This was my very first official half marathon! Previously in training, I had only done a few long runs up to 17k–20k, but I always ran them completely "dry" with zero carbs.

​Today, I finally listened to the advice to fuel properly, packed a bunch of Tesco gummies, and just went for it.

​My stats today:

​Distance: 21.09 km

​Time: 2:02:26

​Average Pace: 5:48/km

​The course was way hillier than I expected, and hitting a massive incline at Km 3 forced me to slow down to a 6:29/km early on.

However, ​I ended up finishing with an insane negative split that I didn't even know I was capable of: 5:28 (Km 19), 5:14 (Km 20), and 5:12 (Km 21), passing a ton of people who were hitting the wall.

​I’m so incredibly proud of this first race, but I'm dying to know from the experienced runners here: how much did those hills hold back my clock?

I recently bought a road carbon bike for £379, almost unused, from eBay. Thoughts? I've already ridden it more than 70km, and all is good so far. I only had to change the women's saddle.

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