21.1km… approximately the distance from my house to the zoo and to my favourite shopping mall. It’s also the distance of a half marathon. While I typically drive to the Zoo and the mall, on Sunday I ran the 21 K. It was my first half-marathon in four years. My first since having kids.
Unlike my first half marathon that I ran when I was 24, I actually had to train for this one. My training wasn’t too crazy. I ran about once or twice a week for 12 weeks prior to the race. The longest run that I completed while training was 16km. I didn’t do any hill training or speed work. So while not impressive, the training did help obviously and I knew that come race day, I would run faster due to adrenalin and my competitive nature.
The half marathon took place in Hamilton, Ontario. While late in the season, we signed up for this one because a) it gave us an extra two weeks to train and b) it’s an easy course with a lot of downhill. It’s known as the fastest Boston qualifier in Canada. I finished at a time of 2:03. While decent, it wasn’t my personal best. However, it was -2 degrees out and the wind was super strong. My husband on the other end finished in 1:27, coming in 49th place overall! We obviously didn’t run together 🙂
For anyone interested or considering a half marathon there are lots of great training plans to help you prepare. It is a great way to encourage yourself to get in better shape while training with a specific goal in mind. There is no required finishing time and everyone is free to run at their own pace… so get out and do it!
While I’m done for the season and I plan on hibernating for the winter, I’m hoping to run another half in the spring / summer.
At some point I really hope to run a full marathon! Have you ever ran a half or a full marathon? Love it OR hate it? Any advice. I would love to hear about your experience.
maya, not sure if you’re interested in a travelling half marathon? check out http://www.seawheeze.com/run/about-seawheeze/ it’s an amazing weekend in vancouver with yoga and a sunset festival surrounding the race. There is a group of my family and friends who have done it for it’s debut 2 years. We’d love to have you (John and your boys) join us!… and you’d have a place to stay in squamish if you want to come early or stay afterwards!
Hey Dawn! Will def. have to check this out. Always looking for an excuse to come out west. Thanks for sharing. xoxo
awwwwww! do it 🙂 🙂 🙂 xoxo
Aargh..I tried training for one before I had kids but pulled some far-flung tendon or something in my inner groin. Now, 4 yrs later I can’t run without re-injuring it. I did walk the half-marathon and it was at least a nice day – listened to music and enjoyed the scenery. Way to go and look forward to stories of future conquests!
Honestly… good for you for walking the half-marathon. That is not an easy feat. Too bad about the injury. unfortunately, it’s all too common 🙁 I hope to write a post about a full-marathon soon…. 🙂