Beginners do Great North Run...skip along here!!!

[LittlePushka]

Anybody got a a place for the GNR in five months and fancy sharing a training thread?

I am signed up to run for Macmillan and do not run with anyone so would love to have a bit of a chingwag with anyone training away for the GNR.

Currently I am the wrong age and shape for all this sort of caper (though I am seriously considering joining the elite women at the front - for a bit of a head start)- but i have done the GNR three times about twenty odd years ago.

It's a BRILLIANT run to do . BUT, although on the day there are thousands...its a long lonely road to get there!

Hope to chat

Ooohh! Nice aubergine...! Cannot imagine just hauling-ass out of a pool and then hopping straight on a bike!!

I am off to post a heart rate monitor thread - anyboyd got any recommendations?

did my first 10k and my first 10k race today!! took me an hour but am now enjoying the memories - can't say all the race was great fun but am feeling proud!

what is the point of a heart rate monitor (sorry know that is a dim question really)? does it make you run faster to make your heart beat more??

Well done sanfairyann!!! I bet you feel like a million dollars! 10k - a little over 6 miles I think ( I still work in "old money"!) gives you a sustained ten minut mile pace - I think thats magic!!! I did a run this morning and it was perfect running weather - hope your weather was not too grim.

About heart rate monitors, I have bought one because I bought a good training manual called " THE MARATHON AND HALF MARATHON TRAINING GUIDE" by Graeme Hilditch. (very good, easy read and recommend it, cant do links but I got mine on amazon really quickly)

His expanation of how best to train for an endurance race was really good and very simple to follow.And it made sense to me. He talks about how training for enduranc should include difference intensity training. The heart rate monitor lets you know lots of things but mainly what your optimum heart rate is in your comfortable zone or in your intense zone. I am not good at judging these for myself and I tire myself out too quickly by going too fast too soon. So this will help me kerb myself and to last longer

Well done sanfairyann, you've made me feel like I should do a 10K now to boost my training. The sunshine is helping though, it's a lot easy to get out the door these days.

why thank you both kindly

littlepuska heart rate monitor thingy sounds good. I'm lazy. every run is at exactly the same pace it's just more or less hard work.

isn't it lovely running in the spring? it's so beautiful - even in the urban jungle. I've got another 10k lined up for the end of may and hope to get in under an hour but after that I don't know how to make the leap to more than 10k. do I just make my training runs a bit longer every week?

have got bra burn! shock absorber must be rubbing - luckily nowhere too painful

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't posted since the start of the thread! Have caught up now and am inspired by the running shenanigans going on.

I have been busy buying myself a new Level 4 Shock Absorber for my new big baby boobs and a fancy pink Nike Run top as an incentive to get going. So I did 2 miles today (my first run since June last year when pregnancy knackeredness took over) and I felt like I had concrete trainers. Back out tomorrow, trying for 3 miles.

My usual half marathon effort comes in anywhere between 2.5 - 3 hours....to be honest I'll be glad of a finish in this one...

Hello, i would so love to do the GNR one day (perhaps before im 40) I did couch to 5k and now struggle to do 5k without walking - am upping it all and hope to do 10k tees pride in sept - how many k is the gnr forgive my ignorance? Your all marvelous for doing that mind. I dont have a runnign partner atm so after 10 mins runnign my northern noggin screams WALK!

LOL at the thought of these boobs bouncing about...bra burn!!

Well done board bunny - knocing out a couple of miles straight off is great! But I have to say its a brave move to do three the following day!!
Nappyzone, GNR is13.2 miles or so, which is about 21.25 km. I think sanfairyann is right that doing up to 10k is sort of do-able in your head and also out on the road. It daunts me a little too to go from running for an hour to running for 2 1/2 hrs.

I do run faster (involunatrily it seems) when I do my short runs and without a doubt up to a half a mile from home, like my dog, I perk up and seem to stagger rather less!

Nappyzone - I constantly have a battle in my head " Stop - dont stop - i have to stop - you can keep going - I will die if I dont stop up this hill- you can stop if you get to the top" it helps me get away from this mental battle if I listen to music because I forget about the job in hand and it gets me to the end quicker.

Oh and yes,...spring running - glorious!!

I've signed up for that 10k, week on Sunday so no time to bottle it, hoping to come home in under an hour. Infact need to come home in under an hour as I have to go to work in the afternoon.

Running with baby boobs-must be keen...or mad, good luck don't over do it though.

When my legs are screaming stop I do them a deal and set a target to where I will run to before walking, sometimes when I get there I feel I can keep going but if not I don't feel too bad about it because I reached my target.

As for running for longer than an hour, I'm in denial, it was my approach to childbirth and I survived that. It can't be that bad can it?

LOL at aubergine "running" to get to work in time!!

The first time I did the GNR twenty-blah years ago i can remember getting to 12 miles before thinking that i wanted to stop..so good was the Geordie nation along the roadside! The day will definitel add at least three miles to your PB!

sounds encouraging littlepushka - I'm going to need all the support (not just for ginormous norks either) I can get

just did some hill runs followed by a speed run - not far - just 2 1/2 miles - but did it in just over 20 mins which I'm happy enough with. am exhausted now. I needed to make up for Sunday's ''run'' which ended badly when I started walking about 5 minutes in and just couldn't do at all.

sanfairyann - i too have days where I seem to fly and otherdays where I run like my laces are tied together!

