Tuesday 30 September 2008

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.

Monday 29 September 2008

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.

Saturday 27 September 2008

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.

Thursday 25 September 2008

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.

Tuesday 23 September 2008

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.

Sunday 21 September 2008

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.

Saturday 20 September 2008

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.

Thursday 18 September 2008

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.

Wednesday 17 September 2008

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.

Sunday 14 September 2008

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.

Friday 12 September 2008

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.

Tuesday 9 September 2008

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.

Monday 8 September 2008

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.

Sunday 7 September 2008

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.

Saturday 6 September 2008

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.

Thursday 4 September 2008

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.

Wednesday 3 September 2008

3.25 miles recovery

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

Monday 1 September 2008

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.