Hey everyone! With all of my recent “I’M A HALF MARATHONER!” blog posts you’re probably wondering what’s next for me. If you know me at all, you know I constantly have to have some sort of challenge/adventure to look forward to, and finishing my first half marathon is going to be tough to top. I mean, after I wrote this post I realized that nothing would ever, EVER be able to top the Disney Princess Half Marathon for me. I’ve never been this emotional about a race, and finishing it has been such a bittersweet feeling for me. I felt good because I could finally call myself a half marathoner (and a princess too!) and I knew I’d done it on the happiest half marathon course on earth, but I was so sad to see all of my training, trip planning, and costume making come to an end. Everyone says you’ll never forget your first half marathon, and it’s especially true for me! But those of you who have been reading my blog probably remember this little post I wrote last December…and if you don’t remember, let me remind you all:
On March 30th, I’m running the inaugural Love Run Half Marathon in Philadelphia! Yes, like a crazy person I am running half marathon #2 only 5 weeks after my first one! During my training for Princess my husband told me to focus on only one race at a time since he knows how overwhelmed I can get if I have too many things to worry about, and that wasn’t hard to do once I got closer to the race and became overwhelmed with planning. I guess I just figured I would magically know what to do once I’d finished my first race and didn’t even think about this race until last week, when I realized I was probably going to have to run a bit longer than I wanted to this weekend. In fact, the only people who knew I was running it were Andrew and my parents (and you guys!), so it’s been interesting when people ask me “What’s next?” and I already have a very close half marathon on the calendar. Especially since I now know I’ll be doing Broad Street in May too! People seemed to think that my long training plan for Princess was nice and normal, but my sudden influx of longer races has them all pretty concerned. And to be honest, as excited as I am for the opportunity to do a free race, I’m a little worried too. Mostly because I’m not some big elite runner who can eat 13.1 miles for breakfast. But after finishing my first half, I have this strange invincible feeling – like I am actually capable of doing big scary things and not failing. It’s a pretty awesome feeling and I know it’s probably going to fade as time goes on, but for now I’m going to just roll with it.
So I’m going to try to keep all my worries from taking over and just focus on the following things:
- I’ve already got a solid milage base to work with. It’s not like I’m starting from scratch here, so if I can just maintain a few higher milage runs between races I should be fine. In fact, for Broad Street I can taper a lot since it’s only 10 miles!
- Training is going to keep me busy, and I’m at my happiest when I’m super busy. I was really getting into the routine of 2 shorter runs, 3 Barre3 days, and a long run followed by a rest day and I’m actually glad I can continue to stick to that schedule for a while. I’ve been doing lots of leg work modifications in Barre3 so I’m not totally wearing out my legs! My instructors are awesome!
- I’m probably going to PR without trying! During Princess I took some time to clean myself up halfway through the race because I was so sweaty from all the humidity, and I stopped to take pictures whenever I felt like it. While those things were very necessary for Princess, I won’t be doing that in my next half! Plus the humidity made me so worried that I slowed down my pace more than I wanted to, and I felt good after the race so I know I could have pushed myself harder. So even if I just take off the 5 minutes I spent in the bathroom at Princess I’ll be able to brag about a PR 🙂 Honestly though, because these two races are so close I don’t expect any large PRs and won’t let myself worry about time.
- The race is so close to me! I can “sleep in” (aka sleep past 2:30 am) and drive over to the art museum in less than 30 minutes. I can even do quick packet pickup on Friday or Saturday and won’t have to worry about getting to that expo on day one!
- I can run in whatever clothing I want, AND there is practically a 0% chance of humidity in late March! Although with this winter, there might be a good chance of snow!
- This race is free! Just the opportunity to line up at the starting line is a blessing and I’m going to enjoy every single second of this race. Plus there is a post-race food spread including chocolate and pretzels and I get a medal and mug! Score!
I’m going to refer back to this list whenever I get nervous or overwhelmed. Being a “slower” runner always gives me anxiety, so I’m going to seriously push all time-related fears out of my head and focus on the positives. Since this is the inaugural race I have no idea where I’ll fall in terms of other finishers but hopefully there will be a lot of other people running at a 12:00 pace and they can keep me on track! For now, the plan is to run 3 days with the following long runs: 7 (today since I was still resting yesterday), 10, 12, and 7 or 8 (taper). I’ve been checking out training plans of people who had similar situations and this seemed to work well for them. If I’m in the middle of a long run and something feels off I’ll make sure to stop and take precautions to make sure I don’t get injured. I’ve also been foam rolling at least twice a day and I know that will help me a lot! If you have any tips or suggestions please let me know! I know I’m a little crazy for taking on so much in such a short amount of time but…YOLO, right?
Have you ever run 2 long races close together? Any tips? And who else is running the Love Run with me!
