Mindful Moments: my half marathon journey

Three months ago, I was completing at most a 5km run. Last Sunday, however, I ran my first ever half marathon. In the past I had completed longer runs, yet never as far as this. It was an incredible experience; nevertheless, it came with significant obstacles and challenges along the way. Being a university student can be time consuming. Therefore, being a university student that also takes part in competitive sports and has a part-time job can be overwhelming at best. Fitting in a training program to achieve a half marathon was consequently not easy. However, it was possible. This article gives a few ways that my experience with completing a half marathon can be applied to whatever you are trying to achieve during the academic year.

Doing a competitive sport and training four times a week became a significant challenge in my journey to train for my half marathon. Not only did it increase the risk of injury, it also took up time typically dedicated to improving my running abilities. This meant that I had to learn to be flexible and adaptable. My running plan did not look like most others, as I could only dedicate two days a week to running: a short run and a long run. Instead of getting stressed and wound up that I was not as prepared as other runners for this experience, I learned to accept that my situation was simply different. I needed to adapt to my situation and prioritise not getting injured or fatigued over running the same distances as someone who was not also playing a competitive sport. This did not come easily, yet that level of adaptability is so important when setting targets for any future achievement.

Give yourself grace that, with time and effort, what seems unimaginable now will become possible

Another challenge faced by most students is balancing academic deadlines with extracurricular deadlines. Whether it’s an essay or a day full of lectures, university can not only be time consuming, but genuinely exhausting. Some days there was just not enough time to fit in my scheduled run. However, instead of writing that run off for the week, I would learn to change my schedule to fit my needs for that week. Although my long run day was a Sunday, if I knew I would have to dedicate that whole day to writing an essay and did not want to be physically exhausted, I would try and fit the run earlier in the week. Of course, having a running plan was efficient as it gave me something to stick to. However, a plan, especially at university, can be something that is pencilled in, with flexibility to change when it is necessary. During this journey, I learned to not be too hard on myself if plans had to change and accept that every week may look a little different.

As well as these difficulties, I have a few tips to share for anyone interested in embarking on a running journey of their own. Firstly, take it week by week. Do not expect to be running 5km one week and 18km the next. Building up distance is something that comes with time, and patience is a very important quality to have during this process. Give yourself grace that, with time and effort, what seems unimaginable now will become possible.

At least for the beginning of your running journey, make it something enjoyable and suitable to your needs, and the rest will fall into place

Another tip is to learn what works for you and stick to that. For me, I found that I was actually more energised in the evenings. Therefore, when it was my time to complete runs that pushed the distance, I made sure to have fuelled throughout the day and be prepared for an evening run. However, for my short run, I knew that I preferred to get it out the way first thing in the morning, so that is exactly what I did. The same goes for the weather. Although you cannot predict what the weather will be like on race day, do not force yourself to run in hail or rain, or the blaring sun, if that is not what suits you. At least for the beginning of your running journey, make it something enjoyable and suitable to your needs – the rest will fall into place.

Running this half marathon has been one of my greatest achievements so far in life. Not because of the distance, or the medal, but because of the qualities that I gained throughout the journey. I learned to be more patient with myself, more adaptable, and I found ways to not compare my journey or achievement to others. Gaining these traits are what have made this achievement a pivotal moment in my life. I hope that talking through the ways that I achieved these attributes has inspired you in some way to start your own journey, not so much because of the end goal, but because of the small achievements you gain along the way.