How to Run Your Best Half Marathon

This week’s topic over at the Runner’s Lounge Take It and Run Thursday is “How to Run Your Best Half Marathon“. I’m a bit late to the party on this one since it’s already Sunday, but since the half is probably my favorite race distance, I thought I’d chime in with a few of my thoughts:

Be Prepared

I believe that if you’re fit, you probably can cover the 10K distance with no ill effects, even if you don’t run that often. However, the half marathon is a whole different animal.

If you’ve never done the distance before, or haven’t done anything much over a 10K in quite a while, I’d suggest at least a 10 week, progressive training plan. If your primary goal is to finish the distance, I would suggest doing at least 10-12 miles a couple of times; if you have a more ambitious time-based goal, you’ll probably want to up that to at least 14 miles.

Have a Good Fueling Strategy

Again, my bias is that the half-marathon requires a bit more preparation and planning than a 10K, including planning and practicing a good fueling and hydration strategy. I like to have whatever gels on my long runs that I’m planning to have race day (my current favorite is Honey Stinger gel). Two gels during a half-marathon generally works for me, at about mile 4-5 and again and mile 8-9, but you really need to try this out for yourself, since both the amount of fuel needed and the type of fuel that’s well-tolerated seems to vary a lot from runner to runner.

Trust Your Training

Once the race begins, try not to be overly nervous because that might cause you start out too fast. In fact, you may want to start out a few seconds per mile slower than your goal pace and ease into it. Most importantly, take in the sights and sounds on the course, run your own race, and have fun!

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