Half Marathon 

Well that was not the fun route I remember! Last time I ran Bedgebury Pinetum I did the 10Km route and remember it being beautiful and undulating.

The half marathon route felt really steep in places, boggy, tiring and hard work. 

Steve ran it with me and I was greatful for the support. We completed it in 2 hours, 31 minutes and 50 seconds. It’s an ok time for a hilly trail run but over the last 2 years I’ve not seen my times significantly improve.

I haven’t been doing hill training or intervals in such a long time so I can’t really expect my pace to change, so I think this is going to be my new goal. I want to get my 10Km under 1 hour and I would like to run a 2 hour 15 minute half. 

This morning I woke up and had a reminder on my Facebook that I used to run a sub-50 10Km. Granted it was 6 years ago, but I’m sure with better and consistent training my times could improve. Consistent training; that’s the key!

I mean, that’s pretty quick at 5mins per Km, I’m currently still nearer 6.5mins per Km and that half was like 7.5 per Km. 

Did I mention the hills?

The last hilly half I did was in Bewl Water last year and took 2:33:46 and this one was hiller so there is a little improvement I guess. 

My fastest 10Km Race last year was in Battersea Park in August and took 1:00:57. This year the fastest was Regents Park and took 1:02:29. Steve and I have booked our last race of the year to be a Regents Park 10Km in December. It’s only 2 weeks away now, but maybe we can beat that time with some interval training between now and then. It would be ace to finish the year on a sub-60. Maybe optimistic, but it’s worth a shot.

Last week was a mess. I had a lot of long days at work, a lot of travel and an assignment due for my Masters which I was getting up early to write and had to stay up late at night writing too. As such, since the half I have done a few rounds of sun salutation and today I went to Yin, but that’s it. But, I have to remember I can’t do everything all the time.  

That said, the lack of exercise made me feel shit. Fat, bloated, tired, back ache. I just need to do a little something everyday, because looking back over this month I’ve had 11 rest days, and it doesnt sit well. 

I have decided to challenge myself for the next 4 weeks before Christmas to do a little exercise everyday. Today I’ll write up my plan and really commit to my health over December to get myself set up for a healthy and happy new year. 

I can’t believe it’s nearly the end of the year! Next week I am predominantly in London which means I can get on top of my plans. Then I am in Finland for 5 day so although I’m away I’m based in one place so should be able to workout there and I think there is a hot yoga studio near where I’m staying too. Then the last few weeks I am based at home so can really get to it! 

I’m feeling really motivated. Here we go.