And so it begins! My training for the half marathon is officially underway. Although I have been running for roughly 6 years, and constantly running for almost a year now, I have never run as far as 21km. Alongside a friend of mine, I will be training for the next 3 months in preparation for the upcoming half marathon towards the end of May. This is a test of not only my physical abilities but also my mental abilities to be able to push myself further than I ever have before. Through this challenge I expect to grow in my understanding of myself by learning both my limits and abilities. While I do not expect this journey to be easy, I am much looking forward to it as running is an activity that brings me great pleasure!
To kick things off I began with a 10km run around Elk Lake this past Sunday. This is currently my favourite run in the Victoria area. The trail immerses you almost entirely in the forest; it is hard to believe at times that you are running right next to a highway! Through out the trail you can catch beautiful glimpses of the lake and of wild life, all of which help to keep the motivation high!
Typically I run with friends, but this past Sunday I did the run on my own. At times, this felt slightly harder as I didn’t have the distraction that I normally do. That being said, by the end of it was glad to have accomplished my run by myself as it provided me with the time I needed to reflect and rest my brain coming off a busy school week.
My goal for the half marathon is not to complete it with a certain amount of time (although I would like to keep it around 2 hours), but rather just to finish the race. As I said before, I have never run that far before, so simply finishing the 20km would be an accomplishment of its own. I ran my Sunday run at a slower pace than I normally do when I run shorter distances. My average pace 5:30mins/km. The 10km that I did on Sunday had an average of 6:03mins/km, so slightly slower than I normally run. I am not, however, concerned as that was an ideal pace for a run of that length. In total, it took me one hour exactly to complete. If I can maintain that pace for the half marathon, I would finish the run in two hours time!
To track my runs I use the Nike Run Club app. The app tracks exactly where you run, as well as calculating your averages and your calories burnt. The app also shows you where where slower or faster to be able to observe and adjust habits. To help keep you motivated, the Nike Run Club app, constantly gives you achievements for your runs. I had originally downloaded the app to use their half-marathon training feature, which sets you up with a personalized training plan. However, I found that feature of the app difficult to customize, and the runs were often not what I needed for my goals (i.e. sprit interval training). I have since adapted how I use the app and have developed a training program of my own. All being said, I would highly recommend this app to anyone who runs!
Looking forward to continuing this journey!