Great North Run 2013

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  • I think the xc races sound great,I love running in mud over my local fields.The thing that puts me off is I'm a slow runner to start off with and would worry about how far back I'd be.

    I'm also in awe of some of the miles being posted on here,incredible efforts.

    Shielsy,yes the weather was glorious yesterday,great for my parkrun,however my time was pretty disappointing.I did have alot of injury issues last year and have worked hard on strenght training.Hopefully speed will improve with more running,

    Hope everyones long runs have gone well today.Weather is quite mild outside,looks like ideal conditions.
  • Roy Runner - I got my wrist strap from Amazon.  Just search for it under 'Garmin Velcro' and you should get the matches.  Though I'm sure I got mine for cheaper than they're advertised at now - they seem to have gone up a few quid.  I think they have different straps for different watch models.

    Graham - it's a shame I didn't get to see you yesterday.  I did watch most of the men's race before getting changed but I was responsible for taking photos of our club runners so I'm afraid I just had my eyes peeled for yellow vests.

    Unfortunately (yeah, right image ) I can't do Prudhoe as I'm working the next day, so will have to do my long marathon training run on the day before, the day of the X/C. I've actually never done Prudhoe, but everyone I know says it's really tough, so ... 'Enjoy!'  image

    Even though I'm tired I thought it best to get my 18 miles out of the way today so I can concentrate on getting everything I need doing for my holiday tomorrow.  I struggled a bit in the last couple of miles, but felt pretty good for most of it.

    I now have a date with the sofa, a cup of tea, a bar of Fruit and Nut, and the gorgeous Gregory Fitoussi on 'Spiral'.

  • Roy- I got tired of breaking the rubber garmin straps (the last one tore through in less than a month, and just at the start of a race too image) and i'd seen someone at parkrun with a velcro strap.  I got mine on Amazon- just search for Garmin velcro.  I'm really pleased with it as its infinitely adjustable, unlike the buckle of the rubber straps.

    CC2- wow. I don't think i could have fitted in any more miles than i did last month!  That's over 10miles/ day!!  I've said it before, but what a lot of shoes!

    We had our final XC today in the grounds of the Rutherford-Appleton laboratory so there were indoor changing rooms and loos. Bliss!  (all the XC country runners will know what i mean image.  And there was no mud either so i won't need to soak/ scrub my spikes eitherimageimage.

    The downside was that i was asked to be the hare for the U11 girls race- serious stress.  Some of them are seriously fast and I just couldn't be beaten by them.  So I sprinted off at the gun and just managed to keep ahead of them by the finish.  i could hear all the parents shouting on their cherubs but I didn't dare look behind to see where they were.  I don't think i'll be doing that again!

    Shielsy- hope the long run went OK and have a great holiday.

  • Ha ha - cross posts with OS who has given Roy Runner the same advice as me regarding 'Garmin Velcro'.

    OS - that would have been awful if the U11 girls had beaten you.  Next time they should maybe give the hare a bit of a head start?

    spongecake - cross country is excellent strength and stamina training (or so I'm constantly told, though it feels like it's killing me image ) and usually the men's field is so massive I'm sure you wouldn't be as far back as you'd think.  When I started running with a club and got press-ganged - er, I mean 'persuaded' - to do cross country I was terrified seeing all the whippety looking women, and sure enough once the gun had gone off off they all shot leaving me desperately trying to catch up.  I finished near the back for sure, but not last.  Now the field of women is much bigger and now I find I finish about middle of the field.  

    Maybe something to consider for the next XC season?

  • OS - I don't have a life, all I do is work and run. However the next pair of shoes have just taken care of themselves courtesy of a £50 voucher I won today in my 10k race. 

    Enjoy the holiday Shielsy. Don't forget your running kit!

  • I know what you mean,I may turn into a mud monster next season.;-) Well done on the 18 miles and enjoy your hol.B-)
  • Brilliant Effort Speedy,the mileage you do,the voucher will come in handy.
  • CC2- that voucher will be handy (or should that be footy?).  Your mileage is obviously paying off. You knocked a good chunk off your Abingdon time at London last year.  I presume you started in the good for age start?  Is it easier to get moving there or is it still a bit crowded?  I only ask so I can guage my predicted time/ pace next month.

  • Evening all.

    I'm back from Haweswater and sat here watching Dancing On Ice with a nice glass of wine.

    Will try and make this brief.

    Got up this morning and switched on the tv for just a short time whilst I got ready. Match of the Day was on and the only game I had chance to see was, would you believe it, yesterdays Sunderland match.....I just knew Mick was with me!

