The Beckwiths!: Half-Marathon: Review

Last week Sunday I completed my first half-marathon! I never in a million years thought that phrase would come out of my mouth.

I am seriously so proud of myself. I ran the entire thing, and only wanted to stop running once around mile 9. My finish time was 2:25:34, which averages out to 11:07 minute miles!

If you have ever thought about running give it a try. I had attempted to become a "runner" a few times, but always failed. This summer I thought I would give it another try, and this time I actually stuck with it. It really help me to have a group of women that were running the half marathon with me because we were able to hold each other accountable and talk about how our running was going. I seriously started the summer not even being able to run one mile without being winded, and now I can comfortable do about six miles.

I followed the following training guide:

Week	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
1	3	Rest	3	3	Rest	4	Rest	13
2	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	5	Rest	15
3	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	6	Rest	16
4	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	8	Rest	19
5	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	10	Rest	21
6	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	11	Rest	24
7	4	Rest	6	4	Rest	12	Rest	26
8	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	9	Rest	22
9	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	8	Rest	18
10	3	Rest	3	Walk 2	Rest	13.1 (Race!)	Rest	21.1

This plan comes from this website. I didn't start using this plan right away, I was running about three times a week for a month before I started. Once I was able to run three miles without dying, I started to use this plan.

I also cannot stress enough how important stretching is! Make sure you stretch before and after every run. When I run on a treadmill I usually walk for about 3 minutes prior to starting any run just to get warmed up, but when I run outside I just start off running.

You can do it! Just have faith in yourself and keep pushing through, even when you have days where you feel like you just can't run, or you just can't do it anymore.

Here are some pictures on race day: