Hastings Half

I wrote a blog post at the end of last year talking about New Year’s Resolutions and goals, among other things. One of the goals I set for 2017 was to run 1,000 miles, the idea being that such a target would lead me to running consistently throughout the year. It was also part of a larger experiment to try to breed a new sense of consistency in my life; something that I feel has eluded me.

At the same time as setting that annual mileage goal, having been inspired by the thousands of people running Hastings Half Marathon, I signed up for the 2018 version and set my sights on a sub-90 minute finishing time.

I’m not entirely sure why I decided on 90 minutes (my previous best was 1 hour 56 minutes in 2011!) but, clearly, there would have been something to do with it being a nice, round number. I imagine there’s something inside me that thought it would put me into the category of “runner” rather than a person that occasionally runs.

After some Internet research I realised that running as fast as possible every run wasn’t a good idea. I learned about easy runs, tempo runs, long runs, and all sorts of different theories which encompassed all of these runs and their individual purposes. Now I have a tendency to overthink so I wanted to keep things as simple as possible.

Initially I did what is called “base building” where a wannabe semi-fast hobbyjogger runs a lot of miles at an easy aerobic pace – think being able to hold a conversation whilst running. I mainly did this in spring, through the summer, and into autumn. Then I ran the Poppy Half in Bexhill (1:38:02) to see where I was at, and how far away I was from my goal.

I had a goal, now I needed a plan. Enter Hanson’s Running Method. I found this plan, and followed it with a good degree of commitment. Over 18 weeks it expects you to run 40 miles per week, with two peak weeks of 50 miles, and involves all of the kind of runs aforementioned. By the end I was exhausted. Good, you’re supposed to be!

Even the sea is hilly in Hastings

Start to Queensway – 5.1 miles in 38:44, 648ft climbing, 7:35 pace

The first three miles are pretty undulating, and I found settling into an even effort quite difficult. Plan, as always, was to keep my HR in the 170s. That was fine uphill, but the constant change of effort threw me off. The first mile, just over seven minute pace, felt comfortable but I wanted to make sure I didn't burn too many matches early on. The second and third mile came and went fairly uneventfully before we climbed the dreaded Queensway.

More than two miles long with an average gradient of over three percent, Queensway is the longest treadmill in East Sussex. It isn't particularly steep, but it goes on and on and on. Having said that I felt pretty strong, ignored the times on my watch, and tried to focus on keeping my HR in the high 170s. It did jump up to 180 a few times, though that felt alright.

Queensway to Ore – 4.1 miles in 29:20, 336ft climbing, 7:09 pace

From the top of Queensway there are more undulating hills to contend with, along with a crisp 15-18mph headwind. I did my best to tuck in behind runners before passing them, again trying to keep my effort level constant on the ups and downs.

I should add here that I knew sub-90 was out the window (I didn't even need to do the numbers to calculate the improbability of my situation), and resolved to spend more time training on hills, should I choose to run this race next year. And so I beat on, a runner against the wind, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

After miles of climbing, there is a fantastic downhill during the eighth mile. I tried to open my legs up (another note to self: practice running fast downhill) and make the most of the free speed. Surprisingly, considering I weigh ~83kg, I'm relatively faster uphill than downhill. I put it down to loads of hill sprints during my youth, and football career.

We made our way to Ore, where I used to live and where my parents still live, and climbed the final hill, a punchy little number that took far too much out of my legs. C'est la vie.

Ore to Finish – 26:44, 83ft climbing, 6:51 pace

With all of the climbing, the headwind, and the majority of the race behind me, it was time for a long downhill (almost 1.5 miles) before a final flat 2.5 mile stretch along the seafront, with a tailwind pushing me along.

As above I tried to increase the pace downhill, was passed by a few runners, and motored on toward the finish.

I hit the 10 mile mark about 1:13:30 and knew I'd need to run the final 5k around a minute slower than my current 5k PB to finish faster than Marrakech! Maybe it's the competitive side of me, or maybe I knew I had paced myself fairly well, but I felt up to the challenge, and started the battle.

There's a tiny bump at the bottom of a hill around 10.4 miles, and I put in a little surge to keep my momentum from the downhill, and passed a couple of people. I surprised even myself when I made the move stick, and pushed on. (I'm not entirely sure how that happened - I didn't seem to expend any extra energy - but I'll take it!)

From then on the scenery doesn't change a lot, I saw my wife and parents which was an obvious boost, and kept panic-checking my watch to calculate what I needed to do. I worked out I would need to run ~7:00 minute miles to PB. I felt confident. My HRM had given up the ghost so I switched my watch screen to elapsed time, and chewed up the tarmac.

I'm never exactly sure when to kick, during any distance, but when my watch buzzed 13 miles I took off, eyes focused on the finish line and everything else blacked out. I don't think I passed, or was passed by, anybody though I can't be certain.

Gasping for breath, wanting nothing more than to sit down, and with 1,000 feet of climbing in my legs I crossed the finish line in 1:34:48.

Post-race

A 22 second PB is still a PB and, after a few hours of letting it settle in, I'm fairly content. I would have liked to chip a couple of minutes off of my time but, given the conditions and the course profile, I don't think I left much out there today.

In terms of the Hanson's plan I'm not sure I'm in a great position to evaluate it. With hindsight I should have set my goal as 1:33, and tried to hit those paces during the workouts. I also should have spent more time running up and down hills.

This calculator suggests my time, given the elevation, was equivalent to 1:31:34. Looking at it like that I'm inclined to say the plan was a success. Taking six and a half minutes off from November to March is a big chunk; I guess I'm going to have to race a flat HM now to see if I'm in 1:31 shape or not...

Summary

Whilst I am obviously disappointed I didn’t achieve what I set out to, I have learned to enjoy running during not just afterwards, I’ve even learned to meditate during easy runs, and am, mentally, in a better place for having been on this journey. I have no doubt that I can run a half marathon in under ninety minutes, I guess I just need to be consistent and I’ll get there!