The half marathon I ran in Basildon this morning couldn't have gone any better. I am still buzzing now and will be for some weeks to come. My official time was 1:57:17, what's the big deal you might ask? I have run 32 half marathons and today's one ranked as only the 22nd fastest.
It isn't just the result in isolation that sets the mood, but the result in relation to your pre-race expectations. I ran 2:14 at the Shakespeare HM in April and had run well for 10km before my lack of training showed and the second half was littered with walk breaks. I felt better heading into this race but thought that 6 minute km's so 2:06 was about my limit. To finish 9 minutes faster, which works out at better than 25 seconds per km has left me ecstatic.
What made the result all the more satisfying was the negative split. I won't give you all 21.1km worth of splits but if we divide the race into 4 quarters with the last 1.1km tagged on the end they look like this:
First 5k - 28:30
Second 5k - 28:15
Third 5k - 27:51
Fourth 5k - 26:55
Last 1.1k - 5:46
Faster and faster quarter by quarter. I'm not sure I have done that in any of my previous 31 half marathons. I have looked back over those half marathons to see if any could match the nearly 17 minutes I took off from my previous HM in late April to now.
There really aren't many options. When I started out running the time was falling off fast but I was building a base and taking my training seriously. I had to work for it, but there was plenty of free time to be gained for a 25 year-old fresh to running. I took off nearly 18 minutes from my second ever HM at Bristol (2:08:50) to my third every HM at Cardiff (1:50:58). Another possibility was in 2014-15 when I suffered a very disappointing Southend HM in June 2014 (1:52:40) and next ran a HM at Great Bentley in February 2015 (1:35:18) an improvement of over 17 minutes, but there was 8 months between those races.
In terms of the negative splitting and feeling strong at the end, the race that came to mind was the Bristol HM in 2010 when I ran a PB of 1:36:21. I met up with Pete after a couple of miles and he pushed me along to a really strong performance. We hammered the last half mile and I was disappointed to see the race end as I still felt I had more to give.
Another thing to note for this race was that it was my first sub 2 hour half-marathon since May 2017 when I ran 1:52:30, so pre-children. Since then I have run 4 ugly HM, 2:24, 2:44, 2:39 and 2:14. Going comfortably sub 2 hours gives me hope that with sustained effort the good times can return.
It's sometimes difficult to objectively assess a race, when your good or bad performance so strongly impacts on how you felt about the race. Today's race went fantastically, but I still think the Basildon HM is a terrific race and will be one I revisit. It is super local to me and so all of the logistics are that much more simple. The start and finish at the track worked really well, the course might not have been that exciting but it was closed roads and quiet which I like. It wasn't flat, there were lots of gradual inclines, particularly the drag up the hill for a mile around the 10 mile mark but nothing too arduous. I definitely ran my race, even paced not even effort. Where there were inclines I worked harder and maintained the pace, whilst on the downhills I kept the pace consistent and just allowed myself a little rest.
Despite having run as many races as I have, I still see and hear new things each time and today's race was no exception. Before the start I saw a young woman in a vest over her running top, inside which she had a vape and an asthma pump, which was an interesting choice. I did see her finish a little while after me, I'm unable to confirm if she used either during the race. I also heard a spectator, with the best of intentions cheer a fellow runner "Keep going you have the cutiest running style." The male runner in question was beside me, and it was definitely distinctive, but whatever the intention, nobody wants to hear that.
I think that is all I have to report on today's half marathon. I will head to bed now with the warm glow of someone who has given it their all and is ready to go again. My watch told me I needed 72 hours recovery, but I have a run on the plan for Tuesday and I intend to hit it.
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