30/12/10 - S.O.G.U - (Southside of Glasgow Ultra) report + video

You probably haven't heard of this ultra because I made it up about 5 days ago! Well it's really a training run but I thought SOGTR didn't have the same ring to it.

The Idea


I was making up a list of all the things I wanted to do when I was off work and one of them was to go for a long run to celebrate completing the Marcothon. I thought doing 31 miles on the 31st December to finish with would be a fitting way to complete the challenge. So I set about devising a route round the southside of Glasgow. I had thought about the WHW but I quite liked the idea of starting and finishing at my flat and not having to travel to get to the start/finish. So I thought about all the routes I have done and some of the clubs long runs and combined quite a few of them. I also liked the idea of going into the Fling having done one long run on my own because in the race I could be running on my own for long periods of time. So it was to test of mental strength too.

Over the last few days I thought about it more and more and decided to move it forward a day, so I wasn't too knackered for New Year (or at least have a days rest before it!) and I want to do the parkrun on New Years day. So I knew it would be a wee bit of a gamble doing 30/30 days for the Marcothon then having to do a run on the 31st with potentially extremely sore legs. But I thought I could get round 3 miles even if I have to crawl so 30th it was. When planning the route I also wanted to make sure I had plenty of opt out points along the route so if things weren't going well I could cut it short but in the end I didn't need them.

Here is the route I did, which was near enough to plan with a few exceptions:

1st stage - Cathcart to Tescos in Newton Mearns (10 miles)

The first 8 miles was all pavements and pretty flat with some undulations. I headed off towards Hampden, along Aitkenhead road which heads towards town. Then heading west along Calder Road to Crossmyloof before heading along beside Pollock Park. I had thought about going into Pollock Park but its difficult to work out mileages on the trails on mapping software so I just stuck to the roads. I then headed through Thornlibank and along to Darnley. That was the longest stretch of urban areas I would do and it was good to get it out the way early on. I was doing 13 minutes running, 2 minutes walking for the whole stretch. This is when I turned up Corselet Road which I had never been on before and it was awesome. It was more of forest track than a road and after about half a mile no traffic was allowed beyond that point. Waulkmill and Ryatlinn reservoirs were so picturesque as they were still iced over and the mist was really low. I remember passing a road which said no unauthorised entry which is the road I thought I was meant to turn left at, at the time. But looking at the map now, it was right in between the 2 reservoirs and I must have been so distracted I totally missed them!  No big deal though I just came out a junction after the one i thought I was going to come out at. So I turned left and headed down the road to Tesco.

2nd Stage - Tesco Newton Mearns to Mearns Castle High School (21 miles)

Bought some water and doubled back until I got back to the junction. This is the bit I was looking forward to the most which was a 5 mile loop round countryside backroads. I had made a point when route planning to avoid going along 60mph roads for as little as possible and for starter I was on one for maybe 50 meters. Then I turned right and the next 5 miles were really quiet single lane roads and I must have seen about 4 cars and 3 walkers. It was great and really undulating. I had changed tack with pacing and just walked the hills and run all the downs and flats (WHW style!). I finished the loop in no time which took me out at the top of the Ayr Road. The next section was suburbia along my old running stomping ground and I still use the area for some of my longer runs (or middle distance runs nowadays!). Next pitstop was at my parents where I re-fuelled and chatted to my Dad for a bit. Then it was onwards to my next checkpoint, Mearns Castle High School.

3rd Stage - Mearns Castle High School to Cathcart - (32 miles)

From Mearns Castle I took a track which I use to mountain bike down a lot when I was younger. There were a lot of puddles, showing the thaw had totally kicked in. It's a nice track going through fields and along beside Earn water. I then turned up Humbie Road which is a 60mph road. It is no where near as bad as it use to be though since the Southern Orbital got built right beside it taking a lot of the traffic off Humbie. I was only going to be on it for a mile though and there was a grass verge to run along anyway. I then took a sharp right on to the Bonnyton moor road which starts off with 1.5 miles of continuous uphill. I walked a lot of it. Usually on a good day you can see right across Glasgow from the top but not today as it was so foggy. I was surprised when I looked in the other direction the fog had lifted and I saw the wind farm motionless in the distance. Then it was onwards to Eaglesham where I dropped in at Spar to get another bottle of water. Just 500mls this time as from this point it was just 6 miles to go. It was mostly downhill though, but by this time my legs were sore and I just ran as much as I could, walked for 2 minutes and repeated until I eventually got to Cathcart. Finished! What a high I got from finishing.

After thoughts

Mentally I really nailed this run, I always thought I was going to finish and just enjoyed the ride. Overall I covered 32 miles in 6 hours 2 minutes which I'm also really pleased with. It was so nice too, to get straight in the door after the run and have a bath. I'm feeling good now going into WHW training next year. Tomorrow's run is going to be interesting!

Video

I don't normally do a video for training runs but since I was running by myself I used it as a weapon to keep my mind occupied. It's amazing how much time it does take up. It's not just the actual filming as you are also thinking - where I am I going to take the next video and what am I going to say etc. So again I found it useful. So here it is and I promise it's not all pictures of food establishments ;-)


S.O.G.U - Southside of Glasgow Ultra from Stuart McBeath on Vimeo.

Marcothon - the end is in sight

This has definitely been the toughest week so far, maybe not physically but for sure, mentally. I was in two minds at the start of the week whether to keep going with the high mileage or have a more relaxed week after 3 big weeks. That in the end was dictated to me.

On Monday I got home from work at 8.15pm, taking me 4 hours to get home and that was after getting rescued from Holytown where the train stopped and we were all told to get off. Luckily my Dad said he would come and pick me up as I had no idea where I was and not many trains stopped there. My parents cooked me dinner and by 9pm I set off for a run and ended up doing just over 4 miles. I wore my microspikes but didn't really need them as the pavements were well gritted and it was harder to find good stretches of ice to run along. In bed by 10pm back up at 7, this time it took 3 1/2 hours to get into work. By the time I got home it was 7.30pm.

This was Tuesday and already things were starting to take its toll. I set off for a run as soon as I got home, then half way round I actually felt myself falling asleep and by the end I think I may have been sleep running for small sections! So in bed by 9.15pm, this time up and out the door by 6.30am to try and get in at a respectable time, and ended up getting in at the time I usually got in but took 40 minutes longer. Got home at 7.30pm again and set out for another very tired 4 miler.

Thursday and the holiday begins! I have never been so relieved to be on holiday. I had a long lie and went to the club at night. Not only that but we did our first proper session in over a month. There was a back road which is about a km in length we used to do km reps. Its a long gradual uphill, followed by a short but not too steep downhill and we just went back and fourth along it. It was the first time in a month I dipped below 7min mile for 2 of the reps so a good session.

Friday I still had to buy Christmas cards so I did my 4.5 mile run stopping off on the way.

Saturday I went up to park run in Pollock Park and had great fun marshalling, as I had some good banter with the runners and everyone was in a good mood being Christmas. Even better was that Giffnock won the mens and womens races this week. Afterwards there was drinks and baking which people brought to celebrate Christmas which was fun. I had planned to run up to my parents but after skidding along to park run I decided just to go on a short run round the block.

The main road pavements which I have been using a lot as they have been in good condition had now become ice sheets. It was a very stop/starty run as i pretty much had to skate across ice patches and hop on and off roads which were a bit safer in terms of less ice but of course more dangerous because of the cars. The problem with the ice was that it was such a thin covering over the concrete I didn't think spikes would be much good and could end up damaging them. The run was my slowest ever at 48 minutes for 4 miles but this run was all about staying up right which I managed.

Today I decided to do something I've wanted to do in ages and that's to do a full golf course run. I headed off to Linn Park and as soon as I reached it put on my spikes. My brother had been there yesterday and said it was fine in terms of ice. Today was a different ball game as it was just sheet ice but thick enough for my spikes to sink into. The golf course was good fun, although I did lose track of which hole I was on and I think I missed out a few as the hole numbers weren't clear. I then headed down some good trails before heading home. It was just a relief after yesterday to have a safe run away from roads and the dangerous ice.

So good news is I am still on course to complete the Marcothon 26/26 and I'm up at 30 days consecutive running which is a new record for me.  I can safely say I probably would have run about 2 days this week if I wasn't doing the Marcothon!

The Master plan

For 2011 I am planning a big year, that touch wood having no injuries, is going to be bigger and better than 2010. A challenge in itself, but one I am relishing. 2010 was about times, experiences and just having fun with my running. For 2011 I am going for experiences and fun but dropping the times to a certain extent. This is because my aim for next year is more of a stepping stone to 2012 which is to qualify for the West Highland Way race. I don’t just want to qualify, I want to get more experience in running shorter ultras which will give me the confidence, that all going well, I can go to the start line in Milngavie in 2012 as ready and prepared as I possibly can - mentally and physically.  The reason I said I am dropping times to a certain extent is because obviously I need to finish below the cut offs in the races to qualify. This doesn't mean I will be pacing myself to finish just within the cut offs, that to me would be madness. But whatever time I do finish in and if it’s under the cut offs will in turn be all I could want and more.

