Training for that First Half Marathon
3 mindful tips for enjoying endurance runs
With awareness comes the possibility of control and improvement, of progress and mastery—and, ultimately, of new possibility.—Eric Orton, The Cool Impossible
I never truly appreciated running, not until I trained for a half marathon. I’ve been running for decades, competitively back in high school and then recreationally afterwards. But when I went through the arduous process of training for a half marathon, I finally developed a runner’s mind. Training for a Half involved hours of running every week with the long run — that epic run with increasingly longer distances leading up to 13 miles — happening on the weekends, sometimes with a running buddy but often on my own. So, I had a lot of time to reflect during these long hours on the road and trail, and those weeks of training carried me through a gamut of emotions — excitement, hope, drudgery, determination, acceptance, and finally appreciation.
I look forward to running now — rain or shine, hills or no hills, in a new city to explore or simply at home to wake up. While training for the Half, I picked up a few tips that transformed the way I viewed running. Here are 3 mindful tips to help you mentally prepare for those long endurance runs.
Tip #1: Reframe—Think positively
I’ve been practicing a new habit over the last year, a positive behavior I emulate from someone I respect. It’s worked noticeably in diffusing arguments, reducing anxiety, and generally improving the overall morale or “atmosphere” of a room. I’ve begun reframing less than desirable situations, sometimes to comical effect. For example, when stuck in traffic, instead of being frustrated at the extremely inefficient stop-and-go crawl of surrounding cars, I joke with my husband and reframe the situation: “I’m thankful we get to spend this 1:1 time with each other. Let’s create our to-do lists.”
But in all seriousness, when I found myself complaining about something or dreading an upcoming task like my first double-digit long run, I would pause and reframe the situation. For example, instead of thinking “I have to run 10 miles this weekend,” I reframed it as “I want to run 10 miles this weekend.” And I kept repeating that in my mind over and over and over again. This subtle change of words did begin to affect my attitude.
Instead of viewing running as an obligation I needed to fulfill, I began to look forward to it. I wanted to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. I wanted to run through a National Park and feel that euphoric sensation of accomplishment and freedom. I wanted to play and I considered my long run a reward at the end of a hard week’s work. And since I now view running as something I want to do instead of something I have to do, I enjoy the endurance run.
Tip #2: Accept—Honor yourself
In the past, I would get disappointed with running, either discouraged with my pace or lack of endurance. I would compare my performance to goals that my current abilities didn’t support. Essentially, I didn’t accept where I was in my journey and as a result, the habit often fizzled out.
Training for a Half required me to adjust my attitude or else break my running habit again and never reach my goal. I learned to accept where I was in my journey from my current level of strength and endurance to even the day’s weather and terrain. I became more aware of myself and my surroundings—the gentle but long incline that required more effort, the slightly warmer than normal temperature that would tire me more quickly, the effects of the wine from the night before, or the lactic acid in my legs due to a heavy weightlifting session earlier in the week. I finally appreciated how my performance depended on so many factors and I learned to honor what my body could do on any given day.
During one week of my training, I remember my body was fighting a virus because my husband had a full-on cold. I felt slightly under the weather all week long. I simply ran what I could, a little slower and shorter than where I wanted to be in my training, but I honored what my body could do that week. I felt thankful my immune system was strong enough for me to continue working out at all. When I accepted current conditions of myself and the environment, I no longer judged myself but instead focused on the moment and enjoyed running simply for the sake of running.
Tip #3: Celebrate—Fist pump
There’s no sugar coating this: training for a half marathon is hard work. It takes commitment, determination, and also encouragement. In my training plan, I increased my long runs along a route that included the Golden Gate Bridge for the last few miles. Walking, let alone running, across the bridge is tough. There’s a gradual but long incline, strong winds, loud cars, and a lot of tourists gazing in awe at this engineering feat, completely unaware of runners. It’s one of my least favorite places to run in The City but it easily adds more than 2 miles to my long runs.
So, every time I ran across it, when I made it back on the return, I did a fist pump upon leaving the bridge. After surviving the hill, the gale force winds, and all the stresses of crowds and automobiles, I felt I deserved a fist pump. This fun and silly gesture always made me smile and sometimes even laugh when other people saw me and cheered with me.
I would also fist pump at the top of hills. There’s this one hill in the Presidio of San Francisco called Lover’s Lane—a half mile stretch with a 300 foot elevation gain. Runners love to do hill repeats there. When I trained for the North Face Endurance Trail Half Marathon, I made sure to include it as part of my long runs. It was at the end of my run, so I was already exhausted by the time I started the hill, and at the top—every single time—I did a fist pump, sometimes two, for a hill well climbed.
Running regularly allowed me to further develop self-awareness — how I felt before, during, and after each run. A light bulb finally clicked on — I went from just running to noticing nuances during my long runs. I noticed when I tended to get thirsty and hungry, when my shoulders started to tire, and when I began to slouch. I noticed when I ran longer distances, my legs would sometimes take a full 2 miles to warm up. I had been running for decades but it wasn’t until I started to develop a runner’s mind that I progressed tremendously in my running journey.
Reframing my thoughts, honoring my body, and celebrating little wins initially got me through all those long endurance runs, but post-race, this runner’s mind continues to shape my joy of running. And the more consistently I run, the more I am aware of my abilities, and the more I am able to fine tune and improve them. As Orton cautions, with improvement comes progress and mastery and ultimately, more possibilities. I welcome the possibilities.
Read on for final tips to thrive on race day.
