I officially completed my first half marathon, Dawn of the Dunes, last week. There is no doubt that I am super proud to have finished and will at some point do another one. For now I’m going to enjoy a little break from hard core training to run when I feel like it and deal with a few major life changes going on.
As a newbie half marathon runner I thought I would share with you lessons I learned on my first half marathon. Some were duh moments where I should’ve listened to other bloggers and some where thoughts I had along the way.
Mistakes I Made At My First Half Marathon
One. Drive the course first. I made the mistake of trusting the advertising that there were two major hills and the course was a “quick/flat” course that was great for marathoners trying to qualify for Boston. It was anything but flat. Had I known that I probably would’ve picked a different half marathon all together.
Two. Don’t set yourself a time goal. If you do, don’t be disappointed if you don’t hit it. I tried so hard not to set a goal but I really wanted to finish around 2 hours. You know what, I finished in 2 hours and 14 minutes and in the end I could be disappointed. It was my first half and I hit a lot of unexpected things along the way.
Three. Pace yourself and don’t get cocky with the initial adrenaline rush. Trust me, you’ll regret it at mile 12.
Positive Thoughts From My First Half Marathon
One. Really pay attention to the weather. I went back and forth 200 times on what to wear. In the end I was hot at some points and cold at others. There really wasn’t a winning situation. Then again, that is what happens when you run in the Fall!
Two. Find a training plan and stick with it. I LOVED my half marathon training plan. Even though towards the end I had to do less runs so I could rest my knee it gave me the confidence to go into the half and know that I could do it.
Three. Have a support team and place them throughout the course. We had a lot of empty spots along the course where it would’ve been awesome to have someone cheering. While it isn’t always possible it was great when my family showed up at certain points to surprise me! If you know that there will be a long break from spectators, plan your music wisely.
Four. Plan your water out and prepare for the worst. We had stops every 2 miles but some were either not prepared when runners came by or were out of water completely. Know what is coming and ask others who have run it in the past what the experience was. Next time I will carry water with me.
Five. Enjoy it. You only run your first half once. It is an experience like none other.
Have you run a half before? What advice do you have?
[…] my head I planned on taking 3 full weeks off after my first half marathon. I learned a lot of things from my first half marathon and one of those was “rest” when you are injured. I’ve been fighting a knee […]
[…] of my close friends by my side and my family cheering me on and it was incredible. While we learned a lot of lessons from the half marathon it was an overall great experience. I loved it so much, I decided to do it again at the Glass […]
Very nice article, Kristin! I can completely understand the mistakes that you’ve made and am really thankful to you for sharing those with us. For every runner who is new to running, it does feel tempting to skip some elements from our beginner training plan. When we do that though, we create more harm by increasing chances of instigating a running injury. It is very important to keep working hard and remember to enjoy it!
Running a 2:14 in your very first half marathon is extremely impressive Kristin. This was in 2014 right? Where are you at now? I am sure you have run below 2 hours. SO many runners are trying to break this time barrier and so few can run as fast as you have. Wishing you continued success in 2023.