Marcothon complete plus first race of 2011

This week has been a lot of fun on the running front.

Monday I headed to Roukenglen Park and did 5 times half mile reps on the grass, plus warm up and warm down. The route was interesting with the thaw kicking in, so there were big puddles to run through in places and there was still snow in other places.

Tuesday I thought the track might be on so I headed up to Williamwood school. I turned up and Neil who is one of the coaches and an excellent runner too, was there. The problem was the lights were all off! Another guy turned up but left again. After chatting to Neil for a bit I headed off for my own run. I wanted to get some speed work in so ended up doing a mini Fartlek session.

Wednesday I was already thinking about Thursday's run so I just did an easy 3.25 miles.

Thursday has its own blog

On Wednesday night, Debbie who set up the Marcothon challenge on Facebook sent everyone doing it a message saying they were planning on going down to Pollok Park and doing the park run route to celebrate completing the Marcothon. I sent one back saying maybe because I had a bed being delivered that day so wasn't sure if I was going to make it. But the bed was delivered at 8am so I headed down. 14 of us made it down and Richard, one of the park run directors was down too, to recce the course for tomorrows run. I thought my legs would be tired from yesterday, but although tired I was running fine and chatting took my mind completely off what my legs were doing anyway. It was great meeting everyone and I really enjoyed the run where we ended up doing 5 miles which equated to 2 big laps and 1 small lap.  The course was still really icy in places and we were slowed to a walk to cross some of the bits or had to go in the mud at the side in places.

Picture of the Glasgow Marcothonees:

Marcothon complete! It was by far my best ever training month and I ended up doing 218 miles with 2 really good long runs. I've really enjoyed the challenge of running each day especially in this weather and also reading about how everyone else has got on with it.

I went to a friends for New Year but was up and out early back down to Glasgow park run. I felt it was quite appropriate to finish 2010 doing a park run and start 2011 doing a park run. So Saturday I was going to run it too. I parked outside the park so I could get a warm up. I then mingled and said happy new year to folk before we headed off to the start. It was the second choice cross country course today which is 5 times 1km laps with 2 hills on each lap with the course following an 'n' shape. I had no idea how to pace this one so I set off at a pace I thought I could maintain. I have to say I absolutely loved this route, especially as I got really muddy and the trail which goes back down to the start is just awesome! I ended up finishing in 24.14 which was 30 th place out of 103. A great start to the year. Afterwards I went on another lap of the course for a warm down, talked to Martin who was marshaling and then chatted to more folk at the registration area where there was plenty of food since the Burrell was closed quite a few people brought some. Needless to say I made the most of it!

I went on a warm down back to the car and was just changing my shoes when Gillian and Alan, 2 of the directors pulled up. They were going to Richards for a post race coffee and asked if I wanted to join. So I went along for some more chat, drinks and biscuits. Then Francis gave out some parkrun t-shirts! Not the 'I've done 50 park run' ones obviously - but volunteer ones! It might be a while till I'll be wearing it due to the weather but come summer it will be out in force.

Today - I did no running! Yes I had a rest day, the first in 36 days.

Roll on 2011!

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!

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:

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!