5.7 miles steady

I decided to get in some steady miles instead of doing hill reps with the club. I was going to dodge hills entirely but I wanted to check out a footpath off Drymen Road which I had spotted on an old OS map, so I headed straight there from Garscube Estate. The footpath was still there and ran behind the ski school, so it turned out to be more of a climb than Stockiemuir Road. It was also somewhat overgrown towards the Stockiemuir Avenue end. The rest of the route took me back along Stockiemuir Avenue, over Mosshead Road and down Milngavie Road. Got back to Garscube Estate in 42:21, a steady 7:31 average for the 5.65 miles.

6.6 miles steady

Ran the longer Craigton Road route from Bearsden Asda. It was a struggle from the start and it was a few miles before I felt reasonably comfortable. In the closing stages I managed to push my average pace below 7:00/mile which had been looking very unlikely. Distance came out at 6.63 miles, time was 46:11 for a 6:58 average.

7 miles steady

Feeling a bit fatigued, I ran my usual 7-mile route via Garscube Estate in a steadier 48:34, 6:56/mile. Weekly total: 32 miles.

3.9 miles slow, 5.2 miles moderate

Went out in the morning with Natasha for 3.93 miles via Shakespeare Street, Cleveden Drive and Napiershall Street. In the afternoon I had a go at the Dorchester Avenue route which came out at a more realistic 5.2 miles this time, completed in 34:02 for a 6:33/mile average.

9.4 miles hard

The club training session was supposed to be a choice between 6 and 10 miles. After having taken Wednesday off I felt able to try the longer route, which took us up Maryhill Road and Milngavie Road, then around the course of the Hogmanay Handicap, and back down to Garscube Estate. The fast pack was larger than usual to begin but not everybody was running the 10 miles, and by the time we reached the rugby club there were four of us leading the way. I was feeling some hamstring tightness, mostly on the left side, but nothing too serious, and my main handicap was lack of fitness. After about 5 miles, on the climb up to the mill, I was finally dropped, although I did drag myself back into third with a couple of miles to go, finishing a minute or two off the pace. It came out at 9.42 miles, timed at 1:00:37 for a 6:26/mile average, which I would normally have described as a moderate pace but for the distance and difficulty of the route.

6.5 miles steady

I took a break on Monday and felt just about fit enough to turn up for Tuesday's club training session, mostly because it was an out-and-back where I could run at whatever pace I liked. The plan was to run along the canal for 23 minutes, then turn around and run back to the start in 22. The hamstring was causing me a few problems on the way out but nothing I didn't feel able to run through. We stuck to a steady pace and almost made it as far as the footbridge to the Student Village. I duly picked it up on the way back although it was hard to judge the pace, and I arrived back at the start nearly half a minute too early, even with a lot of easing off towards the end. The distance came out at 6.52 miles, completed in 44:35 for a 6:50/mile average.

2.5 miles recovery

I went out in the morning for about 2.5 miles via Queen Margaret Drive with the intention of trying a longer run later on, but it was a struggle even at a 7:30 pace so I decided against going back out. Weekly total: 21 miles.

Henderson Cup

The Garscube Summer League this year included a 7-mile cross-country race, so I decided to give it a go, even though the handicap times would be taken into account in the awarding of league points. Of the participants, I should have been starting off scratch, but due to weather conditions and a late start, we all set off together. I took it on from the start and by the end of the shorter loop around Dumbrock Muir, I had a comfortable lead, although I soon wondered if I had set out too fast as I began to struggle a bit on the first lap of the longer trail loop. After another mile or so, with nobody visible behind me, I felt a bit better. When I finished in 43:12 it was apparent that the true distance was short of 7 miles - 6.76 according to somebody's GPS. I didn't stick around to find out my position once the time handicaps had been applied, although I will inevitably lose a good few places, especially with the distance being short. Had some problems with my left hamstring after the race.

5.2 miles moderate

Feeling a bit fitter, I tried one of my usual routes via Dorchester Avenue which came out at 5.33 miles due to GPS problems and should really have been more like 5.2. Finishing time was 34:04, average pace 6:34/mile (for 5.2 miles).

6.7 miles steady

Went out from Bearsden Asda for the longer route via Craigton Road. Legs were a bit tired but I finished in 45:02 for a reasonable 6:43/mile average.

