12 weeks of training for the  Rock & Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon  are done. Wow. Seriously? Time flies. I’d be lying if I said it went perfectly. I had a bad cold, a few days of shin trouble, an unplanned business trip, I slacked at cross training… but still, I’m pretty satisfied. I learned a lot training for my first half marathon.

The Most Valuable Lessons I Learned While Training:

• A training plan is just a plan.  If the plan calls for an 18 mile week and you have a 17 mile week – that’s still a great week!  I’ve caught myself thinking of that week as a failure. It’s not.
• It is ok to miss workouts when you’re sick, tired, or sore.  Skipping one track workout because your shins ache is much smarter than working yourself into a stress fracture because you don’t want a day off.  Remember, your ultimate goal is to run a race and you can’t do that if you get hurt because you’re being stubborn.
• Replace your shoes regularly.  Keep track of the miles you put on your shoes ( DailyMile is a useful tool for this) and replace them BEFORE they blow out .  Your feet will thank you.
• Find friends to do your long runs with.  Long runs take a lot of time and they’re a lot more pleasant when you have company.
• Remember, most of us run because we like it NOT because we’re training to win races.  Go easy on yourself  when you have a bad run.   Loosen up on your time goals .  Most of our running goals are self imposed. We can adjust as necessary!

9.4 miles around the nation's capital on a Saturday morning. It never gets old.