2 miles easy, 2 miles steady

Ran through the snow over Keppochhill Road to Springburn Tesco and back. Quite a bit faster on the return journey.

2 miles in 14:48, average pace 7:23/mile, HR 148
Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:50 (142), 6:56 (156)
HR zones: 3.9%, 10.8%, 74.0%, 11.3%, 0%

1.99 miles in 13:48, average pace 6:55/mile, HR 153
Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:11 (149), 6:40 (158)
HR zones: 2.8%, 4.3%, 80.0%, 12.9%, 0%

Dunbartonshire XC Championships

I had finally decided to take part as there was a reasonable chance of a team prize and I was determined to exorcise the memory of last year's disaster. I was also quite looking forward to racing in the snow and felt like I was in decent shape. This year I went for trail shoes as I thought the spikes had been partly to blame for my trouble with the steep embankment. As we ran around the football pitch on the first lap I noticed that the ground was frozen underneath the snow and fairly uneven. Without sure footing I seemed to be having to work quite a bit harder. The course had been shortened by removing the section I had struggled with last year, but there was still a long, steep climb where I was almost reduced to walking pace. On the second lap I was overtaken here several times in quick succession. As I started to get the hang of the conditions later in the lap, I made up some ground and eventually managed to win a couple of places back. Finished 20th overall and 3rd for Garscube in 33:14 for what was probably around 5.25 miles, 6:20/mile average. We were second team.

Weekly total: 19 miles

5.2 miles tempo

The Thursday session was supposed to be 2x2 miles tempo around Jordanhill. With the Dunbartonshire XC on Saturday, I only ran a single loop and eased off during the second mile, mainly because the street lights were out along most of Southbrae Drive. It turned out that I was the only one of the fast pack who would be taking part in the race.

1.5 miles in 12:45, average pace 8:31/mile, HR 136
Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:35 (137), 8:24 (134)
HR zones: 3.0%, 64.1%, 32.9%, 0%, 0%

1.96 miles in 11:40, average pace 5:57/mile, HR 167
Pace splits (ave. HR): 5:51 (163), 6:03 (172)
HR zones: 0%, 3.6%, 7.7%, 88.7%, 0%

1.78 miles in 15:09, average pace 8:32/mile, HR 137
Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:48 (137), 8:10 (138)
HR zones: 0%, 62.0%, 38.0%, 0%, 0%

Mixed reps

The club session in freezing conditions started off with 12 1-minute reps after a long warm-up (0.82 miles) when we ran across Maryhill Road from Garscube Estate and to the end of the business park. The recovery was 45 seconds.

2.33 miles in 12:09, average pace 5:13/mile, HR 160
HR zones: 0.8%, 10.7%, 23.0%, 63.0%, 2.5%

After a 0.98-mile slow warm-down all the way to the hill beside the Vet School, we were supposed to do 6 short hill reps with a walk recovery, but Natasha and I bailed out after 3 due to injury concerns.

0.29 miles in 1:44, average pace 5:56/mile, HR 132
HR zones: 20.2%, 39.4%, 37.5%, 2.9%, 0%

4.3 miles steady

Ran a single lap of the old club 5-mile championship course, starting at Bearsden Asda. At the end of the loop I continued all the way down Rannoch Drive and back up Milngavie Road to add just over a mile. 4.3 miles in 29:18, average pace 6:49/mile, HR 158.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:12 (148), 7:00 (156), 6:41 (161), 6:29 (162), 6:27 (171)
HR zones: 1.3%, 1.6%, 56.4%, 40.7%, 0%

6.6 miles tempo

The club session was a run of nearly 7 miles with a 5K tempo stretch. I gave the Onitsuka Tiger Tai Chi a try. We headed down Maryhill Road and started the tempo section at the top of Queen Margaret Drive, continuing along Great Western Road, down Clarence Drive and up Crow Road. It was hard work to hang on to the fast pack as we reached Botanic Gardens but I was getting on OK in the shoes and may have recorded my fastest single mile for a Thursday night club run. The pack had fragmented by the time we reached Hyndland Road and I ended up fourth out of the six, with the leaders not too far ahead, but going down Clarence Drive I noticed my right foot was making more of a slapping sound, and by Crow Road I could feel a serious blister coming on, which slowed me down a bit. We stopped to regroup just before Anniesland Cross and ran back up to Garscube Estate. I restarted the Garmin for this section. Wasn't able to do any more running this week on account of the blister.

