Post Race Review

Well... What can I say?

I DID IT!

I completed the Great North Run & it was totally awesome! :-)

Those of you who read my last post (see below/archive) will recall that nerves had kicked somewhat during the week leading up to the race - I feel therefore, it's only right that I update you with regards to my experience of the weekend & the worlds most famous half marathon!

The weekend got off to quite a good start... Having decided to catch the train to Newcastle & therefore negate the potential parking issues (& potential clutch control issues en route home!) I arrived at Birmingham New Street in plenty of time - after all the hard work I had put in, this was one train I wasn't going to miss! Soon enough conversations were struck up with other waiting passengers - funny how we all become instant friends when waiting/queueing - & before long topics turned to destinations & reasons for travel... OMG, I knew I was excited but I had not realised how proud saying 'I'm off to Newcastle to do the Great North Run' would make me feel! Even more shocking, I hadn't anticipated peoples reactions - I might as well have said I was off to compete in the Olympics or have tea with the Queen they were so in awe! You know when you're bursting with pride & have one of those ear to ear beaming smile that just won't budge? That was me before I even left Birmingham :-)

On arrival in Newcastle I was extremely pleased to learn that not only was my accommodation fairly near to the centre but it was actually walking distance to the start line :-) Not bad considering I'd booked the hotel relatively late for this type of event... I didn't know exactly where the start line was yet but hey, with 54,000 people doing the race I figured that was one detail which would surely become obvious on the day ;-)

After checking in & feeding on the obligatory pre race pasta-tastic meal it was time to learn more about the route.  Now at the time it seemed like a good idea & whilst I was doing the race it was so useful to have an idea of what was coming up next but travelling the 13.1 miles by car & experiencing the gradients of the route the night before makes an already awe inspiring race seem extremely daunting! I've never compared running & driving miles in the same thought space before, they've always been completely separate activities in my head...  Luckily the rational part of my thinking prevailed & the knowledge that I could do this distance stifled any doubts I had.


So, the morning of the race dawned... I was excited, maybe a little apprehensive but there was a persistant niggling thought which dogged me - do I or do I not take a running jacket with me? Now I'm sure many of you reading this will find that hilarious (although not nearly as funny as my solution) but those of you who feel the cold will, I'm certain, understand my predicament... Do I freeze pre race & start miserably with potentially numb fingers & toes  - the joys of Raynauds Syndrome - or do I keep warm in a jacket but then have to be too hot running in it or become SuperGirl half way through the race & have my 'cape' flapping at my legs for the remaining distance?  I flicked through the Bupa running guide for inspiration - it would appear many runners wear old clothing, discard it at the start & clothing charities collect it - fab idea but I hadn't shelled out on a great running jacket to bin it!

And there my lightbulb moment appeared!  I ran down to reception and asked them, in a way that I hoped wouldn't sound too weird, if they had a binbag to spare! I knew I was being revolutionary & they might think me very odd... Well, that was until, without batting an eyelid, the receptionist said 'sure, here you go' - apparently that's what many runners do pre race!  I guess having always run local races with plentiful nearby parking & most of them in warmer weather, I've never faced this dilemma before but sure enough I got to the start line & the majority of runners either wore paint/oil stained clothing or bin liners!  Guess what my new 'essential item' is?

Fast forward 30 mins & after checking I had everything I needed I departed the hotel & as expected no map was required - swarms of runners were all heading one way, the sun was shining, the hum of music could be heard in the distance & the atmosphere was electric - it was right then that I realised something was missing... The nerves had gone!

The start of the Great North Run always looks very impressive on TV, swathes of people, some in fancy dress, all crowded together in anticipation... Being there & part of it though is something else entirely! I can only describe the feeling as one of headiness - the mood is one of excitement, optimism, anticipation & determination, people are happy, helpful, looking out for each other & the air is filled with the undeniable fragrance of runners - Ralgex!

