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today's featured blogger is smitha from running with sd mom. she's done quite a few half marathons, and somehow always manages to be smiling while she runs! somebody who is this positive is definitely the kind of person you want running advice from, right?
what was your first half marathon? Carlsbad Half Marathon
how long had you been running before you decided to tackle the half marathon distance? I only started running on March 26, 2013 and did my first Half on 1/19/14!!
did you use a training plan to prepare for the race? if so, which one? I used my RunMeter app! I used it from day 1 and followed the Half Marathon plan on it.
did you have any goals going in to the race? I just wanted to finish it without walking.
did you have any worries going in to the race?how did it turn out? I had never run 13.1 miles before and I was so scared I wouldn’t have it in me. I wanted to be faster than 2:30 and I was. I finished at 2:25.
what kind of fueling strategy did you use during the race? I ate half a Luna bar before the race along with the Vega pre workout energizer (I swear by this!) and during the race, I carried a fuel belt by Nathan and had Nuun in it. I also used Clif Shot Bloks at mile 6!
what was the highlight of the race for you? At Mile 12.9 when I saw my husband and 2 kids smiling and cheering and cowbelling! That was the push I needed to get over the finish line!
how did you celebrate after finishing your first half marathon? I wanted to go get drinks and Mexican food but found that I couldn’t eat a THING! After I ate the banana that was handed out, I couldn’t eat anything else until 8 hours later at dinner time. I also was not metabolizing the alcohol very well. I think my body was sucking in the water part of it and burning the beer!
have you done/are you planning to do more half marathons?why or why not? I have done 2 more since and by publication will have done 4. I do them because every single one is a different mental and physical toughness challenge. Eventually I would like to do one Full marathon but I like the Half distance. You don’t use up a ton of time training and it is easy to put in a 10 mile run on the weekends.
what advice do you have for a runner going in to their first half marathon? I would say make sure you hydrate WELL the WEEK before the Half. If you drink a ton the day before, that will just make you have to pee the day of the race. Also, I would say experiment with all the fuel before the actual race and ALWAYS lay out your stuff the night before. You don’t want to be stressing about where everything is that morning. Plan everything aboutgetting to the race out so you have one less thing to stress about!
check out more from smitha on her blog, and follow her along on twitter, instagram, and facebook! thanks again for contributing!
