5 Tips To Help You Stick With Half Marathon Training

Training for any race can be hard when it comes to life’s distractions. We have families, work, friends, hobbies and more that can all take away from time spent hitting the roads. This is not always a bad thing, but sometimes it isn’t optimal when you have a strict training plan to adhere to.

The busier we get, the easier it is to make excuses, or let life always trump the training in the list of priorities.  Training for a half marathon is a relatively short period of time when you look at the year as a whole. These tips below help to put that time period in to context, and help you focus on the training when you need to. That might mean putting some areas of life on a back burner (err, hello scrolling) while you focus on getting the training done.

We have five tips that you can use to set yourself up for success, all so you can stick to your training and reach your goal to get to that half marathon start line, ready for anything.

5 Tips to Help You Stick With Half Marathon Training

Tell everyone who will listen that you are training for a half.

We make better choices when we are observed. This could be literally being watched by our running partners, or from our friends, family, colleagues knowing we are training for a goal and observing us turning up and getting the work done. And, even though it might not seem like it a lot of the time, a little added pressure can be a good thing. That’s when we focus hard, raise our game and deliver results.

Join a group for long runs.

Find your local running club and sign up or check with your local specialty running store if they manage any group runs. There are usually different pace groups within a running group. Finding a sweet spot group that speaks your run pace, is almost like finding a new BFF. Being able to keep the pace, chat (and long runs allow for that) and suddenly the miles seem to be going by so much quicker.

Recruit a friend.

They can train with you in person or virtually, to share the experience. The support of a pre- or post- run text is sometimes all the motivation and reward you need to keep you checking off the training runs. Yes, it’s great to run in person, but that’s not always possible. The friend-effect is real, tap into it and who knows, from one half marathon, you might find youself with your BFF running partner at the start of a 50k and wonder how you got there!

Log your runs online.

See your progress and miles pile up will be gratifying. Strava, spreadsheet, paper or PostIt notes. Whatever your preference, there is a way of measuring for everyone. There is something incredibly satisfying about seeing the miles add up as a testament to the work being done. And yes, you might find yourself adding an extra mile or a few minutes to reach a rounded milestone for the week or month. We’ve all done it.

Reward yourself.

Give yourself mini rewards after certain milestones, e.g., your first run over 10 miles. You can put a dollar in a jar after every workout. After the race, buy yourself a well-earned reward of your choosing. Personal rewards can often be more meaningful than the medal itself. Okay, who are we kidding, the medal is awesome, but seriously, the personal reward of a hard-earned goal is something that not even a medal and add a shine to.

Related: Get The Training Plan: A Half Marathon Training Plan That Works For Every Runner