Finished my first half...and it hurt!
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I wish I had a dog, I'd feel much safer with one. My husband and I have been discussing it...we already have 3 cats and a toddler so he's wary of adding a dog too.0
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I ran my first half last August and plan to run the same race this year. No expert either! I actually felt great throughout even at the finish. I agree with what others have mentioned above. Being my first half, I was unsure where I would finish but I signed myself up several months prior as a 2:30 finish time. After I got into the training, I followed the Hal Higdon Intermediate training guide pretty much to a tee, I realized I could probably finish in 2:10 or less. I finished in 2:03! :happy: You only run up to 12 miles the week before, then a couple of short runs the beginning of that final week before. I agree with the poster who said if you feel you are starting out too slow that is good. I remember being frustrated being placed further back than I could have been and unable to get around people for the first couple of miles. But I think it kept me from going too fast! Also, water does NOTHING for me. I figured out pretty quickly once training runs got longer that I need more! I drank the gatorade during training and during the race. I also use jelly beans which I took handfuls of twice during the race. I think at 8 or 9 miles and 11 miles. Of course each person is different! I also wore compression socks once my runs got above 10 miles and on race day only because I have heard they help with calf pain. Honestly, I never tried going without so I can't compare if they really helped or not, but I didn't have calf pain during the race and only briefly that night. Good luck!0
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I have an official half on 1/12, but on 12/31 I did a Virtual Half marathon - the Resolution run - as my last long run before the Polar Dash on 1/12. I have done multiple 10 milers, 9 milers, 8 milers, etc...my first 10 mile run was on 11/3 so it's not like this came up out of nowhere, although I'd never gone higher than 10 before. For the most part the run went well - I exceeded my goal time by 10 minutes (just wanted to finish under 3...yes, I am slow.) I used GU chews, 2 every half hour with water when I ate up until the 2:30ish mark when I figured I didn't need anything else. The first 10 miles flew, honestly. Up to mile 11 I felt great. At 11.5, my legs began to hurt - hamstring tight, calves sore. It came up fast and that last 1.6 was pretty miserable.
The reason I post is I wonder if I did something wrong or if this is just what I can expect for any future halfs. Two days later my calves and quads are sore but nothing to write home about and the rest of me (notably the hamstrings) are fine - so what did I do wrong that that last 15 minutes was so hard? I'm hoping to run a marathon by fall so I'd really like to be able to .. well, go further, I guess. My cooldown walk afterwards was excruciating.
Hell yeah they hurt! Good job!0 -
Congrats on your first half and a PR! Are you addicted yet?
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