I do NOT recommend not running for weeks and weeks and then stepping up to the starting line of a half marathon.

While I don’t recommend it, that’s exactly what I did.

I signed up for the race (to be my third running of it) back in December, not only because I enjoy the race and have been doing it since it’s first year, but also as inspiration to get out and run more regularly. I’d fallen into a funk and I knew that running would help me out of it, I just needed to get out there.

Well, that funk was bigger than I thought because I only ended up running the first handful workouts from my training program. 32 of 400 training miles, that’s it! I just didn’t want to, that was it. Sure I made up excises about time but they were only half truths.

As race time grew closer I knew that there was no way I’d be running my usual speed so I decided that I’d run with Bill. He’s a couple minutes slower per mile than me so surely I could keep pace with him for 13 miles. I actually was excited at the prospect of running together with him and not worrying about that ever important PR. I’m enough of a realist to know that you don’t PR a half marathon without training and if I couldn’t PR I’d just have fun with it.

I smiled as I ran through the streets of Philadelphia, taking in the sights around me and letting my mind wander to other things. I sang along with my music. I chatted with Bill. Things were going great.

Until they weren’t.

Around mile nine my body started to give out. By mile ten I was sunk. I stopped to walk and it didn’t take long before Bill noticed I wasn’t right behind him and he came back to push me along. There I was, sobbing in pain, “running” down MLK Jr. Drive. I’m sure the cops we passed were wondering if they needed to intervene.

The next three miles were spent in agony, some of the worst pain I’ve had in my life and I’ve seen some pain. I walked, I ran, I cried, I walked some more. My right hip and knee were on fire. I think at one point my IT band tried to escape my body entirely. I altered my stride. I tried to favor the left but I was questioning if I would finish. In fact, had it not been for Bill I probably wouldn’t have finished at all.

Finally, mile thirteen, only a tenth of a mile to go. I blasted my music so I couldn’t hear anything else and turned on the afterburners. I hauled ass up that last hill and across the finish line. Looking back it probably wasn’t nice to leave Bill in my dust after he had helped me make it through, but the competitor in me had to finish strong. I was going to be hurting anyway so go big or go home, right?

See the pain and elation all over my face.

The stats:

My official time: 2 hours 32 minutes 52 seconds (11:40 pace). That’s something like 50 minutes slower than last year’s time but I’m only a little disappointed. When I take my lack of training into account I’m actually quite proud I finished at all.

How do I feel?

For the Thursday after the race, pretty damn good. I was a stiff the last few days and pretty sore but now just the injuries are bothering me. Yep, the injuries. It’s not like I thought I’d escape not training for 13.1 miles without a scratch.

My right IT band is not feeling to great and because of the issues I had with my right side, I was a little too hard on my left and now my left foot/ankle is bothering me. I’m not worried about the IT band, I’ll get that back to normal before long but after all I went through with my right ankle, I’m a little concerned about this pain on the left. For now I will rest, ice, elevate and use the electro-stim machine.

So there you have it. Do NOT attempt a half marathon without doing some training first.

Always earned, never given!

I run for the bling!

I’m a music lover. I like to have music on while I do everything from driving to showering so it’s no surprise that I need music when I run.

There’s probably a good reason why I like music when I run, there are some studies that show listing to music while running can boost performance as much as 15%. Music does a great job tricking the brain into blocking those feelings of fatigue. There’s even some studies that go as far as to give an optimal BPM for running.

I’m not to concerned with the studies though. I like to do everything to music.

Sometimes I don’t really even hear the song playing in my ear because I’ve got my mind on other things, be it speed, distance, direction, weather, or something entirely unrelated to running. Other times I find myself singing along or smiling at a favorite song.  Music is all just part of the freeing running experience for me. It’s part of the “me time” that running provides, that escape from my everyday life.

Before I share my playlist with you I want to let you know that just because a song is on my playlist it doesn’t necessarily mean I like that particular artist. I picked these songs based on the songs themselves, not the people who created them. Not all the songs are super fast but they all have their own little way of motivating me to continue on.

My Running Playlist is over three hours long and always plays on shuffle so I have a good variety of music with every run. By listening on shuffle it takes a lot longer for me to get tired of a song and kick it off the list.

Many of these songs were on my original Running Playlist. I’ve added more to that original list and unfortunately some songs have been given the boot. It’s important to keep it fresh so you can enjoy your time running and not have to keep skipping songs you no longer want to listen to.

There you have it, this is what keeps me going for all those miles. Sure, I need my music to keep me going but I always make sure that it is never too loud and that I can be aware of my surroundings. For more ways to keep yourself safe while you run, check out my Tips For Running Safety.

What’s on YOUR playlist?