{"id":1959,"date":"2015-03-15T20:46:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-15T20:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2015-10-16T16:36:43","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T15:36:43","slug":"inverness-half-marathon-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2015\/03\/15\/inverness-half-marathon-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Inverness Half Marathon 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1957\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1957\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2015\/03\/15\/inverness-half-marathon-2015\/inv-half-2015-john-meg\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1957\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1957\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg?fit=1024%2C764&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1024,764\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Inv Half 2015 John Meg\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;John and Meg after completing the 2015 half marathon&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg?fit=450%2C336&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg?fit=640%2C477&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg-450x336.jpg?resize=450%2C336\" alt=\"John and Meg after completing the 2015 half marathon\" width=\"450\" height=\"336\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1957\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg?resize=450%2C336&amp;ssl=1 450w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg?resize=300%2C224&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg?resize=960%2C716&amp;ssl=1 960w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg?resize=250%2C187&amp;ssl=1 250w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Inv-Half-2015-John-Meg.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1957\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John and Meg after completing the 2015 half marathon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Inverness Half is always a tough race, coming early in March and therefore necessitating some serious motivation to train through the dark winter months. This year I managed to get a good start to the training, incorporating speed sessions and hill reps on top of the longer runs, though it all fell apart when I was struck down with flu and couldn&#8217;t run for around three weeks.<\/p>\n<p>There was still a bit of time before the race so I got back into the swing of it and ready for the event. I first tackled this race in 2004 and this was my tenth year here, though it had been 10 years since I got my personal best here in 2005 at 1hour 36min 2secs (clock time). I knew I had trained better than I had in years but with that gap in my training wasn&#8217;t sure if the PB was realistically on the cards.<\/p>\n<p>I paced my race reasonably well, sticking inside my 7.15min miles I would need to beat it for the first half of the race but a couple of slower miles towards the end knocked any realistic chance of today being the day! However, I was delighted to break 1:40.00 which I hadn&#8217;t done for a long time and I finished on the nose of 1:39.00 in 306th position out of a record field of around 1800.<\/p>\n<p>My wife Meg took part in the Inverness Half &#8211; her first half marathon since having our two kids &#8211; and finished in what she is proudly describing as a &#8216;personal worst&#8217; of 2hrs 11mins! Her cousin Ian finished just seconds ahead of me, still a couple of minutes behind the world-record breaking mascot runners!<\/p>\n<p><code><br \/>\n<iframe src='https:\/\/connect.garmin.com\/activity\/embed\/716579570' width='465' height='500' frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/code><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1964\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1964\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2015\/03\/15\/inverness-half-marathon-2015\/wpid-wp-1426287978198-jpeg\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1964\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1964\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?fit=2048%2C1363&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1363\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;John with Ian Hunter at the end of the race. Picture by Calum Mackay, courtesy SPP&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?fit=450%2C299&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?fit=640%2C426&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198-450x299.jpeg?resize=450%2C299\" alt=\"John with Ian Hunter at the end of the race. Picture by Calum Mackay, courtesy SPP\" width=\"450\" height=\"299\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1964\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?resize=450%2C299&amp;ssl=1 450w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?resize=960%2C639&amp;ssl=1 960w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?resize=250%2C166&amp;ssl=1 250w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wpid-wp-1426287978198.jpeg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1964\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John with Ian Hunter at the end of the race. Picture by Calum Mackay, courtesy SPP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Inverness Half is always a tough race, coming early in March and therefore necessitating some serious motivation to train through the dark winter months. This year I managed to get a good start to the training, incorporating speed sessions and hill reps on top of the longer runs, though it all fell apart when [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5M0xs-vB","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1959"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1969,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions\/1969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}