Going The Distance- First Half Marathon

Training for a marathon is just as much mental as it is physical. When you're heading out for a long run, the thought that it could suck and you could end up in pain crosses your mind. For me, talking through it helps me face what I'm about to take on.  One of the greatest gifts I have gotten from running is confidence. In that I am capable of anything I tell myself I can do. As long as I have my head in the game, it will get done. I'm going to talk a little more about my my first half marathon.

It's said that a half marathon is something you'll either do one and you're done or you'll keep doing  it over and over to try to break your own records. If you would have asked me a few minutes after my first half if I would ever do it again my answer would have been "hell no" or even if I would do a marathon it would be " there's no way I would double what I just did".

Then time goes by and you realize that the feeling after completing something you worked so hard at for months the best feeling you've ever had. It almost trumps college graduation.  Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about what it means to me and what was going on in my head through the whole 13.1 miles.  


So what was going on in my head?


 Well a lot goes through your head when you're running for 2 hours. Some of my thoughts during the race were:


-Did I train enough?
-Did I get enough sleep?
- Did I eat one too many bananas this morning?
- I wonder if I will see my parents on the sideline
-I wonder what Giliana Rancic and Molly from the bachelor will finish in and if I will beat them
- I don't know if I can ever do this again
- I'm dying of thirst where the F is the next water station?

Giliana Rancic before the Chicago Half Marathon 

But after a while all those negative thoughts that come to your head just zap right back out. Now that's not saying my legs didn't fee like bricks after mile 8.  It's just that none of that seemed to bother me, I was able to force out all negative thoughts and just focus on putting one foot ahead of another and enjoy the moment.

I signed up to run a half marathon to prove to myself that I could survive some of the toughest moments of my life. If I can run 13.1 miles, I can do anything. It gave me distraction, a daily high and made me feel stronger than I've ever felt. Which is what I guess lead me to train for the upcoming Chicago Marathon this October. 

Most people say to me:"You're running a marathon? I could never do that!


It drove me a bit nuts. The fact of the matter is, yes you can. You can pretty much do anything as long as you realize that you have the strength; you've always had the strength, you just need to find it. This pertains to anything you want to do. Want to learn rock climbing but think you're too weak or afraid of heights? Go to the gym, build that strength and face that fear. Want to write a book but don't know where to start? Start at the beginning, do the research, make a plan and take it one step at a time. Sure you'll have your good days & then there will be the ones when you want to just give up. But if you want it bad enough, don't give up because you can make it happen.


I'll leave you with my one of my favorite running clips of all time .


Until next time Run and live fearless,
Becky