A half marathon seems like the ideal distance in my humble opinion. It’s far enough to challenge me both mentally and physically, but not so far that I’ll be hobbling for a week after finishing. Also, 13.1 miles is an aggressively long time to be racing, but the fact that there’s the word “half” in the title somehow makes it seem humble and approachable. Anyway, I love the half marathon distance, even though I’ve never actually done an official half marathon race.
The workouts for this distance are interesting because I need both speed and endurance to be successful. Fast workouts will give me good turnover, efficiency, and the ability to think that half marathon pace feels slow. On the other hand, long threshold and pace sessions will allow me to hold difficult paces for long periods of time and harden me mentally. Fun stuff!
Watch the video below to see one of my workouts in the build up.