5.2 miles steady

I had managed to pull a muscle in my lower back in the morning and didn't really feel like running at all although I thought it probably wouldn't do any harm. In the late afternoon I went out for a route via Dorchester Avenue which came out this time at 5.18 miles. Couldn't run very comfortably on account of the back pain but I loosened up a bit halfway round and had pulled my average mile pace down to 6:49 by the time I finished.

4.1 miles hard

Went out from Bearsden Asda for a loop of the old Garscube 5 mile championship course. I set off at a moderate pace but felt like picking it up after a mile or so. Using Run.GPS, I measured a single lap of the course as well as the extra bit at the start, which gave me a total for the whole thing of just 4.7 miles. On the way back up Milngavie Road I concentrated on staying inside 6:15 per mile and finished the 4.09-mile route in 25:32 for a 6:14 average.

Hogmanay Handicap, 7.7 miles steady

In the morning Natasha and I took part in the Jack Shirley Memorial Hogmanay Handicap, a 4.2-mile race through the countryside near Milngavie. There was a reasonable turnout of Garscube Harriers, Kelvin Runners and friends of the organisers. Some of the Harriers had had a club cross-country race the day before, including Marco who joined me as scratch man. I set off at a brisk pace to make the most of the flat first mile or so before we got into the hills, and by the halfway point I had caught more than half of the field, some of whom were treating it as an easy run after the previous day's race. At the foot of the last climb on Baldernock Road I passed the leader and went on to finish in 23:04, only 17 seconds outside my course record from 2002 and my fastest time since then by a big margin. This works out at 5:29 per mile which I am quite pleased with for such an undulating course. I think it may also be my first handicap victory from scratch.

Later on I went out for a few more miles up Maryhill Road as far as Canniesburn Toll, although I followed the path through the wood beside the main road, and home via Anniesland Cross and Great Western Road - 7.68 miles in a steady 55:22. Weekly total: 54 miles.

15.6 miles moderate

In the late afternoon I tried a new route all the way along Great Western Road as far as Duntocher, then back home via Duntocher Road, Drymen Road and Maryhill Road. I settled into a comfortable pace and ran the first half of the route between 6:40/mile and 7:00/mile, depending on how hilly it was. I was still feeling fine after about 10 miles when I reached the long downhill section from Baljaffray to Canniesburn Toll and picked up the pace a bit. I had no particular time goal so I concentrated on running negative splits. This seemed to work quite well and my average mile pace dropped below 6:40 with a couple of miles to go, by which time I was having to work a bit harder, although this was still marathon PB pace. Finished in 1:43:38. The distance came out at 15.66 miles which gives me a 6:37/mile average.

3.4 miles slow

Went out with Natasha in the morning for 3.4 miles around the West End, via Shakespeare Street and Napiershall Street.

7 miles moderate

Went out for the usual 7 miles via Garscube Estate. Felt very slow for the first couple of miles and was going to cut it short on account of tired legs, but when I reached the 3-mile mark I noticed I was making good time and had a good chance of finishing inside 45 minutes. I had to stop for traffic a couple of times but got back home in 44:32.

6 miles fartlek

The club training session was a fartlek with one large pack consisting of the 15 or so who had turned up. We headed down Maryhill Road at a very slow pace, something like 9-minute miles, and after the second fast burst, when we reached the top of Queen Margaret Drive, the faster runners went on ahead. As we sprinted towards the entrance to the Botanic Gardens, Joe overheard a pedestrian saying, "This is insane!" The recoveries got shorter as we headed back along Great Western Road. I put in a decent effort on all the fast sections.

10.1 miles moderate

I had some extra time in the evening so ran from Bearsden Asda up to Craigdhu Road as usual but then continued on up Baljaffray Road where I soon ran out of pavement and had to continue on Grampian Way. Up to this point, the route had been almost entirely uphill so my average pace was something like 7 minutes per mile. I made up for it coming down Ledi Drive and Drymen Road as far as Canniesburn Road, where I followed the Garscube Christmas Handicap loop as far as Switchback Road, then ran through Garscube Estate, around the warm-up trail and through the side gate onto Maryhill Road to make it up to 10 miles by the time I got back to Asda. Distance came out at 10.07 miles, time was 1:06:08 for a 6:34/mile average.

6.5 miles steady, 3.6 miles steady

After limping for most of Friday I had recovered enough by Saturday afternoon to run to Braehead via Great Western Road, Crow Road and the Clyde Tunnel. I lost the GPS signal entirely in the tunnel and Run.GPS didn't make up the missing distance when it regained the fix. Time was 44:56 on the way out, distance estimated at 6.5 miles for a 6:54/mile average. On the way back I stopped Run.GPS while I was in the tunnel and only ran as far as Southbrae Drive to pick up the car, distance just inside 3.6 miles, probably at a 7-minute/mile pace. Weekly total: 35 miles.

2.9 miles easy, 7 miles tempo, 2.9 miles steady

Ran up to the club training session, untimed, and arrived with a couple of minutes to spare before the fast pack (just the three of us) went out. The first couple of miles via Rannoch Drive and up Milngavie Road towards Mosshead Road came out at a 7-minute/mile average. We picked up the pace after the ski school and according to Run.GPS were inside 6-minute miles going down Drymen Road, at which point one of the fast pack dropped off, leaving just Ben and me. After Station Road and Pendicle Road we spotted a few figures in the distance, and caught some of the earlier packs on Maxwell Avenue. I began to lose touch approaching Westerton Library but drew level again at the top of the hill. It came out at just over 7 miles in 45:31, which works out at 6:29 per mile, so we must have been a lot faster in the second half of the run. Afterwards I ran back down Maryhill Road with Ben, again untimed. I seemed to have picked up some kind of thigh/hip strain on the right side which came on while running through Bearsden.

4 miles steady

Went out after playing football for a few miles around the West End. The route via Garrioch Road, Cleveden Drive and Napiershall Street came out at almost exactly 4 miles. Average pace was 6:50/mile which was faster than I was intending but seemed OK.

Mixed reps

The club training session consisted of 8 hill reps in Maryhill Park on a hill which got steeper towards the end. My legs were quite stiff from the recent increase in mileage and it was only on the last few reps that I was able to put in a proper effort. We jogged back to Garscube Estate for 12 minutes of shuttle runs beside the rugby pitch.

4 miles moderate

Ran a loop from Bearsden Asda via Milngavie Tesco. The route came out at almost exactly 4 miles, finished in 26:20 (6:35/mile).

9.4 miles moderate

In the afternoon I tried a route I hadn't run in a while, along Great Western Road to Blairdardie, over the canal bridge, and back along Drumchapel Road, Canniesburn Road and Maryhill Road. I reached Drumchapel Road at about 29:40 which was 20 seconds inside my previous best at that point although I was still going to be outside the hour. Finished in 1:02:33, a route PB by over a minute. Average pace was 6:39 per mile. Weekly total: 49 miles.

4.6 miles slow, 2 x 4.6 miles moderate

Went out before lunch with Natasha for the same run as the previous Saturday except we came home via St George's Road instead of Maryhill Road. In the afternoon I ran to King's Park via Tradeston, Cumberland Street and Aikenhead Road, 30:58 on the way out (6:40/mile) and 30:48 on the way back.

2.9 miles easy, 7.1 miles moderate, 2.9 miles steady

Had another go at running up to Garscube Estate and this time I had a few minutes to recover before the fast pack went out. The route was along Canniesburn Road and through Drumchapel to Duntreath Avenue, then back along Alderman Road to Anniesland Cross and up Switchback Road. We went through 4 miles in exactly 27 minutes and gradually increased the pace as we started to see other packs in the distance, arriving back at Garscube Estate in 46:47 for a 6:35/mile average, which meant we averaged around 6:23 for the last three miles. Ran back home afterwards, untimed.

3.6 miles recovery

Went out for a 3.6-mile recovery run after playing football, via Shakespeare Street and all the way down Great Western Road to St George's Cross, then back up Maryhill Road.

4.6 miles slow

There was a traffic jam on Maryhill Road which made Natasha and me late for training, although I hadn't really fancied running medium reps in icy conditions in any case. We parked at Bearsden Asda and ran my old 4.6-mile route via Baljaffray roundabout.

4.9 miles steady

Ran a different route from Bearsden Asda, via West Chapelton Avenue, Station Road, through Westerton, then through Garscube Estate for a lap of the warm-up trail although there was a fence at the end and I had to take a detour. It was slightly short of 5 miles when I got back to Asda.

11.7 miles steady

Ran an old route up Maryhill Road and Milngavie Road for a loop of Milngavie Station, then back home, estimated at somewhere between 11 and 12 miles. I intended to run about 7 minutes per mile and stayed just inside this pace without too much trouble, reaching the 6-mile mark just past the station inside 42 minutes with the remainder of the route mostly downhill. With a few miles to go it looked like I had a reasonable chance of finishing inside 1:20. I wasn't able to make up much time in the last mile due to tired legs but I got back home in 1:19:50 for an average pace just under 6:50/mile. Weekly total: 47 miles.

4.7 miles slow, 7.6 miles moderate

Went out in the morning for a slow run with Natasha via Kelvingrove Park to Yorkhill, along the Clyde and back through Anderston. In the late afternoon I extended my usual 7-mile route by continuing to Canniesburn Toll and then heading along Switchback Road, which took it up to 7.6 miles. I had vaguely hoped to finish inside 50 minutes and although reaching the 3-mile mark on 20 minutes meant I was slightly outside my goal pace, I picked up enough speed in the second half to be certain of beating my target by the time I got to Queen Margaret Drive. Actual finishing time was 48:56 for a 6:26/mile average.

