Forest 1 - 1 Sara

More than a year ago I wrote here about running in the forest near home and how it beat me, because it was so hilly. I finished that post with "Today, the forest beat me. I'll take that as a challenge!". Well, today was the day! I went straight there facing the 700m hill and then I did sprints in the other hills, always without stopping. 

Me and the forest are finally even!

Foto from the internet

Há mais de um ano atrás, escrevi aqui sobre treinar na floresta aqui perto de casa e como a floresta me bateu nesse dia, por causa das subidas a pique. O final desse post foi "Hoje a floresta bateu-me. Vou tomar isso como um desafio!". Pois que hoje foi o dia! Fui direita à floresta, pela subida de 700m que vai de casa lá e depois fiz sprints nas outras subidas, sempre sem parar.

Eu e a floresta estamos finalmente empatadas!

Göteborgsvarvet 2017

It was time again for the biggest half marathon in the world, with 60.000 people registered, here in Gothenburg. It is not the easiest race, because it goes up and down, and the final kilometres are hard. The most feared part is Avenyn, the main street in the city center, because it looks almost flat but it really isn't, it's long giving a never ending feeling and it comes after 15 km. 

Chegou de novo a hora da maior meia maratona do mundo, com mais de 60.000 inscritos, aqui em Gotemburgo. Não é a corrida mais fácil de sempre, porque vai há muitas subidas e descidas, e os quilómetros finais não são fáceis. A parte mais temida é sempre a Avenyn, a rua principal no centro da cidade, porque parece quase plana, mas não é, e além disso é longa parecendo não ter fim e vem depois de 15 km.

I didn't have great expectations this year. Training did not go so well, I got sick twice and I knew judging by the way I ran Växjö's half marathon 3 weeks ago that I was not prepared for the challenges of this race. On top of that, I had a dinner/party two days before the race, in which I drank a few glasses of wine, danced for a few hours and didn't sleep enough. My calves were still aching before the race. 

Não tinha grandes expectativas este ano. Os treinos não foram os melhores, fiquei doente duas vezes e sabia, depois de ter corrido a meia maratona de Växjö há 3 semanas, que não estava preparada para os desafios desta corrida. Além disso, tive um jantar/festa dois dias antes da corrida, no qual bebi alguns copos de vinho, dancei durante horas e não dormi o suficiente. Ainda tinha dores musculares nos gémeos antes da corrida.

The goal / A meta

But there are different ways of facing a race: go for it doing your best or go for the fun. One kilometre into the race I decided to do the second. That way would be more fun and enjoyable, and I would have more chances of fulfilling my promise: run the whole Avenyn without walking. I ran at a slower pace, smiled a lot at the amazing public that is spread almost throughout the entire course and enjoying the atmosphere. When I entered Avenyn I felt good and put on a smile never dropping it. People who saw me cheered me even more. It was so good, that when I noticed I was on top of it. I had a low phase a bit after, but then I looked at my watch and saw that had run 18.5 Km. No one is allowed to walk that close to the goal! And so it went... For the first time ever in this race, I ran the whole way, I had more fun than ever and I feel I accomplished what I could, giving the conditions.

Mas existem maneiras diferentes de enfrentar uma corrida: ir com tudo e dar o seu melhor ou ir para aproveitar a diversão. Um quilómetro depois de ter começado, percebi que o melhor seria escolher a segunda. Dessa forma seria mais divertido e agradável, e teria mais chances de cumprir a minha promessa: correr a Avenyn toda sem andar. Corri num ritmo mais lento, sorri muito para o público que é fantástico e está espalhado durante quase todo o percurso e aproveitei o ambiente de alegria e festa que a cidade ganha. Quando entrei na Avenyn, estava-me a sentir bem e pus um sorriso na rosto que nunca mais larguei. As pessoas que me viram gritaram e aplaudiram ainda mais. Foi tão bom, que quando dei por mim estava no topo da avenida! Tive uma fase mais difícil um pouco depois, mas olhei para o meu relógio e vi que já tinha corrido 18,5 km. Não se pode andar tão perto da meta! E assim foi... Pela primeira vez nesta corrida, corri durante o percurso inteiro, diverti-me mais do que nunca e sinto que fiz o que pude, dadas as condições.

Me at the goal with a flag of Portugal / Eu a chegar à meta com a bandeira portuguesa

I finished it in 1h56m21s. That is 1 second more than last year. I should be giving a prize for consistency! Last year, I was super in shape and had trained much more and much better, which gave me too much confidence. I ended up running too fast during the first 14km and then breaking down and walking a lot. 

The result was the same in time, but I had less than half of the fun. I'm happy I learned the lesson and applied it this year. Running and learning. 

Terminei em 1h56m21s, o que foi 1 segundo a mais do que no ano passado. Deveria ganhar um prêmio por consistência! No ano passado, estava super em forma e tinha treinado muito mais e muito melhor, o que me deu demasiada confiança. Acabei por correr muito rápido durante os primeiros 14km e quebrando depois, sendo obrigada a andar muito.

Em tempo o resultado foi o mesmo, mas não me diverti nem metade o ano passado. Estou feliz por ter aprendido a lição e a ter aplicado este ano. Correndo e aprendendo.

Göteborgsvarvet 2017, 1h56m21s

I should of course thank the usual gang. The other team members for sharing nerves and experiences before and after the race (they also did really well this year!) and the supporting team for the pictures, support and all the good food. I'm already looking forward to next time!

Tenho também que agradecer o grupinho habitual. Os outros membros da equipa, com quem partilhei nervos e experiências, antes e depois da corrida (eles também fizeram uma boa corrida este ano!) e a equipa de apoio pelas fotos, todo o apoio e comida deliciosa antes e depois. Já estou ansiosa pela próxima vez!

Växjö's Half Marathon

Last weekend we, the usual 3, ran the half marathon in Växjö. None of us had training as much as wanted. Among other things we were all sick at one point or another and had a lot of work or a new job to suck our energy. 

Picture taken by our local supporter

Still, the race was a promising one, because the course was beautiful and flat, and there were only around 250 people registered. There was also a 5k race starting an hour before ours and a 10k starting 2h later. The 10k was actually the main event with about 1000 people registered. That made it quite perfect, because it was never crowded to run the narrow paths of the half marathon, but there were a lot people around so we wouldn't feel lonely for too long. 

