USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 15

The Run Geordie Run Training Summary is brought to you in association with Northern Runner, 52 Low Friar Street (Just down from the Gate), Newcastle.

Why not visit the Northern Runner shop and let the experts examine your feet to recommend the best shoe for you. Alternatively, click on the link to the left to go straight to their website.

Monday 9th February - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).

Thursday 12th February - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).

Saturday 14th February - Beach Bootcamp. (00:45:00).

Saturday 14th February - 12 x run up the steps. (00:29:31).  PB!

Get voting folks!

In August 2007, Newcastle United invited me to run a lap of honour, following the successful 874 mile run from John O'Groats to Lands End. A photo from that event (pictured right) has been entered into a competition at the lgloop.com website. The photo with the most votes has a chance of winning £1000. You can see where this is going can't you!

If the photo wins then, by my calculations that would be £500 for St Benedict's Hospice and £500 for The Children's Foundation. This is where I need your help folks!

You can vote by logging clicking here at www.lgloop.com/images/2910. You'll need to register a user name before voting but is costs nothing other than your time. Once you've done that, why not tell all of your friends to do the same too. Thanks in anticipation of your help.

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 14

The Run Geordie Run Training Summary is brought to you in association with Northern Runner, 52 Low Friar Street (Just down from the Gate), Newcastle.

Why not visit the Northern Runner shop and let the experts examine your feet to recommend the best shoe for you. Alternatively, click on the link to the left to go straight to their website.

Monday 2nd February - 5 mile run, Race Course. (00:48:14),

Tuesday 3rd February - 6 mile run, Jesmond Dene. (00:55:20). PB!
Wednesday 4th February - 8.4 mile run, Havannah Nature Reserve. (01:12:16). PB!
Thursday 5th February - 10.4 mile run, Havannah then Race Course. (01:42:20).
Friday 6th February - 5 mile run, Race Course. (00:44:12).
Saturday 7th February - Beach Bootcamp. (00:45:00).
Saturday 7th February - 11 x run up the steps. (00:23:11).
Saturday 7th February - 8.6 mile run, Tynemouth to St Mary's Lighthouse and back. (01:21:05).
Sunday 8th February - 17 mile run, Shotley Bridge to Rowlands Gill and Back. (03:21:53).

Very close to a successful week 14!

At the time of writing, I'm 16.7 miles short of this week's target of 60 miles. This isn't bad at all considering the weather we've had and I've got every chance of meeting what is most certainly a very challenging target. 

After today's regular Bootcamp and steps session, Mark Fleming and I went for a 8.5 mile run to St Mary's Lighthouse and back. I also used this opportunity to get some professional photos taken for sponsor's Brooks Sports website.

Local photographer, Fraser Scott, took time out of his busy schedule to take some most brilliant pictures (pity I'm in them!). I've seen some of his previous work before and was keen to get him down to Tynemouth to take a few snaps. I must say that the work I've seen of some of the weddings he's snapped is nothing short of stunning. If you're in need of a photographer's services then Fraser is your man!

Anyway,  tomorrow will see me head into the very snowy Pennines for those final 16.7 miles. It's going to be colder than today so my tracksuit bottoms may get a rare outing!  

Thankfully, next week is a low mileage week and I have 2 sessions with Mark Fleming. After I told him what I've eaten this week he's promised to push me to the limit! Great!

Tour fund taking shape.

Without a tour fund the USA 2011 run is simply not going to happen. Thankfully, I've been saving as much as I can for the last 6 months and I'm well on target to have the required funds (exchange rate permitting) in place by the end of 2010.

The job of trying to come up with an accurate costing won't happen until the end of this year but I'm currently aiming to have £15,000 in place to cover things such as mobile accommodation (pictured), air fares, fuel, insurance and food. I'm currently just short of 1/3 of that figure and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the exchange rates improve between now and 2011. The fund will receive a boost in the School's Summer holidays when I start cycling to and from work and put aside the saved petrol money. I also plan to have 2 fund raising evenings this year and next where the proceeds will be split between the Tour Fund and the charities. Watch this space for further info. I also hope to attract some commercial sponsorship and will start working on that in the Summer.

As you can see, this run will come at a great personal cost but the rewards for the 2 charities could be massive. I don't like setting targets but I don't think that £75,000 is an unrealistic sum of money to raise for an event of this magnitude. I once set a target of £5,000 for the John O'Groats to Lands End run in 2007. That event ultimately yielded £34,108. The USA 2011 run is 3.5 times the distance. It would be nice to raise 3.5 times the money for St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation.

Those nice people organising the Chevy Chase say "YES"!

Last month, well respected and accomplished ultra distance runner Ian Harding asked me to join a team of runners from Northern Rock to take part in this year's Chevy Chase up at Wooler on July 4th.

