It is time to start half marathon training again and I am not going to lie, I am slightly terrified this time around. In 2020 I was signed up for three races, I started training and got to about the 10KM mark and races started getting cancelled so that was it. Needless to say, since then there hasn’t been much running happening. All the biking and hiking does not quite make up for running 21 kilometres unfortunately.
I still have the goal of running a full marathon at some point but since it has been a couple of years since I’ve ran a race I decided to take it back to basics so to speak. I am signed up for the Whistler Half Marathon which I have done before and loved!
When it came to choosing a race this year the Whistler race was an easy choice. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the course last time I also happen to have a free bike tune up waiting for me and there is also a shop that sells Australian meat pies… I think it was mostly for the meat pies if I’m being honest.
I decided to follow the same training plan that I never finished from the past couple of years. I am starting out easy to just to get back in to the swing of things. Since the start is more about getting back in to the routine than it is about the workouts it involves a lot of at home workouts. Quick and easy workouts that can be done anytime. From there I build up to running three days a week with some sort of cross training mixed in. With the constant changing rules these days this plan is a loose guide that is subject to change, as long as I get the distance in the rest is just icing on the cake!
One tip I will give to anyone looking to start running longer distances is to keep up with some sort of cross training. It keeps the knees from getting too sore and it also helps to keep from getting bored with the running. In the past hot yoga has been my go to for cross training with some biking and hiking mixed in.
So while I am not looking forward to the sore muscles I am excited to get back to the routine of running again. My only goal this time around is to actually make it to the race. I am not too keen to repeat the last two years of starting training and then it being kiboshed part way through.
If you would like to follow along with my training plan, you can check out my training plan here.