The course was breathtaking, probably the most beautiful 21km I have ever ran, even if it was a two-lap race. Half of each lap went through narrow roads and small paths inside a forest, that was partly along a lake. The other half was a full lap around the most famous lake of Växjö. There was a point in which the path actually went in between two lakes (or if it was through the same lake, I actually don't know). It was warm but not too warm, the sun was shining and the water was reflecting the light in a beautiful way. There and then I had my runner's high - that moment when the endorphines kick and the world is beautiful. 

I'm so lucky to be here running, it's so beautiful, my life is so beautiful, everything is perfect, oh how lucky I am.

Down there in the background is me. It was really nice to not run in a crowd like in most races.

Of course that was during the first lap, when I had 11km to go. In the second lap, with 1 km to go, I tried to go into that mood to forget how tired I was. The feeling was still there but it was a bit faked. It still kept my mind busy and I ran the whole thing without ever stopping. It was not the easiest half marathon I have ever ran and the fact that I hadn't training enough was clear, especially the day after. Still, I did it and I was super proud of myself, because I actually broke my record in an official race (my current record is during a training... I know, not common, but I was inspired that day). 

The boys also did quite well and we were all happy to be there. We had a wonderful supporter that did her best to be present and cheer us up when we most needed (with 2km to go I was dying...).

I wish I had pictures of the course but I don't. I do have some pictures of the city and I will be posting those soon in another post.

 Växjöloppet, May 2017, 1h50m46s

The Sara way #3

Or how 10 kilometres turn into 15...

More than a year after I moved to Prague I got lost while running in my own neighbourhood. It was raining cats and dogs and I couldn't see the way. That was my excuse that day.

Yesterday, also more than a year after I moved here I got lost when I was running. Me getting lost is almost becoming a tradition. 

Last weekend we cycled to a neighbourhood, full of small attached houses that look alike, around where I run sometimes. This time we took a right on the main street and went up to the forest. Yesterday I planned to go there to the entrance and back, so it would be quite exactly 10 km. When I was there I didn't feel like running up the hill so I decided to just continue in the main street, because it's flat. The same street where I have ran some other times. Then I remembered that last time, after seeing the map online, I saw that I didn't have to turn around, but I could turn left twice, go around and go back to the main street. Simple enough, I thought. And it was. I ended up exactly where I thought I would be. 

So what was the problem? The problem was that I didn't bloody recognised it! There are some open fields in the beginning of that neighbourhood and somehow coming from a different perspective made it so it looked completely different, at least in my head! When I came to the main road, that for me was just a road then, I had to turn left or right. Had I turn right, I would have seen familiar buildings after 50 m, but my brilliant instinct told me to turn left. Of course. I should have still recognised it because I have ran there before, but all the houses look the same and I didn't see it.

So I happily ran in the wrong direction not understanding where I was. I tried to go up a small road, because I thought I recognised the name, but it felt like a dead end so I returned and continued on the bigger street. It was only when I saw signs for the next city that I understood that something was really really wrong. 

I went back again, took that smaller road again and decided to go to the end and check if it really was a dead end. At a crossing I stopped and decided to ask someone. And then even before I had time to find someone to ask, it hit me! I was on the road up to the forest! I recognised it then! But... but... but... that meant that the road I have been running up and down is the one I was looking for!!! No... it's too stupid... Did I really do this?

Yes I did. 

After a few minutes I was back in the fields and I finally saw it. Suddenly, all the unfamiliar buildings became familiar and I couldn't help but laugh at myself. Relieved, I ran back making it home with 5 extra kilometres in the bag. 

Then I heard Johan's voice. He is abroad in a conference and one of the things he told me when he left was: Sara, try to not get lost when you run this time. Oh well...

The Newbie - Exercising outdoors in the winter

I remember moving here in January and thinking how these people were crazy to go out and run even if it was freezing. I also promised myself that one day it would become one of them. It turned out that it was not that difficult and with the right advice and clothes anyone can do it. Sure that if it's pouring rain I opte to exercise at home, but the cold doesn't scare me anymore.

I wrote a text about it for the Newbie Guide to Sweden. I included some tips I learned with my experience, although I feel I still have a lot more to learn. Always. 

If you are curious you can read the text here.

Lembro-me de me mudar para aqui em janeiro e pensar como essas pessoas são doidas porque saem para correr mesmo se estiver tudo congelando lá fora. Nessa altura também prometi a mim mesma que um dia me tornaria uma deles. Pouco tempo mais tarde descobri que afinal não é assim tão difícil e que ouvindo os ensinamentos dos que sabem e com as roupas adequadas qualquer pessoa o pode fazer. Claro que se estiver a chover a potes eu escolho fazer exercício em casa, mas o frio por si só já não me assusta.

Recentemente escrevi um texto sobre isso para o Newbie Guide to Sweden. Incluí algumas dicas que aprendi com a minha experiência, embora sinta que ainda há muito mais a aprender. Sempre.

Se quiserem ler o texto podem faze-lo aqui. 

Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Dublin - review

The Rock 'n' Roll series is a running event present in many different cities and countries, all over the world. The concept is fun and in each city there's a bunch of smaller events happening usually in two days. It's perfect for amateur runners who just want to have a good time and have a good excuse to travel abroad. It was my first time in a Rock 'n' Roll race and we, me and the usual gang, chose Dublin. I was coming from an knee injury, Johan sneezed the week before and got his back injured (this is the shorter and funnier version of the story) and D. did not feel in great shape either. Still, we all made it relatively well. Especially D. who was the first to cross the finish line, despite of having the French guy stalking him (story here).

 Phoenix park

Getting ready

Positive

Registration - Easy and relatively cheap. It included cool Rock 'n' Roll t-shirts.

Races - There was 5k, 10k, 21k and a Fun Run of 1 mile. Distances for everybody.

Pickup - It was well organised. It was inside Trinity College, one of the main sights in Dublin. A good start of the weekend.

Toilets - Best portable toilets I have ever seen! You could flush them! Believe me that makes a huuuuge difference! 

Start - Divided into groups according to estimated time. There was a small break in between start groups so it wouldn't be a too big mess on the road. It worked out nicely.

Course - The course was fun. It started in the docklands and ended in Phoenix park, the biggest park in Dublin, a bit outside of the city. For me, any race that starts and ends in different places is always better. The course went along the Liffey river and it crossed the most emblematic places of Dublin like Temple Bar, Christ Church, Guiness brewery, museum of modern art and its gorgeous gardens. It did have some hills but doable.

Water - There were only 4 water/powerade station. At first I thought it was very little, but Dublin is not that warm and it was enough. In the 2 last stations the drinks came in bottles so one could actually run with them if necessary.

