I say ran but that wouldn't be entirely true as while my original intention was to run it all, that isn't quite how it panned out! More on that later but let's begin at the beginning.
What a beautiful day for running - glad I'd chosen a short shorts and vest combo 🌞
My son was running in the 2k mini run so we left the house just before 10 to walk the mile to the start. Met a lovely young man from London who'd parked in our street and was bereft of safety pins for his number. Went indoors and got him some then had a lovely chat with him (he was using Hastings Half as training for the London Marathon) on the walk down. Met up with my son's Dad and his girlfriend, went to the loo for the millionth time (who knew one cup of coffee could make you wee so much 🤣) then we made our way to our starting position. I choose 2 hours as although I knew this was a bit fast it did mean I wouldn't get too held up at the start. When we got to the first hill a few hundred metres in people were walking up it which seemed a bit odd if they thought they were going to go sub2!? 🤔
So far so good. Ran up the stupidly steep first bit of Harley Shute passing lots of walkers (I don't blame them for that one - it's like scaling Everest 🤣) and was feeling really good. Waved to my boyfriend just before the 2 mile marker then on to the devil that is the Queensway. I knew this bit was going to be hard. It's 3 miles of pretty much constant climbing - not particularly steep just relentless. I started to climb and my calves said no. Actually when I looked back at the data from my Garmin my heart rate hit 202 at that point so the fact I stopped and walked was probably quite wise! Saw some of my friends from my Running Club who'd caught up with me, got going again but not for long ☹️ Made myself feel better by virtue of the fact there were many young and fit looking men who were also walking!
With the challenge of running the whole way now gone I decided I just wanted to enjoy myself. So for the next 8 miles I high fived every child I could (and someone dressed as a bear 🐹) stopped and drank water, (nearly got some lager outside one of the pubs 😂) ate orange segments, pelted down the hills - which I said I wouldn't do but it was just too much fun not to 🤣- walked a bit, ran a bit 🐌, ran a bit 🐎, chatted to people and thanked anyone who clapped, cheered, played music, banged saucepans (thanks old ladies up by the hospital 👍) and generally had the time of my life 😊
Thought I might go for a grandstand last 400m but unfortunately when I got there the legs weren't having any of it. Collected my medal, had a little chat with one of the homeless guys who live in the shelter and went off to find my boyfriend and my son.
He'd run the mini run in 8:55 (only a few seconds off his PB) so he was pretty chuffed. My chip time was 2:13:22 which considering all the walking was not too bad. The conditions were perfect today to run faster but to be honest I wouldn't change what I did. I'm often incredibly harsh on myself when I don't perform as well as I think I should so the way I ran today was a bit of a revelation. Running can be whatever you want it to be - fast times, PBs, pushing yourself to your limits, high fiving kids, chatting to random strangers, all of the above and more.
Find what you enjoy and go for it! 😁😁
Written by
pianoteacher
Marathon
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Thanks Decker! It was so funny hearing everyone's reaction to the hills. I'm local so although I had never run the course before I knew what was coming. I'm pretty sure the official course description says all the climbing is in the first 5 miles - they neglect to mention all the other hills you have to negotiate before you finally get to the downhill 🤣
Being local makes a big difference. I think that is why my first HM was so much fun. It began right behind our home and I knew the route really well including the big hill. Well done! Time to put your feet up and bask in your accomplishment 😊
That's great pt! Enjoying the event is important, too. I find I'm not a great racer and always feel at the end that I can keep running..."shoot should've pushed harder, I guess" ... but you know what, I enjoy my races and keep going back for more. My hubby won't race anymore because he puts so much pressure to go so fast and try to compete with everyone that he really hates the idea of enterinag any event so he won't. It is a different school of thought, I guess but it works for me.
Sorry, long winded way of saying Great job on your first HM and setting yourself up to want to run more.
Thanks! I don't think I'm very good at racing either - I lack the competitive edge for it.
That's a real shame about your hubby - being competitive is not in itself a bad thing but in my opinion it is when it takes the enjoyment out of things x
Exactly. He’s agreed to do a little bit of running with me this year just to help his back but doesn’t want to run any sort of distance nor enter any events. For now when he comes with me, we run together for a few km then he turns home and I keep going. It seems to work ok for now. I’m hoping once he gets onto the trails with me, he’ll enjoy it so much that he’ll at least want to run further but I’m not holding my breath.
What a lovely post pianoteacher. I bet you had a far better time than if you’d have gone all out on the running. Sometimes you’ve just got to enjoy a run.