I have spent a lot of time going through all the potential races and have spent a lot of my runs thinking through what I want to do and now it seems to be all coming together. Next year I will have 4 main races with other races thrown in, in the other months. I have worked out some of my other races but I am waiting to see what the club championship races are first.  So my first main race will be the Highland Fling. I have already had a couple of training runs on this, in the last few months and will probably end up spending many more weekends on the run up to the Fling in April.

In June, Stephen from my club and myself are going to do the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon. After the Fling I’ll be spending time refreshing my navigating skills in the mountains. There are 5 classes in LAMM, and we are down for the “easiest one”, D class as neither of us have done something like this before. 

Next will be Clyde Stride. I enjoyed this race so much this year and will always be special as it was my first ultra. Once you have done a race once, it’s always tempting to go for a better time next time. I think by then I should be nearer to 7 hours but we’ll wait and see.

I spent long and hard trying to find a race for later in the year. I wanted to do 100k/60ish miles to give me a confidence booster ahead of WHW training. But I couldn’t find a race apart from the CCC in Mount Blanc in late August. As much as I would love to do this race, I feel it’s a big step up in terms of the ascent gain and is a long way to travel when I am still a rookie in ultra land. One day though! But then the Hardmoors 60 was created which is the last 60 miles of the Hardmoors 110. Ideal! In the run up to this I am planning to do a weekend recky of the course.

I realise that I might not even get into WHW race 2012 as its filling up quicker and getting more popular. I have thought about this and really the only other options I can think of in the UK are Hardmoors 110 or Lakeland 100. Obviously I am just going by what I have read and the results I have seen. But to me these seem like post graduate 100 milers, as the winning times/peoples times generally are a lot longer than WHW. At the same time I could probably be talked into trying one! I am not trying to say the WHW race is easy. Any race of which covers these kind of distances are going to be difficult. It’s just the other two look even harder! So if I didn’t get in, I would probably apply for the CCC or find something else and try the WHW the year after.

So there’s the Masterplan and coincidently here is my favourite Oasis track:

Club Christmas Handicap/WHW/and the rest

What a week! Full of ups and downs.

On Monday the pavements were getting really icy, so I decided to stick to main roads all the way round. This meant extending my route round to include Shawlands. It worked well and the pavements were fine on the main roads.

On Tuesday I had a really fun run. It was one of those I thought to do a 10-11 miler but at the same time I didn’t plan my route till I got to junctions. I ended up going up past Hampden which I liked because there are some good hills round there before heading off to Kilmarnock road and following the roads round. Somehow it came to exactly 10 miles door to door!

During that run though I was beginning to get a niggle on the inside of my right leg at sock line. I have had this before but usually ice does the trick. So I iced it that night and decided on Wednesday to do 3 miles to let it recover. By Thursday it was fine again so went up to the club and did the Handicap route. We started off fairly easy until just before the first mile, when I could feel Kevin who I was running with increase the pace. We pushed each other all the way round and ended up finishing the 4.6/4.7 mile run in 35.38 which was just a minute slower than last year’s time.

On Friday it was my Christmas work night out. So I had a choice, run early in the morning or run late at night. I set the alarm early but couldn’t get out my bed so it would have to be later. I was planning on doing the park run on Saturday and doing runs elsewhere to get some mileage in until I got a phone call on the way home from Edinburgh from Ann from my club asking if I was up for doing a bit of the West highland way, so I didn’t need much persuasion! I thought this was off due to the weather but turns out it wasn’t. So I got home at 9pm and had to go to the shops to get food for tomorrow. So I turned that into my run, doing 1 ½ miles out and back, 3 miles in all, stopping in the shop on the way back.

So Ann and Sue picked me up at 8am and we met Alison and Mandy at Balmaha. I know Ann, Sue and Alison well from my club but I didn’t know Mandy so made the point of running with her early on to get to know her. The first section towards Rowerdenan was icy in places but they could easily be avoided. I decided to wear my inov8’s today as we were going along beside the loch, I thought it wouldn’t be too bad and we saw Conic hill it hardly had any snow left on it.  When we got to the road section, and the last trail bits before Rowerdenan. The trail got a lot icier in places. You had to go on the grass beside the path just to get some grip. We already made the choice just to go on the road for this section on the way back. When we got to Rowerdenan, Sue went into the hotel to make a booking and the rest of us used their facilities.

Mandy and Alison headed back to Balmaha. While Sue, Ann and myself headed for Invernaid. This was the first time I have been on this section and I’m not likely to forget it.  The first mile, the road was just sheet ice and we were running on the edge of road on the snow covered grass which was a lot better for grip. Then there was the long climb up, followed by some short steep single track which had bits of ice but was easily avoided. We then got to a house which we couldn’t see any way to get there apart from the path. Sue reckoned it must be a bothy or something. We continued on and I really enjoyed being on good trails. We got to 14 miles from Balmaha and looked at our watches. We were about 2/3 miles from Inversnaid but it was 12.30pm so we decided just to head back as it had taken 3 hours to get out and we wanted to be back before it got dark. Then the snow started which we really weren’t expecting but we were all wrapped up enough. 

Then things got dangerous.  On the long descent down the forest track, the snow covered all the ice which was so easy to avoid on the way there as you could see it but now you couldn’t at all now. About 3 miles out from Inversnaid I had a fall, coming down on my left arm which took the full impact. It was agony! Sue and Ann were great and calmed me down. I had a seat as I was feeling a bit light headed. This is when we saw another runner (who was the only person we’d seen on the WHW), turns out it was Jamie who came 3^rd women at the WHW race this year. She was running from Bridge of Orchy to Milngavie. She stopped and said hi as she knew Sue then on she went.  I sat for 5 minutes just eating and drinking. 

When I got up it took me a while to get going and my confidence had gone so was just taking it really easy. Irony is I had brought my micro spikes but left them in the car as I thought I didn’t need them. Lesson learned!  My arm was sore when running or walking. At the time I thought I’d still make it back to Balmaha but with a mile left to Rowerdenan, my sensible head took over and  I said to Sue I was stopping at Rowerdenan. They seemed happy to do that too. Luckily for us we knew Alison and Mandy were hanging at the Oak Tree in and came and collected us. I couldn’t thank them all enough! I did really enjoy the run despite this. The company and the scenery were brilliant and it was good to get back in one piece! So 20 miles in 4 hours 38 minutes (including all stops and falls!) and it was my longest run since August. Other positives for the day was that I tried fruslie cereal bars and ride shots which worked well. Also I put NUUN in my water bottle, something I haven't done since Loch Ness training/race 2009 and that was fine too.

I put savlon on my arm and after assessing the damage it was just cut. It’s still sore to touch but I can run fine feeling no pain.

Today was the Club’s Christmas handicap where I completed the 4.6 miles in 33.42. My handicap was 34.00 so pretty close. To be honest I thought I had a chance of winning when I caught Gordon with a mile to go. But when I looked up Kilmarnock road and the 3 in front were out of site and filled the podium poisitons. With a about  ¼ mile to go Luke past me and ended up getting the fastest time of the day, then a few others followed. The handicaps did work out really well this year (for me anyway!) with many of us within 3 minutes of each other. Will be interesting to see the final results. Most of the attention was on my Hokas which worked well today and was a good laugh seeing people’s reactions to them.

So overall a great week and my 3^rd consecutive 50 mile plus week. Still on course for Marcothon and the arm is just sore to touch now.

Marcothon 12/12

Well I can honestly say if it weren't for Marcothon, there is no way I would have run every day so far this month!

Why?

Because there is no way I would have even thought of putting emergency running gear in my draw at work just in case I got stuck in Edinburgh. That is how much I want to complete this challenge. So on Monday, you guessed it, the snow came. I could have tried and got home but the advice from all corners was against travelling. Alex my running buddy from work kindly let me stay at his in Edinburgh and even then it took 2 hours to get to his and that was 4 miles away!

I was all prepared to go out running and it was actually quite nice by evening as it wasn't too cold. Alex is a member of a gym and fancied going so he said he had a free pass for the month that I could have.  So we headed for the gym and I went straight on the treadmill, knocking out 10k while Alex did a mixture of things. I was so appreciative just to have a bed for the night and getting in a run. At the same time, I don't miss the gym and would much rather be outside in the cold than battling the heat and a forced running technique on the treadmill.

Tuesday I got home ok and the tempreture plummeted. I went out and the first mile and a half was surreal. I think I saw 2 cars, busy junctions empty, cars that were out were going very slowly as the main roads hadn't been properly cleared at this stage. The pavements were compacted snow because of everyone having to walk home the previous night because all public transport to the southside was stopped. When I got on to the Ayr road, I was keeping pace with buses. From here to the end it was all main roads and there were tonnes of cars parked all the way along these roads, i counted 20 along a 100 meter stretch. As people wouldn't dare drive up any side street they lived on as they were just too dangerous. Me? I was bouncing along quite happlily in my new Hoka trail shoes. I still can't believe I own a pair. I thought the only dealer in Scotland was the other side of Edinburgh. But I went to Blues Ski shop in Tisos beside Caley uni and by chance they sell them there too! These shoes probably look like I'm making some sort of fashion statement. But anyone that knows me, would know I m not really into fashion at all! The reason I bought these shoes is because they are meant to last a lot longer than usual running shoes, you can use them on roads and better cushioning. I first found out about them from Karl Meltzer's blog and he raved about them along with many other stories I have read about them. I tried them on the treadmill and was sold instantly.

