This morning I popped to the Essex coast for a nice almost flat traffic-free half marathon, from Walton past Frinton and Holland and back again, where possible using the upper and lower options available in the two directions.
![](https://www.stephenafoot.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-03-24-10.59.36.jpg)
The weather was cloudy and hazy but a perfect temperature for a run, with only very light winds.
Although there was a lot of sand on the prom, in general the conditions were close to ideal, and I decided to see if I could push the pace a little. I let my Garmin be ruler of my speed, and with the exception of the first slightly faster mile (no walking), every mile was within 3 seconds of 8:47 (including my 40-second walk).
The net result was a new half-marathon PB of 1:55:37, knocking 42 seconds off my previous best, which was very satisfying, and another confidence booster with four weeks till London. There were a few cheerful “good morning” calls, but otherwise not a lot of crowd support today!
I wore my heart-rate monitor for the first time in a while, and it showed a very even heart-rate throughout (with even a fractional decrease in the second half) which seems like a good sign – I’ll try to remember to wear it for next week’s longer run and see if the same pattern continues into the fourth hour.