2.9 miles steady, 6 miles steady, 2.9 miles moderate

It was too icy to go out on Wednesday so I made up for it by running up to training, at a steady 7:10/mile pace to warm up. I arrived just in time to go straight back out again for a steady 6-mile run through Kelvindale and Broomhill, running not much faster than 7-minute miles, although we picked it up a bit towards the end and finished in 41:22. Ran back home again at a slightly faster pace, 2.94 miles in 19:26 which works out at 6:36/mile.

Pyramid reps

With the streets too icy for running, it was a stroke of good fortune (or planning) that the scheduled club training session was in the Kelvin Hall, even if it was still quite dangerous to get there in the first place. The session for the fast pack consisted of a pyramid of 200m up to 800m in 200m increments and back down again, with 60 seconds recovery between each. I was given the job of timing the recoveries, which I only started when everybody in the pack had finished as they seemed a bit extreme. Danny had joined in late and dropped out but wanted to continue the session afterwards, so as it was still quite early and we wanted to get our money's worth, the rest of the fast pack stayed on, usually taking turns to run a lap of the track. Most of the second set of laps were at 40-second pace but we ran the final 200m rep in 30 seconds.

5.65 miles moderate

I ran my usual Monday loop from Bearsden Asda up to Craigdhu Road, where I was really struggling and thought about throwing in the towel, but I recovered a bit on the way down Stockiemuir Road and picked up enough speed that my average pace was just above 6:30/mile when I reached Manse Road. On the way back down Milngavie Road I made up the time I had lost climbing the hill on Kilmardinny Avenue and finished in 36:22 which was almost a minute faster than the previous week's attempt. Run.GPS reported a total of 5.65 miles this time, giving me an average pace of 6:26/mile.

7 miles moderate

Went out in the fog in the late afternoon for my usual 7-mile route via Garscube Estate, although this time I cut down Temple Road, over the canal and down Crow Road in order to dodge a problem junction on Bearsden Road. Felt fine for the day after a race and finished in 46:22 for a reasonable 6:37/mile average. Weekly total: 36 miles.

Hugh Wilson 10K, 4.25 miles recovery

The temperature in the morning wasn't much above freezing but the sun was out, so I thought the frozen ground would probably thaw out a bit and it would be safe enough for racing, although I was glad I had given the Dunbartonshire Cross Country Championships a miss. East Kilbride hadn't really warmed up by the start of the race so I had to wear a t-shirt under my club vest.

On account of my recent increase in mileage I was prepared just to treat the race as a fast training session, but my plan for the first part at least was to try to stick to 3:30 per kilometre, and if this seemed to be going well enough, I hoped to sneak in under 35 minutes.

I went through 1K in 3:23 and 2K in 6:46, although this was just on the other side of a footbridge with some hairpin turns so I wondered if the second marker was slightly out, but I was still feeling OK. During the third kilometre my legs started to feel the cold and I began to slow down. I reached the 5K turn in exactly 17:30 and was in 10th place at that point, but I knew I wasn't going to be any faster on the way in, and on the next kilometre I lost 19 seconds so even sub-36 was looking doubtful. After I had dropped to 12th it occurred to me that I was losing time on the kilometres which were slightly uphill, not helped by the frozen surface in some places. I had made up a few seconds when I reached the 7K mark, and then moved up a place when somebody ahead of me pulled out. Approaching the footbridge I realised that the 2nd kilometre had been slightly downhill which accounted for my fast split, so the 9th kilometre would be uphill and I was going to lose a bit more time there. On my way down the footbridge I moved back into 10th and began to gain on three runners ahead of me, but I didn't manage to catch any of them before the end and finished 10th in 35:24. This improved on my time from last year by 50 seconds. I might have done better with more of a rest before the race.

After getting home I went out for a steady run via Cleveden Road and Queen Margaret Drive, mainly to push me above 10 miles for the day, finishing the 4.25-mile route just inside 30 minutes.

5.6 miles moderate

The club training session was billed as a steady 6-mile run, which was about as much as I was prepared to do with a 10K on Saturday. The route was up Drymen Road, over Stockiemuir Avenue and back down Milngavie Road. It came out at 5.6 miles which I finished in just over 37 minutes. A 6:37/mile average was slightly faster than I had expected although the fast pack did just about stay together.

2.5 miles recovery

Went out for 2.5 miles via Queen Margaret Drive after playing football.

Long reps

The club training session consisted of 6 1K reps with a 5-minute turnaround, on the other side of Switchback Road. Due to heavy legs I tried to keep to a steady pace, and I ran them all in 3:37-3:40 without any difficulty. The route was maybe 40m long.

5.6 miles moderate

Ran the route from last Monday again. When measured with the Touch Diamond it came out at 5.63 miles. Finished in 37:12, 6:36/mile. Quads quite sore.

5 miles slow, 10.2 miles steady

Went out with Natasha before lunch for a new 5-mile loop. There was flooding on Possil Road under the aqueduct so we took a minor detour up Baird's Brae, then continued along Keppochhill Road and up the footpath beside Springburn Road. We ran along Hawthorn Street into a freezing wind, and the rain came on just after we reached Bilsland Drive, although it was at our backs on the way home down Maryhill Road.

In the afternoon I went out for a longer run as the weather had brightened up considerably. The route I decided on took me through Anderston and Tradeston, along Cumberland Street and all the way down Aikenhead Road as far as the junction with Carmunnock Road, then back home via Battlefield Road, Victoria Road and the George V Bridge. I was faster in the second half and completed the 10.18 mile route in 1:12:33 for an average of 7:07/mile. Weekly total: 47 miles.

2.5 miles steady, 10K moderate

Went out in the morning for 2.5 miles via Queen Margaret Drive, which actually came out at 2.48, in a leisurely 16:51.

In the early evening I set out to run the usual 5.2-mile route via Dorchester Avenue, but changed my mind en route and took a detour along the canal towards Lock 27. This turned out not to be such a great idea as it was too dark to see where I was running, although I hoped it might stretch the route out to 10K. When I reached the Botanic Gardens it was obvious that the route was going to be too short, but going up Queen Margaret Drive would have made it too long. I settled for a contrived route home via Napiershall Street and Burnbank Gardens, and had to run round the block at the end just to make up the 10K. Finishing time was 38:54.

6.7 miles hard

I was still stuck at roadworks on Maryhill Road as I saw some of my clubmates running past, so I was pretty sure I would be late for the club training session, and I did indeed see the fast pack heading out just before I got to Garscube Estate. After parking, getting changed and starting Run.GPS I was around 2 minutes behind them, but as I knew they would be running down Maryhill Road for at least two miles, I set off in pursuit. I finally saw some distant figures near Tesco and caught up with coach Lesley near Queen Margaret Drive, so I got a quick summary of the rest of the course. As I passed the fire station I could see the fast pack further down Maryhill Road, and I caught up with them after they had turned onto Great Western Road at St George's Cross. My time at that point was about 19:30 and the distance had been measured at 3.34 miles, so I had been running at nearly 5:50 per mile, helped by the broadly downhill route to that point.

For the next few minutes I was able to ease off a bit, although it didn't last long, as the pace increased noticeably after the Botanic Gardens and the fast pack quickly fell apart. With no race at the weekend to bother about, I made an effort not to become detached from the front and managed to hold on. We averaged 6-minute miles along Great Western Road and up Crow Road, and I finished in 40:19 which gave me a 6:01/mile average.

5.2 miles moderate

I went out for my usual 5.15-mile route via Dorchester Avenue to test Run.GPS which I had installed on my new HTC Touch Diamond. I didn't have to wait more than a couple of seconds for the phone's internal GPS to pick up enough satellites to be able to get going, although just over a minute into the run, a voice did report that the signal was weak as I was passing some tenements on Garscube Road. Every three minutes I got a comprehensive progress report which included time, distance, average speed, altitude and calories used. I had no trouble with the tree cover along Great Western Road, which had frequently confused my old Garmin Forerunner, and what gmap-pedometer had measured at 5.15 miles came out at 5.2. The distance as measured with GPS takes hills into account and I had noticed on the supposed mile mark that according to Run.GPS, I had already run just over a mile. Finishing time was 33:42 which is 6:28/mile.

Hill reps

The club training session consisted of hill reps in Westerton, after a warm-up jog of about 1.3 miles from Garscube Estate. We ran up Crarae Avenue, jogged round the block, and then ran up Murrayfield Drive and jogged back down again. This was repeated six times. On most of the longer of the two climbs I came from behind to reach the top first, but the shorter hill was always over before I got moving. Quite a tough session.

5.7 miles steady

Went for a steadier run from Bearsden Asda up to Craigdhu Road as usual, but to try to stretch it out to 5 miles I came back via Manse Road and Kilmardinny Avenue, which turned out to have a serious hill which I had forgotten about. This actually brought it up to 5.7 miles and I finished in 38:43.

3 miles slow, 7 miles moderate

Went out in the morning for Natasha for a shorter run than the day before, heading down Shakespeare Street and then following the Kelvin Walkway as far as Kelvinbridge. It came out at just over 3 miles.

