On 12 May 2013, I participated in a half marathon at beautiful Trakai in Lithuania. There were four laps, 5 km each, around the small town and along the shoreline of the lakes. It was very well organised and it was not too competitive, more of a relaxing day for those who want to run 21 km and test the limits of their body.

My last half marathon had been two years ago, so I had to start to practise around a month before. Luckily, I live right next to Vingis Park which is great for running, and I had planned to lose some weight anyway.

I started at the very end of the field (on the far right in the red shirt):

But then I sensed the enormous amount of energy that I had within me, and in just a few seconds I catapulted myself at the tip of the field of runners:

From there on I continued like a bolt of lightning, stunning both the people of Trakai and my fellow runners. My smooth pace was only interrupted when between the 3rd and the 4th lap (that is after 15 km) I had to find a toilet, where I lost about 5 minutes. Deducting these 5 minutes from my official result of 2 hours, 4 minutes and 23 seconds, I still remained under my standard goal of 2 hours.

It felt good and I am looking forward to the next half marathon. If you know of any in the area, let me know.