My half marathon races so far:

Date	Half Marathon	Time
May 2008	Helsinki City Run	1:28:15
June 2008	Paavo Nurmi Run	1:23:30
July 2008	Jakob Maraton	1:24:00
August 2008	Stockholm	1:20:59
June 2009	Forssan Suvi-Ilta	1:22:17
July 2009	Paavo Nurmi Run	1:19:52
August 2009	Reykjavik	1:16:45
March 2010	CPC Haag	1:14:47
August 2010	Budapest	1:13:17
March 2011	Stramilano Milan	1:13:45
August 2011	Copenhagen	1:13:21
March 2012	Lisbon	1:12:45
April 2012	Kuopio	1:12:15
February 2014	Granollers	1:12:02

Year 2008
In 2008 the idea was to run as many half marathons as possible as preparation for the main goal of the year, i.e. the Berlin marathon. The first half marathon was the Helsinki City Run. Despite going out at a quite easy pace, the last three kilometers were quite horrible, and I lacked the endurance for a strong finish. On a positive note, I felt it would be possible to run a lot faster with a bit more practice and experience. During the next couple of months I managed to shave four minutes in the Paavo Nurmi and Jakob Marathon races. The fourth run, Stockholm Half Marathon, was a fantastic experience. The weather was pretty bad, i.e. raining and windy. Nevertheless, following an even paced run and a strong finish, the new PB was now 1:21, i.e. seven minutes better than four months ago.

The great thing about being out of shape when starting running is the sequence of positive surprises that inevitably will follow.

Year 2009
2009 included three half marathon races as preparation for the Berlin marathon. The first one was disappointing with a time exceeding 1:22. For some unforgiving reason, it just was not my day. In July, at the Paavo Nurmi race, I managed to improve the record with one minute. Ladies and gentlemen - back on track again! I trained quite a bit during the following summer months, and in Reykjavik in August it was party time. It was quite a windy day, and I did not get much sleep the night before, because someone was partying next doors at the hotel. However, the run felt great, and I found shelter from the wind behind the broad back of a Viking. I was a bit afraid that the savage was going too fast. On the other hand leaving behind was not an option because of the wind. The last 8-10 km I had the wind in my back, and managed a strong finish. 1:16:45 was much faster than what I thought was possible. Awesome!

There nothing like the mid-race feeling that this is going to be a good day, the only question being how good.

Year 2010
2010 turned out to be the best half marathon year so far. In the CPC Haag race in March the conditions for a record were pretty good: the temperature was perfect (about 13 degrees), the track was flat, but it was quite windy. Again, I found good shelter behind a big runner for the first half of the race, and enjoyed wind in the back for the second part. Very positive feelings throughout the race, a good finish, and a new personal best of just under 1:15. In August 2010 it was time for the best half marathon so far. The track in Budapest was flat and scenic along river Danube, but it was a very windy day. The first half of the race was a bit faster than planned but then the track turned into the wind. Between 15 and 17 km the pace was way too slow, and I had my Don Quixote moments, with a lot of energy being wasted in fighting invisible enemy. Fortunately, the situation improved, and the last three kilometers were enjoyable again. The time 1:13:17 was much better than expected.

Positive feelings and strength of mind are the low hanging fruit for a new record.

Year 2011
2011 was (very) disappointing since I did not manage to improve my half marathon record, despite significant training increase, and very promising training sessions. My aim was to run about 1:12, and I did not end up anywhere in the neighborhood of it. The first attempt was Stramilano Milan in March. There were high hopes since the training in January and February was solid, and many times work outs were simply at another level when benchmarked with previous years. However, Stramilano was a disaster. After a decent first 10 km (actually my 10 km personal record), my legs turned to poles, and I smashed into an invincible wall at kilometers 13 and 14. After a painful finish, and some very slow kilometers my time was 1:13:45. My toes were so bad I had to wear flip-flops at the night clubs.

What went wrong: I do not know (although I can come up with many bad explanations).
The second attempt was Copenhagen half marathon in August, where I missed the 2010 record with a couple of seconds. It was a decent attempt after very good (although quite marathon specific) summer training. For some reason, the mental strength required to push a new record just was not there. Fortunately, I did improve the marathon record one month later which left a good taste in the mouth from year 2011.

The mystery of running is that sometimes it is just bloody impossible to beat that record no matter how much you try.

Year 2012
2012 was a good year and I managed to improve my half marathon record twice, both in Lisbon (1:12:45) and at the Finnish Championships in Kuopio (1:12:15). The Lisbon half marathon was a very good run, and I did run on my limits without crashing. The benefit of going out at a fast pace (5km split 16:37, 10K split 33:57) is that one day you might make it to the end, and Lisbon simply was not that day for me. More even pacing and 5-7 degrees colder temperature would probably have resulted in a better time, but I still think this was the best way to shoot for a great time. The start was very memorable since in front of me I had the empty bridge, and behind me the famous Cristo Rei statue, and 30.000 eager fellow runners. The Finnish half marathon championship took place on Saturday in Kuopio. The weather was good with a temperature of 4 degrees and very little wind. The track was 1.89km long, and quite flat with one sharp bend and two minor hills. My plan for the race was to run at fairly even pace, to improve the position as the race progressed and, finally, to break the previous PB of 1:12:45 from four weeks earlier. This was one of my best runs so far, with strong running and hardly any mid-race downs. Up until 10km the pace was spot on 1:12 pacing but during the second half I did not quite have the stamina to run kilometers 15-20 at the same pace. The time 1:12:15 (14th position) is a new personal best, and I am a happy camper. In retrospect the race plan worked well, and it was rewarding to chase runners instead of being plucked. I did manage to improve the PB with one minute from last year, which for me means reaching a new level, and hopefully bodes well for upcoming marathon adventures. The event specific training leading up to a 60 second improvement in race time in 2012 amounted to about 2,350 kilometers of running and 210 hours of overall training. This means some 40 kilometers of running and 3.5 hours of training for each second the PB improved. Not sure if this is good or bad news ;)

Year 2013
In 2013 there was only half marathon attempt which I did not manage to finish. The half marathon took place in Santa Pola (Spain) on 20 January 2013. Unfortunately there was not much time to prepare since it took quite a while to recover from the Berlin marathon in September 2012. All in all there was a bit of an urgency to get sufficient speed and endurance into the legs. One week before the race we ran a very good 3x4km training session and things looked promising. Eventually the race turned out to be a disappointment with no stamina left after 15K. During the rests of spring 2013 there were no half marathons and overall very little running because our lovely little Vera daughter entered the world in mid-February!