I went out for another lunchtime run today. The route was my favourite 6 mile course from Gosforth around the Town Moor and back. This is also known as the "Mark Allison memorial 6 miles". As all my running companions know, this route takes in my birthplace - Princess Mary's Hospital. It's visible from the Great North Road and I always make a point of mentioning it to whoever is running with me.I had speed merchants Mark Fleming and Pete Maddison for company today. We set off at a steady 10 minute mile pace and knocked off 30 seconds per mile for each mile until the end.
I picked up the pace and tried a break away at 5 miles. Yes! Me trying a break away! Can you imagine it. The fact that I was still with them at the 5 mile point is unheard of. I didn't manage to keep the lead for very long and they ran past me effortlessly. I did have them in my sights at the end though! I was really pleased with the final time of 51:19 which I'm pleased to report is a PB!
I've got to say that the last 2 lunchtime runs have been at a standard I've not ran at for 10 years. Mind you, I've not been at this weight for 10 years either! A few experienced runners are saying that I should be slowing things down and taking it easy after the big run. There's no chance of me doing that. Not a chance! My natural instinct now is not that different to the closing miles of each day during the final week in the John O'Groats to Lands End run. I just want to run as fast as I can to get to the finish. My instinct is also to look out for the support car and I've seen quite a few black Vauxhall Astras over the last few days. Surprisingly, none of them have stopped to give me a banana and some water!
It was good to end the day at St James Park and even better to actually see some goals! I was in the Boro end on Sunday so couldn't celebrate those 2 goals properly. I made up for it tonight
mind! I bought the new away kit before the game in size LARGE. No more XL's for me these days.As I thought on Sunday and even more so now, that Cacapa looks like a really classy and reliable defender. I'd like to see him against tougher opposition than Boro or Barnsley. The signs are good though.
As I drove home from the match, I heard Bob Moncur, on the radio, mention my lap of honour. "Letting the fan run around the pitch and receive the applause" were his words as he was talking about the recent good PR stunts coming from the club. I also got a mention from Biffa in an interview that he gave to the BBC Tyne website. You can see that here. He talks about the response from NUFC.COM readers and the "immense pride and satisfaction" that he and co-writer Niall got. Great stuff!
On a different note, due to a lot of people increasing their pledges today, the fund now stands at £26,506. I think £27,000 could be on the cards when the time comes to handover the cheque to St Benedict's Hospice! The fund was nearly a few quid short today as mackem, Lee Fisher, tried to pay with foriegn coins resembling £1 coins! I spotted his plan before I ticked his name off the sponsor form though and he coughed up some genuine Sterling. And while I'm on the subject of mackems! Steven Moore, the mackem challenger, still hasn't been able to bring himself to do a run since his day of derby day defeat in July. The shame must be unbearable!
