Running 13.1
I have always been super active and into working out but I capped my running abilities at 3 miles and called it a day. My friends were signing up for a half marathon in Portland, Maine and it had always been a goal of mine to become a better long distance runner. I said screw it and signed up. I had three months to train and was ready to start. I ran my first 4 miles and was like ok ok this is great you got this. I ran 5 another day and then set a plan to run my first 7, which would be the longest I had run in my life. I had run a 10k (6.2 miles) in high school and thought I was going to die. Saturday morning came and I was running 7 miles, it was pouring rain, but I was determined. I started off great and came to mile 4 and was like oh boy I still have three more. Living in Boston and running is actually super challenging because you don’t realize how many hills there are until your trying to get up one on your feet.
I finished the 7 miles and was really proud of myself. I had no one telling me what to do, no one pushing me but myself. I kept this momentum up and ran three more 7 mile runs once a week and then went on to 9, which didn’t seem that daunting after you get used to 7. I ran one 10 mile run and my headphones died half way through so I wound up blasting music from my phone in my pants pocket, which was even better because I could focus on my surroundings more. My last big run before the race was going to be 12. I ran down the Charles River to the museum of science and back. When I hit 11 I thought my legs were breaking. I made it to 11.1 and had to stop. Up until this point I had managed to complete every run I had set out to finish. It felt weird stopping so close to where my goal was but I listened to my body and walked back. The next week was the race and I was only going to run one short 5 miles before Saturday came. I couldn’t even make it to 4 that day. I started to get nervous and second-guess all my hard work. I asked around and realized that it is actually really normal for your body to break down and be that tired right before the race. You work so hard and you don’t really allow yourself a break.
Race day came and I was lucky enough to run with four of my best friends. We woke up at 5am and were so pumped. It’s hard to eat that early but I forced myself to eat some banana and peanut butter. We get to the start line and there were so many more people than I expected. It was a really cool form of energy to be a part of. The start sound went off and we started to run. There were mile markers at every mile and you run in this big crowd so even if you wanted to stop you couldn’t. Miles 1-6 were either straight up hill or straight down hill, which was fun because it gave you variety and then the last miles were one big lap around this big section of the ocean.
Your mind and body get to a point where one more mile seems like nothing. I smiled the whole time. I encouraged myself and said out loud many times “wow Phoebe I am so proud of you, this is amazing.” People must have thought I was crazy, but it seriously helped me so much. Positive encouragement makes your body just want to keep going. My best friend and I finished holding hands and I felt as though I could have kept running. I wasn’t even out of breath; I was just so happy that I had finished without stopping once and proud for what my body had accomplished.
Your body is truly magical and it can do so much more than you think it can. Start pushing yourself and see what you are really capable of. It was well worth the training, and I signed up for another one soon after.
If you feel motivated after that, here is basically what I did to train: Three Months
Month 1: get comfortable with 5 miles. Run 3-5 miles twice a week and maybe a 6 or 7 mile run on the weekend.
Month 2: start pushing your boundaries and run 3-5 miles twice a week and run at least 7 once a week and maybe sneak into 9 if you are feeling good.
Month 3: run 4-6 miles twice a week and run 9-11 miles once a week!
Listen to your body and drink as much water as you can. If it is too hot one day, then just wait it out. You want to get your body accumulated to the longer distances.
