This is How I Prepare for My First Half-Marathon That is in 45 Days
If you are someone who struggles with discipline in life, regardless of the field you are trying to accomplish yourself in, you will appreciate reading this article which will be more of a series of articles. My idea is to document my progress for this very specific goal and to give you some pattern to work with.
I will be listing everything that you need/I do, in order to give you as accurate description of my endeavors including all the challenges a normal human being has every single day. Those include things that get in the way of your training such as parenting, work, travel. But this is the definition of discipline after all.
If you want to achieve anything in life, the formula is the following:
- Set the goal
- Work on it with discipline (while avoiding all the life traps)
Something about me
I wanted to share some of my background so you can make as accurate relation to yourself as possible. I am 30 years old. Being a Software Engineer requires me to spend a lot of time in front of the computer, draining my brain’s juices to build this amazing startup Roundtables TM. I am also a father of a little, 2.5 year-old girl and another one that is due to come in about 2 months. When it comes to their personal development, a lot of people tap out once they become a parent. I am still trying to understand why would someone give up on trying to be the best role model for their kids.
If they need to learn about six-packs in a few years, I better make sure I am able to show them.
If they want to be financially free, I better make sure I am able to show them. If they want to live a healthy life, I better make sure I am able to show them.
If they want to know what type of a man they should marry, I better make sure I raise the bar for any boy to come.
With all of this being said, let me take you on a journey starting with my first day back on the track. How I felt about it, was it difficult to move, how I felt running, how often I have to push myself and whether I leave my comfort zone of not.
Please comment if you have had similar success or you have failed to find what it takes within you to make it happen.
Day 1
Here is the thing. I know I said “My First Half-Marathon”. The reality is that I have run 5 of them already. The thing is that I haven’t run any in almost a year. Your body requires constant effort in order to keep you in the shape and allow you to operate at the peak level without any injuries.
Day 1 of anything is always exciting since that’s when your will and adrenaline is the strongest. Most people wont have major issues on this day.
My wife is from Montenegro, so we travel here often to stay with her parents for about 2 weeks, 4 times a year. I am currently in Montenegro and as you can imagine, this really breaks my daily routine I have back in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Challenges
- It’s Thursday and to be honest I didn’t feel like running today but I knew I have to start since the race day is approaching and I am running out of time.
- On top of that my stomach was feeling weird and I actually told my wife about it. She agreed with my other inner voice that I should maybe postpone the run until tomorrow.
- We spent the day before on the country side where my neck suffered from sunburn, which I wasn’t aware of until someone pointed it out. So I had to wait for the sunset in other to go out for a run
Joy
- On the other hand I was excited to start and determine my base performance for this race. I ended up running 6km which is not bad.
- I was excited to listen to this Petter Attia and Jocko Willing podcast where they talked about sleep, productivity and discipline. The run seemed like the perfect opportunity to do this
I loved the post workout sweat. I just felt like all those free radicals are leaving my body and only the good stuff remains in there.
One thing I don’t like is the pelvic pain (light), which feels like I am about to give birth so my hips are widening. Women would know about this. I think I am lacking some stretching so will try to do this on my own while in the house and after the workout as well.
My personal best for a half-marathon is 1:53 h. Hoping to beat that this time.
Thank you for accepting to come on this journey with me.
Day 2 (No workout)
Today is Friday and I am not able to run due to family/work obligations. However, I got up and felt pretty sore from yesterday’s run. That tells me that I probably did a bit too much than my body was ready to. I usually give advantage to what my heart is saying over what my body is suggesting so I have no doubts. Another good thing is that whenever I am re-starting something after a long break, I usually overdo it the first day and get a small break the next day. I plan on having another run tomorrow.
I will be back home in about 10 days so I will try to get some pace running. This is a distance running that is obviously crucial when you run 10k or 21k. but we will talk about that as well. Until tomorrow …
Day 3 (10k)
Today is Saturday. The perfect day for workout. I keep thinking about this challenge and the deeper I go, more motivated I am to write that “Day 45” paragraph and send you a picture from my race. Adding a video with a TIP of the day for all the rookies out there. All of these tips are drawn from my own experience. As I said, this will be my 6th half-marathon, but haven’t been active in a year. I am not starting from scratch though, but I can certainly help anyone in that position.
