My Half Marathon Training Plan Progress

My race is only a month (!) away, so I thought I’d give an update on my half marathon training plan progress.

A half marathon is 13.1 miles long. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I started training from square zero in February and have slowly but surely been building up my endurance.

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WHY I’M RUNNING A HALF MARATHON

I played soccer growing up and ran cross country for two years in high school, but I wasn’t that good. Before you look me up on athletic.net, my 5K PR was 24:22. In other words, I wasn’t even at the top of junior varsity and I was nothing remarkable. Even back then, the most I’d run was 6 miles, but several of my peers ran half marathons in high school and I guess I’ve always just wanted to see if I could run one.

I studied abroad in Prague in the fall of 2016 and needed something to work toward to keep myself in shape when I got back to college. My friend Molly had already run a half marathon the summer before and agreed to sign up for  Newport Beach one with me in May 2017, but it hailed on us that morning and there was just no way I was going to run 13 miles, so I didn’t. Thinking back to it, I never ran more than 7 miles in training, so I don’t think I would’ve been able to run 13 miles regardless. 

In December 2019, I finally signed up for the June 2020 Seattle Rock N Roll half marathon and started training for that until March 2020 when the pandemic hit. The event got re-scheduled for June 2021, and then re-scheduled again for Labor Day weekend 2022. This time, I am really training for it and I’m going to be very sad if it gets postponed again.

Running is for anyone. If you run, no matter your pace, you are a runner.  I started training for this half marathon after two years of the pandemic, and let me tell you I was completely out of shape. I hadn’t really been exercising that regularly since 2020 and it showed. In February 2022, I was the heaviest I have ever been in my whole life and even some of my running shorts were too tight, yikes!!

STEP 1: BUILD UP TO ONE MILE 

I was so out of shape I didn’t really know where to start. I wasn’t 17 anymore and I couldn’t even run a mile. I have discipline, but my legs and lungs physically couldn’t handle running. My friend Meagan runs several half marathons a year and she recommended the Couch to 5K app, also called C25K app. It’s a free app (not too many ads) that trains you from 0 to 3.1 miles in 8 weeks. I liked this because it had you alternate between walking and running for a few minutes. You start the run in the app and then there’s a voice-recorded guided run that tells you when to run and walk. This ultimately builds you up to 30 minutes/3 miles of running. 

The same company has apps for 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon distances, but right around the time I finished the 5K plan at the end of May, my friend from Jordan told me about the Nike Run Club app. I think I had downloaded it before, but for some reason I never used it. Maybe because I’m team Adidas, but this app is really something special.

I 100% recommend using the C25K app to get yourself to 5K. Once you can run 5K, I’d definitely switch to the Nike Run Club app, which is also free and has no ads!! In the NRC app, there is a “Get Started” 4-week training plan that is classified as a beginner level, but the first run is 20 minutes long. For the 14-week half marathon training plan, the app started with a 5K run, so I could not have started it back in February.

HOW THE NIKE RUN CLUB APP MAKES HALF MARATHON TRAINING MORE FUN

In training on my own, I would’ve probably just run endurance runs and tried to rack up weekly mileage to get myself to 13.1 miles. I’d probably run too much and hurt my knees and hips as I’ve done in the past. The Nike Run Club half marathon training plan has a variety of runs. There are recovery runs, speed/track workouts, and long runs. So sometimes I’m only running for 25 minutes, which is very nice because I don’t always have time for a 90-minute run during the work week.

Nike was founded as a running shoe for track athletes (read Shoe Dog by Nike co-founder Phil Knight) and you can tell Nike has really put in a lot of time and thought into the Nike Run Club app. As I said I’m an Adidas gal, so this is obviously not sponsored, but I cannot speak highly enough about the Nike Run Club app! It is so helpful and comprehensive.

 It includes whole multi-month training plans for half marathons and marathons, but you can also select individual runs and speed/track workout runs. Each of their runs also has a guided audio version where they get elite athletes to narrate the runs and tell you the intervals to do and when to run for the speed workouts. The Nike Running Global Head Coach is Coach Chris Bennett and I swear Ted Lasso must have been based on him (he even has a mustache like Ted!). He is the main voice on the guided runs and I love having the extra coaching and words of encouragement during the runs. Some of the guided runs are collaborations with the meditation app Headspace, which is also pretty cool.

I love the guided runs during the shorter workouts or when there are intervals involved, but for the longer runs, I just listen to podcasts.  On my nine-mile run this weekend, I listened to this podcast episode of Convos Over Cold Brew where the host, Emma Abrahamson (former University of Oregon runner), interviews Coach Bennett about how he started coaching and how he got to where he is today with Nike. 

