7 Tips to Jump into a Half-Marthon without training
First thing to know is that the power of a great crowd is really inspiring. You can do way more than you think when you tap into that energy.
1. The Right shoes (aka Listening to my own body)
As in most of life, I’m realizing I have to trust myself. I always liked how Asics felt, but never bought them because the “experts” told me they were not right for my feet. I bought minimalist shoes from other brands. And my feet would hurt, a lot. When I finally went with what I like — (The Asics Gel Kayano) it was a game changer.
2. Right technique
I watched the video of the main coach in Born to Run (incredible book). The high knees approach worked well for me. If I had followed it the whole time I would probably have no soreness, but the last couple miles I did an all-out, forget-form sprint to get under two hours.
3. Short runs in advance.
Rather than a hard training, I did just a couple 3–4 mile runs.
4. Hot Yoga
I did several hot yoga classes to loosen me up. I also did one massage, focused on hips and psoas. Some may call this “training” but man is this way easier than going out and running nine miles.
5. Stretching
I went to Stretch Zone and heard a stretch philosophy I had never heard before. They said, the point is not to stretch hard. The point is to gradually increase the mind’s trust that what we are doing with the body is safe, so that it lets go. Since then it takes longer to stretch but I can feel my body easing into it.
6. My morning drink
This has been working so well for me, everyday. I do a cup of bone broth and mix it with a tablespoon of coconut oil, and a tablespoon of MCT oil and some pink salt. Great mix of protein and fat. Tastes great and fills me up.
7. Little water and no food on the run.
This really surprised me. I thought I’d need a ton of water, plus a bunch of those gels. Instead, hydrating well before and then having just a couple of the small sip cups every couple miles worked really well for me.
One more thing. The inspiration from this podcast episode was big for me.
In a 100 mile race, David Goggins ran 70 miles, breaking the bones in his feet and entirely hitting the wall. He couldn’t even walk and yet somehow convinced himself he could run 30 more miles. When I hit mile 11 and wanted to stop, I remembered this and hit my all-out sprint.