Bag drop - We left our bags at the start and they were transported by the organisers to the finish line. Everything worked our perfectly. At least for us.

Remix Challenge - One could run 5k on Saturday and then run either 10k or 21k on Sunday and get a extra medal for completing both races. We did it. It was fun to have two race days in the same weekend.

Medals - The medals were really cool! The one of the Remix Challenge was the most fun as it was a miniature of an electric guitar!

Festival - There were a lot of tents with food, drinks and souvenirs and a live concert. We didn't take advantage of it too much because we were too tired and it was cold. Still it looked fun.

Shuttle buses - Connecting the start/finish to the corner of the park, where one could take a tram or regular bus. There were many shuttles and although they were full, there weren't any big queues to get in one.

Me after finishing the half marathon, wearing my club's shirt, CDC Pinheiro and holding the flag of my country.

Negative

Swag bags - Ugly. Uncomfortable to take. Ridiculous.

Start time - 8h30 in the morning, which means we were eating pasta at 6am. A little bit later would have been better.

Weather - It was crazy windy. So strong in some spots that it actually made miss a step here and there. Fortunately, it was not windy the whole race and it didn't rain.

Bottles - It is true that some runners enjoyed having bottles of water and powerade instead of the usual paper cups. Although, most runners took the bottles, drunk a few sips and threw them away. It was a huge waste! Maybe having both paper cups and bottles would be the solution?

Trams - Both the start and the finish were far from the centre, where most runners were staying. The trams were free but this was not informed in advance. We, and many other runners, learn this only after buying tickets.

Adverts - We got many emails advertising the different challenges, packages, other smaller events, photographs, and races. We got them over and over again, sometimes just repeting the whole thing again. Singing off wasn't an option because one didn't want to miss important information, provided in the same way.

Us three after finishing two races and therefore holding cool guitars!

All in all, I would totally do it again! 

If you are a runner and want to have fun you should try one of the events in the Rock 'n' Roll series! 

Running update

From February to May I trained a lot and well. So well that I got overconfident and I ran the race in Gothenburg too fast becoming exhausted and ill.

After that race I also fell and hurt my knees against a concrete block.

I felt terrible.

I went to Portugal and I decided to take a break, running only a few times, just to enjoy myself.

I kept having pain in one of my knees.

Last February, I had taken an online course about exercising. When I understood that the pain I had was not from the fall, I went back to the class about knee injuries.

I recognised mine as a common injury caused by running or cycling.

I had ran hundreds of kilometres and I had only cycled 10 minutes a day, not even every day, going to the supermarket, and occasionally for about 1h in the weekends.

The injury had to be from running, right? Wrong.

I stopped running for 2 weeks, but I kept cycling.

I got worse.

My injury was from cycling!

I understood later that I had my bicycle too short. It had actually been mentioned in the class that a wrong bicycle fit is the number 1 cause of knee injuries in cyclists.

Then, I had 4 weeks to go until the next race and I had a lot of knee pain.

It was time to stop, think and train smartly.

I stopped completely for a week.

I started running very short and slow runs in the second week. I noticed that it stopped hurting after 1 or 2 km, which was an indicator of mild injury, one of those who can be heeled at home (rest, ice, compress, elevate = RICE).

I ran a few more times in the third week, including a semi long 14 Km, to give me confidence.

In the fourth week we were already away. We walked a lot never ran. I did not feel the pain again.

I still had no idea if I would be able to run a half marathon in Dublin. 

On Saturday, the 5K race went slow and nice. No pain.

On Sunday, the 21K race went also slow and nice. I didn't walk once. No pain.

Comparing both half marathons, I did it slower in Gothenburg than in Dublin (by 1 minute), just because in the first I got so exhausted and I had to walk a lot. A good example of a Portuguese saying the faster you do it, the slower you end up doing it. I also enjoyed it much more in Dublin, although the Gothenburg race has a much better atmosphere. I'm guessing not being exhausted to death helps!

With the hard times come good lessons and I did learn from these experiences.

I also registered for Gothenburg's half marathon next year. It won't beat me. Not again.

De Fevereiro a Maio treinei muito e bem. Tão bem que fiquei demasiado confiante, correndo depois a meia maratona de Gotemburgo demasiado rápido, ficando exausta e doente no final. 

Depois dessa corrida também corri e magoei os joelhos contra um bloco de cimento. 

Senti-me péssima.

Fui a Portugal e decidi parar de correr. Corri só algumas vezes, só mesmo porque o adoro fazer.

Continuei a ter dor num dos joelhos. 

Em Fevereiro tirei um curso sobre exercício físico. Quando percebi que a dor no joelho não era da queda, revi a aula de lesões nos joelhos.

Reconheci a minha como sendo a mais comum entre corredores e ciclistas.

Tinha corrido centenas de quilometros, enquanto que só andava de bicicleta 10 minutos por dias, nem sequer todos os dias, a caminho do supermercado, e às vezes dava uma volta de 1h ao fim de semana.

A lesão tinha que ser de correr, certo? Errado.

Parei de correr durante 2 semanas, mas continuei a andar de bicicleta. 

Piorei.

A lesão era de andar de bicicleta!

Percebi depois que a minha bicicleta estava demasiado baixa. Essa foi de facto uma das coisas ensinadas na aula. Uma bicicleta mal ajustada é a maior causa de lesões entre ciclistas. 

Nessa altura faltavam 4 semanas até à minha próxima corrida e eu com dores no joelho.

Estava na altura de parar, pensar e treinar também com a cabeça.

Parei por completo durante uma semana. 

Na segunda semana comecei a correr devagar e por pouco tempo. Notei que a dor no joelho passava ao fim de 1 ou 2 Km, o que é indicação de lesão suave, que se pode curar em casa com descanso, gelo, compressão e elevação.

Corri mais algumas vezes na terceira semana, incluindo um treino semi longo de 14 Km, só para me dar alguma confiança. 

A quarta semana já foi passada em passeio. Andamos muito mas nada de corridas. Nunca mais senti dores.

Não fazia ideia se seria capaz de correr a meia maratona de Dublin ou não. 

No Sábado foi a corrida de 5 Km, que fiz devagar e sem dores.

No Domingo foi a corrida de 21 Km, que também fiz devagar e sem dores. Não precisei de andar nunca.

