Friday 27 January 2017

We'll see you in September - Mr. M's Journey to the 2017 Great North Run

It's January and everyone starts out the year with something outside of their little bubble that they want to try. I think it's normal for many people in the North East to want to try out the famous Great North Run. If you live in Newcastle you know you have to try it once in your lifetime which is why I was not surprised at all when Mr. M. told me he wanted to do it when I first met him 3 months ago. He asked if he could go a little series about his training up to the big day and I thought it would be a great idea. We decided to do 4 posts and this is the first installment all about receiving the e-mail to say you got your ballot place.

“We’ll see you on the start line in September!”

That’s was the first line of the email announcing the results of The Times ballot for the 2017 Simplyhealth Great North Run.

As is so often the case I met it the surprising news with a combination of excitement and trepidation, the latter in particular as I was (and still am) suffering from a chest infection and it is double the distance of anything I've run so far. Nevertheless, I was in!

Let’s backtrack a bit…

Up until June last year I hadn’t run more than 2.5k, a 12 minute run a few times a week to keep me fit for Australian Rules Football. Despite my best efforts I was having a disappointing season and was in need of a sense of achievement, and somehow arrived at the conclusion that I should run a 10k. With the inaugural Prince Bishops Durham City Run a mere 16 days away I decided that I would attempt a 5+km run depending on how that went sign up for the Durham City Run or not.

Surprisingly after a 5.4k run which left me soaked to the skin (it was raining), I was feeling rather optimistic and so began a crash training program which saw me run 47.8km in total in the build-up, including a 10.2km run in 51:47. I finished the event itself in 52:18 and, more importantly, I felt great! I wanted more and over time signed up for the Gateshead Trail 10k, the Great North 5k and then the Newcastle Mo Run with Melissa. My regular 2.5km turned into a regular 5.4km and I tried whenever possible to do the Park Run on Saturday mornings.

Growing up in the North East it's hard to avoid the influence of the Great North Run and it has been on my bucket list for at few years despite my relative lack of distance running experience. It was with hope, then, that I bought The Times on 7^th January to sign up to their exclusive ballot for 3000 GNR places...

Back to the main event...

What time am I aiming for?

This is my first half marathon and, as with my first 10k, my main aim is to complete it and unlike any other half marathon, in my opinion, it’s as much about the atmosphere as anything else.

That being said, entry forms for events require a predicted time and for these, I use Runner’s World Race Time Predictor. This estimated a finishing time of 1:55:03 based on my last 5.4km run. As I wasn’t at peak fitness when I ran that I am hopeful that I’ll go sub 2 hours.

So, what’s my training plan for the Great North Run? Do I even have a training plan?

I had already signed up for the 2017 Simplyhealth Great North 10k and have since signed up for the Siglion Sunderland City 10k. With these events in early May, early July and the GNR on 10^th September I already have a rather neat pattern of two months between events forming. If I go ahead with the Stroke Association Resolution Run in late February that's an additional 10k loosely fitting into this.

The footy season runs from April to August which will keep my fitness up (whilst hopefully leaving me uninjured) and I will be continuing with my 5.4km runs as a baseline.

In addition, I’ll be increasing the distance of set runs in the weeks before each major event and it is my intention to have completed a few half marathon distance runs by mid/late August before taking it easy in the final weeks.

I hope you enjoyed reading Mr. M post and hopefully his next few posts will be helpful when it comes to training.posts. So make sure you come back for them.

Goal Setting, is it a good thing?

Today I have a guest post from the lovely Clare from the blog Exercise and Mental Health. I got in touch with Clare and asked if she would like to do a blog post about creating goals and how mental health can effect creating goals.

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Most people set goals to some degree in everyday life whether it be to get a certain job, travel to a particular country or buy a house but when it comes to fitness should you do it too? My opinion is yes absolutely! Having a goal gives you something to aim for and keeps you on track. When you have down days, can’t be bothered or a ‘better offer’ than going to the gym comes along it can keep you focused. Thinking of how good you’ll feel when you hit that target weight or get into that special outfit is usually enough motivation for most people.

