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On 15/7/20 the organisers of the Great North Run announced that this year’s run has been cancelled because of the COVID19 pandemic.
I now have a guaranteed place in next year’s race. In order to continue to increase my fitness I need a target to aim for. I have therefore decided that I will run 13.1 miles on 13 September 2020, the day that the Great North Run was to have been run.
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I started running in 1982. I was aged 26 and decided to run a marathon. I was quite fit through competing in other sports and it took me three months to get fit enough to complete the Mersey Marathon. Over the next four years I completed 10 marathons and 23 half marathons. After completing the London Marathon in 1986 I decided to stop running, training was taking up too much time and I had a growing family.
In 2002 I decided to start training for another marathon but now, much older, it took four years to get fit enough. At 4hr. 3min., my time for the 2006 London Marathon was 18 minutes slower than it had been 20 years earlier. During the next seven years, I completed the London Marathon another twice, the Liverpool Marathon twice, and the Athens Marathon. I also completed the Great North Run in 2010 and 2011.
The Liverpool Marathon in 2014 turned out to be my last. After about 12 miles I started to feel a pull in my groin. I continued. The pain wasn’t too bad. When you are training, listen to your body. In a race tell you body to shut up. This was my 15th marathon and I had always finished. I wasn’t going to give up this time.
And so started five years of injuries. After the Marathon I did my usual rest for a week followed by short slow runs but the pain in my groin came back. I had a rest for two weeks and started back training. The pain was back so I had a longer rest and then an even longer rest. I finally went to a sports physiotherapist. She diagnosed my problem was my running style. I was over-striding. When I was younger my body could accommodate the over-striding. Now that I was getting older I would have to change my running style.
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The new running style used different muscles. It took some time to adapt to running this way. My hamstring and glutes certainly felt the difference. It took a few months to be able to run just a few miles. Then came a pulled calf muscle so it was back to resting. The next few years I seemed to be alternating between groin problems and calf problems.
I eventually got to the point where I could run a few miles without any problems. Then in February 2019 I was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. Almost a year later, on the 29th of January 2020, I was admitted to hospital to have an ablation procedure to correct the irregular heartbeat. An ablation procedure is where they kill some of the cells inside the heart.
Two weeks after I had the procedure I was informed that I had a place in the Great North Run. I had applied to get a place every year since 2011 but was unsuccessful on each occasion.
On 19 February I was informed by my doctor that I could are start training but it had to be slow and easy at first.
1 August. This week I was able to run for 1hr. 20 minutes on three occasions. On two of the occasions I managed 7.5 miles but on the third occasion I could only manage 6.8 miles. There are two possible reasons for the slower speed. Either I had run one of the 7.5 miles on the day before and I should have had an easier day or it was a very hot day. I suppose it could have been both. From next week I intend to run for 1hr. 30 minutes on at least 2 occasions.
8 August. I did not do as much running this week as I needed. My daughter decided to come with 2 of the grandchildren. I hadn’t seen them for 4 months because of the lockdown and decided that it was more important to spend time with them. Rather than running for 1hr. 30 minutes I instead decided to run 9 miles. This took 1hr. 37 minutes. The first mile was more difficult than usual, taking about a minute longer than normal. Then I got into my stride. After 7 miles it started to get difficult again with the last mile at a snails pace. Five weeks to when the Great North Run was to have been run. My original plan was to be able to run nine miles a few times during the first two weeks of August and 10 miles a couple of times towards the end of August. So I am about on plan. At the start of my journey I believed that if I could run 10 miles then I would be able complete the distance because the occasion would carry me. I know have to acknowledge that, because the race has been cancelled, it is going to be more difficult running the distance on my own.
15 August. I managed to run 10 miles on two occasions this week. Both times were about 1hr 57 minutes. The last time that I ran a half marathon I completed it in about 1hr 50. So three miles less took me 7 minutes longer. Is this because of the cardiac ablation or because I am getting old? When I started training I believed that if I could run 10 miles it would be sufficient. I am now starting to think that 11 miles is necessary so that is the aim for this week.
22 August. I managed to run 11 mile twice this week. The first time, took 1hr. 53 minutes. I was pleased with this as it was 4 minutes quicker than I had run 10 miles last week. The second time was four days later but look considerably longer (2hr. 9 minutes). At least, with three weeks to go, I believe that I can complete the 13.1 miles albeit at a much slower pace than I hoped when I started training at the end of February. This week I shall again run 11 miles on 2 occasions but on other days I shall run about 5 or 6 miles and concentrate on running quicker.
29 August. Two weeks to go before the day that the Great North Run was to have been run. I was able to run 11 miles on 2 occasions this week as planned with times of 1hr. 54 minutes and 1 hr. 57 minutes. It looks like I shall be running the 13.1 miles in about 2hrs. 20 minutes. I feel a bit disappointed that it will be so slow but, when I think back six months, I should be pleased that I have made such progress.
Have you had the cardiac ablation procedure and then gone back to running? I would like to know if my experience is normal and what to expect in the future. Please let me know on the form below.
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