I recently completed my 10th half marathon in Akron in late September. My husband, Shaun, and I started running and entering races at this distance as a forced exercise program to lose weight four years ago. I like to challenge myself and some would say I am competitive. I really just want to do my best. I know there are people that run farther, run faster and have raced more often than me, but here is my view on 10 things I’ve learned about running after 10 half marathons.
- You can do it. No matter your size, weight, or age. You can do it. I’m 47, weigh more than I should and definitely don’t have a runner’s body. People often say to me that they could never do 1 mile, let alone 13.1, but you can if you just decide to.
- Wear proper fitting shoes. Everyone says this and it’s true. If you don’t, you’ll probably bruise and/or lose a toenail. I have suffered my share of gross looking toenails. I’m frugal, but I’ve learned that you can’t skimp on the footwear. Count yourself lucky if your favorite pair is on sale. My tip to keeping pretty running feet is to buy a half size up from your regular size, in wide, and tie your shoes using the heel lock method to prevent your heel from sliding, causing your toe to hit the front of your shoe with every step. My brand of choice is the Hoka One One. We own several pairs.
- It’s best to train. Our first few years of running halfs, we were really good at sticking to our training schedule. We had it taped near the fridge and we colored it in as we completed the miles. Then we got lazy. I’ve been paying for it with slower times, more fatigue during the runs, slower recovery, and a bigger waistline! You can find training schedules online or use a running app.
- You will have pain. Your knee might hurt during a run one day, your ankle the next. It’s hard to tell what might end up hurting. It might be your back, your neck, or you may even get stomach pains from sucking in air the whole time trying to regulate your breathing…you know, from that out of shape pain. Then there’s chaffing. It can happen anywhere on your body. Worse in some areas depending on if you’re male or female. I mostly get it along my bra line where it clasps in the back or on my arm if I’m wearing the band to hold my phone. And it sure does burn in the shower, but no pain, no gain, right?
- Arrive early on race day…especially to potty. It’s important to hydrate before a race so it’s inevitable that you will have to pee a lot because of that and because you’re nervous. Shaun usually wants to delay our arrival but I argue the part of having to find parking, then the start line, then the port-o-potty lines. My routine is to immediately find one, pee, and then get right back in line to do it again before race time. I don’t need the extra stress of fearing the line is too long nor do I want to stop on the course to potty. I didn’t train all these months to lose time that way. If I have to lose time, it will be on the hills.
- Do not eat strange food the night before the race. Training takes many weeks. During that time you focus on healthy things including food. Your body has grown accustomed to what you’ve been feeding it. Don’t ruin race day by eating a greasy hamburger, 7- layer lasagna or sushi. Lesson learned. Believe me!
- Walk through the water stations. This is a tip I heard before my first half. They said you won’t lose much time slowing down to drink a cup of water or Gatorade and it’s hard to drink it while running anyway. You’ll just end up all wet. So do your body a favor and hydrate.
- You will want to stop. Whether it’s during a training run or the actual race, your body will want you to stop. It happens to me all the time, but it’s all in your head. Just keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. Walk if you want to, but DON’T STOP. The finish line is closer with every step. You can rest (and poop) when you’re done.
- Runner’s trots. It’s real and it’s not pretty. One time after the finish I had an emergency poop situation and found the closest port-o-potty and spent, what seemed like 30 minutes in there. Thank goodness it was near where the band was playing or I would have been embarrassed.
- It’s your own race. I’m not an elite runner so my finish time really only matters to me. Run your best, have “fun”, and try not to be too hard on yourself. I’m always happy to cross the finish line, glad that I survived another race, and secretly hope that I beat my husband’s time. Now it’s time to eat, sleep and complain about my body hurting the next few days.
I “love” running. Well, I kind of love/hate it, but I keep doing it. Next year our goal is to run the year (2020 miles). I’m not crazy, so I’ll be splitting the miles with Shaun. Running 2.8 miles a day doesn’t sound so bad, does it?!
