What a Day / What a weekend!

The week-end started well for me. I lived in Newcastle nearly 20 years ago and still have some good friends there. It was with some of those friends Phil / Anne and their four children I was staying for the week-end in Gosforth, really close to the start of the run.

I got into Newcastle on Friday evening, within ten minutes of arriving I was immediately taken out by my hosts to a fund raising party at the Gosforth Squash club. It was a great evening and an excellent chance to increase my fluid levels considerably – Not sure pints of Worthington’s are quite what the training manual recommends but fun though!

Saturday morning after a bit of a lie in and a slightly thick head I wondered down to the Quayside and to the exhibition with Anne and various children (none of them mine I hasten to add!!).

It was great and we all really enjoyed it. The Lucozade sport stand was informative as always and I had a good chat with a few of the team. I managed to avoid the video diary but did pick up a pace band and some Lucozade sport. I needed to replace lost fluids or at least that’s what my dull head was telling me – one or two too many Worthingtons I think – excellent preparation!

While I was there I also had my running gait analysed on the Nike stand. This was excellent. The girl on the stand was really helpful and showed me with the help of pretty impressive video technology just how bad my running step is. Just as useful she then showed me what a difference the correct shoes make – Wow – Impressive but also worrying as I would not be using them for the race. The children loved it and really enjoyed clambering all over the Nike stand, they left the event with an assortment of balloons so were happy.

After lunch with the adults feeling better we headed off for Sunderland in the car and finished up driving most of the route of the run the next day – This proved a little worrying as it seemed such a long way!

Saturday night and another party! This time a house party round the corner in Gosforth I volunteered to drive and only drank water, a sacrifice for the next day!

Sunday morning and I woke up early with an air of expectation. My friends Phil and Anne and their children were also up and ready to head off to the start with me. We all headed off across Jesmond moor to the start and saw the crowds all gathering.

I find the start line of the great North run and amazing place. It’s both inspiring and sad. People of all shapes and sizes and dressed in all sorts of costumes are there and most seem to be running in memory of someone or for a charity which is dear to their heart. There’s always a great spirit about the place with people clearly there to have fun and meet their personal challenge. I had arranged to meet a fellow member of the Lucozade team at the start but this was impossible due to the crowds of people and so I was on my own in the start pen.

I was in the green zone towards the back and I could not believe the sheer numbers of people all around me. It took us nearly 19 minutes to cross the start line but even that was 19 minutes of fun. As I crossed the start line my own little band of supporters cheered and shouted after me from the side bringing a smile to my face which would last nearly the whole race.

The race itself was great; the atmosphere throughout from both runners and supporters is fantastic. The bands on the course are excellent and really help you keep going. I did struggle to get past people due to the numbers through out the race and that probably slowed me down a bit.

This was probably a blessing in disguise because the last 1 /12 miles into Sunderland are all up hill and this was a killer! I ground my way up the hill towards the finish, past the beer stop by the side of the road set up by a couple of keen supporters (I did not partake though!), onwards past Elvis playing in a bus stop (That needed a double take to make sure I was not hallucinating), before reaching the summit at the traffic island and the short down hill to the finishing straight along the shore.

I had a mental image of this last bit of the course and was looking forward to rounding the last corner and seeing the finish in the distance. I had even planned my finish and wanted to accelerate down the hill and up the finishing straight over the line.

Despite being on my last legs I picked myself up and accelerated down the hill as planned, there was a bit of a log jam on the corner but I managed to get through it. I looked up expecting to see the finish line not too far in the distance ready for me to accelerate towards. Shock horror it was not there!!

My mental picture of this part of the course was not quite right, the finish line was still quite a way off and I could not see it never mind have my moment of glory and sprint over it!

The impact of this surprised me, my mind just said to me this is daft, it hurts, you’ve got further to go than you think, why don’t you just walk for a bit. I slowed down and walked for about 10 steps before giving myself a swift kick up the a**e and stumbling on. I soon saw the finish with the clock ticking on and on. To my horror I realised had missed the target time of under two hours by about 3 minutes but I had both enjoyed it and finished.

My eventual time was 2 Hours 2 mins and 58 seconds which is 8 minutes better than last year. I did not beat the 2 hours but I did have a great time and enjoyed the race massively.

My foot injury is still with me but was never going to stop me doing the run. I may have to look at it a bit more seriously soon but I am a bloke and blokes hate to admit there actually anything wrong with them!! I will see how it goes over the next few weeks.

After the race it was a long walk home on tired legs a meal with my hosts in the evening and then an early plane off to Milan for the week with work.

I have just returned from Milan where I did not get a minute to myself all week and certainly had no time to run. Right now I am deciding whether to run in the Great Cumbrian Run in Carlisle next Sunday. I suspect I will!!

What an amazing change, a few weeks ago I would not even have thought of nipping out for a run or entering another half marathon. Now I am even planning to do so and half thinking whether I can actually achieve a full marathon. I would love to but not sure if I can – we will see.
The Lucozade sports team helped me immensely and it is true to say that without them I would not have even been in this years Great North Run. I do believe that their help, suggestions, advice and the excellent product, both in training and in the race were invaluable for me. I would like to thank everyone at both Lucozade and Fast Track for the whole experience this year – Fantastic.

Mixed week - Might just have to hop round!

Last week was again quite frustrating. The start of the week things were not much better with my foot still painful although no where near as bad as before. By the time Wednesday came around it was feeling allot better and I was determined to get out and give it a go - which I did.

All seemed fine with no real sign of it getting any worse. Still not back to normal but bearable. I actually felt pretty good during and after my run generally which was encouraging. Not wishing to push it and still feeling a bit of pain I did not venture out again during the week.