In the afternoon I tackled the familiar 7-mile route via Garscube Estate with my new fluorescent Skylon 2 racing shoes. I crossed the bridge over the Kelvin just outside 20 minutes which was reasonably fast, but got stuck for ages at the traffic lights on Bearsden Road, otherwise I might have picked it up a bit more at the end to try to finish inside 45 minutes. Got back home in 45:42, which is around 6:32 per mile. Weekly total: 37 miles.

3.6 miles slow, 5.15 miles moderate

Went out in the morning with Natasha for 3.6 miles via Garrioch Road and Napiershall Street.

In the afternoon I ran a 5.15 mile route via Dorchester Avenue, finishing in 33:35 which was just outside 6:30 per mile.

7 miles steady

Went out in the evening for 7 miles via Garscube Estate, with the vague goal of running faster than 7-minute miles. Arrived back home in 48:38 which works out at 6:56 per mile.

8.1 miles steady/tempo

For the club training session, billed as a steady run, there was a choice of a 6-mile route or an 8-mile route, and the top two packs had been combined. The pace down Crow Road and along Great Western Road seemed to be slower than 7:30 per mile, and there were a few problems dodging pedestrians on Byres Road. At Highburgh Road the pack split into those who wanted to try the longer route and those who didn't. My calf and hamstring still felt OK so I continued down Byres Road on the 8-mile route with a few others. I couldn't resist running a single hill rep up Gardner Street which gave me a few extra seconds at the top to recover and stretch my calf a bit.

The pace increased steadily down Clarence Drive and up Crow Road, although the pack had mostly stayed together. By Dorchester Avenue it was starting to get quite tough, but when we got onto Cowal Road I stretched out down the hill and suddenly found myself about 50m ahead. Not wanting to risk injury with a fast finish, I eased off a bit on Maryhill Road the top of the hill until I had been caught, and we got back to Garscube Estate in 58:13 which is a 7:11/mile average, so the second half of the run must have been substantially faster than the first.

3.2 miles steady

After having been limping around since Sunday night, I was able to walk almost normally again on Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday I just had some residual calf pain. After playing football I went out for 3.2 miles via Shakespeare Street and managed reasonably well, finishing in 23:18, although my left hamstring felt a bit tender afterwards.

3.6 miles slow

The blister hadn't improved any overnight but I tried to go out in the afternoon for a few miles and made it a bit worse. Weekly total: 35 miles.

Glasgow University 5 Mile Road Race, 7 miles steady

I felt like I had a bit of a cold coming on but was otherwise fine to run, although almost immediately after the start I had very heavy legs. I soon had an enforced walking break as the wider of the two gates at the top of Garscube Estate apparently couldn't be opened, so only the leaders at that point managed to avoid the congestion. I had been aiming for 5:30 per mile and went through the first mile marker at about 5:32, which was probably ahead of schedule due to the problem with the gate, but it turned out that there were no other mile markers on the course, and in any case there were enough sharp hills that maintaining a consistent pace would have been difficult. I was second for Garscube for the entire race without ever looking like catching our leading runner. On the second lap I started to make up a few places, and by the end had climbed to 21st place, although I didn't feel like I was having a particularly good race. Finishing time was 28:17 which was 33 seconds up on last year - goal for next year is to beat 28 minutes.

Afterwards I had a fairly serious blister from my half-a-size-too-small Mayflys, but I found a blister plaster at home. It occurred to me that I didn't feel as if I'd done anything at all and I might as well rack up a few more miles, so I went back out straight away for my usual 7-mile route via Garscube Estate, although at a steady pace this time. At the dual carriageway on Maryhill Road I bumped into John Bell of Springburn Harriers who ran with me as far as Queen Margaret Drive. Got back home in 52:44.

6.9 miles steady

The club's Thursday training session was advertised as a steady run of between 6 and 7 miles. The route took us out the top gate, down Crow Road, along Southbrae Drive, up Lincoln Avenue, through Blairdardie and over the canal, then back along Drumchapel Road and Canniesburn Road to Garscube Estate. We should probably have gone along Blairdardie Road but went up Great Western Road and down the path beside the canal instead, which added about .2 of a mile for a total of 6.9 miles in just under 48 minutes. I stuck to a steady pace all the way round and avoided any kind of fast finish on account of Saturday's race.

2.5 miles recovery

Went for a slow 2.5-mile run via Queen Margaret Drive after playing football.

Mixed session

The club training session was billed as a "mixed session", which started with a jog along Maryhill Road, up Ballater Drive and back into Garscube Estate. We were then split into three mixed groups for 10 minutes of steady shuttle runs up and down the road beside the rugby pitch. This was followed by 12x140m sprints on the warm-up trail with 1 minute recovery, after we had been divided into packs of differing speeds. I ran them more or less flat out to begin with and thought of easing off while recovering after the 5th rep, but I managed to persevere as it didn't seem too bad while I was actually running - I was just feeling progressively worse during the recoveries.

4.6 miles moderate

In much colder conditions I had another go at my 4.6-mile Monday evening route around Bearsden and Milngavie. On reaching Stockiemuir Road I suspected I was well ahead of previous attempts, probably helped by a day off on Sunday. I finished in 28:46 for a 6:15/mile average on a hilly route.

Allan Scally relay

I was on the first leg again and set off at a pace which seemed comfortable enough to begin with and still kept me in sight of the leaders for a while, although I had forgotten to memorise any mile or kilometre markers and therefore couldn't keep an eye on my splits. Shortly after reaching Edinburgh Road I was passed by a runner from Glasgow University, who also went past a runner from Irvine, and I stayed behind the two of them for the next mile or so. By this point I was fairly confident of beating my 2007 time, and Thursday's time trial didn't seem to be having much of an effect. I began to gain on the Irvine runner and passed him while we were still on Edinburgh Road, although after a few hundred metres he started to come back and overtook me just after the lane off Buchanan Street, but didn't manage to get away. I moved ahead again during a sprint finish to the line where I handed over to... nobody, because our second leg runner hadn't turned up and the others were still out warming up. He did eventually appear and Shettleston Harriers kindly allowed us to rejoin the race later on with a time penalty.

My finishing time was 26:31 which was the fastest time for Garscube on the day, once again by just a few seconds. It was after last year's race that I started this blog and my goal for this year had been to finish inside 27 minutes. I was 14th after my leg, although the official results placed me behind the Irvine runner, probably because we had nobody to take over. We were 15th overall. Natasha had turned up only to find we had no women's team, so she ran with the first leg runners and stayed on the main road at the start and finish to avoid crossing the line.

5.5-mile time trial

The scheduled club training session was a hard run of somewhere between 5 and 6 miles, but with the last relay of the season on Saturday afternoon I was planning on taking it a bit easier. However, it turned out to be a time trial. Not everybody in the fast pack was aware of this and some participants said later they had wondered why the pace was so fast from the start. The route was via Maryhill Road, Queen Margaret Drive, Great Western Road and Crow Road, finishing back inside the sports complex at the barrier. I kept up with the leaders for the first half of the course but dropped off the pace after three miles, with Saturday's race in mind, and slipped into fourth place, although as some of the others started to flag a bit over the next mile or so, I moved back into second and held that position until the end. Finishing time was 33:37, about 6:06 per mile.

2.5 miles recovery

Went for a slow recovery run around the West End after playing football.

Hill reps

The club training session was hill reps on the gentle incline beside the Vet School - three sets of three short reps to the speed bump at the top of the first hill and a longer rep right to the gate. I would have preferred a steeper hill but the session ended up suiting me quite well. I coasted a bit on the first two short reps in the final set. Numbers in the fast pack dwindled slightly as the session went on.

2.5 miles moderate, 4.6 miles moderate

To take advantage of the clocks going back, I managed to drag myself out before breakfast for the first time in ages, although only for two and a half miles via Queen Margaret Drive, completed in a reasonably brisk 16:13, 6:29 per mile. I made it to the corner at the Botanic Gardens just inside 10 minutes and eased off a bit after that.

In the evening I had another go at the route from two weeks ago via South Mains Road, Craigdhu Road and Stockiemuir Road. This time I was a few seconds slower at 29:25, 6:23 per mile. I could have pushed it a bit more on West Chapelton Avenue but had really heavy legs by then.

3.2 miles slow

Went out in the morning with Natasha for 3.2 miles via Shakespeare Street and Great Western Road. I had planned to go out later in the afternoon for a longer run but felt so tired that I abandoned that idea.

National XC Relays

The weather for this race was terrible, with howling gales and driving rain. If it had been just a couple of degrees colder I might have had second thoughts. I was first off for Garscube and settled into a reasonable pace although the conditions made it hard to judge, and there seemed to be a lot of runners in front of me. After what might have been a mile, some of them were clearly slowing a bit and I managed to go past quite a large group, although this left me exposed to the elements. There was a long uphill stretch in the second half of the race where it was almost impossible to move on account of strong winds. I lost a place on the subsequent downhill section but made it up again within the last couple of hundred metres. I had been expecting to finish in just over 15 minutes, judging by the the previous year's results, but my time for the 4K course was 16:34. This did however compare fairly well with other times on the day, and I posted the second fastest time for the club. I opted for my trail shoes again and I don't think spikes would have been any better as the going was very heavy. Several hours after the race, it felt as if I had run a marathon instead.