Wednesday, it got even colder. I wore 2 base layers, a fleece and a jacket! It was a lot icier and I was glad to where my Kathoolas as it was litrally sheet ice in places but they gave me so much grip as they just puncture the ice.

Thursday went up to the club to find there was just 9 of us tonight. The 3 speedies went on a trip round the club handicap route while the rest of us did 5 times 0.7 mile reps of Newlands Park. They were all well impressed with my Kathoolas, while they were slipping about even in Inov8s  while I was flying gettting down to 7.20 pace for a few of the reps and 8.00 min mile pace for my slowest.

Friday was a novelty for a different reason. The first time in about 2 weeks I wore shorts outside! The temperature was great. I just did 3 miles easy at night as I wanted to save myself for the weekend. I just got away with my crampons tonight as there was still enough ice.

I was thinking of doing parkrun on Saturday morning but it was rightly cancelled because of the ice. So instead I did my usual 6.7 mile loop but turned off up a lot of the side roads to get more mileage in. I didn't want to go too far south as it is higher up and probably still quite icy. I didn't take my crampons because most of it had gone and you could make a concrete path through most of it. So I ended up doing 12 miles with quite a few hills thrown in which was good as I am missing the hills at the moment.

Then today it was back to being cold again so it was one base layer, fleece and jacket. I did a change of tack and headed towards town first then joined up with my usual route. The ground was frosted over but even on road shoes tonight and didn't slip once.

Next week, as long as it is on, will be my race for December which will be the club's christmas handicap. Last year I came last by along way and from the half way point I had been overtaken by everyone, so will be interesting to see what my handicap is this year and how I get on.

To celebrate my emergency running gear coming to the rescue and the fitting line "Don't make me go home" here is a video from the Pigeon Detectives:

The Other Side of 2010

After reviewing how I got along this year in terms of meeting the targets I set myself at the start of the year. I thought I’d do another post about the other side of my running in 2010. I’m talking long distance adventures/relays/cross countries and hill races.

I’ll start in order and really the first real experience of the year was the start of May where I headed to Tarbert for the Kintyre Way relay. To be honest before this I never had any interest in doing relays. I always thought the only the thing I would want to do with running was beat my PBs. But this day changed everything. I met some truly inspirational and enthusiastic people who I will never forget. When I look back at the buffet/ceidlilh at Tainyinloan Town Hall. The amount of talent in that hall that night was absolutely ridiculous. Looking back I don’t think a room anywhere in the world that night could match the amount of miles covered by the people in that room throughout their lives. Unless of course Scott Jurek was holding a party with his ultra friends!  But there was something magical about this event. 17 teams and 7 ultra runners.  I felt fortunate to be able to run 2 breathtaking legs and support all our teams and everybody else the rest of the way.  We really couldn’t believe that we came 3^rd and to get my name read out at the Cedlih was awesome and will go down as one of my best running achievements to date. I don’t care if I never get another podium position and really don’t expect to but it was nice and very special to get on that podium once. As well as opening my eyes to the world of relays and the comeradarry between all the teams; it was the first time I viewed ultra running up front and seeing them complete such a long journey was mindblowing.

I’d already commited myself to Clyde Stride at this time but I also wanted to help Stephen from my club achieve his goal of running 50 miles for his 50^th birthday. We went on training runs on the WHW which was my first time over 26 miles. I had an absolute blast! Then on the actual day I was only down to go from Fort William to Bridge of Orchy. But I knew right at the start that I didn’t need much persuasion to do the full thing. In the end we were just short of 50 stopping  just at the river crossing after Auchentyre so it was probably about 46 miles but Stephen had only ever planned to get to this point so his kids and family could finish with him. But that did not overshadow the sense of achievement – far from it. It was the furthest we had both ever run and until the last few miles where I got shin splints it went so well. But by that time it was in the bag. Then spent a great night in the Bunkhouse at Bridge of Orchy with other members of Giffnock North and I still don’t know how we managed to party into the night with what we had done during the day but we did!

I did 2 hill races this year. Kilpatricks was the first one. I just love this race and just generally doing training runs in these hills. There are bogs, burns, great ascents and kind descents. The second was Tinto where I absolutely destroyed my course best and had a great run. I have improved on my ascents this year but even more so the descents which has been most pleasing.

Now onto the other relays. First of all there was the McAndrew relays in Jordanhill. Just a simple course around Scotston on the roads.  Again I really enjoyed just being part of a team and really pushing myself. Even with the hills at the end I averaged 6.35 per mile and my 5k pb is 6.42 average miles and this course was just longer than 5k. It is amazing how I have that extra push when I’m part of a team because you really feel like you are contributing. Funny thing was we didn’t even have a full team for the team I was in but it just seemed irrelevant to me. For me it was all about wearing the vest and doing the best I could do. National Cross Country Relays were the same and I really enjoyed that course as I had been doing so much hill work that this would really suit me.  I don’t think I have ever been overtaken as much apart from on downhills in hill races. But because the guys on the first 2 legs for my team were so good that is just the way it panned out. I felt mentally I coped well with this and just ran my own race. There is especially no shame in getting overtaken by one of the guys in my club who just ran 2.44 in New York!

Park run is another aspect of my running this year. I have helped out quite a lot and really enjoy the chance to feel like I’m giving back to the sport.  I do enjoy the 5k but to be honest if it wasn’t free I probably still wouldn’t have done a 5k as I just prefer longer distances. I do just love the whole concept behind parkrun – the fact it’s free, open to everyone, it’s a distance anyone can cover in an hour and it’s on every week. You can see people improving and you make friends across the board who share the same passion of running. I have managed to run it quite a few times too whether it was going all out, with my brother or just for an easy training run.  I know a few people now who have reached 50 parkruns now and got the t-shirt including Ian, John and Martin from my club is almost there. When they got the t-shirt I thought to myself I would quite like one of them. But then afterwards, on reflection and looking at the big picture, I just don’t have any desire to run a 5k every week. I would rather go longer, into the hills and on the trails. I probably will eventually reach 50 but it will be over a long period of time. I would rather hit 50 volunteer days which I know you don’t get anything for but for me it would give me more satisfaction knowing I’ve helped a lot and to be honest it feels like I’ve been rewarded already! At the moment I’m at 28 and most of them were this year so next year hopefully I’ll reach 40 at least. It was nice to get recognition for my help this year being made Park runner of the week in the weekly newsletter and winning the Sweatshop monthly prize (pair of running shoes!).

So all in all a ridiculously good year!

100th Glasgow Parkrun + Marcothon - the Beginning

Well this has been a fun week for all sorts of reasons.

One being the snow and ice making runs more interesting. Due to the cold, I changed from doing my 0.2 mile walk warm up/warm down to running straight away to get warmed up as quickly as possible. So a wee bit of extra mileage onto my usual loops. Marcothon also started on Wednesday and so far so good!

Monday - 6.7 miles easy

Tuesday - 6.8 miles easy

Wednesday - 7.6 miles easy

Thursday - Was club night and I thought they would be doing a short session given the conditions so ran the 2 miles to the club and back and we did the clubs handicap route which is 4.7 miles.

Friday - 6.8 miles easy. On Friday night it was my clubs awards. What a night, such a good laugh and was great to see everyone getting awards. I even got a mention when Charlie was reviewing Giffnock's year for doing updates for the website which was cool.

Saturday - Firstly I went down to parkrun. I decided not to cycle due to the ice and just park outside and walk in. Today was the 100th parkrun and 2nd Anniversay for Glasgow. What a day, they were using the alternative course which is basically a 3 lap cross country. Alan was doing the announcements at the start which were funny and fitting to celebrate this fine landmark.  In the Burrell afterwards, was the awards for volunteer of the year which deservedly went to Christine and also the points winners got certificates and alcohol too. We were a bit taken a back by the amount of runners who turned up in the Burrell! It was about 4 times as many people as usual with pretty much all the tables in the cafe taken. Richard did a brilliant job of going through the last couple of years, thanking people and with giving out the awards.

West Districts got cancelled so 4.1 miles up to my parents for dinner and a slightly longer route back of 5.2 miles. I'm glad in the end it was cancelled as I was planning on doing a long run in the afternoon but I ended up sleeping on the couch for the afternoon I was so tired from the awards night.

Sunday - I had wanted to do a long run and I got to Williamwood golf club, put on my microspikes which I just got through the post and ran round three holes. I was planning on doing more but felt really dehydrated so just called it a day. To be honest I didn't really notice the spikes when I did the three holes which can only be a good thing. They are also really easy to carry and put on/take off.