Challenges
- Hot weather. It was extremely hot during the day (~30 deg) so I had to wait for sunset to run. My armband snapped so I had to wear my thin running jacket because of the pocket on my chest that I use to store my phone. (I like to listen to something while running)
Joy
- I felt great running 10k today, especially because I thought about ending the run at 6k followed by the same thought at 8k. I also thought about maybe taking a break at 6k and then continuing to 8k, however I ended up pushing harder, being more focused on my running, not allowing my arms to fly around too much. Keeping them tight so preserve the energy.
Your first workouts are all about the distance, trying to reach that comfort at having a few straight 10k runs. Even if it means running a slower pace, but just reaching that 10k threshold. After that I will do a few sprint type of workouts to expand my heart and lung capacity. We will get there.
Go read this specific post that I specially wrote for today’s run, if you would like to know more details on type of food I ate prior the run, how I analyze my running stats and make suggestions that will help you run your first marathon.
https://medium.com/@adnanxteam/highlights-of-3-45-day-half-marathon-challenge-cef3ec8e01af
This is not about weight loss. This is about making a change in your life and building your foundation, making your first big win that will serve as a reminder of what you are capable of doing.
Day 4 (10k)
It was relatively easy to train on Sunday. I took my own advice and tried to start slow and see if I can speed up after I am all warmed up. It worked fine for my body.
Challenge
- Hot weather. I had to wait until the sunset and I still have that jacket with pockets.
Joy
- I found joy in setting a goal based on previous performance and driving it until the end.
- I slept great after the run. A bit longer than I like to sleep but I guess body is getting tired. Which makes me think about the food that I should be eating to make sure I have enough energy for the day. Keto diet is something I have been looking into for a long time but it goes against everything in my food culture.
- I feel like I am about to break out of this passive state and that my body is getting accustom to the effort I am making. Like my hips and my knees definitely felt this new activity and was slightly painful, but it might be that it’s on its way out. Will keep you posted
I wrote another article regarding this run. You can read it here:
Here is my run statistic:
Rožaje Running
Distance 10.01 km | Time 1:00:52 | Pace 6:05 min/km | Elevation 32 m
connect.garmin.com
Day 5 (Love is in the air — No training)
Today was all about the rest. Instead of running I decided to take my pregnant wife outside for a walk. As I sad, I want to make this everyone’s success. Back with another 10k tomorrow! (UPDATE: Below you can see that I challenged myself to do one extra kilometer)
Day 6 (11k)
In the spirit of keeping this article shorter, considering that we still have long way to go, I will ask you to go and read my more detailed article where you can find my challenges, joys, charts and video for the day. Thank you for all the support!
Day 7 (7km)
Today I compromised and ran less than I thought I would. The reason is that I felt heavy due to bad meal I had. Another great lesson I learned.
Read more about it here:
Day 8 (Barbecue)
Make sure you take creative breaks from running. My favorite thing to do in between the runs is firing up the barbecue. Will be back running tomorrow, and try to load with some carbs before the run, instead of heavy proteins.
Day 9 (11km)
Today, I was flying on the Carbs Airlines. Had a big Pizza 2 hours before the run, couldn’t resist or eat sooner. Caused me to be a little slower but endurance was through the roof.
Check this post to see my heart rate, pace, challenges, joys and the tip of the day.
Highlights 9/45 Half Marathon Challenge
Yessss!!! Today I ate carbs baby and I was flying …
medium.com
Day 10 (Travel)
Saturday was all about the travel. I drove about 7 hours to get back home from Montenegro to Bosnia. My Garmin also suggested to have 3 days off, even though I am planning to go back hustling on Monday. Enjoy your breaks!
Day 11 (Father’s Day)
Sunday was my second day of the big break, which I decided to spend with my daughter. Coincidently it was also a Father’s day. To be honest, I was in doubt to run in the evening but this time the weather kicked in. It has been really hot in Bosnia these days. Shade temperatures were around 33 degrees and the nights were horrible. Finally in the evening we received loads of rain to cool us down and my training week might be better than I expected, considering that we are expecting to receive more rain in the following days.
Day 12 (11km)
Another great run. If you are interested to see how my pace changed this time please check the daily article.
Day 13 (Time off)
I took another break in order to handle some business and personal matter, but would like to try running laps tomorrow so I can definitely use this time to rest and prepare for tomorrow.
Day 14 (Sprints 8x100m)
Today was a wild ride. If you are someone who almost never does sprints, you should try. It is something completely different from distance running. I bet you didn’t know how hard your heart can beat. Initially I warmed up with a 1.5km run and then set out to do 20 sprints, 100m each. I was wrong!
