191. 5 Half Marathon Training Mistakes You Must Avoid with Coach Whitney

Let's just lay on the couch all day and watch movies. Now your rest day, you can go for a walk, you can go for a swim, I mean not a vigorous swim. You don't want to be working up a sweat, but you need to be proactive in your recovery. You need to be foam rolling, you need to be taking an Epsom Salt bath. You need to be putting on compression socks and toe spacers and rolling your feet and doing all the things that are going to jump start the recovery process in your leg muscles in particular. Are you constantly worried about getting injured or you don't know how to get faster as a runner and you want to continue to run for stress relief, then this is the podcast for you. Welcome to Healthy Runner, the only place that provides you with training tips, injury recovery and prevention tools with actionable strategies by experts in the running industry so you can develop a stronger running body and feel confident that you can overcome any obstacle as a runner. I'm your host, Dr. Duane Scotty, avid runner, running physical therapist and coach, educator, founder of Swarth Healthy Runner, where we help dedicated runners get stronger, run faster and enjoy lifelong injury free running with the perfect online running coach, even if you've been told to stop running with an injury or you think coaching is just for fast runners. Learn more about our signature coaching program at learn.sparkhealthyrunner.com. Every week on the show, we coach you to grow as a runner just like the process of building a strong, durable home that will last a lifetime requiring little maintenance. The design and planning is your mindset. The foundation is your strength training. The framing is your run plan. The electrical and plumbing is your nutrition. The insulation, drywall and flooring is your recovery. The landscaping and exterior is your race strategy. If you master the six parts of growing as a runner, your running will be strong and last long hitting PRs well into your 40s, 50s and beyond. Every week we help a runner just like you build their dream home. I'm your host, Dr. Duane Scotty. Welcome to the Healthy Runner Podcast. Are you preparing for half marathon? Want to up your game and achieve success? Then you've come to the right place, welcome to episode 191 on the Healthy Runner Podcast where you help you get stronger, run faster and enjoy lifelong injury free running. I have Coach Whitney Lakom from our Healthy Runner Coaching team with me here today to delve into the realm of half marathon training mistakes that you absolutely must avoid. Welcome back on the show Whitney, how you're doing today? Hi, I am doing great. It is a sunny, what is today? Tuesday here in Arizona and yeah, things are good. Really good. Nice, it is a very sunny and actually really cool dew point day in Connecticut. I couldn't even believe it when I looked at my little weather app. It literally said 48 degrees dew point and it was perfect because I had my speedwork day so it was amazing to actually run in cool, cool air. It just felt like amazing. I'm so jealous because our dew point is going up because it's August and yeah, the temperature is staying about the same but the dew point is going up which is making it pretty warm, pretty sweaty but you know, it's August. Yeah, and if you don't mind actually, I actually forgot to do this with Coach Lou last time is because you've been on the show many times before but we always have new listeners checking out the podcast, checking out our YouTube channel. Do you mind giving us a little brief intro to who you are and why you love to do what you do? Of course. Like Wayne said, my name is Coach Whitney. I live in Tucson, Arizona and I have been a runner. Oh, I don't even know. Nine years, I think. I've done lots of half marathon, marathon, five case, 10 case, seven case, which apparently was my first race I've ever done was a seven K. My daughter reminded me that the other night she was remembered when you did that five K. That wasn't a five K. Yes, I ran a seven K. And I've also done one ultra marathon and that was a definite one and done. So I just love this word of running. I love everything about it. I love sharing it with people. So being a running coach is perfect for me because I get to talk about running all the time and nobody can tell me to stop. So it's fantastic. Exactly. That's what like our community is for right is like because you know, you're non runner friends. You just don't understand, right? My husband, one and done, you know, I've said that before myself about the marathon. And now here I am going back for thirds of the marathon. I don't know, Whitney, I could see some altars in your future. I don't know if you say one and done, I think I'm going to be holding you to this statement in the future. Yeah. I think it's the whole trail versus road. I think if I could do a road ultra, I'd totally be on board. But Arizona trails are way different than Connecticut trails. Our trails are mountains and lots of boulders and rocks and snakes that you think are sticks and then they hiss at you and it was just mentally exhausting and I was constantly tripping over my own feet and it was just, it was a long day. So I think that one might be one and done desert ultra marathons. All right. All right. We're going to have to, we're going to have to wait and see. But I know right now you are training for the New York City Marathon. How is training going so far? It's going. We are in what are we in week six, day two of week six. So just under 11 weeks, over 11 weeks, something like that from race day, it's going really well. Things, it's starting to cool down a little bit here. So this week has actually been the first week that I've slept in a little bit and done my strength training before the kids got up and then waited until I walked them to school and then headed out for my run. So I got a little extra sleep in this week, which if you know me, it's fantastic. I love my sleep. But tomorrow I will be getting up early to get out and get my speed workout in before it gets too warm