Run > Race

Hastings half marathon today and it was a weird one for me. I'd been off work this week on annual leave and had enjoyed a few beverages throughout the week, and I dunno, but the last few days I had been feeling a little bit under the weather, whether through being a bit run down or having a bit of a bug. Either way, I didn't feel hugely up for this race and could have easily done with just sitting at home.

But, I still got myself up there and warmed up, and almost immediately after running a short distance I started to feel a little better. My goal before "the bug" was to beat my best time for this course, but at the start I would have happily taken just finishing and getting it our of the way.

The weather though was fairly decent. Chilly, with a light wind, no rain. The gun went off and this time I was near the start of the pack. Ideal really as it reduces the need to weave in and out of the crowd. I got myself up to sub 8 min/mile fairly quick and felt pretty good.

As the race progressed, and the hills elevated, I swung between feeling like I had my pace under control and struggling with the inclines. The first half of this race is more or less uphill, with a few undulations. The latter half is the opposite; pure downhill with a two mile flat seafront finish.

Having got past the halfway point, and the majority of the hilliness, I was still clocking decent splits and after that the easiest (and best) part was yet to come. I ramped up my efforts for the last 4-5-6 miles and ended up finishing with a respectable 1hr 37mins and 52 seconds which is a new course record for me, and is actually my second best half marathon time ever, so I'm fairly chuffed!

I'd never really thought of Hastings as being a PB course due to the 7 miles of uphill you have to battle against in the first half, but my fiancee and brother both clocked new PBs, and there were points where I was thinking I might bag a new one myself. I wonder if I'd been feeling tip-top what might have been....

But as always, I really enjoyed this race, which has always been the main thing about it for me, and who knows, next year I may approach it with a different mindset and as a potential PBer.

Split Summary
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1) 1m - 7:56(7:56/m) 121cal 3.38/0/hr
2) 1m - 7:47(7:47/m) 122cal 3.45/0/hr
3) 1m - 7:12(7:12/m) 121cal 3.73/0/hr
4) 1m - 8:18(8:18/m) 122cal 3.23/0/hr
5) 1m - 7:53(7:53/m) 121cal 3.41/0/hr
6) 1m - 7:32(7:32/m) 121cal 3.56/0/hr
7) 1m - 7:26(7:26/m) 122cal 3.61/0/hr
8) 1m - 7:12(7:12/m) 120cal 3.73/0/hr
9) 1m - 7:38(7:38/m) 121cal 3.51/0/hr
10) 1m - 6:55(6:55/m) 120cal 3.87/0/hr
11) 1m - 7:03(7:03/m) 121cal 3.8/0/hr
12) 1m - 7:11(7:11/m) 120cal 3.73/0/hr
13) 1m - 6:51(6:51/m) 119cal 3.91/0/hr
14) 0.15m - 58(6:31/m) 17cal 4.12/0/hr