My Garmin can set custom training so it tracks your laps. I was gonna make a 1 minute break after each sprint. I had no idea a minute goes by that fast. My heart rate goes up to 190ish when I am done, and it takes me more than a minute of rest to bring it down to 125ish.
My problem was that I started fast and hard, like everything else. I felt like a kid again running the 100m distance, as fast as I could. And I am pretty fast. I know that because when I played soccer back when I was 16, I was one of the fastest players on the team.
I ended up doing 8/20 (imagined) sprints, but each one of them was at least 90% of the power I had in me. Couldn’t do more …
Day 15 (Cross-training)
It was my first day with Brazilian JiuJitsu. The training took almost 2 hours and I slept like a baby afterwards. No time to run, but what I did, and what I am generally missing in my trainings is good, quality stretching. I am quite elastic to the point where I can grab by heels with both of my hands while keeping the legs straight. It felt great to make this change in my life.
Day 16 (Cross-training)
This time, even though I felt soar, I decided to do another round of JiuJitsu. Again almost 2 hours and we had some condition training included, which felt amazing.
Day 17 (No training)
It’s Friday and I need to let my body heal properly from all the hard work it has done this week.
Day 18 (No training or running)
Saturday — It was a family day for us, even though I do feel guilty for not finding time to train. You always regret the time that is gone, but we rarely do anything to prevent it. Between getting stuff for the house, playing with my daughter, having a barbecue with the rest of the family and all of that while anticipating rain, it easily slips your mind.
Day 19 (Short sprints)
It is Sunday. There is one general issue that we all do, which is failing to plan (…planning to fail). I usually run either early in the morning, like 7 or 8 AM, or in the evening, right around the sunset. I rarely run during night simply to avoid possible potholes on the street, due to low visibility. However, today, while risking to go another day without training, I went out to do some sprints…
TIP OF THE DAY
Start sprinting rather sooner than later. I wanted to do 8x1km while running significantly faster pace. After a warmup of 1.5km and some pull ups, I started running the first kilometer. I ran 4:14 minutes / km which is an amazing pace. And here is why I say to start pacing sooner. My body is not used to shifting pace a lot, which ends up draining me pretty good. I was scheduled to walk for a minute before my next kilometer, but I needed to prolong the second lap. The second lap was slightly slower, but I felt heavy. That is probably because I need about 20 minutes of running to get to an optimal working temperature.
When you are capable or running 3 kilometers without taking breaks, start running short 100m sprints to get your body ready for what’s coming. It is the same as with anything else that you want to change in life, from food to jobs. It simply requires some time of adaptation to new routines.
Start early!
Day 20 (Cross-training)
Mondays are reserved for Jiujitsu training, and it is always great to do any sort of cross-training. It helps you develop other muscles that support your running muscles. We will do some good running tomorrow.
Day 21 (Treadmill 13km)
A day spent working and with my family sometimes leaves very little room to work out. As planned, on this Tuesday, I wanted to do some running, set new thresholds. I ended up running 13km on a treadmill in a gym. If you want to read interesting facts about this workout and how I set the new distance record, please read the story below:
Day 22 (Cross-training)
Another BJJ day. We did some techniques but I still had plenty of energy left in me. Days are still extremely hot and there is no way to do any workout outside until sunset.
Day 23 (No training)
Reality of the life kicked in. Family before everything! Still, that’s not an excuse. I should be more thoughtful on how I organize my days.
Day 24 (No training)
… Time to reflect on life …
Day 25 (Cross-training)
I have to say that BJJ grappling is apparently making my legs stronger that definitely affects my running. Due to other duties I have, I usually can’t get to have two workouts a day. Pick your battles.
TIP OF THE DAY
It’s not the water only that you are losing when running long distances. It is really important for you to make up for the lost electrolytes if you are running longer than an hour.
Day 26 (Treadmill 16km)
This was a big day, Sunday. I decided to step on a treadmill and set new highs. Let’s write a longer post to preserve the history.
Day 27 (Cross-training)
Mondays are reserved for BJJ. These days it is not about the speed, but the strength. We build up the strength during grappling and just needing to carry someone else’s weight around. This is not a goal, but a system. I have no doubts that it will be beneficial.
TIP OF THE DAY
Try to find a training partner. I can’t tell you enough how beneficial is to have someone to train with. That on its own will improve your results by at least 30%.
