So with all the gardening and shopping done I had set aside the afternoon for an attepted long run with under a month to go to the Sunderland HM.
I am still dosed up on steroids and antibiotics but they do seem to have damped the asthma right down, fingers crossed it stays that way when I finish them.
Anyhow, with a gusty easterly wind blowing I planned a route where for the first half it would mainly be wind at my back and downhill in the hope I could bank some time.
I set off out of Dinnington, along the country lanes north to Horton Grange at the 3k mark. Then a left turn and a steady 2k climb up Berwick Hill but nicely powered from behind by the wind I kept the pace up and reached the top at 5k in under 33 minutes. No time to admire the views over Ponteland, the airport and out to Newcastle itself before the bit I had been looking forward to, 3k downhill into well to do Ponteland, fortunately I was able to make the most of it with one of the splits under 6 mins.
I have done this run twice before and both times struggled from this point on as going through the built up areas it is back to dodging kerbs, pedestrians and general clutter!!!, this time I kept it going a bit better than usual and reached 10k in 1 hour 6 mins but as I knew it would be the last 6k was tough, into the wind all the way and with uphill stretches.
Still I kept going best as I could and ended knocking 25 seconds off my 10 mile PB.
So all good today, will see what the next few days bring, now to sit back, have a few beers and watch the last round of the Masters golf.
Well done to everyone who ran this weekend.
Run happy, run safe.
Glad I got out there today
40s faster for a PR PB and advantages of going up an age category!!
Week 1 done ✅
PB 11km
