I’m not writing to boast, but let’s be real, how many people can say they’ve run a half marathon? How many more can say they did it at fifteen years of age?

Before signing up for this ridiculous feat, I had only ever run two 5ks and not a single 10k. The four of us (me, my brother, cousin and aunt) had signed up just a bit over one month before the actual event. My training regime: 30 minutes (sometimes with an extra 10) on the treadmill, three times each week. Talk about overestimating ourselves myself.

But hey, we all finished before the cutout time. I’m pretty proud.

Also, a kudos to my brother. He had just turned thirteen when he ran the 21.1 km with me. He went home limping for the lack of a proper warm-up, but it’s still a pretty cool achievement.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional athlete and won’t be held responsible for performance injuries, but I will be sharing from experience.

Race Day

I barely slept. I don’t know if it had been the excitement, anxiety or nerves. Adrenaline certainly had a role, though. I remember going to bed early the night before the race (I’m pretty sure it’d been past 10 pm), but ended up dozing off a little past midnight. We had to wake up at around 03:30 in the morning to reach the race venue in time, and even so, the traffic was ridiculous we were almost late.

Fast forward to the actual race. When the gun was shot, it had taken all of me not to dart off like a sprinter. Half marathon is the real deal, people, and pacing is crucial. I know you’re excited (I was), I know you finished your first 5k in 25 minutes (I didn’t), but 21.1k isn’t a race of speed, but of endurance. Figure out your pace and stick with it. My calculation had been off the top of my head and extremely non-scientific, but I had a benchmark in mind and actually stuck with it (10 minutes per km for you curious peeps).

Remember, it’s important not to get ahead of yourself. The time was 50 minutes when I hit 5k, which may sound laughable for some, but it had worked for a certain untrained marathoner (clue: me). The key is also to never stop, not even when you’re exhausted (actually, if you feel like passing out, stop. And if you’re drinking, or fueling, stop). Even when you hit that desperate when-is-this-gonna-end phase at around 15k, fast-walk for a limited time and labor on. When it comes down to it, slacken your pace, jog, but never walk, never stop.

Trust me, it’ll be freaking difficult to get those two feet of yours to do start running again once you stop.

The Final Fight

The last kilometre felt like the longest kilometre of my life. It took everything in me to put one foot after the other. My lungs were burning. My legs were numb. I honestly thought my body was going to fall apart, any time now. But I didn’t stop, because my brother was now running. Really running. There was no way I was gonna fall behind.

That last hundred meter was torture, me and my brother kept passing each other. My feet were killing me. We were probably one of the last batches to finish, but in that split second when I crossed the checkered line, when I was intensely out of breath and a millisecond ahead of my brother, I’d felt victorious. I felt like a winner, like the happiest fifteen year-old on the planet.

Because no matter your time, if you ever run and finish a half marathon, you’re entitled to a tiny bit of self-pride.

At least that’s what I still tell myself these days.

Carbo Loading & Fueling

Honestly, all I did was eat plenty of carbs rice the day prior to the race. I wasn’t aiming to win or break any PR. In my defense, it was a first-time fun experience. And I can’t really remember what I had for breakfast, probably some hard-boiled egg whites or bananas.

I was never experienced about fueling, but I’ll admit it’s almost impossible to survive a half marathon on water alone. So I took a few packs of raisins, and that was enough for me. The race committee also gave out free bananas towards the end of the grueling 21.1k, but I skipped and opted to brave my way through the final kilometers.

After Thoughts & Future Goals?

I can tell you this. Running 21.1k is not easy. You need determination, you need dedication (if not enough for a proper training routine, then at least to get you to cross the finish line on race day), you need a strong motivation.

Lucky for me, I have a competitive spirit. And lucky for my brother, he has an awesome sister. Truly, he would’ve walked his way to the finished line had it not been me pestering him to keep running -but he probably won’t admit it now if you asked. Still, having a company who shares your pace makes all the difference. He was there as a reminder that I had to finish first (this actually kept me from giving up), I was there to push him forward. Talk about motivation now.

Finishing a half marathon for the first time makes you happy, gives you an incomprehensible sense of achievement, and it also makes you ambitious. Just days after the race, I’d set a goal to run my first marathon before my seventeenth birthday.

Here I am, a month before I blow the candle. I’m pretty sure I still won’t make sub-3 hour if I ran a half marathon right now.

Hey, school life happens.