My younger son is 18, 6'6" and has the sort of effortless fitness that a young man naturally has when he plays football at every opportunity and has an hour of hilly walking to get to school, the shops or any of his haunts.
So in January when he couldn't play football, his Couch to 5k went like this:
"Mum, how far is 5k?"
"Here to the Cross."
"How long does it take you?"
"I've done it in 35 minutes."
"Can I borrow your gloves and your running watch?"
Twenty nine minutes later, he's on the couch, saying, "Gosh, 5k is HARD. Can supper be really big please?"
He got the running bug, and for the first time in ages he's been asking me for advice. (I'm a maths teacher by trade, I had hoped that when he did A Level Maths & Further Maths he'd come to me for help with his homework, but it turns out he's way brighter than me, and although he never needed me to help him I've asked him to look over problems that have flummoxed me a couple of times.) He didn't actually follow the advice at first - I think I already mentioned that he's a teenaged man. But after he got ridiculous blisters he agreed to wear proper running socks, after he got his first injury he agreed to avoid sprinting down the hill, and after he failed his first attempt at a 10k he agreed to start out a bit slower.
I do most of my running locally on the hills, but once a week I drive to the next village where there's a cycle path, nice and flat, along an old Beeching Line. A few weeks ago he started coming with me, and he'd stick with me for a warm up and then go dashing off into the distance while I ran nice and easy. He still went rather too fast, and more than once I got back to the start, expecting him to be not far behind (we'd agreed to turn around at the same time) and instead I received a text asking me to pick him up from a place a little way up the track because he was knackered from going too fast too early.
Last week, for the first time, he let me pace him. I went at 6:40 increasing yo 6:10 min/km over 3km just to keep him from starting too fast and to get the hang of a pace he could maintain for - he predicted - two hours. As it was, he managed 1h50 mins, which I was really proud of him for it, he managed 18km.
So last night was his first attempt at a HM. We used the running track up in the town, now it’s open again. The plan was for me to do the same 6:40 to get him started and slowly speed up to his HM pace of 6:15 before dropping back, but it was such a lovely evening and I was in a great mood (if you know what it's like to teach Maths to a second-from-bottom set y9 class on a Friday afternoon you'll know how fantastic it's possible to feel when the afternoon is over and the weekend has begun) so I thought I'd just keep on at 6:15 a bit longer. Then a bit longer.
Because I was pacing him I was more disciplined than I’ve ever been for myself alone. The track is a perfect surface, and despite being on top of a Marylin there was no wind, I couldn’t have wanted better conditions, so I thought I’d go for a 10k PB. I paced him for 9k then let him know I was going to speed up and he should hold back.
I took a minute off my PB, and came in just below 62mins. I also set new PBs for 1k and 1mile. I was glad about those last two, because both previous PBs were downhill so every time I saw them I felt guilty like I’d cheated to get them. These ones are flat though, so genuine.
I went and did a lazy bit of cycling up on the outdoor gym where I could see the track. Son kept going, and seemed to be keeping to the pace. At what I guessed was 17km he took his first walking break, and over the rest of the run he took them more and more frequently, but by then he was so close to finishing that I think his morale was enough to boost him a good deal. We probably calculated the pace a bit wrong. But his plan was to come in at around 2:15, and in the event it was 2:14, so he was pretty happy. 😀
His first run was at New Year, so I’m really proud of him for getting to this stage. He’s going back to Uni this afternoon. Exeter where he’s headed is mostly flatter than Crowborough, although he does live at the bottom of the path known as Cardiac Hill. I’m looking forward to seeing his runs on Strava, since I was an Exeter student too once. (In Roman Times or in Cavemen Times? my oldest son likes to ask.)
Husband now says he wants to do C25k. I’m going to go out with him to keep him company. Oldest son (20, delusions of world class sporting capability) has tweeted that a HM with walking in it doesn’t count and when they are both here in summer they’ll run a HM together and oldest will leave youngest in the dust. Youngest and I laughed at that.
I have laundry to do now, before he heads off. I’ll miss him, but his departure will mean about a 70% reduction in shopping and housework, even though there’ll be two of us left. Teenagers are wonderful, but they’re high maintenance. And before I do the laundry he wants me to bring him ice packs and a glass of squash. I’ll oblige, I remember how I was after my first HM🥱
First (and possibly last) HM Race Report
First HM - Things I've learned
Ran my first ever HM! 
