After a long rest for my aching quad muscles, I started running again this weekend. Next year, my goal is to do the Great North Run in under 1 hour 50 minutes. I read that after 10 weeks of not running you have to start training again from scratch, so this year I want to keep on running. My plan is to do the Thirsk 10-Mile in November and the Edinburgh Half Marathon in April.
Best of all, my mum, who did not like the idea of distance running and had worried I might hurt myself, has agreed to try running for the first time after watching the Great North Run. This week we went on our first training session together, running a minute, then walking a minute, until Mum felt like heading back. Our goal is to do a 5K race together before Christmas and I have written her a (gentle!) training plan, with three sessions a week.
It has been such a privilege to meet so many people who know about running during my training and I am very grateful to the team at the Northern Integrative Health Practice, Chris Grieveson and of course David Lowes.
I will however be swapping my trainers for dancing shoes at least one night a week until February - learning to do the cha-cha-cha with a professional dance partner for the St Oswald's Strictly Come Dancing extravaganza!