    Anyway, Steve told me he would be staying with me for the run, rather than zoom off ahead as he did last year, even though I told him it wouldn't be fast and it wouldn't be pretty (I've only run about 6 times since New Year and only run one 9 miler in Feb)

    We set off and I made a conscious decision not to get dragged along at a faster pace than I wanted and just listened to my legs. I just wanted to do the distance and finish without getting cramp or having to stop and crawl.

    The plan worked, I felt comfortable the whole way round until the last half mile which was so, so tough but with Steve giving me his usual amazing encouragement, we finished in 2hrs 3mins and 3secs......one minute faster than last year.

    The weather was just perfect, no wind and a nice temperature that was just right......Mick truly was looking after me today.

    I got loads of comments about my shirt from runners who had made the journey over from Sunderland, and I even got chatted up (get me!! image)

    So all in all, a nice day.....although a bit emotional at times.... but I'm so glad I made the journey up there. 

  • Well done Mandie and great for the life of Mick
  • Thanks BP.

    Shielsy - have a fab holiday - enjoy!

    CC2 - congrats on you prize.

    Some very impressive monthly mileages going on. My Feb total was 23 (1 x 8, 1 x 9 and 1 x 6)  - now you can see why I'm so pleased with todays time image

  • Fantastic Mandie,The strip must have helped,you cant beat the Red n White,and all that dog walking must be good training !! Glad to see you didnt have Micks diving boots onimage

  • Hi all, reading all the posts & there is some good stuff going on by everyone. Last Sunday was my clubs 10&20 mile race, tough course round some Suffolk villages. I chose to work on my training for Cambridge by running 10miles Saturday so that I could help out and marshall. Good decision as it was freezing Sunday but being at the 6/16 mile point I really enjoyed providing encouragement to the runners & making sure nobody got ran over!! Controlling the traffic is quite fun, especially when some pompous toffs get irritated. Went back to my old 3.5 mile course in midweek & without pushing I am way ahead of last year. Ran 12 miles today at steady pace but ended up walking most of the last mile as my calves cramped a bit being the furthest I've run since GNR. Still been running less than 2 years and next week is my 4th half marathon, not bad considering last years injury issues caused by first year running myself into a bad leg caused by my wonky pelvis. That will always restrict how well I can do but I won't give up now, I like my food too much & achieving things through running. This board really gets me enthusiastic about running when I have my struggles so thanks everyone. Off to Spain this week so one midweek 3.5 and then Cambridge. Today's time was 1:54 including the walk so maybe I can challenge my 2:05:25 PB
  • Well done Andy great to here somebody with your passion for running and helping others run
  • Mandie, that's a brilliant time off so little training, that dog walking really must be helping! Glad to hear that Mick was watching over. He'd be proud as punch. 

    Andy - you are so on for a new PB, your training has been really consistent. 

    OS - no, I run from the Champs start, not GFA, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. I've run from Green GFA in the past and the only hold ups were the ruddy celebrities, but I think that one is just for the ladies. Red GFA is unknown territory. 

  • Good grief, I turn my back for a couple of days and I'm 7 pages behind allready image

    Some impressive running going on there, enough to motivate me to get off my lazy bum and train a bit harder image

    I've now started my new contract in Edinburgh, there's an on-site gym that's abssolutely fantastic, it has a pool, in-house physio and even a weekly lunchtime group running session (that moves to twice weekly in April). I joined them this Thursday for a hill training session, I've never trained with a group before, it was a lot of fun and I certainly pushed myself harder than I would training on my own.

    I ran the Blymhill 10K yesterday (Shropshire) It was a lovely race but I was slightly disapointed with my time - 1:01:40 the course was flat so I expected closer to 55. Plenty of time left though to speed up and get some more miles in before the GNR.

    I'm currently trying to figure out the logistics of running from my hotel to the office every morning, it's about 3.5k, but I could easily strech it out a bit to make it worthwhile.  The gym at the office are currently considering renting out permanent lockers which would make things much easier so I'm crossing my fingers that they will get moving asap with this.

    Anyway, I'd better log off and go to bed - I need to get up at 4.30 image

  • Morning everyone



    Cc2 - thats some mighty impressive mileage you've been doing ! Puts me to shame !!



    Mandie - great running and a cracking time on basically zero training



    Andy - good running, well done



    And well done to everyone else out running and racing over the weekend. Hoping to get along to parkrun on sat and attempt a sub 21, havent managed to hit that time since the summer but running seems to be going well so i fancy a crack at it.
  • Bob ParrBob Parr ✭✭✭

    Morning everyone.  Hope everyone is ok.