5.5 miles tempo

The club training session was a 5.5-mile run around Hyndland. I wasn't sure if I'd have to pull out as I had slipped and landed awkwardly on some steps at lunchtime but after the first steady mile it seemed OK. The wind on Crow Road made the going quite difficult although it got easier on the way back in, over Cleveden Road and along Temple Road. The fast pack started to split up halfway round but I stayed on the pace all the way round and finished somewhere inside 39 minutes.

2.5 miles recovery

Went for a slow run around the West End after playing football.

Hill reps

As the club training session didn't suit us very well, I jogged to the top of Queen Margaret Drive with Natasha and tried a few hill reps up Oban Drive while she continued up Maryhill Road to the Science Park. Each of the three reps took just under 80 seconds at a moderate level of effort, with a 3-minute turnaround which included a jog/walk recovery back to the bottom.

4.7 miles steady

I felt much too lethargic to do any running but when the weather improved I convinced myself to try the Craigdhu Road loop from the previous Monday, except this time via Park Road instead of South Mains Road, although it turned out I had run the correct route the previous week after all. I took it a lot steadier and finished the revised 4.7-mile route in 32:46, just inside 7-minute miles.

3.5 miles slow, 8.8 miles moderate

Went out in the morning with Natasha for a 3.5-mile loop via Byres Road and St Vincent Street. In the afternoon I had another attempt at the Auchinairn loop from last Sunday except via Woodhill Road this time. With about three miles to go I seemed to have an outside chance of finishing inside an hour, as the remainder was mostly downhill with the notable exception of the steps beside Springburn Road. As I battled a strong headwind on Keppochhill Road I thought I would be just outside my target, but I made it with a bit to spare in 59:33 for the hilly 8.8-mile route. In the evening I had some hamstring pain which disappeared completely after 3 or 4 hours.

Dunbartonshire XC Relays

Once again I allowed myself to be talked into running in the Dunbartonshire cross-country relays, this year at Posties Park in Dumbarton. It was quite windy and there had been rain on and off, but it stayed off for the duration of the race. I was first leg runner and broke away with the lead group of four, moving briefly into second after about half a mile but soon dropping back into third. After what was probably a mile (I hadn't managed to start my watch) I started to feel vaguely nauseous and was also suffering from heavy legs after Thursday, but the laps were short enough that it wasn't going to make too much difference. I finished third in 12:32, 47 seconds behind the leader and 7 seconds behind second place, on a course which was somewhere between 3.75 and 4K. I might have been a second or two faster with spikes instead of trail shoes. We gained a place on each of the second and third legs, and our anchor leg runner held onto the lead which meant we retained our title. My leg was the fifth fastest of the day and the second fastest for Garscube.

7.3 miles tempo

I met the fast pack just as I was arriving at the Science Park and set off in pursuit once I had parked the car and got ready, probably about a minute behind. They were already out of sight but I had been given brief directions and headed up Rannoch Drive at something like race pace. I finally spotted a couple of figures at the very end of the road and caught up with the pack on Boclair Road, where I was able to ease off a bit. The route took us over Mosshead Road and Stockiemuir Avenue, and the pack started to break up down Drymen Road where I found it quite hard to hold on for a while, but on Canniesburn Road I was able to pick up some speed to try to stay in touch with the two leaders, and I finally caught up towards the end of Westerton Avenue, although one had stopped on account of not knowing the route. I completed the 7.3 miles in about 45:30 which was probably a bit too fast less than 48 hours before a race.

Medium reps

The club training session was 10x600m reps at the Science Park, with something like 1:10 recovery. I ran them untimed at what seemed to be a consistent pace and a reasonable level of effort. Bailed out out after the 7th rep when I felt some hip pain.

4.6 miles moderate

In the evening I tried a different loop from Bearsden Asda, one which I ran with the club about a year ago. It took me up Milngavie Road and onto South Mains Road, over Drumcarn Drive onto Craigdhu Road, then back via Stockiemuir Road, Drymen Road and West Chapelton Avenue. It came out at about 4.6 miles and I finished in 29:11, 6:20 per mile. Felt quite comfortable all the way round.

3 miles slow, 7.5 miles steady

Went out in the morning with Natasha for 3 miles down Garscube Road and around the Craighall Business Park.

In the late afternoon I ran a new route over Keppochhill Road, up Springburn Road, along Auchinairn Road, then down Beech Road, along Springfield Road, down Kirkintilloch Road and back home. I intended to run up Woodhill Road but turned off Auchinairn Road too early - hadn't planned the route properly as I had originally intended only to run as far as Colston Road but it would have been too short. It worked out at 7.55 miles and I arrived back home in 52:19, about 6:55 per mile. Hamstring was quite tight on the way back in.

1K reps

I plotted out a mostly traffic-free kilometre around the Craighall Business Park and gave it a try although I wasn't feeling 100%. It was broadly downhill to enhance the speedwork aspect although there was a significant climb in the middle. I aimed to run at 5K pace or better. Ran the first rep in 3:03 with a jog/walk recovery back to the start, and the second in 2:58 which I considered to be not bad at all for a solo speed session, and I wasn't quite flat out. By that time I was getting even more nauseous from the distillery fumes so ran back home.

2.5 miles recovery

Went for a 2.5-mile recovery run via Queen Margaret Drive after playing football.

3.75 miles moderate

I didn't feel like doing anything at all but eventually dragged myself out for a few miles. The route was down Maryhill Road, through the (flooded) underpass onto New City Road, up Maitland Street, under the M8 for an anticlockwise loop of Craighall Business Park, then back under the M8 and home via Garscube Road. I felt quite slow in places but tried to maintain a consistent effort, particularly on the hills. Finished just inside 25 minutes for a 6:38/mile average.

4.4 miles steady

I tried a new route from Bearsden Asda, taking it fairly easy on account of tired legs. It took me along West Chapelton Avenue and past Bearsden Station, over Pendicle Road, down Maxwell Avenue and then down Netherton Farm Lane to the canal. The map showed a path on the other side of the bridge but it turned out to be narrow, overgrown and unlit, so I wouldn't go this way again. I crossed the canal again on Howth Drive and headed straight back along Switchback Road and up Milngavie Road, 4.4 miles in total, in exactly 32 minutes.

7.5 miles steady

I originally planned to run a steady loop of Milngavie Station from home, and was making reasonable progress, crossing Killermont Bridge (the 3-mile mark) in exactly 20 minutes, but succumbed to tired legs just before Bearsden Asda and ran back home instead - 7.5 miles in 51:18.

McAndrew relay

I had no significant injury worries on the day of the race and had memorised all the kilometre points so I could try once again to maintain a 3:15/K pace. I tried to get a good start so I could sit at the back of the fast pack, and went through 1K in 3:15 as planned, although there was a blustery wind so I was having to work slightly harder. The mile point was right on the corner of Anniesland Road and Queen Victoria Drive, and I got there in 5:14 which was still exactly on schedule, although by the 2K mark my pace had slipped by a couple of seconds. It was between 2K and 3K that my legs started to feel tired. Up until now I had been swapping places with the same Pitreavie runner as in the previous week's race, but I wasn't able to take sufficient advantage of the hill on Westland Drive and was starting to fall behind when we reached Southbrae Drive. In the final kilometre or so I passed a couple of flagging fast starters but began to lose another battle with a runner from Inverclyde. I finished in 17:51 which was nonetheless 7 seconds up on last year and also my fastest time since 2003. I might have done better if I had set off slower, or taken it easier on Thursday night, but probably both.

I was 15th on the first leg and we finished in 10th place overall - 1st team in the Masters category. I also ran the fastest leg for Garscube by a very narrow margin.

10K tempo

The club training session was a tempo run from the Science Park down to Anniesland Cross and round the course of Saturday's relay. The fast pack set off at quite a brisk pace which increased along Anniesland Road and Danes Drive, before the pack split into two on Westland Drive, after about 4 miles. On reaching the relay changeover point on Helensburgh Drive we joined up with two of the earlier packs and headed back to the Science Park at a steadier pace, before picking up speed again on way up from Anniesland Cross. The distance came out a fraction under 10K and I finished in exactly 40 minutes. Some tightness around both hips but nothing serious.

2.5 miles recovery

I appeared to come through a game of football relatively unscathed and went out afterwards for a steady 2.5-mile run via Queen Margaret Drive.

5.15 miles hard

Rather than risk injury by taking part in the club's scheduled sprint session, I went out in the evening for a 5.15-mile route via Dorchester Avenue. I crossed the canal inside 15 minutes which was comfortably ahead of previous attempts, and got back home in 32:07 (6:14/mile) which was a route PB by over a minute. I could have pushed for sub-32 in the last mile but maintained a steady pace instead due to some upper leg tightness.

3.2 miles moderate

Ran a lap of the old club 5 mile championship course, starting at Bearsden Asda. I had intended to take it easy but was able to run the hilly route at a reasonable pace without any trouble, finishing just inside 21 minutes.

