The Walker With Heart

well it lasted a clear 36 hours... The GNR was my last planned run, nothing else had been looked into, nothing else booked... All I had to look forward to was the Fellsman (60 miles in 24h over the Yorkshire Dales), and the Coast-2-Coast you'll all be hearing about next year. And I've been having a motivation problem... I've trained and run a marathon, it was hotter than ideal so I was slower than I could be... This years GNR was done on the marathon training, a hell of a lot of walking and a dozen 5 kms and a 10km... that's it 1 10km... and I ran at PB pace for a half-marathon. So what's the itch, the heat... And the change in me that I don't just want to any run, I want to do runs that I find interesting or amusing... Which is why I've been getting excited about a New Years Eve Marathon up and down the side of the Mersey... Its part of a double, so the idea for some people is to do a marathon either side of the festivities... Sorry guys, I may be mad ...

The kit has been checked... so lets do it again... The weathers been checked... so lets do it again... Every runner will have their rituals, whether they admit them or not... Me, I'm re-reading the run magazine to check nothing has changed from last year. I've checked my kit, yep its still in the same place as last night, the number is still pinned on. The bag for the baggage van is ready to be packed, and the extra number already pinned on it... So whats left - the GPS watch is charging, the timing chip is ready to go, the wristbands for the bus are out on the table, the hydration sack is chilling... Which leaves a couple of important things to do... 1) Wake up 2) Get the transfer bus 3) Run 4) Enjoy it 5) Meet up with people at the end 6) Get the bus back back Hmmm ... about number 3... TTFN Paul

My bib's arrived... and around the country over 50,000 bibs have arrived... So its back to where it all began... well all of my running... A mate convinced me it would be a good weekend and even a walker would be able to finish before they re-opened the roads. I can still remember the weekend, the finding a pub in Whitley Bay for our Saturday restorative pint... And were joined by some locals who on hearing what we were up to said that Mike looked like he'd be fine, but that was a bit fat to run anywhere... Pasta ensued... And then the run, I waited at the back... right at the back... so far at the back the guys in the sweeper truck were asking me if I was ok ... and I was... 13.1 miles... Walking past people who had started off a long time before me, realising that I was part of that tide of humanity pouring over the Tyne Bridge, plodding along the motorways, ohh and ahhing as the Red Arrows swoop low over ours heads as we go up the last hill... and then the sea, shining in ...