Hi there! I don’t really know that I can give you any serious advice (my brain sort of stutter-stopped over “11km”- nicely done!) but I’ve been getting back into running lately and have fallen madly in love with Fitocracy. Essentially it’s meant to give you that sort of instant gratification kick post-work out by awarding points/ achievements/ level-ups, but even if you’re not driven by that gamer mentality, I’ve found tracking my progress online is way more helpful than I thought. I imagine there are loads of other sites you can use too, if you’re not already…

Good luck with the half marathon!

ooh Volcanic run challenge does sound like hell! but also like something I want to do?
I just ran my first half marathon in March and it was a great time! I grew up playing softball but never had any endurance and when I started running about 18mo ago it was rough. Now I LOVE it.
A few things I learned:
1) keep up your training! I didn’t really the last 6 weeks or so before the race and I finished but it hurt more than it should have. Definitely keep up your schedule!
2) If you don’t already eat during long runs, try it out. Find out what your race offers (usu. fruits sugar gels etc) and see what you feel good eating.
3) Don’t worry about a fast time, keep a good steady pace that works for you. The atmosphere will make you want to take off and sprint, but you will end up walking a lot at the end if you rush the start.
4) Don’t forget to take care of yourself post-race. Walk for a while at the end (even if you don’t want to), drink lots of water, eat some protein and carbs, massage those legs, ice them. Keep moving.
5) Have a blast!

Also, talk some friends into coming to support you. It’s actually more fun than it sounds to cheer on distance runners because you can really see that they appreciate it. And personally the crowd support kept me putting one foot in front of the other a lot quicker than I would’ve otherwise.