I ran a half marathon. Here’s what I wish I’d known and what I learned along the way

At nearly the halfway point, I received some welcome encouragement from a spectator: “Great, halfway there already”. The two boys behind me and I unexpectedly formed a motivational and running trio and my family stood at the side of the road with an isotonic drink and cheered me on.

My father promised to ride alongside me on the bike for the last 1.5km, just like in our training runs together, and from then on the time didn’t matter. The idea that being there was everything carried me to the finish line laughing, where I saw one of my oldest friends cheering me on there, 30 minutes later than planned and far from any kind of best time. Done: 21.1 kilometres – not for time, but just for me.

So will I run another half marathon? Yes! I have to admit that in the weeks after the race, I put my running shoes on the shelf and took out my neglected hiking boots, but in 2024 I’ll certainly be training for another.

What I learned about myself and mental strength

Sometimes, inevitably, all I can hear in my mind is “Don’t do it, stop, it’s too exhausting.”

But you can get rid of it by focusing on how long and how intensively you have trained for this one day. By throwing all your own expectations of a certain running time overboard. By simply getting on with it. And by having someone along the route to cheer you on, someone who is not only there at 8km, but also at the particularly intimidating 17k, even better if they have a drink and smile on their face at the point.

I’ll admit that at 13km I would have liked to give up, but the “I can do it!” and the “You can do it!” from my family helped prove me otherwise, and I just kept running (and even walked in the middle).

What I learned about myself was that I can trust myself and my body. I know that with enough lead time, I can run a half marathon for myself without music in my ears and without a running buddy. Just me, just the forest, my regular breathing and 21km.

Honest tips for running a half marathon

With enough preparation and training, almost anyone who is physically fit can run a half marathon. Equally, maybe it doesn’t need to be 21km, maybe 6 or 10 is plenty to get started with? Try it out! Either way, find out which route, which shoes and which surface suits you best and then get running. Don’t forget to stretch after every run, otherwise you could end up with sore muscles and, in the worst case, injuries.