Last night, a little bored and scrolling through social media, I came across an ad for the San Francisco Half Marathon. Scenic course routes in Golden Gate Park and along the Pacific Ocean. Hmmmm. It’s on February 4. That’s not much time. The next thing I googled was can I train for a half marathon in four weeks. It’s not advised… but none of the sites said it can’t be done. “Go on, I’m listening.”
A few weeks ago, I was bitching about how out of shape I’ve gotten – especially when it comes to running. At the time of that post, I was comparing my level of fitness to my level of fitness from a few years ago. I am/was decidedly heavier and slower and lacking in endurance. But I’m getting better. For the first time in three years, I weigh under 175 lbs. I consider my ideal weight to be between 170 and 175 (my low has been between 160 and 165). I’m also getting some of my speed and endurance back.
I don’t particularly like running and I’ve never been a race junkie. In fact, I’ve only run one race in my life – the Philadelphia Half Marathon back in 2018. I looked back at my runs from that time period. It looks like I trained for two to three months (though I had been running pretty consistently before then). I looked back at my pace for the race – 10 minutes and 41 second per mile. I know we walked some of it. I’m pretty sure we stopped to catch our breath after one of the hills.
I’ve also written about the symbolism of that race. I ran it with my partner at the time. I saw it as metaphor for us crossing the finish line together and also for us learning each other’s paces. If I’m tempted to run this race, it’s partially for the views (who doesn’t like being near the ocean) and partially because it would have its own symbolism. If five years ago I “needed” my partner to teach me how to slow down so that I’d be able to finish the race, learning to do so on my own feels like a capstone type of achievement in this five-year period of self-discovery. If five years ago I was looking forward to finishing the race with this other person, finishing the race solo feels like a meaningful shift in expectations and progress.
I don’t know if a month is enough time to train. Probably not. Today, I went on a test run to see where I am. My goal was five miles of running without stopping and a pace of about ten minutes per mile. This would have been the longest continuous run I’ve done in a few years. Balancing pace and endurance has always been a challenge for me. A ten-minute mile feels slow and unnatural for my gait, but when I run at a pace that feels natural, I can’t run for very far or very long.
The test run was, for the most part, a success. I ran five miles. I ran the first four without stopping. My pace was around nine minutes and twenty seconds per mile – which is probably why I felt like I need to walk a bit. I walked a little at four miles and again at four-and-a-half miles… but even with some walking, my overall pace was still close to nine minutes and forty seconds per mile. I probably could have pushed through for the full five.
None of this was discouraging. I was guessing I’d be lucky to do three miles without stopping. Had that been the case, I’d have ruled out running the race. Barring any injuries or major setbacks, I think I’m going to give it a go. In practical terms, that means taking a day or two off, doing some of my normal two to four mile runs, and attempting seven or eight miles in another week or so. I’ll give myself until early January before committing with a goal of working my way up to an eleven or twelve mile run by the end of January.
Good work🏃💪