Hack Half Marathon RACE DAY with This Strategy

[@jirikadlec1058]

Just beat my half marathon PB by 2 minutes this Saturday and here is what worked for me: Lot of sleep almost 9 hours from Thursday to Friday! Having an easy slow jog with my dog Friday afternoon! Going to slow yoga Friday early evening! Again pretty good sleep 8 hours Friday to Saturday! Doing an easy dog walk Saturday morning and then riding my bike at an easy pace to start of the race and arriving there early 45mins before start to take time for warm-up! And Last but not leasing, not overdressing. Although I felt a bit cold in shorts and t-shirt at race start, it was a good decision to go lightweight ;-) My time was 1:21:20 I was surprised it went so well!

[@Mark-sn6kh]

While I'm not nearly there... I did run my first 5k today following your plan. Finished in 30:32. I looked at a few "couch to 5k" plans and thought yours to be best. It worked for me!

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Thanks Mark and that’s so awesome. Really glad it worked out for you. Well done. What’s next? 😉😊

[@Mark-sn6kh]

@@ThisMessyHappy want to be able to consistently run the 5k. Improve my time some. I have a 5k run scheduled for next month at an event. The week after a 5k spartan stadion event. Then try for the 10k

[@antonioescobar8759]

@@Mark-sn6kh just curious, how did it go??

[@n.y.8604]

Thanks guys❤im doing my first half marathon this weekend and this video gives me confidence that I will be super fine after all the training invested 🎉

[@trishthorne9044]

Haha just ran one of my slowest half marathons on Saturday…….I had the best ever first 10k then it went to custard…..I shall look forward to your tips……. I’m back…..great video and I can say I did most of what you suggested- hydrating the day prior, good sleep two nights prior, I ate normally. Once I realised I wasn’t going to run the race I wanted, I just aimed to finish. I did develop a funny tum which was the cause of the wheels falling off, it wasn’t a ‘toilet’ tum or a sick tum, just felt off…… never mind, there is always the next run to improve on. Thanks for all your great vids x

[@gracebridgman1914]

Mary is the absolute best. You guys have a South African fan! :)

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Ahh thanks Grace! That’s so kind 😊

[@knightmare7850]

I absolutely love the pep talk at around minute 12. Their are times where i doubt myself so much when my legs want to give out…and your talk is the perfect example of what keeps my legs turning 🙏😁

[@buffaloj0e]

Great info and timely advice, starting my 12 week block this week before my first HM. I’m looking forward to the training and race.

[@hannesaltenfelder4302]

Whenever I struggle in training/raceday I ask my future self: Once this is over will I have given everything I could or will I regret to not have hold on?

[@JamesMartin-gl8gg]

Ben, I can always listen to your advice and it can make me reflect on races I thought I could have done better. But I realise there is something to learn from them. You and Mary are great to learn from and are great leaders.

[@balaji21121109]

Lovely again. You guys are the best. Ben and Mary. You have fantastic presentation skills Ben😊🙏👍👏👏👌

[@prj259]

Thank you for sharing. Need the plan b and plan c reminder

[@Slow_Lee]

Watched all your Marathon Prep vids cause I'm planning to join a half marathon January next year. It'll be my first official event, though I've been running for years/over a decade already. I'm a bit on the older side, will be 37 when I join the forementioned event. I'm not really nervous and all the more after I've watched your vids. I don't plan to race. I plan to finish. To finish in time would be an achievement for me. I run cause I love to run and not to really compete or anything. I just enjoy running and it have brought me to the best of my health and I just thought joining a half marathon could be fun and a good experience. Tbh, I would prefer trail running but there's just not much trail here where I live, only a 15km one and a third of it is already paved. Anyway, that's a long intro. I just want to thank you guys for your vids. It's given me confidence and reinforcement that somehow the prep I'm doing now is beneficial for me. I have a lot of time still, over 3months to prepare. But I'd rather be over prepared than under prepared. That's what I think. I'll go through you videos even more when I'm doing some strength training in my room, take in more knowledge and see what works for me. Thank you guys and I hope to keep running for as long as I can. Cheers, from the Philippines!

[@lawn5869]

This is just what I needed. Got the Great Manchester Run in a couple of weeks ! 🙌

[@nathanbaker1727]

Best of luck! I'm aiming for redemption on thr 10k this year 😂

[@mark.kaiser]

The timing of this video coming out is perfect. I just signed up to run Denver's Colfax half marathon next week. I've never run that far before. I just started running last October. I'm hoping to finish in 2 hrs, but really I'm hoping to just finish without having to walk any.

[@shanira99]

Good luck! Please let us know how it went 😊

[@mark.kaiser]

@@shanira99 Half-marathon went great. Finished in 2:03:58, and never stopped running.

[@shanira99]

@@mark.kaiser wow. That's a great time!! Hope you had fun 😊

[@fatrunner]

Great tips, got a half marathon in 1.5 weeks. Fortunately it's in my home town, which makes things a lot easier!

[@christinaclementson]

Great video!! Turning the light off of course gave me a good old chuckle - you never fail to amuse 🤣🤣🤣 ‘oh…….oh!…….OH’ 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Ha ha I wasn’t even meant to keep that bit in but it made me laugh too so it made it 😂

[@adrianachagoya6299]

Thank you for all the great advice 😀 I'm running my first half marathon next week and really looking forward! #pasadenarosebowlhalfmarathon

[@benny_ben_run361]

Really good advice, thanks for that. Was super awesome to meet you guys yesterday and get to chat a little bit. Congratulations on the placings today and will see you guys around next time.

