1st half marathon in an hour......

[Backintime4breakfast]

I'm bricking it. never done one, only run 9 miles so far & I'm very very slow. not told anyone anyone I'm doing it in case Im so rubbish I don't finish. Im trying to think of the nice lunch waiting for me when i get home......but I'm really really nervous ☹️
any words of advice? ( Not "don't do it " though!)

I’ve run a couple of halfs. If you can do 9 miles you can do 13.2. Don’t think about the whole distance and break it down into chunks instead. Start off slower than you normal pace and build up so you don’t burn out. Hopefully there’ll be good crowd support on the course and the all important medal when you finish. Good luck! You’ll feel so accomplished when you finish. Remember the mind gives up long before your body will

Ah, you’ll be fine. I always find that on race day the excitement keeps you going! Don’t start too fast - I’ve made that mistake many times and don’t worry about speed generally - walk for a bit if you need to - there’ll always be someone slower! Have fun

Start off SLOWLY. The temptation is that if you’re feeling fresh and excited especially with a crowd you will go too fast and burn out. Throw in a few 10 sec walk breaks if you can’t keep the average pace down enough. Good luck! No shame in walking some either, lots of people will.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself, just take your time, keep hydrated and eat small sweets or snacks to keep your energy up. The crowds will keep you going - & don't worry if you have to walk a bit, there will be plenty of people doing that.

Well done on getting this far! Enjoy!

Make sure you stop at every water station and have a drink and maybe walk for 30 seconds or so if you need to. Enjoy the crowd support - can you write your name on your top if it isn't already printed on your bib? Good luck - you can do this!!

I, quite literally, couldn't run to save my life. You can do this. If you need to slow down or walk, do it. Well done for giving it a go

thank you everyone. jelly babies at the ready 😁

Good luck!! I have my first half in a month and keep bursting into hysterical sobs at the thought of it!!

Hope it's gone well for you OP. I did my one and only first HM last summer. I trained well and conscientiously. It was fine up to 10 miles then the tank completely emptied and it was a grim 3 mile , steep uphill crawl to the finish. I couldn't eat my jelly babies, had to spit them out as my mouth was so dry, despite taking on water at every station. I'm never ever doing it again - sticking to 10km.

josephine were you taking anything to replace lost salts? It might be that you had enough fluid or even too much, but your body was still dehydrated from lack of electrolytes.
I have a salty drink or bag of crisps before running and it does ease my muscle cramping.

I hope it's going well OP, although from the title I thought that you were aiming for a very ambitious, elite HM in one hour and being a tad optomistic

thanks for all the support. mission accomplished. Shiny, your comment did make me laugh......I think 3 hours might have been nearer the mark, but hey, thats a PB 😁😁 right?!

That's amazing, @backintime4breakfast! Well done 🎉

Well done

Fantastic !

Well done (though I misread your thread title and thought you were planning to complete your first half-marathon in a time of less than an hour! )

Well done!

Well done!!

Awesome achievement - how are you feeling today?? I was WRECKED after my first half - hobbling like an 80 year old and aching in places I never knew I had.

But I was smiling ALL day!!!