Up The Poly!

Stuart is a relatively new member of the Poly but has wasted no time contributing to the cause through coaching and his work on the club's website. Having joined at the start of the pandemic, Stuart might not be a familiar face to many, given how we're only just getting back into the swing of things. Stuart's story into running and coaching stems from a lifetime of brain related conditions and surgeries, including various cysts and tumours, as well as the horror of meningitis. A chance glimpse of the New York Marathon on TV from his hospital bed as youngster planted an ambition that was 20 years in the realising, with a lot to contend with in between. His message is one of self determination and resilience, as well some interesting dietary advice when he needed to bulk up from major weight loss when he was sick as a child... Thanks Stuart (and blimey, well done!)

A chat with six splendid volunteers who are the core of the Whitley Bay JPR team. Fresh from a wet and windy event, Rachel, Dawn, Donna, Johnny, Francine and Sally gathered to eat warm sandwiches, drink tea and talk about this event that is fast becoming a northeast institution. Also featured is a clip from Dawn's inimitable warm up for this morning's JPR, with some wet and windswept kids (and a whining dog) joining in for good measure.

Karen is the current holder of the club's Tommy Moody award, given for exceptional courage and fortitude. Just about all of us associate March 2020 with the beginning of lockdown and the Covid pandemic. For Karen, this was also when she was struck by the auto-immune condition aggressive psoriatic arthritis. A nightmare for anyone, and runner certainly, this meant going from being an active runner to barely being able to manage the stairs. Trial and error with potent drugs and lots of uncertainty followed, until she managed to find a way back to running and back to her beloved group within Phil Rees' sessions. Karen's tale also includes some classic runner's tropes, including that old classic of coming back too soon, but after such a lay-off, you can't really blame her :) Massive thanks to Karen and a shout out to husband Rob for his obviously incredible support.

10 people, 2 plates of biscuits and a whole bunch of marathon related stories, tips and plans for the future. A lovely conversation about the 26.2, some stuff about chaffing, gels, guts, sadistic coaches and disobedient runners. We even shoehorned some ironman and ultra running in there. My thanks to Gregory, Greg, Graham, Simon, Roger, Michelle, Natasha, Steve and Alison for helping to make this podcast such fun.

Visions on the pier, illicit swimming, dealing with the system, random white vans and turning ideas into glorious, award winning action. This is likely to be the final podcast so thanks for listening folks.

Stuart and I talk about his discovering of running and of sprinting, encounters with Brendan Foster and the GNR, his route into the Poly and his subsequent rise to nationally ranked performances within it. We talk about how sprinting is really hard, why it's also something everyone can do and how the North East Masters is an ideal place to do it. My thanks to Stuart for a really engaging chat.

JJ turns interviewer to chat to Mark about his recent Spine race completion. The Spine race is a 268 mile off road race over the whole Pennine Way. JJ chats to Mark about the Spine and the various things that led up to it. We talk bad patches, sleep deprivation, preparation and craving support when things go south. We also talk post event phenomena such as excess eating and sudden sleepiness at work

Dawn is a relatively new member of the Poly but has been known to those of us whose kids partake in the Junior Parkrun at Whitley Bay for some time as the bag of energy that gets everyone warmed up before the run begins. Dawn is a qualified sports therapist and thus we talk about how rubbish we all are at listening to advice when we're injured. Dawn has a background as a dancer too which is part of her story which led to her running with us and bringing so much energy and enthusiasm to the club.

A Poly legend! Greg and I talk marathons, parkruns, his tips towards longevity and getting the most from your running. This is the first podcast done face to face rather than Zoom, which was lovely but introduced some new problems with the podcast software and the metro interrupting our lovely chat in Greg's garden from time to time. Apologies in advance - I will try and improve the technical side of things and my thanks of course to Greg.

Natasha is one of the Poly's trustees, one of the club's most improved runners over recent months, has some excellent Strava stalking tales and is the undisputed Angel of Slaggyford to a certain breed of ultra runner. Warning: there are a couple of naughty words in this very extertaining episode

To mark the return to racing, this latest instalment of 'three blokes talking about getting old' (an actual review) focusses on the joys, horrors and multi-layered experiences of racing. We talk useful rivalries, tactics and come clean about our own personal disasters. We also talk about our first races and our best races, because when it goes well, there's little to beat it. **apologies for the echo on one of the contributors sound feed for the first half of this, it's very slight and i can't get rid of it

Cat is the Poly's only wheelchair athlete. We talk about her early inspiration Tanni Grey Thompson at Sydney 2000, meeting your hero (and becoming friends!), the not-flat ness of the coast if you're in a chair, the GNR (and holding Mo off until mile 11!), customised chairs and dreams of Berlin. Such a positive and energetic chat in which I learned that there's more similarities than differences between wheelchair racing and running, it's just that the differences are obviously significant. Impossible not to feel positive after hearing this - huge thanks to Cat for coming forward and agreeing to light up this little podcast.

