Pyramids

Tonight's club training session was an 8-mile run towards Milngavie and through Baljaffray and Bearsden, incorporating fast bursts lasting 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3 and 2 minutes, each with a 1m30s slow recovery. I felt bad after the first one, worse after the second and was considering throwing in the towel, but I was still comfortably in the middle of the fast pack so stuck with it and survived. Even managed to pick up the pace a bit on the last two and was glad afterwards that I'd made the effort.

Indoor track reps

I was feeling pretty wiped out all day but for once had the opportunity to take part in the club's Monday evening track session at the Kelvin Hall. The only problem was that there was nobody there, so I don't believe the session actually exists. I decided just to run 200m reps, ideally 10, aiming for 30 seconds each with a 200m walk/jog recovery. I managed 4 in 30-30-30-30 (last two were 30.00 and 30.01) before feeling like I had completely run out of energy, so it's probably just as well there wasn't a club session on. At least basic speed wasn't affected. Walked home, too fatigued even to break into a jog.

5K slow and 9+ miles moderate

Went out at lunchtime for the usual slow 5K recovery. In the afternoon I headed along Great Western Road, up Blairdardie Road and over the canal, back along Drumchapel Road and Canniesburn Road and then back down Maryhill Road. It was about a mile further than I had planned, probably about 9.5 in total. Finishing time was 1:11:21.

5K moderate and hills

After a few days in Vilnius and Riga I went out at lunchtime for the usual 5K at a moderate pace. Didn't feel particularly fit and wondered if I should have tried to fit in some running while I was away. In the afternoon I headed for Chesters Road for some hill reps. The rain had come on and conditions were so poor when I got there that I considered going straight back home. I persevered and ran 71-66-67-67 - previous best time was 68 so to be able to beat that three times was a pleasant surprise. I felt like I could have done a fifth rep but it was getting dark and my feet were already wet.

2 miles moderate

Short of time this evening so rather than do nothing at all I went out in the rain for a couple of miles, up Maryhill Road, down Queen Margaret Drive and back along Great Western Road. My lower back turned out to be a bit tight so I couldn't have done much more anyway.

Gym

The Pullover machine has been fixed at long last, so I added it to my usual circuit as 3x10 with 6 weights, after an extra set of 3x40 on the Lat Pulldown machine. Probably go for 3x20 or more next time. I took my time for once and managed to see every set of reps through to the end without stopping. This also stretched the session out to 40-45 minutes which felt a bit more worthwhile.

SVHC Relays and 6 miles steady

The Scottish Veteran Harriers Club Relays were at Strathclyde Park on Sunday morning. For a change, I was on the second leg. We were 12th of 14 clubs when I set off but I was able to make up quite a few places and handed over in 5th - we finished 4th overall. My time for the 3.8 miles was 20:54 which is exactly 5:30 per mile. If I had expected the miles to be marked, this would have been my goal pace. I was faster than that for the first couple of miles (difficult to pace when I'm chasing people). Conditions were fine and the course was almost flat.

Later in the afternoon I went out for a steady 6 miles, the route I run occasionally through Ruchill Park, Lambhill, Gilshochill and back down Maryhill Road. Felt OK, nothing worse than a bit of leg stiffness.

5K slow

Ran the usual slow 5K with Natasha just to stretch my legs a bit before tomorrow's race. No hamstring problems, just sore leg muscles and perhaps a minor knee niggle.

7 miles steady

After a tough speed session on Tuesday and a gruelling game of football on Wednesday I would probably have given tonight's training session a miss if this weekend's race wasn't on Sunday. Two days' rest is ideal but three would be excessive, so it was a choice between training with the club or doing something on Friday evening. A 7-mile steady run sounded fine and I was still able to move despite aching quads and dodgy hamstrings. Kept up well enough and coped OK with the monstrous hill in the middle of the run, although on almost exactly 5 miles at the top of a somewhat lesser hill I fell off the pace and was then unable to pick it back up due to a tight hamstring. I just coasted for the last couple of miles and then hobbled to the car. Should be fine after a couple of days off though.

