A Physical Therapist’s Experience: Training for the Greenville Half Marathon
Training for a half marathon can mean different things depending on who you ask. For me as a triathlete looking ahead to my first full Ironman in September, it’s meant maintaining some baseline fitness in swimming and cycling while putting additional emphasis on running. Although the upcoming Ironman is a major goal, the Greenville Half Marathon was high on my priority list. Since my first half marathon in 2018, I’ve steadily been improving and have learned so much more about how to train smarter and not just harder.
Training Approach
I am a physical therapist and run coach, but I am not a triathlon coach. So I rely on my coach to create my plan so that I can be in the best position to achieve my goals. I’ve been working with my coach for about a year and a half now, and she has definitely proven to be worth the investment. We shifted to a run focus block in the 4 weeks leading up to my half marathon. That amount of time would not be enough to get ready for a half marathon if I was starting from ground zero. But, since I’ve been in a sort of maintenance mode averaging 20-28 miles/week since early January, I didn’t need a sharp ramp up in running. A typical week looked like an easy run on Tuesdays, either a bike ride/short run or a swim on Wednesdays, quality session run on Thursdays (more to come on this), swim on Fridays, long bike ride on Saturdays that then changed to long run Saturdays, swim and easy run on Sundays. I try my best to take Mondays off completely so I have one day where I have no training.
When I do a bike ride, it’s usually followed by a 15-20 minute run - this is a pretty standard brick workout done by most triathletes to get used to running off the bike in competition. An easy midweek run was between 45 minutes to an hour, and I might include some strides at the end, but the main focus was still aerobic development. Thursday’s have been my favorite workout day for a while. That’s because this is the day I have my quality sessions and get to play around with running speed a little. Those days could 400 and 800 intervals, an extended tempo run, or over/under mile repeats. As a general pattern, I would do three weeks where I was increasing total weekly mileage, followed by a deload week of fewer miles, then ramp back up into higher mileage over the next few weeks. This provided my body with a steady progression without overloading. And that’s where a lot of runners end up getting injured. Maybe they have a good weight training routine, rotate shoes, do mobility work, but can overwork themselves running too much without giving their body the chance to recover.
Last Minute Training Setbacks
Then, the sickness came (dun dun dun). Three weeks before the race…This proved to be a good learning lesson for me. I’ve always been a little stubborn when it comes to being sick. I try to just power through and keep my routine the same. What started out as a sore throat turned into feeling pretty lousy for the next week and a half. Looking back, I have a strong hunch that if I had taken some time to prioritize rest instead of exercise, my recovery would’ve been a lot quicker. I was scared that if I pulled back on training, I would lose the fitness I’d gained over the previous months. The quality of my workouts suffered and I probably wasn’t getting any faster. Finally, I let go of my pride and fear, and started taking care of my body - soup was a regular meal, hot tea became my go to morning drink, and I made sure I slept at least 8 hours every night. Lo and behold, I started feeling better. That left me with one week before race day, just in time for the taper. I kept my coach in the loop the whole time, letting her know that I was dealing with some sickness but that I felt I could keep up with the workouts as they were written. When I finally told her I needed to pull back some, she gave me the encouragement I needed and agreed that I should listen to my body and only do what I really felt like I could handle. I went into race week feeling a little bummed I couldn’t finish my training block on a high note, but was still feeling confident in where I was at, hopeful for a strong race.
Race Day Fueling
In the days leading up to the race, I upped my carb intake and prioritized easy to digest foods such as white breads, rice, and pasta while avoiding fatty foods and foods that were high in fiber such as leafy greens, whole grains, and some fruits like apples and berries. The reason for avoiding those high fiber foods is because they slow down digestion and can cause gastrointestinal discomfort and bloating, making me feel the need to use the bathroom mid race. Don’t get me wrong, all those foods are “healthy” but are not good to have in high quantities right before a race. For race day breakfast, I went with a tried and true basic meal that included one plain bagel with peanut butter and honey, a rice krispy treat, and a sports drink. Then, 45 minutes before race start I took a 150 mg caffeine pill, and topped myself off with one gel 5 minutes before race start. I began my dynamic warmup 30 minutes before race start which included some lunges, leg swings, squats, calf raises, and hopping, then I did an 8 minute easy jog with some strides. It was a chilly 28 degree morning, so I layered up with a sweatshirt and sweat pants over my race outfit that I took off right before the race was about to start so I could stay warm for as long as possible.
Executing The Plan
And we’re off! It’s so hard to not get swept up in the excitement and adrenaline of everything at the beginning of a race, but I made sure to ease into the first two miles before settling into race pace. There were a few rolling hills over the initial 5 miles or so, but nothing too challenging. It’s a new downhill course, so the back half continued to decrease in elevation with lots of long flat sections. I had three gels during the race - gel one around 25 minutes, gel two at 50 minutes, and gel three by the one hour ten minute mark. This kept my carb stores high enough to give me sustained energy the whole time without feeling any significant drop in performance. I crossed the finish line with a new PR, happy to have run a strong race. I went back towards the end of the course to cheer on a few teammates who were finishing up. Then came the post race breakfast, followed by a much needed shower, and then I crashed on the couch for the rest of the day.
Final Thoughts
Half marathons might be my favorite distance to race. They satisfy my need to complete a long race and training doesn’t take up too much time of my week. This race checked all the boxes for me - exciting first race of the season, fast course, fun city, not too far to travel. During this build, I learned about how to better take care of my body and listen to what it is telling me, saw how quality sessions can be used to build speed, and experienced the benefits of cross training during a build towards a road race. The best part about running, is that there is always a chance to get better and improve for next time. Running a sport of longevity. The best runners are those who look at things in the long term and don’t get too tied down to doing everything “perfect” or avoiding taking risks in training out of fear of failure. Could I have run a faster race? Probably. But I’m very happy with how it turned out. And I’m excited for what’s to come.
Written By: Dr. Hunter Pickens
