I never thought I would do a half marathon

Crystal Nelson is our 61 year young fitness instructor who never stops challenging herself!  She became certified to teach our Leash Your Fitness classes by going back to school to get a certification in fitness at Grossmont College at the age of 60!  She is an inspiration to many and now she has completed her first half marathon!  We are so proud of her and we hope that she inspires YOU to train for something that will push you out of your comfort zone.  Listen to what Crystal had to say…

1. What made you decide to do walk a half marathon?

I wasn’t considering doing any marathons.  All I’ve ever done were 5K’s.  I saw some information regarding the San Diego Half Marathon,  I don’t even remember where, but I liked the route and 100 percent of its net proceeds benefits local community service projects.  (Which ended up being $250,000.) My thoughts were, “We have a group of runners out there running races I think I’ll get together a walking team for this marathon.”  Plus I thought it would be nice to have a new challenge to tackle.  I was hoping for a few more LYF ladies to join. I did recruit Debbie Burk, who despite a knee injury still walked an awesome race!

2. Where was your fitness before you started? What were you doing? What was your longest walk?

My fitness level wasn’t too bad.  I am an instructor with Leash Your Fitness, so I do keep pretty active. I lead a walking class on Saturday mornings and usually walk the hills in Balboa Park on my lunch.  I had kind of fallen off the wagon with my walking due to some family issues I had been dealing with so it was a nice benefit having this marathon to train for.  My longest walk before the marathon was 11.33 miles.

3. How often did you train for the half? How many weeks before the half did you start training?

I trained six days a week with one rest day and I trained for nine weeks.

4. Did it help to do the training with friends? Did it help to keep you accountable?

It most definitely helps training with friends.  Not only does it keep you accountable it’s just so much more fun!  On the days for our short walks we included the dogs and we all know have much we enjoy having our pups with us.

5. Did you encounter any challenges during your training? How did you overcome them?

There was four of us training and all of us encounter challenges.  Mine were blisters. My solution solver, new shoes.

5. Did you feel like you were ready on “race day”?

I felt more than ready.   I was very conscience about want I ate before the race.  I didn’t focus on “carb-loading” like marathon runners do.  I just made sure to eat well balanced meals and to stay away from sugars.  Made sure to get to bed at a decent time and get a good night’s sleep.

6. How did you do and what did you learn from the experience?

I think for my first marathon I did well.  I did the 13.1 miles in three hours and five minutes.  My learning experience: never stop challenging yourself and always have fun while doing so.  Keep smiling!

7. Anything else?

Yes, next year 13.1 miles in two hours and forty five minutes!

Next week will be part 2 of the half marathon series.  We will hear from Debbie Burk and her experience in training for walking a half!