    I'm just getting round to sticking my head round the door to say "Hi!" for the first time in two months.  I've been peering through the curtains to make sure I was keeping up with what was happening on the forum but as I've not been running much recently, with only just over 26 miles in total and a huge 44 miles in February including the Brighton Half, I think I would have felt a bit of a fraud to post.  I'd not lost my mojo but I was only managing to run once a week.  Also, last time I posted we had had the wind knocked out of our sails image

    Anyway, there have been some excellent running achievements been posted with incredible mileage.  I think that Mandy's Haweswater time on only 23 miles in the year is great.  I managed 2:05:40 for my half in Brighton on about double the training image.  Five minutes faster than I was the year before, again on limited training, but still fifteen minutes slower than my half PB on the same course when I was doing more regular training.  I'm hoping to arrange a Sunderland shirt for my regular autumn half marathon in honour of Mick.

    I've been regularly volunteering at my local parkrun - I am now one of the "top" volunteers who is not a member of the management team.  For the 5th Jan I was Run Director for the second time and then I took over the Volunteer Coordinator role for the rest of January and all of February with me being RD and VC on 16th Feb - the first time someone has done this at our parkrun.  The VC role can take quite a lot of time for us as we have about 20+ roles to fill with six people setting up the signs around the course and about the same number setting up the start / finish area and then there are about 8 marshall points that need to be filled.  I quite enjoyed it as you can build up an interaction with regular parkrunners and volunteers.  We had to cancel one parkrun on 19 January due to snow and it was touch and go for the following week but we managed to clear enough of the ice off the paths around the lake in the hour and a half before we set off.  I had run the course at 7am to check to see what the conditions were like so as I was already in my running gear I ran the course to thank the marshalls personally.  OS - we had a junior who was on barcode scanning and unfortunately she managed to scan the two barcodes in random orders so we had quite a job to fix those results.  Fortunately we have a number checker role, noting runner name, stopwatch number & finish tag number so we can check the results are accurate and that helped but we had to email the runners to ask if they had been given the wrong result.  So we now remind the barcode scanners that they must scan the runner barcode first and if it does not scan then they get sent to the "unscanned barcode" person.  This week I was on the "main" stopwatch which was a new Junst one from parkrun HQ  and when I went to start it the "start/stop" button kept on registering a double press and so it was showing "stopped" on 0.22 of a second on the first press and then it incremented in similar amounts of time until it started properly after about 12 seconds.  So I said that I would become the backup stopwatch for the rest of the run, but then the other person on timing missed two people and so I became the main one with us adding 12 seconds to all the times I registered.  This coming week I'm on Numbers handing out the tokens which is one of the few roles that I have not done before (we don't register roles that happen after parkrun but I've done all of those...).

  • Bob ParrBob Parr ✭✭✭

    Continued...  the post was longer than I imagined.

    I really like volunteering at parkrun with my current stats are 12 runs,  volunteering on 32 occasions fulfilling 60 roles (3 were running roles so they also count to the run roles).  Enough about me...

    Shielsy hope you have a great holiday.  Are you packing your trainers or is a complete rest holiday?
    Mandy, did you enjoy the Penguins program on the BBC?  Are you looking forward to Crufts this week?
    Fuzzy - love the new nick name! image
    CC2 - well done on the 10K prize.

  • Graham LGraham L ✭✭✭

    Mandie, that's a very good run on the back of not a lot of training recently. You must have a lot of natural stamina. I bet it all looked beautiful there in the good weather - a lovely course.

  • Thanks for all your lovely comments - legs are a bit tired today so, now I've done my bit at the kennels and walked the dog, I'm going to have a sofa-afternoon!

    Bob Parr - good for you for all your volunteering. The penguin programmes were just wonderful - they are amazing animals, and yes, I'm looking forward to Crufts, especially the terriers (having a Westie, I'm always a bit biased towards them).

    Sorecalf - well done on your 10k - don't be disappointed with your time at all - you did really well. Your gym sounds great and if you can get out running with the group on a regular basis I'm sure you'll soon find your times improving.

    Andy Smithsky - well done on your 12 miles, pity about the cramp but with a time like that, you should be on for a new pb very soon!

  • Welcome back bob parr !



    Well ive just entered another couple of races so think im pretty sorted for the year now, still debating a couple of events around nov and dec and toying with the idea of alnwick half in june but not sure yet. Really looking forward to thinder run yet again, taking on daley thompson in the kielder duathlon and the GNR obviously !
  • Great run Mandie- you'll be whizzing round the TR course!

    Bob -that's a lot of volunteering at parkrun.  We have one runner who's done 74 out of our 87 parkruns and never volunteered onceimage- I guess you make up for characters like that.  I think he must be very thick skinned.

     

  • Yeah that works - great pics and what scenery - you know how to make a born and bred northerner who has lived in South for far too many years feel jealous about what he is missing out on as far as scenery goes. Great tribute to Mick as well.

  • Mandie - that's a fab picture and the other one of Steve is also good too.

  • Great picture. No surprise you got chatted up! image
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