Great North Runners with the same family expression
Great Granma Cochrane knitted this jacket
Dad shows Alfie how to take his first steps
As I jogged through Throckley Woods a couple of days ago I was thinking happy thoughts.
- I could do Prudhoe Riverside Parkrun on Saturday.
- Then follow it up on New Years Eve.
- A weekly race for the next few months would complete my challenge by my birthday on 29th March.
- I feel good!
Three miles under the belt and I turned for home. Later that day it hit me, unbelieveable tiredness. By bedtime I felt so ill that I began thinking the worst. The next day, yesterday, I still felt weak. Today, I sought advice/ reassurance from the Stroke Unit.
Stroke fatigue is normal, rest (damn you!). It seems that adrenal and the release of endorphins was all that was keeping me going as I ran. Afterwards, fatigue is normal. So, for me, it is rest and in a week, or two, I can walk quickly and maybe, just maybe, jog a very short distance. Let your body tell you what you can do. Ok, I accept.
With Christmas almost here, I must be thankful for the most important thing in life, my family. I have been lucky to have had just a mini stroke, now I must thank God for that and being here and able to enjoy a happy Christmas.
As a follow up to my last post ' I'm only human after all' , Rag'n'Bone Man is looking like being No. 1 for Christmas in the charts. He is already number 1 in I Tunes (?). You heard it here first.
With Izzi , the inspiration for my original challenge, on Helvellyn, plus fellow Harriers
Mum and dad (Flight Sergeant Ronald Graham) 1946
My grandfather, (William) Monkhouse Graham was born in 1900 and served as a 16 year old in the First World War until his mother pointed out his age and was able to reclaim him from the front line. He went on to live a very ordinary life. You could say he didn't really achieve much, but he was a smashing chap. I can never recall him saying a bad word about anyone, never swore, shouted, or had a bad mood, ever. He did not have a day's illness in his life, until the very end, when 74 years old, he suffered a massive stroke. Even then he fought it courageously and when I visited him in Sunderland General Hospital, he couldn't speak but still pointed me out to his nurse. I could see that he was as proud of me, as I was of him. I loved Granda and know that he would hate to think that he left an unwanted legacy to me, but it would appear that he did.
My dad, Ronald (Ronnie) Graham, born 1923, like his father, Will, he never had a single day's illness. He never smoked, was always fit and lived a healthy life style, but in his sixties suffered a stroke. Not a massive one like Granda, but enough to take away his ability to swallow. It meant that for sixteen hours a day he took all nourishment through a tube into his stomach. After eighteen months, the doctors said that his system's ability to take nourishment normally would have atrophied, but he did not accept that and continued to take a single drop of malt whisky onto his tongue every day to keep his taste buds working. Over two years passed before he was able to actually swallow, but he did and for the rest of his life, almost twenty years, was able to eat, albiet slowly, in the normal way.
At this point you may wonder what this family history has to do with a running log recording one hundred races from my 65th birthday. Please bear with me.
I was always aware that I had a marginally increased risk of suffering a stoke myself because of the family history( Just today, my elder brother, William Monkhouse Graham, told me that Great Grandfather also suffered a stroke at age 74 years. In his case death was instantaneous). To reduce the risk further I have never smoked, and kept myself fairly fit. In my thirties when my lifestyle, desk/ company car/ expense account, started to impinge on my weight and fitness I started running. It was not long before I found that I was pretty good runner and after joining Tynedale Harriers, soon had my 10k times below 40 minutes and 10 miles below 65 minutes. These were my average race times until I hit my fifties, infact, in my fifties I was able to get around the Hexhamshire Hobble's 10.5 mile Fell Race in 1hr.15mins. The latter race has particular significance to this blog as I was not able to compete in last Sunday's race after a incident the previous evening.
Whilst sitting in my armchair watching 'Celebrity', I must have been bored - no surprise there - and started working on my stiff neck. Click, click, went my stiff upper vertebrae as I nodded up and down, then crack, crack as I moved my head from side to side. Then I stood up and was in trouble. I felt weak and when I tried to speak, I was slurring my words.
Yes, I did worry about a possible stroke, but I didn't feel ill - as an endurance runner pain is just something you accept. Muriel asked if we should go to Casualty. "What at 10pm on a Saturday night?" I replied. " Let's see how I am tomorrow."
The next morning my speech had improved to the point that it sounded just a little short tongued. "Would you Google - 'sudden onset of short tongued', Muriel, please." I asked. Well, you might guess that there was a website that provided an acceptable answer, 'Short tongued Syndrome', easily cured by a visit to your chiropractor, and that is what I did. My Chiropractor, Russell, at Hexham Family Chiropractic, soon put a stop to that nonsense.
