It makes no sense!

Sun 29th Jan - St Mary's Lighthouse 4.9m 34:11

A horrible weekend on a personal level left me emotionally drained, short on quality sleep and having drunk more beer than usual. Yet somehow on Sunday morning I got up and produced my best run in ages. I just got out there and ran, not thinking too much about my pace and looked at my watch in shock after the first mile. I was not expecting to churn out a 6:50 but once I had I felt duty bound to maintain a decent pace. Hit the halfway point in 16:59 and set myself a finishing target of 34:00 without killing myself. Inevitably I slowed a little coming home and finished just outside it but averaging 6:59 mins per mile in early January is something I'm quite pleased with. Whatever happens this year I'm determined that running will be my constant. Something that's always there and that will continually improve. Spent time today looking at my race time PBs - 10k, Blaydon, GNR, Marathon - and they all look seriously beatable. My downfall has always been an ability to stick rigidly to a training plan. This is the year that changes.

Slowly but surely

Well I'm sticking to my plan and making slow but steady progress. It was freezing cold this week but I managed to get out and run twice during the week. Both times just 3.7 miles to Cullercoats and both in around 27:00. At the moment its not about times or even distances just really trying to maintain a steady base for when the Spring arrives. Spend most of the time when I'm running daydreaming about other aspects of my life. Not really good for my running but good for the mind I think. Thursday night helped me think through future plans for self employment in a web design business. I'm not going to make any money working for other people so I might try and put my skills to use for myself one day. Anyway back to the running, I'm on around 285 miles with my Adidas Response shoes and as a little incentive I've promised myself a new pair of trainers when I reach 300. Hopefully sooner rather than later. 5 or 6 miles tomorrow should help me on my way.

Whitley Bay Deep 4 Monkseaton Arms 1

Finally after 4 months of trying this game defied the weather and was staged, albeit after switching the venue to our home field. The lads put in a decent performance against the best team in the Premier Division. A sloppy goal for Deep in the first 2 minutes didn't bode well for us but we pulled ourselves together and produced a battling display. It was 2-0 at half time but we'd created some decent half chances. We had our best period of the game just after half time and Tatey slotted the ball past the keeper to make it 2-1. It stayed this way until the last quarter of an hour. We disappointingly conceded a fourth from the penalty spot in the last minute which gave the scoreline a slightly misleading look. Personally, it was a very enjoyable game to play in. Very good workout physically and I could have capped a decent performance with a goal. At 3-1 I connected sweetly with a volley that came shuddering back off the post and in the dying moments blazed over after a slick turn in the box.

Sat 21st Jan - St Mary's Lighthouse 4.9m 35:46

A pleasing Saturday afternoon run. Longest run of the year so far and managed to keep a steady pace all the way (7:18 mins per mile). Felt pretty good throughout the run although had to work a little bit harder in the lat mile to maintain the pace.

GNR success inspires morning run!!

Thu 19th Jan - Sainsbury's loop 3m 23:35

Found out yesterday thatI'd been accepted to this year's Great North Run through The Times ballot. Glad to be back in after my 7 year run came to a halt last year. As much as I despise the organisers for their poor organisation and outrageous money grabbing schemes, its an event I feel I've just got to run every year. I'd planned a 5 miler last night but an afternoon with the kids left me in need of an early night. So once again I went to bed with my running gear laid out ready for an early morning run. Quite amazingly when the alarm went off at 5:05am I didn't roll over and go back to bed. I heard the wind howling outside the window and struck a deal with myself that if I got up I would only do a short 3 mile run. 10 minutes later I was dressed and ready to step out the door.

The run itself was nothing to shout about. The long stretch up Monkseaton Drive was into a stiff wind and I just felt tired and sluggish the whole way round. My muscles ached and the time was slow, slow, slow but given my history of morning runnning (staying in bed) I think just getting out of the door was quite an achievement. As much as I hate to run so early I really feel like this is a key element to my training. The only time I've ever ran consistently in the mornings was during the summer of 2003 and this resulted in a personal best 1h 26m GNR.

Wed 18th Jan - Cullercoats Seawalk 3.7m 27:47

The phantom hip injury resurfaced on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. The pain seemed to have subsided by Wednesday evening so I took a couple of ibuprofen and headed out the door. Not a bad night for January and I was soon wishing I hadn't worn the hat and gloves. Felt really stressed out. Not only is it coming up to the busiest 2 weeks of the year at work (and Jim Wood seems intent on overcomplicating the whole registration process yet again) but I'm aslo worried about the dog's health and how hard it would be to have her put to sleep. The run didn't exactly clear my head but it felt good to get out and run.