The gun fired at 10:40 followed by a fog horn & the Red Arrows flew overhead - they are always present at the GNR but this year was more poignant than ever as the foghorn had been sounded by Dr Emma Egging, the wife of the late Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging - I think it was then that I got the first lump in my throat... Within moments Mo Farah was visible on the big screens leaning over to tap the hands of runners as they passed by - the race had officially begun! I however, had not taken a step! It started with a shuffle, then a slow walk, then a canter until finally the start line was in sight... I crossed the line just after 11am!  Yes, over 20 mins to reach the start line, and in my excitement of the increasingly exhilirating atmosphere I forgot to start the timer on my sports watch! I remembered around .20 of a mile in & started it then but it didn't really matter as we were all wearing personalised timing chips anyway.

The first mile saw us run under a series of bridges & it was then that I fully realised the camaraderie that this event evokes... Every bridge we ran under someone would shout 'oggy oggy oggy' & of course, the response came back 'oi, oi, oi' - loud not just because of the number of people but also the acoustic effect of the bridge formations.  Particularly warming was the fact that there were no leaders in the starting of an 'oggy' chant - it fell to whichever man, woman or youth felt the urge & whoever got there first... :-)

By the time we were all 'oggy'd' out we had reached the Tyne Bridge - this for me was a definite highlight of the race - to run over such a famous landmark with all it's fine architecture & hundreds of people lining each side was simply breathtaking! The sun was beaming down on us & I can remember feeling so happy & incredulous (& probably a little emotional again) at being part of such an amazing event.

By mile 5 the sun was really feeling hot and as if by magic (and probably in answer to a lot of runners prayers!) the sky went overcast & that 'fine misty rain that soaks yer right through' appeared - total bliss!  At this point the streets had become a sea of spectators all wishing us well & willing us on... The children in particular were little stars all standing with their hands out to be 'tagged' so it was only polite to oblige... :-)

Mile 8 appeared & this is when the knee niggle really decided to act up :-( Ouch was not the word & at mile 10 when the heavens literally opened up wide & sent torrential rain pouring down on us it was tough going!  I'd come this far though, there was no way I was going to quit, even if I had to hobble for the next week or two so armed with thoughts of those who are braver and less fortunate I gritted my teeth and dug deep... Before I knew it the sea was in sight & I realised I had climbed my last hill & was almost at mile 12 - I've always been a fan of sea views but this - this was a beauty!

I was already forearmed with the knowledge that the last mile in along the sea front goes on 'forever' & had already made up my mind to savour every moment of it - my pace picked up & my knee, what knee?! I ducked in & out of gaps between fellow runners, smiling to myself everytime I heard grumble of 'this mile is lasting forever' - I was running the last 800m, the last 400m, the last 200m... I had run all the way from Newcastle & was crossing the finish line of the Great North Run in South Shields. I had done it!

Furthermore, I managed to knock 13 mins off my last half marathon time - proof, if ever any were needed that my decision to join a running club was most definitely the right one!

I hope to be back in 2012, if I am lucky enough to secure another place... Keep those fingers crossed!

***Be sure to check out the blog archive on the right for previous posts***

The BUPA Great North Run

The BUPA Great North Run is a half marathon race that starts in Newcastle & finishes in South Shields http://www.greatrun.org/Events/Event.aspx?id=1  It is now in it's 31st year and although it has a huge 54,000 entry limit, places get snapped up very quickly & it is always full to capacity months ahead of the race.

I mentioned in a previous post that the Great North Run was the race that had inspired me to take my running to the next level & that I had hoped one day to take part, so you can imagine my extreme delight when I managed to secure one of 50 'last chance' places offered by BUPA back in July... To say I was 'over the moon' is somewhat of an understatement!

Now we have less than 6 days to go until race day.  The excitement is still very much there but for some bizarre reason, nerves are present too... I've never had pre race nerves so what is that all about?

• Is it my first Half Marathon?   No
• Have I trained hard enough?  Yes

So I have nothing to worry about... Right?