and Saturday for my long run. But yeah, it's going well. All right. Nice. And are you, do you, I would imagine around you is it pretty flat? Like are you planning and strategically seeking out, like elevations for the bridges in New York? I know I've had a couple of clients that I've worked with where we've done that. Is that like a strategy of yours? Yes, because people think Arizona and they're like, oh, it's mountainous. Like you have elevation, it's totally easy for you to find hills. It's not where I live in particular. We actually live at the bottom of a hill, air quotes hill. It's two tons for mile long. It's not very big. It is steep, but I have to go up it to get out to our main drag for running. But I have been intentional about the routes that I'm doing for the various runs. Like yesterday and today, I, today was five miles. So the first mile was flat, then it was a mile uphill, then it was a mile flatish downhill, then a mile uphill. So I've been strategically placing my hills or my inclines to kind of give me some elevations. There will be times, actually, Labor Day, I'm doing an eight mile race through Soaro National Park, the east side. And that is an eight mile course of shy of 700 feet of elevation gain, over 800 feet or eight miles. And then actually that Sunday, I'm doing a 10k, that is just over 500 feet of elevation gain. So I've thrown in some hills, I have no motivation to them, so, which I don't want to do. And today's talk is going to really focus on the half marathon distance. How many half marathons have you run? So I was actually counting the other day per my daughter's request, my oldest daughter. And as it stands right now, I have done 38 half marathons. And I have one scheduled in October, two weeks before New York City, as like a practice run. And then in December, I am running the half marathon as part of the Tucson marathon. So by the end of this year, hopefully fingers crossed, I make it to the last two. I will have hit number 40. Wow. Yeah, that's super impressive because you've done that in less years than I have. And I was just looking at my, my, my stats there. So I've run 31 half marathon. So between the two of us here guys, this information we're going to be sharing today is really based upon what like over almost 70 half marathon experiences between the two of us and coaching hundreds of runners at the half marathon distance. So this is something that I'm definitely super passionate about the half marathons. It's kind of my first love. And even I probably still say it's my favorite race distance. Though I am really enjoying marathon training these last two years. And I know the half marathon is such a great entry point for those looking to take the next step from a 5K or 10K. So I'm really looking forward to this chat today. And I definitely need to mention the freebie that we have for you as you prepare for your half marathon race, and that you can download today is one that's going to really get all of your ducks in a row before race day. And it's our Spark Healthy Runner race day blueprint. The, this resource is really the ultimate guide to executing the perfect race preparation and crushing your race for your big day. We share 10 proven tactics to run a great race, feeling strong and confident. This online mini book is specifically written for you to take away the guesswork and includes our race ready checklist, which we put together, which is amazing and our race day game plan as well to make sure that you don't forget anything. And then also you can really have your whole timeline on race day to really just not stress. You don't have to think about it. It's like written out there to really provide you structure for the big day. And this blueprint will provide you all the tips and tricks to set you up for the perfect like peace strategy. So get your download by going to learn that spark healthy runner dot com forward slash race to download that or get the link in the show notes. And in this episode coach Whitney is going to really cover and share her five common half marathon training mistakes to avoid for race day. So you can every stay success. And we will delve into the realm of half marathon training mistakes that you absolutely must avoid by steering clear of these five common blunders. You can enhance your training regimen and pave the way to a triumphant race day. We're going to provide some valuable insights and techniques to help you find your ideal peace, ensuring endurance throughout the entirety of your half marathon. And we will shed light on the consequences of inadvertently or not doing enough rest and recovery nutrition blunders and the topic of strength training. So whether you're a season runner looking for a half marathon PR or your beginner runner looking to enjoy your first half marathon experience. This training is for you. Don't let these five half marathon training mistakes hinder your progress or hinder your chances of success. Join us. Listen in as we delve deeper into each of these missteps, providing valuable tips and tricks with the right knowledge and guidance. You will be primed for a victorious half marathon experience. So start your training journey the right way and secure the triumph you deserve. Now let's take a quick pause from this episode in which I hope you were finding value from to talk about safety because it should be a top concern for every runner. Have you got the right running safety gear whether you're heading out the door for a quick easy run or logging a long run that you need to start super early before the sun rises where you finish super late after the sun goes down. Nox gear keeps you lit up from all angles so you are visible by cars. Your signature product, the Tracer 2 keeps you visible while you run by pairing powerful multicolor LED fiber optics with ultra reflective 3M patterns and fluorescence. Nox gear is a new Tracer lamp lights your path and boost your visibility that attaches directly to the buckle of your Tracer eliminating the need to use a head lamp anymore because let's be honest who loves that bouncing feeling on your head when