St Albans Half Marathon. Another PB, 82:53 officially, and 16th place out of 2,500 or so on the run (3,500 or so if you count the walkers).
Pretty pleased with this run, getting the PB despite less than ideal prep (Desmond's birthday party the previous day, forgot my gels and had to buy some cubes, long toilet lines) and quite a hilly course. Not exactly what I need for a super-fast time. 80:00 is still a way off, but still achievable I think, maybe back at Dorney on the right day.
Tough start, with heaps of fat arses to get around. Took 16s to cross the line, compared to 1-2 for the others around my time, meaning I should be pushing myself further to the front. Once I was clear though I took off like a madman and had to reign it back in. Struggled getting the gel cubes in and out of my pocket, and dropped them at the first water station and had to turn around. 10s lost!
Hills certainly took it out of me, especially in the middle third of the race. Was running with one guy who passed me up every hill, and then I passed him on the run down the other side. Finally the last 3km was mostly down, so I stretched it out with some decent speed. Probably indicates I had a little more in the tank, but without knowing the course, it's tough to judge.
Glad I wore the flat shoes, but also glad I didn't try to run the marathon in them. Outer arches hurt like immediately after, and still do today. I think pounding down hills was a bit much for them. Will keep them for my Burgess Park Run 5km BP attempt I think.
Finished warm-up then hard fast run with City Runners. I think the Garmin missed a few hundred meters somehow as the fast bit was well under 4:00 / km. Jog home