First Half Marathon Tips | How To Run Your First Half Marathon

it's really raining so you're planning on running a half marathon maybe at this point you've already run a 5k and a 10k and you're looking for the next challenge to run that 13.1 miles well I'm Anna and today on the running channel I'm gonna be giving you a few tips on how to run your first half marathon we're going to go through training how to set your pace how to fuel how to tackle those long runs and all importantly race day itself if you're new around here we upload new videos every week all about running so make sure you hit the subscribe button below and tap the bell icon to make sure you get notified when we do the half marathon is a great distance it's one that is going to be a challenge for you to train for but unlike a marathon the training for it isn't likely to consume all over your spare time and it's also quicker and easier to recover from a half marathon too so there's less pressure on you for it all to go perfectly the first time rounds so when you're embarking on a half marathon training program the thing to remember is that it's probably going to take around 10 to 12 weeks to be ready to run the half marathon that assumes that you've got a decent level of fitness going into it and realistically you should only be thinking about running a half marathon if you can comfortably run 5 miles in one go already if you can't that's absolutely fine but you are going to need to factor that into your training block before you embark on a particular half marathon training program so do be aware that it could take up to around 16 weeks to train for a half marathon so make sure you bear that in mind when you're picking a particular race if you've got a solid base of fitness going into training for a half marathon then you're less likely to pick up an injury along the way don't leave it too tight on time either give yourself a bit of wiggle room when it comes to the weeks leading up to your half marathon because that way if you do get injured or you get sick and need to miss a couple of training runs here and there then it's less likely to have an impact come race day half marathon is 13.1 miles or 21 kilometres what that doesn't mean is that you're going to run your half marathon in twice the time it would take you to run a 10k it just doesn't work out like that but if you're thinking about running your first half marathon then you probably are going to want to set a goal time so how do you go about working out what that might be well it all depends on your current and historic levels of fitness and where you're currently at with your running when you're picking a training plan it can be a beginners and intermediate or a more advanced plan and those plans will take into consideration how experienced you are and can include different types of runs so things like threshold runs or tempo runs and there's more on that's in our video on the running channel about understanding different paces for any stat fans out there the average half marathon finish time for men is two hours in five minutes and for women it's two hours in twenty three plus if you're wondering about the elites well for men like Mo Farah they finish in just under an hour and the top women athletes finish in just over an hour so there's some benchmarks to get your head around my best advice though is to go into your race with three goals plan a plan B and Plan C plan a is going to be a bit of a stretch of a goal so something that you would be over the moon with plan B is going to be something a little more realistic that you'd be super happy with as well and plan C well that is to finish it and say hey do you know what I came and I've gone home with a medal since most of us will take longer than 90 minutes to complete a half marathon you're going to need to think about taking on some fuel in the form of carbs along the way during the race this is because your body can only store enough carbs to get you running for around 60 minutes maybe up to 90 at a push we are all different there so most people will carb load before running a half marathon so that is increasing the amount of carbohydrates you're having about two to three days before race day that's because you can't get all of your carbohydrates from just one meal the key here is to not go overboard though carb loading isn't about stuffing in chip but ease and loads of potato and rice pasta it's about substituting some of the things out of your evening meal and putting some more carbohydrates in so think about things with low GI so sort of grainy breads brown rice brown pasta that sort of thing lentils are good as well and don't have too big of a meal the night before you race either because that could sit quite heavy in your stomach and cause you problems with sleeping and also feel a bit blur the next day as well as thinking about taking on extra carbohydrates in the run-up to race day you also need to be thinking about how you're going to refuel during the race itself so that's where things like energy gels sports drinks and jelly babies come into it so have a practice with those during your training and see what works for you the experts recommend you should be taking on between thirty to sixty grams of carbohydrates per hour now obviously all depends on whether you're male or female in how much you weigh so that's why it's really important to practice during training have a little look and see if you can find what products are going to be handed out during the race itself as well so you can practice with those because then it means that you don't have to carry as much with you when you're training for your first half marathon chances are you're going to end up running the furthest you've ever run before which can be an amazing feeling but can also feel quite daunting