Are you running for a charity?

yep, kidney research, my son has a kidney condition so I'm chuffed to be raising money (not that I actually have yet!) for them. how bout you?

Well that will be a great motivation for you I am sure... What does the vest look like and I will look out for one with your name on it..(as you glide effortlessly past me of course!) I shall be in a fetching pea green number hanging around the St john Ambulance tents at miles 3 7 10 11 12 12.5 13 etc!!

I am doing it for macmillan - I lost my dear old dad to cancer last autumn. He had kidney problems too and dialised three times a week up to the end.

When I can't be bothered to train, or am out feeling pretty rubbish it heps me immensely and instantaneously to think of the reasons why i am running. (makes me cry too as well and most runs I have a tear or two - usually when i am running for home with my house in sight. Yes, I am a total flake!!

It's really touching, peoples reasons for doing this. I'm feeling a bit selfish now for not wanting to get sponsorship. Good luck with your fund raising.

I did my 10K yesterday. Went really well and I managed to finish in under an hour so got to work on time, phew. It was a great atmosphere and has spurred me on to do more. Thinking of a 10mile run in July now. It'll be the furthest I've ever run but if I'm going to be doing 13 in September it'll give me an idea of what it's like, shouldn't it?

that's fab - very jealous of your under an hour time - well done. I've got another 10k at the end of the month and hope to get in under an hour for that one. there aren't too many 10mile races out there, are there - I need a step up from 10k tbh - i still haven't run any further than that!

Well ive got me heart rate monitor and according to that I will self combust at some point between mile 5 & 6!!!

if nothing else it is a little toy to play with during the monotony

Hey, team - if you are gearing up for an approximate 2 hour race - does that mean you will get the kettle on and a sarnie ready for this old bird staggering in!!

Mmm - feel like I should be doing a 10 k race now. Must look to see what is about.

keep on running

Hope everyone's fit and well. Posted my entry off for the New Forest 10 mile yesterday which is the middle of July. Hopefully it won't be too hot though that's hard to imagine right now as this May has been so cold.

I used the Runners's World site to find it. It's quite good for looking for runs in your area.

Don't think I'll be coming home in under 2 hours on the day but the thought of a good cuppa and sarnie will keep me going.

And a twix if they haven't all already been eaten.

Hello Aubergine!! LOL at twixes again! How many runs a week are you doing at the moment and what mileage for each out of interest?

Hey do any of you run in running shorts instead of tights? I get so hot running (even now) it disturbs me how I am going to keep cool in the warm summer weather. I worry a bit that my chobbly thighs will not get on terribly well with one another.

I'm running about twice a week at mo, usually 4 or 5 miles. Once I've done my triathlon I'll try to increase that to 3 times a week and start increasing the mileage. How about you?

I'm now running in shorts but do have skinny little legs(more twixes needed) so my thighs are fine. You could try cycling length shorts or vaseline

at vaseline thighs - what a delightful thought!!!

I am doing twice a week 4 or 5 miles with maybe a little 3 miler if I can squeeze it in. I have bought some shorts - but saving them for later in the summer.

I did not run this weekend - way too hot - though I did climb up a little mountain in the Lakes, so that sort of counts as training!!

Hi ladies can I join in? I ran my first 10K today - the Bupa London one - and did it in 1 hour 5 mins. Am feeling inspired and the charity I ran for (Meningitis Research Foundation) have places left for Great North Run, so I'm about to fill in the form and send off the cheque (gulp!). Was hoping there would be an appropriate support group on MN - although you all sound much fitter than me!

DS is 14 months now - I ran a few 5Ks before getting pregnant and started running again last summer. Would like to get a half marathon under my belt before having another baby (and probably never running again! ).

Am so impressed with those of you doing GNR as first race post-baby.

Will look forward to tips/shared pain through next few months of training...

Hellooo, haven't been frequenting these threads of late. I am currently running 10k twice a week alongside two swimming sessions a week. My BIL is doing the GNR and is badgering me to do it too (he can get me a place at short notice)but I'm still unsure.

I have my first 10k run on Sunday and am really looking forward to it. I really like to run to music and find that it really spurs me on. Do people listen to their mp3 players in organised races or is it thought of as rude? Not really sure what the etiquette is for organised races.

Hi rollergirl. I've done a few 5Ks and the 10K yesterday and listened to my ipod at all of them. There are plenty of people with earphones in, not rude at all. Sometimes the cheering drowns out the music!

Hi, well I did my 10k on Sunday. First organised race and I really enjoyed it. I shouldn't have worried about listening to ipod, most people were. I didn't in the end though as I actually ended up running with BIL, which was surprised about as he is much faster than me.

Anyway, I did it in 1hr 30 seconds. Not too bad for my first proper race I guess but def want to get under an hour for my next.

So how to increase speed? Do I need to do interval training or will upping my distance, and therefore my fitness, automatically increase my speed?