Polaroid Vale of Leven 10K, 3.9 miles recovery

I felt quite lethargic before the race, and got off to quite a poor start, being a few seconds down on the planned 3:30 even at the first kilometre marker. On the hill through Balloch Country Park I made up a few places but lost them all again on the downhill stretch. For the next few kilometres I was in second place for Garscube and dropping back very slightly. It also looked certain that I was going to be outside 36 minutes. Between 7K and 8K I suddenly felt not too bad and managed to put in a bit of a kick, moving into first for Garscube and picking up a few more places. Most of the people around me had been there in previous races, so it looked like everybody else was affected by the humid conditions. I finished in a chip time of 36:03 which would have seemed unreasonably optimistic at the halfway stage. This was by far my poorest performance in the series but was nonetheless good enough for an individual prize for 13th senior man (22nd overall). No team prize for Garscube, as faster runners from other clubs had turned up on account of the race being the Scottish championship, but we should get third place in the series overall. It looks like I will also receive an individual series prize, as not many people ran all four races. I also pick up one point in the Grand Prix.

In the afternoon I was able to go out for a few recovery miles, wearing my heaviest shoes to give the calves a bit of a workout. The route was via Cleveden Drive and Napiershall Street, measured this time at 3.86 miles which might be slightly long. Weekly total: 28 miles.

7 miles steady

In the afternoon I felt OK enough to get a few miles in, so ran my usual 7-mile route via Garscube Estate. Completed in 28:04 for a 6:43/mile average.

3.7 miles slow

Went out before breakfast with Natasha for another slow run, this time the route I had run the previous afternoon but mostly in reverse to replace the sharp, steep hill with a gentler one. We also avoided taking a wrong turn near the railway viaduct as I had done the day before, so it came out at 3.65 miles instead. I had planned to go out for a longer run in the afternoon but was having some hamstring problems. I managed to walk it off after about an hour but decided against another run.

3.7 miles slow, 3.7 miles moderate

Went out before breakfast with Natasha for a slow run around Newquay and across Porth Beach, which came out at 3.67 miles. In the late afternoon I went back out for a different loop which took me up Treninnick Hill and over a level crossing. Lost a bit of time on the insanely steep hill and also on the winding uphill route back from Trenance Gardens, but I got back to the hotel in 24:54 which worked out at 6:39/mile for 3.74 miles.

8.5 miles moderate

I seemed to recover quite well from Saturday's efforts so went out for a slightly longer run on Sunday afternoon, up Maryhill Road as far as Canniesburn Toll, then down Switchback Road and Crow Road to Anniesland Cross, down Great Western Road and Phoenix Road, and back home up Garscube Road. Despite tired legs, I stuck quite well to a target pace of 6:45/mile and managed to speed up a bit in the last couple of miles. Finished in 57:04, distance was 8.49 miles for a 6:43 average. Weekly total: 30 miles.

3.4 miles steady, 7 miles moderate

Went out before lunch for the usual 3.4 miles to stretch my legs a bit, completed in 24:24. In the afternoon I felt well enough to attempt my usual 7 mile route via Garscube Estate. Felt quite slow but I arrived back home in a reasonable 45:59, 6:34/mile. Still some leg tightness.

Polaroid Dumbarton 10K

On Tuesday I had found a sore spot on my right calf, so I had been trying to massage it out, and by Thursday evening it wasn't too bad. Overall I felt slightly better than I had before the Clydebank 10K. I aimed for the usual 3:30/K, and some early hamstring tightness faded away quite quickly. For once I was 5 seconds down at the 1K marker, partly due to a more congested field. This put me third for Garscube, and although I moved up to second when Toby dropped out after about a mile, Danny was already quite far ahead by this point. I had won back a couple of seconds by the 2K mark, and at the halfway stage my time was about 17:35, although even maintaining this more sensible pace was starting to become quite difficult, and I didn't spot another kilometre marker until the end of the race, which didn't help either. After about 7K I started to pick it up a bit and moved up a few places. I recognised the course from where the race had started, which made me think we were closer to the finish than we really were, so I should probably have tried to hold something in reserve. As it was, I started to flag slightly over the final kilometre, but after the final corner I got involved in a three-way sprint for the line, which I wouldn't have attempted the previous week. This time I had a chip time of 35:24, which was OK. We also took the third team prize.

5.4 miles steady

I didn't really feel up to a run on Monday evening, but I wanted two days off before Thursday's race, so ran a shorter version of my usual route from Bearsden Asda, coming back via South Mains Road. It was hard work on a warm evening and I was still having some hamstring problems. Finished the 5.36-mile route in 37:10 for a 6:56/mile average.