So a great week in all, somehow I managed 50 miles which I was not expecting at the start of the week but when you add it up and do an average of 7 miles a day, 7 days a week that is how it adds up!  I missed doing a long run which i really need to start building up now but at the same time I have got a good base so shouldn't be too hard to build up by the end of the month. As long as I am up about 20 by the end of the month that'll put me in good stead for the longer longer runs in January.

This weekend was also very successful for British ultra runners. Jez Bragg came 6th in the North Face Endurance 50 in San Francisco which really is a totally awesome result given the field. Another fantastic result was that Lizzy Hawker came 2nd female behind New Zealands Anna Frost. To be honest I knew she was good but I didn't realise Lizzy was this good. I knew she won UTMB many times and finished on the podium in the world 100k championships this year. But I thought Kami Semik was better (who came 3rd). This result to me shows that Lizzy is one of the best females in the business at the moment.

Another great result was William Sichel who came 2nd in a 48 hour indoor race in France breaking 10 age group records!

Targets 2010 – Review

Since I finally had to give up to the snow today in getting to work. Thought I'd post how I have got on this year since I don't think I'll be 'racing' much in December at this rate! I set targets at the start of the year – and here is how I got on:

Half Marathon (PB 2009: 1.45.01, overall PB 1.40.19)

Bronze: Sub 1.50
Silver: Sub 1.40
Gold: Sub 1.35

So close to gold as my PB is now 1.35.36. I know with a more even paced race, gold would have been possible but at the same time I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much. I always viewed my 2004 PB of 1.40, as my toughest PB from 2004 to beat. To get under 1.40 twice this year was just awesome.

Marathon (4.07.47)

Back up: Finish with a smile on my face
Bronze: Sub 4 hours
Silver: Sub 3.45
Gold: Sub 3.30

It was all going so well up to 15 miles, then the wheels started to fall off and by 19 miles where they well and truly fell off. By far my toughest race of the year physically and mentally but still 3.53 is a PB by 14 minutes. I was going to do Loch Ness but due to illness and not having done the long runs so decided against it. Looking back it would have been better to train for Clyde Stride with back to back long runs that way it would act as good training for Loch Ness too. But a good lesson learned and a great weekend in Fort William. I know I am capable of knocking lumps out this PB but at the moment I am not planning any more marathons but will get back to it one day as sub 3.30 is more than doable.

5K (PB 22.51)

Bronze: Sub 23 minutes
Silver: Sub 22 minutes
Gold: Sub 21 minutes

Was not expecting this at the start of the year, I thought it was quite an adventurous target like all my gold targets. But just shows you the difference running with a club makes. Totally smashed my PB twice, now at 20.43. Plan to do a flat 5k eventually to see how I get on as it would be interesting to see if I can go quicker on a flat course or whether I’m just suited to a hilly course.

10k (PB 46 mins)

Gold - Sub 43
Silver - Sub 44
Bronze - Sub 45

Probably one of my best performances of the year. 1^st 10k since April 2009 (only 3^rd 10k ever) and a PB by 3 mins. Still can’t believe I dipped below 43 at the time and having not done a 10k since May, I think I might be closer to 42 now.

Clyde Stride

Gold - Sub 8 hours
Silver - Sub 9 hours
Bronze - Sub 11 hours

I never thought I’d suss ultras before marathons. But so far (touch wood!), that seems to be the way it’s going. I know I am going to have a bad experience in an ultra eventually but that is where the real lessons are learned. Overall my first ultra was such a memorable day where I had a plan and executed it to perfection. Even more happy to complete my first ultra and run some fantastic trails.

So 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze! If you look down the right (if I have not deleted it), every race this year that I have actually raced, I have had a Personal Best or Course Best. Some might call it a freak year, some might call it hard work paying off, others something else. For me the difference has been running with a club and running more than I ever have. If I am healthy I will be running at least 5 times a week. I still can’t believe how this year has gone and how much I have enjoyed it. It is going to be challenging to top it in 2011, but I am trying to create a race schedule which excites me and at the moment it is certainly doing that. Race Schedule to come and also a summary of my running year outwith the targets above.

Longest Running streak ever - plus looking forward to next weekend

Well Monday was the end of my longest streak of consecutive days running ever and quite possibly my best period of training ever too. I really got into a great rhythm and routine and just makes me want to run everyday all the time. I lasted from the 31^st October to 22^nd November meaning 23 days on the trot. I was planning on doing everyday in November but I have been off with the flu since Tuesday so I am now gearing myself up for trying to run every day in December (Better known as Marcothon).

I did get out for a 7.4 mile run on Monday which was nice. I had a sore throat but thought nothing of it as I have run through it before. But Tuesday the bug went down to my stomach and knocked me for six. So no running, no nothing, Tuesday to Friday. Friday my legs started to get restless again. 

Then Saturday morning I woke up and felt the same as I did Monday. So opened the curtains – Snow! I decided to take the bike to park run to save scraping the car. I was never going to go for it today anyway with my cold but the conditions meant no-one was able to go for it. But still a great turnout of 119 runners with loads of Bella Harriers vests as they were using this particular run as part of their club championships. So I went round at a steady pace and finished in 23.34. A good solid run considering and it was good just to get back out there especially with the snow making everything so pretty. Now time for the fun that snow brings, that every run feels like a cross country event. I got pretty good at running on ice at the start of this year, here’s hoping that continues!

Today I woke up and felt better than yesterday as my throat is nowhere near as sore now and I feel I’m gradually getting back to 100%. I still didn’t want to overdo it today. So just went for a 4.5 miler. More snow overnight meant it was harder work than usual but it’s so nice running in the snow. It was heavy when I was out and sometimes blowing right into my face, I was thinking I should have wore my ski goggles!

I can’t wait for next weekend for 4 reasons. First its Giffnock North awards night where I know loads of people who are getting awards. Secondly it’s Glasgow parkrun’s 2^nd anniversary and 100^th parkrun! What a landmark! They were thinking it would be a big turnout but if it’s anything like today it might be another low key event. Next its West Districts cross country down in Irvine in the afternoon – If I can get there?! Then finally and probably most confusing as to why I’m looking forward to it; It’s the North Face Endurance 50 miler in San Francisco! Now this may seem like another ultra in the states. But with $10000 prize money for first male and female, this has attracted the top ultra runners from around the world. Making it potentially the most competitive ultra ever, even more so than Western States earlier in the year.

I won’t go through all the contenders as there is too many but Jez Bragg and Lizzy Hawker are representing Britain! Both won at UTMB and will be really interesting to see how they do. Maybe this event is not as bigger stage than UTMB but they will certainly up against some bigger names than who ran the UTMB revised course this year and probably the people Jez and Lizzy want to test themselves against most. Here is an article that sums up the main contenders nicely!

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Renfewshire XC and the magic of running

Another solid week. Monday I did my 10k loop which I'm gradually extending so its about 6.6 miles now. Usually I don't write much about these runs as generally there isn't much to write.  But I do love these runs. After a day at work it's great to get out for an hour, cruising round the streets and pressing the refresh button on my brain. Some how I have totally recovered from Tinto too and enjoyed every step of this run.

Tuesday I did a session which I haven't done in ages. After a mile warm up, I do 434 meter reps times 10. I started off easy and got quicker as the session went on.  Its actually a loop of just over 600 meters and I use the remainder to do a jog recovery. I was surprised when I got home to find that my fastest rep was at 7 minute mile pace and I averaged about 7.10 pace.  But this run was more than times, I managed to work through a few problems that were starting to get to me. Not only did I get perspective while running but also worked out a solution and felt so much better once I finished to when I started. Then it all came back to me why I started running again in the first place.

Wednesday I went out and did the 6.6 mile loop and felt good again.

Thursday at the club, I wasn't too sure what I was going to do as I had the Renfrewshire cross country at the weekend. The session this week was 3 times 2 mile, which is one hard sesssion. After speaking to a few people who were going to run on Saturday they said to just do 1 times 2 mile. So after a mile warm up, I was ready to go with the B group. The first half mile was down hill and I felt already like I was running at my threshold pace. The next half mile was up hill, which is usually my strength but tonight I was struggling to keep with the pace. One of the guys actually stopped to tie his shoelace and overtook me again before the end of the first mile. The second mile was flat/downhill and saw the other guys in the B group shoot off in the distance. I was gubbed and just pushed to the end knowing that it was my only rep. I managed 6.52 pace which if I remember right was what I averaged last time I did the session too, however last time I was more even paced.

Friday, I jogged 2 miles with Alex round the grassy paths of gogurburn. I had recovered fine from the short session on Thursday but the underfoot conditions made this a bit more effort than usual. Each step just sank right in and you could see that only one other person had made foot prints on the paths that day.

Saturday I went down to park run in the morning and gave out the numbers which was a good laugh. Then I went home, had some lunch then straight out to Gourock for the Renfewshire cross country. I've never been to Gourock that I can remember but I was told it was pretty hilly. I had memorised the route to Gourock High School and navigating was made even easier by the fact that when I got into Gourock, I looked up and there was the school at the top of the hill. I thought this is going to be fun! I got there and reported to base camp. It felt a lot quieter than other races I'd been to but still seemed to be a good turnout for the seniors race.

