Half Marathon Trainers

1

My first Half - RR (Read 396 times)


Loves the outdoors

    I ran my first half marathon on 20th Feb. It was hard going and I was disappointed with myself, but I am already planning for another one.

     

    As you may have gathered from my comments on various threads before this race, I was suffering in the lead up. Tweaking rather badly. 2 weeks of dead legs prior and struggling on almost every run. Having calf issues and I also got given a minor cold by my son two days before. Heaven help me if I ever decide to do a marathon, I'll completely fall apart!

     

    Wellington really delivered with a beautiful day for the race. 23degC (70F?) and almost no wind. The no wind is very unusual in my lovely city. There were about 1400 people in the half, so it was a pretty crowded start. I managed to run into Mandy though, which was a nice way to start and it helped calm my nerves a bit. I found a spot near the back and then we were off. I had heaps of walkers to navigate walking 3 and 4 abreast, but after a few minutes I managed to get some clear running space. I felt ok but my lower left shin felt off. Tight and a little painful. I haven't experienced this before so I decided to try and ignore it. I settled in to a steady pace. Apart from my shin issue I felt good. My HR was a little higher than I expected at that point in the race but I thought it was probably nerves. My shin pain went away after about 5-6km.

     

    I carried on my nice steady pace and began looking around me at my fellow competitors. A real mix of people at the back of the field. One woman was running in a very unusual way so I thought she was artificially slowing her pace to run with her friend. I kept seeing her throughout the race as she passed me and then I passed her. I don't know what happened to her though as the last time I saw her she passed me with her arm in a sling. Somehow she managed to have some sort of accident, get treatment and then still get up and get past me. I guess she really was slowing her pace earlier as I was still running the same steady pace.

     

    At about 10km in I was still on target pace and feeling pretty good when I spotted Mandy and gave her a shout. She was looking really strong at that point. For the next couple of km's my pace inexplicably slowed slightly - I decided not to force it and just went with it. I was drinking a little water at every stop and tipping the rest over my head. As I continued on to the turn around I started to mentally feel the strain, there seemed so far to go. I hit the turn around and kept running and then suddenly I slowed to a walk. What the? I don't know whether it was my brain or my body that failed me. For the next 7-8km I struggled and kept suddenly stopping to walk. I haven't walked in a race before Sad My head felt odd - dizzy and fuzzy and my tummy also felt slightly weird. I spotted a couple of collapsed runners being attended to by ambulance crews and tried to feel positive that that wasn't me. I carried on. Goal time gone. Could I force myself to continue, yes I'll run some more. I carried on running more than I walked but unable to stop slowing to a walk. I was not the only one at this stage with loads of people walk/running around me. I mentally didn't have it to carry on the run.

     

    At about 19km I was walking again when a woman came up behind me and for the first time someone spoke to me! It was enough I started running again. She gave me enough encouragement to finish the race running. Oh that finish line was a great thing to see! I crossed the line in 2:32:41.  Much slower than I'd hoped, but at least I finished.

     

    Splits:

    1km - 6:28min/km

    2km - 6:37min/km

    3km - 6:32

    4km - 6:34

    5km - 6:40

    6km - 6:40

    7km - 6:38

    8km - 6:38

    9km - 6:40

    10km - 6:37

    11km - 6:40

    12km - 6:53

    13km - 6:56

    14km - 7:07

    15km - 7:30

    16km - 8:12

    17km - 7:14

    18km - 8:29

    19km - 8:32

    20km - 8:18

    21km - 8:08

     

    I'm not sure what went wrong for me for this race. I clearly need more endurance and some more mental strength! I am going to work on both and aim for better for the next half. A half marathon is a long way and a marathon just seems terrifying at this point!

    One day I decided I wanted to become a runner, so I did.

      Congrats on completing your first Half!  Though it was tough, you did it!  Looking forward to hearing your next race report...


      Petco Run/Walk/Wag 5k

        congrats on the finish! you did it, and that is more than 90% of the people out there isn't it! Good job, good report. Looking forward to next one.

        bob e v
        2014 goals: keep on running! Is there anything more than that?

        Complete the last 3 races in the Austin Distance Challenge, Rogue 30k, 3M Half, Austin Full

        Break the 1000 mi barrier!

