Running A Half Marathon With No Training
I attempted to beat my runner friend's half marathon record.
I’m not a fan of running. So naturally, a running challenge made sense.
The furthest I’ve ever ran was 5k at some point last year. This year I’ve probably ran a total of 5 times. The last time was interval sprints on the treadmill almost three months ago.
So as you can tell, I was well prepared for a half marathon.
What is a half marathon?
A half marathon is 13.1 miles or 21 kilometres.
For beginner runners, completing a half marathon in under 3 hours is considered good. For intermediate runners, the goal is to break the 2-hour mark.
Well, that’s what I gathered from my limited research anyway.
I didn’t think of it as a big deal.
All you’re doing is putting one foot in front of the other slightly faster than you usually do.
A friend of mine had prepared for and ran an official half marathon before. So I gave him a quick call.
Goal Setting
I let him know I planned on running a half marathon the following day and asked about his experience.
He said he spent 3 months in preparation and it took him roughly 3 hours.
He advised me to take glucose and water on the run and invest in a pair of well-fitted running shoes, all of which I chose to ignore.
Fully aware of my inexperience and general dislike of long-distance running, he said it’d take me 5 hours.
That sounded silly to me, so I set out to beat his 3-hour record.
Lowkey though, I was hoping to complete the run within 2 hours.
Preparation
I lied. I did do some preparation for the half marathon.
That week, I decreased the weights slightly on my leg day.
But I couldn’t help it, I still took every set to failure.
So decreasing my working set weights was essentially pointless.
If anything, it only made the fatigue worse.
The Morning of The Run
I planned to start the run at 1 pm.
I woke up, skipped my morning walk that day, and had my usual 100 grams of oats before getting some work done.
At around noon, I grabbed some headphones, powered up my old smartwatch, and grabbed some “running” shoes that my brother did the gardening in a couple of days before.
After picking up a couple of snacks, I set off to my starting point.
The Beginning
I live in the North West of England, not far from Blackpool, so I decided to run along the coastline as I knew it was fairly flat.
I’d start at Fairhaven, run to the North Pier in Blackpool, and then run back to Fairhaven. Totalling the 13.1 miles.
I asked ChatGPT what pace is required to complete the run within 3 hours.
It said either 13 minutes and 44 seconds per mile or 8 minutes and 31 seconds per kilometre.
With that in mind, I briefly stretched, because that’s what I’ve seen runners do, set my watch to 13.1 miles, and set off.
The First Mile
I hate to admit it, but instantly, I thought this may have been a mistake.
I had doubts flowing through my head and thought about doing a 10k instead.
I started breathing faster and my chest felt heavy.
I was wondering if this was even worth it.
It wasn’t even an official half marathon, I was just doing it to prove a point.
I finished that first mile at a pace of 9 minutes and 30 seconds.
Unsure if that was in kilometres or miles, I assumed the worst.
I wasn’t going to complete the half marathon in 3 hours.
Miles Two to Four
After that first mile, I remembered who I was.
I said I’d complete a half-marathon that day, so that’s what I was going to do.
If it took me longer than 3 hours, then so be it.
I kept checking my watch, and at the end of every mile, it told me my pace.
9 minutes and 30 seconds.
I thought about running faster but there’d be no point.
I knew maintaining a faster pace wouldn’t have been feasible.
At the 3-mile mark, my knees started to hurt.
But I’d entered that mindset I get into and I wasn’t about to slow down now.
That though, was speaking too soon.
Mile Five
At this point, I was in Blackpool.
The accurate way to describe it is a shithole (you’ll soon find that to be ironic).
I had maintained my pace of 9 minutes and 30 seconds and felt good.
I wasn’t out of breath and I had no cramps.
Doing some mental maths, I assumed I had been running for around 1 and a half hours, but it didn’t feel like it.
And then I checked the time.
It had only been 50 minutes.
That’s when I realised, if I pushed a little harder, I could complete this half marathon in under 2 hours.
Mile Six
The day before I told my brother I’d be running a half marathon.
In that conversation, he said, “What if you get halfway and you need a shit?”.
I just laughed. But it turned out to be true.
Despite not wanting to, I had to slow down to a walk.
The nearest public toilet was 18 minutes away. That wasn’t happening.
So I ducked into a cafe that I was passing by.
Annoyed at wasting time, I carried on my run to North Pier.
But runners trot wasn’t done with me yet.
I got to North Pier, turned back on myself, and dipped into a hotel.
I watched some of the videos I recorded and clocked on as to why people were staring at me (see the YouTube video above).
Mile Seven
After that second break, I had cooled down completely.
All the joints and tendons in my legs were sore.
And when I started running again, everything felt stiff.
I had lost momentum.
But me being me, I still thought I could run the remaining 6 miles within 50 minutes.
The Final Stretch
Picking up the pace, I ran the next mile in under 9 minutes, but I couldn’t maintain it.
My legs were too sore.
I knew I could force it, but I’d be risking injury, and I still wanted to train shoulders and arms the following day.
The remaining miles, to my disappointment, were an equal mix of running and walking.
During a walking segment, I found I could walk the remaining distance and still complete the half marathon in 3 hours.
But that would have been boring, so I continued running whenever possible.
I completed the run by walking the first half of the last mile and finished with a sprint.
The Results
I finished with a time of 2 hours and 47 minutes, with a total active time of 2 hours and 31 minutes.
I couldn’t help but think I could do better.
But this was my first long-distance run ever, and with no preparation at that, so I cut myself some slack.
I beat my target time of 3 hours as well as my friend's largely incorrect estimate of 5 hours.
The Aftermath
In my typical fashion, I didn’t cool down, I was done pretending to be a runner.
That may have been a mistake though, because everything was stiff and sore, including, weirdly, my chest and elbows.
I pulled up to a shop, hobbled out of the car, then limped along the footpath.
An old lady passing by was walking in the same way, she must’ve thought I was taking the piss.
Final Thoughts
It sounds cliché, but the only thing I have to say is you really can do anything you put your mind to.
Self-belief is everything.
I remember struggling to run 1k a couple of years ago and now, with relative ease and zero training, I ran a half marathon.
What do you want to see me do next?
Reach Your Next Phase
I lost 50 kg and took back control over my life.
I’ll help you do the same.
