Over the past two days I have tried many methods to reduce the pain of my shin splints including ibuprofen, ice, hot flannels, stretches, walking on heels and rest. According to all the websites shin splints are caused by increases in activities by more than 10% and take a minimum of 2 weeks to recover from, so I was very concerned that my exertions earlier in the week were going to prevent me running The Great North Run (the biggest half marathon of its kind).
I woke up this morning and as soon as I walked out of bed I could feel the shin splints still there so I was very pessimistic about my chances of running. I felt that I had a 20% chance of completing the race and about a 5% chance of being able to run it the whole way round. Luckily I had support as my brother Ben and his fiance Laura were running and my girlfirend Katie was prepared to brave the rain to support.
When the starting gun sounded, it took a further 8 minutes of walking to get to the start line. Once over the start line the race began and I opted for a change in running technique which involved a slower pace from what I had been running in the week with my feet only just coming off the ground so as to reduce impact. The first few miles were very touch and go as I could feel the splints but they were not as painful as in the previous run on Thursday. I tried not to get too carried away with the atmosphere and the awesome tunes I had playing on my ipod and keep my speed steady. As each mile passed I was getting a bit more excited about the whole thing. It wasn't until at 7.5 miles I passed Robbie Savage and at 8.5 miles at a water station I was handed a drink by Dame Tanny Grey-Thompson that my spirits were lifted to a point in which I thought I had a chance of finishing (Although I couldn't take a pic of either of the celebs as I didn't want to stop, here is what I feel we would of looked like together...)
As the miles started to climb and the roads stayed relatively flat I took in more of the atmosphere and realised it was probably the best atmosphere I had experience on a long distance run. The northern crowds were ridiculously loud, there was great live music and the course was very good. I would recommend the Great North Run to any aspiring runners for these reasons and for the fact it sounds like a great run (marathon) when it is only half a great run. Anyway the last mile or so was painful on the shins but I had enough energy in me from my previous runs to keep me going. I ended in a time of 1 hr 49 mins and 20 seconds which I am very chuffed at. My brother ended in 1 hr 35 mins and Laura achieved a PB of 1 hr 53 mins, so we all did very well.
Although I set out the week to run 7 half marathons in 7 days I am still very proud of the fact that I managed 5 in 7 and especially proud of the last half marathon in which in all likelihood I shouldn't have run but in which I am very glad I did.
Thanks for reading the blog. If you enjoyed it and have a few pounds to spare I am raising money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research as it is a fantastic charity to be involved with. Please check out the sponsorship page here:
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