I don’t know why I bother with alarm clocks I really don’t. The Gateshead Trail kicked off at 10am, registration opening at 8am and knowing how busy it was last year even when I’d collected my number before raceday, I opted for getting there just after registration time to pick up my number so I’d set my alarm for early. I still woke up at 05:30 – a similar time to when I get up for work, and spent an hour in bed on the tablet before getting up for a shower. I took a book with me (to the race, not in the shower) and read it in the car for an hour after I’d picked up my number and t-shirt (pre-ordered with race entry, not a finisher’s pack one for this one) as it was still nippy outside. By not a huge amount of time after 9am it was already warming up and I was starting to cook even with the window down – I had a lightweight hoody on with the hood up to shade my face so my cheeks weren’t burning before I’d set off!
I set off with a group of Bounders in the 60-70 minute wave but it wasn’t long before we all spaced out as we each settled into our own paces. Last time I did this race I’d not been running a huge amount of time and I remember being really pleased that I made it all the way to the 3km mark without a walking break – at the time this was a walk-free record for me, and actually as I passed the same marker this time I was tempted to do the same thing! Instead of just bailing and walking – that really would have been folding to just general lethargy, I made myself take a step down in the pace and use this race as a training exercise for keeping going for longer in the heat by not pushing myself as fast – or I probably wouldn’t have gotten round in one go as I did. Having run-walked it last year, I really wanted to run the whole thing this year, and knowing it’s mostly flat and I’ve covered the distance and further several times before I was not allowing any excuses not to!
I got a boost from the passing section where everyone waves and cheers on each other while they’re passing, but it wasn’t until somewhere between the 5 and 6km mark that I really started to find my groove and settle down into a quiet headspace where I didn’t have to fight with my legs, lungs or temperature. Of course, not long after that I hit the longest hill on the course and that nearly had me – I was determined to get as far up as I could even with some other runners dropping down to a walk halfway up and made it to the crest, but if it had been much longer I’m not sure I would have been able to!
Blue Runnings 