When I looked at the pace of my Parkrun on garmin yesterday, I saw my pace dropped below 7 minutes a km because I chatted to someone along the way. If I hadn’t done that I’d probably have got a PB, but I then wouldn’t have heard her story about losing 5 stone and running from nothing towards half marathon in a year.
Thanks Dexy! It's great hearing other people's stories isn't it? Loads of inspirational stuff from people I know on Facebook today. One lovely lady had watched from the sidelines for years and years wishing she was fit enough to join in and after losing a considerable amount of weight and starting running 18 months ago completed the course today 😁
Thanks Madge! Thought I might get run over between miles 10 and 11 - a woman had decided she needed to turn into a car park and the marshal was talking to her when another car pulled in front of her and went to turn. I did comment to the guy next to me that I felt like I wanted to die but being run over wasn't quite how I envisaged it happening 🤣
He has got a lot faster - he ran a PB 26:31 at parkrun yesterday. He wants to do the 1500m and 3000m for part of his GCSE PE so he needs to work some more on his speed. The first finisher in the mini run today did it in 6:01😳
Next for me is working on getting my speed back. They've reduced the Army run to 2k and I'd like to work towards sub 10 mins - Daniel says he's going to train me 🤣
Mind our ParkRun had 3 of the top 10 fastest ParkRun times ran in the country on Saturday - all 15-17 category 😳 But I do think that they’re only running for under 15 minutes and I’m running for twice as long - there’s got to be something good in that 😆
That's some impressive running! We had fastest female in the country yesterday - 16:39 😳 she was our first finisher - beat all the men by some distance🏃♀️😁🏃♀️
That's a really wonderful post pianoteacher. I loved reading about your adventures. It sounds like you had a great, sociable time. You did it and it doesn't matter if you walked a bit. You zoomed other bits Your HM badge suits you.
Thanks paulanoo! My boyfriend has just jokingly suggested I do it in a costume next year and it's got me thinking. I think I might do it for charity. I volunteer at a church group in my town that helps homeless and vulnerable women so I could do it to raise funds for that and I'd look great in a Wonderwoman costume 😂🤣😂
Fabulous report, fabulous run! Sounds wonderful. You are so fast! I can't imagine what speed you could run a flat a course at. I agree with you, enjoying is so important. Taking part in a race can be so much more than simply running it as fast as you can. My son and I have a different opinion on this one at the minute, but I agree with you!
Awesome!!!!! - well done PT!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can run all the way next time, just make sure you don't dress up as a stegosaurus or something 😄 Wonder Woman, much better, and a fab idea to run for the homeless women xx
We might have been next to each other at the start; I was in the 2 hours bit too - but wasn't it crowded!? I've never been in such a squash at the start of a race 😊 Sorry to have missed you.
Great report! It's lovely to get the perspective of a local - I had no idea where I was most of the time, and you have brought it all back to me xxx
Thanks Abi! I was running next to a man dressed as a rhino and another dressed as a pink lady apple! Don't know what happened to the rhino but the apple got away from me up Queensway - they must have been so hot!!
It was crowded at the start wasn't it? I'm quite short so I really couldn't see anything. I was looking out for you Runsome and MutleyShuffle but I didn't see anyone I knew until out on the course - mostly when they overtook me 😂
So glad you enjoyed it! I'm all for taking in all the experiences a race day can offer over going all out for speed. After all, when else do you get that opportunity? I love to have memories of things other than my own raggedy breathing!
Well done Marie. It amazes me that anyone could've run up Harley Shute and Queensway. Hastings HM has a reputation for being tough and rightly so. Just to get round is an acheivement and your time was great too. Well done to your son as well.
I wish I'd had the weather you guys had on Sunday for mine a few weeks back, but I do not envy you those hills!!
Fab report Marie, sounds like you had the time of your life! Sorry I didn't get to see you, it was so packed wasn't it? Congrats on your time, that's amazing! 👏🏃♀️💪🏅💖
Well done, you’re amazing. I was thinking of trying to do the Hastings half next year (only just got to 5K at snails pace). Hastings is along the road for me. Not sure about the hills!! Again well done and a great time too. Happy running 🏃♀️
Don't be put off by the hills - it's a great course and a great crowd and you are under no obligation to run up them.
Also it's really inclusive as there's is no cut off time. The roads reopen after about 3 hours but they wait for everyone at the finish - the last finishers this year came in in just over 5 hours x
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CONGRATULATIONS!
Blenheim Half Marathon Done! 
First half marathon
