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!

The transition phase has begun...

On Monday, I was surprised to be not sore at all from Pedal for Scotland. My legs were tired but that was it. I was half thinking that it might be one of those ones where Tuesday is where it kicked in but I was totally fine on Tuesday so went on an easy 10k. Then Wednesday I did an easy 4 mile run but all uphill to my parents.

Then Thursday, I know I said last week I would try and go with the Bs but as soon as I heard it was Telephone box loops I decided to go with the Cs as its 0.6 mile loops times 6. Our group was working well together tonight, starting off slow and getting faster. For the last rep, Colin and myself did go with the Bs and managed to stay with them which was encouraging. So maybe could have gone with them for starter afterall.

Friday was a day off as I was planning on 2 back to back races at the weekend. What did I end up doing? - no races! Luckily they were both free so, no money lost. Friday night I didn't get to sleep till 3 in the morning due to having a poker night so Park run was out of the question and then this morning I was wanting to do the 1500 metres for the club championships but couldn't get to sleep and legs were sore from Saturday. Its like I have moved time zone! As just feel jetlagged.

Since I didn't do the park run and it was a nice day I headed up to the Kilpatrick hills to do the Kilpatrick hill race route. This time though I ran straight up the road rather than cutting off up the hill and over the field. As I wanted to run as much of it as possible. I ran all the road up apart from about 10 metres just as it reached the top, so I was pleased with the effort. Once round the corner it continues to go up but very gradually before running down to the reservoir. When the road finishes, the race turns right along a fence and up a hill. But I was feeling good so went straight on and did an out and back up to a trig point. On the way back I turned up back on to the race route and followed it round to the next reservoir. The race route follows the reservoir but I wanted another hill so went up the hill and round instead. It was the toughest hill so far as it was steep so had to walk more. Then went down to the dam and up the slacks which again was run when I could, walk up the steep bits. Then down the other side where I got views right over Glasgow. I was just taking it easy today and felt good when I finished. So it was my longest hill run I've done at 9.4 miles in 1 hour 54 which is about 5mph pace.

So thats me now beginning the transition phase into hill running/ultras. My Highland Fling (first half of the WHW) entry is in, so that is my first 2011 race in the post.  All training from now is geared towards the Fling, with other random races thrown in to keep me going through the winter. The other 2 races which are almost definites for next year are LAMM which is the Lowe Alpine Mountain marathon in the second week of June. This is a 2 day race done in pairs over mountains, where location is only revealed a week before the race. This year its a north year so will be an hour max out of Inverness area. I am planning on doing it with Stephen from my club who I did the WHW with earlier this year. There are 4 classes of race from A to D with A being the hardest and we are just planning on doing D, since we've never done anything like that before. Then Clyde Stride again as I enjoyed it so much this year.

I was hoping to do a 50/60 miler later in 2011 but all those type of races in Scotland seem to be in April/May. There is the CCC 100k which is part of the Mount Blanc races in August but you need to have done something like the Highland Fling to qualify, so may just do River Ayr which took place this weekend. I could just do it as a long distance training run but would just need to find a route with lots of shops/drink points on route.

Needless to say I am getting excited about next year already!

Recovery complete so went on a wee cycle to Edinburgh

Not surprisingly Monday I had that happy sore pain in my legs from GSR, so a well deserved day off. Tuesday was the same, but not as sore as Monday but still felt rusty so another day off.

Wednesday was a nice easy 10k loop which felt great and I knew I was ready for the club session on Thursday.  This time it was hill reps which I hadn't done in ages. But I decided to try and stick with the B group tonight and see how I got on. I made the rookie mistake of going out too fast on the first few reps and found myself ahead of quite a few of the B's and really paying for as the session went on. I think I kept up with the B's for 3 reps, problem is there was still another 4 to go.... of the first set! I still managed a reasonable pace.  The second set was slightly shorted reps.  So this time I started off with the Cs and found by the 3rd rep I was overtaking the Bs, I felt good on the 4th and 5th rep. But then I really had nothing left for the 6th and 7th. I am still pleased with this session as the way I see it is that if I want to get to B group standard I need to run with them and push myself. The one thing I would do differently is to sit at the back of the group and try to hang on.

