This weekend I managed to run my first half marathon in under 2 hours. I've only ran the 21 kilometer distance one other time in my life which was two year ago. The first time I ran the distance, my time was only 2 hours and 10 minutes. At that time, my goal was simply to run the whole distance. This time around, I had a time goal I wanted to beat. I knew it would be difficult, but to my surprise it was easier than expected. I felt good for most of the distance but started to get some pain in my legs at around the 16km mark. By this point, I only had another 5 kilometers to go so the pain was endurable. I finished the distance in 1 hour and 58 minutes. I then walk for 30 minutes at a really slow pace to let my legs and body cool down.
Before running the HM,I did not do much running training in order to reach my goal. I started running a few months back again after a hiatus of a couple of months. Before running the half marathon, my running training only consisted of a few 5km runs (under time 10), 10 kms maybe two times and one 15 km the week before trying the HM. With that said, I have been training my body on an almost daily basis in other domains. That is, I play badminton, free tennis, and weight train as my main source of training.
Weight training and free tennis are not the greatest ways to build strong cardio, though badminton is. Playing badminton is so demanding when played at a high pace. I've been playing a lot of badminton which I believe enabled me to complete the distance in less than two hours. My badminton training is all about short spurts with maximum intensity. My badminton training consists of someone hitting birdies to me in order to improve different strokes. I usually start off with easier strokes such as drives from the right and left side of the court and progressively increase the difficulty. This usually ends with jump smashing from one side of the court to the other. Another hard skills training that I do is clearing from the back of the court to under clearing near the net. Running back and forth and executing the stroke with accuracy is challenging yet highly rewarding for improved cardio. After the intense training sessions, I usually play some games which can also be intense depending on who I play against.
The difference between badminton and running training is the fun aspect. Pushing my physical limits in badminton can be fun especially when playing a game against someone else. I don't play badminton purely for exersice but as a means of having fun. Running on the other hand is not the funnest activity and one of the reasons why I don't do it that often. I can understand why people do not stay motivate to keep training when their training regimen is solely focused on running. It can be quite boring! In part for this reason, having a variety of physical activities that are endurance intensive can greatly help someone improve the fitness level and help them run a half marathon in under 2 hours.
All in all, I do not believe that the most important training for runners has to be running. This is the first time in my life that I've been doing badminton training and without it, I do not believe I would have been able to run the HM in less than two hours.
Before running the HM,I did not do much running training in order to reach my goal. I started running a few months back again after a hiatus of a couple of months. Before running the half marathon, my running training only consisted of a few 5km runs (under time 10), 10 kms maybe two times and one 15 km the week before trying the HM. With that said, I have been training my body on an almost daily basis in other domains. That is, I play badminton, free tennis, and weight train as my main source of training.
Weight training and free tennis are not the greatest ways to build strong cardio, though badminton is. Playing badminton is so demanding when played at a high pace. I've been playing a lot of badminton which I believe enabled me to complete the distance in less than two hours. My badminton training is all about short spurts with maximum intensity. My badminton training consists of someone hitting birdies to me in order to improve different strokes. I usually start off with easier strokes such as drives from the right and left side of the court and progressively increase the difficulty. This usually ends with jump smashing from one side of the court to the other. Another hard skills training that I do is clearing from the back of the court to under clearing near the net. Running back and forth and executing the stroke with accuracy is challenging yet highly rewarding for improved cardio. After the intense training sessions, I usually play some games which can also be intense depending on who I play against.
The difference between badminton and running training is the fun aspect. Pushing my physical limits in badminton can be fun especially when playing a game against someone else. I don't play badminton purely for exersice but as a means of having fun. Running on the other hand is not the funnest activity and one of the reasons why I don't do it that often. I can understand why people do not stay motivate to keep training when their training regimen is solely focused on running. It can be quite boring! In part for this reason, having a variety of physical activities that are endurance intensive can greatly help someone improve the fitness level and help them run a half marathon in under 2 hours.
All in all, I do not believe that the most important training for runners has to be running. This is the first time in my life that I've been doing badminton training and without it, I do not believe I would have been able to run the HM in less than two hours.
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