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.

What Does 2017 Have in Store?

I don't want to do a new year's resolutions post as like everyone else I give up after January. I thought instead I would do something different. It's more of what I have in store for myself, what I want out of 2017 and what I want to learn in 2017. So here we go here is what I want out of 2017.

What has 2017 got in store for me?

2017, what have you got in store for me that is the big question I think everyone is asking. Well, I would like to think you have lots of exciting plans and many things that will make me extremely happy. 

I want adventure in 2017, I want to see countries that I've never seen before but also go to countries I've fallen in love with. I plan on trying to go away at least 3 times this year. I want to revisit Wroclaw (Poland) after falling in love with the city but I want to revisit cities within England like London and Manchester. I want to travel with people that are important to me who challenge me to take a step out of my little box.

I want to learn something new this year. I want to learn a skill that might be related to my career or even just to develop me as a person. If you know me you will know that I'm not creative at all but I would like to change that I don't want to become the next big artist or become the next strictly dancer but do want to try something new like photography or cooking.

I hope 2017 has a lot of fun and I get to met even more new people. I want to keep meeting new people, 2016 I did that by trying out new things and going to events.

I'm hoping 2017 will help me get out of my student overdraft, as much as it kills me to say it I want to start becoming an adult and save money. At the moment I live pretty much by the pay packet but I want to change that. I want to eventually move out of my mams house and into a small little flat.

What I want out of 2017?

I don't want much out of 2017 I just want to have fun. I felt last year I just went into a place where I like staying in my bed and not leaving for a few day but this year I want to push myself and enjoy it. Towards the end of 2016, I did things I never thought I would including doing my 1st 10K, booking a random trip away without doing any research on it. I want to just live in the moment a bit more.

Even tho I want to live in the moment more, I also want a routine so I become more organised. there was a point last year where I was forgetting what week and day it was because I was so unorganised. I don't want that this year. Before writing this post I have sorted out my tax return, bills and sorted all my paperwork, 2017 will be my most organised year. 

I want to look after my body. This is not a new year, new me type of look after my body. I want to look after my body in a form of feeling better within myself. I want to look after my mental health and focus on self-care. 

2016 I started going to church and I want to keep learning about Christianity. I have a few small courses lined up with the church to help me learn more and I'm excited to see where it goes. 

What I want to learn in 2017

I want to learn more about myself, I want to learn how far I can push myself, I want to learn how to handle my anxiety that I have surrounding my car, but still want to push myself. 

I want to learn how to say no. I got quite bad at saying yes to everything and got myself so stressed and started to not enjoy certain things in my life. As much as money is important so is having weekends off or a few nights to myself. 

I want to learn about SEO and up my blogging game. I started to really enjoy blogging towards the end of 2016. I've also found someone that is interested in what I do and likes to give me inspiration and help with my blog, which I'm hoping will help up my blogging game. 

Finally, I want to engage in the blogging community more, I want to try and get involved in blogger chat, comment on people's blog post and just be more involved I was lucky to be invited to quite a few events in Newcastle but it would be lovely to meet bloggers outside of events.

These are the many things I want to get out of 2017 as you can see there isn't any number or goals it is all about trying to live life in the moment a bit more. Have you plans for 2017 and what does 2017 have in store for you? 

I hope it's as exciting as my 2017 is going to be. 

My Favourite Trail Running Routes in Newcastle and Gateshead

I will admit that I only really got into trail running when I got slightly bored of running the same 5k near my house that was pretty much just through the streets near my house. You can read a bit more about that over on my review about the ADIDAS WOMEN'S TERREX AGRAVIC BOOST GORE-TEX SHOE.

This blog post is going to tell you about 3 of my favourite trail running routes and 4 routes that I would love to try out soon. Some of the routes have set route that has become Park Runs or race routes and some of them are routes I found online or just created on my own. I will say that I am not a professional runner and these routes are just routes that I really enjoy doing. 

1.       Newburn to Wylam 10k Route (Here)

The Newburn to Wylam route is a beautiful route that was originally part of the wagon way up in the north east.  The route goes along the river and heads up to Wylam Bridge. When on the Newcastle side you want to make sure that you take the route that is further away from the river as this is the trail route not the pathed route. The route is flat and is very simple to co-ordinate around. The Wylam side of the route is along the river and is beautiful. The route works out at around 10K and is a very simple loop. You can go either way depending on how you feel. This route is not got any lighting so is definitely a day time route.

2.       Rising Sun Country Park (Here)

I recently did this route after taking part in the These Girls Can Park Run takeover. I have to say this is one of the most beautiful routes that I have done. The route is a 5k and like the Newburn to Wylam is a simple route. If you go along to the park run which is on every Saturday the route has Marshalls at a number of locations to keep you on route. Once you’ve done the route a few time you could definitely do this alone. The park is has not lighting so again like main trail running routes you would have to run it through the day or early morning.