you're running. Just use the code healthy runner during checkout when placing your order at noxgear.com to receive 35% off your order. Go ahead and give Nox gear a try. Trust me you recommended to all of our healthy runners in our coaching program and you will never feel more confident that you are safe while running. Now let's get back into this episode. So without further delay what is mistake number one on your list of half marathon training mistakes to avoid coach. So my number one mistake is picking the wrong plan or going on the internet and finding a plan that's either too aggressive or too easy either of those options is going to either burn you out or you're going to get bored and you're not going to finish it. So you really need to evaluate where you're at now where your fitness level is now when you're starting your plan or before even and you need to consider how many miles are you doing per week how many days a week are you running how many miles are you doing each of those days and then find a plan that meets you where you're at now not a plan that sounds like oh this is what like my friend is doing and she's done five half marathon so I should I should do this plan with her. No you need to find a plan that works for you that is going to meet you where you're at that is going to help you get to your goal is it the half marathon distance is a distance that is so personal all of the things that you're going to learn along the way are going to be so individual everything that works for you is not going to work for your friend so do your research and find a plan that is going to meet you where you're at and get you to your goal. Yeah, I think it all starts with a plan like we talk about in our kind of six steps to growing as a runner this is like the design and planning right it's like the mindset in the beginning and setting realistic goals that we talk about and because of what I mentioned before about this being like the first you know barrier to entry to longer races. I do find this as a common mistake as well because you know like most people you know you search online you download the free plan you either pick a beginner or you pick an intermediate if you you know think that you're pretty fit which is what I did I think for my first half marathon I was like oh I work out all time in the gym I'm pretty fit like I can handle the intermediate plan until you get injured right because you're doing like speed. And you've never done speed work before as well as you know building up your weekly mileage and building up your long runs so that is definitely a common mistake I would agree with and it is just so important to have that right plan that's right for you know your current fitness level and like you mentioned you know not you're aspiring goal time just because you know we do. There's a lot of runners in our program who you know maybe didn't run as much during covid or I keep hearing you know for many of the people I hop on the phone with is like I haven't done a race since like before covid still right so we're still getting some of that or someone coming back from baby right after they had a baby and they haven't run a half marathon in two or three years right or it's been five or 10 years and you have to make sure that you are really looking at. Where is your current like running fitness at as opposed to what you used to do or what a goal time that you just like pull out of the air is. Yeah we have a lot of. Runners in general not necessarily our clients but people that I just talk to you know here and there and for some reason that two hour even for first time half marathon or they have that two hour goal in their mind but they've never done a 10k they've never gone further than five miles total. You know for a long run so for them to want that goal that's that's great but then you need to realize that that's probably not going to be achievable for your first half marathon so that might be something that you work towards four years five years down the road or something like that but yeah being realistic. Absolutely need to be realistic and that's going to you know help prevent honestly a lot of the injuries that we see with first time half marathoners so what would you say you know mistake number two is. I would say and this goes for any race distance any race that you were doing that you were training for that one of the big mistakes is running your easy runs too fast you need to slow those runs down I always tell my clients you need to be like a turtle. It's always trudging through peanut butter it needs to feel so slow that's not the right word but you need to feel like when you're done with your run you probably could have done another two miles it needs to feel easy enough that you can sing the star Spangled Banner or say the Pledge of Allegiance out loud without having to gasp for air not everybody runs with a friend so conversation pace might not be applicable but if you can be by yourself and say the Pledge of Allegiance out. It's not allowed people might look too funny that are passing you that's okay then you know you're going at an easy enough pace another way to tell you are going easy enough is if you are you're running with your mouth closed if you can breathe only in and out through your nose you are doing your great job running slow enough. Yeah and this is another another common one and it is really hard to I think you know especially those that are familiar with exercise and they come from the bootcamp style you know classes or spinning class and you're just used to every time you exercise you work up you know the biggest sweat possible you feel like you had a hard workout and that's like success in your mind and it is a challenge to reframe our thinking in that every time I go for a run it's not supposed to feel hard and I'm not supposed to feel like I'm working you know a 10 out of 10 effort like if I was in a spinning class and the instructor screaming at me and I got strobe lights going on and I got likes house music going you know blasting in my ear right it's really hard I think for runners to like reframe