George Cummings relay

I did a lot of IT band stretching on Friday in the hope that I would be OK to run on Saturday. Woke up with a mild pain on the outside of my left knee which I took as a positive sign, although I didn't bother with a warm-up before the race in case I was only able to run once. I had plotted the route on gmap-pedometer and memorised all the kilometre points (unmarked on race day) to help me judge my pace better, and being on the first leg also helped as I tried to let the faster runners drag me around. I was aiming for a 3:15/K average pace, although with the first couple of kilometres being almost entirely downhill I tried to make up some time early on and went through 1K in 3:05, then 2K in about 6:15, which means I must have run the first mile in 5 minutes flat. By 2K we were part of the way into our first climb, and I became involved in a battle with a runner from Pitreavie, who would go past me on the flats and the downhills, while I moved ahead on the uphills. My pace suffered a bit in the second half of the race although I picked up a couple of places. On the last long uphill stretch into Houston I built up an unassailable lead over the Pitreavie runner, and also moved up a couple more places, albeit temporarily. In the final 150m or so I picked it up in order to hold my position, finishing 13th in 14:20. This was 16 seconds up on last year and my fastest leg since 2003. Our team finished 10th overall.

3.25 miles steady

Went out in the afternoon for a 3.25-mile route via Garrioch Road at a steady pace. Felt slightly worse than on Tuesday during the run but didn't tighten up so badly afterwards.

3.85 miles fast

I was torn between trying to avoid injury and wanting to stay sharp for Saturday, but thought I could manage a steady evening run round my occasional 3.85-mile route without doing too much damage. I didn't start off terribly fast but was somehow way ahead of schedule at Kirklee Bridge. Despite losing about 20 seconds trying to cross Queen Margaret Drive, I made it home in a clear route PB of 23:36, 6:07 per mile. My left hip tightened up soon afterwards and I was limping around for an hour or so.

8.75 miles moderate

The hip was gradually improving and I felt fit enough to go for a longer run on Sunday afternoon, along Great Western Road, down Lincoln Avenue, and back home via Danes Drive, Clarence Drive and Great Western Road. Over a year ago I tried repeatedly to run this route inside an hour but only managed it once. Without struggling I arrived back home in 59:30, 6:48 per mile. My hip was slightly bothering me all the way round but it was never serious enough to consider stopping.

3.5 miles slow

On Friday afternoon I had a flash of inspiration regarding the cause of my strange hip/lower back injury: Wii Sports Tennis. Rather than play several dozen games left-handed to see if I developed the same symptoms on the other side, I decided to stop playing altogether for a few days. The following morning I went out with Natasha for 3.5 miles via Kelvingrove Park and Yorkhill and along the riverfront to the office where I had parked the car on Friday night.

4 miles steady

The club training session was a 7-mile tempo run down Maryhill Road to St George's Cross, back along Great Western Road to Anniesland Cross and in the top gate of the Science Park. It was going OK for the first couple of miles, at which point I bailed out due to injury concerns and headed back up the road.

3.2 miles recovery

I managed to get through a game of football and still feel able to go for a slow recovery run around the West End. Felt a bit better afterwards.

Stirling 10K

My plan for this race was to run 3:30 per kilometre and try to sneak inside 35 minutes, or at least not fall outside 36. I also knew that a top 20 finish would earn me more points in the Grand Prix series, although this was likely to depend on the quality of the field, and there was a large turnout. I went through the 1K marker in 3:15 but was well down the field, which had quickly started to fragment on account of the fast pace. On a couple of occasions I passed a few runners who had started to struggle and found that they had fallen off the back of a pack, which I would managed to latch onto. I stuck to my goal pace fairly well for the next couple of kilometres but started to lose a couple of seconds here and there.

By the halfway mark I was still slightly ahead of schedule, and the next part of the route took us down a country lane with a hairpin turn, which gave me a chance to work out what position I was in. I stopped counting at 20 with well over a dozen runners visible further down the path. I was still making up the odd place here and there and went through 7K in exactly 24:30. At this point it looked like sub-35 was unlikely although I expected to beat 36 minutes without too much trouble. By 8K, I had lost a few more seconds but was gaining very gradually on the runner in front. In the final kilometre, a fast finisher went past both of us, but as the finish drew closer I was unable to pick up the pace at all and couldn't close the gap. My finishing time was 35:09 which represents another few seconds knocked off my best time for the year, and an average mile pace of 5:39. This gave me 34th place overall and I was first Garscube finisher. The marathons I ran at the end of August probably contributed to my lack of speed at the end, although at the same time they may have helped me maintain a reasonable pace for longer. I don't think my low mileage during the previous week had any real negative effect.

After the race I went back to the car to get changed and collect some things for Natasha, who in her first 10K was somewhat faster than I expected in 52:50, so by the time I had dealt with some blisters (Mayflys possibly not laced up tightly enough) and gone back to watch people arriving, she had already finished.

3.85 miles steady

After a couple of days off to recover from a few minor strains, I went out in the evening for a few miles via Shakespeare Street and Cleveden Drive. I got to the top of Queen Margaret Drive in just over 6 minutes which was a bit quicker than intended, but was stuck at the traffic lights for over half a minute and took it a bit easier for the rest of the run. Finished in 25:33.

Medium reps

The club training session was at Dawsholm Park, and I had the wrong shoes (Nike Free) for that type of thing but went along to have a look at the underfoot conditions. The path looked not too bad so I stuck around for the reps, about 400m each, but it was getting dark quickly and there were a lot of dogs around. On the third rep I nearly tripped over a dog which darted across the path in front of me, so I bailed out at the end - walking a bit of an injury tightrope at the moment so I didn't want to take any risks.

Hill reps

Ran up Pendicle Road four times in the evening, from the foot of the hill on the Station Road side to the top, just to sharpen up a bit. I wasn't really timing them, although it seemed like each one was 70 seconds or so.

3 miles slow, 7 miles hard

Went out with Natasha after breakfast to jog down to St Vincent Street and then the footbridge over the Expressway to watch the Great Scottish Run.

In the afternoon I had limited time available for a run so went out for a 7-mile route I haven't run in a while, up Maryhill Road, through the Science Park, down to Anniesland Cross and back home via Great Western Road. The plan was to set out fast and see how long I could sustain it. I reached Queen Margaret Drive in exactly 6 minutes, then the gates of the Science Park inside 18 minutes for the first time, the bridge over the Kelvin in 19:02 and the top gate on the other side of the Science Park in 22:12. This was about a minute ahead of my previous PB pace for the route. I slowed down a bit in the second half of the run but by the time I got stuck at the traffic lights at the Botanic Gardens, sub-45 minutes was certain and I was aiming for sub-44, although I couldn't remember exactly what my previous best time was. I got held up again for a few seconds crossing Maryhill Road, but without really pushing in the last stretch, I arrived back home in 43:41, which turned out to be a course record by 14 seconds. Average pace was 6:14 per mile.

3.35 miles slow

Went out in the morning with Natasha for a slow run around the West End, via Shakespeare Street, Great Western Road and Napiershall Street. Vaguely considered some speedwork or hills in the afternoon but eventually decided against it.

5.5 miles tempo

The club training session was a 5.5-mile route down the Kelvin Walkway, through the Botanic Gardens, back along Great Western Road and up Crow Road. The numbers were down overall, possibly due to the Great Scottish Run on Sunday, and the pace was slightly slower than usual for most of the route but picked up a bit towards the end. Finished in 36:20 or so.

3.25 miles recovery

Went out after playing football for 3.25 miles around the West End in just under 25 minutes.

1.75 miles slow

In the evening I dragged myself from Bearsden Asda up to Bearsden Cross, down to Canniesburn Toll and back up Milngavie Road. Going downhill was very difficult but I seemed to be loosening up a bit towards the end of the run.

Hunsrück Marathon, Simmern

The Hunsrück Marathon was easily reached from Hahn Airport, and on the Saturday the centre of Simmern was given over to the junior races, registration, the pre-race pasta party and various other events. I got there in the late afternoon and collected my race pack containing t-shirt, drinks, energy bar, bottle opener and various other bits and pieces, as well as my timing chip, and we walked the half mile or so to our hotel on the edge of the town. On Sunday morning I had a quick breakfast at the hotel and walked down to the sports hall for the bus transfer to Emmelshausen.

The marathon course consisted of about 5K on roads around Emmelshausen, followed by the Schinderhannes cyclepath along the route of an old railway line, and a short road section to the finishing line in Simmern town centre. The route profile showed an overall drop of 140m, albeit with gentle gradients, and a climb of 50m between 4 and 5K. The sun had been out all morning and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so even when the race started at 9am it was already quite warm, although not particularly humid.

A small group of runners set off at a brisk pace, so I tagged along on the downhill stretch right after the start. I was in about 7th place when I reached the 1K marker in 3:46. My plan was to run 4 minutes per kilometre for as long as I could manage, so I eased off slightly and dropped a few places over the next few kilometres. On reaching 4K I was in 10th place, but I used the hill over the next kilometre to get back into 7th place by the time we got to the start of the cyclepath. One of the runners I had passed on the hill had tried to keep up, so we ran more or less together for the next couple of kilometres before he gradually fell away. The hill had been steep enough to cost me a bit of time, but the kilometre markers were so accurately placed that I worked out my average pace at 4:07 and could see I maintained it exactly for quite a while. Somewhere around 12K it started getting difficult, and I began to think I hadn't recovered sufficiently from the previous weekend's marathon, or even from Thursday's training session, but it did eventually occur to me that I must be going slightly uphill as the undulating countryside made it hard to judge the gradient. The cyclepath was mostly lined with trees so the sun wasn't a problem.

Every few kilometres there was a water station manned by the sports club or volunteer fire brigade from the closest village. I let the first couple go by but had a quick drink of water at the next. The helpers were holding out pink cups of water, but there were supposed to be sports drinks available, and I had noticed some more small bottles on a table. One boy was holding a pink cup as well as a small bottle, so I took the bottle as I passed, but it turned out to be plain water. Some laughter behind me suggested those drinks were probably for the helpers. At this point, I could still see the 6th-placed runner in the distance.