To cut a long story short, my blood pressure, heart rate, etc., are what you would expect from a runner, a CAT scan was also ok, but we have a wonderful N.H.S and that was not enough to give me a clean bill of health, to cut out any doubts I was given a MRI scan and I have suffered a stoke.
Until the doctor told me this I would not accept that I had a problem. After he left the room I shed tears, not I hope, of self pity, but frustration and disbelief. How could I, a super athlete, possessing almost super human powers ( I exaggerate ) be human after all?
For the moment my 100 race challenge must come to an end. I will try to append my progress in the original 65forizzi challenge and the 100 race challenge to this blog - my IT skills are not very good, but bear with me. I do hope to come back to the challenge, but it is better if I do not put myself under any pressure in this respect right now.
For the moment have a look at what I have actually achieved over the last 19/20 months, then look at Rag'n'Bone Man-Human (Official Video)- Youtube, it has been quite a shock to accept but,
I'M ONLY HUMAN AFTER ALL.
Jogging in a winter wonderland alongside fellow harrier Hilary Graham
Picking up the pace
After two weeks of rest and recovery from the hamstring injury, it was time to try a jog and what could be better than an easy jog around an icy Prudhoe Riverside Parkrun course.
The freezing cold morning must have put a lot of Parkrunners off, for numbers were down, from 295 in my previous run here to just over 100. For me, knowing that the -4c temperature overnight would have frozen the muddy off road section was all the incentive I needed to give it a go.
In the event, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the offroad section, the muddy part, that is, had actually been resurfaced in the interim. Wow, that was almost unbelievably quick!
Letting my running pal, Brian Stonehouse, go nearer to the front at the start, I was happy to settle into an easy jog for the first mile and even happier to find no discomfort from the hamstring. Then, just as I was feeling more confident in my running, there was a sharp pain in my calf, damn!
After a year of running injury free, I just cannot enjoy my running. What should I do, stop, or (wishful thinking) try and run it off? Yes, I chose the latter and as I jogged on the pain went from sharp to just discomfort. Picking up the pace a little, I went round the course for the second lap, easing back as I did so , no sprint finish for me today.
At the end I was 21st out of a field of 108 in 25.02. Brian was 17th in 23.45. Fellow Tynedale Harrier, Hilary Graham ( pictured above), was 39th in 26.57. For me, it is back to ice pack, rest, recovery and treatment. If there is any silver lining to the injury cloud, it is that recovery from a calf strain is, generally, a lot quicker than a hamstring problem, here's hoping!
After an injury free year and just when I thought I would get some classic autumn races under the belt, my hamstring has given up on me, again.
Some years ago I realised that I was always just a sprint away from a hamstring injury, but in recent times it has all being going so well. Maybe I should have realised that track sessions are risky for me, but when you are going well in training and racing you, or rather me, go for it.
So it was that a couple of weeks ago I put in eight fast 600m sprints on the track and was left with a painful hamstring. In the following days I used the roller on the hamstring and also the tight periformis/sacrailiac/sciatic nerve and things were not too bad. As a precaution I also opted out of the Norman Woodcock 5m. The next day was the test event of the new Prudhoe Riverside Parkrun and in awful conditions of heavy rain and on a muddy course I was so sensible, jogging around at a reasonable pace." It seems ok", thought I, "tight, but ok". At the next Harrier session I simply jogged a few laps and again, it seemed that I might just have got away with it.
Come this last weekend, 12/13th Nov. I was entered for the Town Moor 10k on the Sunday, but thought I would test the hamstring with an easy jog in the inaugral Prudhoe Parkrun on the previous morning. Lining up with almost three hundred runners I felt quite good. In my warmup there was no discomfort, but I still moved back down the field at the start to make sure that I didn't set off too fast. Everything felt ok, perhaps a bit tight in the hamstring tendon, but nothing in the muscle itself. Then we got to the end of the first lap of two laps and b......., it just went. "Stop, or slow jog?" I opted for a slow jog and finished in a reasonable 25.24, but I knew that I had a strained hamstring.
A few days later, I am resting, massaging, using hot and cold packs and hoping I will be back within three to four weeks. In the meantime the Brampton to Carlisle Road Race has come a cropper, as has the Town Moor 10K. It will be too soon for the next Harrier League Cross Country and the Hexhamshire Hobble is doubtful. Just when it was looking an easy ask to complete my one hundred race challenge by 29 March 2017 it isn't looking a forgone conclusion.