that thinking and until you either you know fizzle out or you what we call bonk at a race so for those that are maybe listening to this for the like first half marathon you know if you're halfway through a race or you're like you know two thirds of the way through your race and you just you have nothing left right so that's like you kind of lost it all it's because usually you went out too fast in the beginning so in training we really want to focus on running easy and getting comfortable and getting control of our bodies are running or breathing and that's actually a skill that takes time to develop and like I am still working on this skill and I have to consciously really make that my goal for the first two miles of any run it is like I don't even I've stopped even listening to podcasts during those first two miles where I am now just listen in nature listening to my breathing getting in control it's like a nice little meditation really using your diaphragm and like you had mentioned Whitney you know closing your mouth do that test see if you could just do nasal breathing and when you do nasal breathing you use your diaphragm your belly and that gives you more fuller breaths it helps keep your heart rate down the low the longer you can go with a lower heart rate and a race setting then the better off you're going to be because your heart rate's not spiking up so high and you're exerting so much energy so now you have no energy at the end of the race when you want to have energy so this is a very very common mistake and yeah I would agree just you know if you think you are going slow enough go probably slower but don't go sloppy like don't make sure your cadence isn't too slow and your form is all weird and wonky and you're going side to side movements you know make sure you're yeah you're not hunching you know make sure your leg turnover is still there and that's what we call our cadence or steps per minute but you're just keeping everything relaxed and easy as you're going out there for those runs absolutely all right we'll just say mistake number three is mistake number three is not taking your rest day or you're making your recovery a priority and when I say rest day I don't mean let's just lay on the couch all day and watch movies no you're rest day you can go for a walk you can go for a swim you I mean not a vigorous swim you don't want to be working up a sweat but you need to be proactive in your recovery you need to be foam rolling you need to be taking an epsom solve back you need to be putting on compression socks and toe spacers and rolling your feet and doing all the things that are going to jump start the recovery process in your war leg muscles in particular so don't just be like oh it's a rest day all right I'm going to go take a nap like take a nap but also do some other stuff throughout the day yeah so realizing that the recovery aspect is a part of the training and it's absolutely just the runs and like we talk about our six steps to grow as a runner the recovery bucket and as as you mentioned that at the time of this recording right now I do have my neboso toes blazing so by feet can recover from my hard speed work and a hard heavy strength session that I had after that in the gym so yeah recovery is important and you need to make it a priority and you need to be mindful of some of these recovery strategies that Whitney is talking about we have them all outlined in our recovery blueprint that you guys can download on our site I'll sort of the link to that in the show notes as well if you want to get some more ideas on how we kind of maximize that recovery as well as our popular seven muscles to foam roll video that's also in the recovery blueprint so mistake number three is not making rest days end or recovery a priority yes and the other thing I'll add to that Whitney is the rest days right like how many you know people that we start working with in the beginning you know they say well yeah okay I'm not gonna run you know it's gonna be my rest day but I'm gonna go do a spinning class or I'm gonna go do a yoga class and my next question is always what kind of yoga are we doing is this you know what is the effort feel like and you know you're for a rest in recovery day it's literally it should be easy easy easy right so like only restorative yoga you're allowed to do if you want to do some biking it's gonna be easy easy biking you're not doing a spinning class but if you want to hop on your peloton and just get a nice easy 20 maybe 30 minute ride just to move the legs get some blood flow in there which will help stimulate recovery but you got to keep that heart rate low like this should not be hard work exercise your body needs to actually recover during that rest day as opposed to just doing another form of exercise so then it doesn't recover yes absolutely I always say you know if you want to ride a bike go ride around the neighborhood with your kids because chances are you're gonna be going slow enough if you're doing that and that's okay for me I have made it a point I hate yoga hate it it's just too slow for me I've never enjoyed I've made a point this training cycle every Friday I spend 30 to 40 minutes doing a restorative yoga help lengthen out my body get some more mobility going but my heart rate is staying low and everything is slow all of my moves are intentional I'm not doing anything that is strenuous or hurts it's truly a restorative more of a stretching session and I found that that's actually been very beneficial so if you are a yogi as long as you are doing an easy low pace to everything is calm session you are okay to do that on your rest day just none of that hot yoga stuff or the crazy positions where your body's all crazy pretzel keep it nice and easy yeah it's also like for some of my other folks the other thing I'll add in there is the old yard work right it's like you don't have time and you know you schedule your rest and recovery day on a Sunday but then you spend like eight hours out in the yard you know digging you know lifting like that wasn't a recovery day and you were like out in the heat you were