too don't be overwhelmed by it though when you go out for your long runs which most plans will have you doing at least once a week break it down into more manageable chunks so for example I might break it down into three park runs or if the route that you're doing is a square then break it down into each one of those four bits so that you know where you're out during your runs as you lead up to race day the last two to three weeks will see your long runs come down in volume and also in effort to don't reduce the frequency though your body's got used to running regularly so you should still be going out the same number of times as you have been except in the actual week leading up to race day itself then depending on how many runs you've been doing each week you should try and cut or two out now this is known as tapering and you can find out loads more information about tapering in our video on the running channel about that so with tapering it's normal to feel a little bit rubbish because you're running less than you're used to and this is completely normal so don't let it freak you out your long runs will probably see you running up to around ten miles or so most training plans won't have you run the full distance before race day which can raise a lot of questions like how do I know I'm actually going to be able to run that far on the day itself well you can and you will so the combination of the taper and having fresh legs the adrenaline from the crowd to boost you will make sure that you get to the finish line and cover the full distance on the day while we're on the subject of those long runs let's talk a little bit about pace your long runs while training for a half marathon should be run at an easy conversational pace so you should be able to hold a conversation whilst running don't worry too much about the minutes per miles or the minutes per kilometres as long as you're able to talk while you're running then you're going at the right pace learning your race pace is a huge factor to making sure that you're not going to run out of steam halfway through your half marathon pace so you should try and run a couple of runs during the week at your target race pace now don't worry too much about the longer runs that will be run at a slower pace maybe 60 to 90 seconds per mile slower than race pace but trying them build in a few miles into the longer runs that will be run at your target race pace try and practice race pace as well during your training by signing up to a 5k or a timed event maybe a park run or even a local 10k that way you can practice your race pace in an environment that has other people running around you some beginners feel like they don't want to take a walk break during a half marathon race because it may make them look like a failure but this is not the case at all in fact using the run walk methods or Jeffie as it's also known can be a really smart race strategy because it can help you avoid the muscle fatigue that can start to set in towards the end of the race if you'd like more tips on how to Jeff be sure to check out our video on that one [Music] enjoy the day because it will be like nothing you've experienced before no matter how well supported your chosen race is there will be people all along the way cheering you on including volunteers so make sure you say thank you to them and the most common things that can crop up during a half marathon are cramp and blisters and hitting a mini wall a bit like you would in a marathon where you've run out of energy but if you've trained hard you've invested in the right kit you've practiced your fueling before race day hopefully you'll manage to avoid these things people do sometimes give up the mental battle when it starts to get tough and you start to hurt but don't let those voices in your head tell you you can't do it if this is your first half marathon you may have an overwhelming fear that you're going to be the last person to cross the finish line if you're planning on running some or all of the race though chances are that's very unlikely as there'll be lots of people who are planning on walking the whole thing anyway and even if you are last or close to last it really doesn't matter think of the achievement of getting out there and getting it done it really doesn't matter where you come so some tips for getting over those mental battles why don't you pick a mantra something easy and positive and short that you can say over and over to yourself to help keep your mind focused on those positive thoughts or you could even try and dedicate each mile of the 13.1 miles to someone special so when you hit each mile you think about them and some funny stories the things that you've done together and that will help take your mind off the task at hand and hopefully see those miles tick by a lot quicker hopefully there are lots of tips there that will help you on your journey to your first half marathon most importantly smile look up take it all in it's such an accomplishment to get across the finish line and working hard through training we'll get you there don't forget to subscribe to the running channel for more videos like this we upload new ones every week we'll see you next time you

Channel: The Running Channel

Views: 416,676

Keywords: running, sports, half marathon, half marathon tips, half marathon training, running tips, running training, my first half marathon, half marathon training for beginners, half marathon race, half marathon training schedule, half marathon training plan for beginners, half marathon training blog, half marathon nutrition, half marathon tips race day, half marathon tips for beginners, half marathon tips for first timers, half marathon tips on the day, first half marathon tips

Id: ilqMvP-8Doc

Length: 11min 27sec (687 seconds)

Published: Fri May 10 2019