It turned out to be one of those nights when you feel you're running well but the time on the stopwatch tells a different story. Averaged about 7:30 min per mile and total time was almost a minute down on Saturday. Then again Saturday was a mid morning run, compared to tonight's effort after a long and tiring day at work. The hip gave me some minor discomfort but not that bad overall. I don't know what's causing the injury but stretching regularly seems to help. I am so inflexible it is untrue.

Ashington New Mortimer 2 Monkseaton Arms 2

A long overdue return to action. Our first game in over a month was a battling 2-2 draw against a tough Ashington team. Tate gave us a lead with a header early in the first half, but we allowed them to get back into the game too easily. They equalised soon after and then forced in a second just before half time. We were much the better team in the second half and the opposition was dead on their feet with still half an hour left. I scored the equaliser with about 10 minutes remaining, arriving late in the box I controlled the ball with my chest and then nodded it over the keeper’s outstretched arm to give us a well deserved point. Personally my performance was OK. My fitness level is maybe a little better than I expected and although I got a couple of kicks no real injuries to speak of.

Terry is in London with work for the next 2 days so I won’t be able to run again until Wednesday. Planning on 3 runs this week for a combined total of about 12 miles.

Saturday Morning

When I finally made it out the door this morning the hip was feeling much better. Took a couple of Ibuprofen before I went out but hopefully I'm over the injury now. Ran the 3.7 miles along to Cullercoats in a time of 26:54, an improvement on a couple of weeks ago. First two miles went fine but a stitch hampered my progress on the way home. A 3 hour marathon seems a long way away at the moment but if I can keep running at least 3 times a week during January and February then maybe come the Spring I'll have a decent base from which to start some more serious training.

So far, so bad

Anyway, how's it going so far I hear you cry. Well not so good to tell the truth. The family and I arrived back home after Christmas in America on the 3rd January. It was straight back to work the next day and back to the daily grind. I forced myself out the door for a quick 3.7 miles along the sea front to Cullercoats. Felt much better for having made the effort and despite the time of 29:00 I really believed that this was going to be the year I could stick to a training plan. Then the weekend came and I didn't make it out of the door on Saturday. Sunday's match was cancelled so I planned to make up the missed session then. Again I didn't go. Then on Monday night I went for a 3 miler, finishing in 23:11, but with a niggling pain in my hip. Woke up on Tuesday and the niggling pain had become a serious pain my ass. So its now Friday and I haven't ran since. In January when its cold, dark and miserable the last thing you need is another excuse to miss that run. But here's to tomorrow a new day and a new change in attitude. If the hip is still sore I'm going to take some Ibuprofen and grin and bear it.

The year ahead

After a fruitless lunch hour looking for a decent diary or notebook to use as my running log for the year I decided it was time to get wth the times and create a blog instead. Anyway I have big plans for 2006. This year will mark the end of my life as a footballer and Alun Carter the serious runner will emerge. About or dozen or so matches left with the Monkseaton Arms FC and that's it I'm hanging the boots up in May. I've ran for several years now including 2 London Marathons (1999, 2000 - PB 3h 27m) and 9 Great North Runs (PB 1h 26m) but football has been the mainstay of my athletic life. Now its time to move on. I'll never be the footballer I was 11 years ago in college (Boston University) ..... Christ 10 years, never quite realised it was that long ago.

Anyhow, my chief goal for this year is to run an autumn marathon and ultimately crack the 3h 00m barrier that would guarantee a place in next year's London Marathon. Not sure where to run the marathon, but Cardiff in October looks good (although its only 2 weeks after the Great North Run) or possibly Loch Ness or Moray in September. The 3-hour barrier is a tough one to crack but failing that I'd be happy with anything under 3h 15m. I've already submitted an entry for this year's Great North Run and am still waiting to hear if I'm in or not. I suppose cracking 1h 25m for this would be a challenging goal. Other races I'd like to do include my old favourites the Clive Cookson 10k in Monkseaton, the Blaydon Race in June and possibly the Northumberland Coastal Run in July. The Keswick Half Marathon in early May is another possibility but I'll wait and see how things pan out.