like sweating you know you're already a little dehydrated from your longer on the day before so think about that as well guys in terms of maximizing your recovery I hope you are enjoying this episode and it is providing value for you I wanted to take a brief moment to share a story of a real runner like you who is struggling with a common problem that you may be facing here is one of our athletes who got the guidance support and accountability from our healthy runner coaching team to get clarity and structure on the six steps to growing as a runner with personalized strength nutrition and run plans I hope their story inspires you that there is hope to either get over your running injury or to continue getting faster or running longer so you can continue to get in those mental clearing miles and enjoy your running journey again here is their inspiring story hi my name is Sharon Aguilar and I live in McKinney Texas and I have been a runner for many years I began running when I was in my 20s and I took lots of breaks as I had children and as life and work and other stresses happened and in the last two years I really wanted to get stronger to run a half marathon again and it seemed that every time I up my mileage I would get severely injured which was new for me I went many decades of my life without injuries in the past two years it just seemed like I couldn't get past like 10 miles a week and yet my goal was to run a half marathon again so I hired coach Duane with the healthy runner coaching program and he helped me to finally get past that mark and I decided to start training for a half marathon like specifically like I picked the race in March and he had the best training program to help me to get there like my weekly mileage upping it all the parts that I felt like I would get injured at or that I would get set back sat he was right there to help me through those by the end of the program I was running in the low 20 mile an hour weeks and my longest long run got up to 11 miles and it really prepared me for the half I ended up I estimated that I was going to finish pretty slow because a lot of my running at the that the mileage he had me doing was just slow miles to stop me from getting injured and and I absolutely crushed my half marathon I finished it in two hours and 35 minutes which my previous self would have been very embarrassed to say that time but my current self is very very proud of that because I finished I finished not injured I finished with energy to spare like I kind of had this idea at the end like I could have kept going which I don't think I've ever experienced that at a half marathon and I felt great so I'm really glad I thank you coach Dwayne for all of your help and all the work before I started this training block and the reason I chose him is because I had been diagnosed with proximal hamstring teninopathy at the time that I hired him I'd been I'd had it for about nine months in about two months of that I hadn't had any symptoms so I was really scared that once I started training for a half marathon that those symptoms would all come back and I can't tell you that they didn't I did have there would be times when we would increase runs and I would start to have little niggles and he always you know he had a plan for that and they would go away so I finished them surprisingly I finished the half marathon enduring it I didn't even though the race I chose had a lot of hills which if you've suffered from proximal hamstring teninopathy hills are not your friend but I was fine on the hills I incorporated a lot of hills in my training so that I could get those aches and pains out of the way before race day and that the hills weren't a problem at all anyways I just want to say thank you to coach Dwayne and I plan to continue with their strength training program now I'm going to move over to coach Whitney and she's going to help me to actually get faster so hopefully you'll heal from me here for me again and I'll tell you that I absolutely beat my my time from this half marathon anyways thank you I appreciate it I hope sharing that story inspired you and provided you some hope if you want the one-on-one structure accountability and support from our healthy runner coaching team of experts check out the behind-the-scenes video tour of our signature coaching program you just heard about including other stories from runners who are just like you and we're struggling with the same sticking points before they signed up for our program just head to learn.spark healthyrunner.com to learn more and book your strategy call with me today now let's get back into this episode all right miss stick number four what is it number four in this goes for all running in general this is not necessarily half marathon specific but it plays a bigger part in half marathon training it will be not eating enough overall you cannot go into half marathon training wanting to lose weight that cannot be your goal of training for a half marathon it's not realistic it's not healthy and honestly it's just it's not going to happen and you're going to burn out you're going to get injured you need to make sure that you are eating enough and that means you are going to be eating more most likely than you were before you started half marathon training now you also need to be eating before your runs you need to be fueling during your runs if they are longer runs you need to be making sure you're replacing those calories that you've burned your carbohydrates your proteins your fats all of that post run as well and throughout the day you can't come home from a run jump in the shower and not eat again until dinner that's just not conducive to half marathon training and it's going to cause you to get injured i've listened to a lot of i listened to audiobooks on my long runs and and or podcasts usually audiobooks and a lot of the books that i listened to are running related which drives my husband crazy but i listened to these athletes that are telling their stories of how they started in high school and in college and how they went through all these eating disorders which then