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.
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.
As a child I would take part in school sports day events in the summer and almost always came last at any running activity and as for the annual school cross country runs, I would do anything to avoid or walk them. I left school and went off to university where I got into the sport of Lacrosse through some friends. I loved being part of a team and soon found the extra exercise was making me feel good, but I felt very unfit, so I would go to the gym in between training sessions and try out the treadmill. I found the more I went to the gym, the longer I could run on the treadmill and the better I would feel after it. I even felt quite proud of myself when I went from running 15mins non-stop to 45mins non-stop. When I came the end of my university course I moved back to the North East and continued with a bit of Lacrosse at first and going to the gym, however, Lacrosse it is not a very big sport in this area and I found that I was easily getting bored in the gym, so one day I decided (on a mission to get fit) to look for a running club for beginners in my area and quickly came across Wallsend Harriers. I didn’t think I would be able to run for long enough with a club, yet before I knew it I was running around Wallsend with a great, friendly bunch of people, who NEVER left me behind.
I couldn’t talk and run at the same time when I first started and as the weeks went by my group coach at the time, the hugely missed Terry O’Gara, would tell me that he could tell I was improving because I could now run and talk a little bit at the same time. Soon he was asking me if I was going to enter any races. Races?? I thought, no way could I do a race … I will be last for sure!! That was probably my biggest running fear at the time. The only race outside of the school egg and spoon race or 100m sprint I had ever done was the Race for Life. A couple weeks later I went along to support my friends at the Blaydon NEHL, the atmosphere was great and I got such a buzz from being there with everyone and cheering them on. After that I had re-think about entering races and decided to take part in the next cross country meeting … little did I know at the time it was the hardest course of the season, Prudhoe.
I went into the race with one thing on my mind, not to be last. At that time it was the hardest run of my life! It was wet, muddy and worst of all it was hilly, all I could think while I ran it was WHY AM I DOING THIS?? Now for those of you who have ran Prudhoe’s NEHL course you will know the hill I am talking about at the end, but for those who haven’t it basically (to me) felt like the longest hill in the world. Half way up it, I was ready to give up, but I just kept thinking you can do this, don’t be last. The scream of encouragement from my fellow club runners who were supporting was exactly what I needed at that point and I dug deep and kept going. I finished the race third from last and despite being absolutely knackered the buzz was amazing. From then on I have had the bug and have just continued to enter local races from a bit of Cross Country and 5k and 10Ks, to a bit of Track and Field and a Coast to Coast relay run with the club. Every time I run a race the only target I set myself is to beat my last time or set myself a time goal if it’s the first time I have done it. I don’t worry about being last anymore because I really enjoy just taking part.
I couldn’t talk and run at the same time when I first started and as the weeks went by my group coach at the time, the hugely missed Terry O’Gara, would tell me that he could tell I was improving because I could now run and talk a little bit at the same time. Soon he was asking me if I was going to enter any races. Races?? I thought, no way could I do a race … I will be last for sure!! That was probably my biggest running fear at the time. The only race outside of the school egg and spoon race or 100m sprint I had ever done was the Race for Life. A couple weeks later I went along to support my friends at the Blaydon NEHL, the atmosphere was great and I got such a buzz from being there with everyone and cheering them on. After that I had re-think about entering races and decided to take part in the next cross country meeting … little did I know at the time it was the hardest course of the season, Prudhoe.
I went into the race with one thing on my mind, not to be last. At that time it was the hardest run of my life! It was wet, muddy and worst of all it was hilly, all I could think while I ran it was WHY AM I DOING THIS?? Now for those of you who have ran Prudhoe’s NEHL course you will know the hill I am talking about at the end, but for those who haven’t it basically (to me) felt like the longest hill in the world. Half way up it, I was ready to give up, but I just kept thinking you can do this, don’t be last. The scream of encouragement from my fellow club runners who were supporting was exactly what I needed at that point and I dug deep and kept going. I finished the race third from last and despite being absolutely knackered the buzz was amazing. From then on I have had the bug and have just continued to enter local races from a bit of Cross Country and 5k and 10Ks, to a bit of Track and Field and a Coast to Coast relay run with the club. Every time I run a race the only target I set myself is to beat my last time or set myself a time goal if it’s the first time I have done it. I don’t worry about being last anymore because I really enjoy just taking part.
