Is it really Day #3 already?! Wow! That means it’s getting closer to the half which is just cray cray Image may be NSFW.
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Today I am so happy to have the beautiful Becky from Olives ‘N’ Wine at my humble abode (er, on the internet…) Becky is one of my favorite people/blends & just all around awesome! She’s someone I talk to almost every day via the Gchatz, and I’m so glad to have her as a friend! I’m so excited for her to share her story with you all today Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
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Hi! I’m Becky from Olives ‘n’ Wine – a blog where I share my passion for keeping a balanced life through eating well, tasting great wine, staying active, and traveling to new places – and I’m excited to be doing a guest post for Lindsay today Image may be NSFW.
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As we all know, Lindsay is running her FIRST half-marathon this weekend. You can do it, girl! So I’m here today to share my half-marathon expertise experiences with you.
Image may be NSFW.
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My first half was the Monster Dash way back in the fall of 2011 – You can read my full recap here. I followed all of the beginner’s rules. I trained {almost} exactly according to plan. I stayed hydrated up to and during the race. I carbo-loaded the night before the race. I had a pace goal and an overall finish time goal. Heck, I even made sure to wear my most comfortable running shoes (not my new, pretty ones!) at the race!
And I did it. I completed my first half and beat my pace goal by over 1:30/mile but I most definitely didn’t have that runner’s high I was expecting. My knees hurt. My body hurt. I swore I’d never run another race in my entire life…
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Then came my second half – The Long Beach Half-Marathon last fall in California. Again, here is a link to my full recap. My race prep for the Long Beach Half was TOTALLY different than the prep for my first race. First of all, I had planned on running the marathon in Long Beach but because I relocated to Chicago, started a new job and had a lot of other things going on during that time, the marathon didn’t happen. To be honest, training barely happened.
I didn’t have a pace goal. I didn’t carbo-load before the race but I did wine load. That counts, right?! Image may be NSFW.
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I didn’t stay hydrated. I WALKED {gasp!} a lot. And I wore a top that was fairly new and caused my armpits to chafe for the entire 13.1 miles. Ouch!
But guess what. I STILL FINISHED THE RACE! And let me tell you, whether you train like a crazy runner (and let’s be honest, all of us runners have a bit o’ crazy in us…) or you don’t do any of the pre-race prep “right,” crossing that finish line feels like a million bucks.
And a million bucks feels pretty darn good.
Image may be NSFW.
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So you can follow my tips ‘n tricks on your first long-distance race Lindsay, or you can follow your own path. Just know that regardless of whether you run, walk, crawl, hop or do a triple backflip across that finish line, you STILL cross the line.
And with that line comes a new personal record. A new best. A new BRAG. Yet another reason to be proud of yourself. And a great confidence booster.
YOU {yes, you!} can do it and I (along with all of your readers!) am so pumped to follow your race this weekend.
xoxo
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Thank you so much, Becky!!! I hope you all enjoyed this post as much as I did Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Can’t wait to share some lots of wine with you in a few short months at Blend!! <3
I agree there’s a bit of crazy in all of us runners! Tell me the craziest running related story you have – I kind of love hearing those!
Anybody else gotten crazy chafing? I do, even with BodyGlide!!!