I’ve been thinking about running a half marathon since I ran my first 10 miles at the beginning of October. Since then, I’ve run quite a few 10Ks and a couple more 10 miles. I don’t follow a plan, preferring a more flexible approach, but I have been thinking that when the time was right, I would push on from 10 miles and see what it felt like.
My last few long runs have been slightly different. Following words of wisdom from GTFC, I’ve stopped being so fixated on my pace and negative splits. I’ve been running in a more natural way, allowing my pace to ebb and flow. This suits me much better and allows for a more relaxed and enjoyable run. If it’s there, I’ll step it out a bit for the last kilometre - and it usually is!
I couldn’t commit to running a half marathon this morning. I ended up running 3 km before starting my 10 mlle loop. At the beginning of the loop, I started NRC’s ‘Another 10 Mile Run’. I wish I hadn’t done this, it confused me completely! I intended to stop that guided run before I got to my house, I didn’t want to be tempted into stopping by Coach Bennett!
My run was beautifully uneventful. I walked a few times to drink water or some of my Tailwind mix. I’d taken some pretzels with me and a peanut bar. I think they helped, the Tailwind certainly does. I rarely get thirsty even on a long run, so I have to be disciplined about making sure I drink. I can’t drink while running, I have to walk.
I did start off too fast. I wasn’t watching my pace. I just slowed down for the second kilometre and then I didn’t really take too much notice of my pace for the rest of the run, just allowing it to ebb and flow. Speeding up sometimes, then allowing myself to slow down. I passed my house at about 18K, and by that time, I knew that No Way was I going to stop until I had completed a half marathon! I arrived at a single track road that runs by the riverbank and slowed to a walk to drink some Tailwind. Although tiring, for these last few kilometres I paid special attention to my form; shoulders back and relaxed, chest open and hands unclenched. I check my watch to look for the last kilometre. Here it is - I pull out any stops that I have left and manage to finish strong! How I did that after a long run, who knows ?!
Very happy and proud today! My splits weren’t all over the place as I thought they might be, they are ebbing and flowing, with the last one the fastest by a long way at 7:09. I managed PBs for 10 miles and 15K, and was surprised at my HM time; I had predicted it would be longer. Wooooh Hoooo! 👍😊🥰🥣
Written by
Jools2020
Half Marathon
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Oh my goodness Julia! I am in awe. Fantastic - so pleased for you. I knew you would pull that one out of that hat sometime, but I didn't expect it to be so soon.You should absolutely be proud of yourself!
It felt right for you so you did the right thing going fir it. I don't know how you managed that pace on the last split though.I bet I know one son who is going to be so proud of his mum 😃
Jools: tremendous! So happy for you: respect!!!! Great to think back, better to look forward 😉🤗 Warmest congratulations and wishing you happy bath / cake etc! Just great... (you weren't on your bike were you...?🤣) Have a great Sunday!
Oh my goodness Jools 😁 I really needed some happy news today and this it it 😁👍 you so deserve your achievements this year. Before looking forward take a last lingering look back at that couch and wave it goodbye 👋 - hello 2021 🥳🎉👏👏👏 as a half marathon runner! 🤗🤗
Wow that is just A.MA.ZING 💪👏👏👏👏😁😁😁😁😁😁 🤸♀️🤸♀️🎉🎉🎉 very, very well done to you! Such a wonderful run, too. You've managed to run your first HM so quickly, without a plan, and after you felt like you'd lost your mojo - well, safe to say it's well and truly back 😃 I'm in total awe 🙌🙌🙌 I bet you'll be smiling for days, enjoy that feeling 🥂
Fantastic Jools😀👏👏💪🎉🏅 - so pleased for you and had a feeling this might be on the cards at some point, as you clearly love your longer runs! I’m a great believer in pacing by ‘feel’ too - and it has clearly paid off. Enjoy the post- run buzz!😀x
Just wow!! Love this bit...'Very happy and proud today!' Here are a load of what's...What a run, what progress, what a feeling, what a year, what an achievement, what grit, what determination, what a distance and what a person!