Friday I did a 2 mile loop round Gogarburn with Alex. It was raining a lot in the morning which meant the grass was even softer which was nice.

Saturday a day off. Then today I did Pedal for Scotland which is a 50 mile cycle from Glasgow to Edinburgh with Adrian from work. It may seem a bit random doing this but I have my own reasons for doing it. Another question would be what training have I done for it? Well I did a 20 mile cycle about 2 weeks ago and that was comfortable so I was sure I could cover the distance.

So I met up with Adrian in Glasgow Green. His bus was late and took ages to get his bike of the truck so by the time we got to the start it was 10.30. Meaning most of the 10,000 people doing this were off already. We spent the whole cycle overtaking people. The first section to Drumpellier Park was a bit stop start as we kept getting stopped at lights. When we got there we had about a five minute stop to refuel our water bottles then it was off to Avonbridge. This is where the route goes through Airdrie and then out on to the country roads. It was a beautiful day so we got some great views and also we were getting into a really good rhythm. We got to Avonbridge which is the half way mark. Last time I did this there was homebaking and loads of chocolate but this time it was so busy there were massive queues for it. So I asked one of the officals if there was a shop near by and there was so we just got lunch there, so that was about a half an hour stop.

Leaving Avonbridge is easily the toughest part of the route as it is a steep, windy and long uphill but once up it feels like you go downhill all the way to Linlithgow.  We took a five minute break at Linlithgow but we were fine for food and water so it was onwards to Kirkleston.  I was really familiar with this stretch as I have used it when I cycled to work before. Its a long gradual ascents and descents and we were flying. We got to Kirkleston and had a 15 minute break as there was home baking and chocolate! That is what I'm talking about!! So fully loaded up and ready for the last stretch. It worked out well cycling with Adrian as he was on a road bike and I was on a mountain bike. So he would really bomb the downhills and flats and I would catch him on the ups. Before we knew it we were on the cycle path and in Victoria Park. The finish! Thanks to Adrian for being great company and also well done to him as its the furthest he has ever cycled.

So will be interesting to see how long it takes to recover from this!

05/09/10 - Great Scottish Run (Glasgow Half Marathon)

I turned up for this in plenty of time. In fact it was an hour and a half before the start. I met Stephen and Jacqui in the car park and we headed over to George Square for the start. Time flew by as we watched the 10kers set off and next thing we were off on our warm up.  Then we made our way into the masses positioning ourselves about  30 meters from the start mat. Stephen and I had a plan to try and run together and do 7.15 minute miling but at the same time if we split up, we split up.

Start

Well as soon as it started I was slightly ahead and I quickly realised trying to run with someone with so many other people there was going to be difficult as your always squeezing through gaps. The first mile was straight up St Vincent Street so it was a long and slow climb with a down hill of the same gradient down the other side. At this point Stephen boosted off. I was quite happy with my pace and went through the first mile in 7.34 which is about what I was hoping for as I really wanted to make sure I didn't set off too quickly.  Then we went to Finniston and round and over the Kingston Bridge. Mile 2 was 7.14, so bang on pace. Already my garmin, mile beeped before the actual mile sign. So I decided to ignore the time at the mile signs thinking they would level out with my garmin later.  As that is what happened at the Alloa half earlier in the year.

Mile 3 and the first water stop then heads up Paisley Road West to Bellahouston Park entrance which is the five mile mark. This is a long flat stretch, lasting 2 miles. This is where I noticed Richard from park run was about 10 meters ahead so I decided to try and maintain the pace and keep with him. Then as we went through Bellahouston Park I overtook him just as were heading out of Mosspark as he sorted out his gel intake.  So that was 6 miles done. These 3 miles I had done in 7.23, 7.20, 7.25. Now if I hadn't looked at my Alloa splits the night before I would have thought its not going to be my day. But I knew from Alloa I could step it up later and this was only the first half.

