Me vs Running Part 5: Nike Women's 10km Berlin recap

A few months ago I pledged to start running more regularly. I set myself a goal; to run the Nike Women’s 10km Amsterdam, followed by the Nike Women’s 10km Berlin. In my first week of training I got injured because I was going too hard too fast (get the irony there?). Despite this injury, I’m happy to say I did it!

From Amsterdam to Berlin

After the 10km Amsterdam, I couldn’t wait to run the Berlin race. The energy in Amsterdam was amazing and I was psyched to do it again, I even checked if I could join other races as well – unfortunately I couldn’t, but that’s a nice one for next year :). Before the race in Berlin, I was actually in Berlin for almost two weeks already – although I worked out quite a lot (thanks Karca), the nightlife got to me a little and I became scared as race day approached. As fit as I felt in Amsterdam, as not-fit I felt in Berlin. What can I say, as a half German I have this preset love for beer, haha. So I biked to Flughafen Tempelhof, where the start and finish was, with mixed feelings – especially because I had eaten quite heavy food before (tip when you’re in Berlin; here I had this amazing hummus/falafel plate with pita bread).

Men with wigs.. Gotta love Berlin!

The struggle

As I approached the Nike Village I could already hear the beats of Icona Pop, how awesome! This got me a little more excited again. The village was huge and again there were many things to do, like getting your hair done or getting awesome temporary tattoos. I was so happy though once the warm-up started, because it was freezing cold – Berlin weather is so weird. The first 4km went kind of smoothly, I had a nice pace, I didn’t feel my injury and the vibe was again amazing, the audience in the street had the same great energy as the girls running. However, we went slightly uphill after 4km, and this is where my struggle started.

The end sprint

Lawd, the food I had before, maybe it would have been better to eat it after the race. At 6km there was a water stand, I stood still and thankfully took a big glass, hoping my food would go down again. It didn’t. These last kilomters we ran through the Tempelhof field, which is huge and awesome, but obviously there were less enthousiastic supporters as before because it was a little more remote. I struggled soooo bad these last kilometers, my pace going up and down, my food as well. Because the field was so big, you could see the finish already from far away – too far. The last few hundred meters I was pushing myself to get the end sprint out, but I really, really didn’t want to. As I was trying to force myself (‘This is your last chance!!!!’), I suddenly heard this extremely loud roar: “(…….) LISA!!!” (my music was really loud so I only heard my name haha) – I looked over and saw my bf standing there. This pushed me to do get that sprint out. He actually brought sweets that I was totally addicted to as a kid (Nimm2 Lachgummies, someone?) – isn’t. that. the. sweetest. thing. ever. Honey if you read this; thanks.

This resulted in a time of 55:53 – still 13 sec faster than in Amsterdam. Not a lot, but again I’m happy. (Check that 6km dip!!)

And now what?

So now what? It’s weird, but I enjoy running more than before. In June I ran 32,5 km – for some this may not be a lot, but for me it is. This summer I will be travelling a bit, and the lovely thing about running is that you just have to lace up and go. Running is awesome to discover new places and it’s the easiest way to stay in shape when you’re on the road. Still I don’t really feel like a runner I enjoy bootcamp type of workouts way more, but after these races I’m motivated to keep it up – so I can do more races next year! This time with proper preparation though, and I will share this prep with you – stay tuned :)

Note to self; don’t eat too much next time.