When I first decided that I wanted to train for a half marathon, I was pretty overwhelmed with all of the running schedules and advice that I found online. It seemed like there were a million “right” ways to train, but it was hard to narrow down what was actually going to work for me.

Now that I’ve got one half marathon under my belt, I wanted to share what I actually did and what I found helpful.

Near the beginning of my training, I talked with a seasoned runner and he told me that running a half marathon was all about “just putting in the miles” and that “anyone could do it.” I honestly kind of took offense at that last statement, it seemed like such a hard task and the idea that “anyone” could do it made me wonder how I would feel if I failed…

But now I know that he was just being humble and hoping to get across the idea that I didn’t need to be an Olympic athlete to achieve this goal. It’s mostly about listening to your body, honoring your limits, and simply not giving up.

That being said, I think some people are more naturally inclined to be runners than others, based on how their bodies are designed – if your body doesn’t want to run or simply cannot run, that is valid and okay. Many of the race participants at the Disneyland half marathon did intervals of walking and running to complete the race – my goal was to try to run the entire time (even if it was a slow pace), so that is what I trained for.

Below, I share my most helpful tips (what worked for me) and a few troubleshooting ideas:

Find A Running Schedule For Beginners
When I first decided to start training, I could barely even run a mile without stopping. Many of the running schedules I found online started with 2 miles as the lowest, so I knew I would have to find a “Couch to Half Marathon” or other “beginner” schedule. I started out doing intervals between running and walking, and for the first few months I followed the running schedule very faithfully. Once I got into a rhythm and learned more about what my body needed, I crafted my own schedule and tried to run three times a week, with one long run every week.

Believe in Yourself
Every time before I began a run, I looked at my schedule and knew what my goal was. I would mentally decide to reach that goal – failing wasn’t an option. Honestly, this worked for me. I’ve heard before that running is as much a mental sport as a physical one, and so before each run, just believe that you will achieve your goal. You may be surprised how far this takes you.

Yoga
I started doing yoga twice a week before I made the decision to train for a half marathon, but I didn’t realize how important yoga would end up being to my training. I found that I was a better runner after I did yoga. Yoga made me more flexible and strengthened my core and other muscles so that I avoided injuries when I ran. Before doing yoga, I used to have a lot of knee pain during running. But that went away after I faithfully started doing yoga twice a week.

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