I went on more warm up and went round the course. Already I could see this was a very up and down course with only a few stretches of flat bits. There is one point where the course goes round this tower/monument thing and from it you had great views across the mouth of the Clyde and could see across to Arran. I made sure I made the most of the views in the warm up as I knew I wouldn't have time during the race.

We then assembled at the start and for a change the women would start with the men but would still do there usual 2 laps while the men did 3. I forgot my garmin, so no idea about lap splits. I got into a good pace, would totally let go down the hills and actually found myself overtaking down the hills. I had a pretty solid race and it felt like I maintained the pace across 3 laps. The only real basis I had on how I was doing was David M for Bella Harriers. He ran Bella 10k last week in just over 42 minutes so we are about the same standard. David took off ahead and I kept him in view. I managed to overtake him in the middle of the second lap, then put my focus on the next person on front, then the next. The last person I overtook was an Inverclyde runner in the middle of the 3rd lap. Unlike all the other people I overtook, I could not shake this guy off! His breathing was heavy and every time I thought I was getting away, his breathing got louder again as he gained on me.  The last bit of the course is a gradual down hill, then a long uphill. I pushed as hard as I could down the hill. Then on the uphill which is long, gradual and very slippy. I felt I was finally getting away on the uphill then once I was up I put on the sprint finish and was happy to finish. Shaked hands and caught up with a few folk.

This was probably the toughest XC I have done yet, i would probably say its about the same hillyness as Cumbernauld but because you are doing 5.6 miles instead of 4k this probably pips it. At the same time I do think these races suit me and I look forward to West Districts in 2 weeks time. On the way home I popped into Sweatshop to get my prize of a pair of running shoes. I was delighted when they had my size in 2150s! Had a good chat with fellow ultrarunner Gavin who works in there too and coincidently ended up speaking to a women who is friends with Vicky who I met at Clyde Stride. Small world!

Sunday I was thinking how my recovery would go. When I woke up I was surprised to feel fine so I decided to do my 6.6 mile loop. The difference with this run though was that right before it I did a 27 mile cycle up round the Eaglesham moors. So it was all up for the first half then mainly down for the second half. I enjoy this cycle and use to do it quite a bit. I use to be so close to doing this in 2 hours but that was the days I had a road bike. With strong winds and a mountain bike it was a lot tougher and I got round in just over 2 hours and 15 minutes. Unlike the road bike I felt I was putting a lot more effort on the down hills. But fitness wise I think this is going to very beneficial. Once I had finished on the bike, I got changed into my running gear and was back out. My legs were stiff and took 3 miles to shake off some of the soreness but all in all a great session!

13/11/2010 - Tinto Hill Race

November means time for Tinto. This was the second time I have done Tinto and my 3rd hill race. Compared to last year I was so much more prepared going into this years race. Last year I did half of Tinto, then Conic Hill. In the last few months, I have had runs in the Pentlands, 2 x Kilpatrick hills, Cairn Table and Tinto. So I was going in with a lot more confidence than last year and thought that I should be able to break 50 minutes.

I met up 6 other members of my club in Clarkston and we drove down together to Symington. We picked up our numbers and headed for the start. We had plenty of time to kill. So we took a walk up the first mile of the race reaching just before the route goes off a bit steeper up to the right. We also took a look at the fence which is maybe quarter of a mile to half a mile into the race. The fence does have a gate, but with 250 people trying to get through it, the fence becomes the way a lot of people get over the obstacle. We noticed to the left, the fence is pretty high and then to the right you could step over it. So battle plan made was to head right. We jogged back to the start and by the time we got changed and headed back to the start we were ready to go. Gary moved towards the front while the rest of us were right in the middle of the pack. Even though the first mile is gradual ascent, it is so important not to go off too quickly as hills really will take it out of you.

So off we went and I settled into a good pace. My tactic of going to the right and stepping over the fence paid off as I got straight over with no delay. It was a lot muddier this year with pretty big puddles on the lower gradual paths. I decided to not waist time looking for routes to avoid them and just go straight through them. Plus its always better and more fun to get muddy! I ran pretty steady all the way to the foot of the first steep section. Where it was hands on knees. The next stretch goes off to the right and its hard to get in a rhythm as it goes steep then gradual, steep then gradual. So you are walk then run.  I was overtaking quite a few people along this stretch until the route turns left straight up a steep section which is where I seemed to be not overtaking and not being overtaken. Then the path splits and we go right to a section which I call the bridge as it unites the last steep bit with the final ascent to the top and most of it is runable. I was really feeling it in my calfs at this point but it was just a case of gritting my teeth and getting through it. Last year this is where the first guy flashed by me. This year Jethro Lennox who went on to win, flew past when I was just going up the first bit of the last ascent. This is when I realised I was doing pretty well and pushed on to the summit. There was a guy in front of my shouting encouragement to the people going down, he must have name checked everyone in the top 20! I recognise a few of the big guns but was impressed by his knowledge of all these hill runners. Just as I approached the cairn a guy was shouting out positions, I didn't quite make it out but it was something 9, I think either 79 or 89 and there were definitely not 3 numbers involved. I made it to the top in pretty much bang on 30 minutes.

I couldn't believe it, I knew even if I had a good descent I would get overtaken as I felt like I had really punched above my weight on the ascent.  It took the first downhill for me to get into it, as I was still recovering from the ascent. Then where the two paths come together I took a slightly higher line, and I was so  wanting to be on the lower line, and had a few tricky bits to deal with which slowed me down as I thought too much about it. Then although I was getting overtaken pretty regularly, I found a good stride along the bridge and then down the next steep ascent. Where the diagonal ascent was, there were a few bits where I put on the breaks, and in hindsight and don't think I needed to, but generally again I was running well. When I got to the gradual descent for the last mile, I knew I was almost home and was a lot more comfortable running through the bogs and the gradual ascent. I managed to hold my position and then overtook 2 people. I stopped my watch at 45.04 and tried to stop but momentum nearly took me into one of the volunteers as it was still a gradual slope. I was absolutely delighted! I had beaten last years time by over 7 minutes!  Afterwards I caught up with how everyone got on, and found out all my fellow club members had got under 50 minutes, so a good day all round. I checked my time on the website this morning and according to that I did 44.53! I must have stopped the watch after the finish line or something.

I realise my descending is still not quite there yet. But looking at the big picture, I'm still a relative rookie in hill running and descending does come from experience (well in my case anyway!). I must have lost 20-30 places on the descent but it really shows how good an ascent I had too! Also because of the way hill racing works, you just don't know how many people you were holding off on the descent, as if you do look behind you, you are going to end up flat on your face. Overall this is by far my best ascent and descent yet and I ended up finishing 118th which is the first time I have finished in the top half of a hill race.

Tinto - the before and after

This week saw another week off work. This one was a bit more relaxing compared to my week off in September, but made sure I had some fun adventures nevertheless. The main reason for having a chill week was yesterday was Tinto Hill race, so I wanted to make sure I was rested up and raring to go for my race for November.

On Monday, my legs had recovered really well from the West Highland Way on the Sunday. So I went out an a comfy 4.5 mile easy run.

Tuesday I went to the Kilpatrick hills in what was a perfect day, cold and no clouds. I have decided that the road going up to Loch Humphrarys is my favourite hill just now. The reason being is that it is so long at 1.6 miles. It starts off on tarmac then gradually/ diagnonally makes its way up and then round. About half way it turns in to a forest track, where it gets a wee bit steeper, then just as it turns up and has a steep ascent to finish. Each time I have attempted this so far I have had to walk the steep bit. But thats what I like about this - it is a work in progress. One of the things I have decided to do is have a PB for this ascent, as this is what Anton Krupicka does for his ascents up Green Mountain. Often people think of PBs just for races, but I like the idea of having a PB for certain stretches of training runs like this. So my PB is set at 19.25.

The next section I can usually run all of, around loch Humpharys till the forest track runs out. But today I struggled and found myself run walking until the downhill stretch. I then followed the Kilpatrick hill race route round and down to the reservoir. This bit was fun as it was really boggy and the burn is getting wider. I think soon I'll have to jump in and out its getting so wide.  Then up the slacks I seemed to be getting a second wind and was run, walking quite strongly up it. From the trig point to the bottom I've also decided to have a pb so that is 16.11. I went way faster than this in the actual race but never set a split so this is the official PB for that stretch. Going down was fun and lots of boggy bits so got nice and muddy.

On Wednesday again I was surprised by how quickly I recovered from running on the hills the previous day. I fancied something a bit different today so I cycled down to Pollock Park and did the mountain bike loop which was fun. Then I chained up my bike and ran round some of the trails in the park. The thing was with all the leaves, some of the trails you could not make out so it was a case of making my own route. Afterwards since it was quiet, I ran round the mountain bike track, then cycled home.

On Thursday I decided to go to the club. I had intended to turn up, say hi, then do the handicap route by myself. But the weather was so wild that the D and E group said they were going to do the handicap. So I started out with them and then I found out the B and C groups were not doing mile reps anymore but doing 0.7 reps round Newlands park so I thought I'd do that instead and just take it easy. So I just hung on to the back of the C group running between 7.12 and 7.30 pace for 4 reps.

