Let the countdown begin!

I am writing this post from the comfort of the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, feeling rather under the weather (but feeling better following an afternoon nap). It’s been an extremely busy few months and now I’ve finally handed in the keys to my flat in Leeds and truly began to unwind, my adrenaline has plummeted and I am feeling it. This is not something new to me but it is at a rather inconvenient time; I am going on holiday with my boyfriend next week and it’s just over 4 weeks until the Great North Run.

I feel the urge to blog today because my NETA t-shirt arrived this morning. It reminded me of one of the reasons why I am running the Great North Run; to raise money for a very worthy cause. Every step I run is a step closer to covering the half marathon on 11^th September. The t-shirt is a lovely blue tech top and I can’t wait to try it out for one of my training runs in the coming weeks.

Posing in my new t-shirt

I’ve done a bit of running over the last week or so and I’m starting to feel well prepared for the Great North Run. I’m also really looking forward to it because I am sharing the experience with my boyfriend. We did a long run on Sunday (9 miles) and although largely difficult, we enjoyed getting out in the fresh air and covering the miles together. We (foolishly) thought it would be a good idea to have a few drinks on Saturday evening to celebrate successfully moving all my stuff back from Leeds over the previous few days. On Sunday morning when the alarm went off, I realised it was not a good idea at all. Why didn’t we celebrate with a nice ice cold glass of water, or some ice-cream, rather than prosecco?! That said, we still had a 9 mile run to do, so although we set off later than planned we still covered the distance. I could really feel in my legs that I had not had enough water in the previous 24 hours and it was a hot day. We tried to remain upbeat and chatted our way round; pointing out pretty scenery or counting lampposts. I was glad I wasn’t running alone as it was a tough route and I was so pleased when we made it the end. I feel better about the GNR knowing that we covered 9 miles on Sunday (in less than ideal conditions).

Tone and me on our long run

Last week my niece Toni came to stay and I told her I wanted to run the next morning. I asked her if she wanted to join me as she is training for the Junior North Run on 10^th September. I was excited by her enthusiasm to run with me (and she didn’t argue when I told her we’d need to get up quite early too!). My Parkrun 50 t-shirt arrived the night before and I was keen to run wearing it! After breakfast, my dad took some photos of us, then we were ready to go. We were aiming for 4K (the distance Toni will be running) and left my parent’s house and headed to the lake at QEII Park. Toni did brilliantly and was keen to do some faster bursts of running in between steady pace and run walking. We didn’t quite do 4K as when we were back home we’d only reached 3.6k and she didn’t want to run round the block to make it up (she’s obviously not as obsessed about rounding up running numbers as I am!) I left Toni in the house with a glass of water (and my dad) and repeated the route again myself (coming home a slightly different way which made it 4k). I enjoyed the second lap and ran more (but not all) of it though I preferred the first lap with Toni. I love that she enjoys running and that we got to share a training run together. I am really looking forward to going to cheer her (and my cousins children) at the Junior GNR. They are all raising funds for Diabetes UK as one of my cousin’s daughters was diagnosed with Diabetes when she was 6 years old. If you’d like to support in their fundraising you can do so here.

Toni and me :)

Even though I wasn’t feeling well yesterday I still went to running club last night. I decided not to go to the efforts session but enjoyed a nice 5K with Tone and the rest of the club at the first session. I felt better having run and the weather was perfect, slightly cool and drizzling. It was 100% better than the run on Sunday and I am glad I went out. Tone and me have a run planned tomorrow night and South Shields 10 miles on Sunday. I am going to wait and see how I am feeling over the next couple of days as I don’t want to push myself too hard.

I’m looking forward to going to Amsterdam next week and Tone has already been researching possible running routes. We are excited to be packing our trainers and training in another country! As it is getting closer, I am now really looking forward to the Great North Run (and will hopefully fit in another few longer runs before the big day!) If you’d like to help me support NETA I’d really appreciate it. Every penny counts (here’s the link to my page).

