You don't get to choose the conditions

I ran my first half marathon yesterday. Here are five things it taught me about product management. Just kidding. Absolutely nothing.

Stockholm Half Marathon, my 40th birthday present to myself. A few weeks earlier I genuinely didn't know if I'd be standing on that start line. This year has meant months of back pain, a herniated disc, time away from running, medication, rehab, setbacks, and quite a few moments when I thought the race simply wasn't going to happen.

So I started with no time goal at all. The plan was to listen to my body, walk whenever I needed to, and stop if my back told me to. Then it poured with rain almost the entire race, and I ran the whole 21.1 km, singing along to my favourite songs, high-fiving strangers and smiling like an idiot.

I cried when I crossed the finish line. Not because of the time, but because after everything this year, I got to be there and do it at all. 2:21:57.

Okay, one thing. Not about product management.

Earlier this year I wrote that one of my mantras for 2026 is to keep trying things I haven't done much of, or haven't done at all. What I hadn't noticed is the condition I'd quietly attached to it: that I'd get to prepare properly first. I'm a perfectionist. Trying something new has always meant earning it in advance.

And I had a plan. Run all summer. Do at least one 21 km trial before race day. Arrive knowing I could do it. Instead I spent the summer in pain, ended up in the emergency room, and the most my body would give me was swimming and light treks. No long runs. No trial. No proof.

I've written before that the butterflies show up first, and then calm focus takes over once I'm actually doing the thing. This time the butterflies never fully left. I ran the whole race not knowing whether my back would let me finish it. And it still counted.

So the mantra needs a second half. I'm still working out how to phrase it. Something like: you don't get to choose the conditions.