According to my planning, I was going to compete in the Istanbul Half Marathon on the last day of April and break my pace below 4 minutes. Incidentally, for my readers who aren’t very familiar with running, pace refers to the time it takes to run 1 K. I was aiming for a 10 K run in under 40 minutes. However, I only managed to complete the run in 42 minutes and 05 seconds.
I’m not thinking like NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo here. Before I comment on this, let’s recall Giannis’s comments after a recent playoff game.
The Milwaukee Bucks, one of the NBA’s Eastern Conference teams considered the most successful team of the regular season and the biggest championship contenders, entered the first round of the NBA playoffs as heavy favorites, but were practically routed 4-1 by the Miami Heat, who qualified for the playoffs after a last-minute play-in.
The NBA star’s ‘failure’ comment
After the game, the team’s superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was reportedly asked by a reporter, “Is this a failure?”
His answer to the question, “Do you get promoted at your job every year? No, do you? So, is every year you work a failure? Every year you work for a goal. Getting promoted, taking care of your family, and so much more… This isn’t failure; these are the steps to success. Michael Jordan played 15 seasons, winning the championship in six of them. Were the other nine years failures? Is that what you’re telling me? Why are you asking me this? It’s the wrong question; there’s no failure in sports. There are good days and bad days. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don’t. That’s how sports are. You can’t win all the time.”
Here’s Giannis’s response to the reporter (if you’d like to watch it):
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrtTSXVJwna/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D
I don’t think exactly like Giannis. I think if there’s a failure, you must take responsibility for it and learn from it.
I also learned some serious lessons from the Istanbul Half Marathon. I’ll explain them in the last section of this article. Now, let’s get to running.
I wake up at 5 a.m. every morning except weekends. Sunday morning, the day of the race, I woke up at 5 a.m. in a similar way. After showering and dressing, I took the kids (my dogs) outside. After that, I had a light oatmeal breakfast. After consulting with my mother, who fell and fractured her spinal cord and stayed with me, I headed to the metro.
Mishaps that began with a missed train
Everything was supposed to go smoothly, but I was late for the metro. I’d planned to leave the house at 6:30 a.m., but my dogs and my mother’s work took a bit longer, so I finally got out at 6:50 a.m. I raced to catch the metro, but I missed the first train that came my way. As I was rapidly descending the stairs, the train doors closed, and it departed before I could catch up. This seemed like a harbinger of the misfortunes I would encounter throughout the day. I had to wait eight minutes for the next train. I boarded the next one. This time, for some reason, Levent station had been fixed in my mind as the next stop, so the train stopped. I waited inside for three or four minutes, muttering, “Why aren’t these doors closing?” The doors closed, and as the train sped along, it suddenly dawned on me. I tried to see the name of the station. Seeing “Levent” made me immediately go “oops!” and jumped into a panic. I immediately got off at the next Nispetiye stop. I boarded the first train that arrived, backing down at Levent. Then I started running, and without wasting any time, I switched to the green line and boarded the train heading towards Yenikapı. I was relieved to see that there were a lot of other runners on this train. Just then, my trainer, Serpil Hoca, called me. Since she was calling from WhatsApp, I was able to talk to her online, albeit a bit intermittently. The following conversation went between us:
– Where are you? I’m trying to reach you.
– You probably couldn’t reach me because I was on the subway.
– Aren’t you late for the subway? What time does the run start?
– It starts at 8:10. I’m a little late because of the morning rush, but don’t worry, I’ll be there in 40 minutes. I’ll be at Yenikapı station in 15 minutes.
– Okay, you’re sounding better, you’ll run well today.
– I’m feeling good, a little tired from the trip, but I’ll do my best.
– Have a good run then.
– Thank you.
Indeed, as I told Serpil Hoca, I returned from Germany on Friday night. I was also joining the run early on Sunday morning. But I was feeling fine. It wouldn’t be a problem for me. Meanwhile, I had another issue to take care of before the run. I had to go to the bathroom, which was a real shame.
We left Yenikapı station. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality officials met us immediately at the exit and directed us. As I was walking from the back and heading towards the overpass, I suddenly came across an OPET station and, without hesitation, I immediately went in to relieve myself. There was a long line, so I went in. Frankly, unsure how I would be able to go there and anticipating a larger crowd, I thought I’d made the right decision. After waiting 5-10 minutes, my turn arrived. I quickly finished my business, got out, and continued running towards the station.
