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.
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windy
