First half marathon of the year, big PB 👍🏃‍♂️

[ChrisAllen1]

A beautiful afternoon here in the North East saw me heading out on a planned long run.

I have been trying to work out on my head the best way to get under 2 hours 30 for the HM for some time, do I head out fast and try to hang on or is it best to try and keep a steady pace throughout?.

I went out quite quickly on this one (obviously that's all relative to some people) and got to 10k in an hour and 7, but once again, as usual I found the second half difficult, not helped by most of it being into a fairly gusty headwind.

So I missed 2.30 by about 3 minutes but I'm hopeful I will crack it at the Sunderland HM in May as I probably won't run this far again beforehand.

20 mins quicker than last year's Great North Run and a PB by 10 minutes.

Hope everyone had a good running weekend.

Run happy, run safe.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Very good time Chris considering that wind, 20 minutes quicker than last year's Great North Run is something that you should be happy with, still plenty of time before the Sunderland HM in May.

[SaskAlliecat Graduate10]

Kudos to you Chris! You're in a great position for your upcoming HM. Hopefully May will see nicer conditions!

[Oldfloss Administrator 60minGraduate in reply to SaskAlliecat]

He is going to get that isn't he x

[JonathanP Graduate10]

Many congratulations Chris - particularly in this weather and knocking a fair chunk off your PB!

[Oldfloss Administrator 60minGraduate]

Brilliant Chris, as ever , you are totally awesome... one of my inspirational friends xx

It bodes well for the HM

[ChrisAllen1 Graduate10 in reply to Oldfloss]

❤

[Razouski]

That’s brilliant Chris, the wind in the north east was pretty unforgiving, so you did well. And a PB too.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[Hidden]

Flippin heck Chris, that's amazing, well done you!!

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate10]

Absolutely brilliant Chris...I thought this was a race when I first saw this on Strava, but just to pull off a run like this on your own is such an acheivement! 😥

I haven’t managed more than 10.6k so to me this shows a huge amount of strength both mentally and physically...💪😊...

So close to your target time too...in race conditions you should squeek it.

Rest and recover well ! I expect you can feel those last kms😊xxx

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate10]

@chrisallen you are my hero... your runs are inspirational you keep me going xx

[ChrisAllen1 Graduate10]

Thank you for all the lovely comments everyone. You are all my heroes.👍

[Wimborne]

Yay!!!!! HM and massive PB 👏👏👏👍👍. Way to go you.... what a great run to put you exactly in the right mindset leading up to HM. Sunderland here you come 😀😀😀😀

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

Chris that’s incredible! 👏👏👏👏👏

Mahoosive congratulations and a whole bunch of kudos from me for braving the wind and nailing a magnificent PB! 🙌🏅💪👍👊🏃

[linda9389 Graduate10]

Fabulous run -- that's a huge amount of time to shave off and so close to your target. You will get this.

Yesterday I was reading about ways to avoid hitting the wall towards the end of the race. I read a fab sentence that said there was simply no such thing as banking time at the start of a marathon by running faster than your average race pace, you would always pay for it in the second half. Admittedly that was marathon advice, but I'm guilty of starting too fast virtually every time on a long run: I always justify it to myself on the basis it feels fine in the moment, and surely it's best to get ahead! So I'm going to make it a new mantra for the first third of my long runs - there is no such thing as banking time 😀, and see if I can stop my later fade 😂

[linda9389 Graduate10 in reply to linda9389]

I looked the quote up -

'***When it comes to long-distance racing, there's no such thing as "putting the time in the bank."***

if you go out too fast, you'll burn through your stored energy too quickly and your muscles will fatigue faster, leaving you feeling tired and depleted toward the end of your race.'

[Irishprincess Graduate10]

Those are great improvements, well done to you. Especially in that wind 💨

[ChrisAllen1 Graduate10]

All the kind words from everyone have made me realise again what a great place this forum is.

[ktsok]

Wow! Amazing, well done

👏👏

20 minutes is a massive chunk out of your previous best - that’s almost a minute a km quicker! I’m sure you will shave that extra 3 minutes off and hit your target in balmier conditions 🙂

[Sandie1961 Graduate10]

Brilliant, huge well done Chris. That’s an amazing improvement on your previous time. At that rate you’ll smash 2:30 in May 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🎉💥