So over the bridge and over the 10k mat.  Then along Dumbreck Road which was again nice and flat before turning into Pollock Park. This section I named Giffnock Fest. First of all I passed David L, who was walking at the time and he turned to me and said he was gubbed. But to his credit still battled on to the end.  Then as the first slight hill I passed Martin from my club. Then going up the next hill which goes up to Pollock house I passed Stephen. At Pollock House we turned left and I could see more Giffnock Vests in the distance. In past years you go straight down this road. But this year it turned up the road going to the Burrell Collection, another incline! This is where I passed Jo (yes another Giffnock N!), she was not surprised that I'd passed her on a hill! and she ended up getting a big PB too. It was weird going past the Burrell and up the road, as its the start of the park run and usually everyone would be use to going 5k pace down this road. So by the end of Pollock Park. This section is where I really did nail my pace despite the hills, 7.14,  7.14, 7.13. Then mile 9 up Haggs Road, Titwood Road then the climb upto Crossmyloof did in 7.09, I also saw David M from Bellahouston Harriers here. This is where I passed , Yvonne and Jacqui. I was starting to feel the heat here, even though it wasn't sunny, it was really humid.

But I kept it going knowing that it was about 5k to go.  So mile 10 i did in 7.11.  Just after mile 10 there was a water station. I usually go to the volunteers at the back as its less crowded there. But this time both of them were going back to get more water, so just bad luck. Luckily I keep water on me from each water station so I had enough till the next one. This is where I turned round and saw I was running beside Alan from park run. This is where i realised that even though I was passing people, I had know idea where they started in relation to me, so we could have started up to 5 minutes different from each other. Turns out Alan started, must have been way behind me, as even though I finished just before him, his chip time was 20 seconds faster than mine and chip times definitely count more than gun time in races the size of this.

The next 2 miles I knew were easy/flat/slightly downhill miles. This is where I overtook David M, Helen and Shelia from my club. I was flying at this point, it was sore but the adrenalin was starting to kick in as the finish was getting closer. So mile 11 was 7.04, the mile 12 was 6.54!  I thought I might have gone too soon but then I remembered the final mile should be slower as its a long incline, and the crowds would keep me going.  Here is where I saw Gillian and Frances from park run supporting and gave me a cheer, and I'm sure Janet from my club was there too supporting.

Photo just before the finish  by Carlos Gonzales

Mile 13 I was sore!  But at the same time I knew a PB had to be in the bag so I backed off a bit and tried to soak in the atmosphere. I saw Maureen from my club just where you turn right off the road and down onto the path by the river but she was out of reach today.  The long gradual incline seemed to last forever but finally the turn came to go down the finish straight with the monument in the back ground. I looked up at the clock and it was 1.36.01! A PB and that was the gun time!! My actual time was 1.35.36 so I am absolutely delighted.  I went off congratulated lots of people and headed home before returning to the club for a BBQ.  My garmin actually recorded the course at 13.25 miles (meant to be 13.1), so either I was way off taking the racing line or it was a slightly long course. My pacing according to the garmin was 7.14 minute miles!

It feels like that is the end of my 'Going for times' races for a while. Now its on to more fun stuff to see me through the rest of autumn and winter. So Relays, hill races and cross countrys. I definitely won't be limiting myself to 1 race a month for the next few months!


Splits

Type Distance Time Total Time Pace Avg HR Max HR Notes Interval 1 Mi 7:34.37 7:34.37 7:35 Interval 2 Mi 7:14.65 14:49.02 7:15 Interval 3 Mi 7:22.19 22:11.21 7:23 Interval 4 Mi 7:19.60 29:30.81 7:20 Interval 5 Mi 7:24.64 36:55.45 7:25 Interval 6 Mi 7:13.45 44:08.90 7:14 Interval 7 Mi 7:13.17 51:22.07 7:14 Interval 8 Mi 7:12.18 58:34.25 7:13 Interval 9 Mi 7:08.45 1:05:42.70 7:09 Interval 10 Mi 7:10.50 1:12:53.20 7:11 Interval 11 Mi 7:03.83 1:19:57.03 7:04 Interval 12 Mi 6:53.58 1:26:50.61 6:54 Interval 13 Mi 7:12.94 1:34:03.55 7:13 Interval 13.24 Mi 1:33.38 1:35:36.93 6:30
				6:30