No more excuses...

My training feels slow at the moment and I am beginning to wonder why I thought training for a half marathon again was a good idea…

Last week saw my return to the North East and the start of my new job. It still feels a bit surreal that I am actually back living and working in the North East and I wasted no time in joining Ashington Hirst Running Club last Tuesday. I decided to go to the effort session as I was feeling guilty that I’d not done much running in my final weeks in Leeds. I really enjoyed the session (400m relays) but I think I found it difficult and struggled with the gentle run back at the end of the session due to overdoing it in the efforts themselves. Everyone was so friendly and I am excited to have a joined a club! Looking forward to future sessions!

On Saturday I ran my 49^th parkrun at South Shields. It’s been a while since I ran here and decided it would be nice to do it again before I hit the big 5-0! (number of Parkruns completed…not my age!!) I love running near the sea, there’s something about breathing in the sea air that makes me feel truly alive.

South Shields

I love the route at South Shields but it’s not the easiest, with a hill near the beginning and undulating the rest of the way round. There was also a head wind on the final stretch which added an extra element of difficulty. The sun was shining and I had good company so I was determined to keep going until the end. My calves have begun to feel tight again and I could feel them getting heavier as the run progressed. When the finish line was almost in sight, my brother in law came and joined us for the final bit which was just the final push I needed to get across the finish line. After the run, Craig, Tone and I went for a cup of tea and I enjoyed taking in the view of the sea from the window. I missed the coast so much when I was in Leeds and I appreciate it so much more now I’m home J As we finished our cuppa we saw Tony the Fridge outside the window and I shouted well done as we were leaving. He had just completed day 29 of his 100 Great North Runs in 100 day – what an inspiration!!

Tone, me, Craig before we ran

Sunday saw the arrival of the Great North 10K once again and having not ran much recently I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been. The music at the start of the route made me feel excited and I was determined to enjoy the day with great company. As the run progressed my legs felt heavy and tight and my feet began to tingle – it’s been a while since I experienced this and I think I need to re-lace my new trainers. We stopped a few times on route so I could stretch my calves and make my legs a little more comfortable. It was pretty warm on Sunday too… I always find running in the heat extremely uncomfortable and my struggle on Sunday was no different. Tone really tried to keep me motivated throughout and I couldn’t have kept going without him. At points I was close to tears, with the tightness in my calves and the heat. I loved running into the stadium, partly as I knew how close the finish line was, but also because the music and cheering really increased my motivation! Tone and I often have a bit of ‘finish line competition’ which is often my favourite part of our runs but I knew my legs couldn’t carry me any faster than they were already so we kept a steady (possibly ever-so-slightly-faster) pace.

Tone and me at GN10K

Receiving my medal and (tech!) t-shirt made the run worthwhile and I was glad I had done it. I’m also glad because it reminded me that I need to start training properly again and remember to do all the other parts of my training in between running that have just completely slipped due to how busy I have been over recent weeks and months. I have no one to blame other than myself but I know I need to stop making excuses and just get on with it. I’ve been resting, stretching, foam rolling and using ice over the last few days and I missed running club last night in an effort to get my niggles sorted.

 

 

I think I’ll do a gentle run tomorrow as they are feeling much better now. I am looking forward to my 50^th Parkrun on Saturday at Druridge Bay Parkrun (it would be lovely to see you there!). I still can’t believe I’ve made it to 50 as I used to say I didn’t have time to Parkrun at all…funny how priorities change and what you can achieve when I stop making excuses and just get on and do it…

Now that I’ve had a few days to recover I am feeling more positive about the Great North Run again though I still think I underestimated how much time I need to find for training (even though I’ve done it before). But I’m determined that there’s going to be no more excuses…

If you would like to help me on my fundraising journey you can sponsor me here. Any support is greatly appreciated and will mean a lot to the members of the North East Trust for Aphasia.