Day 28 (Treadmill 17km)
OK. I needed to step up even more. This time I tried to move one more level and see how would a sleeveless shirt work for me in terms of the endurance, heart rate etc.
The one thing I didn’t like was that I need to wipe the whole treadmill to remove the sweat that was splashing all over while running.
For running, I am not trying to standardize this approach to running, where I take major threshold, which is 10km for me, and run it on a moderate pace, but still not too slow. I don’t want to be too far away from my base performance. Then after you cross the threshold, you can try to bring it up a notch and run a bit faster, while listening to your body. This includes paying attention to how fast you are getting tired, if you are loosing a lot of water or if your legs start to feel heavy.
I wanted to extend beyond my Personal Best during this preparation. The logical target was 17km which I did.
Once I started running, I had a few challenges when it comes to my stomach. Other than that I was good to go until the end.
My next plan is to move closer to 20km and also try to run a bit faster.
TIP OF THE DAY
Mix it up! There is no need to run the same pace the whole workout. I try to speed up the last kilometer, or simply once I pass my threshold of 10–12km.
Day 29 (No training)
I can’t believe it’s been a month since I started. A bit more than 120 km completed. Your total training distance will have a significant impact on your overall endurance, which will directly affect your speed.
Day 30 (Cross-training + injury)
It’s Thursday and today I did my first grappling with a purple belt. I asked for it, and it gave me an insight of what you become after several years of training. Submitted me 3 times in less than 60 seconds. What’s interesting is that I was able to handle him for the first 20 seconds or so, not allowing him to make a good position on me. Once he did, he completely drained me. For the first time in years I felt like my heart rate was 200, it slightly started to hurt in my chest. In the end, I managed to hurt my lower back at some point, which will probably put me out of training for another two days.
Day 31 (No training + injury)
I got up to find my lower back really sore and it just got worse as the day continued. I found my comfort in delicious barbecue prepared by my dad.
TIP OF THE DAY
Study your course. Since the race is in my city, I am well aware of the course so I can prepare some strategy depending whether we run against a slope or on a flat road. Your refreshments will be waiting for you every 3 to 4 kilometers and depending on what you want to accomplish with this race, you can plan to make every stop or every other in order to save some time.
Day 32 (No training + injury)
Saturday to come and I am still on my feet but it wasn’t enough for me to go to MMA/BJJ which is what we usually do on Saturdays. I was doing some sort of RICE on my lower back and all the ice helped sooth the pain. Live to fight another day.
TIP OF THE DAY
Incorporate some hill training. Even though your race doesn’t include hill running, it will make your flatter courses much easier to run.
Day 33 (Treadmill 9km)
Sunday added another challenge for me, which is my neck. It is either the fan that is usually on and blowing throughout the night or the bad sleeping position I have. I usually feel some pain on my left side, but today it affected the right side as well. Nevertheless, the back feel much better. No sharp pain when getting up so I assumed it would be OK to go and do some running. As I was deciding between the outdoor and indoor workout, it started raining like crazy. Thank you for helping me decide, I guess.
So the logical decision was treadmill running. I did easy 9km. That wasn’t my intention though, since I wanted to either match the 17km from before, or maybe do the whole 21km.
I even sorted my YouTube videos to autoplay to keep me busy for the next two hours, however, I started feeling some stomach cramps and didn’t feel like pushing through that. If it was a muscle pain or a bone or something, I would probably kept going through that.
TIP OF THE DAY
It is important to keep your heart rate down as much as possible, since high rates will drain you down pretty quickly. One trick to do that, in addition to running within your heart zone is to keep your hands lower and don’t swing them too much like sprinters do. It will save a couple of percents on your heart rate.
Day 34 (No training)
I was supposed to do a cross-training today, but wanted to sit down for this one and give my lower back some rest. I will try to get some running done tomorrow.
Day 35 (Treadmill 10k)
With my girl back in the day care, we had some time do other things during the day, so I decided to go to the gym around noon and do some running. Before I did that, I wanted to start doing deadlifts in order to strengthen the core of my lower back muscles. Lower back pain is very common among BJJ practitioners.
Today I wanted to reintroduce the training based on your heart rate. If you go in to the race and you are not monitoring your heart beat, you are doomed.
Let’s start with some pictures:
So I did two runs while trying to run just a bit faster. I took a short 5 minute break in between. The break took that much because I was waiting for my heart rate to come down from 180 to about 130. We need these kind of runs in order to push our distance running even more.
