11 Hills, 215 Metres and a Tiny Garmin Torch

Beachy Head Half Marathon 2026 Training Block - Week 7/11

I wasn't entirely sure how today's hill session was going to go. After the increased mileage over the weekend, especially with the extra effort needed for the OUTRUNCANCER Angmering 10K on Sunday, my legs were still carrying a bit of fatigue. Hill repeats probably weren't going to be the easiest thing to throw into the mix, but they were on the plan, so I headed out to see what I could manage.

The session was fairly simple:

1.8km warm-up
11 × 60 seconds hard uphill, 30 seconds walking recovery, followed by an easy jog back down
1.8km cool-down

The first few reps felt OK, but as the session progressed I really started to feel the accumulated fatigue. By around rep eight my legs weren't recovering properly between efforts, and every remaining repetition started to feel like a decision rather than something that was simply going to happen. It would have been very easy to call it there. Instead, I kept going.

All 11 reps were completed and, although the pace wasn't quite as quick as my previous hill repeat session, I was very pleased with the consistency. The comparison isn't entirely fair anyway - that previous session included a longer recovery period halfway through, whereas today's was continuous.

There was also a small logistical lesson to take away from tonight. I don't normally run in the evenings and had completely underestimated how quickly it gets dark at this time of year. Without my headtorch, most of the session ended up being illuminated by the tiny torch on my Garmin. It worked. Just about.

By the final few repetitions I was essentially running uphill through the darkness with a small glowing rectangle on my wrist showing me the way. Not exactly sophisticated night-running equipment, but it got the job done.

This was hard. Probably harder than it would have been if I'd gone into it completely fresh, but that's also what makes me pleased that I finished it. Whether tomorrow's planned 19km long run happens is another question entirely. I'm not convinced I'm going to recover quickly enough for that, so I'll see how the legs feel in the morning.

Next time, I'm taking a headtorch.