Prepping for Marathon Race Day – The Half Marathon Primer
There are many things we all do to prepare for marathon race day. We log the miles. We do speed workouts. We do hill training. We look to prepare ourselves both physically and mentally for the 26.2-mile journey that soon awaits us.
However, in my in my experience, one tactic I have always found to be extremely helpful in preparing for race day, when I am able to fit one into my training schedule is a half marathon. While I have not been able to run one prior to every marathon I have run, when I have been able to do so, I have always found it to be beneficial on many levels. For me, this tactic was most recently validated last weekend, when I had the good fortune of running the New Bedford Half Marathon in New Bedford, Mass. – just south of Boston.
It’s a Race, Not a Run.
For me, there is a big difference between toeing the starting line for a race versus heading out the door for a training run. While both involve logging miles and preparing yourself both physically and mentally, running a race is a completely different experience than doing a training run, even if it’s your long run. Specifically, you need to negotiate getting to the start, finding your pace among other runners, decide how to best handle water stations, along with managing your time while out on the course.
Beyond this, you are running a race…the energy the surrounds you, your nerves, the pace at which you run are most likely different than how you approach and feel during a training run. Yes, one could make the claim that this could be done with shorter distance races, such as a 10K or a 5K, but the half is much longer, which means you are committing to do this for an extended period of time, and this more closely mirrors the marathon race day experience in my opinion.
It’s a Committed Distance
The beauty of “the half’’ is that in terms of preparing for race day, it’s not too short, but it’s not too long. However, what makes it very effective for me is that it’s what I like to a call a “committed distance.’’ Specifically, when you’re running a half, you’re going to be out there for a while, and it’s a distance that you need to commit yourself to both physically and mentally. The same will be true on marathon race day, except for the fact that it’s going to be double the distance!
In all honesty, when you start running a marathon, while those first miles can be exhilarating, they can also be scary, as these are the moments where you are assessing your body’s mechanics and coming to realization that you now have 26-plus miles to go until you cross the finish line. In my experience, the half marathon is long enough that it also forces you to go through the same kind of mental checklist and having that kind of experience, and being prepared for it going into marathon race day is invaluable to me. Is short, the half is a great distance for seeing how prepared you are on many fronts, but the key is that enables you to do so within the context of a manageable pre-race day distance.
A Great Opportunity to “Check Your Head’’
Beyond the physiological preparation that a half offers going into race day, it also affords great mental preparation as well. For me I typically look to set a goal associated with a target time I am looking to achieve, which acts as a gauge for how effective my training has been to-date. Beyond this, when you are out on the course you’re able to get a good feeling of how your mind responds to a true race-day environment over an extended period of time and distance. This, too, is also great preparation on many levels, and assuming all goes well, it can be a great confidence booster. Ultimately, running a half in the weeks leading up to marathon race day affords you with a great opportunity to assess where you are at mentally as you head into race day.
In the end, preparation for race day is done on many levels, and running a half marathon in advance is just one of many factors that I have found to be good compliment to my overall training regimen. As for last weekend in New Bedford, I set a goal of looking to finish in under 1:30:00, and I finished in 1:29:48. Therefore, while it was close, I still made it. Beyond this, and of greater importance, was how I felt out on the course. Sure, I had my moments of doubt when I had to negotiate a huge hill at mile three and power up another hill at mile 12, with the clock ticking away, but I overcame them. Therefore, while meeting my goal of finishing under 1:30:00, was great, the biggest benefit that I walked away with from this half marathon was confidence.
Yes, based on the half I ran last weekend, I’ve been instilled with a true sense of confidence that as of this moment I’m as prepared for marathon race day as I could hope to be.
Ty is running the 2015 Boston Marathon in support of Brigham and Women’s Hospital as part of their “Life. Giving. Breakthroughs.’’ marathon team. To lend your support, please click here. Follow @TyVelde.
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