Stockholm halfmarathon 2018

Eight years in a row, this weekend in September I have participated in Stockholm half marathon. My favorite running race in Stockholm. Half marathon is my favorite distance and this race has always been a true running party you don’t wanna miss out. The course is scenic taking you all around the best parts of Swedens capital and the race is very well organized. My plan is to do a 10 year strike and this year I am doing my 9th. The race report from 2017 you can find HERE. This race I will just sum up shortly after I finished but instead I write about how I prepare for the runparty this time.

Morning yoga

SATS Odenplan is almost my neighbor so those Saturdays when I am not doing something else or are away I wake up at the yoga mat. Those days I will go for a run or ski I like to stretch out my body and especially the hamstrings and my back.

Breekie

The race starts at 15:35 for me and the other runners in coral B so it is a bit difficult to plan the eating. When races are at that time I eat real food for dinner the day before and have a nice breakfast around 9. Today I went to my favorite brekkie place Pom & Flora to have a nice cream. Then I will eat something lighter like yoghurt and müsli or a bread and fruit or so three hours before the race. But what works for me, doesn’t work for everyone.

Race packet pickup

When I was done with my brekkie and laptop session at P&F I biked down to Skeppsbron to pick up my race packet. The sports fair was not impressive which it never is at this race so it was a five minute activity. Then I went to check out the new Uniqlo store and to Apoteket to buy mosquito repellent for my upcoming trip. Now I am just going to chill at home until it is time to bike down to the start.

Thoughts before the race

As said, this is my favorite Stockholm race and this year my plan is to enjoy. Like Tjejmilen that I just ran. For the time being I am not feeling for pushing for a good time but if I get a runners high feeling then I will try to beat my personal record. Not that I will stop walking and drink water just because the pulse goes up or taking insta shoots while running. I know that I can run a half marathon at 1:42ish today but I will absolutely not force myself to do so. Time is secondary to me. I may end up running at 1:50, 2 hours or even below 1:45 or 1:42. I have no goal what so ever for this run except to have fun. And that is why I do running as a hobby and going for this weekends long run in company of thousands of others is pretty awesome. Have you ever been running a half marathon?

Race summary

This year Ramboll was title sponsor of the race. The focus has shifted to getting a run experience even after the finish line. I was surprised during the race that the course was somewhat new, to the better. The medal also had a new design. A cheap and ugly one. I really liked the old style. To bad they changed now two years before I finished my 10th race. Apart from that the organization was perfect.

I was happy that I had no goals for this race except running a long distance run. Already after one kilometer I was struggling. Sometimes my tummy freaks out like today and it feels like knifes are sticked into it. It is really painful. I decided that if I pass the 10K sub 50 then I can run as slow as I want the next 11K. At 12K my tummy cramps were gone, I could have pushed myself under 1:45 if I wanted but I was not in mode for that so I didn’t. I just ran and enjoyed the big run party this beautiful September day. If it would been a practice run I would have quit at 15K but with all friends and spectators cheering around the course and the perfect weather conditions I kept on running to the finish line. I am not a quitter when I do races. But I was happy that I had a relaxed approach to todays race because now I don’t have to be disappointed at myself that I got the slowest half marathon time in 4 years?!?

Anyone else who was running (or cheering) in Stockholm yesterday?

/ Pernilla that like doing races