By the halfway mark (which also had a separate sign) I had dropped to a 4:09/K average, which took me through in 1:27, a couple of minutes down on my previous marathon. I became concerned about running a poorer race on a superior course, and even possibly blowing up altogether and having to walk. The mental arithmetic for calculating my pace was also becoming more difficult. After what appeared to be a slightly downhill stretch I reached the town of Kastellaun, with nobody visible behind me and the 6th-placed runner apparently now a couple of minutes ahead. There was a tremendous reception from the half marathon participants (of whom there were many more than there were marathon participants) who had most likely just arrived on the transfer buses and were watching the marathon going through as they waited to start their own race. Every road crossing, water station and path through the fields also had a few spectators watching and cheering on the runners.

The last gradual climb of any note lasted a few kilometres, and there was another water station at the end, where I stopped to have a couple of drinks, one water and one isotonic, as the temperature had been rising all morning and the route was about to swing round towards the sun. One of the helpers kindly advised me not to drink so much, but dehydration was more of a risk than an upset stomach. The next 12K had a steady descent almost all the way to the finish, a drop of 140m overall, and although it looked very welcoming on the route profile, it began to present problems of its own when my quads began to hurt. My pace began to drop a bit more and one of the runners I had passed on the hill up to the 5K mark came through very strongly to move me down to 8th. I also stopped for a couple of seconds to try to stretch my quads.

With a few kilometres left, and somehow having managed to press on despite aching quads, it became possible to work out quite easily what pace I would need to maintain to finish inside 3 hours. I felt I should still be capable of 5 minutes per kilometre, and as I went past the last few markers, I noticed I was building more of a cushion. I had a quick drink of cola at the last water station, where they apologised for not having any beer, then struggled up the last little hill which passed our hotel's biergarten, and headed off towards the finishing line, which I crossed in 2:58:23. I was the last runner to finish inside three hours, in 8th place out of about 250 finishers. After collecting my bag of clothes we went back to the hotel to drink a recovery beer or two and watch the runners from the marathon and half marathon pass by.

6 miles tempo

The club training session tonight was a 5.7-mile run via Crow Road, Danes Drive and Anniesland Road. I found the pace no problem for the first couple of miles, but we took a wrong turn in following the pack in front, which added a few hundred metres and cost us a couple of minutes while we disputed the route with them from afar. After turning around and heading towards Anniesland Cross I started to fall behind and thought about taking it easy for the last couple of miles, but I caught up at some traffic lights and was able to stay with the leaders until we got back to the Science Park. Finishing time was 39:30.

2.5 miles steady

Went out before breakfast for a short recovery run via Queen Margaret Drive and Napiershall Street. It came out at 2.56 miles, time was 17:49.

800m

I drove to Nethercraigs expecting to take part in both the 5000m and the 800m in the club championships, only to find out the events had kicked off at the unusually early time of 6.35pm and the 5000m had already finished. A few other people had missed the race as well. I was still in time for the 800m, and ran from the front, going through 400m in 64-65 seconds. There were footsteps close behind me all the way round, and they got a bit faster coming out of the final bend, but I held on to win in a season's best of 2:11.

3.2 miles recovery

Went out in the late evening for a few miles from Bearsden Asda around one lap of the old 5-mile club championship course, just to stretch the legs a bit. I felt OK apart from sore quads.

Raduga Marathon, Minsk

By Friday I had got used to the heat and was fairly confident of surviving, although I had tired legs from walking around Minsk all week. I had originally planned not to take part if it was too hot, but too many people had already been told I would be running a marathon, so on Saturday morning I was pleased to see that the sky had clouded over and the temperature had dropped. I had discovered earlier in the week that it was too far to walk from home, so we got a taxi to the registration area where a few tents had sprung up. The organisers seemed quite excited to have a foreign participant, although I escaped the attentions of a small camera crew who were interviewing the oldest competitor, presumably for the local news.

The course consisted of 16 laps of a dirt track around part of the Slepyanka Water System, with a short section of tarmac across a bridge at one end, and a longer uphill section of pavement at the other, with a short, steep climb just before it. The path was strewn with stones and rutted in a few places, although ordinary running shoes were adequate. A couple of minutes before the 10.30am start, the clouds suddenly disappeared, so it would obviously be getting much hotter as the race went on and midday approached.

There were over 70 runners, a fair mix of ages and abilities. A few of them were wearing the national vest and looked like seasoned distance runners. The winning time from the previous year's race was 2:44 so I planned to settle in behind the leaders for a bit and see how it went, with the main goal of setting a PB or at least running inside 3 hours, ideally without winning which would not quite have been the done thing. One of the younger runners wearing the national vest took an early lead, closely followed by a female competitor who was breathing far too heavily within the first kilometre and soon fell away. I stayed a few paces behind the leader for the first three laps, which were run at a comfortable pace of about 10:40 per lap, but he started to slow down on the fourth and I soon found myself at the front. On the seventh lap, somebody else wearing the national vest came through fast to take the lead. I was surprised as I hadn't slowed all that much, so I guessed he must have missed the start by a few minutes. Soon afterwards I was passed by the early leader and another runner in a yellow cap who had been consistently a couple of dozen metres behind up until that point. I went through the halfway point in 1:25 or so which was perfectly fine and discovered the early leader seemed to have finished as he was just standing around at the water table, and although he appeared to run a few more laps later on, this moved me back up to third place.

After about two hours, with the conditions starting to become a problem, the runner in the yellow cap finished. He had been pulling away gradually so I can only guess he had planned to run for exactly that amount of time. This left me in second place with no sign of anyone behind me whom I hadn't already lapped, and the leader disappearing into the distance. By this time I was drinking lots of water or PSP22 every time I got to the water table at the finishing line, and planning what to drink next time around on the following lap to make the race less monotonous. By the 13th lap I was dropping below 8 minutes a mile and the third-placed runner went past me at a pace I was never going to keep up with (although at this point I thought he was still a full lap behind me). Any chance of a sub-3 time was also starting to disappear. Having got to the bell without being lapped by the leader, I managed to pick up slightly on the last lap and finished in 3:06:39, almost 10 minutes outside my PB from the 2001 Amsterdam Marathon, which was also my previous marathon.

My prize for second place in my age group (third overall, as I discovered when the official results appeared a few days later) was three bottles of shampoo and some equipment for drying wet shoes from the race sponsors, as well as a race t-shirt and medal (with a "2" on it). One of the officials played a few tunes on some kind of small wind instrument during the presentation, and we recognised Jingle Bells, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and the theme from the Russian version of Sherlock Holmes - perhaps in honour of their sole British participant, although I didn't ask. The official results showed that of 73 runners, only 34 completed the distance.

4.25 miles slow

Went out in the morning with Natasha for a 4.25 mile loop - along Platonova, around the back of the Botanic Gardens, through Park Chelyuskintsev and home in about 36 minutes.

5K slow

Went out in the morning with Natasha for about 5K, down some side streets to Park Gorkova, around the park and back home in slightly under 30 minutes.

11K steady

I needed to do some rapid acclimatisation to the late summer heat in Minsk so went out in the afternoon to have a look at Saturday's marathon course, along a couple of main roads and then a dirt track at the far end of the Botanic Gardens which continued across the Children's Railway and took me to the Slepyanka water system. Stopped a couple of times to work out where I was. It came out at just over 11K, got back home in about 54 minutes.

7.4 miles steady

Went out before breakfast for a few exploratory miles, from the hotel at Hahn Airport past the bus station, through a car park and down to Büchenbeuren-Scheid for a loop of the old USAF barracks, then back to Lautzenhausen, part of the way down the road to Büchenbeuren until I ran out of pavement, and down to the edge of Sohren before heading straight back to the hotel. The airport is a lot more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists than I would have expected. The total distance was about 7.4 miles which I completed in just under 54 minutes although I ran out of steam a bit on the hill back up from Sohren.

Achilles Heel Bella 5K, 4 miles recovery

The Bellahouston 5K took place in good conditions, slightly damp and not windy at all. I tried to maintain a 3:15/K pace from the start and judged it exactly right for the first couple. Some time between 2 and 3K I went into the nosebleed territory of 4th place, and I was still maintaining the same pace at 3K, but I soon started to fade a bit and was passed twice in the last kilometre, finishing 6th in 16:42. This was 7 seconds down on the JogScotland 5K, which may have been slightly on the short side in any case. I was first finisher for a somewhat underrepresented Garscube and claimed two valuable Summer League points.

After getting back home I went out for 4 steady miles around the West End (via Shakespeare Street, Cleveden Drive, Cleveden Road and Napiershall Street) just to stretch the legs a bit, completing the route in a steady 27:34.

2x3 miles steady, 6.4 miles tempo

Ran up to the club training session at a fairly steady pace, just to get a few extra miles in, but it was harder than I expected and I was glad of the ten minutes' worth of waiting around when I got there. A smaller-than-usual fast pack ran the first mile in about 7 minutes and got progressively faster, reaching a 6-minute mile in the second half of the route. I had been sure I would drop off the back at some point and maybe even have to take a shortcut home, but I managed to hang on and finally started to feel reasonably OK after about 4 miles. Finished the 6.43 miles in 41:10, about 6:24 per mile. Ran back home afterwards at a steadier pace, another 3 miles or so.

