September, Newcastle and the Great North Run feels like a long way off at this time of year.
Today was another difficult run. After having done a good 4.5 miles on Wednesday my run this lunchtime felt like a step backwards. The temperature was around the zero mark; for some stupid reason I’d packed only shorts and a short sleeved running top, and I couldn’t find my running gloves anywhere before leaving the house. The first mile was uphill and into a fairly stuff chill breeze and the cold air started hurting the lungs.
So why bother in February? There is plenty of year left to prepare myself. Do I really need to be start training now? Well yes I do. Each year as I start training I find the first couple of months to be quite difficult and invariably a niggle at some point in the summer stops training for a few weeks (something I’m even more paranoid about with the ankle just about finally repaired). Getting a good start in the winter and early spring months therefore is vital in order to be able to ‘hit the ground running’ when it comes to the serious summer training.
In 2011 the Hastings Half Marathon was a great late winter run but after a year off there is no chance I’d be ready for that in a months time. So instead I’ve signed up for a 10km run on 16th March. Primarily I’m doing this as a definite staging point on the way to the start line on the Newcastle Central Motorway.
However this is a charity element!
The race is the British Heart Foundation Bedgebury Pinetum run. Bedgebury, just on the Kent side of the Kent/Sussex border off the A21, is Forestry Commission Land and houses the national conifer collection. Its a lovely site and should make for a great circuit; although if weather is not good the tracks can get very muddy.
The Great North Run, which I will be running for the RNLI and Hastings Lifeboat in particular, will be the main thing that I will be asking people to sponsor me for. However anyone who might be able to encourage me in March by sponsoring me and the BHF will be doing me a great favour by encouraging me through the pine forest.
If you would be so good as to consider sponsoring me in this event it would be greatly appreciated. You can do so by visiting the below web page.
http://www.justgiving.com/richmay2013
Many thanks all.