Traveling to Portugal for my first-ever half-marathon

A bit more than a year ago, I wrote a blog post about wanting to be able to run again. I’ve been slowly and steadily getting back into running since. I’ve written about my running goals for 2022 here and some thoughts here. And last week, I ran my first-ever half-marathon in Lisbon.

I signed up for it a few months ago after hearing that my younger brother had signed up for his first marathon in Tokyo. I wasn’t going to let him run a marathon before I did! So I searched for a race happening on the same day somewhere in Europe and found one in Lisbon called Tranquilidade Half Marathon of Discoveries. I’ve always wanted to go to Lisbon and thought it was an excellent excuse to visit the city and the country.

The training #

I’ve never been good at preparing for an event or following a training plan. The last race I ran had been a 60km fun run in college that I signed up on a dare with friends which left me with an injury that lasted for almost a year after that because I ran with no training at all. I used to be the type of person who would pull all-nighters before exams and cram practice sessions before piano recitals. I’d never been one to be able to plan and prepare.

However, after a few injuries that prevented me from running earlier this year, I had been running consistently and mindfully. I joined a running group and started attending track sessions for speed workouts. I started running longer, going for long runs with friends on the weekends. I attended some functional training sessions and learned running drills. I started incorporating strength workouts in the gym and started swimming and cycling while recovering from running-related injuries. I did pilates and yoga which taught me a lot about mobility and my body. I started tracking my macros and learned more about nutrition. I watched a ton of youtube videos on running and read a few books and articles.

I also did some research on what to do leading up to the race. Read up on tapering, what to eat/ what to not eat, etc. I started caring more about sleep and nutrition. I drank less and was kinder to my body. I was surprised by how much you could learn about your own body through a simple act of running and the wish to continue running.

Race day #

I arrived in Lisbon on Friday evening and spent Saturday exploring the city and picking up my race bib. The race was at 10am on Sunday. I wrote up a time schedule to follow for the race day which is so unlike me. I never plan things to this degree but I guess I cared enough because I prepared a lot for this. I have to say, I was a little proud of myself already.

The logistics of the race were probably the hardest part. How does bag drop work? What do I wear on the day, short sleeves or long sleeves? Would it be too cold or too warm? What if it rains? How and when do I get to the start line? I was also very anxious and found it difficult to sleep the night before.

Even though it was slightly cold, I decided to run in my long sleeves and shorts. I also decided against dropping off my bag at the start line in case of a big queue and carried everything in my waistband.

I didn’t expect the event to be anything big but when I arrived at the starting point, the place was filled with people. A group of local drummers was performing, there was music, and people were warming up and dancing. It felt festive and I was excited!

My goal for the race was to A) finish in one piece, without getting injured and B) run under 2 hours if I can. My plan was to run around 5:35/km pace for the first few km, then run 5:25-30/km pace for the rest and maybe speed up the last few km.

All my friends had told me to start slow. Yes, to start slow. I thought, oh how difficult can that be! But when you’re surrounded by so many people, you’re excited and your adrenaline is shooting up and down your entire body, it’s so difficult to pace yourself to go slow! I was going way faster than my original plan but decided to stick to it anyway.

The first 10km was easy and I could not believe how far I’d come from barely being able to run 5k last year to feeling so at ease running past the 10k mark that day. Halfway through, I found someone who was a great pace-maker for me and tried to stick to him as much as I could. The last 3km was the hardest part. My legs were heavy and I was struggling to keep down the water and energy gel I had ingested at a 15k mark (should’ve practice eating/drinking while running, something I had forgotten to do).

I managed to finish in the end with the time of 1:51:10 at 5:16/km avg pace. Injury-free. It’s been such a long time since I felt so proud of myself. This achievement means nothing at all to anyone but it meant a lot to me. And it’s been a while since I felt good about myself for my own achievement without any outside validation and I was so happy about that.

One thing I was a bit concerned though was the amount of trash during the race. They were giving out water in bottles and people were taking one sip and throwing them out on the streets! (like who are the ones that are going to clean them up afterward?) I swore to always carry my own bottle with me next time. And maybe choose races that are more eco-conscious.

Afterthoughts #

After the race, I explored the areas around Lisbon and also visited Porto before I flew back to Berlin. I ate a lot of great seafood which is a luxury when living in a city like Berlin and visited the coast to get a glimpse of the ocean. I met lovely people during my trip too that I still keep in touch with.

Running saved me a lot this year. It gave me community and friends. It gave me confidence. It made me believe that I can plan, that I can build myself up, that I can push myself, that I can work towards a goal. It’s helped me both mentally and physically (especially mentally) and I’m so grateful.

I hope I get to continue running in 2023. I would also love to visit other cities I’ve been dying to visit and maybe combine the trip with a running event like this one. Now that I can run longer, I hope I can start doing more runs on trails in the mountains too.