Well, I do have a slight knee niggle but nothing that sports massages and determination on the day won't overcome so why the sudden nerves?

Let's go back to the Great North Run not being my first half marathon... It is in fact only my second so I'm by no means experienced at this distance! 

The first was the Lichfield half marathon, a spontaneous decision which meant (maybe foolishly) that it was a race for which I only had 5 weeks to train. It was on familiar 'home turf', which to date all my races have been & I was, at that time, training alone - my aim was simply to finish... To ideally get to at least 10 miles & then take it half a mile at a time - I had nothing to prove to anyone, no previous goals to beat, & no disgrace if I couldn't run the whole way. 

As it turned out in the end I did rather well! I didn't slow to a 'fast walk' until 11.75 miles and then I picked it back up at 12.1 miles to run the last mile in - I was over the moon &, as is always the case with me, crossed the line to the mixed emotions of elation, nausea & the overwhelming urge to cry!

Fast forward now to the upcoming Great North Run & I think the reasons for my nerves are becoming apparent - I say 'becoming' as they are actually presenting themselves to me as I type... There's no better way to ponder and conclude than to get words down on paper (or screen as the medium now is!)

The Great North Run as I mentioned earlier is a HUGE event... 54,000 entrants of which approx 40,000 ran last year - that in itself makes for a daunting race.  Couple that with the fact that it's televised... Now, I'm not shy in the slightest - point a camera at me & I smile (often to others annoyance) but if I'm captured I hope it's because I'm running well, not hobbling along injured making a show of myself!

The race is also in an area I'm not very familiar with... I've been to Newcastle a couple of times before but don't know the area well by any means & certainly don't have the 'back of my hand' knowledge which has stood me in good stead for all my previous races.

Finally, & probably the biggest point to make here, is the fact that I have been training for months, not just 5 weeks & with a very established club - Birchfield Harriers. 3 times a week every week I have worked hard, been put through my paces & pushed to raise my game, the focus has been on regulating my pace, increasing my stamina & improving my technique.

This time I feel I do have something to prove & having already completed one half marathon means I do now have a previous goal to beat... No wonder the nerves are kicking in!

This years Great North Run will see Mo Farah (world 5000m champion) start the race.  He will be joined by the Red Arrows who will also fly over Tyne Bridge in the 'missing man' formation in tribute to their colleague 'Red 4' Flt Lt Jon Egging who was tragically killed last month & then perform their traditional display at the South Shields finish line.

The nerves might well be brewing but I'm kinda guessing (& hoping) that the excitement & atmosphere on the day means they won't get a look in! ;-)

PDF

What is PDF?

To many it is simply a file format... More specifically a 'Portable Document Format' created by Adobe Systems.  I can't argue with that... After all, I work in IT sales so I sell Adobe products & receive, view & send PDF documents every day!

But to me PDF bears no reference to computer documents, for me PDF refers to ' Pay Day Friday' :-)

Of course, it's always good to see pay day, whatever day of the week it falls on... Pay Day Friday however takes it to the next level!

PDF is a monthly night out with my work colleagues, many of which I don't have day to day contact with. It occurs on the first Friday AFTER pay day - this can sometimes mean it occurs well into the first week of the next month but makes way more sense than trying to stick to the calendar month & having everyone venture out with limited funds or worse, not show up at all!

Mostly we head out straight from work, 5pm onwards on the given Friday - the location is a bar called Bluu http://www.bluu.co.uk/ (we head there every Friday but only usually for a couple of drinks on non PDF's), we like to think of it as OUR bar on a Friday & to be honest, we are usually the dominating presence... In fact, the amount of money we've put behind the bar since it opened in 2008, I'm convinced we should own shares!

Sometimes we have themed nights, these have historically proven to be very successful & often draw a few more colleagues out of the woodwork, particularly as priorities in life change & some people can't commit to attending every month... The hardcore PDFers amongst us find it hard to believe that ANYTHING could take priority over PDF but that's just different strokes I guess!

