The first running event of the year. Helsinki City Run is a Half Marathon race run trough the parks of central Helsinki. 17.000 participants of which some 12.000 finished. It's a mass event, and very well organized in my opinion.
I decided to take a warm-up bike ride to the starting area. Some thirty minutes and 7 km's later on the bike I arrived at the olympic swimming stadium, where I stored my excess clothes. You need a 50 cent coin for the locker by the way. I didn't have one. I took the risk of falling pray to an easy steal. I couldn't imagine anyone would actually steal my sweaty jacket and pants. I had plenty of time so I decided to take a leak in the stadium toilet. There was almost no que, so I could afford to let by a guy from the first starting group. I was in the second starting group with the gun going off at 15:10, the fastest group would start at 15:00. There are five groups by the way.
Lining up in the grid. I had an event specific playing list prepared for my iPod as I would be running solo this time. There goes the gun. With a few minutes left to the start of the second group I fired up the music. Eye of the Tiger? Nope. Quite the opposite. I Shot the Sheriff, Bob Marley - followed by Flowers on the Wall by the Statler Brothers. The music was meant to mellow me out, make for a relax and easy start. That was the strategy for this race, to take it easy the first half, and then possibly push for a negative split towards the end.
Off we go. Jogging the first kilometer in a tight crowd with Faith No More's Easy ringing in my head. Followed by Bob Marley's Redemption Song. There the sun comes out from behind the clouds. It's getting warm. I have to trip the arms from jacket. The first five kilometers are really nice and easy. After that I start to feel the uphills, slowing down a bit not to get too much lactic acid moving at this point. At nine kilometers the going is still fairly easy - although my heart beat is up at around 170-175 bpm. I pass the ten kilometer mark at roughly one hour, or to be more specific 1:04:23.
At this point my playing list is geared toward more rhythmic and upbeat music like Yeas Sir, I Can Boogie and Get On. I realize at this point that I can easily keep up this pace for the remainder of the run. So I decide to increase the pace and let my heart rate drift up towards 180 bpm. At around 12 km I'm very well zoned out in a bliss flow mode of eating kilometers. I startled by some guy running past me shouting something. It takes me a second or two to realize he is commenting my shoes. I look down at them, has my lace ran open? Ok, he's wearing the same pair. I get it. He was complementing me of my choice of shoes. I grin back at him and blurt out something. I don't remember what but it takes me out of the effortless zone.
At 15 kms I start to expect support from my family. I can't spot them anywhere where I supposed them to be. I feel a bit demoralized, they didn't bother showing up. I keep going though. And then, out of the blue, there they are. My wife and our Dachshund puppy. The dog is super excited and starts to run along. I try to bow down and pet it while still jogging. That doesn't go well. My wife jogs along looking at the dog. That doesn't go well. She runs into a tree. And they disappear behind me. I feel a bit reinforced by the support anyway. She manages to tell me Gothoni (a friend, and running buddy) isn't very far ahead of me, and that he looked a bit tired. So I push on a bit harder. Eating that distance with my feet.
Somehow I find the zone again, and carry on with Man On The Edge, Run to You and Heaven is on Fire fueling my spirit. Baby don't stop, take it to the top is blasting from the headphones as I push on past some beaten runners on an uphill stretch. My heartbeat is at or beyond 180 bpm by now. I can feel the lactic acid in my legs. But there's nothing to worry about, I know I just have to endure the pain and push forward.
At 17 kms, after the last water station, I think that I should try to push faster. So I do. Infinite Dreams, We Are the Champions and The Show Must Go On pushes me forward along the paths. Oh God, I really start to feel the pain now. I some people walking, and it is tempting.. But I made myself the promise not to walk in this race. It's ok to slow down, but not to walk. I'm closing in on a big uphill right now. Honestly I don't know if I have the strength to run it.
Iron Maiden comes to my aid with Flight Of Icarus.
His eyes are ablaze.
See the mad man in his gaze.
Fly, on your wing.
Like an Eagle.
Fly as high, as the sun.
On your wing, like an eagle.
Fly.
Touch the sun.
Having this piece of art kick in at that point of the race, it actually gave me the chills, and a ton of fighting spirit. And I flew up that hill. No problem. After the hill, I kicked in another gear again. Uphills or not. I keep increasing speed towards the end. Run To The Hills kicks in before the last uphill. That's a misfire. Thanks iTunes, for counting the total time wrong. And then I'm out of music. I'm past the breaking point already - so there is no risk of giving in anymore. I just chew trough that last uphill and curve in trough the gate to the Olympic Stadium.
There's a big screen displaying the names and times of finishing runners. And there are quite a few spectators inside the stadium cheering on the runners. That's a nice touch to a race. A stadium finish. I don't do any full out sprint at the end. Didn't consider it beneficial to put my heart under the additional stress just to shave off a few seconds.
I grab my goodies. And zip back the arms on my jacket. Down a few sports drinks. Shovel in a small bag of potato chips and some kind of yoghurt and half a banana. Then I'm off to check out if somebody has stolen my clothes. They are still there, so I grab them and head for my bicycle. On the 7 km bike ride home I start to feel really tired. I check my heart rate it's around 140 bpm. That last bike ride felt tough, but I guess it was good for my recovery. Today I feel fresh again, but am not going out for a run - just yet.
I'm pleased with the 2:06:24 and a negative split. But can't help wonder. Could I have breached 2 hours? I believe I could have kept going for 2-3 kilometers more, at the same pace I finished the race. I'll never know. But until next time, I'll put in more miles and then, at the next race, I'll dig a bit deeper to see if I can find more mental resources.