Comparando as duas meias maratonas, fiz a de Gotemburgo em mais tempo do que a de Dublin (1 minuto a mais), apenas porque fiquei tão exausta que tive que andar vários quilómetros. Acho que qui se aplica o ditado quanto mais depressa mais devagar! Também aproveitei a corrida em Dublin muito mais, ainda que em Gotemburgo o ambiente seja muito melhor. Suponho que não estar cansada de morte ajuda!

Com os tempos difíceis vêm as grandes lições e eu tirei várias destas experiências.

Também me registrei para a meia maratona de Gotemburgo do ano que vem. Desta vez não me vai bater. Outra vez não.

Toughest - Malmö

When we were in Malmö we had the chance to watch a competition called Toughest. It's basically a race on an obstacle course. A tough obstacle course. Looking at them I didn't feel fit at all. The only thing I would do well in this race would be to run in between obstacles... It looked fun though!

Quando estivemos em Malmö tivemos a oportunidade de ver uma competição chamada de Toughest ("a mais dura"). É basicamente uma corrida de obstáculos, mas com um percurso muito desafiante. Ao olhar para os participantes não me senti nada em forma. A única coisa que eu conseguiria fazer bem ali seria correr entre os obstáculos... Ainda assim pareceu-me bastante divertido!

Ok, slide down and splash, maybe this one I could do. 

Ok, escorregar e cair na água deveria dar para fazer.

This obstacle was one of the toughest, because of the angle and the distance between the boards.

Este obstáculo pareceu-me ser um dos mais difíceis, por causa do ângulo e da distância entre as placas.

Crawling seems easy, but is it after almost 10 Km and a tough arm-obstacle?

Gatinhar parece fácil, mas será que é depois de quase 10 Km e um obstáculo de braços?

Team spirit and fair play were just beautiful to watch!

Espírito de equipa e fair play foram o melhor de se ver!

This was my favourite! Who wouldn't like to go and get dirty in the mud???

Este foi o meu preferido! Não apetece mesmo ir para ali sujarmo-nos na lama???

I know, one does get tired just from looking at the pictures... and there were many many more obstacles.

Eu sei, quase que ficamos cansados só de olhar para as fotos... e havia muitos muitos mais obstáculos.

Göteborgs Varvet - Review

Göteborgs Varvet is the biggest half marathon in the world. In 2016, 64 000 people registered and over 49 000 finished the race. Although, don't get intimidated, because the race is very well organised and the race flows nicely. Göteborgs Varvet is also a great event for the city of Göteborg and more than 200 000 people get on the streets to watch and support the runners. In overall it is a great experience, weather you are there to run it or watch it. 

Positive

Expo - Large and organised. It has many shops with a little bit of everything for running. 

Toilets - I don't know how many toilets there were this time, but I was only in the queue for about 10 minutes before my start. The toilets were relatively clean, had toilet paper and alcohol gel to clean your hands.

Landscape - The start is in Slottsskogen park, a lovely green place with lots of space for the runners, friends and family. The course is beautiful crossing the river twice, running along it, going inside the city center through the main avenue and finishing off in Slottsskogsvallen, an athletics stadium. There's nothing more cool than to finish inside a stadium with the stands full of people cheering. 

Start groups - There were about 35 start groups, the first starting at 13h and the last at 16h. They are all organised by the estimated time of each runner. If one can prove the time by showing a certificate from a previous race (not older than a year) one gets seeded accordingly. If not, one can run a 10 Km seeding race (there are many in different cities in Sweden) and also get seeded accordingly. Both will be seeded first. Those who can't prove their time will get seeded by the estimated time typed when registering, and since that is less accurate, they get seeded to start groups after the runners who presented proof their times. Truth is... for a race with so many people it flows quite well. I have been to races much smaller and way more crowded.

Water - There were 10 water stations in 21 Km! Half of them had sports drinks as well. Each station was quite long and it was always easy to get a cup.

Showers - There were showers during the course and that felt sooooo good!

People - There are people everywhere!!! Cheering, supporting, offering beer or champagne, holding funny signs and having fun. People have fun, runners have fun!

Finish - After the finish there's plenty of water and energy drinks. Finishers also get a banana and a chocolate.

Bag deposit - I didn't use it but I know it existed. 

Negative

Course - The landscape is nice but it is a tough course... There are two or three bigger hills, one of them around 15 Km, which is tough. Those you know about it before. What you don't expect is that tiny little-but-long-like-hell-hill in the main avenue, around 17 Km, to kill you the way it does. I have walked the bloody thing dozens of times by now and it is not even a proper hill, but when your legs are dying it feels like mount Everest. This doesn't necessary have to be a negative, so be aware and turn it into a positive!

Price - It's an expensive race, there's no way around it. The start kit doesn't even include a t-shirt, but we are in Sweden, and things are expensive.

Stairs - Who the hell invented the super steep stairs for the runners to go up and down after the finish line??? One gets to the goal, gets a medal, drinks and snacks and then to go out of the runners area has to necessarily go through a set of stairs. It is so incredibly painful! If there's no other way could the stairs at least be less high and steep?

Göteborg Varvet 2016

Last Saturday, me and the two usual boys ran the biggest half marathon in the world, here in Göteborg. We waited for it for months and I have trained for it intensively. It was the first time I completed the training I wanted without any injuries or sickness in between. On top of that, two weeks ago I made a test run and did 22 Km in an awesome time beating my personal best by more than 4 minutes. I felt great and as ready as I would ever be. That turned out to be a mistake...

No Sábado passado eu e os rapazes do costume corremos a maior meia maratona do mundo, aqui em Gotemburgo. Esperamos meses por este dia e eu treinei intensivamente. Foi a primeira vez que fiz um programa de treino sem me lesionar e sem ficar doente a meio. Além disso, há duas semanas fiz uma corrida de teste e corri 22 Km num tempo fantástico (para mim), batendo o meu record pessoal por mais de 4 minutos. Senti-me confiante e preparada para esta corrida. Isso foi um erro...

The LyckaTill team

On one hand, I was over confident about my ability to set a new record in an official race. On the other hand I felt under pressure, by myself only, of course. Silly, I know. Truth is I made the number one mistake in this race: I ran too fast in the beginning. Afterwards, I hit the wall hard and I had to walk parts of the course. I barely remember the last 5 Km as if I was in another dimension then. I got to the goal exhausted. The race itself was not as fun as it could have been, but the atmosphere around it was still great. The boys did well regarding their condition (unfit and/or injured). The supporting team had a lot of fun with us, witnessing our nerves, stress and excitation all together before the race and our funny walks afterwards. My time was not even that bad, especially for someone who walked for more than 1 km during the course. 