3.85 miles easy

Went out for a few easy miles in the evening immediately after playing football, 3.85 in just under 30 minutes.

4.8 miles steady, hill reps

Ran the shorter version of the canal route at a comfortable pace to avoid aggravating a thigh strain. Finished in 32:34, 6:50/mile, sore quads as usual but no suggestion of an actual injury. The club training session in the evening was in Kelvingrove Park. We jogged down to the meeting point outside the Kelvin Hall and then back to the park for 10 minutes of strides and another 10 minutes of continuous hills.

10K moderate, 7.5K steady

Went out before breakfast for my preferred 10K route along the canal. It was a bit tougher than usual after I'd overdone it slightly the day before. At the halfway mark it looked unlikely that I would beat 40 minutes, although I was quite content to settle for completing the run. Got back home in 41:08, around 6:37 per mile.

In the evening I ran a loop from Bearsden Asda past the rugby club and round the far side of Milngavie Station. It looked like coming out a bit short so on the way back I made a detour via Roman Road and Bearsden Cross which took it up to almost exactly 7.5K. Time was 32:34, an average of just inside 7-minute miles. In the last few hundred metres my sore quads turned into a bit of a bit of a thigh strain on the right side, which I attempted to work on with some stretching when I got home.

9K slow, 800m, 6 miles recovery

Went out in the morning for my usual 9K route with Natasha. I wouldn't normally run so far a few hours before a race but Saturday had been a day off. In the afternoon I had an 800m at Linwood in the last league match of the season. I got there in plenty of time and felt OK after a short warm-up. I got slightly boxed in after about 100m but managed to escape and set off in pursuit of a small pack which had broken away. I went through 400m in 65 seconds which was 1 second down on my previous attempt at the same venue, but I was still feeling fine and it looked like my run earlier had made no difference at all. On a very windy afternoon it was eerily calm in the back straight, and I regained my lost second to go through 600m in 1:39, but lost it again running into the headwind in the final stage of the race. I was still closing fast on the runner in 3rd place but couldn't quite pick up enough speed to catch him. Time was 2:14.8 and I was 2nd of the Division 3 participants.

After getting back home I went out to rack up some more miles, this time an old 6-mile route up Firhill Road, through Ruchill Park, along Bilsland Drive, then Balmore Road, Skirsa Street, a footpath down to Summerston Station and back down Maryhill Road. This became quite a struggle, even at an easy pace, and it took me slightly over 45 minutes.

10.1K steady

I managed to go out before breakfast again, in much better weather this time, although I could barely move. Decided to stay off the canal (for the most part) in case of flooding and run the 10K route I had originally planned, which is the same as the 9K route as far as Cleveden Road, then to Lock 27 via the canal, down Crow Road to Anniesland Cross, and back along Great Western Road, except I misremembered the last part of the route and came back up Queen Margaret Drive which added an extra 100m. Finished in 43:40 (6:57/mile).

9K moderate, 9.15 miles steady

Went out before breakfast for the first time this week. My only concession to the terrible conditions was that I stayed away from the canal and ran my old 9K route via Dorchester Avenue. I reached Great Western Road in a brisk 19:05 and tried to ease off a bit after that, but finished in a route PB of 36:40 (6:31 per mile).

In the evening there was nobody around for the club training session as they were mostly involved in a trail race at Dawsholm Park. A small pack had gone out a bit earlier so I ran the route I had already had in mind, up Milngavie Road to the West of Scotland Rugby Club, then the undulating countryside course of the Hogmanay Handicap, and back down Milngavie Road. It came out at 9.15 miles which I completed in a fairly steady 1:04:04, about 7:00 per mile.

2.5 miles recovery

After playing football I thought I might shake off some minor strains by running a couple of miles, so I ran a 2.5-mile loop via Queen Margaret Drive.

Dreilauf

The scheduled club training session was a paarlauf, but with teams of three in a continuous relay. I was on the long grass above the cricket pitch for the entire 25-minute session, although the other teams were rotating better so that nobody stayed in the same place the whole time. I didn't mind running on the grass but it was raining so my feet were soaked within a couple of minutes.

3.5 miles recovery

Went on a short recovery run from Bearsden Asda in the evening. Up Milngavie Road, over Mosshead Road and back via Stockiemuir Avenue and Drymen Road. Probably just over 3.5 miles. Right hamstring was a bit tight later on.

Helensburgh Half Marathon

I can't remember exactly when I last ran a half marathon but it was probably around six or seven years ago. I thought I should have run enough miles recently to make a reasonable attempt at this one, which was on the Garscube Summer League calendar. My plan was to stick to a 6:00/mile pace as far as possible, with a goal time of somewhere around 1 hour 20 minutes.

I went past the first mile marker in about 5:45, so I tried to settle back a bit, although I was already running with a pack. All the runners in front were still visible so I could see that I was in about 14th place. It started to rain quite heavily but the pack stayed together over the next few miles, and one or two runners who had started off faster were gradually caught. Coming up for 5 miles, there was the only significant climb on the course, and having fallen back slightly by now, I used the hill to move up a few places and went through 5 miles in exactly 30 minutes, which suggested we had been losing time over the previous mile or so. It was downhill for the next stretch as we headed back towards Helensburgh, and I picked up a bit of speed to get back ahead of schedule. As the course moved onto the old road for a few hundred yards, I broke away from the pack and went clear in 7th place. After the next couple of mile markers I had made up 30 seconds in total on my 6:00 average, despite having to splash through some minor flooding en route. I had been getting gradually closer to the leading Garscube runner and finally moved into 6th place shortly after going through the 10-mile mark in about 59:30. The pace was becoming harder to maintain but at the next couple of mile markers I was still running a consistent race. I had spotted some fast finishers gaining on me at one point when I had dared to look back, and I was passed just after the 12-mile mark by a runner from Dumbarton, but I held onto 7th place and crossed the line in 1:18:04. This works out at a 5:57 average.

10K moderate, 6 miles tempo

I thought of having the morning off in case the previous night's race had strained anything, but did eventually drag myself out with the thought that I could easily cut the session short if need be. Along the canal the air seemed to be very dry, even though there was some light rain, and I was ready to give up at several points as I felt quite tired and my stride faltered a couple of times. I was concerned about running out of energy completely and being late back home, so I thought I could just come straight back up Maryhill Road, but at the halfway point I was somehow a few seconds up on my previous attempt so persevered. I reached the main entrance to the Botanic Gardens exactly on 30 minutes and as I climbed the hill at the top of Queen Margaret Drive it was clear that I was going to beat 40 minutes again. My finishing time was 38:50, 6:14 per mile.

The club session in the evening was 6 miles around Bearsden. Numbers were slightly down so the two fastest packs had been combined and they set off just as I was getting out of the car, so it took me the first half mile or so to catch up. The pace was very steady (just outside 7-minute miles) until we reached Mosshead Road about halfway round, where there was a small breakaway. I tagged along behind the front three until we climbed the hill up Boclair Road, where I got to the top first, then built up speed down Rannoch Drive and kept it going all the way back to the Science Park, mainly to stay far enough ahead that I wouldn't be dragged into a sprint finish. Time was 40:44, distance almost exactly 6 miles.

800m

It's been a long time since I ran a race on the track so I drove to Linwood in the evening for the Open Graded meeting. I was keen to see whether increased weekly mileage would compensate for a lack of speedwork. There were 800m and 1500m races scheduled but the 1500m would have meant hanging around for over an hour, so I only entered the 800m, giving 2:09 as my PB and 2:10 as my anticipated time. It turned out that the heats were being run slowest tof astest, and the events were somewhat behind schedule, so I had to hang around for nearly an hour in any case. Although the meeting was fairly well attended, I was surprised to be placed in the third-fastest heat with some teens rather than the second-fastest, but it turned out that everybody in the next two races was well inside 2:10.

The kidz in my heat all set off much too fast and I was trailing badly at 100m, and still last but gaining on them at 200. At this stage I still thought I could win and started picking them off one by one, although having to go past on the outside while they were still fairly bunched was a bit of a nuisance. I went through 400m in 64 seconds and moved into second place 100m further on, although by now it was looking like the guy in the lead had built up too much of a gap. My time at 600m was 1:39 and I wasn't able to pick up enough speed to do anything except hold onto second place with a slightly disappointing time of 2:13.93. Afterwards I recovered fairly quickly. I would probably have done better in the 1500m where not having any leg speed wouldn't be so much of a factor.

10K moderate

Finally got up early enough to tackle a 10K route which was different from the one I had originally planned. It was the same as my new 4.8-mile route as far as Maryhill Road, then turning onto Garrioch Road, down to Great Western Road as far as the Botanic Gardens, back up Queen Margaret Drive and home via Maryhill Road and Garscube Road. I picked up some speed along the canal and reached the halfway point in just over 20 minutes, which was fine for the 41-minute pace I was expecting to run. By the time I got to the hill at the bottom of Queen Margaret Drive I seemed to have made up some time as sub-40 looked possible, and after struggling up the hill I still had a reasonable chance as the remaining part of the route was mostly downhill. In the end I was comfortably inside 40 minutes at 39:32, 6:20 per mile. Needless to say, sore quads all the way round.

