Tag: Running

It’s taken me a few days to process this one!

The Gateshead Half Marathon and 10k has been going for two or three years now, I believe. Slightly confusingly, people round here often used to refer to the Great North 10k as the ‘Gateshead 10k’ – and the RunThrough-organised Gateshead 10k does follow a fairly similar route to the old Great North 10k route, starting and ending in Gateshead Stadium. It’s two laps and an extra bit for the half, but as I’m doing a lot of races on the bounce at the moment, I decided one lap was more than enough for me!

There were quite a few TMBR clubmates doing the half, so I was able to meet up with people en route to the race and hang out in the stadium beforehand. Braving the rain, we were off, along the track and out onto the road.

I wanted a PB. My existing PB was 1:04:41, set at the Sunderland 10k in 2021. I had come close with a 1:05:07 at the North Tyneside 10k three weeks ago, and that’s a tougher course by all accounts so I was hopeful. The strategy was to semi-chase the one-hour pacer for a while and then just try to hang onto the pace.

The elevation was roughly one mile downhill, four miles flattish, one mile uphill. I did manage to keep the pacer in sight for some time, and was also able to try and keep up with some half marathoning friends every now and again. The worst bit was actually when we crossed into Newcastle for an out-and-back that felt like it lasted forever! Back on the Gateshead side, around about mile five, there were some more TMBR folks (Benchies) out supporting as part of their Sunday social, which was a huge mental boost.

The final mile uphill was really tough, and every corner felt like it should be the turn into the stadium but wasn’t yet! But finally I was back on the flat track. Between the rain and the crowds I couldn’t see exactly where the finish line was, and so I mistimed my sprint, but to be honest I didn’t have much of a sprint left in me. I finished in 1:02:57 – a 1 minute 44 second PB! I am gradually starting to believe that sub-hour is possible this year. I have another 10k this weekend, in Sunderland – and I’ve always found Sunderland to be a fast course so it’d be great if I could shave a few more seconds off. We’ll see!

I really loved Gateshead 10k – well organised, great post-race experience and I do like finishing in a stadium. I will 100% be back next year – especially as they’ve just announced an extra distance, the Newcastle-Gateshead Marathon, which will be three laps of an extended version of the course! I won’t be doing the marathon next year as I’ve already got Manchester booked, but I am thrilled we’re going to have a marathon taking place in the centre of town here and am really looking forward to the atmosphere already. I’ll probably sneak in for the 10k again seeing as I enjoyed it so much this year!

Bit of a long story behind doing this event. After deciding to defer Manchester Marathon to 2024, Geth and I were looking around for a replacement spring event (as he was still planning on doing a full marathon). We selected the Saturn Running ‘Nearly But Not Quite London Marathon’ event in Durham, as it’s an eight-hour lapped event where you can do as many laps as you want. This meant that Geth could still run his marathon (six laps) and I could do as many as I was able to on the day, dependent on spondylitis flare-up level etc.

Following Geth’s injury and cessation of marathon training, it gradually became apparent that I’d be doing the event on my own (originally we’d thought that he might be able to plod round at my speed to keep me company, but it wasn’t to be). My strict rolling/stretching/S&C routine has largely kept my flare-ups away for the last month, so I was hopeful that I’d at least be able to do a slow half, even though I’d not done any long run training for the last month or two.

After a very early start to get to Durham, I was glad that bag drop was just a groundsheet at the start/finish area so I was able to keep my coat on until the last minute! It was still pretty chilly at that point. After the local junior parkrun had packed up and left the area, we were off, and I settled into practice marathon pace, which for me at the moment is a slow jog with a walk break once per mile.

The route was beautiful but not fast (a few traily/muddy sections, uneven bridges and gentle inclines) so it’s probably for the best that Geth didn’t end up attempting a sub-four marathon there – he’d have been disappointed I think. Despite the forecast rain, it ended up being a lovely sunny morning and a great day for a gentle run!

Unfortunately the spondylitis pain descended during lap two – a sharp, persistent ache in the small of my back and the gradual onset of stiffness around it. I really, really wanted to push on for a third lap to finish a half marathon, but I think I would have been crawling home and possibly risking not recovering in time for next week’s 10k. As such, I reluctantly called it after two laps and nine miles. No half marathon pin for my medal ribbon, but at least I still got the medal! You only need to do one lap to get it.

Geth is wondering, given that I haven’t had any problems during shorter faster efforts in recent weeks, whether my form when I’m doing plod pace is part of the problem (in terms of aggravating my spondylitis). I’m not even sure where to start with my form (as it’s pretty awful at all paces) but part of the ongoing strategy for this year is to build up long runs at a faster pace, so we’ll see if that makes a difference.

