Half Marathon Training Takes Up A Lot of Time [One Month Challenge]

By Jenny University Of Texas

This is seriously cutting into my social life! I’m in Boston this weekend, and it was very difficult to wake up yesterday morning while the rest of our crew slept in, so I could get a run in before brunch. And who knew it got so hot and humid in Boston!? My run this morning was downright dreadful. By the end I was sweaty mess and smelt like an awful blend of sweet tea vodka and tequila. I think I may have to start drinking less… which also sounds downright dreadful.

All in all, week one was definitely a struggle, but at least I made myself stick to the schedule. Sure there were a few moments where I stopped to walk a bit, a few moments when I cursed ever deciding to do this challenge, a few moments when I wanted to lay in the middle of the street and pout like Lena Dunham’s character on ‘Girls.’ But who doesn’t have those moments in week one, am I right? If it were easy, everyone would do it.

I got some really great help from one of our CollegeCandy interns who just ran a half. Sam is basically a rock star. Home-girl runs 8 miles a day! She sent me the sweetest email full of tips to get me through the next few weeks. For all of you running with me, maybe you can benefit as well.

Sam’s Tips and Tricks

1. Remember why you’re doing this!

2.  BREATH, in through your nose, out through your mouth, and every once in a while take in a larger gust but make sure its in through nose out through mouth

3. If using an ipod, listen to the music that pumps you up completely

4. Also know you CAN do it! This helps me the most. The only thing stopping me is myself but my body CAN handle it

5. Make sure you don’t kill yourself. Believing in yourself is one thing, pushing yourself too hard too fast is another!

6. Start off slower and then speed up as you feel better (I use a treadmill a lot and warm up slowly for 5 minutes)

7.  If you’re feeling like you’re about to die, give yourself two more minutes to push it out and a lot of times, you’ll be like okay. Now two more minutes!

8.  Find a comfortable way to run. When I’m trying to really push, I make my hands like knives, straight, but usually I’ll run with them in fists. Just personal preference.

9. That being said, don’t focus too too much on your formation. Just do it!

10. If you think about it too much, you’ll freak out. Don’t build it up too much. Its just a half hour or hour of your life!

This next week I am going to attempt to get all my runs in BEFORE work. Yeah, that means I’m going to see 6:00am on the alarm clock. More than likely, I’ll just push snooze until 7:30, but I’m going to try–REALLY try to get up. That way I can still embark on after work shenanigans.

Week two will have an equal amount of running/rest days, but I’m adding a mile to the short runs. I’ll let you know how it goes…

[lead image of girl running via Maridav/ Shutterstock.com]