OTHER HELPFUL FEATURES OF THE NRC APP:

• Pace Per Run: it will show you your average pace by interval for speed workouts and your average mile splits for endurance runs
• Activity Summary & Stats: Similar to the Apple Health app, the NRC app will track all your running distances, paces, activity times, and elevation.
• Pace Chart: This will show you the 5k, 10k, etc. mile splits you could expect to run based on your current mile pace
• Location: You can allow it to use your location and after your run, it will show you your running route
• Achievement Badges: Like a sticker chart, the NRC has little badges like “3x streak” if you run 3x a week or “Sunday 10K.” Who doesn’t love a positive reinforcement?
• Shoe Distance Tracking: Most running shoes last 300 miles. You can add your pair of shoes and it will track how many miles you’ve run in them. 
• Leaderboard: You can add your friends and track how much they are running for some healthy competition
• Challenges: If you don’t have any friends using the app, you can just join their NikeRun Club challenges like “July 75K Challenge” or create your own.
• Treadmill Runs: If you don’t feel like running outside, they have treadmill workouts and guided treadmill runs
• Extra Helpful Articles: There are running-related articles like “8 Healthy-Eating Tips for Runners”

RUNNING PROGRESS

It did take me longer than 8 weeks to get up to a 5K (thank you food poisoning and 60-hour work weeks!). I have a month to go and the longest run I’ve done is 9.3 miles. My knee started to hurt after mile 7, so I’m wondering how I can get around that. Running during the summer in Los Angeles means that I either have to run at 6am or run after 6pm, so that’s not ideal but at least there’s no rain to de-motivate me.

Originally, I wanted to run this half marathon at a 10-minute mile pace, but I’m realizing that is definitely not going to happen and I am now aiming for an 11:15-11:30 minute mile pace, which I think is doable if my knee can take it. I wish Los Angeles had long dirt paths, but I’ve been mostly running on concrete which I’m sure is not helping, but the actual half marathon will also be on concrete.

I’m realizing this will probably be my first and last half marathon. I do get a runner’s high but I just don’t think there is a reason to be running for more than an hour. I do need to run this half marathon to prove to myself I can do it, but then I’ll just sign up for 10Ks to keep me in shape.

HALF MARATHON TRAINING PLAN SUPPLIES

Running is the most accessible sport, but running a half marathon is not free. I already had a McDavid knee strap from high school and running clothes, but there were a few other unexpected costs. Y’all know I’m all about budgeting (check out my free Google Doc template here), so below is the cost breakdown. 

Race registration: $104
Paid for back in December 2019 lol

Running Shoes w/Road Runner VIP Membership: $140
I have Morton’s Neuroma and after trying on 20 pairs of shoes at REI, I have come to accept that Hokas are the only brand that doesn’t hurt the ball of my feet due to a wide toe box and a low heel to toe drop. This is my second pair of Hoka Clifton 8’s (pro tip: Hoka is on Rakuten, so get those savings!). Road Runner is a running shoe store that has a VIP Family Rewards Membership for $40/year that will save you a decent amount if your family is buying more than one pair of running shoes per year. 

Blister prevention: $36
After getting blisters on my first 6-mile run that prevented me from running for a few days, I’ve had to figure out some solutions.

• First, I bought some Foot Glide by Body Glide. It comes in a little stick, like deodorant, and you just put it on your feet and that did help alleviate hot spots.
• My toes were still getting blisters from rubbing against each other so I also bought Dr. Scholl’s Moleskin to tape my two problematic toes.
• Most recently, I bought $20 Balega anti-blister socks and they are worth every penny!! I didn’t feel any hot spots on my most recent 9-mile run so I’m very excited about that and I wish I bought these months ago!

Running Vest: $30
My parents got me this lightweight running vest for Christmas because it’s not ideal to have to hold my phone/keys/ID in my hands for two hours while running. This one has a ton of pockets in the front with elastic and zippers so things don’t fall out. The bigger pocket in the back holds my big iPhone 12.

Liquid IV: $25
After doing long runs, I drink Liquid IV, which is a sports drink powder that comes in individual packets that you mix in water. I am bad at drinking water, so this gets the electrolytes back into my body quickly. I know some people don’t like sports drinks like Gatorade, but let me tell you that after a 9-mile run, you will absolutely be able to tell the difference in your body if you only drink water.

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My Half Marathon Training Plan Progress