3.       Benwell Dene/Denton Dene

This route I made on my own, the route starts on Scotswood road and leads up to Benwell Dene which is than a straight route up to Denton Dene which you can then follow up towards Broadway Primary School. This route is not all trails but I still thought it would be a good one to attach as the route if you do just 1 way is around 2.5 miles but there and back is 5 miles. The route is maybe not the most beautiful route and is unfortunately not all trails but for being in the middle of the city you can’t really go wrong plus if you’re new to trail running this is route could be a good route to try out.

I’m definitely on the look out for more trail runs to do in Newcastle and Gateshead

Bucket list of 10K I want to try in the North

Below I’ve listed a few other trails that I’m looking forward to trying out in the New Year when the days start to get a bit lighter. Even tho these trails are listed as races you could definitely do the route whenever you want.

Gibside 5K Park Run (Here)

Gateshead 10k Trail (Here) 

Kielder 10K (Here)

Derwent Park (still trying to find a route)

I hope you enjoyed this post and gives you a few ideas of where you could maybe go running and mix up you running routes. If you going to start trail running do take a look at my review on the Adidas women's terrex agravic boost gore-tex shoe that will be great for starting your trail running journey.

Newcastle MoRunning 2016 - We Did It!

Yes, you are reading that right we did it. If you read my last post about how I had signed up to do the Mo Running 10K  all in the name of the Movember Foundation. You will know more about what I'm going to talk about.

I thought as it was such a great day that I would tell you all about how it went. 

MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BIT EARLY

As there was quite a few of us doing the run (8 of us) we decided to get there early 2 hours early (or if you want to be really precise 1 hour and 45 minutes). Unfortunately for us, the weather had not been at its best. I think I saw more rainfall in the 2 hours I was waiting than I had in weeks. As we were early it did mean that we got to get our numbers and bags but in the tent already to go. We decided not to do fancy dress but we did go with colorful mustaches (mine lasted only around 15 minutes) and it was perfect opportunity to get some photos. 

Source - We made the highlights page! 

ITS TIME TO GET GOING!

The run was 10K and yes you read that right 10K. I was slightly nervous before the run as I hadn't done any training leading up I just wasn't feeling up for it and had never done a 10K run before. We all agreed that timing wasn't a massive thing (I still wanted to get under 1hr 10 minutes) but it was about having fun and doing something that some of us had never done before. 

So we got to the starting line as were ready to go. With our headphones in, are Runkeeper app all ready to go and then we were off. 

THE ROUTE

If you've done any run or race on the Town Moor you will know the route. It was a pretty simple flat route of Newcastle Town Moor and we did it twice. The route itself I've done a few times but never as a 10K. The first 5k I found to be really easy I even did my best 5k pace but then I got to 6K and my knee started to play up I decided to take it slowly but still kept going. 

When we got to around 7K that was when my right leg really started to play up. I walked for a small period of time but decided to try and power through. I made it to around 9K til I had to stop again. I decided to walk fast and check my app to see what I was doing I saw that I was very close to the 1hr mark and that was when I decided that I really needed to push through the pain and just make it to the end. Which I did and I was really proud when I saw I had done it in 1hr and 58 seconds. Not only did I crush the time I wanted but I showed myself that I could run further than 5K.

CONGRATULATIONS TO US!

How cute is the medal!

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

After finishing the race I met up with the people who had already finished and we waited for the rest of our friends to finish the race. We all finished under 1hr and 15 minutes which is great. We took lots of great photos with our medals and decided that the PUB was the next place to go. We ended up in the Wylam Brewery which is located within exhibition park and becoming one of my favorite places to go (it has a photo booth why wouldn't you love it). 

I hope you enjoyed reading all about my experience of doing my first 10K and ticking it off my bucket list, I definitely think I pick a good one to start my 10k bug, Thank you to all the supporters that were out on the day and to the lovely ladies that I was running with from the This Girl Can Civic Centre Running Group. 

*Disclaimer: I was given a free race place in return for a blog post.

Join In The Newcastle MoRun

I'M RUNNING MY FIRST EVER 10K ALL IN AID OF MOVEMBER FOUNDATION!
We all have that special man in our life it might be a partner, a father, a brother or the male best friend that's looked after you when you've cried over that boy/girl.

 What would you do if that special man in your life was effected by prostate cancer, testicular cancer or needed professional support because of mental health issues. I know I would want to try and help in any way possible. We can help and that is by fundraising for a great charity.

 Movember Foundation is the only charity that solely focuses on tackling men's health on a global scale. Over the past 13 years Movember foundation have to fund over 1'200 project all over the world. They want to by 2030 reduce the amount of men dying by 25% but they need our help and that is where doing the MoRun can help.

What is the MoRunning?
The MoRunning is a 5K and a 10K run, that is all about raising awareness and money for Movember Foundation. The races are all across the country with a large number of cities taking part including Brighton, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
Where is you nearest MoRun?
You can find your nearest run by click on this link here. The Newcastle run is being held at the beautiful Exhibition Park.
When is MoRun?
There are a number of different run happening across the city. The Newcastle Run is happening on the 6th November at 2pm. So if you fancy giving it a go then you can register for your place by clicking this link.
I hope I will see you there with our moustache all ready at the starting line ready to support all them important men in our lives.
I've linked below all the social media accounts for the event if you want more information.

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