4.8 miles moderate, hills

I failed to set the alarm properly but still woke up in time to get in a few miles before breakfast, albeit not the planned 10K. Ran the same 4.8-mile route I tried a couple of times last week, this time finishing in 31:46, 6:37 per mile, despite getting stuck at St George's Road for about 20 seconds.

In the evening I jogged from Bearsden Asda down to Chesters Road for a couple of hill reps. I was barely able to move from the outset but loosened up after a minute or two. The reps were completed in 68 and 67 seconds. Legs were pretty wasted after the first one but I convinced myself to do another on the premise that it would be the last one for the evening and I would have a long recovery first. I felt slightly the better for it afterwards.

4 miles slow, 11.8 miles steady

Went out with Natasha before lunch for 4 miles around the West End, this time all the way to the bottom of Byres Road and back via Sauchiehall Street.

In the late afternoon I ran an old route along the canal, up Balmore Road to Allander Toll, along Auchenhowie Road and back down Milngavie Road and Maryhill Road, including a detour via Killermont Road and Cluny Avenue. After five miles I was about a minute up on my fastest previous attempt, despite feeling quite slow. Later on I did slow down as I faded in the heat, and ran out of PSP22 with a few miles to go. Finished with very sore quads in 1:22:54, 7:01 per mile.

5K steady, 5K slow

Ran to Lochburn Road and back in the morning, about 5K in total. Quads starting to hurt again. In the evening I went out with Natasha for 5K around the West End.

4.8 miles moderate

Went out before breakfast for the same 4.8-mile route as Wednesday. I did consider having a day off but felt like I needed to get back into the habit of racking up a few miles in the morning. Finished in 31:53, 6:38 per mile.

Club 5 mile race

After a few days of relative inactivity, I felt OK for the club 5 mile race at Milngavie Water Works, if slightly over-tapered. I was one of a small group of three runners that set off at a fast pace. There was no prospect of winning so my goal was second place. We passed the 1-mile marker in 5:15 which seemed comfortable enough despite the strong wind, and I ran at the front for a long time to keep the pace up. The second mile was only slightly slower than the first, but the group had still been inseparable up to that point. The pace suddenly became too difficult to maintain and I dropped back into third as the other two opened up a gap.

I was starting to resign myself to a disappointing third-place finish and the loss of a valuable Summer League point when the front pair separated after about a hundred metres, and I started to make up ground on second place while the race leader moved further ahead. I went into second shortly afterwards and gradually pulled away. Somewhere between three and four miles the gap became comfortable, although I must have dropped slightly outside 6-minute miles by this point. My finishing time was 28:47, over a minute faster than last year. I would probably have run a better time in a less tactical race.

4.8 miles steady

After an extra rest day to fight off a thigh strain, I went out before breakfast for a shorter route than I had planned for this week, chosen so if I ended up having to walk home I wouldn't have too far to go, and also to keep the hills to a minimum. The route took me down Garscube Road, down the path behind Abercorn School, over the footbridge and onto the canal towpath as far as Lochburn Road, then back up Maryhill Road. I started off cautiously and everything seemed OK so I gradually picked up speed. The route came out at 4.8 miles and I completed it in 32:57, 6:51 per mile, without any problems.

Conic Hill

Didn't do any running, but walked from Balmaha to the top of Conic Hill and back down again. Legs were fine with the occasional bit of stretching on the way up.

7.5 miles slow

I had originally intended to run up to Milngavie Station and back but didn't feel too great and bailed out at Kessington Road. Walked/jogged back home, total time about 67 minutes.

4.3 miles slow, 2x3 miles steady, 200m reps

Ran down to Langside in the morning with Natasha to collect the car. In the afternoon I jogged up to the Caldercuilt track to try a set of 200m reps with recoveries decreasing by 15 seconds each time. There was a stiff breeze and the underfoot conditions were very heavy, so I could only manage 34/35 seconds per 200m, and I forgot what the exact recoveries were and started at 75 seconds instead of 90, which meant 6 reps instead of 7. Gave up after the first set and jogged back down the road.

9K steady, 10.5 miles moderate

It was more difficult than usual to drag myself out before breakfast, but I persevered and ended up running the same route at a much steadier pace. Finished in 38:31, 6:50 per mile, which was better than I had expected. This took me up to 50 miles since Saturday.

The club training session in the evening was a 10.5-mile run through Dawsholm Park, along the Kelvin Walkway to Botanic Gardens, up Queen Margaret Drive to join the canal at the fire station, then all the way out to Blairdardie, and back to the Science Park via Canniesburn Road. Some of the fast pack took the 6.5-mile option which involved leaving the canal at Lock 27, but I pressed on to take my total for the week up to an almost-unprecedented 60 miles and help me justify an entire day off on Friday. There was a spell between 7 and 8 miles where the pace seemed to increase slightly and I had to work hard to keep up, but the hills brought some respite after we left the canal. Quads were just as sore as usual. Time for the 10.5 miles was 1:11:14.

9K moderate

I went out again before breakfast for the usual 9K route. This time I had some bad luck with the traffic lights at Bilsland Drive and Ruchill Street which cost me at least 20 seconds. I made up some of the time later on to arrive back home in 37:09, just four seconds down on the previous morning.

9K moderate, pyramid reps

Ran the same route as yesterday before breakfast. The quads were still sore although a bit better than the previous evening. This time it took 37:05, 6:35 per mile, which wasn't too bad as it seemed like more of a struggle. The first mile - mostly uphill - is invariably the slowest.

In the evening the club training session was two sets of pyramid reps on the grass at the bottom of Dawsholm Park. I was wearing shoes with no grip (expecting road reps) and there were some sharp corners but it wasn't too much of a problem. I trailed along at the back for the first few reps while I loosened up a bit, but I managed to put in more of an effort later on.

9K moderate, 3 miles recovery

I went out before breakfast for a slightly different morning route which was the same as the usual Dorchester Avenue loop until the Botanic Gardens, where I headed up Queen Margaret Drive to Maryhill Road. This took it up to 5.625 miles. There's no danger of getting stuck at the Botanic Gardens traffic lights any more as I have plenty of time to cross Queen Margaret Drive, but the hill at the end is quite tough. My first attempt was completed in 36:55, 6:33 per mile.

In the evening I could hardly move my legs but dragged myself from Bearsden Asda down to Station Road, up Chesters Road and back via Roman Road and Roman Drive.

14 miles moderate

In the late afternoon I tackled at a 14-mile loop I haven't run in a long time. The route was via Kelvingrove Park and Yorkhill, then the cycle path to Clydebank, and back along the canal, rejoining Maryhill Road at the fire station. I reached the canal in Clydebank in 48 minutes, comfortably inside the 50 minutes I remembered from previous attempts, although the improved walkway alongside the Expressway probably helped. A few minutes later the knee problem was threatening to resurface but it was fine again after 30 seconds and didn't bother me again, although I could feel the hamstring on the same side was getting a bit tight. Checking the route later on Gmaps showed my pace must have increased slightly on the way back and I finished in 1:33:48 for a 6:43/mile average. The distance was actually 13.95 miles.

5 miles slow, 2x3K slow, hills

Went out in the morning with Natasha for 5 miles through Kelvingrove Park, Yorkhill and Anderston at a 9-minute-mile pace. In the afternoon I jogged down to Gardner Street for hill reps, timed at 50-50-49-50-50. On a couple of the reps, including the fastest one, there was a bit of a headwind for the last 50 metres or so. Managed to pick up the pace for a spell on the jog back home, so I might consider adding another rep next time. My knee drew attention to itself a couple of times during the day but is now less of a concern.

8 miles tempo

I was wary of training with the club the day after a race as these sessions usually end up being quite severe despite whatever intentions I may have had to run at a steady pace. The course was quite hilly for the first few miles, involving a climb through Bearsden, a steep descent down Chesters Road and another climb over Pendicle Road. We reached the 4-mile point near Drumchapel Hospital in exactly 28 minutes and headed back along the canal, with the pace gradually increasing and the fast pack starting to fragment as usual. I found it fairly tough around 6 miles and could feel some hamstring tightness, as well as the usual sore quads, but it didn't get any worse and I managed to hang on without too much difficulty to finish with the leaders in 53:48. The distance was measured at just over 8.1 miles. A few months ago I would probably have dropped off the pace just after the halfway mark. Later on I had some pain on the outside of my right knee which was probably related to muscle tightness. I'll take a day off on Friday and see how it goes over the weekend with the intention of resuming morning training sessions next week.

Co-operative jogscotland 5K challenge

I had a day off completely on Tuesday and felt a lot better by the time of the race. Normally I would shy away from anything with "jog" in the name but the event was part of the club Summer League. A 6.30pm start meant I had to eat an energy bar at around half past four and go straight to Glasgow Green from work.

My plan was to try to run an ambitious 3:15 per kilometre and hang on as long as I could, but I went through the 1K marker in 3:25. I was still quite far up the field and feeling fine so I decided the marker must be slightly out, and I think I reached 2K at something like 6:45 which wasn't much better. Some of the runners in front of me started to slow down after 3K and I made up a place here and there. Time at 4K was 13:30, and I sprinted down the finishing straight to pass one runner and hold another off, crossing the line in 16:35 by my watch, 16:33 chip time - second Garscube finisher and 19th overall. It seems highly unlikely that I ran the last kilometre in 3 minutes, or that I was speeding up as the race went on, so I think the markers weren't quite right after all. My time was 29 seconds outside my 5K PB from early 2003, but probably also my fastest road 5K since then.