All the training done - soon time for the real test

I'm a about a hundred miles short on my intended training distance, mainly due to the injury break in July, and I'm sure I know about that on Sunday. Target is under 3 hours, not as quick as I would have like but it's what is achievable. Still I'm a lot fitter than I was in February at the start of this journey and around 11 pounds lighter.

At least the accommodation seems sorted - better location and site facilities, a slightly lower standard but nearly £100 cheaper. It may have turned out for the better.

I may be on the BBC 1 on Sunday – running at my sedate 13min mile pace. Look for a Red Heart Runners vest, black shorts, green band on the number and number 41518, otherwise indistinguishable from the 53,999 others ;-)

Accomodation

Just been told we haven't got any!

We had a lodge booked and paid for for months. Forty miles away was as close as I could get at the time and they ring me up late Monday afternoon to tell me that the lodge has been sold ans they can't honour my booking. They are trying to sort something else out ans are supposed to be calling me back today to let me know. The north east has been booked solid this for this weekend for months I now I have to start all over again ARGGGGGGGGGG.

Good Yorksire Hill Training

We were on holiday in Barningham in the Yorkshire Dales last week, did a couple of good runs. One was a loop round the outside of the village with about 3/4 mile down and 1 1/2 miles up on each loop, nice scenery but a little muddy in places. The second was a straight run the length of the village, which is built on a hill so .4m up, and then back down again - pant hard and repeat ;-)

We also did 3 long (for us anyway) walks 3.5 - 6miles long with lots of hills as you would expect. Going out for a run on Sunday the hills at home didn't seem half as bad

Final long run before the big day

Just completed the last long run I'll do before the Great North Run. Not as long as I would have liked at this stage (8miles) but it's a lot further than I could run last February.

I tried to run it as close to how I'll run the race as possible, testing out a few things I plan to use on the day. It was a windy day and running up Gulpher Road hill against a strong breeze was ... interesting. Hopefully there will be a nice westerly (with just a hint of south in it) on the 20th September, blow us all nicely along the course.

So now it's gently reduce the mileage, while keeping up some of the quality runs in there and let the body prepare itself for the big day.

Building the milage

Starting to get the miles and time on me feet into a repectable area again. The strange thing is I'm running slower. Looking at the times before the injury layouff they were around 1min per mile quicker.

The BHF training day was very worth while, started off with a quite short but hard session in Regents Park. Followed by lots of advice on running style, training techniques etc. Found out just how hard the training session had been when I went out for a run the next day - legs didn't want to move. So hopefully adding some sessions like that will really help push the fitness along in the last few weeks before the GNR

On the 'Route to Newcastle' map I've just gone through Scunthorpe - famous for being a banned word in the AOL obscenity filter in the early days of the internet - it was the four letters after the 'S' that did it apparently. I'm propably 50 mile behind where I should be and that's showing in the training and will be very evident on the 20th September. I'll run across the start and the finish line but not really sure what will happen in between.

Gettng in the long runs at last

Now over half way on the map to Newcastle, and it's about where I am in the training too, long run only 6miles instead of 10 but have managed to push on reasonably well over the last couple of weeks. The walk run strategy for the long runs seems to be working OK (20mim run/ 1min walk) though I adjust it so I walk up the bigger hills on the training route.

Sunday I'm off to a training day in London organised by the British Heart Foundation. Lots of talk + some practical work too.

I won!

I've just been notified I won a prize in a Runners World competition. Free entry to the Royal Parks Foundation Half-Marathon + some Mizuno shoes and Tshirt. The Royal Parks half is on Sunday October 11th, so I'm now doing two half marathons in three weeks. (I could enter the Felixstowe Half in between but that would just be silly).

There was another competition for a new car - didn't win that one though, just the one that requires some effort and training