Hi. 👊

It’s October 2024. My name is Lukas, next year (2025) I'll be turning 40. To mark this milestone, I've set myself an ambitious challenge: to run five half marathons in five different cities, across five different countries, all within one year.

Alright, you might be thinking, "That's great, but what’s the bigger picture here?"

The Context

My history with running isn't particularly remarkable - I first started running years ago simply to lose some weight. As I gradually improved, I decided to test myself on my first half marathon back in Poland, my home country. I completed it, took a break, ran another two, and then... my enthusiasm started to fade. I suppose I got bored. I gained weight again, and eventually, cycling caught my attention, so I dove into that with entirely. For a few years, I barely ran at all, apart from the occasional jog during summer trips to maintain some cycling fitness - nothing more.

About three years ago, I decided to lace up my running shoes and give it another shot. I think it was during the pandemic, and this time, it clicked. However, there was one small detail that made running enjoyable again - podcasts on my headphones. They became my running companions. From that moment, I aimed to stay consistent and run at least once a week. Admittedly, it didn’t always go as planned, but I kept at it. Eventually, I signed up for another half marathon, this time in Warsaw - the “night” one. I set my personal record there: 1 hour and 52 minutes. That was a big deal for me, as I was running at around 5:15 per kilometer during that race - a pretty decent pace if you think about it. To be completely honest, I didn't even go through a proper preparation period. I was simply running, increasing my distance and slightly improving my pace.

Since moving to Portugal (where I live now) I've found myself in a much better environment for running - better weather, more opportunities, and more motivation. As a result, I've been running much more often, and I'm seeing my performance improve steadily. Honestly, I'm really enjoying it these days, and, I must admit, I've set my bike aside a bit in favor of running. This brings me to my idea of running five half marathons over the next year, the year of my 40th birthday. You might say it's not a huge challenge - after all, they're just half marathons, not full ones, and there are people out there running multiple marathons or even ultras every year. And that’s fair. But for me, it's an ultimate goal for now - something challenging yet achievable, something that doesn't require me to sacrifice important things like family, work, or even my love for cycling.

That said, I've decided to take this challenge seriously. To elevate the experience, maybe to save it for the future, I've decided to document this journey here on this blog (Substack) - not just as a personal guide or a kind of diary, but also to help and maybe inspire others. Sure, there are plenty of YouTubers showcasing their running journeys, but I have one major issue with most of them: there’s often so little information there about the practical side of things - like how to train day by day, how to eat properly, or how to recover effectively. There's a real lack of insights into the runs themselves, the organization, the logistics, and all those little nuances. What works and what fails. From my perspective, it often looks like they just quickly shot the training run, maybe some lifting, hop on a plane, show the expo, do the race, and then show off the medal. That’s not really helpful. I want to approach this differently - with more detail, more precision, and more transparency - sharing the stats, the numbers, gear, technicalities, and all the behind-the-scenes aspects, even psychological ones. And, perhaps most interesting of all, I'll be doing it with the assistance of AI. Yeah!

You might be wondering, why AI? AI brings several advantages to the table. It can help me to analyze patterns in my performance, suggest data-driven adjustments, and offer personalized recommendations that evolve as I progress. With AI, I can make more informed decisions, plan smarter, and adapt quicker than I could on my own. It’s like having a coach who knows everything about me, stays objective, and helps take the guesswork out of training. Of course at the end I can challange and check it… on my own body. So I've prepared a few models, loaded them with initial data, and plan to use them to discuss and validate my next steps - whether it’s training, nutrition, recovery, or even choosing which races to run to achieve my goal.
I don’t know exactly how it will turn out, but one thing’s for sure: it’s going to be an interesting journey. Let’s check if I can be The Half Hero.

Status Check

Alright, let's gather some initial informations as of today, October 7th, 2024, to serve as a reference point for the future, and better context.

Fitness
I run two to three times per week, mixing in tempo runs and one long run. My average pace for a 10K is about 5:00 minutes per kilometer, while my long runs, typically around 18K, are done at an average pace of 5:30 per kilometer. Once, twice a week I’m doing middle range road bike rides, mainly in zone 2-4, around 60-120K.

Health
I am 178 cm tall, and my current weight is 79 kg, with a body fat percentage of 15.6%. I don't take any medications, only regular supplements such as vitamins, probiotics, and elements like Omega-3 and joint support supplements. One important note is that I have chronic Colitis, which is currently in remission - meaning I'm not experiencing any symptoms at the moment. I’m making regular blood tests which currently are on the perfect level. My resting heart rate baseline is 38 BPM. Additionally, for almost two years now, I've been practicing intermittent fasting with a 6-hour eating window, typically from 12 PM to 6 PM. I take a break from this routine over the weekends, starting from Friday.

Gear
I use an Apple Watch Ultra 2 to track all my efforts and life-related metrics. For running, I rotate between two pairs of Asics shoes: the Novablast 3 for tempo runs and the Nimbus 26 for my long ones. I'm also planning to buy another pair specifically for race training and the races themselves - something carbon-plated for extra performance, perhaps another pair of Asics, like the Magic Speed.

Logistics
I've already registered for two of my five runs: one in Seville in January and another in Lisbon in March. Since it's challenging to book races in Europe after September, I need to plan for one to two months between each race. This means I should consider races in Nice, Milan, Copenhagen, Valencia, Newcastle, and Amsterdam. From these, I need to choose three more.

The Ultimate Goal

Alright, this might just be the most important part of all. My ultimate goal is simple yet ambitious: to finish all five races and achieve my target times - starting with 1:45 for the first race, and then, here’s where the real challenge kicks in, aiming for 1:30 by the final one. Ultimately if you can be prepared for the 1:30 you can be prepared even for 1:00, it’s just a matter of how much dedicated you’re. The path will be almost the same, so let’s go through it and check if I can be the Half Hero. Oh boy!

Support

If you’ll find this content valuable or if my journey resonates with you, I'd love for you to subscribe - it's completely free, and you'll get all my regular updates straight to your Inbox. If you’d like to take it a step further and help my mission and path to be The Half Hero, consider joining as a paid subscriber. While all my regular posts will always be free, I'm planning to create some special content exclusively for my supporters - like in-depth guides, some gear reviews, behind-the-scenes stories, and even a dedicated e-book capturing the essence of my running quest. Your support would mean a lot and help keep this adventure going strong! Thank you.