led to stress fractures and muscle tears and then they're out for seasons months years because of these injuries because they were not fueling properly so making sure that you are fueling your body so that it can perform at the level you want it to perform at is so important so each of carbs they give you spark yes carbs give you spark thank you yeah this is such a i don't want to say controversial point because and i was just talking about this on another show there was a guest on last week i know a lot of people get into running because their goal is to lose weight and as you mentioned if you want to actually run for longevity and you want to do it for a long time you will have a healthier lifestyle you will be exercising consistently you will have better weight management however it's not going to come you're not going to get that longevity if you keep getting injured because you're under fueling or you're really pushing your body too much without fuel and you're not getting the result you want you're not getting more fit your times aren't going down right so if you have a half marathon goal for your race the way to achieve that goal is to actually fuel your body during training and not worry about weight loss not worry about you know you're taking in too much you know food um and like Whitney said you know you you might be eating more during half marathon training and that's okay um yes you are pro you are definitely burning more calories than you would normally so that's why you have to supplement um that in which you're burning and Brooke talks about this Brooke our registered dietitian talks about this all the time on her episodes um but it is there is a link between running related injuries as well and under fueling so you can't get that time on the clock that you want for your half marathon if you have to miss these because you're injured right so you know you want to be able to complete the training you want to feel healthy going into the race not having any second doubts on how you're going to perform one way to do that is to properly fuel and hence why nutrition and proper nutrition is another one of those steps to how we grow as a runner in our framework um but yeah I totally totally agree it is very very important and um I think you really need to rethink and reframe your goals and if you're only reason for running and you're training for a half marathon is to lose weight there are actually a lot of other ways to lose weight that doesn't require running um so I'm all for like bringing more people into the sport you know being able to have a healthy lifestyle um you know the mental the physical benefits of running there's a laundry list of them and I would love for you guys to be able to do it for longevity right and be able to do it for years to come and reap those benefits and you're not going to be able to do that if you don't eat enough and you don't fuel your bodies before you run during your run and after you run and you know stop the kind of well if I don't have any food on board that means I'm burning fat for my run or after you run well my heart rate is elevated so my metabolism's revving I'm going to burn more fat um so I'm not going to eat for an hour or two after my run like that's the worst thing that you can do to allow your muscles to recover um from the run so they can perform at the potential that they could potentially perform at so I'm going to get off that soapbox right now but great great point um wow this list is going quick huh where are you we're already on uh mistake number five uh yeah the countdown we're in the last mistake uh common mistake during half marathon training what is it coach Whitney so this maybe is number one my book I don't know um testing all of your race day stuff beforehand absolutely nothing new on race day absolutely nothing new on race day what do you think I absolutely nothing new on race day I have my own hands out talking that means even if you wear blaga socks on all of your runs don't get a new pair that you've never worn and wear them on race day you need to wear a pair that you have tested if you wear good or sunglasses on all of your runs do not go out and buy a brand new pair that you have never worn and wear them on race day while that that one is probably okay I would not recommend it just in case you never know maybe the what are they called the earpieces the once parts of go over ears maybe those are going to be a little tight and give you a headache but you've never worn them so you don't know don't wear a new shirt don't try new shoes don't try new fuel absolutely nothing new on race day I am going to be running the New York City marathon they've already told us what brand of water they're going to be giving out I've never heard of it it's called flow no idea but I went on Amazon and I ordered a case of it so that I can make sure I mean it's water water the odds that it's not going to be okay right but I am so dead set on this rule do not try anything new that I ordered a case of water to make sure the water is going to be okay so seriously nothing new nothing nothing nothing nothing not a new sunscreen not a new flavor chapstick nothing stick to everything that you have tried and as your race day gets closer make sure that you have tried all of those things your long runs are the perfect time to try out the new pair of shorts hey I just bought a new pair of shorts because the shorts that I was running with in the spring were causing chafing during these hotter more humid runs for some reason when I hit 14 miles all of a sudden I get chasing chafing on my back where the seam is or where the stitching is on the back of the shorts it wasn't a problem in the spring but it was now so I bought a new pair because the weather is different make sure you were trying all of your things a few times before race day arrives yeah such a great point and this is so common guys this is and you don't think it will be an issue until it's an issue and we hear this from so many people who run a race that this went wrong that went wrong because of they did this new thing on race day and that