Well my journey from c25k to b210k culminated in the Helsinki Half Marathon last Saturday helsinkicityrun.fi/en/ and I wouldn't have been standing at the startline without all you great people!
Being a newbie everything was obviously a brand new experience with plenty of scope for messing things up big time, but it was a warm sunny day, scenic route and everything ended up going well despite the usual reservations and concerns of the newbie!
So what did I learn?
Well it may vary between different events but everyones pace in the first few kms suffers (apart from those running the slowest - 3-abreast chatting - Grrrr) - So in future I'll be bagging a front spot at the group start or hanging right back for 5-6 minutes after the allotted group start to allow the field to thin out a bit. A minor learning point but important as it's frustrating jogging along in a queue at near to 7:00 when you'd planned 6:00 minimum.
It's true that you do get sucked along in certain groups and run faster than is sensible. I need to zone everyone else out and run my own pace. Fastest km was 5:35 which was a bit silly as I'd planned to run at 6:00 all the way.
I ran the first 10k too fast as it was only 10s slower that my 10k PB and 15k in under 90mins - so that was not a good idea but might be related to getting sucked along etc.
I paid for the earlier exuberance and started to slow after 16km and that's also because I hadn't done the later longer training runs in my Asics plan. Lesson learned.
Avoid the drink station energy drinks unless you know what sort they are. I nearly gagged on it and also spilled the sticky muck all over me! Took water from then onwards. I didn't walk through the drink stations but might in next race so I can do some leg swings and stretching (and avoid taking a bath).
I learned that I could actually run that far at a decent average pace (6:10) and with the 2hr barrier not too far off (or at least in sight) It's given me an incentive to train to run the HM again and do the longer training runs required.
It wasn't hell on earth (well the hilly bit at k20 maybe was - more of a hillock but seemed like Everest) and the feeling of elation at the end is fantastic! The runners' high was also great.
I didn't suffer any twinges and muscle moans while racing which felt odd/different, is that maybe due to adrenalin? My legs always moan a bit when training. Odd.
As this was my first HM it was going to give me a PB! My final splits and result was 10k 58:43, 15k 01:29:00, 20k 02:01:37, Hm 02:09:10 so faded massively over last 6km, jogged last 1km! So I was very happy to get within 30s/km of a sub 2hr time and will have that as a target for future events.
Thanks for all the help and support on this great forum!
Edit P.s I've also discoverd HM and marathon tourism/trips, so I may be off to do my first marathon in Tallin Estonia in September! We will see how the training goes first though...
HM training plan. 
Race pace?? - HM compared to M
Help- HM cutoff time
Bournemouth HM - Race Report
Swan River HM, Perth, Australia 
