How I Broke 2 Hours in the Half Marathon

This past weekend I finally broke 2 hours in the half marathon. It wasn’t expected because my training was less than ideal and I felt terrible in the 10 mile race I did 3 week prior. As I reflected back, I came up with quite a few factors that all came together to result in a PR.

1)      I weigh less. I actually weight 5-10 lbs less than I did pre-baby. Unusual I know, and please don’t hate me because it certainly isn’t due to good nutrition. I was so sick the first half of my pregnancy that I lost weight instead of gaining. Then after I had Cooper my body thought I was feeding triplets. I fed my own baby and donated more than 1000 oz to NICU babies. All that milk production really helped my metabolism. Since I stopped breastfeeding, I've kept the weight off because I'm so busy chasing an active toddler I don't have much time to sit and eat. Even though the weight loss wasn’t intentional, it helped. Lighter=faster (to a point)

2)       Training conditions were challenging. I did most of my training runs in some combination of snow, high winds, ice, and very early mornings. So even though I didn’t necessarily hit the distances or paces I wanted for these runs, they did make me stronger and fitter.

3)      I did speed work. I go to the track once a week and although I don’t follow a formal training plan, including faster running regularly made faster paces more comfortable mentally and physically. This was especially true in the last mile of the race. I had the confidence of knowing Id run fast miles at the track recently.

4)      I nailed my nutrition. I took in more calories than I ever have in a half marathon, but I took them in smaller increments over a longer period of time. It worked.

5)      The pressure was off. I did not go into this race expecting a PR. I didn’t even check my watch until mile 9. I just ran a comfortable pace. So not only did I set a PR< but I enjoyed myself.

6)      The weather was perfect- low 50’s, mostly cloudy, slightly breezy.

I enjoyed this race so much and was so proud of my PR that I immediately wanted to sign up for another race to see if I could go even faster. Luckily I managed to suppress this initial urge and realize that isn’t the best thing for me right now. I ran this PR because I wasn’t trying to. I was healthy, the weather was perfect, and I’d had an easy week work wise the week before. The chances of all that happening again are slim. Plus this training cycle helped me see that distance running is just not the right thing for me and family right now. So instead of spoiling this accomplishment by trying to force in another race, I’m just going to enjoy it.