It’s probably been a while since I’ve mentioned it but I am cursed by this race. It was my second-ever half marathon back in 2010, then in 2011 I ran the 5K (which was actually 3.2 miles, like, officially), and after that, ONLY CURSES. In 2014 I had a stress fracture. In 2015, I hurt my foot the week before the race. In 2016, I was still working my way back to running from stress fracture #2. In 2018 I attempted the half as I was recovering from a similar issue in my right hip as I have now but had to quit at mile 4 because it still hurt too much. In 2019 and 2020 I was able to run the 10K (officially 6 miles in 2020, wtf), but I am still pretty excited to return to the half.
I’d been hoping to be in shape to really race this race, but it was not to be. Too many ill-timed injuries and of course running away to Europe for 3 weeks, which yes, technically, is my own fault, BUT STILL! The timing, she has not been my friend.
So earlier this month, I turned my focus towards just building up from 3-4 miles (the most I’d run at once since early December, thanks to a calf strain) to a 13.1-mile long run and being able to solidly finish the race.
Was I totally sure this was feasible in 4-5 weeks? NO!
Do I advise the progression below as a half marathon training plan? ALSO NO!
That said, I went into it with low expectations, always ran at an easy pace, never planned anything more than a few days ahead, and paid close attention to even the slightest discomfort. I did 1-2 days of weights and pre-hab every week and got regular chiro and massage for my wonky right hip. I also started every run–-especially ones where I was pushing the distance up–-ready to cut it short if my body gave me any indication that I’d overdone it the day before or was trying to do too much too soon. If something felt off, I’d take a rest day and see how things felt the day after.
And friends, I knew it had paid off when I was able to run 12 easy miles this past Sunday, feeling super strong and completely pain free. I didn’t *need* to get to 12 to feel confident about the half–-10 would have been fine–-but I’d thought, hey, I feel good, so let’s give it a shot.
The only thing that remains left to do is not damage myself over the next week lol.
As I told the 'gram, I am definitely in no shape to race, but I figured that if my 12 miler felt good (which it did), then I could use that pace (9:24) to set some kind of very humble, low-stakes time goal. Not because I'm concerned with the time at all--just really as a way of adding a little interest to what will otherwise be mostly just a long run on a lot of the same ground I cover week-in and week-out.
Tacking on another 1.1 easy miles to my Sunday run would have put me at ~2:02-2:03ish, so I figure if I push the pace even juuust a bit beyond "easy" I can probably finish the race under 2 hours (~9:09 pace). I don't want to try to push my body too much harder than that given my lack of training, but am kind of interested what I'm capable of in terms of just comfortably coasting through, knowing I'm not particularly fit.
And, no matter what happens, a finish will mean a new 40s PR (i.e., the first time I've run 13.1 miles since turning 40)!
Without further ado:
(Seriously, DON’T DO THIS!!!)
Coaching services available, **act now**!
No comments:
Post a Comment