At first I was afraid, I was petrified...

Kept thinking I could never live without chips on the side...
Then I spent so many nights thinking how I'd done me wrong
And I grew strong - I learnt how to run quite long...

*Ahem* Do excuse my pathetic attempt at rewriting those lyrics. Gloria Gaynor would die *L*

Anyway, the point of that was to say, I DID IT! Pretty much exactly six months to the day since I started running, here I am having completed my first half marathon. I don't think it's quite sunk in yet. It still feels quite surreal - like it didn't happen.

I went to bed early last night and woke up at about 5am, although true to form I couldn't sleep very well. A million doubts flying warp speed through my brain and I kept imagining running bits of the course. I got up and got dressed, but felt so nervous by that point that I couldn't eat anything, so I just hopped in the car and drove to the race. Once I got there and parked, it didn't take long to find all the people from the club and Tracey (my partner-opps I mean pacer-in crime) and Sam (who was all geared up to do a PB) Before I knew it, we'd handed our bags in, got our pacing balloons and stickers and were at the start line. There were heaps and heaps of people and I've got to say, it's the perfect venue for a marathon - the whole thing was just organised sooo well.

We lined up and a couple of people came and lined up with us. A guy who I'd been chatting to thought I couldn't hear him when he laughed to his mates about how crap and inept I was going to be as a pacer when I'd *scoffscoffchucklechuckle* never run more than 18kms. Arsehole. Anyway, in the end I should've probably thanked him really, since I absolutely hate people like that (endured too many years of fat jokes I think) and consequently, I saw red, got really fired up - my nerves vanished and I vowed and declared that failure was not an option. Infact, If I hadn't been pacing, I would've taken great delight in beating the pants off the evil little gnome (he wasnt that far ahead at the end). Oh well. I'll get you next time, Gadget!

I'd written the pace times down my arm and it basically worked out that we were supposed to do 7 minute kms. Tracey and I both naturally run at about 6 minute kms, so it was actually really hard to reign it back, especially at the start. Infact, there were points along the way where we were as much as five minutes ahead... so we walked through pretty much all of the drink stops, walked for a few minutes towards the end, just so we wouldn't come in vastly before the 2:30. I think walking through the drink stops was a good idea really - it broke up the run a fair bit and took the pressure off. Having the pacings written up my arm really helped too - checking our progress every km sort of distracted me from the actual distance. Going slow also meant that we (well, okay, *I*) got to perve on the cute police officers. We even had a toilet stop and one of the ladies from BRRC gave us a tim tam on the way round!

All in all, I think having to go really slow in this half was good for me because it gave me a feel for the distance and made me realise that I'll be able to go a fair bit quicker at the gold coast. I might still walk through some of the drink stops, but even if I do, I couldn't go slower than 2:30 if I tried so it's a nice foundation to have. It was good to do what was a bit of a cruisy run, chatting all the way and really enjoying it. Definitely went a long way in removing the fear factor for next month which is bound to help.

So, to summarise what is probably my hugest blog post ever, I really enjoyed this morning. It sort of represents what my first six months of running has meant to me. When I first started, I had no idea just how much running would make me grow and develop - not just in the distances/speed that I happen to run at, but on every level. Emotionally, spiritually, physically. It's been hard work, but so incredibly rewarding. I've met some lovely, lovely people - both on CR and off it - who've helped me in so many ways. Thanks Guys!

Here's to the next six months of running! 2006 - MARATHON YEAR!