Running the Helsinki half marathon

My (not-so-) daily writing this time features running.

This post is about the most spontaneous thing I have ever done. As you will have guessed from the title, I ran the Helsinki Half Marathon a week ago (on the 20th of August). I wish I could tell you an inspiring story about why I decided to run it. However, that story doesn’t exist. I decided I wanted to run a half marathon, and I did it. Claiming that this is a story of my stubbornness would not be too far away from reality. However, having found no other motivation for running the HM, it’s surprising that “it’s cool” took me that far (21.1k, especially).

At this point, I should give more context. It’s not that I decided to jump on a plane to Helsinki on a Friday evening and run a half marathon the day after. I had occasionally been running since Easter because, apparently, rowing wasn’t keeping me busy and tired enough. Since finishing a 10k run for the first time, I became tempted by the idea of running a half. I searched for summer half marathons in Europe without being serious about it. It was already on my plans to come to Finland for a graduate summer school. The Helsinki marathon was the day before the start of the school. Suddenly, it was happening.

The half marathon was going to be my first ever race. I made an eight-week training plan to start with just after bumps, combining running with rowing ergs. I only really followed it for one week. I ended up doing very little rowing, though I did row a half marathon on the erg, which was fun (and way faster than running it). The only thing from my training plan I (almost) stuck to was a long run every week. The goal was to increase the mileage by one kilometre every week. I started at 11k and had originally aimed to run 18k a week before the race. The holidays got in between and I didn’t run as much during that time as I had optimistically planned. My last long run before them was 15k. When I ran another 15k three weeks later, I was 20min slower. I only had time for another long run five days before race day, which was not ideal. I ran 16k (with a 15k personal best), which is the minimum that one should have run a HM.

The HM started at 8:30am, the same time as the full marathon (and the marathon relay). It was a hot and dry day in Helsinki (over 25C), so not quite the conditions that we had expected. The route was also not as flat as I had hoped -the race is along the coast- and not always on pavement, so at least I had an excuse for a slow time.

The race was surprisingly not painful during the first two-thirds. In particular, the first 7kms went by very fast in my mind (though certainly not in my splits). At ~15k I noticed some pain in my right foot. It stayed for 3 or 4 days after the race but it’s now gone. My foot made the 15-18k interval the toughest. I was now being overtaken by some marathoners (the 42,2k route had multiple laps). It was a bit demotivating but also nice to have some punctual company, since I had been running alone for long. The last 3kms were amazing, as the adrenaline was quicking in and there was some cheering close to the finish line.

I had been hoping for an enlightenment moment -like figuring out the meaning of life- while crossing the finish line, but all I really wanted was to sit down and drink some water. While there was no instantaneous revelation, I’ve finally got to like running. I’ve learnt to get into my own world while running long distances, almost forgetting that my legs are working very hard. And I’ve come to appreciate more the outdoors, as running on a treadmill is orders of magnitude worst.

Surprisingly, the biggest running discovery came from my summer school. So many people (over half of us?) run! I don’t think we are a very biased sample towards running, so I think this should hold in other places too. And though running is not replacing rowing in my life anytime soon, I experience the same effect with both. Talking about your sport with lots of people makes it more enjoyable!

While I’m not saying no to another half in the future, it’s finally time for me to go back to the erg.