I started running again

I’ve always loved running, and my passion for it really took off during upper-secondary (“gymnasiet” for us swedes) when it was an actual assignment to run 2K, at the start of the term I had to do my initial run time. Lo and behold, it was horrendous, but as the term progressed, I ran 2-3 times a week and grew to love it. I cannot recall my running times, but I had found a new passion.

I kept it up for a while, but life happened, and eventually, other things took priority. Almost 10 years later, I decided to get back into it, as I had signed up for Broloppet 2025 on a bit of a whim. 🙈

So now I had to get in shape… In the spring of 2024, I signed up for my first official run with Lundaloppet where I did the 5K race, and got my first official time of 39:18.

It wasn’t a perfect run, but as my first official race, I was still happy with my performance. I couldn’t run consistently the entire way, and technical issues with my music took away some of the excitement. Despite that, it was a fun experience, and running with a crowd was completely different from running solo.

I kept running after that, but a bout of chronic illness crept in, hampering my training. I’m still not 100% as I’m writing this, but I’m getting there—slow and steady.

Still, I decided to sign up for Midnattsloppet Malmö, sticking to 5K and aiming to beat my previous time despite my illness, which sometimes would cut my runs short. My thought process was that I’d take it on feeling the day of, so if I didn’t feel well enough to run I would just have to skip it.

After a long hiatus following Lundaloppet, I struggled to complete a proper 5K in preparation for Midnattsloppet. My final run leading up to the race ended after just 1.7KM as I had to cut it short again.

But luckily, when the day arrived I felt pretty decent and decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

As Midnattsloppet neared, I was very mindful with my diet, making sure to eat well in advance so I wouldn’t feel heavy while running. The race itself was organized through my workplace, and it felt a little bit strange to be in the office on a weekend 😅 I spent most of the day taking it easy, psyching myself up and getting ready - I also did go on a short 1K run just to do a simple Systems Check.

During the race, I had no technical issues — my music was working great this time, and I kept control of my pace throughout. All I needed to beat my time was consistency, making sure I was maintaining my pace of 7:30-8:00 per KM on my watch. The energy from the bystanders was a huge boost as I ran through the beautiful nightscape of Malmö, where they had fun activities at each KM mark.

While waiting for our turn to start, my stomach felt a bit queasy, but as soon as I began running, I felt great. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel winded at all—my biggest challenge was staying mentally focused and not getting carried away trying to follow faster runners. The only time I backed off was on the uphill sections, which were about 30 meters long in total. I knew the effort to run uphill would stop my ability to keep a steady pace the rest of the time so I just walked during those sections, especially the last one that was well into the race…

Mentally, I mainly struggled between the 1.8-2.5KM range where I had to tell myself, “I have to run at least halfway without walking.” Then came the 3.4-3.7KM stretch, where my body felt sluggish. And I just kept thinking, “If I can make it to 4KM, it’ll be smooth sailing from there.” Getting to that 4K mark was the only thing on my mind at that point.

For the last kilometre, I knew where I was in relation to the finish line - so it was just a series of progrssive thoughts along the lines of “If I get to this point, it’ll only be this much left”. Closer and closer to the finish line. Eventually, my watch beeped to signify I had past the 5KM mark. Though, the finish line was still up ahead by around 200 metres - and at this point I just gave it my all to shave off every last second for a new personal best.

My new official personal best for a 5K is now 37:53 — 1 minute and 25 seconds faster than my Lundaloppet time!

With that milestone achieved, I’m now focusing on my next goal: running a 10K in the near future. I’ve set my sights on having that down well before Broloppet 2025, which takes place on June 15th, 2025, at 10 AM local time.

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