This November, it’s three years ago since I started running. I had done the occasional run before that, but three years ago, I was a new parent living in a fairly small apartment during a COVID-related lockdown. I worked from home, and with the lockdown, we rarely had time to ourselves at all. So, I started exercising; I needed time to myself as well.

Last year, I indicated that I ran at least one 10k per month, and topped that up with two half-marathons as well. For 2023, I wanted to do something similar, but actually run those half-marathons in races rather than on my own.

Injury

The year didn’t go entirely as planned, from about mid-March to mid-June, I was trying to get rid of a nasty knee injury. I went to two different physios, I did all the prescribed exercises, but my injury didn’t go away. It was a frustrating time, until mid-June I started to increase my training slowly again. I focused on running slowly, which is a big ask for me — or at least, it used to be, it’s become significantly easier.

In the end, some leg exercises, better stretching after a run, and taking the time to at least walk 1km after that seems to have done the trick.

Record 15k and 21.1k

Now, for the good stuff. I did enter some races, and they went amazingly. Back in November 2020, I started with a 2k at 6’32”/km. Hitting my first 5k below 25′ about two years ago, blew my mind. Keeping that pace and finishing a 10k in 48’11” a year ago was so incredibly exciting.

In 2023, I ran two races at a pace that I wouldn’t have thought feasible at all when I started running three years ago: a 15k in 1h14’25” (4’54”/km) and a half-marathon in 1h44’02” (4’56”/km).

Other highlights

The first half-marathon race I ran this year was a family excursion. Kim had run several of these before, but on my first one, I pushed a pram with Mila in it. It was a great experience, and Mila loved the vibe of the race.

Just like last year, I was able to run in a few different cities. Especially the run in Vienna was novel because I’ve never run in freezing temperatures. I had to get running gloves and a jacket for the occasion. It still took close to an hour before I could feel my knees properly after the 12k run. It was a great way to reconnect with a former team member who is now in another part of the company.

Finally, recently, I explored going really far; I ended up running 30k which is 9k more than I had done before. It went well as I was able to run it on pace to run a full marathon in under 4h. Depending on how next year goes, maybe that’s the next step.