But if you suffer from a mental health illness such as depression or anxiety can it still be as beneficial? Well now I think it becomes a little bit more cloudy, yes totally still set goals but generally be more aware that it may take you a little longer to reach them and the effect that can have. If you already experience anxiety and stress then setting a goal you may feel under more pressure and this can cause anxiety and stress if you already experience these, or even if you don’t. Everybody is different and there is by no way a one sizes fits all approach to anything and it all depends on the extent of your illness, the goal you set and the way you handle things. If you do set yourself a goal and then for whatever reason you don’t achieve it will that be detrimental and put back your recovery? You need to be aware of your illness and how you cope with different situations and if you have your illness under control, have a good support network around you and are confident you can make your goal then yes absolutely, go for it as the feeling of achieving it can be amazing, it can make you feel so good. Support is crucial, tell your friends and family your goals and plans and get them involved, take them to the gym or to a class, it will make it more fun and if it’s more fun you’re more likely to stick at it and succeed.

Of course, all of this is just my opinion but it does come from my own experience. I was diagnosed with depression four and half years ago although looking back I had struggled for a long time before that. It felt good and still does to actually have an answer for how I am and that I’m not alone and that in itself has given me a lot of strength and be able to look in the right places for help. I’m pretty lucky now to mostly have it under control, as anybody in a similar situation knows I feel I’m probably never going to be totally free of it but understanding it goes a very long way to helping. Along with that, I put most of my change of outlook down to the fact that I started to exercise, I’ve lost a lot of weight which increased my confidence. I have set a lot of goals along the way, some I’ve achieved some I haven’t. For the ones I haven’t yes it did knock me down and make me feel bad but as with almost everything those feelings are temporary and once I accepted that my mind can re-focus and set a new goal and make a plan on how to achieve it. That is also an important part, making a plan, you might say you have a goal to visit Australia for example but if you don’t plan to work hard, save ‘x’ amount of money etc you have no plan as to how you’re going to make it happen and therefore more likely to not reach your goal so the same can be said for fitness goals. As part of my training as a gym instructor and personal trainer, I’ve learned that you need to and need to encourage clients to set

S.M.A.R.T goals.

S = specific goal, so instead of saying ‘I want to lose weight’ say ‘I want to lose 10lbs’

M = measurable, so for losing weight it’s measurable by checking your weight on a set of scales

A = achievable, so don’t say something like ‘I want to lose three stone by this time next week’, it’s very unlikely to happen therefore not achievable

R = relevant, something relevant to you, not your partner or your best mate.

T = time bound, set yourself a time limit to achieve your goal, again a realistic time limit, not too short but also not so long that you don’t really have the motivation to get to work on it.

So an example of an S.M.A.R.T goal would be ‘I’m going to run at least half the distance of this year’s Lincoln 10k’ that ticks all of the boxes.

I’ve set myself some goals, some probably without even realising it. The first one was to actually get moving and attend my first exercise class which was Zumba, I was scared, I took four friends with me and I loved it, gradually they stopped going and I made friends with other people that were there and everything started from there. Then I joined a gym but for a long time I didn’t really do anything then three years ago I set myself the goal of taking on a program called the ’12 week challenge’ it was three months of personal training and group sessions with a gym instructor. I was really doubtful I could do it, I knew the other people taking it on and they were all fitter than me. But from chats with some of them and my class instructor, I soon realised they felt the same and we all just needed to work together and focus on our own goals. Through that program, I lost 20lbs and my confidence skyrocketed and I the began to train as an instructor to help people the same way it and my instructor had helped me.

Last year I set myself the goal to take part in Cancer Research’s Pretty Muddy, not only did that involve running but climbing over obstacles and for someone that has always had trouble trusting her own body that was scary. In comparison to other obstacle courses, it’s small but it was huge to me. I did it and not only that I loved it and I can’t wait to take my friend round it this year. I’m setting myself a goal of getting round an obstacle course that’s bigger and harder.

We all need goals in in all aspects of life no matter how big or small and it might be something as simple as trying to leave the house and that in turn gives you the motivation to get out of bed each day. Or it might be that you want to run a marathon and that gives you the motivation to go out running in all weathers, turning down social events so you can train.

So go set yourself some goals, smash them and feel great about it and yourself, you deserve it.

If you have loved reading Clare's post then please go over and check out all her social media links which are below. I hope this post was some help and you get something out of reading the post.

Clare's - Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / blog

Newcastle NE1 Restaurant Week Recommendations

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As Newcastle's NE1 Resturant Week is fast approaching and I bet link me you have a list as long as your arms of restaurants that you want to try. I wanted to give you some of my recommendations of restaurants I think you should try out. Each restaurant has a link to their full page so you can see the full menu and the offers. I thought it would be nice to tell you what my favorite items are on each individual restaurant's menu to give you idea of what I like. I've also linked a small number of restaurant that I really want to try out myself this time round.

As you like it

2 course for £10pp / 3 courses for £15pp