We did it!!! After months of unstructured preparation ( uh, obviously not recommended) we completed our first half marathon! T, J, and I ran an under 11 minute average the whole time, and honestly, I don't think I really hit the wall until mile 13. It was a beautiful course through the suburb of Highland Park. It was pretty hilly, but we all managed to use adrenaline to carry us up and down the course. Luckily, the weather was in our favor. It was about 50 degrees and a little drizzly. This kept us cool and our heart rates down for the whole race. I think I would be writing a very different blog post if it had been sunny and in the 90's. The night before, I found this quote by Olympian Herb Elliott that I kept turning to during the difficult parts of the race:
“Poetry, music, forests, oceans, solitude--they were what developed enormous spiritual strength. I came to realize that spirit, as much or more than physical conditioning, had to be stored up before a race.”
Whenever I felt my spirit dipping, I'd connect my thumbs with my index fingers, this encourages a connective flow of power throughout the whole body, and look up at the green tree tops popping against the clean, gray sky.
If you're thinking about running a half marathon, I cannot stress the importance of cross training. Unwisely, I never ran the full 13 miles during my training runs. However, for the past 5 months, I've been going to power yoga over three times a week, and I think that provided me with the tools I needed to successfully complete this race. Yoga strengthened my muscles and core, as well as taught me how to breathe properly. Next time I do a half, I will definitely follow a training schedule more strictly, however, I will also make sure to keep up with my other exercises. I've been seriously considering joining a gym this upcoming winter so I can start lifting weights again. In college, I lifted weights about 3 times a week and had significantly less injury problems than I do now.
Have a great week!
Peace, love, sweat xoxo SR
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