My first half marathon | 21km trail race

Описание: Going into this race I had been doing my training with a mix of road and trail running.
I was getting out 3-4 times a week and running 5-10km per run, leaning closer to the 5km distance.

For nutrition I drank 2 500ml bottles
One with 2 scoops of Naak (250cal)
One with 1 scoop of tailwind (100cal)
I had GU gels that I started eating 30min in (100cal/ea ) and continued to eat every 30min regardless of how I felt. The gels eventually became hard eat towards the end, thats when the aid station candy came in to save me. Sugar coated worms & coke bottles were unreal, it gave me a short mental break from pushing and helped keep me going mentally.

I was feeling great until the 15k mark, that's when the mental struggle set in for me. I went with the mantra " Strong legs, strong mind" & "you got this, keep crushing" The physical struggle set in at 18k, I knew I had Iliotibial Band (ITB) Syndrome issues that could show up and they did, I get a feeling of knee pain making it hard to run flat or downhill which is generally what the end of a race consists of haha. I should probably get that dealt with.

Lessons learned
Train more consistently and ease into higher mileage. ( I tend to be a, "15k!, I haven't ran in a week but I know I can do it let's go", type person and then stuff like ITB happens.
Talking to Jenny about my ITB Issues she recommended Strength training for my glutes & hips.
& always, Don't forget to have fun. or at the very least keep telling yourself that haha.

#trailrunning #runit #trailrunner #halfmarathon #trailrunner