Gothenburg half marathon

Because of problems with my timetracking chip I got another bibnumber, 76117.

I have run the first long distance race ever, the half marathon Götebrogsvarvet in Gothenburg. And goddamn it was fun! And most of all: I made it under two hours!

I decided already in the fall that I was to run. But the preparations haven’t been the best. Three weeks of partying in the States, and not that much work-out the weeks prior to that (but I’m still on my New Year’s resolutions-schedule with at least three times of workout per week).

Also, I didn’t sleep the night before the race. Or, I slept 2 hours, but I laid awake from 1am to 7am, unable to sleep.

Since I haven’t run any long distance race before (it might be good as part of the preparation to actually run that same distance at least once before) I didn’t know how to plan ahead or what tactics to use. But I understood that it was smart to start out slow, and keep that pace throughout, to stand the whole race. So I did, and it worked.

I felt immediately that it went well. Many people overtook me in the beginning, but that was part of the plan. I was to overtake them later, I thought.

What surprised me the most with this event was how fun and nice it was. It was well arranged, a lot of things was going on by the starting line, and also along the course. Over 50 music events along the course. And despite the fact that the winner was done a few hours earlier than I started, there were so many people along the way cheering, singing, dancing and showing us a good time.

My idea about the pace turned out to be correct. The further I got, the more people I overtook, despite me keeping the same slow pace as before.

Because of my (lack of) preparations I thought that I could do it in two and a half hours. But the longer I kept running, the more I figured out that I was to do really good. I could even make it under two hours. So when the last time, at 20 km, was shown I saw that I was to make it and got extra energy to last all the way to the finish line. I got a great time, 1:58:18, and I was so happy and felt so good

My foot hurt a bit, but I wasn’t that numb in my body. I had had a perfect pace. Now that days after, my legs ache a bit though.

I stayed with my friend Daniel Friday and Saturday. It was nice to see the Svenssons again, and we stayed up late and talked.

We also watched the hockey game, where Rangers advanced to the semifinals! Woohoo! Let’s Go Rangers!

The weekend ended with customary Sunday night dinner with the Halmstad gang. An amazing weekend!