Thank you, It was! I didn’t mention that it was raining. Just light rain, which wasn’t unpleasant, but I did have to take wet things off speedily as I know I get cold quickly when I’ve stopped running 😊
That peeling off of wet clothes though is so satisfying isn’t it? I did my first 8k in drizzle and it was lovely to get out of wet clothes and into a hot bath with a cup of tea,
And we lay there grinning because it was a long run, when we were following a plan I found the short runs very dissatisfying and often ran home and round our park to make them a bit longer
Wooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwww!!!!!Julia, that is so amazing, many, many Congratulations to you Omg you must feel fantastic what an outstanding achievement you are a ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Look at your beautiful new shiny Half Marathon badge, shining so brightly, did you treat yourself to something to celebrate?
Absolutely outstanding, so thrilled for you, what an amazing early Christmas present!!
Thanks, Rebecca 😊. I’ve had the half marathon in my sights since running my first 10 miles on 3rd October. I wan’t even sure I’d be able to do it, but gained confidence every time I went on a longer run and had a lot of encouragement from people on here.
I went out for coffee and cake! Sadly, the pandemic has put paid to proper celebrations, but I spoke to both sons and other members of my family and that was enough 💕 especially knowing that my sons were proud of me. One of my daughters-in-law is also a runner and she was very supportive, too!
Really wanted to do this before Christmas and I was running out of Saturdays!
It is so inspiring to read Julia, Half a Marathon. To be able to run that distance is totally incredible you have come so far, literally!!! 🏅🌟🏅🌟🏅🌟🏅🌟🏅🌟🏅🌟🏅🌟🏅
That is lovely that you went out for a celebratory coffee and cake, very well deserved. ☕️🧁☕️🧁☕️🧁☕️🧁☕️🧁☕️🧁
Ah how amazing🎉🎉🎉 your sons and daughter in law must be so incredibly proud of you, their fantastic runner mummy. It must have been such a special moment.
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Well done on achieving this before Christmas 🎄 🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄
I love reading your post Julia so motivating and inspiring.
Thank you 😊. Not sure where that finish came from, but I started to try it every time I went on a longer run. I had to dig deep for it on this run, but found it was there! I’m not speedy with my running, far from it - but 7:09 is good for me on any run, so I was more than happy 😊
Oh my goodness that's amazing! What a fantastic achievement that is. I had no doubt you would do this soon, I was just waiting for that post. How lovely to run for 3 hours, at your own pace and without pressure.Double portions of porridge and rest!
Here's to many more of these lovely long runs. You are an inspiration! 🤗
May I add my humble and sincere congratulations Jools, I'm still running consolidating 5ks and do not have the marvellous experience of what you have achieved. That said, I fully appreciate and share your free style of running, the way you listen to yourself and gauge what's in the tank and when to use it. You apply good practise checking your posture and you, and only you, know when to move into top gear, so much more natural than a recorded voice who, although a useful aid, hasn't a clue who the listener might be.I applaud you for your ability, your determination, your style and for running the way only Jools can run. Best wishes. 👍.
Thank you so much! I knew early on in my consolidation runs that busting a gut running 3 times a week to try and get faster wasn’t working. It wasn’t fun at all. So I jumped off that bandwagon and I’m so glad I did. Increasing distance on just one of my runs to start with has brought me to this half marathon! Along the way I’ve learned to listen to my body and picked up helpful hints from kind and more experienced runners, many who have a similar approach.
I really appreciate your kind words! Concentrating on my form is definitely something I’ve learned from the Nike Run Club app. Near the end of a run, when I’m tired, that’s when it’s easy for it to all go to pot, but that’s when you need it the most! I have to take stock a few times, but most of all on that last kilometre.
Congratulations! Did you feel any major difference in your body after you finished? In my case, I was surprised of how unhappy (massive simultaneous cramps in both) my calves were right when I stopped, and the final 3 Miles felt harder than what I was expecting, based on my 10 Mi run a couple of weeks before. That really made me respect the distance more. Granted, I followed a rather aggressive plan, and only ran 10 Mi once before going for the HM, whereas it seems like your approach was more smooth and natural, which makes me curious .
No, I didn’t feel anything major. I was tired and generally just a bit achy. All was fine after a long soak in the bath! I was a bit concerned that it might not have been gradual enough! I had loosely planned to do an 18K first - but once I got there, I was fine and just wanted to push on. The fact that I managed to pull off a much faster last km was reassurance. I paid special attention to my post run stretching, holding the stretches for longer than usual. I’ve been out for a walk this morning and there is no muscle tightness.
Nice. I think your training plan was quite smooth, I asked here and the general consensus was running 10 Mi at least once, so I did just before a couple of weeks of tapering. However, many were advising for two or more.
