What happened during the half-marathon? Am I now addicted to running?
I’ll just come right out and say it… I didn’t hit my target time.
About halfway through the half-marathon, I started feeling sluggish. My legs felt heavy and my breathing started to sound like an asthmatic hound.

I ended up passing the finish line 15 minutes later than I did 3 years ago. It took me 2 hours 11 minutes to run 21.9 kilometers.
In this post, I’ll summarize what happened during the half-marathon and why I’m now addicted to running!
To summarize my run…
To start, I hit my target for the first 10km.
I went strong for an hour, and I’m pretty happy about that!

But the next 11.8km really took it out of me.
Here’s how I looked in the final stretch… 😂

I didn’t train enough long-distance before the race.
And it showed.
The impact of COVID
There are lots of reasons I didn’t train enough long-distance, but the main issue was catching COVID about 8 weeks before the race began.
I lost nearly 4 weeks of training. Then, when I started training again my endurance had dropped considerably.
Comparing against my past self
It also didn’t help that I keep comparing myself to my younger self.
Not that I necessarily “got old” in the past 3 years, but I was a different person back then.

The main difference is that I ran as a hobby back then long before I signed up for the Hackney Half. My habits changed after lockdown and I virtually stopped exercising for a long time.
But I still kept my time from 3 years ago in mind.
It was a pretty unrealistic goal considering the time I had to prepare. Even without considering COVID.
I didn’t maximize my energy
I talked about energy gels for a few days before the marathon, but I got spooked the day before the race.
I tried the gel and felt a rumble in my tummy, that I probably don’t need to dive into more… I just didn’t feel comfortable taking the energy gel too early in the race.
That’s why I waited until 90 minutes into the race to use the energy. It took 20 minutes to kick in and I felt totally fine after.
I just didn’t use them to their full potential. Next time, I’ll use my gel earlier.
Then the heat kicked in
About 30 minutes into the run, the sun came out and I started feeling the heat. For the next hour and a half, I found myself swerving into the shade.
The heat definitely contributed to my loss of energy.

And it felt like agony.
But I’m still proud I did my best
While I may have lost energy, I only stopped running at times for water and energy gel.
While the thought crossed my mind a few times, I decided I would not stop. That was something within my control.
I think it’s pretty impressive if you consider everything I mentioned before and the fact I ran more than 21km.
What I took away from this experience is…
I felt great after the race. After all, I did my best. Also once I stopped running, drank some water and found a place to sit — the runner’s high hit.
I was euphoric and felt like I’d just conquered the world. All the endorphins and dopamine rushed to my head and felt amazing.
I’m addicted to running now. Running is my new coffee… 😊
The running habit
After this experience, I’ll make more time in my daily life to run. Even if I don’t have a race planned to aim for, I’ll make a regular habit out of it again.
But not that that’s even an issue. I’ve already signed up to my next 10k. And I’m looking for another opportunity to run a half-marathon around September time.
I’m glad I did my best in this half-marathon. And now I want to prove myself that I’m not past my peak.

With a little hard work, I can get back to the habit and try to outperform my younger self. I’ve just not been prioritizing running the last few years.
That’s about to change.
Here’s what’s changed since the half-marathon…
I’m dying to go for a run today, so I might go for a quick 5k later today. Even though I’m still recovering. I’ll do this whenever I have the time now, at least 3 times per week.
I’ll also buy new shoes that help propel me forward so I don’t waste energy with each stride. I’ll visit a running shop for personalized recommendations on the best shoes for my feet.
I’ll also buy a fitness tracker watch, so I don’t need to wear my phone on my arm to track each run. I’ll also try out a waist strap to store energy gels.
To summarize my mindset shift over the past 2 days:
Running is now less something that I do. And more something that I am.
I’m looking forward to new runs and hopefully seeing progress later this year.