Armstrongs Abroad: Running the Bucharest Half Marathon...again

It is generally considered helpful to reflect on a race you've recently run, and since several people are interested in what it is like to run a half marathon in Bucharest, I (Cameron) thought I would say a few words about today's race. This was my second year running the Bucharest Half Marathon, and so below are three changes I made from last year's Half.

First, a half marathon is 13.1 miles/21 km. There are many training plans that are fairly easy to find on the Internet, which is what I did, and they tend to last anywhere from 12-15 weeks (mine was 13, which I found quite fitting for a 13 mile race). The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to find a plan where you run three or four days during the week and the weekend long runs don't jump too quickly from week to week. Then find a race you want to run and count back 12-15 weeks from the race date to see when you should start the plan. Although training plans usually peak at a 10-mile long run, I picked a plan this year that peaked at 12 miles. It is true what they say that if you can run 10 miles, then your adrenaline will push you the rest of the way, but last year I was not a pretty sight crossing that finish line and I knew I needed more. I felt way better physically at the end of this year's Half.

Second, I changed my strategy going into the Bucharest Half this year. I realized that there is actually no shame in walking 30 seconds or a minute when you get tired, and so I began incorporating short walk breaks into my long runs every couple of miles. I don't know why, but last year I had bought into the purist belief that any walking I did on the course was somehow failure. There are lots of well-known running coaches who advocate incorporating walking, and I honestly found that it makes my 10+ mile runs much stronger and even a bit faster. Luckily, the water/gatorade stations were situated at roughly 5 km/3 miles apart, and so I decided to walk while drinking/eating (one station also had apple slices).

Third, I knew what to expect for race day. I remembered from last year that no one really cares (like they do in bigger races) if you line up according to your bib number or not. I remembered that, like it or not, some non-runners will dart through the course because it is quicker than walking to a designated crosswalk. But best of all was that I remembered the different turns and segments of the course.

Jessica said that when I passed where she was standing (somewhere between the 14 and 15 km marks, I think), I was actually on pace to finish around 2:10. Unfortunately, I had to walk a few more times and hit the port-a-potty, so that slowed me down near the end. Nevertheless, I still pushed to a sprint at the end and, as I said above, felt so much better physically than I did at the end of last year's race. My final time was 2:18 (two hours and 18 min), meaning that I beat my time from last year by five minutes!