Por um lado estava super confiante que ia conseguir um novo record numa corrida oficial. Por outro lado sentia pressão, vinda de mim mesma claro. Parvo, eu sei. A verdade é que isso me levou a cometer o erro numero um de corrida: começar demasiado rápido. Depois bati no muro, fiquei sem energia nenhuma e tive que andar. Quase não me lembro dos últimos 5 Km, como se os tivesse feito numa outra dimensão. Cortei a meta completamente exausta. A corrida em si não foi tão boa quanto poderia ter sido, mas o ambiente em volta foi fantástico. Os rapazes portaram-se bem mediante as condições (pouco preparados e/ou lesionados). A equipa de suporte fartou-se de rir com a mistura de stress, nervos e excitação que nós tínhamos antes da corrida e depois com os nossos andares engraçados. O meu tempo nem sequer foi assim tão mau, especialmente para quem andou mais de 1 Km.

In long distance races I always cross the goal wearing a flag of Portugal.

Em corridas longas cruzo sempre a meta com a minha bandeira de Portugal.

To make my day more fun, on the way to the car just after the race, I oversaw a concrete block on the side walk, hit my knees hard on it and flipped over. I only noticed when I was on the floor. It was not too bad and I laughed at myself a lot. In 24h my knees got swollen and blue and that was definitely less funny.

On Sunday evening, I started feeling sick. I spent Monday laying down and taking pain killers. Today, Tuesday, after sleeping a lot I'm almost well. I guess I did exhaust my body to the limit. Running does not have to be like this. Running is not about pain and exhaustion. I know that. I just have to learn how to control my euphoria a little bit better and manage my energy in a more even way. 

Lesson learned! 

Para tornar o meu dia mais engraçado dei um tombo a caminho do carro, logo depois da corrida. Não vi um bloco de cimento no passeio, bati lá com os joelhos à bruta e virei-me. Só dei conta quando já estava no chão. Não foi muito mau e ri-me tanto que nem me conseguia levantar. Em 24h tinha os joelhos inchados e azuis, o que foi definitivamente menos engraçado.

No Domingo à noite comecei a ficar adoentada. Passei a segunda feira deitada e a tomar comprimidos para as dores. Hoje, terça. depois de ter dormido muito já estou quase boa. Acho que puxei mesmo o meu corpo até ao limite da exaustão. Correr não é isto. Correr não é dor e exaustão. Eu sei isso. Só tenho que aprender a controlar melhor a minha excitação e a gerir melhor as minhas energias. 

Aprendi a lição!

Göteborg, May 2016, 1h56m20s

Now, I'll just go back to training because there's more to come!

Agora vou voltar aos treinos, porque há mais para corer.

PS. I'll make a review of the race in the next post. If you are not as crazy about running as I am, feel free to skip it. Other posts will follow shortly :)

More than running

One of the worst things you can tell a runner is "why do you go to all these races? You never win anyway!".

Running is more than going to races, therefore amateur runners run to beat themselves and not other runners. Otherwise it would be like inviting Gordon Ramsey over for dinner and expect to cook better than him. 

Running is so much more than the 2h I run during a race.

Running is the excitement of beginning a new training plan.

Running is slowly improving over the weeks and feel good about ourselves.

Running is the awesome feeling that comes after finishing a run that we almost skipped because the weather was bad.

Running is also about the days you just couldn't make it.

Running is eagerly wait for your favourite race since the day you register for it, months before it happens.

Running is the butterflies in you feel in your belly the week before the oh long awaited race day.

Running is also about picking up your start number and feel all the excitation in the air.

Running is about guessing or predicting your time, knowing that no matter what... it's ok.

Running is so much about the meal you eat after the race. And that extra piece of chocolate you know you deserve.

Running is about the rest allowed after a race, weather you did well or not. 

Until you start it all over again.

You see now? I do win every race!

Goteborg's Seeding race

Today, me and the usual gang ran a 10 Km race. This was a seeding race for the Goteborg's half marathon, which means that we will be placed in start groups according to the times we got today. Before the race, the boys were not feeling confident because their training hasn't been as good as they would want it to. They also mentioned that I was the one well trained, therefore I should give it all and get a good time. I did. I don't know if I gave it all but I gave a lot and I got to the goal really tired. In the end, we all made it in way better times than expected. Especially the boys, who were not that badly trained after all. OK, I also beat my 10k time in about 2 minutes, and that's pretty cool. I came 110th in a total of 656 women, which I think is really good, since there's a lot of good runners in Sweden. 

Hoje, eu e o gangue do costume, fizemos uma corrida de 10 Km. Os tempos conseguidos nesta corrida serão usados na Meia Maratona de Gotemburgo para sermos distribuídos no grupo certo à partida. Antes da corrida os rapazes não estavam super confiantes porque o treino deles não tinha sido tão bom quanto o que eles queriam. Disseram-me que eu era a única que tinha treinado decentemente e por isso eu deveria dar tudo nesta corrida para conseguir um bom tempo. Segui o conselho. Não sei se dei tudo, mas dei muito e cheguei à meta mesmo muito cansada. No final percebemos que tínhamos todos feito tempos muito melhores que os esperados. Especialmente os rapazes, que afinal não estavam assim tão mal treinados. OK, eu também bati o meu record de 10k em 2 minutos, o que é óptimo. Fiquei em 110º lugar entre 656 mulheres, o que eu acho muito bom, porque na Suécia há muitas corredoras boas.

 Us before the race.

Goteborg, 10 Km, 46m46s

I also got to wear my new training clothes provided by my club in Portugal, CDC Pinheiro. I have running leggings with Portugal written along the leg and a jacket to stay warm before and after the race, apart from the usual yellow top.

Na corrida de hoje também estreei o meu novo equipamento que o meu clube, o CDC Pinheiro, me deu: as leggings de correr com Portugal escrito pela perna abaixo e um casaco para me manter quente antes e depois da corrida. Além do top amarelo habitual, claro.

Crazy? Yes, but still human!

Those who follow this blog might think I'm a super crazy athletic girl who happily runs here and there and all the time. I'm guilty of making you think this way, since I can't remember ever blogging about a bad training or one that I've skipped. Yes, they do exist. Both. There are some days that I get beaten by the sofa. There are some days I go out running and I wish I would have been beaten by the sofa. And there are other days that I get beaten by the run itself. Like today.

