After playing two tournaments in small-town Vietnam, the plan for Hanoi was to eat a lot of food, explore the city and find a good coach to train with.

I found a great Airbnb right by the French Quarter, a short walk from Hoàn Kiem Lake.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the weather. Hanoi was in the middle of rainy season and almost every day I was there it rained. Often I wanted to go out walking at night but alas, it was pouring down much of the time.

First thing on the list in Hanoi was to find a badminton hall and a coach to work with, which took a bit of hunting but I managed to find something within a few days.

I started training at Duc Thao club with Coach Tuan who was awesome and became a good friend during the month I was there.

So the routine in Hanoi was training at 10 am, gym at 12 pm, eat as much food as possible and then get as much work done in the evenings. It didn’t leave much time for exploring, but I still managed to get a few things in!

One odd thing about gyms in Hanoi – they’re really expensive. If you’re a foreigner, you might pay something like 300K VND (about $11 USD) for a day pass.

That might not sound crazy, but in Hanoi where everything else is so cheap, it can feel crazy.

Of course there are some small gyms around that will be much cheaper, but for a quality gym that’s what I found most places charging.

After training the goal is to slam as many calories as possible and luckily in Hanoi – that’s easy!

Unfortunately I was boring and Grab’d almost all of my meals as my schedule was always so tight (not great blogging material, I know) but I can report that Grab food is good and cheap and most days it was raining and not very fun exploring weather anyway.

In the evenings I used to take a walk around the nearby lake, Lake Hoàn Kiem.

It’s a small lake in a fancy area (there were Prada and Rolex type stores on the same block) and it’s busy every night. People doing things like tai chi, dancing, people-watching, eating snacks, running, or just doing what people do around lakes.

Also right on the north bank is the start of the Old Quarter, a matrix of streets where you can buy tons of knock-off goods. Lululemon, Nike, Timberland are all really popular brands to pick up there, I bought a few Nike sweats and they were great. Some people online claim they’re genuine, but as someone who lived in China I can tell you with 99% certainty everything sold there are fake knock-offs. The quality however can be comparable, so if you don’t care, you can pick yourself up a pair of Nikes for $20 and probably can’t tell the difference.

Unfortunately I never took any photos, but the whole lake area beautiful (though often crowded) little lake to stroll around with lots of little coffee shops and places to grab a drink or bite.

My landlord was a Vietnamese woman maybe in her 40s that was very into fitness.

When she saw my badminton gear she started asking a lot of questions, about how she used to play but now she’s gotten into running.

I told her I also run casually and she mentioned the Hanoi Marathon was on in a couple of weeks.

I checked the website and thought maybe I could run the half, but unfortunately, sold out! Same issue I had back in Chiang Mai a few years back.

She said – don’t worry! I will get you an entry!

A few days later she called and said he’s secured me a bib number for the race.

I guess it was time to start marathon training!

Now every day after training, instead of doing badminton work I was on the treadmill, trying to ready my legs for 21 km.

It had been a long time since I run that distance, a few years at least. I didn’t have time to put a proper training circuit together, so I figured I’ll just get as comfortable as possible running 10km, then we’ll just figure out how to get it done on the day.

When I went to pick up my race number, I was quietly confident that I’d get through the race. I didn’t have many kilometres in the bank, but I knew I could count on experiene to get me through. I definitely wouldn’t be setting any PBs, but a finish? Sure!

There’s a big running culture in Vietnam – I don’t know why I found it surprising, but I did. In fact, I’ve learned in almost every country the running scene is bigger than you’d expect. Running truly is the global sport.

When race day arrived, I got to the start point nice and early. It was drizzling, which wasn’t much fun, but they had free pho for everyone which was a good way to slam some electrolytes down before the gun.

I didn’t have much of a race plan. Start slow, just pump out the first 5 km and get the legs warm, cruise onto 10km and from there, just pace myself and have fun. I knew the last 5km were probably going to be tough for me, so the goal was to keep some gas in the tank for the final quarter and not push too hard for a time.

One thing I didn’t realise until the race was well underway – what a beautiful way to see Hanoi! I’d been stuck at the badminton hall or my apartment for most of the month, now I was running the streets at 5am watching the sun rising over the lake. Running through alleys where people were just setting up their noodle stalls for the day, or people still drinking from the night before. I’m not often awake at that hour, so it was a treat to do some sightseeing while pumping out kilometres in the early morning hours.

The race was easier than I imagined. The last 5km was a slog, but nothing too painful and nowhere near as bad as some of the absolute soul-crushing finishes I’ve had in the past. I cruised over the finish line and relaxed in the finishers zone with lots of free noodles and ice cream. An amazing way to end my month in Hanoi.

I’d love to return some time when the weather is less rainy and I’ve got a freer schedule, I’m sure there are many wonderful nooks and crannies in this city to explore!