Rachel Hollis Instagram – A couple weeks ago I completed my first half marathon of the year and after a decade of #RachelHRuns I thought I’d share some running hacks that work for me 👇🏻 JUST START: Stop overthinking it. Stop freaking yourself out. Just sign up for a race and start training. Distance training requires no membership fees, special equipment or financial investment to get started. Yes fancy sneakers look cool, but most runners I know (myself included) are rocking the same gear we’ve had forever. SING WHILE YOU RUN: Sounds silly but this is the best method I know of to pace myself. While I run, I sing –yes out loud– for at least 30 seconds of every song in my playlist. This is the best trick I know of to make sure I always have gas in the tank. If I can sing without too much trouble– it means I’m running at a pace that’s in line with my ability. If I’m unable to sing aloud it means I’m running too fast for my current training level and I’ll slow back down. I highly recommend Disney soundtracks and broadway showtunes for both beltability and overall motivation. I always save Hamilton for the hardest part of the race. REALIZE YOU’VE ALREADY WON: One of my favorite things about yoga is that almost every teacher I’ve ever had says something along the lines of “You’ve made it to your mat today, you’ve already done the hard part” Showing up on race day is the same way. If you show up for a 5K and only run 2K… you’ve won. If you show up for your marathon and only make it 1 mile… you’ve won. By starting that race, no matter how far you go, you’ve already done more than BILLIONS of other people will do that day. Good for you! I think most people don’t sign up for a race because they’re terrified of failing, but there is no failure here. Anything you do is more than you would have done otherwise. Embrace the experience and trust that if for some reason you don’t finish, you can always try again. Life is filled with opportunity for a retry and it will be SO much sweeter when the finish line is hard-earned. 🤟🏻 The full article is on my website site if you want to take a deeper dive into my running advice —> MsRachelHollis.com #halfmarathonprep #marathonrunning