Wrocław Half-marathon

The beginnings

It was 3 January, I was sitting at the table sipping coffee, when a friend sent me a screenshot confirming his sign-up for the Wrocław Half-marathon. Deciding to sign up took me about 2.5 seconds 😂, and 3 minutes later I sent him a similar screenshot back.

It wasn’t my first attempt. A few years ago I’d already signed up for a half marathon, but signing up was as far as it got. I knew that this time I had to take it more seriously and do everything to make it happen.

Training

I knew I’d need help planning the training. I searched the internet and decided to give the Runna app a go — an app with training plans. And it was a bullseye.

The first few weeks were tough. Especially since I set myself too fast a pace and picked up an injury as early as February. A few weeks off right at the very start 🥲

My leg recovered and I got back to training regularly, 4 sessions a week — 2 x easy, tempo / intervals and a long run. And so the weeks went by, and then the months. It was getting warmer outside, and running was becoming more and more enjoyable.

First start

May brought the time for my first serious attempt — my half marathon debut, but with no pressure on pace. At least that’s what I assumed at first.

I started, it felt great, and my race mode kicked in. I managed to stick to my initial race plan for the first 3 kilometres, and then my legs pulled me forward and, despite the awful heat, I finished my first half marathon under 1:50.

I knew this would only raise the bar for the final start.

Day 0

Race day arrived — 5 months of preparation for one evening. All day long I was on pins and needles and couldn’t wait for the start.

Warm-up, emotions, adrenaline, and at 10 p.m. we were off. 25 thousand people set out to bring Wrocław to a standstill. From the very start I pushed a strong pace around 4:40. The fans and the atmosphere of night running pulled me forward incredibly, and the kilometres kept ticking away fast. Around the 15th kilometre I managed to press on a little more and cruise at a pace of ~4:30 min/km.

When I saw the stadium (where the finish line was), I knew it was almost over and now I just had to seal the deal and I’d soon be able to enjoy the result. I don’t really remember the finish itself, I guess the emotions wiped everything — but the time spoke for itself: 1:38:02.

From here I have to give a huge thank you to Michał, who talked me into this whole thing, and to Kuba, with whom I kept an even pace for almost the entire race.

What’s next

A marathon, why not 🫣 The very next day I signed up for the marathon in Poznań this October. The plan is already in place — now it’s just run, run and run.