It's almost there. 5 more nights and I'll be running my very first half marathon ever. I've got one last training planned and then it's showtime (but not really)! After running 16K last April, I wanted more. I need a goal to keep me training so 21K sounded good, right? Let me tell you how it went!

A lot of people declared me crazy for running that distance. Wait until I go for a marathon! Just kidding, I don't think I could ever do that. Maybe I could handle the distance (after a lot of training), but I'm pretty sure I would just get bored. 21K is really my maximum, after that I get bored and instead of doing something I like to do, it would turn into something I have to do.

I planned on training the exact way I did for my other runs: one short run per week and one long run where I would increase the distance with 500 meters each week. Although it was going quite good, I wasn't sure whether I was training the right way. So when I saw that the running.be magazine came out with a training plan, I decided to purchase it and follow it. The biggest change for me? Running 3 times a week instead of 2. I like to keep running as something to clear my mind and twice a week is really enough for me. But to be honest, it's just a habit. Although I still have to kick my butt sometimes to get up and go for a run, I really don't mind running 3 times.

The schedule works with specific amounts of time instead of km and although that's nice and easy, I'm a little scared that my pace is too slow. I'm a slow runner, definitely compared to most people that are training for a while, so I really hope I'm properly prepared. I never had to run longer than 90 minutes, which is really amazing but right now, a bit frightening (I'll be running over two hours - can I handle that?). It was a very versatile schedule, as it contained interval training and sprints! As you may have read before, interval training wasn't really my cup of tea and to be honest, it still isn't. I really liked the sprints though!

To be honest, I don't think I'll ever run a half marathon again. Not that the training was really heavy, but I just get bored. Very often, I read articles about marathon runners who want more than 21K and find it normal to just double it. For me, not so. Although I'll be proud of myself after the run, it will very much stay a single occasion. I'm already looking forward to running twice a week, just to clear my mind. So nope, not my thing although the training was very doable!

I'll update you on the Half Marathon soon!