It was a short journey through Rowlands Gill for my second race of the weekend, the Great Run Local at Gibside, and what a beautiful setting for a crisp, autumn morning.
After a jog and organised warm up away we went, but I was off the pace as the fast guys left me for dead. Was it the effort of yesterday's Parkrun, or that nice half bottle of Rioja last night? Who knows, but at least I found a bit of energy on the long pull uphill and actually caught and passed one of the front runners. Then, that very welcome turn for home and yes, I can still run fast, very fast downhill!
At the finish I recorded 25.24 for this tough 5K race, probably about par for the course. I was told on my very first run here that it was about three minutes slower than your average Parkrun time and that was pretty accurate.
By the time you return to your car and switch on your mobile the result from the run has already been texted. Lovely people, lovely surroundings, what more could you want from a run?
Statistics
14th position from a field of 80.
There is also a 2K course, just right for beginners, or anyone returning form injury.
The month of October has seen me just ticking over and conserving energy for a busy November to come with a cross country, the Brampton to Carlisle Road Race, Norman Woodcock at Gosforth Park and the Town Moor Memorial 10K scheduled for the month.
Saturday saw the Graham family back on the Town Moor, for another Parkrun. For Chris it was milestone, a new 19.24 minute pb. For Laura, also a pb, as she enjoyed some 'me' time, her parents looking after baby, Alfie. For me, just another day at the office, recording a 'standard' 5k circuit of the 'Moor'.
It was a perfect day for running, cool, but no wind as 650 runners set off on the 5K circuit. Chris had joined his Heaton Harriers' team mates at the front, whilst I tried to stick to my 'don't go off too fast' strategy. Laura, meanwhile, had her own challenge - one that mere men will never experience - getting back into running after giving birth.
As I ran, the crowded field thinned out a little and I cast around for my age category rivals. "How" , I wondered," had I only recorded a third place V65 last time out?" As the 4K marker was passed I spotted one of my rivals picking up his pace. "Not this time", I thought, as I also increased pace with a couple of hundred yards to go, really putting my foot on the gas pedal all the way to the line. Looking at 'Strava' after the race I see that I recorded 5.37 minute miling pace to the line, that's fast!
I was second V65 in 22.20 for 162nd position. Joseph White, Sunderland Harriers was 165th in 22.24. Ian Mason was ahead of both of us in 22.03 for 153rd place. My next target is to get back under 22 minutes - why not?
Chris, who is steadily improving his finishing times, recorded 19.24 for 49th place. Laura finished in 31.05 for 524th.
That will be my last 'Town Moor' for a while as I look for a bit of variety in my racing. It will not be my last 5K however, as I fancy the hilly Great Run Local tomorrow at Gibside. I am also taking part in a test run for the latest Parkrun to start in this area, the Prudhoe Riverside Park, next Sunday. That after the Norman Woodcock Memorial Race next Saturday -no rest for the wicked!
Use it, or lose, it is a true saying in terms of fitness and particularly relevant to racing. So it was that I realised it was weeks since I had a proper race - the Tynedale 10 mile/ Great North Run - and I needed just to race again.
Yes, I had my excuses for missing the first two cross country events of the season. Firstly, a chest cold for Wrekenton, then a weekend antiques fair in Kelso, but a glance at the diary told me there was a family wedding coming up in Scotland next week and very little mention of races. The answer? The usual fallback of a 5K Parkrun. Back to the Town Moor for me then, and my lad, Chris, was also up for it.
On a cold and wet Saturday morning we joined the hundreds of runners, on Newcastle's Town Moor for the weekly Parkrun. The rain got even heavier as we warmed up with a circuit of the lake, before retreating under the portico of the Exhibition Hall which is now the Wylam Brewery ( producer of my favourite real ale), for some stretching.
A cultural note, now, for the original North East Coast Exhibition was based here in 1929, attracting several million visitors. This week it was announced that the Great North Exhibition 2018 will be held in Newcastle/Gateshead with the same ambition, you heard it here first.
Having lost a little of my racing edge, I let Chris start some way ahead of me and he was soon lost to sight. My 7.09 for mile one was followed by 7.17 for mile 2 and 7.38 for mile 3. My grimace for the last 0.1 mile to the finish (above) shows the effort needed to drop this pace to 6.22 miling.
Chris with the advantage of youth and fitness was able to knock a mile a minute off my pace, recording 19.51 for the 5K compared to my 22.52. Well done, son.
C.J. finished in 48th position to my 159th in the field of 643, yes 643 on a miserable morning!