Everybody prefers running in a forest than on a road, so why have I not done that yet here, when the nearest forest is only 700m away? Well, that's probably because to get there I need to run a 700m hill (ok, maybe only 650m). But lately I was feeling confident, almost like one of them, those crazy Swedish runners, training on snow and with bad weather. It was time to tackle the forest!

Since not all of you are fellow runners I'll spare you the technicalities. Let's just say I ran all the way up and when I got to the top I stopped for stretching, and by stretching I mean hugging a tree, panting and nearly spitting my lungs off. After about a minute I kept going and it got a little better until I came to the next hill. Ah, this must be the one Johan said was tough... It wasn't! When I got to THAT one I recognised it immediately (we had been walking there yesterday). It's quite steep and tough, especially the last part. When I was about half way up I started slowing down, almost to a fast walk, but then I saw two other runners coming the other direction, and as a proud runner one never walks in front of other fellow runners. So I ran the whole damn thing and got to the top panting... again. I didn't stop this time. 

One lap around the forest is only 2.5 Km, so I decided to go for a second lap. It was better since I knew more what to expect, but still very hard. Afterwards, I went down home and my legs felt like if I had ran a half-marathon instead. Did I run that much? No. Only 7 Km. Was I super fast? No. My pace was very slow compared to normal. 

Today, the forest beat me. I'll take that as a challenge!

My first run... on snow!

Last weekend we had some snow again. This time it was not a thick layer and I decided to go for a run. It was great! I ran 2 laps around a lake (~11 Km) surrounded by a beautiful landscape. There were a lot of people walking and some other runners and I enjoyed the experience. The lake had two distinct sides. The sunny side, warmer, more crowded and where the snow had melted a bit. The shade side, with paths and landscape around all white and even more beautiful! Running there made me feel really proud of myself. So proud that after that day I already went for two more runs after it had been snowing. It doesn't matter anymore. I'm one of them! (as long as there's no ice...)

Johan didn't run and went for a walk with his parents. They only went on the sunny side (which was a popular choice), so I don't have photos from the other side.

O Johan não correu e foi só caminhar com os pais. Eles só foram e voltaram pelo lado solarengo (uma opção bastante popular) e por isso não tenho fotos do lado mais bonito.

No fim de semana passado nevou outra vez. Desta vez não ficou uma camada grossa no chão e eu decidi ir correr. Foi óptimo! Dei 2 voltas a um lago (~11 Km) rodeada por uma beleza infinita. Havia muita gente a caminhar e outros corredores e gostei mesmo de ter corrido lá. O lago tinha dois lados diferentes. O lado solarengo, mais quente com alguma da neve já derretida e com mais gente, e o lado da sombra, com os caminhos e a paisagem completamente branca e ainda mais bonita. Correr nesse dia fez.me sentir orgulhosa de mim mesma, tanto que depois disso já corri mais duas vezes com neve. Já não me faz diferença agora. Já sou um deles! (desde que não haja gelo...)

I do live here!

Today I went to my first run since I moved to Sweden. It has been freaking cold but today it was around 0 ºC and I couldn't wait any longer to go running (I stopped for 3 weeks!). The pedestrian paths were clean and I could run normally. It was really cool to run past all the giant piles of snow on the sides and I had a lot of fun. Once I warmed up it was not that cold and I think I will get used to running in the winter here. I'm planning to be one of those crazy people that I have seen running outside ON fresh snow. Next winter!

Now that I ran it's official... I do live here!

Hoje fui correr pela primeira vez desde que me mudei para a Suécia. Tem estado um frio de rachar mas hoje a temperatura subiu para os 0 ºC e eu não aguentei mais e fui (parei durante 3 semanas!). As vias para pedestres estavam limpas e pude correr normalmente. Adorei correr com grandes pilhas de neve dos lados e diverti-me imenso. Depois de aquecer não senti mais frio e algo me diz que me vou habituar a correr no Inverno daqui. Estou a planear ser uma daquelas pessoas malucas que saem para correr por cima de neve fresca, como vi aqui há uns dias. No próximo Inverno!

Agora que já cá corri é oficial... eu moro mesmo aqui!

The Sunday run - again

Last Sunday, as usual, I was thinking of going for my normal Sunday run. The day was gray, boring and humid (the pictures in the last post were taken 2 weeks ago). As I got out I realised it was actually raining. I ran the first few kilometers not knowing if I would go down to the river or not, as I would get quite cold in the metro if I would get too wet. When I was at the top of the nice downhill road I decided to risk it and go all the way down to the river. To convince myself I thought "with this weather only true runners will be out running and you will be one of them!". As soon as I said this to myself, I saw another runner. On top of the road, where I have never ever seen another person running! After a few meters I can tell he is running at more or less my speed. He sees that as well and starts talking to me. He is Czech but speaks English. He asked me about my running plan and said if I wouldn't mind he could join me all the way, because he likes to run with company. We talked about many different things. He once belonged to the Czech junior team of athletics. We talked about running. Swimming. Birds. The path along the river. Other places to run. Jobs. Christmas runs. Adventures. It was all so entertaining that when I noticed we were already approaching the metro station. It was the fastest Sunday run ever. Both literally and mentally. 

Thinking I almost didn't go because it was such bad weather and then I meet this cool crazy runner. It's the second time in the same week that I felt rewarded for taking risks. I'm really glad I did it! And you know what? We didn't meet any other runner on the way. We were the only true runners of Prague... (yeah, keeping dreaming).

Prague bucket list #11 - my Sunday run

One of the items in my bucket list was to turn my usual Sunday run into a walk and photograph it, so I would have pictures to remember it later. I have no idea how many times I have ran this same course, but I did it many many weekends, because it's gorgeous and pleasant to run. Now, let me take you on my Sunday run. No, don't worry, you don't have to get up from your nice comfortable sofa. You just have to follow me virtually...

Um dos pontos da minha lista era tornar a minha corrida de Domingo numa caminhada, de modo a poder fotografa-la para ter algo que me recordasse deste caminho mais tarde. Não faço ideia de quantas vezes corri este percurso, mas foram com certeza muitos e muitos fins de semana, porque é uma percurso lindíssimo e agradável de correr. Por isso, agora deixem-me levar-vos pelo meu percurso de Domingos fora. Não, não se preocupem, não têm que se levantar desse sofá tão confortável. Basta seguirem-me virtualmente...

The run always starts at home and for the first few kilometers it just goes among buildings until we get to the neighbourhood of Bohnice. There we go past a few last houses and we head down to the river. 