Friday I just did 3 miles and had plenty of carbs.

Saturday, I went down to park run and did the timer which I believe was another perfect game! Number of clicks on the timer equaled, number of tokens given out and never went out of sequence. I got home to find an email saying that I have won the Sweatshop Parkrun monthly prize! Which means a new pair of trainers fitted at sweatshop! I was delighted and still can't believe it!  To top it off I headed to Tinto hill race in the afternoon but that deserves its own post.

Sunday, my legs were pretty sore but not as sore as I thought they would be. I did my 3 miles and that was that.

WHW = West Highland Wollercoaster

Another solid week in the bag.

Monday I was feeling surprisingly good after Sunday's hill run. Usually my legs are aching but I think because of the soft ground my legs didn't take as much of a pounding as they would have. So 4.5 miles nice and easy and felt really springy.

Tuesday was an interesting one. I set out to do a short loop of all the Merries. After a mile warm up, I started on the first one, then the second. When I was going up the third, I thought to myself that I really fancy doing a flat tempo run as I haven't done one in a while. So I set off up the main road and did a 5k tempo run. I felt like I was pushing it and was sure I was doing 7 minute miles. When I got back and looked at my garmin stats to find I was going at 7.41 average pace I was quite surprised but there was a long gradual hill at one point. But even then I thought I was faster but it does show that maybe I don't push myself as hard when I'm by myself. I finished off with a mile warm down making about a 7 mile run.

Wednesday I just did a 4.5 mile loop again.

Then Thursday at the club! WOW! Now there are not many sessions at the club I get nervous about but tonights was definitely one of them! This session really takes everything out of you. The warm up is 1.5 miles with the last half mile being a gradual uphill. I had to make a decision tonight what group to go with as there wasn't really much scope for changing this week. I chose B group and decided no matter what I would stay with them to the end. The session is split into 3. The first is 5 times half mile loops. The first half is downhill, the second half is up with a steep finish. I placed myself at the back and most of the reps took the same pattern. I would by slightly off the pace downhill, then start reeling a few in, on the uphills. I made sure I didn't push it too much on the last steep hill, as there was still a long way to go. For these reps I was averaging between 6.11 and 6.20 pace.

The second part to the session is a quarter mile loop times 5. I thought this is where I would be totally lagging behind. Again the loop started flat, then downhill with an uphill finish. And again I was slightly off pace, flats and downs. Then reeled even more in on the up. This time the first rep was 6.26 pace. But the ones after were 6.04, 6.09, then 5.45 and 5.45 min per mile pace!  The 3rd part to the session is long hills times 5. These are about 1/5th mile. There is a wee up bit followed by flat to about half way. Then there is a steep incline followed by the same steady climb that was in the 1/2 mile loops to finish. I found this was really where I came into my own and was running with the group for the first couple. Then it got spread out because you wouldn't stop at the top or bottom. For these reps I averaged between 6.48 and 6.57 mins per mile pace so very pleasing to get under the 7 minute mile pace for all reps especially the hills. After it everyone shakes hands then gets back to huffing and puffing. Then saunter back to the club to finish off what adds up to a 9 mile session.

Friday I went with Alex on a 2 mile loop in Gogarburn. Not as muddy as last week, but still soft.

Saturday I was planning on doing the park run with Gary and Michael, but slept in. Gary came 10th and Michael 3rd!  I got up feeling a bit rubbish and really struggled round my 4.5 mile loop. I use to have rubbish Saturday runs all the time, are they back again? I wouldn't be surprised though if I hadn't fully recovered from Thursday!

Sunday I took a trip up to Balmaha and ran to Rowerdenan and back on the West Highland Way. I see this as the start of my Highland Fling training and also I had an urge to do some distance again. I have never done this stretch before so didn't really know what to expect. I knew the road was up and down but I don't think I realised just how hilly this stretch would be on the way. This again reiterates my thoughts of the WHW of being like a rollercoaster, it seems to go up and down most of the way. But that is the great thing about it!  I tried to run as much as I could, although there were quite a few hills where I walked. The way out I did it in 1.22.45 and the way back 1.21.43. I did think I was running more of the hills on the way back but maybe not as I definietley wasn't running slower. Overall though I absolutely loved this run, I like forest running at the best of times but when you have views over Loch Lomond too it's just awesome. My pacing averaged out at 10.35 pace. It may seem a bit early to be thinking about pacing for the fling but the time limit for senior males is 13 hours, which equates to just over 4 miles an -hour. This is more than do-able but my pacing really has to be spot on.

Next month signals that start of Marcothon which is an event devised by the Consani clan. Basically the challenge is to run everyday in December, a minimum of 3 miles or 25 minutes which ever comes first.  I've decided to try and do this in November as a trial and so far so good. I've decided to ignore the 3 mile bit as Friday's with all that's going on at the moment, I can get out for a run but would be pushing it to do 3 miles. So as long as I get out every day and average at least 3 miles that will be fine with me. Whether I have to change it to my own event like Stueython as I don't meet the criteria to Marcothon will have to wait and see, haha!

Short and Sharp week

At 22.4 miles, this has been my lowest mileage week in some time. But what it lacked in quantity it certainly made up in quality. I have done many weeks this year where 6 miles would be the minimum length run I would do. This week not one run even reached the 6 mile mark.

So on Monday I was feeling pretty tired still after working the Sunday. So as well as having Sunday off, I had Monday off too from running. But I did do a small circuit session which felt good. I'm thinking over the winter I am going to try and do a circuit session once a week.

On Tuesday I headed for Langside hill. After a mile warm up I was gearing myself up for my first rep when I saw a group of runners just about to do the hill too. One of the runners shouted my name and it turns out it was David from Bella harriers. We had a chat and it turns out we ran exactly the same time at the National Cross Country relays the previous week.  He did invite me to join them but they were heading back to their club at that point and I was set on doing this hill session. Nice thought though. So after the first rep, I was by myself trying to power up this short sharp hill. I managed ten reps before heading back.

On Wednesday I did a 4.5 mile loop. Just as I was turning the first corner, a car flew round through a big puddle, soaking me up to my waist. Most people would be ranting and raving. I actually found it really refreshing and had a big grin on my face. Then Thursday with the club we were back beside the roads beside Roukenglen park for 5 times 1km reps. I started with the B group and kept with them for the first 1/4 of the rep as it was a gradual up hill. The rest of the kilometer is down then flat so they were all pulling away. At the finish I was a good 20 seconds off the pace and thought that I couldn't really go that much faster as I did it in 3.55. So I dropped down to the C group. I did the second rep and myself and Andrew were out ahead doing it in 3.51. Third rep Andrew took off and I was behind in 3.47. 4th rep I was beginning to feel it so decided to hang back and go for it in the last rep. So I did the 4th in 4.05. Then the last rep I managed 3.38! I really did nail it. When I asked Jim from the B group what they were averaging, he said 3.37. Hindsight as they say is a wonderful thing. In this case even though I was 20 seconds off, I was thinking after its probably best to stick with the B's than be out ahead in the Cs.  This night was the first outing for my sister in law who was trying out the club for the first time. She seemed to enjoy it, and was already scoping out the other sessions they do! So good news.

Then Friday Alex was feeling a lot better. So we did our 2 mile loop round Gogarburn. This week it had been raining a lot and we were kicking up loads more mud than usual so it was great fun.

Another Saturday working. I was tempted to do the Pentlands again but I wanted to save myself for Sunday's adventure. I met up with Jill and Gary from the club and we drove down to Muirkirk to run up the Cairn Table hill. The idea of this was to get a good training run for in for Tinto for Gary and me, while Jill came along for the fun. And fun it was!  Gary and Jill are well better runners than me. So Gary took off while I kept with Jill till about half way up.  It was extremely boggy, although quite a bit of it was runable especially in the first mile. Then it starts to have steep bits which then turned into quite a rocky section before the top. It was just over 2 miles to the top which Gary did in 25 minutes, Jill 27 minutes and I was 30 minutes. I forgot how tough running uphill was. My calfs were burning and heavy breathing after the first mile. Then even the power walking was sore. So it is all good practice. We had a wee jog about the top looking at the amazing 360 views. It was such a nice day, no wind, cloudless sky, so you could see for miles.  Then we jogged down to where the path splits and ran the long way back down. It was again really boggy but great fun. Gary absolutely hammered it and is looking in great shape for Tinto. As I say it is just constant bog and I nearly fell 4 times but somehow managed to stay up right. When we reached the path we kept it steady and were running through all the puddles to wash our shoes and soaking Jill who was trying to avoid all the puddles. ha!

So a fun Sunday outing and looking forward to Tinto in a couple of weeks time.

National cross country relays - plus the rest

This week started off good with an easy 7.5 miler on the Monday.

Tempo Tuesday was back with a nice 1 mile warm up, then 7.5 miles at just under 8 min mile pace.

Wednesday I started to feel a niggle in my right hamstring so just did an easy 4.5 mile.

