Training for a Half Marathon - 4 tips you need to know!

So you’ve made the New Year’s Resolution to officially run your first half marathon this June. First off, congratulations! That’s a huge goal and you deserve to share it with the world. Secondly, do you have a plan? 13.1 miles is no walk in the park and there are a few key things that our Ultima team believe are important aspects for your race day success. Here are four things we think are pretty important for success! 1. Start your training 12-16 weeks before the race – yes, 3-4 months earlier may seem like a long time before race day, but the extra miles you put on each week (at a gradual pace) will be much more beneficial in the long run. Lets say your race day is Saturday, June 6. It’s best to start training no later than the first week of April. 2. Sleep & Hydrate = Your New Best friends! Don’t slack on either of these during training (and especially the week before the big day). Missing sleep is as bad as missing those long runs. Plus proper hydration through the weeks leading up to your race will ensure your body is fully hydrated and ready to go when you cross that start line. Don’t forget to also train using Ultima Replenisher in your water bottle so that come race day you are prepared and using the same hydration routine you have been doing all along. It’s not a good thing to start something new on race day. 3. Set Goals (But make them reasonable) – It’s your FIRST half marathon, don’t expect to come in first place overall. Sometimes the best goal for the first event is just to finish. The second half you do could be about time. If you want a time goal aim for 2:10 or 2:15 (depending on how fast you feel comfortable running in your training runs). It’ll help you depend on how fast you can go on race day. 4. Eat like a distance runner – You are officially a long distance runner so it’s time to start eating like one. After you go out for your runs, make sure you come home and eat a protein/carb meal to speed up your muscle recovery time. Make sure you are eating enough carbs the morning of a long run as well to fuel you through the workout. Try a banana and one piece of sprouted grain toast or half a bagel and a shot of honey. These are just some of the things that work for our team. Play around with different breakfast combos to see what works best for you. Once you find one stick to it for the rest of your long runs and make sure you do the same on race day. That’s it from us! Don’t forget that once you cross that finish line it’s all about celebrating your victory. Enjoy it, your deserve it! But don’t forget to continue to hydrate after your race too. Try adding some raspberry flavored Ultima Replenisher into a big glass of sparkling water. Trust us, it’s delicious! Do you have your favorite half marathon distance training tip? Share with us below! If you do, we’ll send you some product* just for doing so! Offer expires April 30, 2015.