I was determined to put Gateshead Harrier Steve Medd's advice into action during week three of #runsub17 with a minimum of running "3 times a week of at least 3 or 4 miles each time". It's may seem like a very small amount of running compared to what I've done in the past but I've always been a great believer of starting small when building up the miles. Steve Medd calls it "building a base" and that's exactly how the week's mileage felt. I wasn't bothered in the slightest at the lack of quality. Getting the running shoes on and putting one foot in front of the other is what it's all about at the moment.
The running week got underway on Wednesday with a 5 mile run to work. Donna dropped me off near her office and I ran the rest of the way. With Donna having previously been part of the Australia and Europe support teams I thought for a moment that I had 30-40 miles to run. Thankfully, Wednesday route was just from Dudley to Longbenton.
My legs were very sore right from the start with cramp being felt all over. It's the type of mild pain I've felt on many returns to running over the years. There are no concerns there for me.
The 5 miles took me a whopping 01:07:59 to run. To say there's room for improvement is an understatement!
My legs were very sore right from the start with cramp being felt all over. It's the type of mild pain I've felt on many returns to running over the years. There are no concerns there for me.
The 5 miles took me a whopping 01:07:59 to run. To say there's room for improvement is an understatement!
Relive 'Run to work'
The second run of the week took place on Thursday and was my first lunchtime run in a long while. It was a 3 mile effort around Longbenton which took 00:38:11. A marginal improvement on the previous day. More importantly, I was able to suss out the shower facilities at the office. There appears to be a lot of off road options nearby and Jesmond Dene isn't too far away. I expect to increase the number of lunchtime runs greatly over the coming months.
On Thursday night, Donna and I attended the wedding of Michael and Yuliana. Regular readers will remember that Michael was my "fixer" in Ukraine. He was responsible for putting me in touch with some very kind folk in Kalush, Turnopil, Starokostyantyniv, Zhytomyr and Kiev during stage 5 of the run around the world last year. He was a game changer last year and we were really honoured to help them celebrate their wedding.
This is the second "around the world" wedding we've attended with Mel and John's wedding in Perth Australia being the other one back in 2015.
Congratulations to Michael and Yuliana.
The final run of the week was done at South Shields Park Run on Saturday morning. I found the course very challenging compared to the other Park Runs I've done but I really enjoyed it. There were the usual wide range of abilities in attendance and I put myself at the back of the crowd. Michael said he would keep me company but I don't think he realised how slow I would actually run. It's always "good for morale" when the running company jogs ahead, comes back, starts running backwards alongside you and doesn't break a sweat. Support man Carlton has done this many a time over the years! I'm used to it thankfully.
The pleasing thing for me is that Michael said that he only started running after meeting me in Kiev last year. That's always a great thing to hear. I'm sure that won't be the last I see of Michael during the #runsub17 campaign and he is currently on his way back to the Canary Islands where he teaches English.
Before he left, I heard that he took Yuliana to the Newcastle match on Saturday afternoon. Now that sounds like a perfect honeymoon to me!
I intend to try a number of different Park Runs over the next 12 months. I hope to return to South Shields in October to see if I can improve on my time of 00:39:50. That included a very discreet toilet stop which cost me 30 seconds!
Thanks to the South Shields Park Run volunteers for some enthusiastic encouragement on the way round. I always appreciate that.
Relive 'South Shields Park Run'
Tune in next week for the week 4 #runsub17 blog and hopefully a greater number of miles at a slightly faster pace.
