Do’s and Don’ts for Running Your First 1/2 Marathon
I’m on a journey this year to complete 30 goals before 30 and one of those is to run a race of some kind. I had intentionally not mentioned a specific distance because the goal was to try something new, get in shape and make running part of my lifestyle…it wasn’t about the distance or the time.
I’m proud to say I accomplished this goal in April, running the New York Shape Women’s 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) in 2 hours and 4 minutes!
Since I haven’t trained or run a race in the first 29 years of my life, I wanted to share! So here are some dos and don’ts for running your first marathon:
DO create a training schedule.
There are lots of sites that have sample schedules. Find one that suits you and adjust it to fit your schedule and fitness level.
DON’T ignore your training schedule.
Once you miss one training, it can throw off the rest of your week. Especially if you’re like me and you have very carefully scheduled your training time to fit within your very busy work week. One day of laziness and you’ll have to replan the rest of your week!
DO find a buddy to team up with.
It was so great being able to check in every week or so and get pumped about the race by sharing my progress. You don’t even need to be in the same place to encourage each other. My friend Rebecca (yes, same name) was in Denver while I was in SF. And, our third friend, Annin, was in Boston!
DON’T take everybody’s advice above your own intuition.
9 times out of 10 when you tell someone you’re running your first race they won’t stop giving you advice about how to train, what to eat, what to wear. And god forbid you get conflicting advice! I say, listen and then do what is best for you!
DO mix up your training.
I really like spin class and have a ClassPass membership, and I continued taking those classes albeit less frequently. I also ran outdoors whenever possible (in SF, where it’s quite hilly). This is important for ensuring you don’t get frog butt (a condition of running on a treadmill so much that you run your butt away — a terrible side effect of long distance running! 😂) And also, treadmills are dangerous because they can give you a false sense of accomplishment — 13 miles outside is very different than 13 miles on a treadmill.
DON’T Be discouraged when running doesn’t ever seem to get easier!
That’s a good sign, if it gets easy, you should increase the speed or find new, more challenging terrain!
DO make the goal public and share your progress.
Nothing like the fear of letting people down or getting lots of encouragement to keep you going!
DON’T make excuses for why you need to skip training.
For most people a half marathon is not something you’re naturally able to do. You need to train, you need to make time to train. Remember who you’re running for? You.
DO physically cross out or check off the days that you exercise.
Print out a big calendar, hang it on the wall where you can’t miss it, have a marker set aside and cross out each day you workout — it’s so freakin’ satisfying!
DON’T run a long route days before the race.
You should be resting up, conserving energy and keeping your feet and limbs out of danger!
DO eat simple carbs the day before.
That day before the race, I imagine feels a lot like being pregnant in that your eating with a purpose. Two plates of pasta? Yes, please! Pizza? Bread? More carbs? Sounds good! Anything that is easy for your body to break down and turn into ENERGY — as advised to me by my friend Cristian Fournies)
DON’T forget to clear your digestive system before the race.
Yep, it’s a thing.
DO create a soundtrack or plan a podcast playlist for the race.
It can make time go by so much quicker!! I listened to the second to last episode of S-Town on the second loop of the park and it definitely helped me through the last 6 miles.
DON’T get overwhelmed by all the people.
Race day is so different from when you’re training and there are pros and cons to that. The crowds can make it feel like you’re in a video game jumping over, dodging and running into your opponents. But, those crowds are also what motivate you to keep going. When you have people all around you running and not giving up, you know you can do it too. Bonus: those crowds bring their family and friends who make awesome motivational signs that will make you smile. Our favorite poster said “You’ve made it to the top of the hill” which was very inspiring after running up a hill for 10 minutes!
So, I’ll leave it at that. Enough tips from me :)
People have asked me if I would do another race or a full marathon. Well I’ve done a shorter run (12k) since then, which was fun. And while I think I am game to sign up for another 1/2 marathon maybe in 6 months or a year, I am happy to go back to enjoying other forms of exercise and not spending my weekends running! If I feel like I’m slacking and need to get back into shape, I know signing up for a race will do the trick. But for now, I’m content with this:
