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.