The Big Day

In the week running up to GNR I only managed one more session, that was a 5mile pace session which left me feeling confident ahead of the race but with a few blisters!

Having visited the Great North Sport and Fitness Show I stocked up on Lucozade Sport goodies, some last minute advice and a pace band for 1h 35m (optimistic, I know). The race time predictor had told me that I could manage 1h 37m based on my Great Yorkshire Run 10k time but I was still aiming for anything below 1h 50m as a good time.

The day before the race a few friends arrived and we headed out for a meal, we couldn't get in anywhere to have pasta and ended up having a curry instead and getting home much later than we'd planned. That said, we'd had a good night and a catch up and it had helped to steady my nerves although I'm not sure it had the same effect on my friend as it dawned on him how far the race was!

On the morning I ate bananas and energy bars for breakfast and made sure I had plenty of hydration for the trip round. I said bye to my friends and family who headed for the finish line and made my way to the start. There was a great atmosphere on the Central Motorway and I managed to catch the Red Devils parachuting in and saw Paula Radcliffe warming up (along with a few celebs).

The race itself seemed to get underway a lot quicker with the new pen system although there were still quite a lot of people who started ahead of me (Zone C) who were walking within the first half a mile!

At around the two mile mark the crowd thinned a little and clocked up my fastest mile of the race up to mile three. At this point I was inside the time on my pace band and feeling good. As the race wore on the times became more and more outside the 1h 35m pace and I reassessed my time accordingly. It was a warm morning and quite a tough one, but the crowds were brilliant.

I made sure to stop for water and lucozade sport on the way round to keep hydrated and used an energy gel when I reached halfway for a bit of a boost.

It was good to pass people in costume and was proud that I'd managed to overtake Batman, Spiderman and Superman during the course of the race. Locals also lined the streets cheering on people in costume and offering runners ice lollies, oranges and sweets. My personal favourites were the ones with hosepipes as it did help to cool down. Around the 10-11mile mark there were also a group handing out beer to runners asking if they too were "drinkers with a running problem".

The 12mile mark and drop down onto the seafront was tough. I'd missed the marker (I don't know how) and got a little confused although I may have been distracted as I passed children's tv presenter Angellica Bell at this point!

I pushed for the final 1.1miles to the finished but was quite tired and couldn't pick my legs up as much as I'd wanted to. Approaching the finish line I was running against the time on my watch counting up to 1h 40m. My chip time was 1h 39m 55s. I was delighted to get a PB and to come in ten minutes under my original target set months ago.

I waited for my friends to finish and then went to celebrate. It was a great day and a really good finish to the training. In the evening TLS held a reception on the Quayside and I celebrated a little too much, but it was still worth it and I'm still pleased now. I'll just wait for my feet to get better and then I'll be out again, training for my next race - wherever that may be.

Thanks to all those that sponsored me and cheered me on and special thanks to TLS for their support, advice and help in the GNR.

6 days to go

I managed to fit a treadmill session in today. 5km at about 80% and feel all the better for it. I'm trying to follow a decent diet this week in the run up to the race but I think work will conspire to prevent this from happening. All the same I'm eating plenty of carbs in preparation.

Not long now...

Just over a week to go and I'm starting to get nervous. I haven't had chance to train since the Great Yorkshire Run and the clock's ticking down. I think I'll have to get a couple of sessions in over the weekend and try and fit in some training during the week next week. On the plus side the blisters I had have now gone completely and my legs aren't too tired.

Training so far and Great Yorkshire Run

It's been quite a busy summer and I've not really managed to do as much training as I'd hoped. We have a treadmill at work and I've been trying to get some time on it during my lunchbreak as well as some early morning runs and some club sessions with Heaton Harriers (http://www.heatonharriers.org.uk).
So far though I've been on a few jaunts with work and friends and running has tended to slip to the back of my mind. With this in mind the Great Yorkshire Run on Sunday 9 September was going to be more of a test than I'd initially thought.
It started out well, the weather wasn't too warm and a decent crowd had assembled. I had been a bit apprehensive when my race number came through and I was in Orange 'wave A'. The best way of describing how far forward in the field this was was by saying "I was just behind the Kenyans". This said I did the warm up, much to the amusement of my mum and my girlfriend as I've no co-ordination, and had taken on enough fluids, I was feeling okay.
The first four hundred metres was downhill and I fell into my usual trap of setting off too fast. Then the course seemed to start to climb uphill and stayed that way for most of the first half of the 10 kilometres. At the three kilometre mark we were able to watch the elite women coming in the opposite direction (the course was 'out and back'). At four kilometres the elite men were coming the opposite way and I'd taken on some water at the water station.
Halfway there and I had really felt the climb. My dad was stood outside the Waggon and Horses pub amongst the crowds and it was tempting to stop and join them. I'm reliably informed by my dad that I looked to be comfortable and running well at this point and that it had taken me 23 minutes to do the first five kilometres (slower than I'd expected).
I enjoyed the second five kilometres more, it was more down hill and I was looking forward to the finish. It was also encouraging to see all the other people who were taking part and the various causes they were running for. The finish was a tough uphill section but I managed to sprint the last 200m to get back in 44:43 (318 position). It wasn't a PB but it was a tough warm-up for the real target, the Great North Run, and will focus my training for the next few weeks.

Great North Run

I’m Al, I’m 26 and I work in Arts Marketing in Newcastle upon Tyne and I’ll be taking part in the Great North Run for the third time this year. Previously I’ve walked a bit of it so my main aim for 2007 is to run for the entire race. I’ve just come back from a lengthy injury but have fully recovered and expect to clock up my best time this year and most importantly to beat my friends who have travelled to Newcastle for the occasion. I’m also raising money for the Samaritans and people can donate at www.justgiving.com/alsmithgnr07. In the lead up to GNR I will be taking part in the inaugural Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield. I’m originally from South Yorkshire so I’m especially looking forward to taking part in this 10k race and it will give me a good indication of how my training’s working out.