I’ve walked 71 half marathons. And if I’m being honest, I learned most of what I know the hard way — through bad shoes, wrong food, and one very memorable porta-john situation. Whether you’re walking your first half marathon or your tenth, these are the things I wish had known before I toed the start line for the first time.

1. Get enough miles on your shoes to know they can go the distance. In training, wear them for at least one 10-mile day to make sure you can walk 13.1 in them. I once wore a pair of shoes I never went farther than 8 miles in and my feet were killing me at mile 11. I had to pick up the pace to finish as fast as possible just so I could sit down.

2. Train in all types of weather. It could be raining, snowing, or even super hot on race day. By training in bad weather you will know what to wear no matter what the weather brings.

3. Before a race, what should you eat and when? Do you need a full meal featuring eggs? Is yogurt or a banana enough? Try out different foods in training until you know what works for you. For me, it is toast with peanut butter – one slice for a short race, two slices for a half marathon right before I leave for the start line.

4. Don’t wear anything new during the race. This goes for everything including socks and the race shirt. Wearing clothes you train in will help you avoid uncomfortable chafing or blisters.

5. Practice mid-race fueling during your training miles. Don’t eat anything during a race that you haven’t tried in training. I used to eat different GUs or energy blocks and I’ve experimented with peanut M&Ms, but they all eventually upset my stomach. Now I eat gluten-free pretzels filled with peanut butter. This choice gives me salt, carbs, and a little bit of protein and any leftovers are great for the post-race snack when I’m hungry again.

6. Start the race slower than you think you should. In the excitement of the start, it is easy to go too fast at the start and then not have anything left for the final miles.

7. View the first 10 miles as a warmup and the last 3.1 as a 5K race. And if you practice this in training, you’ll be ready to pick up your pace in those last 3 miles.

8. You don’t have to drink all the water given at a water station. I did that during a marathon and ended up stopping at the porta-john six times! At the same time, it’s OK to take more than one cup if you need it or to pour over your head.

9. Try using a mantra for when things get tough. Around mile 8 when I can start to feel the miles, I repeat “I can do this” over and over. During The Cincinnati Flying Pig one year, my friend started repeating “Houshmanzadeh” on the hills as her mantra. First, the name is fun to say and second, we were in Cincinnati talking about the Bengals.

10. Limit complaining. Studies show that the more you complain during a race, the worse you will feel. My friends and I have set the informal rule that we can each complain once and after that all our comments need to be positive. Plenty of people have probably wondered why I would tell my friends “I feel fantastic!” during a race in the pouring rain.

11. Trust the taper. In the final weeks before the race you’ll cut back your miles significantly and it will feel completely wrong. Your legs will feel heavy, you’ll feel out of shape, and you’ll be convinced you’re losing fitness. You’re not. Your body is storing energy for race day. I wrote a whole post about why taper week is hard — it’s not just physical. The grumpiness is real. But trust the process because it works.

Walking a half marathon is one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself. It takes training, preparation, and a willingness to eat pretzels filled with peanut butter at mile 8. But mostly it takes showing up — for your training walks, for taper week, and for those last 3.1 miles when your legs are tired and your mantra is the only thing keeping you moving. You can do this. And when you cross that finish line you’ll already be thinking about your next one.

If you are an experienced walker, what tips would you add?

(86)