K Handicap in Qualifying
When I arrived at the station, there were 20 minutes left until the race started. I immediately looked for my spot at the designated drop-off area and realized my spot was at the very end of the drop-off area. Let me tell you, each drop-off area was about 50-100 m2. The drop-off started with A, and mine was K, the last one. You can imagine how far I’d traveled. Again, I quickly took off my clothes, put them in my bag, and handed over my bag. Then I ran toward my own racecourse. The race was about 10 minutes away. Just as I was entering the racecourse, I noticed that the Ks were placed at the end, just like the bags. I even tried to enter from the side, but they immediately moved me to the end, saying, “Your seat is on the side.” I couldn’t believe it. I was in the last place. I didn’t understand why. Yet, I had already placed among the top runners. It only occurred to me later. I’d originally signed up for the 21 K run, but then I switched to a 10km race. “That must be why,” I thought.
After all, I was in last place. With a minute left in the race, they opened our barrier, and I started running from the last one to the front. I was trying to get at least a little further into the lead by the time I got to the race venue. I can’t say I’d made much progress, but I’d still made some progress. When we arrived at the race venue, the countdown had begun. A few seconds later, the race began.
The First Kilometers That Dropped the Rank
I must admit that I struggled a lot in the first 2-3 kilometers of the race. After all, it had been announced that 3,000 people would be participating in the 10 K race. There were thousands of people ahead of me, and I had to work really hard to get through them. I finished the first kilometer at 6:30 pace and the second kilometer at 5:35 pace. Normally, I should be running under 4 paces. I managed 3 kilometers at 4:45 pace. I couldn’t run straight for the first 3 kilometers; I was constantly sprinting sideways and diagonally, trying to get ahead. I was thinking to myself, “Forget finishing below 4 pace, you’ll finish even lower than your normal pace in this race.” Just as I was starting to feel a little pessimistic, I think it was a mistake, a female runner who had started from behind came up and passed me. Her pace was faster than mine. She was also in great shape, taller than me. When I saw her, I thought, “I might as well adjust my pace to this athlete.” Then I gained momentum. Thanks to this athlete, whom I assumed to be of Eastern European or Russian descent, I started to increase my pace after the 4 km mark. Frankly, I usually run the first 3-5 km of a race fast, then slow down; this time, it was the opposite. I kept up the pace. I followed the female athlete directly until the last kilometer, practically running right behind her. We were passing everyone in front of us. She pressed on in the final kilometer, and I was out of breath. Still, I maintained my pace, finishing in 42:05. I was both happy and sad when I finished in 42 minutes. In the previous Antalya run, I finished in 41 minutes, a slight difference. However, the first 3 km of this run were very slow, and I came from behind, finishing with a time almost identical to my previous 10 K.
Let’s do the math. If I had normally run the first 3 km at 4 pace (which I would), I would have run the first km 2.5 minutes faster, the second about 1.5 minutes faster, and the third 45 seconds faster. Here’s 4:45 seconds. So, I could have finished this run in 37:20. Let’s assume I ran the first km fast, but then I got tired and ran a little slower. Add another minute to that. I could have finished the race in around 38 minutes. Anyway, good luck. With this time, I’m in the top 50 overall among 10 K runners. When I look at Spor Istanbul’s official website, I see that I’m ranked 45th overall. Here’s the link and the image showing my rankings: Spor İstanbul – Sonuçlar
From these results, we can see that a total of 3,773 runners participated in this race. This means that since I started from the back of the pack and finished in 45th place, I passed 3,728 runners throughout the race. I don’t need to explain how tiring and demanding this was. I especially struggled in the first kilometers, when the road used as the running track was packed with people.
A pleasant conversation after the run
Let me give you another example to confirm this. After the race, after collecting our medals and removing the chip from our shoes, I was heading towards the overpass to collect our bags when someone approached me and we had the following conversation:
“I saw you, you passed me. You were running well.”
“Thank you. But I’m not happy with the result. I ran below my normal performance.”
