The Half-Marathon Has Begun

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an aspiring runner in possession of a goal, must be in want of a few races to run.  And so it is that having run two 10K races this year I have signed up to run the Georgia half-marathon next March.

As some of you will know I ran my first race in February; I trained hard and ran a very respectable time of 1:10.  OK Mr Lapin (aka The Fitter One) verily sprinted away once the race began; but I remember having a lovely race, running around parts of Bangkok; across bridges and through old parts of the city.  I vowed then and there that 10K was going to be 'my' race.  It was a doable distance.  One that didn't necessarily demand too much of my time or a single minded and focused training plan.  It was a distance I could work towards running in under 60mins.

A couple of week's ago I ran my second 10K race and my first one in the US; the Atlanta Beltline 10K; it was a  route along the newly opened Eastside part of the trail.  Me, my US running buddy and about 1500 other people ran along the trail in the winter sun.

My second race bib - lucky number 1121

When I think about this race compared to the one in February so much was different - I was more confident that I would run the distance and probably in a good time; I didn't worry about what pain I would experience, or whether in my head I would just give up and stop.  I ended up completing the race in 1:03; all the time keeping my with my running buddies (both veteran 10K, half and full marathon runners).  And though the last 1 1/2 miles were a struggle - it was hotter than I realised and very little shade on the route - I place 42nd in my age group (in the top 40%).

How did I shave 7 minutes off my time without seeming to do anything in particular?  Well, it turns out that I have become a runner; I know I have been running for over a year and running pretty regularly.  But I have never at any point in the past eighteen months felt as though I could call myself a runner.  I have always felt like an interloper into someone else's life. That I would be found out by the 'real' runners and kicked out of the club before I had even made a dent into it.

How did I achieve this transformation?  The biggest change was being able to push through the mental barrier of running on consecutive days.  Consequently without being conscious of it I have built up a steady running routine and positively look forward to getting out onto the streets and running my distances.  Putting in the miles and increasing my speed.

However not everything has been all American and positive; I have still been holding onto my British self-doubt and fear of being seen to be 'good' at something - exactly how far could I run?  A 10K?  No problem I have that distance conquered; I am running that on a regular evening run.  But a half-marathon -  21K?  Could I do that?

Well, it turns out that after a few months of self-doubt and trying to justify why I should wait to run a half-marathon I suddenly realised that if I didn't sign up and make the decision to train to run it; I was never going to be 'ready' to run it.  If I did not set myself the goal how was I going to achieve it?  So here I am roughly 12 weeks away from hitting the pavement to run 21K and I am about to start my training; running, cross training and diet.  If I want to get a time of about 2:30 I need to build up my distance and push through my second psychological barrier of running further than 11K (the longest distance I have run so far) as well as trim about 2kg off my weight and strengthen my core to help counter the back ache.

So stay tuned for Lara Lapin's half-marathon training plan as I aim to run 21K in 2:30 on 17th March 2013

Running the Beltline - there I am #1121