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The birth of my first child taught me a very important lesson: no matter how hard you try to prepare yourself for a big event, something can always happen that you are not prepared for (in other words: shit happens). I went to Stockholm bearing this in mind, knowing that I had done all I could and ready to face the unforeseen. Which indeed came.
When we left home, the weathermen were predicting 14℃ and showers in Stockholm on race day, so I didn't pack my winter gear. Already when we arrived there on Thursday we found out it was much colder than expected, and it got worse on Friday with 4℃, rain and wind. Foregone the sightseeing, I rushed to buy a long sleeves shirt at the expo, just like many many others following the advice of the race organization, which had issued a warning about the harsh weather conditions. I had the doubt of whether to wear shorts (well tested for long runs but obviously cold) or capri's (better suited for the weather but with a rough waist band not good on long runs) for the whole day, and then I had a brilliant idea: wear both! The shorts would keep me safe from rubbing and chafing under the waist band, and the capri's would keep me a bit warm.
When Saturday actually came it was only 3℃, very windy, with a persistant rain and with no hopes of it getting any better in the course of the afternoon. Out of 21266 runners who had signed up for the race, more than 5000 didn't even start, and I can't blame them.


Surprisingly, I didn't need to use the potty's before, during or right after the race, also thanks to the fact that the hotel was only about 500m from the start so we could leave our room with no worries just 40 minutes before the gun.
I wore a poncho which I made the big mistake of throwing away after 5km or so. The sleeves of my shirt got soaked in no time and it didn't take long before my hands were pretty much frozen so at 10K I had to use my teeth to open the second gel (and the same for all of the gels after that). My shoes had turned into swimming pools, because even if I tried to be careful and avoid the little ponds of water everywhere, it was inevitable to end in one now and then, and then there was also the splashing from people running next to me. There were quite a few careless runners especially in the beginning, zig-zagging like mad (one of them almost threw me off in the first or second kilometer), changing direction without any warning, throwing away their cups without looking... I guess this is what happens in such big events.
For the first few kilometers I forced myself to slow down even with everybody passing me, as the Garmin was telling me that my pace was around 6:30min/km while my goal was 7:06min/km, but at the 10K mark I understood that the poor device was completely off, thinking I had already run 11km. I sped up then, leaving the 5:15 pacer behind me (I had been wondering which of us was wrong, should've guessed earlier that it was me).
Not long before the end of the first lap (16km) I realized I couldn't go on like that and with a huge effort I took my phone from the belt, called my husband and asked him to meet me with another poncho. Overcoming the Nokia keylock was a serious challenge, luckily he's on speed dial or I surely would not have been able to dial his number nor go through the phonebook.
Things got better then, but of course I had to pay the price of running with a wildly flapping poncho. I will remember the sound of the flapping poncho's like I remember the sound of the slot-machines in Vegas: constant background noise.
The worst came at the half-marathon point: in a completely open field the wind reached 65km/h. Even the top runners report that one of them started laughing hysterically, so hard it was to run against that "wall of wind".
Around km 31 I took the one and only photo of the whole course:

Södermälarstrand

As I said, it was too difficult to operate my phone and I was also too focused on battling the elements to enjoy the view and therefore take pictures, but this was a good way to document the brutal weather so I decided to do it. 

Strange but true, at that point I was really looking forward to crossing the infamous bridge the second time, because it was the last difficulty posed by the course alone and I knew that from a psychological point of view things would get much easier after that. And so it was, running the dreaded mile 20 (which included the bridge) was actually a relief and I felt like I was flying for the last part. Each of the last 5km was faster than the previous, and finally seeing the towers of the stadium with about 1km still to go was the last energy boost which pushed me all the way through the finish line.


I kept shaking for a long long time, even after I had taken a warm shower. I wonder what my body temperature was, I think it was one of the top runners who said that his had dropped to 32℃.


Here's me in my finisher t-shirt having a well deserved dinner, not the most flattering picture but you'll understand I was a tiny bit tired (and I badly need a haircut, didn't dare doing it before the marathon)

I am very satisfied with how it went, for what concerns the running alone I felt good the whole race and I think I could have easily achieved the goal of staying below 5 hours, if only the Garmin hadn't been so confused. Four days after the race, as I write this, my knees are the only part of my body that's still recovering but I can go up and down the stairs without any problem, I just still feel a bit of fatigue. Saturday night was the worst with knees, ankles, Achilles tendons and even a bit hips and calves hurting, but ice and ibuprofen did their job and already the following day only the knees were left still sore (muscular pain kicked in on day 2 after the race, as usual, and is now gone).


I'm still waiting for the full size marathon pictures, here's some thumbnails

And this email is just in:

Congratulations to  a heroic performance

June 2 was the coldest day in June in Stockholm for the last 50 years, so it was not a good day for running a marathon. Wind and rain made the situation even worse. All those things made the 2012 ASICS Stockholm Marathon the most demanding race in the 34 years history of the race. We are most impressed that you and almost 15 000 other runners managed to finish the marathon, concerning these cruel conditions. You and other runners were well prepared for the race, and ran wisely. Kind regards Athletic clubs Hässelby SK and Spårvägens FK

(For more race reports and results, check www.StockholmMarathon.se)


With all that I went through during my training, I still can't believe that I ran the whole thing, walking only at aid stations because there was no other choice. Only a few months ago I was convinced it would not be possible, but thanks to a gentle and effective training program from MyAsics and most of all thanks to a wonderful medical equipe, I did it. I have to say that my daughter was the only one who never for a single moment doubted that I would make it, even in the worst days when my left knee kept me grounded for weeks. She was right!


Thanks also to everybody who supported me in this journey, I hope this will be a source of inspiration for somebody. There are still two weeks of recovery planned in my training program, then I can move on to the next challenge...