Month: January 2016

I love to run through the dawn, setting off while it is dark and returning in daylight.  Unfortunately, it is still too dark in the mornings at 5 – 6 AM to do that at the moment and I have to be satisfied with pitch black!

Boy it was dark this morning.  The streetlights hadn’t been turned on and if it wasn’t for my head torch, I would have found great difficulty navigating the light-industrial area between Dunston and the Metro Centre.  The chorus that greeted me as I enjoyed the otherwise quiet and deserted streets was not birdsong but the characteristic bleep, bleep, bleep of trucks reversing.  I thought this was very evocative of this urban man-made environment and it also showed that at 5:50 AM, when not even the dog walkers were about, the chorus of industry was showing our modern world awakaning.  The 24 hour Asda of course was already awake and I popped in for a few things at the end of the run.

When I go running first thing in the morning, I do see what seems like a different world and I am really looking forward to running through the dawn soon!

 

Below is my Hal Higdon Marathon training plan which I have chosen because it fits in with the “warm up” races that I have already booked: the Snake Lane 10 (not really a half marathon as the plan suggests but close enough) and the Spen 20. Today I was supposed to do a 7 mile run but after getting up at 5AM, not to run, but to drive 100 miles to Newcastle and only now (around 9:30 PM) arriving at the Marriott Metro Centre Hotel, it’s been a kind of busy and long day. The run isn’t going to happen!

It can be tempting, if you have a pre-set plan, to be tricked into thinking that if you miss one workout, you’ve scuppered your chances and sabotaged the programme. You can be burde ned with an incredible sense of disappointment and guilt. Of course this is rubbish because the real damage would be done by trying to force yourself to do something your body isn’t in a fit state to do!

On Saturday I have a parkrun and night run at Nostell Priory to look forward to, and a moderate 10 miler on Sunday. Then the Sunday runs escalate to 16 miles then 17, before the Snake Lane race . Beyond that the long runs get really serious with 3 20 milers before the big day.

So, a good night’s sleep is due now and then.

Broadmeadows, sounds lovely doesn’t it; visions of nice rural open spaces etc.  But, when Broadmeadows is actually a hill that goes on seemingly forever as part of a gruelling mile long relay route, you may wonder why all us Rodillian Runners are so happy.

We love it and speaking for myself, after a few days of enforced rest, after um-img and ah-ing about whether I really ought to be going out so soon, I was so happy that I felt and feel great!

We have some great runners in our club and its wonderful to see how so many have come along so far after training with us.  The girls are fast.  There was a time not so long ago when I could give them all a run for their money but now?  The message? Join a running club, get that support, advice, camaraderie and get to do stuff you would never do on your own and enjoy the results!