe of anyone who can run long distances. The most I have ever done (and that was in my early 40s) is a 10k. 13 miles seems like forever. Thanks for sharing your training info with us. You look amazing btw
I LOVE this post. I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now and I was hoping to hear more about your half. I’m new to running (have my first 10k on Sunday!) but am loving it more every single day. I am hoping to run a half in March – I sure hope I have supporters like you! Eight months pregnant and hopping in there with you? Amazing friend! Congratulations – you looked awesome. Any chance you may try to one-up yourself and sign up for a full marathon? I know the time commitment is bananas, but I can’t help but be intrigued by the idea.
Congrats on meeting your goals! Great job!
D- I’m so impressed with you! Good for you for taking on this challenge, and your bod looks awesome because of it! Way to go! Kadi
Hot mama! Great job Dusty!
Thank you so much everyone!
@katevoss–Oh believe me, I was completely out of gas at the end, lol! I’m not sure I could have ran another block! I trained at a 9 minute mile pace, but toward the end of my training I was running my 5 mile runs at 8:45 pretty easily, but then I slowed back down to 9:00 for my long runs to “pace myself.” In hindsight I wish I would have started doing my long runs at an 8:45 pace, too. Oh well. Maybe next time!
Thank you so much Beth! <3
@Audrey–Good luck to you in April!
@Laura–Congratulations on finishing your first half! That’s so wonderful that you had such a great support system for your training, too. How fun!
@Stephanie–I can relate to the over-training. I did the same thing when I trained for my first. Grr. You finished with a great time, though! Good luck to you on your next one–I hope you hit your goal!
@Ashley–Good for you, girl! And that’s great that you’re going to tackle it again. I’m sure you’ll finish in under 2 hours next time. Good luck!
@CampDallas–The half was fun, but I think I’m in your camp (hahaha) with prefering to stick to the shorter distances. I’m a big fan of 10Ks. And they’re much less time consuming!
@Allison–Congrats on finishing your first half! I agree that the cross training is so important. There were times I just wanted to skip it and take a break, but I knew I’d pay for it later if I did!
@Erika–The hardest part is lacing up your shoes. That’s what I always tell myself anyway. If you get that far, you’re in. Go for it, girl!
Go for it Savannah! You’ll be so happy you did!
Thank you Diane!
@kennedy–I’m not sure I’d ever do a full marathon. It’s not on the bucket list at this point, but who knows. We’ll see! Hope your 10K went well! That’s a fun distance to do. My father-in-law always says, “If you can run 6 miles, you can run 13.” Good luck in March!
Thank you, Kadi. You’re so sweet. <3
Thank you so much to EVERYONE! I really appreciate all the wonderful support!
Great job! Your time was FANTASTIC. I’ve been reading your blog for a while now, and wanted to comment now because I just ran my first half, too. I definitely agree that it takes a good support system from the hubby to make it work. You guys make a great team!
-Aleta
P.S. I love all of your home decorating posts, too!
Awesome! I def need some motivation to get running again… I’ve so been slacking.
Hope you’re having a great weekend!