“I ran below my normal performance too. I finished the last race in around 40 minutes, but now it’s 46 minutes.” – I was supposed to run under 40 minutes, but I finished in 42.
– How could this happen? You passed me in the last kilometer; there shouldn’t have been that much of a gap between us.
– For some reason, they put me last. I guess there was a glitch when they changed the race category.
– Did you start last?
– Unfortunately, yes.
– Okay, it just happened. Here’s the explanation for the 4 minutes difference between us.
– Also, I just got back from a trip. I’m also exhausted.
– I left work at 2:00 last night, so I didn’t have to go, it took me until 4:00. I woke up at 6:00. So, I competed in the race on 2 hours of sleep.
– You ran well on 2 hours of sleep (though, as I said this, I completed the 10km in 41 minutes on zero sleep at the last Antalya race). Why did you go to bed so late?
– I’m in the nightclub business. This job wears us out. – It’s wearing you out. You probably smoke and drink now, too.
– Yes, I do. How old are you?
– I’m 45. I was born in 1977. How old are you?
– What do you mean? I’m from 1987.
– Then you’re practically my brother.
– Okay, but there’s something wrong with this. I look like your older brother.
– You need to quit smoking. Don’t overdo it with the drinking.
– I don’t drink much anyway, but you’re right about the smoking.
– I’ve never smoked in my life, and I’m very happy with my decision at my age.
– You’re right, brother, but smoking is such a mess that once you get used to it, it’s very hard to quit.
– You can quit if you want. You’ll see the difference. I recommend it.
– Okay, thank you for the advice.
– What’s your name?
– Ali. What’s yours?
– Serhan. Have a nice day, Ali.
Thanks, Serhan. Have a good day to you too.
After this pleasant exchange, we parted ways. I hope Ali takes my advice and quits smoking. Quitting smoking will directly impact his performance.
After returning to the field, I picked up my bag again and headed back. As I walked across the field, I remember thinking to myself, “The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality really nailed this. They’re getting better at organizing every year.” To their credit, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s event was quite successful, except for the unfortunate incident where the inflatable sponsor (N Kolay, owned by Aktifbank) banner landed on the front row of the half-marathon runners.
Here’s the incident I’m talking about: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrwCpXMrtyc/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D
My advice to myself
By the way, I’m constantly giving advice to those around me. Now, let’s talk about my own advice and taking responsibility. What could I have done to finish this race in under 40 minutes? Here are some that come to mind:
1) When they changed my registration from 21 km to 10 km, I could have said I was in the elite category among master runners. I could have emphasized that I wanted to start at the front, but I overlooked that. This mistake cost me dearly.
2) Due to stress at work, I haven’t been paying attention to my eating and drinking for the last month or two. I could have handled this eating and drinking more professionally. In fact, during my trip to Germany, which I left last Monday and returned from Friday evening, I ate high-calorie meals and drank wheat beer almost every day. I could have at least been more careful during race week. As a result, I entered the race at the same weight I had last January.
3) I barely made it to the race. After all, I have dependents at home. However, I could have still made a lag allowance and gotten up at 4 a.m. instead of 5. I could have gone to bed earlier for that. If I had arrived at the race venue early, I could have at least completed my warm-up, stretching, and drills, which I haven’t been able to do properly. Also, maybe I could have somehow managed to find the race organizers and moved my location (which is unlikely).
4) I trained regularly, but due to my travels and busy schedule, I went some weeks practically without training. Here, even while traveling, I couldn’t skip training. Only in Germany did I follow this principle.
5) For the past four months, I was supposed to do core and back exercises at home in the evenings. However, because I returned from work exhausted and worked from home in the evenings, I didn’t do any of these physical exercises. I couldn’t mentally prepare myself for the extra evening training anyway. This set me back in terms of physical endurance and strength.
As I said, I’m taking responsibility and starting to work to perform better next time. In my opinion, having a good athletic mentality is the key to success in every aspect of life.
Stay well.
Note: After completing the race, as I was on my way back, I took a photo of the 21 K runners from the overpass. I took this photo from the race itself, but instead of capturing our 10 K category, I took a photo of the half marathoners from above. I’ve chosen one of the photos as the banner image for this post. In the image above, you can see the overpass and its surroundings where I took the photo.
Tag: memoir
