Cissbury Ring, 95% Humidity and a Very Long Sunday

Beachy Head Half Marathon 2026 Training Block - Week 8/11

Findon 10K + Long Run - 21km+

Sunday is long run day, and today's plan was a little different.Rather than simply heading out for the usual long run, I'd entered the Findon 10K and planned to run from home to the start, complete the race and then run home again. That should give me somewhere around 21–22km in total.

The day didn't get off to the best of starts, though. For once, Garmin reported that I'd had a poor night's sleep, which meant my Body Battery was considerably lower than normal. Not exactly what you want to see when you're about to head out for a couple of hours of running.

I headed out at around 7:30am, making my way towards Broadwater. There was a lovely low mist sitting over Broadwater Green, which looked fantastic in the early morning light. It was also, as it turned out, a warning.

Into the humidity

The route towards the race start is a gentle climb all the way, but it felt comfortable enough. It was already unpleasantly muggy and I knew it was going to be a sweaty morning. I picked up my race number and made my way to the start for 8:30. The Findon 10K is a small, community-organised event, with only around 40 people taking part in the 10K, which gave it a really nice low-key feel.

The route was essentially up and over Cissbury Ring, out towards Nepcote, before eventually climbing back up towards the edge of Cissbury and finishing back at the car park. There was somewhere around 250 metres of elevation packed into the 10K. And the humidity? Strava tells me it was around 95%. It certainly felt like it.

After the first major climb, the sweat was absolutely pouring. This was one of those runs where you don't really feel wet - you just realise that you're apparently losing litres of fluid. Thankfully I'd taken 1 litre of fluids with me, which proved to be a very good decision.

No heroics today

This wasn't a day for chasing another 10K PB. I deliberately kept the pace relatively easy for most of the race, and even threw in a couple of tactical walking sections on the steeper climbs. Normally I'd probably be tempted to push through them, but today I had another 6km or so to run afterwards.

According to Strava I ran the 10K in around 66 minutes, while my official race time was around 69 minutes. Either way, the time wasn't particularly important today. What mattered was getting a good chunk of hilly, technical running into the legs without destroying myself in the process. And in that respect, it was a very useful session.

The terrain and elevation were particularly good preparation for the Beachy Head Half Marathon in three weeks' time. The elevation was comparable and some sections of the trail were quite technical, so it gave me a good idea of what to expect. Even better, after the combined 16km or so of running, everything still felt good.

After the race, it was time to head home. Fortunately, most of the route back was a gentle downhill, so it was a relatively uneventful run.

By the time I passed the half-marathon distance, I decided that was enough for the day. I stopped the clock and walked the remainder of the way back. And that's probably the most encouraging thing about the whole run. There was still plenty left in the tank.

Overall, this was a very successful long run. The poor sleep didn't seem to cause any problems, the difficult conditions provided a useful test, the hills and trails were excellent preparation for Beachy Head and - perhaps most importantly - the ankle niggle I noticed yesterday didn't make another appearance.

That's a result.