I am writing this very early morning on the Wednesday the week before the race as I am away on business in the USA this week. It's 4.00 am here in the US or 9.00 UK time. I am trying to stay on UK time as it's only a fairly short trip, just means long days. My foot seems to have got worse over the last three days. Not really sure why as while I have been walking around a bit I have also been sitting down on planes allot and have not run at all - Strange!!

My running kit has seen no action this week and is a passenger at the bottom of my bag which is disappointing and not the best preparation for Sunday. I will return for the week-end and go straight up North for the run on Sunday when it will be time to dust of my running kit and see how I get on.

I am starting in the green zone somewhere so will have to watch I don't get killed in the rush as all those well prepared runners come charging past me. I suspect that my approach to the race this year is going to be to get round as well as I can, which is a shame. I am missing long runs from my training which I am sure will tell on me in the second half of the event - we will see, if the worst comes to the worst I can just hop round! I am still determined to beat 2 hours but will have to see how it goes.

Good luck o everyone taking part.

From Bad to Worse!

This week has not been a good one for running, I never thought I would actually miss going running but I did. The injury to my foot seemed to get worse and in the early part of the week and I have no choice but to try to rest it. I found it difficult to put any weight on my foot without an annoying almost burning sort of pain to the front underside of my heal. It seems to be especially bad in the morning when I get out of bed .
I have been travelling in Europe a bit this week with work and the early part of it saw me in Germany where there were loads of running opportunities. The last two days of the week were in Verona and Milan in Italy. I am pleased to say I visit Verona quite allot and I usually run in the evening before dinner but not this week.
By Friday / Saturday the injury seemed to be getting a little better and at least I could walk around without quite so much of a hobble. A bit of research on the internet gave me some ideas of what it could be but I am still hoping for just bruising! Today Monday after a whole week off running there is a still a little pain but nothing like before. I will see how it goes but I am tempted to try for a light jog this evening and see what happens.
This is quite a big set back for me as I was late starting my training so lost weeks are not good especially at this stage. Just have to see what happens but I hate not being able to do things so need to get back to normal ASAP. A frustrating week!! - Simon

Good week / Bad week

Last week was a mixed week with some good running in a variety of places but a bad end to the week!

Monday and Tuesday saw me working in Irvine on the West coast of Scotland. Monday evening was magnificent with bright sunshine and the Isle of Arran framed in the low sun over the sea and a stiff sea breeze adding a little extra challenge on the home leg of my evening run. My run was just over 4 miles mainly on the beach and was followed by a further two mile walk to the restaurant for dinner (It all counts)!
Tuesday was dull and overcast but the sea breeze was still there and I enjoyed my run doing about 5 miles on a similar beach route.
Wednesday I was travelling all evening down from Scotland to Cumbria after a day in the office so it was the M74 and M6 and no run - I will call that a rest day.
Thursday I was working in North Cumbria which meant I was able to stay at my place in Cumbria on Thursday and Friday evenings. The countryside to the East of Carlisle and into the Eden valley is lovely and largely unspoilt by mass tourism. I have a route of about 5 miles that I run here close by the lower reaches of the river Eden. The weather was great and it was a joy to run, I even felt pretty good when I had completed it.
Friday I ran my 5 mile route again in the morning before work and then in the evening after work squeezed in 18 holes of golf at Silloth golf club with some friends. My golf is a little rusty and so I tend to walk along way during a round. Great way to finish the week though, sure beats the M4!!
Saturday was a busy day, I went flying in the morning from Carlisle airport up into the Scottish borders (another hobby of mine!). After a quick lunch I was off into the Eden valley for a game of cricket which lasted late into the evening. I did not manage to run on Saturday but played 45 overs of cricket instead. As an opening bowler with far to long a run up it is more physical than you might think especially on a hot day up the hill!
Sunday was not a good day for running as I could barely walk. All week I have had a pain in right my foot under the heal. Sunday it was really bad and I struggled to put any weight on it at all. I suspect it may be bruising but will rest it and see. I planned to have a long run on Sunday and then drive from Cumbria back to London. I did the drive but not the run – A bad end to an otherwise great week – Simon.

Great North Run

To say my running experience is minimal would be an understatement, recent activity is limited to running for the bus and I don't catch that very often! I play a wide variety of sports but my job involves allot of global travel so fitting it all in gets increasingly difficult. I have always tried to use running as a means of staying fit as it seems to work pretty effectively although until I decided to enter this years Great North Run this was starting to become a distant memory.
I ran the Great North Run last year but was completely unprepared, I was the perfect advert for how not to do it. I did not train at all for it, I did it the day after returning from a hectic travel schedule literally returning home the night before the race and to cap it all I had no food in the house so did not eat for approx. 24 hours before the race! Not the best preparation. I finished the race in 2 Hrs 11 mins but felt terrible and did not really do myself justice.
So this year some things will change.

• I will be training or at least trying to - I have started already as you might expect but it's still a bit hit and miss.
• I will be eating properly - or trying to (That means I need to learn to cook!!).
• I will be travelling allot over the next month with work and as usual will be flying back from the USA on the Friday before the race (something’s don't change!).
• I will be looking to beat my time and hopefully feel a little better at the finish.

I dread the training which I need to immerse myself in over the next month but no doubt it will do me good. Getting out there after a day at work is probably my biggest challenge, once I get out of the hotel or my house if I'm at home I am fine. Last year Scooby- Do passed me in the race, yes I could not run as fast as a guy dressed as a cartoon character!!, This year with better preparation I will be happy if I see a few less people pass me in the race and I beat my time from last year.