Went to the club on Thursday thinking just see how it goes. It was Milverton loops of 0.4 miles times 7. After the warm up my hamstring felt fine so I decided to go with the B group and try and hang on.  This loop is uphill for the first half then down hill for a quarter followed by the last quarter which is flat. I was so happy with how this session went. I averaged between 5.50 pace and 6.08 pace for all reps. Plus I was round about the middle of the group for most of the reps and at the back for a few of them. So without doubt this is a big step up for me and hopefully I can gradually get better at the longer reps and stay with these guys for them too.

Friday, Alex was ill but I still went out for a short jog round gogarburn which was nice and springy as it had been raining all morning.

Then for Saturday's showcase: the National Cross Country relay championships in Cumbernauld. I arrived in plenty of time and reported to Camp Giffnock. Where Alan dished out the numbers. I was running the second leg for the D team. We only had 3 runners in the D team as there was a drop out. No big deal in these things though as when your in the lower ranked teams in the club, I was told its really a race against yourself. Of course your still wanting to beat other people though! I met quite a few new people who I have not met before including Neil who I went on a warm up round the course with. We did this to do a recky and quickly realised just how hilly the course was. Of course being the final race of the day it was quite chewed up in places too.  Its good though to know the course before running as you know whats coming up.

When returning to Camp Giffnock, Alan gave us the news that one of the guys from the C team hadn't turned up so one of Neil and I would be running in the C team.  So Alan said to me to take off my number and I was now Alaistair McCallum for the day running leg 3 and Neil would be me!

So after joking with some of my clubmates to call me Alistair. The gun went off. Our first leg runner was Gary who came in 67th in a time of 15.38. Michael took over and ran a stormer too running 14.57 and made up 18 places.  I knew I was going to be overtaken a lot because these guys times for 5ks are 17-18 minutes, so people setting off after me were always going to be a lot faster than me. But I was focused on just running my own race and giving it my all.

I started off down the gradual slope then it was hill after hill, mud after mud. I was really enjoying it and pushing it where I could and just letting rip down the downhills. As expected I was getting overtaken regularly. Just to show you how good Michael and Gary did. Our Vets men team who are also well good, George overtook me about half way round. Up the last hill I noticed I was finally closing in on a runner from Westerlands. I then realised he was really, really struggling. If I wasn't racing I would have checked to see if he was ok but I think he must have just gone out too fast. Meanwhile down the last down hill is where the Giffnock folk were shouting encouragement and I heard Alan say "Keep pushing it right to the end". So I did, round the last corner I felt a runner breathing down my neck. I thought, he ain't getting past and just put the foot down into full sprint mode for the last 100meters and I manged to hold him off finishing in 17.50 which is 6.53 mile pace. This to me sounds like the right kind of time to be doing the cross country compared to my 5k road time as CC is meant to be slower. So I handed over to Gerry in 71st place, so I got overtaken by 23 people and overtook 1.

Photo by Chris Upson - The final corner!

Gerry led the C's home in a time of 17.26 and only lost 2 places so we came 73rd.

Our A team came 18th, B team 59th, C team 73rd and doubling up the D teams time would have come in 105th. The women and the juniors did really well too. So overall a great day, nice weather and awesome course.

On paper you would think I should be disappointed (getting overtaken) but I am not at all. I gave it everything and I am happy with my time. Not only that but I've really got the cross country bug now so will be doing the 'solo' cross countries over the next few months.

Easy does it - well maybe not!

I was expecting an easy week after Mugdock.  I felt I could have gone out on Monday but decided just to have a rest day.

Tuesday I thought I'd just do my 10k route at an easy pace, which after 2 miles turned into a tempo run and felt strong at the end of it.

Wednesday I did the 10k route again but this time at an easy pace.

Thursday I went up to the club and we did 1.04 mile reps times 4. I paced this session perfectly. The loop is a gradual downhill/flat for the first 3/4s then a steady slope up for the last quarter. Started off with a controlled 7 minute rep. Then the next one did 6.48 followed by 6.35 and 6.31.

Friday I did a 2.5 loop round Gogarburn with Alex.

Then Saturday I had the unusual experience of working. This meant not getting my park run fix. But to get me through I decided to spoil myself with a run in the Pentlands at 5pm.  I started off doing the Red Moss Revolution course backwards round the reservoir. I found a nice trail through the trees and up to the foot of Black hill. The race route goes right (in reverse) and round Black hill. But I went left and found a trail which gradually went round and eventually straight up Black hill. I ran probably half and walked half of the climb. I kept going on trails that would disappear and it took a while to find the main trail. But I knew where I was as it was such a clear night. Watching the sun go down, combined with the views over Edinburgh made this one of the best training runs I have done this year. When I got off Black hill I followed the path round Hare Hill and back down the road to the car park, making it a 10k loop.

Today I am exhausted from a very busy week, so just been chilling. Next week I am doing the National Cross country relays in Cumbernauld which I am looking forward too. I am also considering/almost definitely going to do the Run of the Mill hill race in Alva on the Sunday. I have never attempted 2 races on consecutive days before but it is quite common amongst runners so I'll see how I get on.

I have had a think about my training over the next few months. I have decided to stick with shorter distances since I am training for races of shorter distance. Then in December start to ramp up the long runs, ready for a full on assault on Highland Fling training starting in January.

10/10/10 - Salomon Turbo X trail race, Mugdock Country Park

Well today I was back at the Salomon Turbo X trail race and this time I was going to go for it!

I met up with Jim and Stuart from my club and we drove up to Mugdock, getting there in plenty of time. So grabbed a coffee, got changed and headed over to the start where I also bumped into Carlos from Park run and a few of Jim's hill running buddies.  Last year I started right at the back of the pack and cruised round. This year we were about 10 metres back from the front.  Jim and Stuart took off as expected as they are both 1.30 half marathon runners.  I got into a pace I thought was not too fast, but comfortable enough to save myself for the good stuff.

This year the start on the paths felt a lot shorter distance to where it turns off and starts on forest tracks.  I remember the burn which you dive in and out of and then it was really fun trails with a good mixture of light mud, steep up and downs, burns and bouncy grass. I liked this section more this year because it went in a different route meaning we spent longer on the trails. Then we turned on to the WHW just where the road crosses and headed down that till pretty much just before the Mugdock exit on to the main road. So it was a long stretch but it was quite nice breaking up the bits where you had to really focus on your footing.

So that was the first half of the race in the bag and time really was flying by. We turned right up the steep hill which was a hands on knees job. This is where my decision to wear my Inov8s paid off as you could see where people had slipped down the hill with the mud. Once on top it was great running through the forest trails again. Then we were back on a path and then I remembered the bit just before the Turbo X last year and it was like a river of mud. This year it was a deep puddle so mud must be more expensive this year.

The Turbo X started which is the most extreme bit on the course which took a while to get started and it was no where near as muddy as last year but it was still fun trails and when you got out of the forest there was some proper good muddy bits and also a mega steep descent which I tried to quick step down and ended up just sliding down it. That was the Turbo X complete and back on to normal paths to the finish. The route back was longer this year, but I felt really good and felt like I was flying. A lot of people were really struggling, some even walking. So I was overtaking quite a bit. The route also goes near the finish and you can see the visitor centre. Then it turns back and does another half mile loop.  My garmin made it out as 11.15 miles but if you have one, you'll know they go a bit mad in forests so who knows what it actually was.

What I do know is I stopped my watch at 1 hour 38 minutes! So knocked 25 minutes off last years time. Jim and Stuart were both around the 1 hour 30 mark and both enjoyed the course. We picked up our quality T-shirts and I spent the rest of the day feeling drunk! I think its due to all the physical energy excerpted and the mental energy that goes into off road running planning not every step but quite a lot of them.

Overall even though there was less mud, it was, like last year, a really fun race. I just hope I remember the route so I can do it as a training run over the winter.

The start of Mudfest

This week has been fun a week so far and it is just going to get better.

On Monday I was off so headed down to Tinto as I have just entered the Tinto Hill race in mid November.  I did this last year and had a really bad descent so I wanted to get some practice. So I power walked up it in 40 minutes with no running. Then just tried to relax as much as possible going down. I managed to take 3 minutes off my descent from last years actual race! I think it was a mixture of having proper fell running shoes giving loads of grip instead of the trail shoes I wore last year and also not thinking about it as much. So I was up and down in 57 minutes which was 5 minutes off last years time in a training run. So I'm thinking a Sub 50 minute run will hopefully be on this year. Even better thing about today though was that I actually got amazing views from the top as the last 2 times I was up there it was really cloudy.

Tuesday I was off again but had appointments during the day. I was sore from yesterday but from previous experience I can do flat sessions after a hilly session. So I went up to the track and did 12 times 400 metre reps with the club. This is one tough session! I was averaging about 1.28 for each rep peaking at 1.25 which is a time I have never ran faster than for a 400 and 1.32 was my slowest rep. So a good effort and again our group was extremely close together.

Wednesday I had a day off to recover from the previous 2 days. Then Thursday I was up at the club for long/gradual hill reps up Davieland Road. Again I started off with the B group and quickly realised they were going at a pace I wasn't going to be able to sustain. So somehow a group of 4 of us - Stephen, Jacqui and Hugh, formed a kind of bridge group between B and C. We were pushing each other along like Tuesday and had a really good session.

