Run, Forrest, Run!!!

Many people have followed our progress with our half marathon training. Many others have asked how we did it. I thought it would be good to write this blog to fill you all in on the training program we used and also give you some pointers that we've figured out through our training.

We used a training program designed by Hal Higdon, a long time contributor to Runner's World magazine and author of many books about marathons and marathon training. I love this website because it not only has many programs for all different distances of races, but it has programs for all different experience levels as well. From walkers to advanced runners, it has it all! And another thing I love is that with each training program it gives you many great tips to help you with your training. Here is the link to the website: http://www.halhigdon.com/.

For my half marathon training I used the Half Marathon Novice program. Chris was a little further along in his running than I was when we started, but once I caught up with him then he began to follow along with the program as well. The Novice program is designed for people who enjoy running and can run 3 miles without much difficulty. If you can't do this, then I recommend doing the Novice 5K program first.

Many people have commented on how Chris and I make this training look so easy. Trust me, it's not. Training for a race like this take LOTS of time, energy, and dedication. Let me go ahead and recommend that you find your iPod or MP3 player and build a playlist specifically for your running workouts. I find that I like more upbeat songs on mine. I tend to run to the beat of my music sometimes, so slower songs never work for me. You might be different. Figure out what works best for you and make your playlist. My workout playlist consists of about 70 songs which is plenty! This should get you through several workouts without hearing the same songs over and over again.

The next thing I have to say is that if this is your first half marathon then your time does not matter one bit. Your focus needs to be on your running and finishing the race. Once you've completed your first one and have the experience then you can set a goal for yourself. Worry more about finding a pace that works best for you. The pace I run a 5K at is a lot faster than the pace I ran my half marathon at. I know I've found a good pace when I can keep going without my breathing getting too hard. If I find it hard to breathe and don't think I could carry on a short conversation with someone else then I slow it down a bit. You have to be comfortable while you're running or you'll be miserable. Once you find a good pace you'll realize that you just kind of get into a groove and can keep going as long as you can keep your legs moving. :)

Another thing I have to emphasize is that it's very important to take days to rest during your training. There were many weeks where I felt like I was fine and wanted to go on a short run on a day I was supposed to be resting. While I felt fine that day, it soon caught up with me and I could just tell that my body was tired. You have to give your muscles time to rest and heal or else you take chances of getting more injuries. You can adapt the training program to your weekly schedule and don't have to go exactly day by day, but be sure to rest!!!

Strength training is good for runners too. Not heavy weights, but lighter weights at higher repetitions. Ab workouts are also really great for runners. Having a strong core helps with your running, so be sure to work in some ab workouts as well. Hal Higdon's website has a good article about this here. And don't forget to stretch before and after your runs or your workouts! Also, I experienced a bit of knee pain early in my workouts and I was told by several people that lots of runners experience knee pain due to having weak hips. So feel free to throw in a few hip strengthening exercises to try to avoid future knee problems.

Another thing...if you're training for longer distances, don't expect a huge amount of weight loss. I lost about 10 pounds or so training for a 5K, however I didn't lose a single pound training for a half marathon. Don't let this discourage you from going for the longer distances, but just know that large weight loss isn't always typical. Some people might see weight loss, but the fact is that you have to eat more in order to fuel your body for the longer runs. Just make smart choices about what you eat and make sure you're taking care of your body. You'll probably see changes in your figure and a loss of inches more than a loss of pounds, which is great in my opinion!

One final thing I can say is that this is not an easy task and there are going to be times where you get really discouraged. I know many times, especially early in my training, I was expecting way too much from myself and pushing myself way too hard and didn't get the results from a workout that I wanted. Later on in the training program I had days where I just couldn't run the full distance. It was very discouraging to me and made me just want to give up, but I didn't. I hadn't come all that way to just quit. If you start an 8 or a 12 week training program, maybe start training a couple of weeks early. That way if you feel like you've had a bad week then you can just repeat it the next week and not be behind schedule. You're going to have "off days" and you're not going to complete every single workout exactly the way you expect to, but that's okay! Especially if it's your first time ever doing a particular training program! It's very important to listen to your body and to not over-do it. You're the only one who knows how you feel and what your body can handle, so listen to yourself! And don't give up! Just know that you're doing your best and it's all going to be worth it in the end!

Thanks to everyone who has supported us through all of our training and told us how inspiring we have been to you. This has meant so much to us and it inspires and motivates us to keep going. If you ever have any questions about any of this please let us know. We're definitely not experts, but we can tell you what we've learned from experience!