My Half Marathon Tips

As you guys might have seen I ran my first half marathon on the weekend, which was something I never thought I’d do! Training for it was pretty hard and a serious mental challenge for me, but I’ve learnt a huge amount along the way and lots of you were kind enough to share tips with me so I thought I should share mine back again!

Do Other Types of Exercise

I’ve always had sightly dodgy knees and ankles, so just running was never going to work for me so I did lots of other types of exercise to get fit. I found doing this not only saved my joints but it also kept me more motivated, stopped me from getting bored and I think it increased my fitness much quicker. I did spinning, boxing, weight training, pilates and yoga alongside my running and together they worked wonders! I was told by so many people, especially PT’s, that building muscle and strength across my whole body would really help and they couldn’t have been more right. The longer the run was the harder it was on my muscles, but my running speed and distance increased so quickly once I started training as I’d spend the few before hand getting fit through other forms of exercise. Four weeks in to my running training I could comfortably run about 10 miles before my legs turned to jelly and I felt I needed to stop! Doing lots of yoga also meant that I was never overly tight or stiff, so I was able to run again sooner without feeling like a robot.

Get a Running Buddy 

I somehow managed to rope my fiancé into running the half marathon with me, much to his horror, but it was the best thing I did! We did all the training together and I think I would have quit after about two runs without him! When you’re not feeling motivated it really helps to have someone kick you out of bed and force you to start running, likewise when your half way through a long run and just want to roll around on the grass and then go home it helps that you’re with someone else as it’s harder to quit! So rope in a girlfriend, boyfriend, partner, friend, colleague or even your dog – but find someone who can help inspire you.

Download Some Running Apps

I started off using Couch to 5K, which was great, it really helped me ease into my initial training and once I got to 5k I was then brave enough and confident enough to try going a little further. I also used the app Strava and/or Run Keeper to map all my runs, I found it so helpful to see how quickly I could run a km as it meant I could track my progress really easily. The more I progressed the more I was motivated to push a little harder, as I could see that I was running a km in a quicker time than the week before. In just a few weeks I was able to go from running a km in over 7 and a half minutes to about 6 minutes, which was awesome to see! There are so many apps out there and everyone has their own favourite that I’ve spoken to, so maybe try them all first, but I’d really recommend using one of them.

Invest in a Great Sports Bra! 

I know this sounds ridiculous but wow it helped! There’s literally nothing worse than jiggly boobs while you’re running, feeling supported made running so much easier. The first run I did was in a yoga top and wow that felt so bizarre! After that I went straight out and invested in some good bras and I’m incredibly thankful for them. I found compressing, running leggings so helpful too – I really like feeling supported and compressed as I run for some reason!

Have a Gait Analysis 

This was the best tip I was given by you guys, I think it saved my knees, ankles, back and hips – basically my whole body! I was so shocked by how sore my joints were after my first few runs, which were only a few km’s long. It seemed so strange to me that I was really fit from spinning etc but yet so sore from a short 20 min jog. I took the advice to go and get a gait analysis, which is when you go to a running shop or somewhere like Nike and they film you running on a treadmill to see how much your joints distort. I had this done, got a pair of trainers that stopped my ankles from collapsing when I took a step and that was that! I never got sore joints again on any distance under 15km, which felt like a miracle. I was pretty dismissive of the tool before I did it, I just assumed it was a way for someone to sell me expensive new trainers but it absolutely wasn’t and it was probably the most helpful thing I did!

Don’t Push Yourself Too Hard

It might sound weird but it is meant to be a (semi) enjoyable experience and you have to train for it for a few months at the least, so there’s no point hating every second of it and pushing yourself too hard. We made a rule that if it was pouring with rain, we were exhausted or not feeling great that we’d never run – we never wanted it to feel like a serious punishment. Don’t get me wrong, I was not excited about every run and I didn’t enjoy them all, but I didn’t make myself do it when it wasn’t the right thing for me physically or mentally. If your body is exhausted from a previous run or workout then give it the time and space it needs to recover before you go again. You can only do your best, and you know what that is – it doesn’t matter what other people can run it in.

Take Lots of Baths

Epsom salt baths with magnesium flakes, bath oil and some essential oils helped my mind and muscles so much, especially after my longer runs. I found them so soothing and nourishing when my muscles were tiered. It was also so nice to run in the evening and know that you were going home to soak in a relaxing bath, it really helped me get to the end of each run!

Eat Eat Eat!

The best thing about running is the excuse to literally eat your entire kitchen! People kept telling me about carb loading for long runs when I said I was doing this and to start with I just thought they were exaggerating the importance and finding an excuse to eat buckets of pasta. Then one day I recipe tested a huge stack of blueberry pancakes and ate enough for at least five people, the next morning I did a 12km run (which at the time was the longest I tried) and it felt like an absolute breeze! From then on I loaded up on brown rice pasta, oaty pancakes, porridge, rye toast etc the day before and it helped so much. I simply couldn’t do the long runs without the extra fuel and it always made a huge difference to my speed and endurance. On the day I took some dates with me to fuel me through the race, which I think worked quite well – I didn’t want to use the gel packs that everyone else was using so decided some sweet medjool dates would be my pick me up instead.

I hope this gives you some ideas and inspiration if you’re thinking of running too! I’d never run before a few months ago and am absolutely not an expert but these were the tips and tricks that enabled me to run the half marathon so fingers crossed they may help some other beginners too. If you’ve a serious runner and have even more ideas then please leave them in the comments below, I’m sure both myself and everyone else would love to read them!

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