About a month ago, club member Holly gave birth to her beautiful baby daughter.  Despite that 'constant-state-of-alert' feeling of being a first time parent in those early days, Holly is keen to get back to some form of running.  Understandably, she's wondering how to go about it and keen to learn from the experiences of others. Having put out a question about this on the club's Facebook page, five women who have been through this experience offered to help. And so in a first for 'Up The Poly', we have a six way conversation that explored this issue and in doing so, helped Holly to work out how to approach her post-baby return to running.  My huge thanks to Holly and to Dawn Ridgeway, Kate Dyson, Alison Smith, Steph MacClean-Dann and Christina Tyley for their, at times, very candid advice and sharing of their experiences.  

We're free, to do what we want, any old tiiiiiiime (in groups of six or less, whilst making sure you don't come back too hard and get injured). Graham and Simon reflect on the resumption of training at the club this week, the importance of judging your effort and not getting injured and we ponder what people's running goals might be now, whether they have changed and the sense in being patient. A major salute to all our coaches in endurance, track and field as things move back closer to normality....

Big up to the coaches, paying it forward, reflections on elite level running at a young age, helping young athletes, running post childbirth, joining the Poly (when you don't know anyone in the area), remembering to be kind to yourself and saluting the kids as they come out of lockdown... Charlotte's take on so many aspects of running and life make for a really engaging chat that covers a broad range of topics. The overriding theme for me was a love of running and a desire to give something back. A terrific chat, thanks Charlotte :)

What is conditioning anyway? Non-running things for runners, circuits and is stretching really worth it? Also, falling over, drills and getting S&C into the minds and plans of runners who only want to run. Graham, Simon and I were joined by Phil Hayes who has a huge amount of expertise and experience in such matters. We didn't scratch too much beyond the surface of this topic and so hopefully we will follow up with some more specific S&C content. Huge thanks to Phil for joining us this week.

Kay's perspective as a self-expressed 'back of the pack' runner has resonance with the human as much as it does the runner within us - it's about the shared goals of self improvement, goal setting and health. Kay describes her GNR beginnings, being literally at the back at Poly sessions but not escaping the beastings, the legend that is Ron and her battles with injury and motivation. I was struck by Kay never giving up, working hard to progress and helping others when they joined the club. My thanks to Kay for an enlightening chat. *PS we both had wifi issues so forgive some iffy sound quality at times (note the uber slick start!) - this will be far easier when we can meet and do this over a brew...

Running tall, T-Rex arms, unflattering videos of oneself running, tinkering, cadence, fads involving chia seeds and daft shoes and training sessions that focus on form. **sadly, due to my ineptitude, we lost the last 10-15 mins where we talked about strength and conditioning (and about how old we were getting). My apologies to G&S for losing the last bit of our chat

Steph talks about her long history of multi-sport competition, including her amazing performance at the Mecca of Ironman Triathlon: Hawaii. We also talk lockdown, adjusting training and the weird lows that come after the big highs. We also cover the emergence of triathlon at the Poly and the importance, or not, of expensive equipment. I really enjoyed this lively chat, not least because there's a mention of a triathlete nun in there :)

Graham and Simon join me to discuss motivation, a topical subject given the varying impact the pandemic has had upon each of us. We talk goals, plans, Strava, cocking it up, A,B and C races, enjoyable vs effective sessions and what happens when you pull on a club vest...plus Simon and Graham's very own jingle :)  [apologies for some sound quality issues that cropped up at points in this recording]

Throwing for England, backyard contraptions, why throwing is like swimming and I learn what a discus actually is. Also, we talk virtual Cookson 10k, the pain and pleasure of racing for the first time in ages and the chance to do it all again soon...

Lockdown hair, running a long way, why it's ok to like roads and trails, why mistakes are good, DNFing and the joy of just getting out there. (Also, some rubbish editing skills)

When you talk your consultant into upping the limit on your pacemaker so that you can run faster, you're not only a runner but a bloody legend. Johnny talks running, hearts, positivity and goals; I hear courage and inspiration. Oh and CHECK YOUR PULSE FOR A STEADY RHYTHM. 

A nervous intro, a chat with a man who runs a lot, training partner destruction, why we need ALL the shoes, some Strava talk and a nervous outro.

Our first foray into podcasting! Why would an athletics club want a podcast? What's this all about? Here's a short trailer to explain. PS - don't laugh at the picture, some far better artwork is on its way!