Hallwilerseelauf 2026, my first half marathon: 1:44 h despite chaotic preparation

At some point the adrenaline kicked in so hard that I stopped noticing any fatigue, which led to me throwing in a "sprint" over the last 500 m. Serious face and legs in hand.

Then it was finally done: 1 h 44 min and I was across the finish line. What an awesome feeling, especially after all that "preparation".

But why a half marathon?

I hadn't taken part in a sports competition for several years, especially not outside of martial arts. Since becoming a dad - which is a while ago now - I've tried to squeeze in as much sport as possible wherever it fits.
That meant I started cycling to work, which at some point got too boring. The next logical step was running home: 5 km uphill with a backpack... yay, sounds like a good challenge.

Well, after a year and quite a lot of runs with a backpack, one evening I had too much "energy" and wanted to go for a short run to clear my head. That run ended with me running over the Lägern in Wettingen and finally getting home 20 km and a few hours later. Without any physical consequences at all.

Since I've been flirting with the idea of a marathon for a while anyway, that evening encouraged me to go for an official race and see where I stand if I prepare for it...

The preparation

Yeees, the preparation... in my head it looked like this: keep doing 2-3 runs a week from work to home, so between 5 and 8 km depending on the route. One long run of 13 km per week and some intervals here and there.

Actual preparation? Nada, niente, none, non-existent. I was sick twice the month before and had to take more breaks than usual, so I skipped cycling and running. Probably wasn't that smart to also train for a Hyrox... well, different story.

So I took it very easy for a month, slept a lot, and then on the Monday before the race I did the backpack run home from work plus an easy Hyrox session and thought: F***. I had sore muscles for 3 days.

Besides the actual training, you should also find out what to wear, what to eat and so on. Luckily I did that on the Friday evening before the race and learned there would even be gels on the course, but you should only take them if you have experience with them, soooo nope.

Race day

Saturday, 10 October 2026, at 13:29 was the time. Start for my block.

In the morning I was super nervous, even though I didn't really have a goal - more on that later. I tried once more to figure out what to wear at 12° and rain... TANK TOP!!!! AT 12°!!!! So I packed a backup as a warmer alternative, or at least I thought I did... left it at home :)

Once the clothing was "sorted", I had espresso and oats at 08:00. Then nervous pacing around the house. At 10:00 another portion of pasta for the carbs.

I also wanted to pack a bottle of water with electrolytes and maltodextrin, but I forgot that too... you can see a recurring pattern here.

The whole time I kept reading up on pacing strategies, had AI generate some random plans and loaded them onto my watch...

At least I made it to the start on time and could finally get going at 13:29.

My expectations / goals

Officially the goal was simply to reach the finish, more or less in one piece. But somehow a time under 2 h was always at the back of my mind. In sports I've often taken the fun out of things by setting myself goals and putting myself under pressure, which I definitely didn't want this time, but I still thought "that would be pretty awesome".

The race

In light drizzle, the starting gun for my block went off right on time at 13:29. So off I trotted, relaxed - and in a TANK TOP.
I had read: start slow, pick it up in the middle and give it everything at the end.

After 3 minutes the slow start was too slow for me and I decided to run by feel. Let's just see where this goes, was my motto. For the first few kilometres I stayed between 4:30 and 5:30 and just didn't get tired. When the first gentle climbs came and we were running on "natural ground", I decided to pick up the pace, and suddenly my "runner's high" kicked in. On the narrow paths it was pretty awkward to overtake other runners, but it was actually fun because I turned it into a "game". It also spurred me on to overtake the people in front of me. From kilometre 13 or 14 I thought: wow, I'm still not exhausted! After a few gummy bears from my kids - thank you <3 - I picked up the pace again and kept it up more or less to the end. Over the last 3 kilometres I blew a fuse and was so excited about the finish that I gave it everything once more.

And that brings us back to the sprint. The last stretch is fenced off and lined with people who call your name and cheer you on - thank you all, that was super motivating! I crossed the finish line with one last big boost of energy.

1 h 44 min was my time... WTF! Based on my runs, Strava had predicted 2 h 15 min; suck it, Strava! :P

The aftermath

That evening, though, the knee and foot pain arrived right away. I think the knee pain came from all the sprints and jumps I made to overtake other runners in the narrow sections. Each time that was a short, high load on a knee that was under constant load anyway.

The foot pain comes from the shoes, which are simply too narrow for me.
I usually run in Vivobarefoot trail shoes, so zero cushioning, zero drop and a wide toe box. For the Hallwilerseelauf, though, I got myself Altra Escalantes. They have little cushioning, zero drop and a "wide" toe box, but over the distance they weren't ideal for my feet.

So, 2 days of foot and knee pain - could be worse. Sore muscles haven't shown up so far.

Learnings

Running with a backpack is a cheat code, no joke.

Next time, read up early enough so I'm maybe less nervous. Test shoes on a long run and, above all, break them in.
Stop forgetting half my stuff at home, and maybe try one of those gels :)

But the most important thing was realising that this race was fun and that I'm incredibly proud of what I achieved.