Começamos sempre em casa e nos primeiros quilometros passamos por entre edificios sem graça até chegarmos ao bairro de Bohnice. Aí passamos pelas ultimas casas e começamos a descida para o rio.

This is my favourite part. The road is slightly inclined, just enough to make me feel like I'm flying, but not so much that my knees hurt. Besides that, running in the middle of the forest, listening to birds singing it's an amazing feeling, and on this road there are almost no cars (or people...).

Este é o meu pedaço preferido. A estrada é ligeiramente inclinada, o suficiente para eu sentir que estou a voar em vez de correr, e não tanto que me faça esforçar os joelhos demasiado. Além disso, correr no meio da floresta a ouvir os pássaros é fantástico e nesta estrada quase não passam carros (ou pessoas...).

 The trail run I did last month went across this road and the arrows were still there.

A corrida trail que fiz no mês passado atravessou esta estrada e as setas de marcação ainda estavam visíveis. 

The road keeps going, among the colourful trees.

A estrada continua por entre tantas árvores coloridas.

After less than 2 Km we get to the river...

Depois de menos de 2 Km chegamos ao rio...

And this is the view you get down to the river. This path along the river goes on and on. It actually goes around Czech Republic, some parts connecting to Austria, Germany and Slovakia. 

E esta é a vista perto do rio. O caminho que se vê na foto não tem fim. Dá a volta pela República Checa e em algumas partes liga-se à Austria, Alemanha e Eslovaquia. 

There's always a lot of people running, cycling and skating here (of course chose the empty moments to take the photos). By the way, the lookout point shown in this post here is just above the top of the yellow trees. 

Há sempre imensa gente a correr, andar de bicicleta ou a andar de patins aqui (claro que escolhemos os momentos sem gente para tirar as fotos). Já agora, o lugar que descrevi neste post aqui, fica por cima do topo das árvores amarelas.

 Who wouldn't want to walk/run/cycle here???

Quem não ia querer andar/correr/andar de bicicleta aqui???

Then, we pass by the zoo where sometimes we can hear the lions, and we come to a pedestrian bridge. Across the bridge is Stromovka park, one of the biggest in Prague. When we want to make a longer run we go across the the bridge and go a lap or to (or more) in the park.  

Depois passamos pelos zoo, onde às vezes se podem ouvir os leões, e chegamos à ponte pedestre. Do outro lado da ponte está o parque Stromovka, um dos maiores de Praga. Quando queremos correr mais quilómetros atravessamos a ponte e damos umas voltas no parque. 

If we continue our path, under the pedestrian bridge...
Continuando por baixo da ponte pedestre...

... we come to the rapids, or Prague's Canoeing center. There's always someone practicing there, during all seasons. 

... chegamos aos rápidos ou ao Centro de Canoagem de Praga. Há sempre alguém a treinar, seja lá qual for a estação do ano.

From the rapids to the new bridge is very short and we get almost to the end of the course.
Dos rápidos à ponte nova é um saltinho e estamos quase no fim do percurso.

We then cross the bridge, enjoy the view over the river one more time and sprint to the metro stop. And that's it! 12.6 Km done!

A seguir atravessamos a ponte, apreciamos a vista só mais uma vez e fazemos um sprint até à estação de metro. E é isso! 12.6 Km feitos!

How did you enjoy your run with me? Did I convince you that my Sunday run is awesome?
E vocês? Gostaram de vir correr comigo? Convenci-vos de que a minha corrida de Domingo é o máximo?

Meia Maratona do Porto - review

Versão em Português depois da foto.

I spent last week in Portugal, on vacation. This time the excuse was to run the Half Marathon in Porto. I did it with my two favourite runners: J. and his brother D., who was in Portugal for the first time. We planned this trip for months and I always saw this race as THE race of the year. It was at sea level, the course was flat, it was at the end of the Summer, not cold and not too hot and the training during the months before could be done without snow storms or ice on the paths. It wasn't exactly that way... For about 6 weeks in July and August, Prague was hit by a heat wave which kept the temperatures always above 30 ºC (even during the night!). In opposite to Portugal, the houses here are made to be warm and it was quite difficult to sleep during this time. There was no good time to train (I know I lived in Brasil and I did train with high temperatures but I'm not used to it anymore) and the few times I went running I was slow and it was tough.

In the days before the race I was a bit disappointed for not having prepared the race as I wanted, but it was still exciting because I was about to run my first half marathon in Portugal, in the beautiful city of Porto. At the end of the race my feelings changed completely and I was glad I had not trained properly for the race! Most of the course was ran on narrow streets that could not take the flow of runners, especially when there were people running in both directions. The starting groups were also badly organised and even if I would have trained more, it would have been difficult to beat my time as it was nearly impossible to go through the crowd during the race. The race was in general badly organised in a lot of things, which explains why this race is not among the list of fastest half marathons in Europe. The problems actually started before the start but to make it easier I made a list of positives and negatives about this race. Hopefully it will be useful for future participants. 

Positive:

Landscape - it's breathtaking and makes you forget how tired you are.

Water - it was handed in small bottles which was great! You can easily drink it without stopping and it's easy to run with if you want to save some for the next kilometres. 

Price - probably the cheapest half marathon I have done. There's almost no free stuff in the kit but who cares? It is cheap from the beginning and that's cool!

Francesinha after the race -  there's no better feeling than to stuff yourself with a francesinha after running 21 Km. (not provided by the organisation, don't get me wrong. You can do it just because you are in Porto).

Negative:

English version of the website - with so many good portuguese English speakers the website was translated in google translator... if it wasn't it is even worse.

Start point not easy to reach - the nearest metro stop is almost a kilometre away. To park around the start is complicated. The organisation offered 5 buses from the city centre, 5 buses to 15.000 people.  Sure a lot of the participants are portuguese and probably have a car but still not enough. 

Bag deposit (which was called wardobre!) only at the finish line - Worse than having to go to the finish line before you go to the start (6 Km apart) is to not know that you have to do it! In the website, that information was not clear in Portuguese and in English it simply said that there would be a place for leaving your bag, but nothing about where. I saw several athletes that looked very confused and were very much ignored by the staff at the start, which sent them away with a "that was not my responsibility". 

20 toilets for 15.000 people - the result was a giant queue just before the start.

No changing rooms - not needed when you have 20 plastic toilets, right?

No space to warm up - The only available free space to warm up before the start was behind a few thousand people lined up at the end, ready to participate in the 6 Km walk that was also part of the race. 

