How a (Crazy) Beginner Like Me prepared for a Half-Marathon in less than 30 days

One sunny day on February, I was bored and my day is so unproductive that random thoughts have flooded up my mind like a tsunami. Thoughts like, should I apply for a cruise-ship based job? Is it time to move out of Dubai? And guess what? I had another crazy random thought! A half-marathon in less than 30 days! What happened? Where did that come from?

“I ran the 10 KM in Standard Chartered Marathon last January 25 within my target time, so what’s next?”

And exactly an hour later, I found myself registered in Hatta Hills Run 2019 - 21KM Category. Mind you, the race is happening on 08th March - exactly less than 30 days from this day!

Half-marathon in less than 30 days? How can you prepare for that?! Who in the right mind would do that?

I know, I know… I am going to push my limit and the room for injury is very huge! My limit is obviously the previous 10 KM and few HIKING ACTIVITIES. It was a crazy idea and trust me, I’m never gonna do that again!

Disclaimer: Please don’t take after me and don’t overestimate your body. We have different capabilities and what worked for me MIGHT NOT work for you. However, I am not stopping you to take a challenge and push yourself. But please, prepare in advance and train your body and mind accordingly. 🙂

So how did I prepare for the half-marathon? I planned a training program suitable for my capability so that I have a guideline to follow. I assure you that this program is very boring unlike the training workouts out there on the Internet.

THE PROGRAM - ALL RECOVERY RUNS:

According to Runner’s Blueprint, Recovery Run is defined as relatively short, easy-paced, run performed within 24 hours after a hard session, usually an interval workout or a long run.

Some say that Recovery Run is running at your normal and comfortable pace where you can still talk with your running partner/buddy.

I don't have hard sessions before the actual recovery run but I chose the pacing and the comfortable level of recovery runs as my training program. But why? Because this is where I am confident to last long. I know for a fact, that if I run slow, I can go and finish that distance. I don’t want to compete with all the participants and dream of winning the prize anyway.

Here are the details of my training program. It is composed of runs which are distance-based and time-based goals. I gradually increased the distance and the time on my next training schedules.

TRAINING PROGRAM:

Day 1 - Feb 10

This is me being hyped and energetic and happy that I was able to run according to the program. It is still slow compared to other runners, but I am not bothered and am not sorry about my performance.

Day 2 - Feb 12

Close enough from the goal but I still didn’t achieve it. Better luck in the next training day!

Day 3 - Feb 14

And I am getting slower and slower day by day.......

Day 4 - Feb 16

I think I am so close with the goal but I gave up catching up on the 8th km😓. I feel so frustrated after this training because I am 1-km behind compared to my 10-km performance.

Day 5 - Feb 18

And there are days where my laziness beat the shit out of me.

Day 6 - Feb 20

Another day where I gave up catching up with the distance goal. I did not even finished the last 10 minutes of the training. I stopped after an hour and 20 minutes of running.

Day 7 - Feb 22

This is the day when I started to ask about my capability. I am trying but it’s either that my body is weak or my program is just harsh. I don’t have an answer to that. And mind you, this is the longest run I ever did before the race.

Day 8 - Feb 24

And another lazy day of me.

Day 9 - Feb 26

On this day, I lose all the confidence I have in me. I felt like throwing away the registration I have and give up.

Day 10 - Feb 28

Thanks for the invite of Ahmed whom I met on Instagram, I ran with their team as a preparation for the Hatta Hills Run. We did some uphill running workout in Dubai Marina and I believe it helped me a lot!

Day 11 - Mar 2

Complete tapering period and did nothing!

Day 12 - Mar 4

This is supposed to be my last training day before the race and I ditched it. I did nothing and allowed myself to recover properly before the race.

HALF-MARATHON RACE DAY

Based on the results of my training program, it’s nowhere close to what I have in mind. And I didn’t thought I would come to the point where I want to give up! Blessing in disguise, this phase (of being unmotivated) helped me save all my energy during the last 2 nights of my training. The gift of tapering yahoo!

And because my body was able to save all my energy and recover from being exhausted and tired from all the training days, I DID IT!

HALF MARATHON RESULTS - HATTA HILLS RUN 2019:

Drum roll please ……

Confidently yes! It’s my first time and I overcome the fear that I won’t be able to finish the race before the cut off time! Instead, I was able to finish the race without any injury at all cost and within the cut off time - 3 minutes before the cut off time to be exact! Remember I trained and prepared for this half-marathon challenge in less than 30 days!

And there you go, I made it! A first timer who only wanted to push her limit, it's a success! Time didn't matter to me for now but only wanting to accomplish a half-marathon despite preparing only in less than 30 days. What a challenge!

If you haven’t tried running a half-marathon, I urge you to do it and challenge your body and mind but prepare in advance! Don’t let the fear, doubt and others’ performance hold you back! It’s a big achievement and your body and mind will thank you later for doing some exercise.

Please feel free to let me know your experience when preparing for a half or full marathon! 🙂