        History: blessed heart attack 3/15/2008; c25k july 2008 first 5k 10/26/2008 on 62nd birthday.

          Good job getting through a tough one. Thanks for sharing the RR.

          Good to read that you are already looking forward to another 1/2.

           

          Looking at your log, your consistency is great, but you may want to throw in some longer runs leading up to your next 1/2.

          For me, I hit a mental barrier at a certain mileage where my mind starts telling my body it is time to stop.

          "This is the distance when you usually stop running, so stop....but I'm still 3 miles from home....so, you can walk the rest....but that will take forever, keep running...what's the point, walk...." (Maybe I'm just weird. Big grin )

          Running through that barrier in training could help you do it on race day.


          Loves the outdoors

            Good job getting through a tough one. Thanks for sharing the RR.

            Good to read that you are already looking forward to another 1/2.

             

            Looking at your log, your consistency is great, but you may want to throw in some longer runs leading up to your next 1/2.

            For me, I hit a mental barrier at a certain mileage where my mind starts telling my body it is time to stop.

            "This is the distance when you usually stop running, so stop....but I'm still 3 miles from home....so, you can walk the rest....but that will take forever, keep running...what's the point, walk...." (Maybe I'm just weird. Big grin )

            Running through that barrier in training could help you do it on race day.

             

             

            I wonder if that is partly what happened to me, hitting a mental barrier. I haven't hit that suddenly walking moment before and although my head was very fuzzy and odd at the time, I hadn't hit the wall as I could start running again each time I made myself. So I suspect I needed to suck it up more and could have kept running. I'll never know now because I did give in and walk. I'm sure longer long runs are a must for this cycle. I have been following Nobby's instructions and he wanted me to build up slowly, which I have been. My next half is in June, so in winter. I much prefer running in colder weather, so I hope that will help too as long as Wellington doesn't have gale force winds and rain as can be common at that time of year.

            One day I decided I wanted to become a runner, so I did.


            Petco Run/Walk/Wag 5k

              nzrun - I second that. I followed Galloway's Half Marathon training plan when preparing for my first half and made sure I had multiple long runs that took as much time as my goal for the race, three hours, even if it wasn't the distance. I can't recall if that was part of the plan or just mean wanting to know I could spend that much time on my feet. It helped me finish (in less than 3 hrs) when the temp on race day hit 94F! My last half this past December, on a challenging, hilly course took me 3:12 to finish using mostly low heart rate continuous running with walks up the hill. Weather was windy and reasonably cool, but I took it easy because of the hills and it being the longest distance in VFF Bikila's. The hills still aggravated my right Achilles tendon! 

               

              I don't know where I read the advice to increase long run to cover anticipated time on feet. Probably in some RA thread somewhere. It seemed to work for me.

              bob e v
              2014 goals: keep on running! Is there anything more than that?

              Complete the last 3 races in the Austin Distance Challenge, Rogue 30k, 3M Half, Austin Full

              Break the 1000 mi barrier!

              History: blessed heart attack 3/15/2008; c25k july 2008 first 5k 10/26/2008 on 62nd birthday.


              Climbing Mt Ruapehu

                Nice work NZrun!!  Is wellington usually windy? Big grin

                 

                Im terrified of running a half marathon again, just trying to get back into running is hurting and i dont even know if i enjoy it anymore.  Hopefully though I have a half in me again this year!

                 

                I di find in both my HM's last year that I finished a lot stronger than most people around me and maybe I put that down to doing a 18km every weekend basically without fail.  The endurance and confidence to run that far just never seemed an issue.  For me it is just getting a faster speed over that distance that is the problem!!

                 

                Keep posting Smile

                Personal Race Records:

                M 3:52:48 (Auckland 2011), HM 1:38:16 (Taupo 2010), 10km 45:05 (Sir Barry 2010), 5km 20:21 (How Pak 5km 2010)

                 

                2012 Goals:
                Run the 75km Hillary Trail in a day (done 10/3/2012)

                  ...

                  I have been following Nobby's instructions and he wanted me to build up slowly, which I have been.

                  ....

                  Nobby's advice > (my advice x 100). 

                   

                  Stick with what he's telling you, and like Vino said, keep posting.