THREE weeks to go to another milestone.
The big stages in Chris Cordner's preparation for the Great North Run are coming thick and fast.
Next up is an official run on Sunday, July 12.
He will join dozens of others for a 10.000 metre race in Sunderland.
This is his progress report.
I
HAVE reached a strange stage in my preparations for the Great North Run.
I am now running between eight and 10 miles per session which is about 13,000 metres at a minimum.
And yet I have a 10,000 metre run to tackle in three weeks and it presents new challenges.
First of all, how do I treat it?
Do I go at the pace I would set for a half marathon, knowing I will finish further down the field but it will have been another practice run towards the real event.
Or do I blast away from the start and end up shattered at the end, having given my all at a distance I am not preparing for.
Or should I not be worried at all and just enjoy the whole experience.
The third choice is the most tempting and, I have to say, I am loving my running at the moment.
It's as if greater distances are exactly what I need.
I find that I come into my own when a run reaches the seven or eight mile mark. All the aches and pains have gone and it's at that distance that I start to run more smoothly.
Funny really. It's only three or four months since a run of more than three miles or so would have had my wheezing for breath.
Now I'm happy to run for an hour knowing I'll be stepping up the pace at a later stage.
It's a real testament to the benefits of jogging.