Training for a Half Marathon

A lot of people have been asking me how you train to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) or a marathon (26.2), so I thought I could address that here.

I preface this by saying that I am no expert; I've only run one long distance race in my entire life, and that was the White Rock Half Marathon this past Sunday. I am currently in the process of training for the Austin Marathon in February.

However, I did finish my race, to the surprise of many people who may have doubted my ability early on. I don't hold this against anyone, as I may have doubted me too, if I were someone else. When I started I was more than 20 lbs overweight and was not a runner, and despite this I did cross the finish line in a decent amount of time (and 30 lbs lighter, at that!). So maybe what I have to say will be of some help to anyone looking to push their bodies to achieve something more than it ever has before.

A lot of people ask me, "Is it hard?" Yes, it is, but it's probably easier than you might think (and entirely worth it, I might add).

Training for a half marathon basically consists of 3 days a week of 1 hr or less of exercise, one day of crosstraining, and one long day. You have two days a week to sit on your butt and do absolutely nothing, if that's what you want. Our coaches stress the importance of resting- it allows your muscles to heal and rebuild themselves even stronger than they were before.

The short days: For me, these days are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. These are your short runs you do during the week to basically keep you in shape. You start out doing 3miles on Tuesday, 4miles on Wednesday, then 3 on Thursday. This equates to about 30-40 minutes of jogging.

Eventually, you work up to 4miles on Tues., 6miles on Wed., and 4miles on Thursday.

When I started, I could not run one mile, much less three, so I ran for a couple minutes, then walked for a couple minutes, until I finished three miles.

The Long Day: Once a week (Saturday Morning for me) it is time to push your body to go longer distances. For me, this started out at three miles. Each week, I would add one mile to that. This amounts to adding just 10 extra minutes each week. Sometimes I would not be able to run the entire distance, so I ran as far as I could, then walked for a few minutes, then started back up again.


Cross Training Day: The day after the long run, or Sunday for me, we are supposed to do something other than running for about an hour. My coach works in his garden. I like to go on a bike ride with J. Just anything besides running so that you give your running muscles (and joints!) a break.

I will be honest and say that sometimes, I was too tired from my long run the day before to go on an hour long bike ride the next day. Sometimes, especially if my knee hurt, I would just add another rest day. Other times I would count cleaning the house as my cross-training.

Taper: tapering is something that's more applicable for a full marathon. It basically means that in the couple of weeks before your race, you ease off your miles and rest more, so that your body will be in peak condition. We trained up to 14 miles on long days for the half marathon, but on the long day a week before my race, I only ran 9. The short days are even shorter the week before a race: I scaled back to just 1 or 2 miles- I wanted to make sure my knee didn't get aggravated. This also ensures that your muscles will be healed and full of glycogen on race day (well, that and the tons of pasta you eat the week before your race).

Pain: I have problems with one of my knees. If you have pain, STOP! Running is very addictive once you get past the ugly, I-can't-run-around-the-block phase. Pretty soon it starts to be all you want to do, and it can be frustrating when something like knee pain is holding you back. I worried that if I "took it easy" my aerobic capacity would slide. But, in the process of training, I took 2 long days entirely off due to knee pain, and I really think that doing this allowed me to finish my race. Running with pain isn't any fun, and in the long run (haha) it doesn't gain you anything.

Other: This is just an overview- I'm not really qualified to give anything other than that. I'm sure it would be easy to find more detailed training schedules by doing a google search.

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/recsports/images/PDF/walkingtrailsofLubbock.pdf <-- good places to run. I like guy park, tech terrace park, around texas tech, and mae simmons (canyon lake road in mackenzie park) is great for long runs (hills and lakes in lubbock, oh my!).

I should also say that I have had the benefit of great coaches and mentors that have pushed me and encouraged me, and had coffee for me at our 7AM long runs on Saturday Mornings. These are but a few benefits of training with Team in Training, which is what I am doing. At some point I'll have a post just about that.