is interesting that you've brought up the chafing issue because I've been wearing you know like compression shorts forever I have so many different pairs like underarm or Nike and I just got a bunch of new pairs of Nike ones that have the nice little holder for your phone on the side now which I'm big fan of because I always run in the Lulu lemon shorts that have some great pockets got like four different pockets so for like the marathon like I'm already thinking about that right like how am I going to stash all my gels I like to bring my phone with me I got to have my beast electrolyte salt right like I need a bunch of things and I don't want to use a belt so like I always seek out the shorts the running shorts that have like a million pockets and so I'm like hey my compression shorts that's even closer to my body less bouncing of my phone you know this is great last week's run it was a hot and humid one high dew point speedwork right where the seam was just was not in a good spot and I was like it was the most uncomfortable experience ever like and there was nothing I could do like door on the run and that shower just yeah yelped you know in the shower after that but I learned and I was like okay well this seam this is very bad stitching right in this spot right here and I just I knew okay this is not going to be my race day compression short so yeah it's like dress rehearsal it's tryouts all of your long runs during half marathon training you want to practice exactly what you're wearing exactly what you're eating exactly the water you're drinking who to thought about that one yeah your gels you're fueling what you're eating before what you're even doing the night before right yeah get into that routine because usually things creep up when you start adding something new into the equation so yeah I would agree I would say I mean clothing and fueling those are my top two I mean the sunscreen maybe you can get away with the chapstick that kind of stuff I'm just superstitious won't even risk it but the fueling like you mentioned the night before so my lunch the day before is always exactly the same my dinner is a variation of the same thing my kids get so tired of having pasta on Friday nights that like come race day they're like whoa we can have pizza on Friday like I just it's not worth risking an upset stomach it's really not so make sure you're you're trying all of the things your breakfast whatever you're going to eat before your race make sure you're trying not before your long runs just so you know because you know it's not worth it it really isn't yeah guys so listen to coach Whitney here she knows and this is really really calm mistakes so you brought up like five awesome I would say very calm mistakes during half marathon training however if it's okay with you I would love to add a bonus mistake of course I'd like a bonus or maybe a six I guess if I if I asked you to do like top six then maybe this would have been in the list but one for me is neglecting strength training or only doing air quotes here for those who aren't watching the video version cross-training and many runners who are training for a half marathon focus on logging the miles and they're disregarding the immense benefits of incorporating strength training as the foundation and the building blocks in which those legs will handle all the miles that you're doing during half marathon training so strength training is not only in air quotes again alternative workout or to do something different from running so you're doing exercise it is essential right it is the foundation for which your running is built upon and it is critical to keeping us healthy as we start increasing those long runs as we start increasing our weekly mileage and it also does help our performance as well so your legs don't peter out on you and or feel heavy and or feel tired during your long runs so it will really really take your half marathon journey to like new heights by adding specific strength training for running so I would say that is kind of a bonus mistake there is really neglecting strength training oh yeah 100 percent I will say you know for the first few years of my running journey I with I was in either or I was either doing a strength program or I was running like there wasn't really the crossover for me and I noticed a huge breakthrough in my running that's when I started hitting my PRs that's when I started really noticing that I was able to increase my speeds in my workouts in my races was when I started adding strength training into my weekly routine and we're not saying you have to strength train for hours and hours and hours every day you should be doing a maybe three between two to four strength workout sessions a week in addition to your running and that's depending on you know how many exercises you're doing each day are you doing you know three runner specific workouts are you doing two runner specific workouts and then like an upper body and a core day are you spreading it out evenly but we want you need to be focusing on those runner specific muscles you can't just go into the gym and be like curling the dumbbells working on the biceps that's yes you use your arms when you're running but that's not gonna really not your biceps unless you're a handy cycle runner you're not using your biceps when you're doing so you need to be working on those leg muscles your glutes your quads your hammies your calves you know it's all connected going down the body so you need to make sure that your strengthening those muscles to increase your endurance to prevent injuries it's just just do it it's important don't neglect it you bring up a good point because I just heard this the other day with a runner I was on the phone with you know I always ask about like whenever we're doing our kind of strategy calls to see if someone's a good fit for a program you know I asked them you know are you doing a strength training they tell me what they're doing and I get this a lot and I think I used to think this way as well is you view running as like you're working your leg muscles so you don't need to strengthen