Half Marathon Training- Week 1

If you have been following my blog, you know that I have signed up for the Wrightsville Beach Half Marathon in March. I am on a 20-week beginner running program, slightly adjusted by myself to fit my schedule and training needs. I have not been running in about 10 months and still have issues with a back issue I faced back in 2011. 

A little about my running background- I'm NOT a runner. I was not built to run, my body is definitely dominated by Type II muscle fibers, the explosive, quick acting kind that are not made for long distances or endurance type exercise. People with my build are typically explosive athletes, decent at sprinting and lifting, anything that involves creating quick bursts of power. We are usually not great endurance athletes, and have to train very hard to be good at any type of longer distance training. 

I've run two half marathons previous to this. One about 8 months after my softball career ended, so I was still in decent shape. Despite having knee surgery on a meniscus tear in July that year, I ran the 13.2 miler in November at around 2 hours and 12 minutes. I was happy with that time considering that fact that I couldn't train the last two months prior. I made it about a month in training-wise working up to a few 7 mile runs. My knee wasn't completely healed and it was just too much too soon. I decided that the best thing for my body was to completely rest for two months and run the race untrained! Surprisingly, I didn't have any knee pain until the last two miles.

Marshall University Half Marathon 2011

Last year, right around this time, I ran a very miserable, untrained half marathon here in Wilmington. It was the Battleship Half and I ended up walking a lot of it. It was hilly. I threw up about 2 miles in. It was just awful. I will never run an untrained race again. My body is not as young as it used to be, that's for sure!

I have a history of over-training and actually developed osteopenia (pre-osteoperosis) at a shockingly young age because of it. So, I am being extremely careful with my training this time around. I want to have a comfortable race and actually enjoy it, and keep my body healthy. Here's some of my training from week 1! 

I felt decent during my runs heart rate-wise, but have developed some awfully bad shin splints which is new to me. I think losing a few more pounds that I have gained over the last year, plus hydrating and proper stretching will help to alleviate some of that pain.