Today I ran the Southend Half Marathon. I ran with Yummy and we both did a personal worst, adding at least 20 minutes to our half marathon time, coming in at 2 hours 44 mins. But neither of us has had the ?pleasure? of running in 30+degree heat for that distance before.At 3 miles I had a headache starting. We got to about 4 miles and decided all race strategy was best forgotton, so we would make a nice day of it and walk when we felt like it, plod if we wanted to and throw as much water over us as possible on the way. There were quite a few people outside their houses with sprinklers and hoses to give us a shower and loads of drinking water on the course, which was very much needed. I've now got a bruised big toe nail and a blistered little toe, due no doubt to wet socks and swollen feet. My calf felt a bit tight from mile 2 and started cramping at about 8 miles but with a stretch and a rub it didn't cause any real problem. I enjoyed the second half much more than the first half, I didn't start to drink the energy drink until we had run half way and it took a while to kick in but it did help. Even so, I was very glad to finish and I don't think I want to repeat the experience in a hurry. Everyone was the same as us though, loads of walking and I suspect there were not many PB's gained today.
Running in the heat slows me up so much and my heart rate was higher than I would have liked for the whole run but we made it to the end, that's more than a lot of people did by the sound of the ambulance sirens we heard frequently.
Feeling smug and tired now, I have already had a nap which is something I would never normally feel like after a 13 mile run.

13.1 miles
2 hours 44 minutes
Average HR 164
Peak HR 180
Average pace 12.5