your leg muscles so I get a lot of runners who are like oh yeah I do upper body and I do core and I'm like what would you do for the legs well my legs are too tired from running so I don't work out legs so and I'm like you know kind of laughing here and and and please don't take offense if that is you and you're listening to this right now but I want you to really reframe your thought process of you need to train and specifically strength train in order to run so we actually strengthen our muscles so then they're capable of being able to run faster run longer um so hopefully that makes sense for you and just kind of recapping here what we really learned today and coach Whitney shared some great great five half marathon training mistakes you must avoid which included number one is picking the wrong plan or misjudging your training plan number two was running too fast on your easy runs number three not making resties or recovery a priority number four not eating enough overall and you can't plan to lose weight and train properly for your half marathon number five was not testing out your race day items so your gear your clothing your shoes your hydration fuel nothing new on race day there's the fourth time you've heard it today and then I shared the bonus mistake of not including structured strength training for running so remember to avoid these common half marathon training mistakes and set yourself up for race day success if you are looking for support accountability and a structured run and strength plan for your half marathon training that's exactly what coach Whitney and our team of healthy runner coaches um specialized in doing within our signature spark healthy runner coaching program we provide you with personalized structured run plan strength training for running focus on proper mindset nutrition and recovery that Whitney talked about with full support and accountability from our coaching team and the other thing is you get the why behind what we are programming for you and not just a plan that you'll do once when you're working with us and like not understand it to do it on your own again you're going to get the why we're big on education um if you if you can't tell and uh you will become a smarter and more educated runner moving forward in your running journey so to hop on a call with me to see if you're a good fit for our program simply click the link in the show notes or just go to learn dot spark healthy runner dot com forward slash coaching oh yeah and don't forget to download your free race day blueprint so you have that before your race day you're going to want to check it out not like the day before right like a couple of weeks before so you know what is coming and you know how to prepare for your big race week I'll drop that in the show notes as well uh coach Whitney thank you as always for coming on to educate our community all about half marathon training of course it's my pleasure like I said I love talking about running so if anybody has any questions feel free to reach out to Dwayne or to myself and we're happy to help you yeah and I'll have all of Whitney's links in the socials on instagram uh within our healthy runner facebook community um for those of you who are on facebook um and I really appreciate you guys for tuning in and listening uh to this episode whether you heard it during a run hopefully you're enjoying that run and you probably slowed down hopefully after we talked about that uh or if you're listening in the in your commute into work in the car or you watch the video version on the spark healthy runner youtube channel if you enjoyed it please copy the link and share it with a runner you know who is training for half marathon so you can help them not make these uh five mistakes remember how much like you appreciated when a runner friend shared something you didn't know about running I know I did because I didn't know what the heck I was doing in the beginning um so let's pay it forward uh to another runner um you know so you can really help you know our spark healthy runner mission um and and allow anyone to run anyone to run a half marathon as long as they do it the right way right and they need the right step so avoiding these five mistakes is going to set themselves up for some success so let's spread some runner knowledge uh within our local running communities um so we can all reap the benefits that running provides us um thank you in advance for doing that and be sure to subscribe to our spark healthy runner youtube channel or the healthy runner podcast from we're exciting running tips and tricks happy half marathon training to you all and as always let's maintain a strong mind a strong body and let's just keep on running until next time bye thank you as always for listening to the healthy runner podcast where we help you get stronger run faster and enjoy lifelong injury free running if you found this content valuable here's five ways we can help you grow as a runner for free one grab a free copy of my spark blueprint at learn dot spark healthy runner dot com to follow my instagram page at spark healthy runner three join my free group by searching healthy runner on facebook four subscribe to my youtube channel at youtube dot com forward slash spark healthy runner five leave us a five star review so we can gain access to more experts in the running field and bring those lessons back to you here don't forget to hit the subscribe button on apple podcast or the follow button on spotify so you don't miss the next episode of healthy runner so you can maintain a strong mind a strong body and just keep running lastly if you've been struggling with the constant injury cycle not eating the right foods for running or not getting faster as a runner and you are ready to invest in becoming a lifelong injury free runner head to spark healthy runner dot com to apply for a one-on-one signature coaching program thank you again i meet it from the bottom of my heart that i appreciate you for listening and sharing this podcast with a running friend who can use the help now go and crush your run today see you next week