5K slow

In Berlin for a few days. Went for a 5K jog around Tiergarten with Natasha before breakfast.

5.15 miles moderate

I almost gave my morning 5.15-mile run a miss due to exceptionally stiff legs, but I managed to drag myself out. It wasn't too bad after I'd loosened up in the first few hundred metres, but on the second half of the course my legs felt very heavy. Despite that I finished in a reasonable 34:25, 6:41 per mile.

5.15 miles moderate, 10 miles tempo

After a whole day off to recover, I ran the new 5.15-mile route again and found it much easier. Completed in 33:12 which works out at 6:27 per mile.

In the evening the club training schedule offered the choice of 6 or 10 miles. I joined the small 10-mile group although they went out earlier than I expected and I only caught them up after the first mile. The route was up Milngavie Road and Strathblane Road, round the far side of Mugdock Reservoir, and back down Mugdock Road. I had the SportBand on again because the battery of my usual sports watch had finally run out. The pace was very steady to begin with and after 3 Garmin-measured miles the SportBand was showing 2.93, but as we sped up it started to drift. I was feeling absolutely fine so didn't mind at all as the pace increased. The pack fell apart in the last few miles and my final mile was probably at 10K pace. The course came out at 9.92 miles by GPS (SportBand said 9.34), finishing time was 1:11:16.

5.15 miles moderate, 5K slow

Ran a different route before breakfast, this time all the way up Maryhill Road to Cowal Road, then Dorchester Avenue, Great Western Road, North Woodside Road and home. Finished in 34:32 (6.42 per mile), lost some time trying to cross the road at the Botanic Gardens. Quads still sore.

The club training session was a 5K timed run. Normally I would treat this as a race but I wasn't in racing condition by any means and nobody seemed to be taking it particularly seriously. Also, numbers were significantly down so I jogged around the course with Natasha to make sure she didn't get lost.

4.6 miles recovery, 3.2 miles slow

I doubted whether I'd be able to get up early enough for one last attempt at my usual 4.6-mile route, especially when I knew I'd be well outside my previous times, but the bright sunshine was enough of an incentive and I managed to drag myself round despite stiff legs. I loosened up a bit after a few miles, but my finishing time was well down on previous attempts at 33:03, 7:11 per mile.

In the evening I ran from Bearsden Asda to Rannoch Drive and did one lap of the old 5-mile course, just to stretch the legs a bit more - slightly over 3 miles in just under 24 minutes.

18 miles moderate

With a couple of weeks until the next race of any consequence, I tried the 18-mile route to Newton Mearns and back which I haven't run since January. It actually measures at 18.15. This time I took a small hand-held bottle of PSP22 to give that another try as well. For the first few miles I didn't feel very energetic and thought of cutting the route short, but I reached the 4-mile point at Shawlands Cross in about 28:40 and was soon committed to doing the whole thing. Felt fine during the long climb from Eastwood Toll up to the highest point of the route at Mearns Cross, and got to the 9-mile mark just inside 1:06 which was well on schedule. I picked it up a bit to take advantage of the downhill section, and also to try to compensate in advance for possibly slowing down later on. When I reached Shawlands Cross again I got caught in a downpour for a few minutes but I was still looking at negative splits and a huge PB for the route. The final mile was probably the hardest but I arrived back home in 2:11:11 - definitely slightly faster on the way back in as the 9-mile point isn't quite halfway. Average mile pace was 7:13.

2x3K slow, hill reps

Jogged down to Gardner Street in the afternoon for some hill reps. My time slipped by a couple of seconds on the second rep so I tried a bit harder on the others and also added one rep. Times were 50-52-49-49-49. Managed to jog back home OK although slightly slower than on the way out.

4.6 miles moderate, 7 miles tempo

Out before breakfast for the same 4.6-mile route. My blister was a lot worse from playing football on Wednesday evening but I still reached the top of Queen Margaret Drive in 6 minutes and maintained that pace until around the two-mile mark when I eased off a bit to keep something in reserve for the club session in the evening, although I still aimed to complete the route inside 30 minutes. With the assistance of some good luck with all the traffic lights, I finished in 29:50, which is 6:29 per mile.

In the evening the 7-mile route took us through Dawsholm Park, along the canal to Maryhill Fire Station, down Queen Margaret Drive to the Botanic Gardens and straight onto the Kelvin Walkway, then back to Garscube Estate via Dawsholm Park, although every pack seemed to have its own interpretation of the route. We finished just inside 46 minutes and for once the fast pack stayed together all the way. The run itself was quite comfortable but walking back to the car afterwards was difficult, so I decided Friday would be a rest day. I also finally got rid of the Nike+ widget from this blog.

4.6 miles fast

Went out before breakfast for the same route as yesterday. The quads were a lot better and without putting in too much effort I found myself well ahead of schedule after a mile and a half. There was a bit of a headwind along Great Western Road and I could feel myself slowing down, but I still finished the route in 28:44, just inside 6:15 per mile. The blister was noticeable all the way round but didn't seem to get any worse.

4.6 miles moderate, short reps

I got up a few minutes earlier and ran a revised route, turning off Maryhill Road at Shakespeare Street instead of continuing past the shopping centre to Garrioch Road, then up Cleveden Drive as before, and all the way down Great Western Road onto Phoenix Road, and home via Garscube Road. My quads were quite sore and it felt slow in places, but I was still aiming for a sub-6:45 pace and was pleased to finish in 29:23 which is a 6:23 average. This seems implausibly fast, even though I have measured the route twice. I had reasonable luck with the traffic and there are more straight sections.

