Training for your first runDisney race? Train smarter not harder.

I have been a runner my entire life, I have always trained for races four to six days a week by running alone. I tried tempo training, I tried hill training, I tried every type of running I could but my times never improved. On top of that I found myself dealing with knee pain more often than not.

I knew that strength training could help, however I just never had time because I had to get my run in to be sure I had the distance covered for race day! I think a lot of runners can relate to this. I found the words, “train smarter not harder” over and over again but I just couldn’t figure out exactly what that meant for me. Every runner is different and so is every race. Some have more hills, some have less people, some have snow, some have heat (ahem, Disney) but whatever it is, your body needs to be ready at the start of that race!

I recently had the pleasure to run my sixteenth half marathon and I have excitedly dubbed it the “sweet sixteen” because I finally beat my personal best!! I never beat my very first half marathon! At that time I was a fitness director teaching 5-12 classes a week (many which were strength training) running 4-6x a week and the kicker – I had no kids and I wasn’t working a 9-5. I had all afternoon to get my runs in so it was easy to do all of that (let’s just take a moment of silence for the energy we all had ten years ago).

I had taken a couple years off of training for halves to have my kids. I started doing home workouts and was able to stick to a schedule pretty well on my lunch breaks or first thing in the morning but I didn’t know how I’d incorporate training for another half into this new lifestyle of mine. At the time I didn’t realize it but I was starting a 4 day a week HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) program and that meant I had 3 days a week to run! So that’s what I did. I started these HIIT workouts and would aim to run at a minimum of 2x a week and towards the end that was all I could do. I would run 3-5 miles during the week day base run, I’d try to squeeze in 3 on the weekend and of course, without a doubt, I would hit my long run every weekend.

When I saw my long run pace improving each week I knew I was lining myself up for a PR! I was determined come race day to beat my time if even by a minute. I actually improved it by 3 minutes! Along the way I would try to stretch and thanks to the HIIT workouts I was able to take part in stretching after each session. I would do those after the runs as well. I truly believe I learned how to finally work smarter and not harder to improve my time. It was such a great moment to cross the finish line and see what my body was capable of! I contribute it all to the HIIT workouts that combined strength training, plyometrics, and circuit training with weights. It was a great boost of confidence to know that I can start running half marathons regularly again like I did before kids, but as I get older it helps to know I am getting faster with less injuries too! Maybe that energy 10 years ago is coming back!

If you are a brand new runner and running Disney for the first time or you are a veteran, I urge you to try something different, and a little outside of your comfort zone, and lift some weights because those muscles need to be just as strong as your lungs on race day! Good luck to everyone running this season!!