The Mini

It's that time of year again. Here in the great state of Indiana, i think people are surprised to hear that there are other half marathons on this earth besides the famous "Indy One America Mini Marathon". You'll see what i'm talking about while you're waiting the 20 minutes to actually cross the start-finish line after the gun goes off. Personally, the indy mini is the only half-marathon i've ever done. I need to get out more i guess. John has completed many, many more and i'll let him give his own colorful commentary on those (wink, wink...he's been around a little longer than i have). The first time i ran a half marathon, i did it as a challenge to myself. Now that i've finally decided to up the ante and train for a full marathon, i'm beginning to think the half-marathon is the perfect distance for a race. It's not too long and it's not too short. It doesn't require a PDA to schedule 20 mile training runs. I don't need a GPS to actually figure out where i'm going to run 20 straight miles! I don't have to EAT while i run. More on this topic later as i continue with quest for 26.2.

Now for the good stuff:

There are several things to watch out for when training for the half-marathon. Like others have stated, just because it's a "half", doesn't mean it's going to somehow be easier to train for or that it can't cause injury if one doesn't train properly. We see many, many runners this time of year and it always seems to be the result of the same issues. In no particular order:

TOO MUCH TOO FAST
IMPROPER SHOE CHOICE
NOT LISTENING TO YOUR BODY (just because you can, doesn't mean you should)
NOT ESTABLISHING A GOOD BASE (cardiovascular base and strength/core base)

As a fellow runner, i have been guilty of all of these things at one point or another. I really have problems with number 3 eventhough i see the results of it on a daily basis (For a good real-life example see the excellent post by Frayed Laces). Hopefully, in the weeks to come, we'll be able to post some more examples, ideas, questions, and opinions on those issues and more. In the meantime, we encourage your comments and questions whether you agree or disagree. We love reading, learning, and discussing new ideas! Now Hit the Road!