In the evening the club training session was short reps on grass, to be followed by a few hill reps. It was raining and my feet got soaked quickly on the wet grass, and after a couple of the hill reps on tarmac my blister from Sunday's race started to play up, so I had to stop.

4 miles moderate

I had one last attempt at my usual morning 4-mile route before increasing the distance. Finished in 26:15, no ill effects from the race.

Polaroid Vale of Leven 10K

I felt like I had a slight cold on the evening before the race, but I thought there would be enough of a gap before my next race for me to have plenty of time to recover in case taking part made it worse. As usual I was aiming for 3:30 per kilometre. After 2K I was already 10 seconds down, but this was after the hilliest part of the course so I wasn't particularly worried, and over the next few kilometres I only dropped a further 3 or 4 seconds and was still feeling quite comfortable. I was also starting to make up a few places. The hill back up to Balloch seemed a lot gentler than it had a few years ago, and I could still see some runners up ahead who would normally have been out of sight. On the 9K mark I was more or less guaranteed an SB and sub-35:30 also looked possible. I picked it up slightly over the final stretch to finish in 35:27, in 34th place and first from Garscube.

In the afternoon I jogged round Queen Margaret Drive, Byres Road, University Avenue and Kelvingrove Park with Natasha to have a look at the West End Festival. I had attempted earlier to deal with a blister on the ball of my right foot from wearing Nike Mayfly for the race, but I stopped noticing it after a couple of minutes.

4 miles moderate

Out before breakfast for the same route as usual, trying to take it a bit easier while still finishing inside 27 minutes and therefore running an average pace of 6:45 or faster. Had to consciously slow down a couple of times and finished in 26:51.

4 miles moderate, 5.4 miles tempo

Went out before breakfast for the same 4-mile route, this time in 26:44 which was only one second per mile slower than yesterday.

In the evening the club training session was supposed to be between 5 and 6 miles at an easy pace. We set off slowly enough and took 14 minutes to cover the first two miles, but after that the pace picked up a bit. I started to fall behind slightly a couple of miles further on but the two leaders seemed to slow down as we approached the end of Temple Road, allowing me to catch up, and I took the opportunity to push on up the hill while trying not to overdo it in advance of Sunday's race. Finished in 35:24.

4 miles moderate

Ran my new 4-mile route before breakfast, this time in 26:40. The 6:40 pace was comfortable enough.

4 miles moderate, hill reps

I decided to extend the usual morning route a little - staying on Maryhill Road until Garrioch Road instead of turning at Shakespeare Street - to see if I could make it up to 4 miles (which I did, 4.03 according to Gmaps). As I was planning to run at a normal sort of pace I used the SportBand again, but it apparently lost the connection to the sensor (somehow) after about 1.6 miles and I didn't notice for several minutes. At the time I thought I might have brushed the button by accident and pressed it again to restart, but by the time I got home it was still flashing 1.6 miles. As a result, I don't know exactly how long I took, although it was most likely 27:something.

In the evening I jogged from Bearsden Asda down to Chesters Drive for some hill reps, timed at 67-67-66.

3.85 miles fast

After a fairly easy weekend I ran my usual route before breakfast at a faster pace, finishing in 24:23. The SportBand recorded the distance as 3.77 miles. A 4% increase in speed (over Monday) apparently means a 2% decrease in distance measured. This is not promising.

10K slow

Natasha wanted to try running 10K so I worked out a fairly easy route along the canal to Dorchester Avenue and then home via Great Western Road. We went out before lunch and finished without any problems in 63:15.

3.85 miles recovery

I felt just about well enough to try my usual morning route before lunchtime, albeit at a slower pace. Completed in 26:50 with no ill effects.

No 10K

I had to give the Polaroid Dumbarton 10K a miss as I was feeling too ill. At breakfast on Thursday it occurred to me that the symptoms had come on within 24 hours of having a prebiotic/probiotic yogurt drink on Monday. It might have been a coincidence but this was no ordinary cold. Felt worst on Wednesday and although I didn't drink the yogurt on Thursday morning I hadn't recovered enough to run by the time of the race without risking a much longer layoff, although I felt a bit better about the whole thing when I saw the rain.

3.85 miles steady

Went out before breakfast for the same route as yesterday morning, this time in 25:15 although I thought I was running at a slightly steadier pace. No calf or hamstring problems to speak of.

3.85 miles steady, Paarlauf

Out before breakfast in the rain for an extension of the usual route, leaving Maryhill Road at Shakespeare Street instead of Garrioch Road but then heading up Cleveden Drive and down Cleveden Road to Great Western Road. I thought this would be around 4 miles but it came out a bit short. Completed in 25:25. My right hamstring was a bit doubtful afterwards so I did some calf stretches during the day.

In the evening the club training session was a 20-minute paarlauf. The other half of my team promised to take it easy but may possibly not have been sticking to this agreement. In any case I ran cautiously to avoid injuring myself - only really noticed my quads were a bit sore - and didn't get dragged into a race. The hamstring wasn't any worse afterwards and I worked on the calf later on.

3.5 miles steady

Went out before breakfast for the usual 3.5 miles, in 23:40. It should have been quicker but I got stuck for a while trying to cross Queen Margaret Drive at the Botanic Gardens.

5+ miles moderate

By late afternoon I was considering having a day off altogether for once, but I seem to be managing OK so far and duly dragged myself out in the rain for a route I later measured at 5.16 miles, although the SportBand thought it was exactly 5 (and 97% accuracy doesn't cut it). Completed in 33:40. Quads a bit sore, probably due to yesterday's hills.