This is just a short update as not much has happened since my last blog. My life has revolved around a daily cycle of running, eating, and working. I’ve managed to string together some really good training although the couple of races which I have ran have not been spectacular but that is to be expected with the amount of miles I have had in my legs whilst running them.
Unfortunately I picked up a bit of a sore throat at the start of last week which then worked its way into an upper respiratory tract infection. This meant that I had to miss 4 days of running at the end of the week but I’d rather miss 4 days now than try and push through it and risk missing 4 weeks later. Listening to your body now can always save heartbreak at a later date!
I started back running yesterday but because of the illness I had to unfortunately withdraw from the Blaydon Race last night. I was really upset about this as I love the Blaydon and it is a race which I have been trying to win for the last 19 years. I first ran it as a 16 year old back in 1995 and won the under 20 prize. Since then I have only missed it 4 or 5 times (including this year) and have had a mixture of results including a few podium finishes but never managed to grab the win.
The race very often attended by a handful of Kenyans and this year was no different. Kenyans took 1-2 in both the men’s and the women’s race. Even though the women were running at around 32.10 10k pace (the race is just short of 6 miles) they looked like they were jogging when they passed me (spectating) with about 400m to go so I think it’s safe to say that this year would have been another year where I didn’t win!
Hopefully I’ll have no bad reaction to last week’s illness and I can crack on with training as planned. Just to be safe I am taking things easy through to Saturday and then I will try out a session. Next week I will be returning to Newburn River run. I did this race for the 1st time last year and loved it. It’s a great course along the banks of the Tyne and you get free food at the end which makes it even better! After that I am going over to the Czech Republic to compete in the Olomouc Half Marathon so that will give a good indication of current fitness.
Until next time, keep running, keep smiling…
Aly Dixon 