As the Wooler Running Club website explains "The Chevy Chase is a 20-mile journey through some of the finest upland scenery in Northumberland giving both walkers and runners the opportunity to channel their energies into a rewarding and demanding personal challenge. You will need to be fit and sure footed, determined, and prepared for all weathers. Your route will take you deep into the heart of the “land of the far horizon”; you will summit both Cheviot 2676 feet / 815m and Hedgehope 2348 feet / 714m. You will have the unrestrained freedom of the hills, the route is unmarked and you may choose your own path as long as the manned checkpoints are visited in the correct order. Only a short section is on road; the rest of your route follows tracks, footpaths, sheep paths and crosses rough fell. Although taking place in mid summer the sun is never certain to shine and low cloud is a distinct possibility therefore you must be able to navigate by map and compass.".

I didn't hesitate in applying for this prestigious race and I'm delighted to be one of the 300 accepted entrants. Preparation for this run will include a lot of hill work in the North Pennines. This will be ideal for improving the strength and stamina needed to tackle not only the Chevy Chase but also for the longer runs I'll be doing from the Spring time.

Further info on this run can be found at Wooler Running Club's website.

Blood, sweat but no tears in week 14.

Training is going very well this week with 30 miles done and 30 miles still to do. The highlight of the week so far has been a PB of 01:12:14 for the popular 8.4 mile route up to the Havannah Nature Reserve. This was Wednesday's run and it wasn't without incident! About 5.5 miles into the run, I tripped on a stone jutting out of the ground and went flying! My leg was in a right state with a steady stream of blood pouring down the front into my trainers. I picked myself up and managed to put in some quick final miles to register yet another PB. This was not only down to adrenalin but Carlton and Jeff's fine pace setting.

I should be at 40 miles for the week by this stage but the snow and ice around Shotley Bridge and a few more unplanned school runs have put paid to that. A repeat of today's 10.4 mile run tomorrow lunchtime will see me break over 40 miles for the week, leaving 20 to do this weekend. I've got every chance of getting the planned 60 miles in and this will mean I can enjoy next week's gym classes and cross training all the more.

The first sponsorship landmark!

Thanks to recent t-shirt sales and a generous pledge from Northern Runner, who are now the main sponsor of this blog, the fund has gone over £2000! Northern Runner will be making a pledge each year up to the run and their support is very much appreciated.

It's brilliant to be writing about a sponsorship landmark so early in the campaign and I'd like to thank all of those people who have bought a t-shirt or made an early pledge. In particular, I'd like to thank Peter McCowie for paying for the t-shirt production costs. This has allowed every penny of t-shirt sales to go to the 2 charities. I'd also like to thank Ivor Potter whose pledge of £1000 in August last year got the fund off to a great start.

Rest assured everybody that I'm working as hard as I possibly can to make the run across the USA in 2011 as big a success as it can be. Believe you me, there is no greater feeling than handing a cheque over to a charity that means so much to me. Both St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation carry out vital work in our wonderful region. It is your money that will help them continue to do so. Thanks everyone!

Latest t-shirt total!

I'm very pleased to report that the latest total for Run Geordie Run t-shirt sales is £670. Hardly a day passes without at least 1 being sold so expect this total to grow and grow over the coming months.

Not only are the t-shirts getting the fund off to a great start, but they are also hopefully helping to spread the word about this next crazy adventure. They have been spotted as far south as London and as far North as Glasgow.

As a show of appreciation, I'd like to ask all those who have purchased a t-shirt to send a photo of it being worn in far flung or unusual places. Perhaps on holiday or up a mountain or pictured with some page 3 models or something!!! The best snap will receive a fine booze hamper donated by various friends and colleagues. Closing date for entries is August 31st 2009. Please send all photos to sponsorship@rungeordierun.com.

If you haven't already got a t-shirt then details on how to get your hands on one are available by sending an email to sponsorship@rungeordierun.com. They come in sizes S, M, L, XL and XXL and are priced at only £10. All proceeds go to the 2 charities; St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation. The t-shirts are screen printed for durability and feature the Run Geordie Run logo as well as those of the 2 charities. The details of the 3100 mile run are on the back of the t-shirt. All in all it's a cracking bit of kit to wear to the gym or just to knock around the doors in while supporting 2 excellent local charities.

USA 2011 Training Summary - Week 13

Monday 26th January - 4 mile run, Shotley Bridge to Ebchester and back. (00:40:31).
Monday 26th January - Body Pump. (01:00:00).
Tuesday 27th January - Boxercise. (01:00:00).
Wednesday 28th January - Spinning. (00:45:00).
Wednesday 28th January - Personal Training Session. (01:30:00).
Friday 30th January - 5 mile run (400M efforts @ 07:20 pace), Race Course. (00:43:33).
Saturday 31st January - Beach Bootcamp. (00:45:00).
Saturday 31st January - 11 x run up the steps. (00:22:01).