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.

Where there's a will there's a way!

I’ve done quite a lot of running since I last wrote here. I’ve possibly not ran as much as I should have done but at least I’ve got out there a few times and that’s what counts.

Last Saturday I did a different Parkrun in Leeds. I met my friends at Woodhouse Moor ready for my 45^th Parkrun. I’m enjoying experiencing different Parkrun’s in Leeds and I think this one was the busiest I’ve been to. It was a 3 lap course which initially put me off as I thought it would be psychologically more difficult but it wasn’t as bad as I thought and I actually quite enjoyed it.

Me, Judith, Maria and Kim

I’ve had an extremely busy week with something planned each night after work so I didn’t know when I would fit in a run. I’m determined not to make excuses as I want to ensure I train well for the Great North Run. On Tuesday night I set my alarm early and was determined I would get up early  to run. I knew it wouldn’t be far or fast, but it would be better than nothing! When my alarm went off on Wednesday morning I really wanted to go back to sleep but before I could process what I was doing, I ate my banana got dressed and went out. I didn’t know how far I was going to go but I knew I’d need to be back to get ready for work. A few minutes after I started to run I was glad that I’d got up to experience a part of the day I don’t normally see. I ran about 10 minutes away from my house before turning round and running back. I was glad I went out, it was grey and drizzly outside but by the time I got home I felt sunny and happy on the inside. I’m not sure I will be motivated enough to make it a regular early morning thing but I’m glad that I did it this week.

Pretty Cherry Blossom on my early morning run

I’ve been home this weekend and yesterday morning did Druridge Bay Parkrun (my 46^th Parkrun!) It was a bright and sunny morning and I enjoyed the route, I saw a few people I knew and enjoyed catching up with them before the run. It was quite a warm morning but Tony and I still had enough in our legs for a sprint finish!

 

Sprint Finish! (Thanks to Druridge Bay Parkrun for the photo)

My niece Toni completed the Gregg's Children's Cancer run this morning (3 miles) and she really enjoyed it . I think it's lovely she has the running bug too and she was so proud of her medal! :-)

Toni with her medal looking proud

I’d already planned to go for a longer run this morning but then also decided to go for cocktails last night as it’s my birthday tomorrow. I didn’t have too many cocktails and it wasn’t a late night so I knew I’d be ok to run this morning. As I’m doing the Great North Run with Tony we plan to do as many training runs as possible together. We didn’t know how far we’d do this morning (mainly in case I was hungover!) but we decided to just see how our legs felt. I knew I wanted to see the beach (as always when I’m home) so after running around the lake at the QE2 we headed to Newbiggin. It was a beautiful morning, albeit slightly too hot to run. We covered 8 miles in total which is more than I was expecting. We walked some of it partly due to the heat and partly due to my knee/leg hurting. Although I didn’t feel hungover this morning I probably hadn’t had enough water yesterday.

I never tire of this view

 This afternoon I also went for a walk around the lake with Rachael which was lovely. I'm surprised my legs feel ok...hopefully they'll still feel ok tomorrow!

Rach and me on our walk

I’m finally beginning to feel that the Great North Run is achievable. I know I’ve done it before but it still felt out of reach until recently. I surprised myself covering 8 miles this morning and it made me realise that running is as much a psychological battle as it is physical.