Helsinki City Marathon

When i registered for the event somewhere in March i really didn’t have high expectations because i knew it would be only 3 weeks after my attempt to run the Swissalpine ultra-marathon. I took it mainly as a challenge for myself and since i ran the HCM already twice i thought it would be fun to run it for the 3rd (and last) time. However, i also didn’t take into account back then that i would be injured and forced to take a long break from running. Anyway, i must say i should feel extremely grateful for just reaching the start line.

The Swissalpine was sort of my ‘miracle’ for 2015 and i was so happy to finish it in with no further injuries that i couldn’t ask for more. In the following weeks after Swissalpine i tried to take it really easy and ran mainly slow (but long!) runs. Perhaps it has been a mistake to run too much in the weekend before the HCM because few days before the race i could feel my legs were so tired that i decided to take 3 rest days from training. I must admit i hate tapering and it was very difficult to ‘just bike commute’ instead of heading for an evening run while the weather was so nice!

FC:Helsinki City Marathon FB page

Anyway, the race day was warm, it was a lovely day and i felt quite good but i knew it would be a hot day for a long run. I was quite nervous because i was hoping to still run for a PR because i missed all the local races this year due to my injuries and i felt like i needed to have a proper fast race. On the other hand, i hate fast tempo runs , and i enjoy much more longer and slower runs. I knew this would be my first ‘fast’ run after nearly 6 months so it scared me. I decided to take only 3 energy gels with me (and my iPod) without any water to keep it a light run.

The first 5km felt quite good but almost from the beginning i started to feel a pain on my right thigh which got worse on the uphills. It was not an excruciating pain but it was enough to make my legs work harder to compensate for the pain and make me feel uncomfortable.

In addition, maybe it was for the best, but due to the large crowd it was very difficult to run fast at the beginning. I was planning to try a negative split for this race so i just ran at a comfortable pace. However, when i saw that i ran the first 10km in 26minutes i knew i had to go a bit faster if i wanted a PR. Hence, i started to increase my pace. I think my fastest pace for the race was between 10-20km. I felt really good and happy to run again in my favorite city trails. I think mainly two things spoiled my plans for a PR and made this race to be a huge struggle for me:

• The route- this year, for the first time , for the first 10km the trail is quite similar to the previous but then when it reaches the city center the route changed and most importantly, the last 21km are almost the same loop as the first 21. Personally, i really don’t like running races which are run in loops. Mentally, it becomes a bigger challenge for me. I really try to avoid this type of races although i understand that technically, it’s easier for the organisers to arrange this type of race.

• The heat- After 20 km even though i took already two energy gels i must have lost a lot of salts and water from my body and i felt so weak and dehydrated. In fact, from that point i just ran fast from station to station just so that i could rest there and drink as soon as possible. I think it was the right approach to take, since although i lost a good amount of time in the stations i managed to run fast between them. Yet, i was struggling way too hard. The good side of this weather was that plenty of people were cheering up on the streets!! I wish i could thank each one of them and tell them how helpful it was!

I’m almost ashamed to admit that the voice in me telling me : "stop, you can walk and have a DNF ,it’s not a big deal " which tends to come in short races was very consistent this time. Thus, the last 12km were just a struggle to finish respectfully since i knew already there woudn't be a PR this time. Luckily, even though i couldn’t digest anything but water in the last 5km i managed to get a grip of myself and just ran as fast as i could to the finish line.

I know i could have run it much faster on a better (and colder) day, but still I'm very happy with my 3:38:50 net time. Moreover, my Garmin showed that the final distance was 43.3. The Garmin is many time inaccurate, but 1km is way too much. I’m pretty sure at least the route was slightly more than 42.2km.

Final conclusions from the race:

• It’s definitely my last road marathon for a very long time. It was the first time of me wondering how come road races are so popular while out there on the mountains the views are way more rewarding and stunning :). I still think that road races are a great and even essential way of practicing speed work, but yet, i have enjoyed so much more trail runs this year, that i feel more comfortable in this territory. Moreover, after Swissalpine i realized that ultra-marathons are much more appealing to me than shorter races. I know it’s hard to believe, but actually it felt better and easier to finish 80km on the Swiss Alps than 42km in Helsinki (as much as i love this city).

• I don’t know the reason for changing the route this year but i prefer the previous one. In fact, it seems that most runners finished slower this year than previous years. Maybe it’s just the heat but i honestly think that the previous route was better, especially since i don’t like loop races.

• The organization this year was very good! However, i think due to the heat this year, one or two extra stations would be even better.