Silver linings for this run: no foot pain (due to wearing my comfiest shoes), no feeling sick (as the Clif Bloks are working better for me than gels) and plenty of energy (Clif Bloks again).

I really loved the event – pretty route, well organised, nice medal and lots of chocolate goodies to take away at the end. I will absolutely be back for another Saturn event in Durham – I want that half marathon pin next time!

I’m in a bit of shock and still processing this one, really!

Bag drop for this point-to-point race has to be done and dusted a full 45 minutes before the race start, so I was up early and at the race start early in order to get my bag on the van. This meant a bit of hanging about, but gradually other folks from my running group started to arrive so there were lots of people to talk to. Last time I did the race, in October 2021, runners weren’t allowed to congregate inside the sports centre due to COVID restrictions – I’m so glad this has changed, because it was a chilly morning and I was cold after putting all my warm stuff away in the bag!

I hoped to average 10:30-minute miles, as that’s the faster end of the pace I’ve been doing with the group recently. The aim was to get well under 1:10:00 and close to my PB, as on paper that was the expected result based on my recent training. However, none of my races were as they should have been on paper last year, so I was incredibly nervous (see yesterday’s blog post). I felt a brief spondylitis twinge on my left side as we were walking to the start line, which didn’t help! But the calm side of my brain reminded me that these twinges while doing warm-up walks hadn’t continued into my runs recently.

First mile was 9:54. Too fast! I managed to settle into a more sensible pace after that, probably helped by the big hills in mile 2. One of my major worries was just not being able to find the speed on the day, but the race atmosphere was a huge motivator, as were my race shoes (Saucony Endorphin Speed; I only ever wear them for faster efforts).

Issues that cropped up during the run:

• That weird shoulder stitch (which tends to happen if I’ve eaten less than 12 hours before the run)
• The beginnings of an actual stitch that didn’t quite develop into a full-blown one (ditto)
• My standard-issue foot pain (I’ve accepted that this is inevitable in the later stages of a race when I wear my speedy race shoes, as they’re not wide enough for my mile-wide flippers; I can put up with it for distances up to 10k, as the extra speed they give me is more than enough of a tradeoff)

Issues that did not crop up during the run:

• Anything spondylitis-related. Score!

Running at under 10:30-minute mile pace (10:24-minute mile average pace, to be precise) for 10k was definitely a harder effort than I’m used to at the moment, but it was manageable. I did think from my on-the-spot maths during the race that I might be on for a PB, but it wasn’t quite to be. However, I was only 26 seconds slower than my PB (1:05:07 today), and prior to the race I didn’t think I’d get anywhere near it – so I can’t be anything other than thrilled. Training has not been at all ideal for the last few months, so I’m hopeful I’ve still got a bit of room for improvement in the 10k. I still want that sub-hour one day and I still believe I can do it in the right circumstances.

A few more 10ks booked for this spring/summer. Fingers crossed I might see that improvement soon.

Not the best title. The ‘This Girl Can’ event isn’t a race, not being timed or having winners or anything. Also, it took place nearly a month ago now, on International Women’s Day on 9th March. I am really behind with my blogging (watch out for two years’ worth of gig reviews coming soon…ish…possibly). Nevertheless, I wanted to get this ‘race’ review out now, before my next race this coming Sunday. Hopefully I’ll be quicker to blog about that one!

I had heard about the annual IWD ‘This Girl Can’ 5k on the Town Moor years ago, but had never run it before. I don’t tend to do fun runs or non-timed events because I’ve traditionally been quite result-focused (I may be a slow runner but I do care about these things 🙂 ). However, a few people in my running group were doing it this year, and it seemed like a nice thing to do with friends, and it was a free event, so I decided to sign up and give it a go.

The half marathon I’d done at the beginning of February had been a real knock both mentally and physically, and in early March I was still struggling with the same spondylitis flare-up. I’d only been running short distances in the intervening time, and I knew it would just be a jog round on this occasion (I was quite pleased with 34:08 in the circumstances, even if the course was a bit short!). Still, it was lovely to be running in an event again and to feel part of something.

They were giving out a choice of either a cotton t-shirt or a tote bag at the start, which was nice for a free event! Our group managed to snag the last few t-shirts, and then at the end they were trying to get rid of the tote bags as they had some left over so I ended up coming away with both – win.

It was a lovely atmosphere and I would absolutely run the event again. I’ll probably be back next year.