Mom in the Mtns 
I am in the same boat as you! I am running the Love Run and then running the Nike Women’s half in DC exactly one month later. Did I mention that is the weekend before Broad Street? (Yeah…didn’t realize that at first, but even if I did I don’t think I would’ve wanted to pass it up!) The lady that leads my running group says it will be fine, I do 10 miles one week and 13 the next in training, so it’s not like I won’t be used to it. Still nervous!
Oh wow! I had no idea we were basically doing the same thing! Yeah I know it’s going to be fine but I was so tired last week and my first 3 miler after the race was really tough and it kind of psyched me out. Plus non-runners are being haters right now and making me nervous. I know we can both do this! And you’ll do fine with Broad Street, it’s all downhill! PS I’m still jealous you’re doing Nike!
I’m running two long races back to back too. I have my first half marathon on April 13, and then my first 25K (15.5mi) one month later on May 10! It’s a bit intimidating since most people talk about taking a few days off after their half for rest, but my training calls for a half on Sunday and then 5 miles on Mon, Wed, and Thurs, the following week!!
I’m just trying to work the training plan, which was put together by the leader of my running club, and I trust her judgement and knowledge.
Congrats on finishing the Princess half, and GOOD LUCK on your next race!!
That’s awesome! I think it’s so good that you’re able to get help from someone who has done it before. After my half last weekend I didn’t run until Thursday and I was sooooo slow and tired! It made me worry a bit but I think I’m doing better this week. Good luck with your races!
I’ve done two half marathons a month apart–3 M in January and Austin in February. I found it relatively easy because I’ve already done the training. It’s just a matter of maintaining it a few more weeks. No problem!
Awesome! You make it sound so easy 🙂 Hopefully it won’t be too bad!
You’re going to be awesome! You’ll see 🙂 I would love to run this race [pun intended]!
Haha! Thanks! It’s hard when I don’t have any runner friends to encourage me to do this stuff, all I have are non-runner friends who think I’m crazy. I’m glad I’m not the only one doing this kind of thing!
I ran my first two back to back also. You’ve got this!! I am excited to hear about this race…everything I’ve read sounds like it’s going to be a blast!
Thanks! It sounds like everyone did their first two back-to-back so I guess I’m doing this the right way 🙂
I’ve run two half marathons in two days but otherwise 2 weeks is the shortest time between them. Just keep up your running at a comfortable speed (no speed work) and you’ll have nothing to worry about. Have fun. 🙂
Whoa, two days?!?! That’s amazing! I was not ready for running the next day so I have to give you serious props for doing that! Yeah I will definitely slow down until race day and I’ve been foam rolling like crazy so I hope it works out!
You’ll do great. Just remember to have fun. And I run/walk so my recovery has been pretty quick since starting that.
I was thinking of doing this run but it’s not in my budget for now =/ Let me know how it goes!! I want to do a race in Philly soon – maybe the Philly Half in Nov!
Go for it! Everyone always talks about that race and it looks like so much fun! People also talk about Rock and Roll Philly which apparently is super flat and fast? Those are my two favorite race adjectives 🙂
I am thisclose to signing up for this race!! I’ve been nursing an injury and have to miss my March marathon so want a spring race and think this is it. I’ll know for sure later this week. I’m a half fanatic so I’ve definitely done long races back to back. My only advice is to set your expectations ahead of time. Pick one that will be your signature, train like a mother race, and the other just have FUN!!
Do it!!! It looks like it will be such a fun race, and not too much elevation change. Plus chocolate and pretzels at the finish line! Haha. I definitely didn’t push myself at Disney and went as slow as a regular training run (plus stops for pictures and other things) so I’m going to try to push it in race #2 to see what I can do. I felt really good after my first half but my goal was just to cross the finish line so I know I can probably go a little faster!
I think it’s great you’re focusing on all the positives! You can definitely do it! I ran a 10k the Saturday after a half marathon (6 days after). Not quite as far as a half, but with a couple rest and short runs days in there, I did just fine! I was able to keep my pace since I had literally just trained for the half. You’ll be fine! Good luck and thanks for linking up today!
Haha well..I’m trying to be positive. There’s a lot that could go wrong but I’m hoping I can get through it injury free! It’s so good to know that other people do this kind of thing, it makes me feel a lot better!
Good luck with your next run! I’ve done many back to back marathon’s and if you train with back to back training runs, you can do back to back runs no problem. Good luck, and have lots of fun!!!
Thanks! I usually increase my long runs every weekend so hopefully that will help me on race day!
I recently ran a half marathon, too. I like running nearby races – unless I’m surprised by the traffic and I’m late!
Ugh good point, I’m not sure where I’ll be parking for this race but it’s Philly so there may be a long walk to and from my car! I should probably try to get there early!
woohoo!!! I’m excited for you!! You’re going to do great and I can’t wait to read all about it 🙂
Haha love your enthusiasm! Hopefully everything goes according to plan!
Ooh an inaugural race! That sounds like fun! You can do it. Granted, I’ve never done a half and I don’t know how long one needs to recover after a half… but I say you can do it!