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Thanks buddy! Lovely to meet you too. Sorry I didn’t get to talk for longer at the finish line, I was all over the shop! 😊

[@benny_ben_run361]

@@ThisMessyHappy all good we understand, we were also all over the show, that race was not the best but we will take it.

[@sylvaindore3190]

Great advice. It will help me for my first half marathon next month in Phuket. Learning from the master!

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Thanks buddy. I’m just glad it helps 😊 also, you mentioned you have races booked for every weekend for a couple of months? What websites do you use to find these races? I can’t find many and want to race more!! For example 22nd May would be a nice weekend to race but I can’t find anything. Any help is appreciated 😊

[@andyparsons5128]

Great advice as always, will definitely use all of it for my next HM.

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Good luck, Andy! When’s your next one? Do you have one lined up? 😊

[@andyparsons5128]

@@ThisMessyHappy just looking at some HM in June, so i can hopefully have a good 6 week block of training.

[@carolinebray82]

You guys are so inspiring 👍🏻🏃🏼‍♀️Colorado fan here 👋🏻💜 I actually do have a special dinner night before, and depends what the event is too

[@physio4me]

I really loved this, thank you

[@kieronturner2667]

Such great advice Ben 👍 found myself in a HM race situation by myself Saturday 😂 and went down the it's gonna be hard, running is hard route at about 15k in. Turnef out to be a pb 😁 I must enter some races and use all this running education provided 😂 looking forward to the race vid 👍 well done to you both 👏

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Thanks Kieron and well done to you! It’s all just a mind game and it obviously worked for you 💪🏻😊

[@kieronturner2667]

@@ThisMessyHappy my legs are telling me today its not all in the mind 😂

[@maxinesmith8167]

Running the Snowdonia Half at the weekend so this was a timely and uplifting watch! Thanks 😁

[@craiggradon7720]

Awesome video guys,such great tips and advice

[@tashatherunner]

Mary has incredible skin - so glowy and bright!

[@joneaton3366]

Thanks again for a brill informative and entertaining vid. Whats the reason for taking your gels x2 during your half race when you would finish approx 80mins when you said the body can cope and has plenty stored for 90 minutes. Many thanks Jon

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Thanks Jon. So, my thinking is that the body has roughly 90 mins worth of energy rather than plenty. And I see it a bit like a battery on a phone, just because I have a full battery I might not let it deplete all the way down as sometimes the phone doesn’t work as well on low battery. So I’d rather keep the levels near the top to get the best performance out of my phone/body. The moment you get too carb depleted then no gel is going to top you up enough. So I use the gels to keep my energy levels topped up. Hope that makes sense?

[@joneaton3366]

Thanks for the quick reply Ben. Yes makes sense you don't want to risk getting levels that low, especially if you perform worse in the lower %, hoping that taking can do no harm. Further more I been thinking, is it only then beneficial to aid performance if you have to practice with these so called gels/recharge top ups as it would be losing running rhythm and body also using its focus on what you have just put in it throwing it out of kilter etc especially under strain!? am I right in any of that perhaps. Kind regards jon

[@stepheninnes6024]

Ironically, The Cha Am -Hua Hin 2022 was my first half marathon.

[@jonb1107]

Some really good advice particularly around hydration and not letting adrenaline at the start destroy the end of the race. My last HM I went through a 34.40 10k and then died for the last 3 miles - finished in 1.18.40 but OMG I wished I was dead..and the last 1km finish was up hill.

[@phillipedwardness9591]

2:34 don’t get it wrong, get it right Wise

[@sureshot1100]

Good tips! Just finished a gravel race race yesterday and my pre race hydration was a night of drinking lol I still finished top 10

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Ha ha perfect! Then it worked. Well done 👍🏻 😊

[@davidwilliams912]

Thumbs up!

[@Renee-Heal-The-Eagle]

A race at 4am...👀😵💀 before the South Asian heat and humidity. Nice video.

[@jos8192]

Runner in JP here. Do you wear an HRM during racing, or do you rely on wrist-monitored pulse?

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Hi Jo, I use a heart rate strap. I’ve found wrist monitors to be very unreliable in general 😊

[@shanira99]

I don't know why I thought you were going to say: CAAARRR CHAAAT. In the beginning of the video 😂

[@corrimcgougan3545]

Where did car chat go!?

[@nicksrunningandadventureschann]

How du ?I'm coming to Thailand end of September until mid October,staying at bang pai in ayutthaya and was wondering if there's anything on around that time as I've looked and a lot of races have been cancelled,many thanks 😊

[@rollmop99]

ha- "how you approach your racing?"- well, don't race- except against yourself! that is fine too!

[@irawhitlock1084]

Tip for night before: "women weaken legs!" Lol

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Ha ha 😂

[@jofajafa]

Though shall not take Saint Paula's name in vain! 😜

[@timeonfeet]

I've definitely felt the difference between when I used to not warm up before longer races and now. Before without warming up it felt more like being hit by a freight train so definitely recommend a warm up 🚂👍