Hallowe'en PDF Oct 2008

Pirate PDF July 2010 

A typical round at Bluu... Hic!

Roll on September PDF! :-)

***Be sure to check out the blog archive on the right for previous posts***

Sunday Morning Run

Here's my last run, 10.5 miles along the canals of Birmingham :-)

Sunday Run 280811
 

Time Travel

As this weekend saw the return of Doctor Who (series 6, part 2, BBC1) in the UK, it seems only fitting that my next post should focus on my fascination with time travel.

As soon as I mention DW & time travel people immediately jump to the conclusion that I'm a huge Sci-Fi fan... I'm not.  For me it's not about spaceships, planets & futuristic silver outfits (sorry if I'm being equally stereotypical!), my interest is less about the technology, more about the experience. 

Of course, I'm not naive enough to believe time travel is actually possible... Although that said, if any of you beg to differ I will happily listen to your view with a very open mind - seeing the technological advances that have occurred so far in my lifetime, they are a great indicator of why one should 'never say never'...

I'm not sure exactly when time travel became a subject that intrigued me, I was a fan of DW before it took a long break from our TV screens - series 6 might indicate it's a relatively new television programme but it is actually the longest running science fiction television show in the world! It originally ran from 1963 to 1989 and was then relaunched in 2005 - but in all honesty I think as a child I was too busy being in awe of 'The Doctor' or scared by the many aliens to place much emphasis on the TARDIS travelling through time. 

I believe 'Goodnight Sweetheart' should take the credit. It was UK sitcom that ran for 6 series, again on BBC1 - the lead character accidently discovered a time portal which allowed him to travel between the 1990's & the 1940's. 'Gary' ended up leading a double life having 2 wives - surprisingly though, he was always more content in wartime Britain with all it's rationing & poverty than modern day Britain with all it's convenience and luxury... Since then I have always leaned towards television series and movies with a time related theme - give me those over a RomCom any day!

Interestingly, the concept of time travel for me is about heading to the past, never the future. I have always loved history & genealogy & find graveyards absolutely fascinating! (Okay, so this is where I start to weird you out!) The past has such an awesome story to tell & shapes each & everyone of us, whereas the future has no bearing on us yet, whether you believe it is pre-determined or shaped by our own actions - unless of course we actually get this time travel malarky nailed!

For me it wouldn't be about going back with the winning lotto numbers, football results etc... It would be about experiencing how it used to be, getting a taste of the hardship, the luxury, the expectations of the time. Wearing the traditional dress of each period, witnessing Britain before it became a concrete jungle, seeing the Roman roads being laid, the canal network being built. It would be about speaking to my ancestors, without whom I wouldn't be here today.

I'm under no illusion, the idea of heading back to the past and having such experiences is a romantic notion. I have no doubt I'd find the slums stomach churning, the constrains of a well heeled life depressing & probably, most disturbing of all, my ancestors would not be who I thought they were.  But hey, it's good to dream... Right?

Running

Running is a huge part of my life. I already know this but I hadn't realised just how much others perceived me as a 'runner' until recently...  I posted a question on FB asking 'If a song played everytime I walked into a room, what would it be?', the majority of responses were of a running theme!

Given this (& the fact I shall frequently bore you with training session details, upcoming races etc...), it seems only natural that I cover this topic sooner rather than later.

So, how did I get in to running & why am I still running? 

I had always been a 'gym bunny' but with the focus largely on classes - namely Body Pump (weights to music), Body Combat (based on mixed martial arts) & Boxing Circuits. As much as I loved to watch the London Marathon or Great North Run on television the idea of running myself never really entered my head...  Still, I guess doing 6+ classes a week never left me that much time to consider it!

In October 2008 I started experiencing pain in my right elbow, by February 2009 this pain was acute so I was referred to the hospital for x-rays & diagnosed with 'Golfers Elbow' - similar to the more widely known 'Tennis Elbow' but located on the inner arm.

