Run Like the Wind; The Brighton Half Marathon 2012

I can't believe I wrote this up last night, and accidentally deleted it from the blog.  What a stupid thing to do, but here we go with another attempt:

What a day.  I completed the Brighton Half Marathon in 1:41:21, which was far better than my expectations in my previous boring ramblings.  This was a surprise, and a huge confidence booster leading up to the Brighton Marathon in April.

Taken from the official results page

The weekend didn't start to the best of news.  My friend Stan called me, and let me know that he wasn't going to come down to Brighton, due feeling heavily under the weather, resulting in bad headaches.  Only Stan knows his body, but to undertake this kind of distance, and not feeling fully would be a huge mistake.  I was gutted for him, and so was he obviously, but he has plans to get onto another half marathon race in the next couple of weeks to keep his motivation going.  It must be horrible to prepare for something so well, and then not be able to do it due to unfortunate circumstances.

Looking back towards the pier from the beach

So, I was left in Brighton on my own.  When I arrived, it was raining, and windy.  I had the full ensemble on to beat the weather, and decided that as my hotel was a couple of miles down the seafront, and the wake of the sea was looking good, I would meander along the coast to my desired destination.  I got set up in the Sea View Hotel, in a room with no view of the sea, then went to find a more local Italian restaurant to stock up on the carbohydrates, and a naughty bit of pudding.

It's difficult to resist chocolate and ice cream

The morning was bright, and fresh.  I got up early, did some necessary stretching, and walked the coast back towards the pier, and the starting area within the vicinity.  It was certainly cold, but I kept doing my stretches, and kept warm by not sitting around too long in one spot.  Then, before I knew it, the race started, and it wouldn't be for another 13.1miles before I could stop and rest again.

Ready at the start line

The race was nicely organised.  It was an undulating course, with a couple of gradual hills, but all seemed fine.  There wasn't the greatest deal of 'human traffic' in front, I could nip past anyone in the way with ease, and fought my way all the way to the finish line.  I was feeling the burn around the 11 mile marker, which was probably a little more mental, as I could see the finish in the distance ahead, slowly coming nearer with every step and breathe I took.  I certainly felt as though I got through the finish doing my absolute best, and before I learnt my time, knew I couldn't have done much more in terms of effort.  The time was the icing on the cake.

Relaxing at the finish, I used my sunglasses as a filter

Now I can take heart, know I can do half a marathon comfortably at a pace I am proud of, I just need to put in the extra training to become more comfortable with longer distances, and in 8 weeks time return to Brighton, and run twice the distance.

Bring it on.

Panoramic from the beach at the start/finish of the event.  Sunglasses used to effect again