I also used this to experiment with how fresh I would feel after taking a break versus running 10k in one piece. I did notice a slight improvement in the last run.
Day 36 (No training)
My race is getting closer and considering the time I had, I had to make adjustments week in and out because I don’t want to train every day and overtrain my muscles. So today was quiet.
Day 37 (No training)
Thursday was fully reserved for a personal matter. Something that happens once per year. At the end of the day I was too tired to do a cross training. Storing more energy for a longer run to come.
Day 38 (No training)
I have to admit that I wasn’t planning to take a day off this Friday, however work and family time kicked in so I could have planned better probably. Again, this is our reality and I am glad that I can show something like this so you don’t act surprised when it hits you.
Day 39 (No training)
This is now too much. It’s been my 4th day without any kind of training. We attended a wedding today and it was really tricky to make both, training and the wedding.
Day 40 (Treadmill 15km)
Finally, while the rain was pouring, I had somewhere to hide. What a coincidence that I found myself near the gym. Anyways, I did some lower back exercises, which I started doing recently because of BJJ lower back injuries that are very common in BJJ. After that I decided to do another longer run before the race. This will probably be my last longer run since I would like for my body to rest until Saturday.
Today I tried to push myself to go faster, and to feel my heart rate going up so I would know what pace is good for me. My plan is to run the first 10km keeping my normal heart rate (about 145–155) until I hit my threshold where I get that boost in energy and feel like I can run until the end.
You know that I would like to run faster than 1:53. So I have been also thinking about not stopping for any food or drinks but try to get something while running. This will save me up to 3 minutes overall which is a lot to make up in running.
Let’s take a look at my run stats:
Notice my sweet spot for the heart rate, between 145 and 155. But it is interesting that my pace didn’t change a lot. Again, this is a treadmill and probably not 100% accurate when it comes to pacing. The race will be the real deal.
TIP OF THE DAY
Listen to your body! This means listen to your heart, your legs, your
Day 41 (Cross-training)
Recently, as you know, I have started enjoying BJJ a lot, and it fit into this challenge just great since I got plenty of time to stretch properly, which is something I almost never do when running. I can say that these trainings greatly benefited my overall form. First day in a kimono which is little heavier on its own, and we spent last 15 minutes doing HIIT. I loved it. Push ups, jumping jacks … etc. This is the last week before the race and I doubt I would do any real running, just to avoid any potential injuries and want to relax my muscles by Saturday.
Day 42 (No training)
Nothing special to do today when it comes to the challenge. Looking forward to the race.
Day 43 (Cross-training)
There are 4 trainings a week that I could do for BJJ, however, I am not able to do all 4 at the moment. So my plan is to practice today and then take the day off tomorrow and on the race day, which is on Saturday.
Day 44 (No training)
It’s Thursday. Relaxing from yesterday. I spoke to some of my friends that are also preparing for the race. They are taking it easy as well. As I said before, you should listen to your body and do what it says.
At the beginning of this challenge I talked about the food I eat. Then as the time passed I talked more about the actual running. As the race is approaching, I think it is important to remind ourselves about other things we can do in order to have the best race ever.
I will be running more than hour and a half and my body will need some additional source of energy. I have never taken any energy gels while running so I might take a few dates with me to refuel in the second stage of the run. I am not brave enough to experiment with something I haven’t tried during my training, just to find out that I get stomach cramps because of it.
Day 45 (No training)
The race is tomorrow. I am not going to train today. However I think I might go to bed earlier. Last night I only slept for 3 hours since I needed to finish some things at work. Today I had some rice and chicken breasts in addition to walnuts and almonds as well as watermelon to keep me hydrated. I want to be fully ready and charged for tomorrow.
RACE DAY
What I would give if I had a hot tub now to relax. It is Saturday and the race is tonight at 8:30 PM. My plate consists of rice and chicken breasts as well as some vitamin C. I will make another post about to summarize my day and will post below.
CONTRIBUTIONS
I learned that success is bigger if you share it with others. That’s why I want to make this our thing. I will be tagging everyone that claps or comments which I count as their contribution to what I am trying to do. This is meant to be a complete guide for new runners that need that extra push and guidance to building their solid foundations on which to base all the future success.
Big Thank you goes to:
Kitiara Pascoe Phil Rosen Gregory Alan Amanda Stroud Helen Cassidy Page Sherry McGuinn Kenn Franklin
