Running a half marathon

I'm thrilled to say that on May 1st, 2022, I ran my first half-marathon.

I ran at a 10'24" pace, a much better pace than for any long run that I've had so far. Kevin told me that the adrenaline on race day is like nothing else, and although I don't ever remember feeling the adrenaline, the atmosphere of the half-marathon was amazing.

My start time was at 7:00AM, which I didn't know is typical for most races. I carb-loaded the night before and attempted to sleep at 9:30PM, with the plan to wake up at 5:30AM and eat a small breakfast. I ended up not eating anything when I woke up, but this ended up being fine! (although I had some anxiety about this few miles into the race)

I was conscious of pacing myself for the first few miles – I'd seen plenty of warnings online cautioning against burning out at the very start of a race. After the first few miles I felt like I was warmed up, and I was able to maintain a steady pace throughout.

My parents + sister came to watch the last few miles of the race, which provided some much-needed motivation in the finishing stretch. I'm really proud that I didn't stop to walk once! This was unexpected – in all of my long runs, I'd always walked in the latter half.

Overall, I'm ecstatic that I was able to complete the half-marathon! I remember during my first run in December (only five months ago!), I couldn't even run half a mile without feeling like my heart was going to jump out of my chest.

In terms of what's next, I plan to continue running and perhaps fit in another half marathon this year. I want to continue improving my pace and target running a half-marathon at a sub 10' pace. Afterwards, I'll consider preparing for a marathon!

The rest of this contains check-ins that I wrote while preparing.

December-January Check-In

• December Summary | 9 Runs  | 17.3mi | 12'47" Pace | 3h41m Time Running
• January Summary  | 14 Runs | 44.3mi | 11'44" Pace | 8h39m Time Running

In December I was running casually without any serious plan in-mind, whereas this month (January) I took running more seriously given my goal of running a half-marathon in May. I signed up for a race on May 1st, and I'm both happy with my progress so far but worried I won't be ready in time.

Here's some notable runs over the last two months:

• December 4 | First Run | 2.17mi | 12'51" Pace
• January 1  | First 5K  | 3.13mi | 10'52" Pace
• January 28 | First 10K | 6.41mi | 11'47" Pace

Looking through training plans online, most recommended running 3-4x a week, with one long-run each week that increments by one mile. I've been trying to stick to that regimen, making sure to fit in a long run each week, and I'm proud that I capped off January with the longest run of my entire life.

Goals for February

• Long run of 10mi at 12'00" or under

I think the above goal will reassure my fears of being unable to finish the half-marathon, and from there I can continue to build up my pace. My goal is to shoot for 10'30", but we'll see how realistic that is as the weeks pass.

In the meantime, my biggest obstacle is the weather. I've been checking forecasts regularly and planning around single-digit temperatures and rain/snow, and I've been fairly lucky so far with timing. I've also picked up the habit of drinking protein shakes immediately after my runs, which I think has been helping with my recovery.

February Check-In

• February Summary | 14 Runs | 45.8mi | 10'48" Pace | 8h15m Time Running
• ❌ Long run of 10mi at 12'00" or under

I spent slightly less hours on the road than January but increased my mileage slightly, thanks to my improved pace. I struggled to have as much mileage as I wanted because of some inclement weather and only having 28 days in February, but overall I'm happy with where I ended up. I was able to improve my pace by nearly a full-minute, and I continued to push myself in my runs, especially towards the later half of the month:

• February 20 | 8.03mi | 10'35" Pace
• February 27 | 3.77mi |  9'59" Pace

Goals for March

• Long run of 10mi at 10'40" or under
• Run 60mi

My half-marathon is slated for 5/1, and I'm starting to feel the time crunch. Recommendations are to run 11mi two weeks prior to the race (4/17), and I want to make sure I'm as prepared for April as possible. I'm planning to run as often as possible over March, ideally hitting 60mi this month.

The weather has been improving (which means I can run slightly lighter with less layers). I noticed during my 8mi run that my legs (especially my calves) were the limiting factor, so I'm going to focus on increasing mileage and ramping up the workload on my legs.

Finally, in terms of pace, aiming for 10'30" for the half-marathon seems realistic/likely at this point, but we'll see how things progress over this month.

March Check-In

• March Summary | 15 Runs | 56.1mi | 10'48" Pace | 10h04m Time Running
• ❌ Run 60mi
• ❌ Long run of 10mi at 10'40" or under

I missed both my goals this month, but came fairly close in terms of mileage. I had some right foot sole pain during the second week of March that prevented me from running as much as I wanted, and I was in Utah 3/14–3/21. I realized that I was having sole pain due to lack of support in my shoes, and replacing the soles of my Nikes with some heavier-duty soles helped reduce the pain significantly.

Here's my notable run of March:

• March 6 | 9.12mi | 11'14" Pace

I wasn't able to get to the 10mi mark like I wanted, but I'm still happy that I was able to diagnose and figure out why I was having foot pain.

Goals for April

• Long run of 10mi

I'm being conservative with my goals this month since the plan is to taper off my mileage the last two weeks of April. Fingers crossed, everything goes well since April will be my last month of training!

April Check-In

• April Summary | 14 Runs | 54.9mi | 11'12" Pace | 10h14m Time Running
• ✅ Long run of 10mi

Notable runs:

• April 9 | 10.31mi | 10'52" Pace