The Ones That Count

Beachy Head Half Marathon 2026 Training Block - Week 9/11

It's days like this when you start to question your own sanity. It's 6:30am, it's still dark outside, there's rain threatening and today's session is drop-set hill reps. These are hard at the best of times, and there's going to be a fair amount of pain and discomfort involved. There are definitely easier ways to start a Friday morning.

The 3km warm-up took me to the bottom of the hill. That's a little longer than the Runna plan suggested, but this is the closest hill I have with any serious elevation, so there's not much point arguing with the route. Then came the main event: 6 × 60-second hill reps, followed by 5 × 30-second reps.

The first six were arduous. The humidity was back up to 86%, and I was certainly feeling it. Even in the early morning cool, the air felt heavy, and the longer efforts took plenty out of me. Thankfully, the shorter 30-second reps felt a little easier, despite having less recovery time. By that point, I was already committed, so it was a case of keeping going and getting the job done.

There was nothing particularly glamorous about this session. No beautiful sunrise to distract me, no effortless miles and certainly no opportunity to pretend I was enjoying every second of it. But I kept reminding myself that these are the sessions that count - the ones that make the difference. It's easy to enjoy a comfortable Zone 2 run when the weather is good and the legs feel fresh. It's a different proposition to get out into the dark, tackle a punishing hill session and keep going when every part of you would rather be somewhere else.

By the time I finished the reps, I was absolutely dripping in sweat, with the early morning drizzle adding to the general dampness. I jogged the cooldown back home, bringing the total session to just over an hour and around 10km.

With the Beachy Head Half getting closer, sessions like this are an important part of the preparation. They're tough, they're uncomfortable and they don't necessarily make for the most exciting entries in a running journal - but they're part of the process. One more hard session ticked off. Happy to have got that done and dusted.