So...
25/09, Run to the beat music half marathon, 21 km (13.1 miles). Official time 02:07:57.
My run keeper says 02:09:34, 06:04 average min/km. I didn't start it exactly on the starting line basically because I couldn't tell exactly where it was and didn't want to be messing around putting my iPhone back in my belt which is definitely NOT a bum bag.
Dd (2.3yo) woke me up at 4AM to come to sleep in our bed which is bad news as I just can't get any sleep if there is more than 2 people in the bed :) So I gave her some milk and went to sleep in the spare room for the rest of the night.
My alarm woke me up at 6:30, I got up and got ready, had my usual breakfast, took my vitamins, made a sandwich, went back upstairs a hundred times for credit card, maps, sanitary towels etc and some bathtowels (which I almost completely forgot about).
Run to the beat is based at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, it's a half hour drive from my place.
This year there were 17 000 runners apparently. (another shock, I didn't know it was that big)
I got butterflies in my tummy on the way there when I saw the big signs announcing road closures for a big sporting event 
.
I stopped for petrol and water and got there at around 8:30, there was a queue of cars to get in the car park (I'd pre booked). It was open air which was a nice surprise, I was expecting a multi-storeys nightmare.
Once there there was a main stage at the entrance (few hundred metres from the car park.) and a Radio 1 DJ was doing a great job of keeping us entertained, telling us where to go, talking to spectators. I found the toilets really easily, there were loads of them, no queues.
I'd decided to leave my bag in the car to avoid queues and stuff but really shouldn't have worried because it was so well organised. I went to have a look at the baggage drop and there were no queues either.
Starting pens were divided as follows: Sub 1:20, 1:20 to 1:40, 1:40 to 2:00, 2:00 to 2:30 and over 2:30. I was in the 2:00 to 2:30. Originally thought it would take me over 2:30 and was being "optimistic".
Everything was well indicated and there were LOADS of marshals directing us. There was a really good happy atmosphere.
The music started on the stage which was nice. There was only a handful of people in my starting pen when I got there. The guy next to me had a garmin and a watch, he had to explain to the people next to him what it was for which was funny, I thought about you guys :D
I couldn't help but think that some of the people in my pen really didn't look that fit, bit worrying.
It was a little bit long waiting in the pens, you can't really warm up properly there.
Loads of people kept coming in, quite late some of them, in fact some after the race officialy started.
The race started at 9:45 on the dot but obviously there were three pens to go before ours, I think we crossed the starting line around 10:15am.
The course was fairly flat, a couple of "hills"which you guys would probably not think qualify as "hills" to be honest.
Thought about you fanny as barely 1K in the race some men had their knobs out (on the grass verge).
There were 14 music stations alone the way which was great. They had signed letting you know it was coming up so you could take your headphones off. The music from the DJ's really doesn't cover that much distance (500/750m) but it I found it really invigorating and always gave me a boost.
Pace wise I sarted quite fast (for me) around 10.5 km per hour according to my Runkeeper. I was doing an average of 5:45 per km and just tried to keep it at that. I did think maybe I should slow down but I felt good and people from my pen were going that pace so I just stuck with it.
some stats for you:
miles pace (min/mile elevation
1 9:03 -2
2 9:19 10
3 9:27 37
4 9:30 -17
5 10:18 83
6 10:15 38
7 7:31 -51
8 10:34 59
9 10:11 -23
10 10:05 10
11 9:56 -110
12 10:03 -21
13 10:28 -9
14 10:19 -4
Also for stats I burnt 1677 calories, and there is no chocolate cake in the house to make up for it!!!!
There were a 4 or 5 water/energy drinks stations but I didn't use any as I brought my bottle. I'm a sipper, I like to sip a little every km or so and the water stations were quite spaced out. My bottle lasted me just the right amount of time.
Some people were walking from 3k on. I didn't see anyone needing medical assistance for at least the first 15ks, and actually wondered if southern people are more responsible than northerners ;)
There were quite a few after that though, some were so close to the finish line as well.
I cheered some people on who were walking and tapped them on the back telling them there was not long to go. An older looking woman in front of me actually grabbed the hand of two young and fit guys who started walking to get them to keep on running, which worked.
(I saw them at the end, one of them lit up a fag!!, please tell me none of you guys smoke right??)
At 60 minutes running I'd covered just over 11k and thought it had gone really fast, started thinking about how long it would take me to finish and calculating in my head over and over again obsessively.
Somehow managed to miscalculate I think and was thinking "shit maybe I can do this in 2 hours and I really pushed myself hard mentally, sub 2 hours was the driving force behind my run today :D
The dj's were really good and the crowd were really helpful, I high-fived all the kids along the road.
I'd eventually decided to put my name tag at the back of my t-shirt so it wouldn't bother me at the front (because of the bum bag belt) and no one called my name, front of the t-shirt next time :D
You could download an app for Facebook with Nike + which told your friends when you started running and friends could leave comments, these were displayed on big screens while we were running. I actually saw one of mine from some friends which was a great boost too.
The last 3ks WERE hard. I remember you guys saying the last 3 miles or 3k shocking, and they weren't tooooo bad, but they were the hardest. I realised I wasn't going to do it in 2 hours but I really wanted to get as close as possible so that NEXT time I can really work towards it iyswim.
This is something that changed today actually because when I got there I really thought this would be my only half marathon, the training has been hard to fit in around my other stuff and I think I do prefer the "freedom" and choice I get with my other cardio/bodybuilding stuff. But as soon as I did my first 10k and my time was good and I could see I would finish close to 2hours I was already thinking "next year bladibla"
The last 750m were great, some guy just started sprinting really fast and he got loads of cheers (there were loads of spectators for about 1km to the finishing line.) so I started sprinting a little bit, I tell you what there wasn't much left in me and I gave it my all, really felt like puking when I finally crossed the line. It was bliss, my legs were like jelly but they gave us water straight away, then there was a longish walk back to the baggage drop/toilets etc. Got our medal, gave back the chip and stretched.
At the end there were loads of people, stages and loads of music, some guy beatboxing on a stage etc. It all looked like fun but I just wanted to get my stuff and get home to dh and dd to be honest :D
Getting out of the car park was really quick, no queues there either.
Thank you all so much for all your encouragement, sharing your experiences and all the tips along the way, you really are a very special, very motivating bunch.
I feel all emotional now .