My (relatively) disappointing display having focussed my mind on the remaining 19 races of this century of races challenge, I have just looked at the Future North East Races site and booked a few races into my schedule. This now looks something like this:
Oct. 29/30 (cannot find much choice, hence ) Parkrun/ Great Run Local
Nov. 1 Monthly Mile (?)
Nov. 5 Norman Woodcock Mem. Gosforth Park
Nov. 6 Inaugral Parkrun Prudhoe
Nov. 12/13 either Cragside 10 mile Trail, or Townmoor Mem 10K
Nov 20 Brampton /Carlisle 10m.
Nov. 26/27 Harrier League Cross Country or Ponteland 10m.
Dec. 4 Hexhamshire Hobble Fell Race
Dec. 10/11 ???
Dec. 17 Saltwell 10K
A face in the crowd - that's me behind the guy in orange
Chris going for it.
Leaning right for the turn
Am I running today, Granpops?
What a nice surprise at Saturday's Town Moor Parkrun. Having decided at the last minute to put in another Parkrun, the first people I saw at Claremont Road carpark was grandson, Alfie, plus Chris and Laura.
I was still a bit sore from my recent efforts on road and mountain as we lined up with the usual five hundred plus runners.So so much so, that I was happy to let the fast boys and girls, including Chris, dash off, as I settled into a comfortable seven minute miling pace.
Of course, that is still faster than my half marathon pace and I was having to work by the time we reached the 3K point to maintain a reasonable pace. 7.07 for mile one, 7.12 for mile 2 and 7.26 for mile 3, then the finish was in sight and up the pace went to 6.24 and through the line in 22.35 for this 5K course.
Race number 80 in the bag and a few days off are planned before my next scheduled race,the North East Harrier League Cross Country at Wrekenton, next Saturday. My last cross country , at Durham, earlier in the year was a painful experience in the deep mud. I can only hope that it was just an off day for me, here's hoping.
Statistics
Finished in 22.35 for 109th place, 2nd V65
Chris was 39th in 20.20.
553 ran.
Ouch, that hurt and that was just setting off from Hexham Race Course at the beginning of the Tynedale 10 Mile Race!
Yes, I obviously hadn't recovered from my efforts in last week's Great North Run. My calves were tight and everything was just, sore. As I settled into an easy pace for the first couple of miles, I was running alongside my pal and V60 rival, Richard Sill of Morpeth Harriers, it must have been an easy pace, for we were chatting, or maybe Richard was. I had remarked on my soreness and he told me "I am a doctor and you need a day of recovery for every race mile". Actually, I made that up as he would not say the doctor bit, but he was right about recovery and it was only seven days since the GNR.
Well that is me getting in my excuses for a slower time than I would have liked, but the hills in this scenic race are tough. Over the ten mile route you actually climb 1,088 feet and it feels that and more. At least I ran them all, albeit at a slow pace for the really steep sections.
The first mile was nice and level, then the road drops down to the Devil Water, before starting the first climb. Having run with Richard to this point, I watched as he disappeared ahead of me and didn't see him again until the finish. It was now just about getting around and as I had put aside my usual competive nature I could enjoy the rolling countryside - on what other road race would the marshals (well done lads and lasses of Tynedale) have to warn you of the slippery surface as you run through a ford!
My GPS watch was telling me that my early pace of seven minute miling had dropped to over ten minutes for some of the hills, but was averaging at 8.30 and I was happy enough with that pace. Having upped my average run distances after a year of 5K and 10K races, it was almost pleasant to cruise along at a pace which wasn't eye popping. So it was that I put in a faster pace from seven to eight miles back down to the Dilston Burn (Devil Water) before hitting that final, tough climb up to the Race Course Road. Here I was caught by another of my local rivals, Lynn Valentine, Sunderland Strollers. Lynn has done this in every race we have shared, catching me in the last couple of miles - good luck to her. I also noticed that it took some time to catch runners who were actually walking the steep bits. What was particularly galling was having passed them, at least one of these runners/walkers actually overtook me again before the finish!
But, no recriminations from me as to my finishing position, the steep hills, hot weather, etc; it was a lovely day out in wonderful scenery - look at the view across the shire, above, at the finish, wow! We live in a wonderful area.
The resuts show that Richard Sill was first V60 in 1.20.32 for 24th place, I was second in 1.25.32. 102 lucky runners ran.
Post Script to the Great North Run
Having put aside my competive instincts during the race, I spotted a number of runners from a Tyneside club at the finish and could not stop myself from asking them if one of their V65 members had actually beaten me in the Great North Run. "No", they responded " 'X', had given his number to another (younger) member. That meant that I had actually being first in my age category in this international half marathon, no prize, but what a moral victory, morale booster.
