It's hard to beat a person who never gives up

Happy (belated) Sunday!

Those of you who follow me on Instagram could already guess the reason for my belated post today: after a quick stop in Paris yesterday, I found my way back home today and I am beyond happy to spend some time with my beloved family.

It's been only a week and I still cannot believe it. Do you remember when I announced some time ago that I planned to run a half marathon? Well...
I DID IT. 21 kilometres of heat, stress, motivation, pain, joy and endurance. When I crossed the finish line, I was incredibly relieved and forgot all the thoughts of giving up that had been in my mind during the run. All that I felt, was pride and joy.

But it was more than only the distance that mattered to me. In fact, this half marathon symbolised an important step in my live, giving proof to myself that I am totally able to stick to my goals and to achieve them, never mind the problems I am going through. Eventually, this achievement becomes some kind of a mantra for me and will certainly be a guiding line in future.

Though, let me tell you a little more about the run itself. For most of the time, I felt really good and fit and knew by the fond of my heart that I would make it. Yet, at kilometre five I was ready to throw up since I hadn't had any breakfast beforehand. The most difficult part for all runners is between 14 and 18 when I also started to feel my legs for the first time, but I pushed myself once I passed the 18 as only few steps were left to reach the finish. In the end, my finish time was far below the originally planned goal of two hours which is a quite good result for ones first 21k, especially regarding the heat on that particular day. As a result, I took showers every 5000 metres as I didn't drink the water from the bottles, but poured it all over my body. Furthermore, orange slices gave a little extra vitamins kick that I absolutely needed.

This was my first half marathon experience. For now, I haven't planned another one. Actually, I even skipped sports totally during this week as I had horrible aching muscles and - as usually - a significant lack of time.
If you have further questions concerning my little running experience, don't hesitate to comment. I will be more than happy to respond!