There wasn’t a plan, really. May 8th, the day before my birthday, and I just wanted to get out for a run. I had a loose internal goal knocking around in my head for a while: complete a half marathon before turning another year older. But when I laced up that morning, I was thinking 11 kilometers, maybe. Nothing dramatic.

Then one thing led to another.

The weather was good. The podcast was locked in. The legs felt better than they had any right to. So somewhere around the 11K mark I just… kept going.

The Numbers

21.94 kilometers. 5:00/km pace. 1 hour and 49 minutes total.

There were some stoplights in there, the usual hazards of running through the city, but still: that’s the second fastest half marathon I’ve run in my entire running life. On a random Thursday. With no race bib, no spectators, and no particular game plan.

Kind of a nice birthday present to myself.

How I Got Here

I’ve been training at F45 since November 2025. I’ve written about it before, but the short version is: it’s done more for my overall stamina and strength than I expected. Running three to four times a week leading into that stretch helped too, a bit more volume than I’ve been carrying lately.

None of it felt like race prep. It just felt like staying consistent. And apparently that adds up.

What I Was Wearing

Nothing fancy, but it’s worth noting since a few things have come up on the blog before:

Adidas Boston 13 on the feet. Lululemon shorts (still my go-to, no notes). A Decathlon shirt because they’re cheap and they work and I refuse to overthink it. Apple Watch on the wrist, phone in hand, headphones in. That’s the whole kit.

What’s Next

My intention now is to run one of these every month through October, all self-directed, no official races. Then in the fall, I’m planning to actually toe a start line somewhere. We’ll see how that shapes up.

For now though: running 21K on a whim the day before my birthday and posting a near-personal-best felt like a pretty good way to close out the year.