Liverpool Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon: 25rd May 2014

Well it only took me four months but FINALLY here's the story of my first ever half marathon!

For those of you who have followed me from the start, you'll know how terrified I was when I started out running. The 5k was a big deal. The 10k was frightening. But now I am a HALF MARATHON RUNNER. YEAH.

Ready to Rock'n'Roll (joke had to be made soz)

In all honesty I probably wouldn't have chosen to do the Liverpool Rock'n'Roll as my first ever half, mainly because I live nowhere near Liverpool. Like not even remotely close. But when I won myself a place back at the Write This Run conference in November, I couldn't really turn it down.

So come May I found myself lining up at the start line near Liverpool Docks, with my usual "What the HELL am I doing?!" mantra preventing all rational thought about the race ahead.

Spot the (utterly terrified) Harris

But, as has been proved to me each time I've run a new, longer race, it was absolutely FINE.

I was worried about running the full half distance as the most I'd ever done in training was 15k - 13.1 miles translates as something like 21k so it was still a fair bit more than I'd ever actually run. Although I was knackered by the time I hit 11 miles, there was no point where I felt like I just wanted to collapse. I actually felt at the very end of the race that I had a little bit left in the tank.

I also took a bit of a chance by accepting a gel about three quarters of the way around the course. I've never used gels before and I know most people warn against trying them for the first time during a race. But I had a tiny mouthful of the gel every five minutes or so and felt absolutely fine. To be truthful I'm not convinced it even helped me particularly, although I don't really have anything to compare it to. It did, however, cover my hands in weird orange goo.

I (very inexpertly) had a bit of tape on my knee as I had been feeling a constant niggle in my previous few weeks of training. Happily it was no problem during the race and seems to have gone away now after plenty of foam rolling.

Running through China Town

Apart from the finish line, this was my favourite moment

It was really great getting to see a new city as part of the run - Liverpool is such a varied place and the route was great, taking us past the iconic Cavern Club, through the city's parks and dockland and some nice residential areas too. I'd certainly like to explore the city again...maybe on another run!

The route felt well-organised to me, although my only criticism would be that the whole idea of the Rock'n'Roll marathons is that there are lots of bands. I was under the impression that this was at every mile, but I only saw about 5. It was a lovely way to break up the run but I just felt like it would have been nice to see a few more!

I finished with a chip time of 2:21:51 - I'd been hoping for under 2:30 so was very pleased with this, although I do feel like I could have maybe done about 2:15, since I wasn't totally spent at the finish line.

Sweatiest post-race pic so far

Earned me some heavy metal

I'm really proud to be able to say I've completed a half marathon and am super keen to do another, hopefully in a slightly faster time. I had a few moments, particularly on the home stretch of the half marathon as I ran back along the banks of the Mersey, which felt completely surreal and I was half convinced I was going to wake up and find it was all a dream. But I did it.

Thank you so much to those of you who tweeted/emailed/texted me with support along the way - it makes all the difference. Also thank you to everyone who helped me with advice as I was training, you guys were so helpful.

Also a HUGE honorable mention goes to my friend Rachel. Rach was meant to be running the race with me but after struggling hard against an injury in the end she was forced to pull out. Rach also lives nowhere near Liverpool, but both she and her mum helped put me up for the night, fed me, looked after my big bag of race junk and then cheered me on at the finish line. Rach could have just stayed at home in South Wales but no, she supported me the whole way, What a mega babe.

I'm not convinced I'll move on to marathons yet but I'm definitely planning on signing up for another half! Any recommendations?

Harris x

See Harris Inspired: Write This Run Conference, 23rd November 2013

Arriving at the Running Show at Sandown Racecourse, all I could really think about was one thing: when are they going to figure out I'm a fake?

The nagging doubts in the back of my mind got stronger as I made my way past rows and rows of lycra, electronic gadgets, protein-packed foodstuffs and foam thingies.

"I'm not a real runner," I thought. "I only ran my first 10k two weeks ago."

"These people run half marathons, marathons, even ultra marathons."

"WHAT AM I DOING HERE?"

What followed was a huge blur and it wasn't until I was sat on the train after the post-conference party that I realised maybe I'm not such a fake after all. Maybe I'm even...*whispers*...a runner?

The biggest shock of the day, however, came when I rifled through my goodie bag and found...a place in a half-iron man! Now I like a challenge, but as someone who is still very much a learner runner and has extremely limited skills when it comes to both swimming and cycling, this was a bridge too far and so I decided to keep an eye out for someone to swap with.

Lucky for me, Cathy was on the lookout for a half-iron place! One prize-swap later and I found myself with a place in the Liverpool Rock and Roll Marathon/Half Marathon. I had not expected to be in the running (crap pun) for a half marathon for at least a year but Cathy, along with several others all insisted it was absolutely do-able.

The blogger and brand relationships panel

Ultra marathon and 24-hour runner Robbie Britton's talk 'Suffering is just part of the fun' had us all giggling

I'm not 100% about doing it yet but the more I think about it, the more I find myself wondering if maaaybe, just maybe, this is something I really could do? Plus have you SEEN the medals? Talk about bling.

Anyway, the whole day was great fun and I learnt so much - definitely felt a little sad when it was all over. I'd been planning on coming back the next day for the 10k but unfortunately I had to miss out due to family circumstances.

The better blogging panel gave me a lot to think about

Some highlights...

• A chance for inspiration and a bit of perspective - listening to talks by Sophie Walker, Simon Webb and Jennifer Bradley really helped tto make me realise that perhaps I don't have so much to contend with after all.
• Tip on how to improve my blogging - Muireanne Carey-Campbell, Jody Raynsford and Johnny Muir all gave some great tips that I hope I can put into practice for See Harris Run
• An awesome goody bag (even if it did originally saddle with with a half-iron)
• Meeting all the awesome people behind the blogs and Twitter handles - hopefully all people I'll meet again as I continue to work on both my running and my blogging.
• A pretty darn blissful yoga-for-runners session with Emma Spencer Goodier

Massive thank you to Write This Run for the whole day. Liz and Laura have created something that they should be really proud of here. I had tons of fun and left feeling so inspired!

Harris x