My longest and toughest run last year, apart from the Prudhoe hill, was the Great North Run. I had always told myself that one day I will do the Great North Run because my dad had ran it a few times when he was my age, so my competitive streak wanted to prove I could do it too and also for something to tell the grandkids one day. Lots of my friends from the club were taking part and I felt inspired to do it, but could I really run it after only running for 8 months and my furthest distance being 8 miles in one go? Before I knew it I was on the start line and running along the central motorway. My only goal in my head was to run the whole thing! Jumping back a step, a few days before the run in training I tripped and fell over landing on my hip, it was bruised, but I felt like I could still run fine. However, after 9 miles of the Great North Run my legs were screaming at me to stop, and my hip was really aching, but something inside me was keeping me going. I completed it non-stop (although I am sure my running at one point was so slow it could have been classed as walking) in 2hr14 and told myself I would never do it again. Fast forward to the ballots opening for this year’s race and I thought well I have done it once so this year I am going to beat my time. I luckily got in and from then on it has been my running focus of the year. I got in touch with one of the coaches from my club for some advice on how to properly train for it this year, around my teacher training.
So the training… well, put it this way for most of this year it has been very little, I kept the training advice in mind, but trying to balance my new teacher training lifestyle and keeping up my running was very difficult and I would often miss sessions and put running to one side to catch up on writing an assignment or planning lessons. I qualified in June and since then my focus has turned towards running. At the moment I am attending as many club sessions as I can as well as trying to get long runs completed at the weekend or when I can, along with some other kind of exercise just to mix it up a bit. At the moment a goal for running the Great North Run in 2 hours would be amazing, but I would also be very happy to just to beat my time from last year.
In addition, I am also running this year’s Great North Run with a few of my none club running friends and we are raising money for a charity called the North East Autism Society who do amazing work for children and adults with Autism. If you would like to sponsor us, please visit our just giving page by clicking here any support is greatly appreciated, thanks.
So the training… well, put it this way for most of this year it has been very little, I kept the training advice in mind, but trying to balance my new teacher training lifestyle and keeping up my running was very difficult and I would often miss sessions and put running to one side to catch up on writing an assignment or planning lessons. I qualified in June and since then my focus has turned towards running. At the moment I am attending as many club sessions as I can as well as trying to get long runs completed at the weekend or when I can, along with some other kind of exercise just to mix it up a bit. At the moment a goal for running the Great North Run in 2 hours would be amazing, but I would also be very happy to just to beat my time from last year.
In addition, I am also running this year’s Great North Run with a few of my none club running friends and we are raising money for a charity called the North East Autism Society who do amazing work for children and adults with Autism. If you would like to sponsor us, please visit our just giving page by clicking here any support is greatly appreciated, thanks.
Right, well I feel like I have chatted on a bit too much now so I am going to leave it hear, but before I do I would just like to say one more thing…
A year and a half ago I could barely run 3 miles; I am now training to run 13 miles for the second time. The more I do it I better I feel and hopefully the better I get. I am by no means a brilliant or fast runner, but I enjoy it because of the people, the places and the adventures it can take you on, along with a huge sense of achievement it can give you. All I need is a good run to make me feel great.
I look forward to keeping you updated with my training over the next few weeks, can’t believe it is only 9 weeks to go… Speak soon :)
A year and a half ago I could barely run 3 miles; I am now training to run 13 miles for the second time. The more I do it I better I feel and hopefully the better I get. I am by no means a brilliant or fast runner, but I enjoy it because of the people, the places and the adventures it can take you on, along with a huge sense of achievement it can give you. All I need is a good run to make me feel great.
I look forward to keeping you updated with my training over the next few weeks, can’t believe it is only 9 weeks to go… Speak soon :)