Starting groups badly divided - there was only 3 starting groups and the selection was based on the finish time each participant guessed when signing up (for me about 6 months before). I saw people trying to go into slower groups, because they hadn't trained as much as planned or because they were recovering from injuries, but they were not allowed by the staff. This broke the flow of the race and made it very frustrating to run because it's mentally very challenging to run 21 Km in the wrong group, both for faster and slower runners.

Narrow course and badly divided - this was bad especially for professional athletes, at the front of the race. On the Gaia side of the course the road was not even divided in 2 lanes and I saw athletes struggling and running basically against the wall. Not nice, since they are the real heros competing for top places and prizes. 
Isotonic drinks - When I got to the first refreshment point with isotonic (at 10 Km), there were so many people surrounding the table that I couldn't even see it.

Lack of marmalade - I saw them bragging on facebook about the brilliant idea (and it was!) of providing marmalade cubes at kilometre 15, and then when I got there, there was nothing (I did the race in the first half of people, not at the end). It's not a very important thing, but if you brag about it...

I have not been to that many races, but I have organised scientific events and I know that for any big event you need experience and expertise on the subject. This race was clearly not organised with the help of any experienced runners. 

The million dollar question now is: after my experience do I want or not to run the Half Marathon of Porto again? No, I don't. 

Meia Maratona do Porto, 1h55m12s

Passei a semana passada em Portugal, de férias. A desculpa desta vez foi a Meia Maratona do Porto, que fiz com os meus 2 corredores favoritos, o J. e o seu irmao D.. A viagem serviu também para mostrar o Porto ao D. que foi a Portugal pela primeira vez. Planeámos esta viagem durante meses e eu via esta corrida como A corrida. Tinha tudo para ser a corrida do ano, porque era ao nível do mar, sem subidas, no final do Verão, portanto sem frio nem muito calor e os treinos dos meses antes poderiam ser feitos sem tempestades de neve e gelo na estrada. Não foi bem assim... Durante cerca de 6 semanas em Julho e Agosto, Praga foi invadida por um onda de calor na qual as temperaturas quase nunca baixaram dos 30 ºC (nem mesmo durante a noite). Ao contrário de Portugal, as casas em Praga estão preparadas para serem quentinhas e era muito difícil dormir com o calor. Não havia nenhuma hora boa para treinar (sim, eu sei que morei no Brasil e que treinava com calor mas ja não estou habituada) e os poucos treinos que fiz foram lentos e com muito esforço.

Nos dias que anteciparam a corrida estava um pouco triste por nao me ter conseguido preparar como queria, mas ainda assim muito excitada por estar a fazer uma meia maratona no meu país e com o rio Douro, o Porto, Gaia e a foz como pano de fundo. No final da corrida tudo mudou e fiquei muito feliz por nao ter treinado! Grande parte do percurso é feito em ruas demasiado estreitas, principalmente quando há corredores nos 2 sentidos e a organização dos grupos de partida é péssima o que torna praticamente impossivel ultrapassar alguém. Mesmo que tivesse treinado não teria feito um tempo muito melhor que o que fiz, porque era simplesmente impossivel passar pela multidão.

A organização da corrida deixou muito a desejar em muitas outras coisas, o que justifica o facto de uma corrida com um percurso plano e à beira mar não está na lista das mais rápidas. Os problemas começam antes do sinal de partida, mas para tornar as coisas mais fáceis vou fazer uma lista de coisas boas e más, que pode ser útil a futuros participantes.

Positivos:

Paisagem - é linda e faz-nos esquecer o esforço todo que estamos a fazer.

Água - foi fornecida em pequenas garrafas, o que e óptimo! Pode beber-se sem parar de correr e é facil de segurar na mão se se quiser guardar para uns quilómetros mais à frente.

Preço - uma das corridas mais baratas em que já participei. Não há cá tretas com grandes brindes ou ofertas. É barata e pronto!

Francesinha pós corrida - Há lá melhor coisa que comer uma francesinha enorme depois de 21 Km?

Negativos:

Website em inglês - com tanta gente a falar bom inglês em Portugal o site da corrida foi traduzido no google tradutor... se não foi é pior ainda.

Partida com maus acessos - o metro mais próximo fica a quase 1 Km. Estacionar por ali é complicado. A organização ofereceu 5 autocarros que saíam do centro, para 15.000 pessoas. Tendo em conta que muitos participantes eram portugueses, acredito que tivessem carro, mas ainda assim foi pouco.

Guarda-roupa só na chegada - Pior que ter o guarda roupa só na chegada foi não ter essa informação clara no site da corrida. Em português estava confuso e em inglês dizia apenas que existia guarda volumes e mais nada. São precisamente os estrangeiros que mais precisam do guarda roupa e vi vários atletas surpreendidos com a situação. Também vi a organização a ignora-los ou a justificar-se com "isso não é da minha responsabilidade".

20 casas de banho para 15.000 pessoas - o que resultou em filas gigantescas antes da partida.

Sem locais para trocar de roupa - mas com 20 casas de banho de plástico quem precisa?

Sem espaço para aquecer - Espaço livre para aquecer só passando os milhares de pessoas aglomeradas no final que iam fazer a caminhada. 

Divisão de grupos - só havia 3 e a divisão era baseada na escolha de cada participante. Pessoas que tentaram entrar num grupo mais lento (porque não treinaram tanto como queriam ou estavam meio lesionados) não foram autorizados. Isto fez com que a corrida não fluísse e é muito frustrante fazer 21 Km no grupo errado.

Percurso estreito e mal dividido - mau principalmente para os atletas profissionais, que na zona de Gaia foram obrigados a correr basicamente contra a parede. Nada simpático, uma vez que eles sim estão a disputar prémios e lugares no topo. 

Bebida isotónica - quando cheguei ao primeiro posto com isotónico o aglomerado de pessoas em volta era tão grande que nem sequer se via a mesa onde estavam os copos. 

Falta de marmelada - depois de apregoarem no facebook a grande ideia que foi (e foi!) de darem cubinhos de marmelada ao quilómetro 15, quando lá cheguei não havia (eu fiz a corrida na primeira metade, não no final).

Eu ainda não corri assim tantas corridas, mas já corri em vários países. Também já organizei eventos cientificos e sei o quão importante é a experiência e o conhecimento na área do evento. Para mim é bastante óbvio que esta corrida não foi organizada com a ajuda de corredores experientes. 

A grande questão é: no final de tudo, fiquei ou não com vontade de correr a Meia Maratona do Porto de novo? Não, não fiquei.