Well that’s it, it’s all over for another year and I can’t believe how quickly it came and went, but I did it!! Well kind of. I completed it in 2.00.51, not my 2 hour target, but a 14min PB. I am over the moon. In all honesty I am a little disappointed that I didn’t get just under 2hours, but as I was caught short when nature called at the three mile mark (after being stuck in the pen for so long) I don’t mind too much.
My last blog before the big day and I can’t believe how quickly it has come round. Since returning from my week away my training has not been as intense. I have attended my regular harrier club sessions and last Sunday I did the Jelly Tea Tynedale 10mile Road Race. If any of you were there taking part you will understand what I mean when I say that the heat was horrific!! The course is already known to be a difficult one as it’s up and down through the lovely countryside, so the pressure was on to beat my club handicapped time of 85.02min. I tried my best all the way round, helped by one of my harrier friends and completed it in 90.22min. Despite not beating my handicap I was just pleased to have finished in that time due to the tough hot conditions and hopefully I will now be able to conquer the GNR in my target time of 2 hours. Hi, so I am back from a week away and finding the running bug again was tough. I ran 3miles once while away, 1.5mile down the side of a mountain and then 1.5mile back up with only a couple little walks in between. Felt great for hill training as it was about 40degrees C and it felt like there was no air. I really wanted to go out more than once, but after realising my legs were all chafed from my shorts I decided it wasn’t the best idea and took the rest of the week off. Training is still happening, although I feel like the intensity has dropped a little and overall feeling very tired at the moment. As a result only trained 4 times last week compared to my usual 6 which included my two usual harrier sessions, a trip to body pump at the gym and my harrier club championship’s, which resulted in me not beating my handicap by I thought 1.21min, but it was actually an incredibly annoying 2 seconds, but on the plus side it was a PB for that course by about 41sec. Hi, so as promised here is my next blog update, much sooner than the last. This week has been overall another good week. It started off with a rest day on Monday as Tuesday was the Morpeth 10k. I arrived to the race on Tuesday evening feeling really nervous as I had never ran the course before and I had heard it was similar to the Tynedale 10k course, which is possibly my worst course for a 10k. I checked my handicap for our clubs Summer Road Race Grand Prix and went to the start line. Hello, sorry for the later update than most of the GNR bloggers, but training is going very well and that is partly why I haven’t had a chance to write a blog. Following my introduction I have been training 6 days a week and loving it. I started off my training on the Sunday with a 10mile run with friends from the harriers in 1.36min, and felt great. Following this was my regular harrier session on a Tuesday (speed & hill session) though I didn’t put 100% into this session as I knew I was doing the Sunderland 5K on Wednesday. This paid off as I got a PB of 25.23min for a 5k and was very pleased with that as the conditions were very warm. Hello, so this is my first blog for the North East Runner as a Great North Run blogger and to be honest it feels a bit strange as I never thought I would be typing this, but here goes … You most probably won’t have heard of me unless you run with my club, so the first thing you are probably wondering is who is she? Well, in a nutshell, I run with Wallsend Harriers, I am 24 and I have just qualified as a teacher. I have only been running with a club (and pretty much overall) for about a year and a half and love it! Prior to this I have never been ‘a runner’, in fact when I told my family I was joining a running club they didn’t quite believe me. |
Claire CarmichaelClaire is an art teacher who took up running after University and has since joined Wallsend Harriers. She has gone on to compete regularly and is looking for a time under 2 hours at this year's Great North Run. Archives
September 2012
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