This not only meant changing many of my day to day tasks from right hand to left hand (harder than one would think!) but I also had to greatly reduce the number of gym classes I was doing & the level at which I was participating - sheer frustration and desperation led me to the treadmill.... I had to do something to keep in shape & it would only be for a few weeks/months right?

WRONG!

In time the tendons healed and I could resume my regular routine but the running bug had already bitten...  I went back to a few classes per week but always made time to run on the treadmill & started entering a few local races, I will never ever forget the emotionally charged moment when I crossed the line of my very first race - I didn't know whether to whoop, cry, squeal, vomit or collapse from the headiness of it all... One thing was for sure though, there was no going back, this was my new life :-)

The treadmill got traded for pounding the pavements & roads on lighter evenings & weekends, more races were ran & now I'd take more than an idle passing interest in running events. 19th September 2010 saw the 30th Great North Run - as usual it was televised & having never ran a half marathon at this point I was in awe of the runners but made a promise to myself that I would do it one day - maybe in 3 or 4 years?

Then in November 2010 I lost my voice... Laryngitis became Chronic Laryngitis & then my vocal chords stopped working completely.  I stopped training for a while until I had the all clear from the hospital that it wasn't anything 'bad'.  What I didn't realise then was that my voice would be gone for a whole 6 months!

During this time my work became harder (for those of you who don't know, I work in sales), my usually hectic social life took an absolute nose dive & even participating in gym classes became too much of a chore.  Running though, was something I could do, something that kept me sane, something that kept me company when it felt, at times, like I was shut off from the rest of the world.

I ran more often, for longer, I entered a Half Marathon with only 5 weeks to train for it - I'd never ran that distance before but I knew with perseverance I could reach that goal... I did it :-)

I have taken part in 5 races so far this year and after my 4th race decided that finishing was no longer the goal - I had proved I could do that so now it was time to pick up the pace & join a running club.

I've been running with Birchfield Harriers for a few months now & the level of coaching and expertise I get from them sees me up my game week in, week out.  I get to run through the most beautful parkland, woodland and along some stunning canals - all places I would never have dared venture as a solo female runner. It's hard work but no matter how tough the session, I always leave feeling like I could take on the world - Runners high I guess!

The 31st Great North Run takes place on the 18th September 2011 - I am fortunate enough to have secured a place, have my race number and will be running it! :-)

So there you go, overused arm tendons led me to running, underused vocal chords led me to dramatically increase and fully appreciate my running - I guess every cloud really does have a silver lining ;-)

Time to blog?

So, here  I am, joining the world of blogging!

That might not seem so strange to many of you, the fact that you're reading this most likely shows that you find blogging to be a common place activity... Those who know me personally however will wonder why, when I already complain about not having enough hours in the day, I would start a blog!

Well, to be honest I'm not sure either...  I guess it's about creating extra 'me' time - after all, if I can make time to work, run, socialise and maintain a home then surely I can squeeze a bit of time in there that's soley for me too!

This weekend is my first completely free weekend in months (since March to be exact) and as such I was relishing the prospect of  having two whole days during which I could lay in, catch up on reading and TV viewing, do a spot of pampering and totally relax...  Haha, as if!  Today has been all about catching up on the larger chores and home maintenance projects that don't get done as part of the everyday cleaning and have been neglected because my weekends have been so busy... That said, it has been satisfying to get these overdue tasks completed and at the end of the day they all need doing sometime.

So, I guess this is where the blog comes in - the sun has set, the tools and other associated paraphernalia have been put away and now this is 'me' time. A time to reflect upon my day, to write about the things I'm looking forward to and I suppose to ramble about stuff that will either excite, bore or prove indifferent :-)

Oh, and just for the record, I love having a stupidly hectic life, I would not have it any other way - I am however looking forward to taking time out where possible to sit back and fully appreciate it all :-)

My name is Sarah, if you have not only found my page but read this through to the end and think you may possibly want to read more, follow me!