I think it depends on how comfortable one is with with the possibility of failing, the size of the challenge that comes with it, and how healthy one’s legs are feeling, etc. In my case, I really wanted to do it as soon as my body was able to, and although I was much concerned with preventing any injuries, I felt my legs were at 100% during the previous months, and the struggle is a massive part of the fun (oh, a shrink could have a field day with me!), hence I took the shot.
In retrospect, it was quite smooth. I did a number of 10K runs in between the 3 x 10 milers, but it was all very much based on listening to my body. I found the first 10 miler really tough at the beginning of October and knew I needed to run a couple more. The last one, just a few weeks ago, I had a slightly different approach with the ‘ebbing and flowing’ and that works really well for me. That run went really well and I finished strong. After a few more 10Ks, it was time to push on. I didn’t really taper, in fact 2 days before I went out and ran 10k. Maybe that wasn’t wise.
Not happy with the thought of failing! If I hadn’t done this HM yesterday, I would have persuaded myself it was just an interim step 😆. I think that a HM is always going to be a challenge for me, but I broke it down into chunks in my head and dealt with each chunk separately. I don’t like to think of it as a struggle 😀. I’m conscious of the need to take care as an older runner,
Happy running to you too! 👍
Jools that’s so inspiring, so interesting to read your HM thread, after reading this I’ve finally settled on my HM plan, 😄😄 many congratulations 🎉 💐🥂🤸♀️🤗
Thank you so much! My HM plan (my own!) took about 10 weeks from when I first decided to do it 😊 so it wasn’t as simple as ‘Right, today’s the day!’. Lots had to happen, first. One thing I think I did wrong was to do a 10K run 2 days before. Perhaps that wasn’t wise in retrospect, although it didn’t seem to make any difference.
I’m glad you’ve settled on a plan, that’s great news! Good luck and enjoy the journey 😊👍
Thanks Jools, I definitely get that, not something that happens overnight for sure, I love that you’ve used your own plan and it’s worked brilliantly, what I realise is that I have to feel my way in my own time, it’ll probably take me longer than 10 weeks, I’ve got to 7 miles and my calves have seized up! What next? Have your thought turned to FM yet? 🤗
You’ll do it, I’m sure! You’ll become comfortable with that 7 miles and push on.
No thoughts of a full marathon. Yet! 😂 I’m going to drop back and do a few 10Ks with the odd 10 miles thrown in. Then maybe Feb/March time I’ll do another HM and see how I feel. No rush.
I think I maybe need to work on my pace, otherwise a marathon will mean I’m running for too long. Ha! I’ve just realised I said something similar about doing a HM 😂
Thank you! Just as I was about to start my last km, I had a wave of sadness that the run was almost over. Clearly, I’ll need to do another one soon! 😊👍
Wow Jools! I missed this post - how incredible. You've done so well and achieved so much! You graduated after me and to get to HM is amazing! You are so strong! I've managed to complete JuJu's magic plan, timed version, a great achievement for me! Still running, still enjoying. Go us!😀x
Go us, indeed!! 😊 We’ve both persevered and come a long way since graduating. Running is definitely part of my life now.
Thank you for your kind words 😊 There is so much motivation on this forum, I’m so grateful for it!
I’m not sure about being strong, that half marathon pace was pretty slow, but these long runs have certainly built up my endurance! It certainly the way to go for me. 👍🥰
Thank you, Irish-John 😊 Slow and steady did it for me! What a sense of achievement, though. When I started C25K in May, my ambition was to participate in a Park Run! How your ambitions change when you discover what’s possible 👍
It does kind of creepy up on one The doors we can open emerging just that little bit beyond our "can't believe I ran that far!" days :)We do it at our own pace, and it's done
Well, I’m learning not to rule anything out! 😊 But I’m sensible, too. Perhaps another couple of HMs next year first! Take my time. I’ll know when it’s time to increase that distance, just like I did with 10 miles to HM 😊
Would just like to add my huge belated congratulations on your amazing achievement by completing a HM. You give us all huge hope and inspiration. ⭐️🏅✅Trying to catch up with all the news from the last few weeks after a very trying and busy time. Still running albeit in a lesser fashion to you but still hoping to make 10k soon. Good luck for your future challenges. Stay safe.
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The doors we can open emerging just that little bit beyond our "can't believe I ran that far!" days :)We do it at our own pace, and it's done 
Half marathon 
First half marathon completed 
First official half marathon 
First 10 mile run!