Hill reps

Got to the Science Park just in time for tonight's scheduled hill reps session with the club. The session was 12 reps of the long road past the Vet School - hard for the first 120m or so slightly uphill, easy for the next 50m slightly downhill, and hard again for the final 120m, the steepest part of the hill, with a jog back to the bottom as recovery. It was the third rep before I managed to get moving properly with enough acceleration right at the start to open up a gap. The long recovery together with the break in the middle made each rep seem only slightly harder than the one before, so I tried to do them flat out and keep it going as long as I could. In fact, the recovery seemed to be the hardest bit - I could break into a jog on the way back down but nothing more.

Gym

Back to the gym tonight, same session as on Thursday except I set the cross-trainer resistance to 7 instead of 10 to spare my legs a bit, and swapped the Shoulder Press and Pec Deck machines because - shock horror - for once I wasn't the only one in the place. Consequently, it was on the Pec Deck machine that I needed two goes to complete the last set. Trimmed my recoveries to the bone and was back out of there in just over 30 minutes.

18 miles steady

I seemed to have recovered from the hills quite well so in the afternoon I set out on a route of at least 18 miles which I haven't run since 2006. The weather had been fairly nasty most of the day but it was dry when I set out and I had taken anti-chafing measures. I hoped to get at least to the halfway point by the time the rain came on. The route was past the Mitchell Library and Anderston Station, over the King George V bridge, Salkeld Street, A77 (Pollokshaws Road, Kilmarnock Road, Ayr Road) all the way to Mearns Cross, then round The Avenue and down Capelrig Road, through Thornliebank, up Pollokshaws Road and the outward route in reverse from Shawlands Cross. Felt pretty awful and even feverish for the first few miles but I was a lot better by the time I reached Shawlands. The rain came on as I was approaching Giffnock and was on and off for the rest of the run, but it was never cold enough to cause me any problems. Reached Eastwood Toll in 50 minutes and the long climb up to Mearns Cross took a further 18 - I'm pretty sure 1:08 is as fast as I've ever got there. I started to lose steam on the way back in and felt incredibly hungry but hadn't brought any money. Some kind of energy drink might also have helped but I didn't have anything to drink either. Got home in 2:34:50 and stuffed myself with peanuts and cashews. Next time I try this I'll be sure to do some carbo-loading the night before.

Short recoveries and hills

There was some work needing done in the office so I ran in and back, probably a little over 5K in total. There were still some icy patches and I had no regrets at all about giving the 10K a miss. In the afternoon I drove to Bearsden Station and jogged along to do some hill reps up Chesters Road. I had planned to do 5 but only had time for 4, might need to start parking a bit closer. Times were 68-70-70-71, so a reasonable effort. Felt totally wiped out afterwards.

Short recovery and gym

The car is in for servicing so I had to miss the club training session, although I was slightly the worse for wear anyway after playing football the previous night - need to remember to stretch properly next week. Rather than miss a run altogether I went out for a couple of miles just to stretch the legs a bit. Later on I went to the gym for the first time in a few weeks (they were closed over Christmas and New Year) and did the following: 5m on cross-trainer at 10 resistance; 3x40 on Lat Pulldown machine with 4 weights; 3x10 on Pec Deck machine with 4 weights; 3x40 Lat Pulldown again; 3x10 on Shoulder Press machine with 3 weights - my weakest machine, took two goes to complete last set; 3x40 Lat Pulldown again; 5m cross-trainer again. All done in about 35 minutes. There's a big difference between 3x30 and 3x40 on the Lat Pulldown machine. I'll probably stick with this plan for at least a couple more sessions before trying to increase some of the weights. May well end up dodging the 10K I had planned for Saturday as the condition of the course is very poor according to "Debs on running" and I don't do cross-country.

4+ miles easy

The club had a fartlek session scheduled for this evening, which normally seems like a complete waste of time, but I was feeling a bit under the weather and thought I'd go along and just take it easy. Unfortunately I missed the start while I was engaged in a fruitless search of the car for one of my gloves. I chose a likely route to catch the others and headed off towards Kessington, deciding fairly quickly that I didn't really care whether I caught up with anyone as I wouldn't be able to run the fast bits very fast. Also noticed that I was overheating in my running tights, long-sleeved top and t-shirt - the weather was supposed to be a lot worse. On reaching the top of Rannoch Drive I spotted some clubmates heading towards me and was informed that my usual group was somewhere behind them, although I apparently misunderstood (or they were mistaken) as I ran back the way they'd come and didn't see a soul. This was fine, because it suddenly started howling a gale, and I regretted not having found the other glove as I was pelted with freezing rain on the way back down the road. I wouldn't have gone out on a fartlek in those conditions anyway. Managed to complete the run (such as it was) without blowing up, still not feeling fit though.

