To answer our questions about the most effective way to train for a (half) marathon, we pitted Good Health Choices designer Sacha Anderson – a running fan – against her boyfriend Tim Wackrow – a CrossFit diehard – to find out.
Sacha’s story:
My fitness routine had wavered and I wanted a goal to kick-start it again.
I was running a gentle 3-5km twice a week around the city centre, and I’d do a Les Mills GRIT class once or twice a week. But my running had slipped from the previous months, where every week I was comfortably running 18-20km.
I wanted to be able to run in a marathon; I’ve done a couple of 10km and 15km races, as well as doing my own 24km runs the previous year. But I always loved the idea of doing the Auckland half marathon – mainly so I could say I had officially done one – and being able to run over the Harbour Bridge!
I signed Tim and I up three months before, so there wasn’t very long to train.
To be honest, my number one goal was to beat Tim. He’s really into CrossFit (he’s even opened up his own CrossFit store, Fitshop) but never runs. He didn’t see the point of continuously doing what he saw as a warm-up!
I had three sessions with Gaz Brown, the founder of Get Running, to improve my technique. I’d developed some bad habits having just run on my own.
The worst thing was my running posture: I was hunching right over, which was making me tire earlier and could have caused me injury.
He gave me some great techniques for correcting my posture and pacing myself better.
I only had 12 weeks to train so had to build my running up pretty much from scratch very quickly. Gaz got me using MapMyRun, which was fantastic to keep track of my training. I was running 3-4 times a week starting at 4km, and eventually built up to 14km.
The plan was to reach 18-19km before the race, but with work deadlines and moving house my training took a bit of a hit and I wasn’t doing as much as I’d have liked!
On the day of the half marathon, I was excited and nervous. I was also tired – Tim had conveniently managed to lock his race gear, along with his keys, in the boot of his car the night before so we were up until 1am waiting for the locksmith to get into it.
I found the first 13km relaxing and didn’t have to push hard as I had reached that in my training. When I reached the top of the Harbour Bridge, I even stopped to take a quick selfie!
Tim definitely found it easier than me and, to his credit, slowed his pace to keep me going through the whole race.
I felt like I’d pushed myself to the limit when we hit 18km. I looked over at Tim who had slowed to cheer me on and all I could think was, “How, just HOW are you not dying and running this so easily!?”
I was really proud of our finishing time – 2hrs 30mins. (To be fair, I’ll very quietly admit Tim looked like he could have easily done it in well under two hours.)
Sacha’s top tip: Make sure you do a lot of hill training, and definitely rope in a friend or loved one to do it with you. It was such an awesome experience to do the race with Tim and he kept me motivated/annoyed enough to keep pushing on.
Tim’s story
I signed up for the half marathon because Sacha told me I had to do it, and I had never continuously run that far so I liked the challenge! Also, the idea of running over the Harbour Bridge was appealing as a story to brag about in the future.
Up until I was enrolled in the half marathon, I was training 3-5 times per week at the local CrossFit gym. The closest thing I had done was a Tough Mudder the year before, which was around 19km, with obstacles along the way.
I thought doing the same thing without the obstacles would be easier… right?
In the lead-up to the event, I just continued with the programming prepared at my gym, training three to five times a week.
CrossFit draws its programming from so many exercises such as running, rowing, gymnastics and weightlifting so you’re always training with functional movements. It allows you to be prepared for any real world activity and because it’s often performed at high intensity, it makes it easier to get in shape and stay fit.
I didn’t do any extra workouts – the only reminder of the approaching run was Sacha’s complaints about not having done enough training.
My only goal for the day was to make every attempt to appear as though I wasn’t even trying.
I was a little nervous as I hadn’t done much running leading up to the event and I hadn’t been watching my nutrition, so I was heavier than I’d have liked. Also I was up until 1am the night before, having locked my keys in the boot of my car… My legs were definitely starting to feel it in the last few kilometres as they are usually only used to lifting weight!
A marathon would have been out of the question, but running over the Harbour Bridge was just as awesome as I had hoped it would be. Really, the only setback on the day was my empathy.
Being the perfect boyfriend, I ran the entire race cheering Sacha along.
I think CrossFit allowed me to recover faster during the second half of the run. Being about 6kg heavier than my usual weight made it much more difficult though; the last few kilometres I was upset with myself for having eaten so much food in my life. You certainly feel every extra kilo when running, and lugging it uphill was a nightmare.
But overall, it was a fantastic experience and was extremely satisfying crossing the finish line, irrespective of the time.
It was a great day and the accomplishment of just finishing the distance is something to be proud of!
Tim’s top tip: Next time I would concentrate on doing more running and better dieting. I was far too heavy for the run and should have concentrated more on dropping weight leading up to the event. My advice for anyone looking to run a half or full marathon? Run. Lots.
Auckland Marathon: October 30, 2016 Fancy giving it a go? To be part of the Auckland Marathon or Half Marathon, go to www.aucklandmarathon.co.nz.