Friday I did an extended loop of Gogarburn with Alex which was probably about 3 miles and we found some more great trails round the building.

Then today I cycled down to Roukenglen for the West District Cross Country Relays which Giffnock were hosting. So I was down helping out with marshaling.  It was good fun and was amazing seeing all the fast runners. Its a 2k loop which the seniors do twice each. 3 women in a team and 4 gents in a team. The field gets so spread out that guys who would run 20 mins for a 5k look almost average. Where in fact if they were running bigger races you would see that they are in fact the best in Scotland.

Looking forward to tomorrow, as its the Mugdock trail race. I should easily beat my course best as I did it in 2 hours 3 minutes last year and that was taking it easy as I did 12 miles of the WHW afterwards. This year I'll just have a small warm down afterwards!

After that its more cross countrys which although won't be quite as muddy as tomorrow, will still be good fun!

McAndrews Road Relay plus a few hills

Well Last week I said I wanted to get some more hills in with the road routes I do.

This week I can safely say I delivered on all counts!

Monday I took my usual 4.5 mile loop and turned it in to the equivlent of a Running half pipe. If you've seen snowboarding half pipe on TV they go down this half pipe going up on either side doing tricks. I wasn't doing tricks but basically turning up every hill either side of my 4.5 mile loop, turning it into a fun 7 mile loop with 10 nice hills.

Tuesday I went back to the Merries to dwarf the memories of the previous Thursdays session. I took it easier at about 8.10 pace and really enjoyed it. It is slightly different to the session last week as I include more hills near by so its got more flat bits in between but still covers 13 hills.

Wednesday I had a night off, then Thursday I was up at the club which seemed pretty busy. But when we got going I realised there was only 4 people in the B group tonight. We were doing the Asda loop which is a 6.5 mile tempo run. I stayed with the group for the first mile then Jim bombed off as he is a natural up the hills. The first 2 miles is a gradual hill and I managed to keep Billy, Gerry and David close but on the down hills they would pull away. I still managed to keep them in view though for the whole session which was pleasing.

On Friday another day off as Saturday it was the McAndrew Road Relay in Jordanhill which is West of Glasgow city center. We had 3 male teams in from Giffnock and I was in the C team which I was not surprised about at all given the amount of talent at the club. I took over from David running the second leg. I got into a good stride for the first mile as it was really flat. The second mile from what I can remember was ok beginning to get more undulating. When I looked at my watch expecting to see not long to go, it said 1 mile 1/4 and I didn't have much left. But I gutted it out and found I was overtaking pretty much the whole way round with only one overtaking me. I passed over to Gerry who finished for us. We were meant to have 4 people but the guy we had stepping in from Inverclyde managed to get a run with another team so we were stuck in a three. No big deal. Funny thing is though looking at my pace per mile it was 6.35 over a 3.3 mile course. My 5k PB is 6.42 per mile over 3.1 mile! So if it was a 5 k I would have got a PB. Also the hills in the last mile were tougher than park run as they actually slowed you down a lot where as the park run hills bar 1 are more gradual.

Today I went back to the Windfarm up in Eaglesham and did the same loop as last week. I was expecting it to rain and be windy, but it was just cloudy. But they were high so I could see quite a lot. I took the garmin this time and turns out the loop is 8 miles and I know last week I said it was undulating, I ve changed my mind to it is hilly!

So a really enjoyable week and looking forward to the Mudfest that is is Mugdock Turbo X trail race next weekend!

A wee cough

Yep I was off all week and it was awesome. I had some big adventures planned and to be honest thought it would be all go.  Forgetting that my body might want some rest too, so it was a nice balance between chill days and go days.

I wanted to get out on the hills to start building up a base. So Monday I managed to get up and out the door for half 6! To avoid the rush hour and was up just north of Killin for half 8. There is loads of munros round here, so to start with I did what I think are deemed easy munros - Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers. It feels like cheating but the car park for these two is a fair bit above see level so although these 2 are 1100 meters for Ghlas and 1200 odd meters s for Lawers. The total ascent on the route over the 2 munros is 968 meters. So a good couple to start off with. So I was the first one on the mountain and made my way up Beinn Ghlas which is reasonably steep once you get through the nature reserve. Seems clouds today were above 1000 meters so no view from either summit. When I went along the ridge between the 2 which dips down enough to call them both munros there was views from either side but know 360s today. As you can see from the photo of the top of Ben Lawers below.

There is actually another 3 or 4 munros you can knock off after Ben Lawers in a continuous ridge but due to no views and the theory that I wanted to save myself for the rest of the week I left them for another day.

On the descent I went to the bottom of the ridge and took the north path round Beinn Ghlas instead of going up it again. One of the reasons I am doing these munros, is to scout out potential running spots and this route down was definitely in the good bag. Its a nice long gradual one so hopefully one day I will be able to run up and down it, at least to the ridge, then run/walk the rest. On the way down, I met 2 walkers with 10 dogs running free. Oh great! I like dogs I know but those I don't know, I wish I could see there CVs! One of them started running towards me, seriously what do you do?! Not really anywhere to go, so it came up ran back to the owners then I thought it was going for me again as I was past then it lost interest. Then another dog ran up after, so more fun! I got down and it was 11.30am! So 3 hours, 2 munros and a fun day out apart from the dogs, ha.

On Tuesday I was suffering I think more from getting up at 6.30 the previous day so just had a lazy day. Wednesday I went out for a run but turned back after a mile because I was feeling groggy and felt like I had no energy, weird how you get days like that.

Thursday the weather was bad but I thought I'll head to the Pentlands and see what happens. Well on the way through the weather got worse and worse. When I got on the Edinburgh ring road I couldn't actually see the Pentlands and I was right beside them. Maybe I'm just not a hardened hill runner yet but I just thought it wasn't worth it today.  So instead, I headed up to the club in the evening to find the weather had cleared in Glasgow and also one of the women in my club is going to run for Scotland in some Vets championships! WOW! The session tonight was the Merries. Yes my favourite. Tonight I decided to stick with the B group but not to overtake them just try and hang in there. It was all going well until the 5th Merry (hill). Then I got a stitch and really felt I had nothing left. It was a funny night as the C group all were near enough keeping up with the B group. Then 4 of us dropped off and I actually missed out a hill as I was so far behind them. My legs felt ok but the top half just had nothing. So I really slogged it out and that was that.  I still think I should be trying with B group, as the way I see it, if I make it 6 times next time I do the Merries that's an improvement. Also made me realise I need to get the road hills sorted first then start moving on to proper hills. So I'm going to make my easier runs more hilly, but still at an easy pace.

Friday my legs didn't feel as sore as normal after a club session and it was a peach of a day. So I headed up to Tyndrum to climb Beinn A'Chleibh and Ben Lui. Now this was a proper adventure! First of all you have to wade a river (well it was that or walk a kilometer to the bridge!). Which wasn't too deep. Then follow a river through a forest where the path was almost a continuous bog. I knew I had to cross the river at some point and noticed the path was disappearing and it started again on the other side. So I crossed followed it, then it seemed to disappear. Then the bogs got almost knee deep! Which is great training for Mugdock trail race in a couple of weeks. I finally got to the edge of the forest which is fenced off. Its too big to climb and on my notes it said that there are stiles to climb over. It was annoying because I could see the path on the other side I just couldn't get to it! Eventually I found a gap in the fence and went for it. From here the navigating was easy. Climb up to the ridge through more bogs, turn right for A'Chleibh and left for Ben Lui. Being the smaller I went for Beinn Chleibh first. Its only when you get to the top of this one you realise how big Ben Lui is at it is 1100 metres which is 200 meters higher than A'Chleibh. So once I hit the top it was straight down and over to Ben Lui which was tough as it was really steep in places. But at the top you could see for miles and yes 360 views!  Top of Ben Lui

The descent was fun. Even though I asked a few people about where the stiles were, what I though was a path into the forest wasn't. So it was more deep bogs and fun through the forest. I found the river easily and from there it was plain sailing to the car park and no nutter dogs either :-) Another 2 bagged in just under 3 half hours.

Best place to take a picture of a river - in it!

So an absolutely brilliant day!

On Saturday I felt like I was all over the place and was very tired due to lack of sleep as will still buzzing from the day before.   Still had fun down at Park run where I helped manage the funnel.

On Sunday, on recommendation from Phil from my club (who randomly found this blog!) and my parents; I did a run up at the Windfarm just south of Eaglesham. One thing I did forget was my garmin, so I don't know how far I went but I think I was out for about an hour or so. So it was probably about 7 miles. Will need to go back to find out the distances. I have to say this was brilliant. You go from turbine to turbine on forest tracks which I would describe as undulating but I think general public would probably say its hilly. I really enjoyed the views and just being right up beside these massive structures. I say I think I went 7 miles in a loop finishing with a nice hill. But I think you could cover way more miles as it extends for miles and miles.

So an excellent way to finish the week!