Short recovery and 6 miles easy

Went out with Natasha in the morning for the usual slow 5K. In the afternoon, I tried out a powdered energy drink (SIS PSP22) I bought in Run 4 It and went out for an easy 6 miles or so as I didn't feel up to anything else. The route was basically up Firhill Road, over the hill through Ruchill Park, Bilsland Drive, Balmore Road, along Skirsa Street, down a footpath to Summerston and back down Maryhill Road. On the road past Summerson Asda I felt not quite right and then blew up completely a minute later. I ended up having to walk about half of the way home although after 20 minutes I was able to run the rest of the way. I thought it was most likely that the PSP22 had disagreed with me, so I tried some more in the evening and had the same feeling of indigestion. I'll give it one more try tomorrow, from a different container this time as I think the one I was using has me swallowing a lot of air with the drink.

Nigel Barge 10K

Terrible conditions and a hilly course made a fast time in this race unlikely, although I was still hoping for something inside 36 minutes on account of improved fitness. I tried once again to run 3:30 per kilometre and see how long I could keep it up for. Got to the 1K marker in exactly that, but lost a few seconds in the next one which had a long climb. The kilometres were clearly marked on the course so I could see I was losing at least five seconds on my intended pace at each one. I could feel some tiredness in my legs from recent training sessions, and it started to rain heavily on the 5K mark which also slowed me down a bit. I could see my goal time slipping away but was still motivated by a desire for the race to be over. I managed to pick it up again between about 7 and 8K where I passed the leading female, and made up some ground on two runners in front of me before the end. Finishing time was 36:20 which was 6 seconds slower than a month ago in East Kilbride, and gave me an average of 5:50 per mile. Afterwards, though, I noticed I wasn't out of breath at all and didn't even feel like I'd been in a race. I'd probably have done better if I'd taken Thursday off completely but I'll just view the race as a fast-paced training session (in poor conditions) and have another crack at beating 36 next time out. There is some suggestion that the course was actually longer than 10K but that might just be dodgy GPS reception.

6+ miles easy

After the previous afternoon's hill session started to bite around lunchtime, I kind of hoped the snow would come on heavily enough to make running dangerous and give me the perfect excuse to dodge training, as cold weather and sore muscles are a bad combination. I was suddenly feeling much better at around 7pm and decided to risk it. Arrived at the Science Park just in time to see a group heading towards the bridge over the Kelvin, and guessed it was the fast group due to distinctive running styles. Parked the car and got changed as quickly as I could, and had to run at something like race pace to catch them at Anniesland Cross - luckily it turned out to be an easy session or I wouldn't have managed it at all. The group was also an aggregation of the two fastest groups because of the poor post-holiday turnout, which explains why they set off a few minutes earlier than usual. Between three and four miles, the group started to disintegrate as the faster runners picked up the pace. I kept up quite comfortably for another mile or so, but threw in the towel when we headed towards Kelvinside rather than back home - there was clearly too far still to go to keep up that kind of pace with a 10K coming up on Saturday. I coasted in for the last couple of miles and felt absolutely fine.

Hill reps

Had another go at Chesters Road, in daylight this time. I planned to do five reps, starting at the curve at the bottom of the hill and finishing at a particular tree where the road levelled off at the top, with a walk/jog recovery back to the bottom. As early as the second rep I found it would suddenly get very tough at a particular point even though the gradient was fairly constant. Managed the five in 68-70-70-74-72. It was very strength-sapping for such a short session and I could hardly muster the energy to jog back along Station Road to the car.

Short recovery

Ran the usual slow 5K with Natasha before lunch. I did have plans for some hill reps in the afternoon but I had a few minor strains from yesterday's run so didn't risk it. I want one easy day before training with the club again on Thursday (although the schedule still hasn't been updated) so that'll have to be today.