third time’s a charm - Naples Half Marathon
hi blog! today we are gonna be talking about the ultimate long run… a half marathon race! what sounds like torture to most is one of the most exciting (and challenging) hobbies of mine. I ran the Naples Half Marathon in January, and while it wasn’t my PR race, it reminded me that I can do hard things, and that running is FUN! even if it leaves you with two blood blisters. yikes.
here's what nobody tells you about running a half marathon: the hardest part isn't the race. it's the training and the lead up, knowing exactly what's coming and choosing to do it anyway.
this is what I’ve learned after tackling 3 bouts of 13.1:
the first time I trained for a half, it was with my sissy and we were traveling to Waco, TX - the Silo District Marathon weekend. I tried to ignore the mystery surrounding the race because it was my first one! I didn't know how mile 10 was going to feel. I didn’t know if I was gonna be one of those runners corrupted by a port-a-potty ifykyk. I didn't know what it was like to hit the wall and debate with yourself about whether walking in the race is actually so bad. I didn't know how loud the finish line would sound, or how completely it would undo me. I just let all the adrenaline buffer the discomfort. spoiler alert, I survived all of it! and loved it!
the second time, I knew all of the above. and I signed up again. by then I knew I could focus on training. I knew that THE MILES THAT MATTERED MOST weren’t my long saturday ones. they were the easy Tuesday recovery run I didn't skip. the miles on the treadmill when it was rainy and I would have rather slept in and skipped cardio. being successful was the combination of an intense cross country season and consistency in the time outside of practice, compounded over just the 8 weeks, I had before race day. that’s what showed up and helped me get a PR. since completing school and becoming a certified Exercise Physiologist, I can say that’s not just luck, but how aerobic adaptation works.
the third time around, I focused on the feeling. in all honesty, I signed up for this race kind of in a place of desperation. I had been knee-deep in an unfruitful job search and needed a win in my life. I needed to prove to myself that I was still capable of achieving hard things in less than optimal circumstances. I had not ran probably more than 5 miles each week leading up to the race. until the week before - that last weekend I ran 10 miles and was like well, if you make it through this without dying, you can show up on the start line and just go with the flow. if you think that sounds crazy, it very much is. BUT I knew I had a good foundation of cardio just from staying active in the gym! what got me through this race wasn’t being confident in some elite training plan, but knowing what was going to greet me at the end of it. THE FINISH LINE. a sense of satisfaction. the proud cheers from friends and celebratory voice messages from my family. the numbness in my right pinky toe to finally go away! knowing that I made it. everything that I was thinking of made the feeling of finishing so so sweet.
whether you know how a race is gonna go or not, sign-up is worth it. that, honestly, is the whole lesson. you may even PR in the process! if you're thinking about signing up for your first half, please just do it. and if you've already done one and you're wondering about a second, or third, or fourth, the answer is yes. races are like fine wine - they’re only better with time ;)
happy running my friends!
