THEN:
2 weeks before my first half back in September I wrote a post called "The Hay is in the Barn" (click HERE to check it out)
2 weeks before my first half I was feeling extremely confident about my training. I felt comfortable with the race course because we had trained on it several times. I felt at ease as I had studied the course map and pretty much memorized the route as well as the locations of the water stations.
Most importantly, 2 weeks before my first half marathon I knew I could go the distance because I had run 13 miles twice before in training runs in addition to a 6 other runs of 10+ mile runs. I knew I could all the way!
NOW:
Now it's 2 weeks before my second half marathon which is 8 weeks after my first half. Now, none of the confidence I had with my first half marathon is with me crrently. I have never seen, let alone trained on, the course (except for a video of the route which I have seen at least 10 times). I have no confidence I can go the distance. My long runs in the past couple of weeks are a bunch of 5 milers, an 8 miler, and one 10.5 miler. I haven't gone 13.1 miles since 9/25 and am fairly certain that I can't any more. I'm not like everyone else in the blogosphere - I'm not a finely tuned athlete who can just decide to run 20 miles because it's a nice day and it feels good. "C" and I have invested a lot of time and money in this upcoming race. We have had to pay not only for the race, but also for airfare, hotel, ground transportation, and food. We both have to take 2 days off of work. It's a huge investment and I'm not trained properly.
What a difference 8 weeks makes!
This is what my hay barn looks like for this upcoming race:
Have you ever done a race without having enough mileage under your belt? How did you get through? What advice do you have?
T minus 13 days - YIKES!!!!!!!!!!
Don't worry. You're going to go down there and have a great time. You WILL be able to do the race. Just relax and enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteYou'll be absolutely fine. Most people doing a half marathon never run 13 beforehand. 10.5 is plenty. You may not PR, but you'll finish. Most of races this length (and longer) is 50% mental. You've done this distance before, you'll do it again in 2 weeks.
ReplyDeleteyoull totally be fine!!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I never prepared well for any of my 3 half marathons. I never ran more than 10 miles in a long run, and I skipped my long runs verrrrrry frequently. I finished all 3, no issues.
My last one, I was with my brother who was more underprepared than me. He crapped out at mile 9 and we walked most of the remaining 4 miles. but we made it. And dont be worried about not know the race course. I never have. Ive traveled for most of my races and have never run on the roads before. not a big deal at all.
I have 2 halfs in february and my goal is to train better for these that I've ever trained for a race. I am not a finely tuned athlete. I am a chubby girl who likes to run, who is telling you that you can totally rock it!
Remember, you are a half marathoner. So go down there and show everyone how it is done. "L"
ReplyDeleteIf you believe you can you will. And I know you can. This will be my fourth half-marathon and I am more prepared for this one than my first two. I finished both of these on my own with no "buddy" running with me. We will have each other the entire 13.1 miles. We are going to finish and have a blast doing it!
ReplyDeletegirl... get your confidence back!! you are so ready for this race!! you've got 2 weeks... and before mine i ran the longest of 10 miles... and didn't run 2 weeks before the race at all!! You will be fine! :)
ReplyDeleteDon't worry! There is nothing wrong with making this a fun run and not a PR. YOU CAN RUN 13.1. There is no reason why you can't! You've done it before. Don't worry about knowing the course either. I live in FW and never even ran or rode the course. Heck I only looked at the map the day before the race. Enjoy Florida! You deserve it :)
ReplyDelete