Lessons From My First Half Marathon

After a few decades of loving, teaching, and trying new forms of fitness, I’ve learned a lot. And since my longest-loves (so far) are Pilates and running, the number of lessons under my belt is huge! Every challenge we take on or when we try something new, we learn a lesson that aids our next attempt. The lessons I learned from my first half marathon have informed every race I’ve trained for since. 

I Never Planned to Run A Marathon

When I took up running again, it was because I wanted to be able to get in a workout quickly and easily when I needed to. If I had a busy day, I could lace up my sneakers and get out the front door with no prep. When my daughters were at basketball practice or we went on vacation, I could use pockets of time to run, move my body, and clear my head. I had no intention of doing anything more than maybe an odd 5km or 10km fun run, let alone running anything with the word “marathon” in it. 

Yet after less than a year of running with a great group of friends who were avid marathoners, I felt the urge to sign up. What can I say? My competitive nature and love for challenges couldn’t resist. Still, the plan was to run “just” a half, to see if I could do it. Nothing more! (And yes, I can hear you rolling your eyes at me.)

So I signed up, and had to include the length of time I thought it would take me to finish the 21.1km race. I had no clue. I guessed two hours and 10 minutes. I was excited, nervous, and had four months to train. What could go wrong? 

My First Half Marathon Training Mistakes

Now that I’m a run leader with Sole Experience Running Company, I’ve helped lots of people prepare for their first half marathon. The tips I give everyone?

• Run intervals.
• Run hills. 
• Practice running long.
• Practice your hydration and fuel on your long runs
• Cross-train with strength training, Pilates, and even other cardio.
• Do foam rolling & ball rolling.
• Get massages and see your chiropractor! 
• If something doesn’t feel quite right, stop your training and get assessed by a doctor. If you deal with it sooner you may miss a few practice runs, but it’s better than seriously injuring yourself and not being able to finish the race. 
• Get a running coach for personalized run programs or join a running club.
• Rest!

I’ll be honest; I didn’t follow my current advice, and I didn’t train well for my first half marathon at all. My friends were running sometimes four days a week, but I was only getting out two or three – and I only did a few long runs before race day. I thought I’d be fine since I did so much other cardio. Yet by race day, the furthest I’d ever gone was 15.25km. Yikes.

For my training runs, I’d do speed work one day and hill repeats on another. But by missing out on distance, I made a big mistake. Since my training was only intervals and short distances, I missed out on endurance training. This is what helps you learn to pace yourself, something that I struggled with in that first race; especially having an extra 5km to fit in! 

Do you think you’d be able to run 5km longer than you ever have on your first try? 

To be fair, your success would depend on what other exercises you do beyond running. Leading up to that first half marathon, I was weight training two to three times a week; plus I taught spin (great interval cardio) and a mix of other classes, adding up to ten to twelve classes a week. I was also teaching Pilates classes, but wasn’t making time for my own practice. I know better now.

Would I still recommend training this way for a half marathon? Absolutely not. Not if you want to avoid injuries, run a good race with a good time, and keep running as a regular part of your life.

The Lessons From My First Half Marathon

A big lesson from my first half marathon is that distance practice is a must. Ask any first time marathoner! They’ll all tell you how they started out too fast, caught up in the excitement and the crowds. If you’ve done enough distance running, you’ll have a better feeling of what your pace should be, without even looking at your watch. You’ll start to just feel it. 

The most surprising thing I learned from that half marathon, though, was that I was good at running. This might surprise you based on all the things I did wrong. But thanks to my fitness background (and probably my youth!), I had a really good race. A lot of people set a goal of finishing their first half marathon in less than two hours. I may have registered with a goal of two hours ten minutes, but my internal goal was to simply finish by doing as much running (and as little walking) as possible. I finished in one hour forty-seven minutes. 

With the wisdom of present-day Melissa, it turns out that I was doing a lot of things right in my training, after all. 

What I Did Right

• Cross-training. The combination of running, spinning, and teaching cardio classes all helped with my race cardio.
• Lifting weights. Functional strength training helped me to build the full-body strength needed for running.
• Foam Rolling and ball rolling. This massaged my muscles and fascia for faster healing and to work out those extra-tight spots.
• Pilates. Pilates is ideal for strength, stretch, mobility and body awareness. 
• Rest days. I always took Thursdays and sometimes Sundays off to give my body time to rejuvenate. 

What I Could Have Done Better

• Long Runs. In future training, I had more successful runs by running three to four times a week… And never missing the long runs.
• More Pilates. I should have done more of it! As I became more consistent with my long runs, I would recover and perform better and faster when I did Pilates regularly.  

Read More: 5 Great Pilates Exercises for Runners

Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, as they say. Yes, I was proud of my race. But the lessons I learned from my first half marathon helped me become a better runner and fitness instructor. So if you are thinking of running your first marathon, taking up a new sport, or even just starting moving again after some time away, take advantage of the myriad of fitness professionals, trainers, and mentors that are out there. 

If you’re local, I’d love to see you in one Sole Experience run groups or in the b.Pilates & Fitness Studio! And for those further away, there’s the b.Pilates & Fitness App with the Mat Pilates for Beginners program, or the Sweat with Melissa monthly subscription. And if you aren’t sure where to go for help, reach out anyway. I’m sure to have a recommendation to suit where you are at in your journey.