5.14 miles in 32:09, average pace 6:16/mile, HR 165
Pace splits (ave. HR): 6:58 (148), 6:57 (155), 5:46 (170), 5:37 (176), 5:59 (180), 6:30 (179)
HR zones: 1.0%, 3.2%, 38.6%, 47.0%, 10.2%

1.43 miles in 11:55, average pace 8:20/mile, HR 149
Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:44 (151), 7:23 (145)
HR zones: 0%, 6.6%, 86.2%, 7.3%, 0%
Weekly total: 13 miles

4.3 miles slow

Went out in the evening with Natasha for a run down North Woodside Road, down Great Western Road and through the underpasses, up Maitland Street and around Port Dundas Business Park before heading back under the M8 and up Garscube Road. Finished the 4.31 miles in 37:02, average pace 8:36/mile, HR 131.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:26 (129), 8:30 (131), 9:09 (132), 8:23 (131), 8:18 (132)
HR zones: 3.4%, 95.4%, 1.3%, 0%, 0%

2.5 miles moderate

Got up early to embark on a programme of core strengthening using Wii Fit. In the evening, I only had time for a quick loop of Queen Margaret Drive. Wore the adiZero Tempo and noticed a blister later on. 2.49 miles in 16:28, average pace 6:37/mile, HR 146.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 6:47 (140), 6:31 (149), 6:31 (152)
HR zones: 2.8%, 13.7%, 83.5%, 0%, 0%

3.4 miles slow, 9.4 miles steady

In the morning I ran the same route as yesterday with Natasha, 3.38 miles in 27:38, average pace 8:10/mile, HR 126.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:27 (121), 7:58 (128), 8:06 (129), 8:06 (129)
HR zones: 7.2%, 92.8%, 0%, 0%, 0%

In the afternoon I ran up the canal as far as Farm Bridge, following the footpath under the bridge and crossing back over the road. Finished the 9.39 miles in 1:04:53, average pace 6:55/mile, HR 149.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:17 (133), 7:02 (145), 6:58 (145), 6:51 (149), 7:00 (150), 6:48 (154), 6:49 (154), 6:58 (153), 6:42 (155), 6:21 (157)
HR zones: 2.8%, 13.7%, 83.5%, 0%, 0%
Weekly total: 26 miles

3.4 miles

I took a break on Thursday and Friday on account of tired legs, not helped by 7 races in the previous 8 weekends. On Saturday afternoon I gave the Onitsuka Tiger Tai Chi a try on my usual West End route to see if they could handle a faster pace. I could feel the difference straight away and I made it to Garscube Road inside 55 seconds. The first mile went by just inside 6:30 without any difficulty so I picked it up running down Shakespeare Street and managed each of the next two miles inside 6 minutes. The only disadvantage to the shoes was that cornering was slightly trickier than usual. Finished the 3.37 miles in 20:38, average pace 6:07/mile, HR 161.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 6:29 (149), 5:55 (164), 5:59 (169), 6:04 (171)
HR zones: 1.6%, 2.9%, 25.4%, 70.1%, 0%

4.6 miles slow

With heavy legs from Tuesday's medium reps, I ran a loop of Hyndland Road, Dumbarton Road and Charing Cross with Natasha. 4.64 miles in 39:51, average pace 8:35/mile, HR 124.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:33 (125), 8:39 (124), 8:32 (121), 8:40 (126), 8:33 (126)
HR zones: 22.8%, 76.2%, 1.0%, 0%, 0%

Medium reps

The club schedule had a "mixed session" but it turned out to be 800m reps around the winter warm-up trail. I wished I had brought the Onitsuka Tiger Tai Chi to try them out for speed, but I was wearing the LunarGlide 2 instead. The fast pack was heavily depleted, as usual for a Tuesday session.

0.48 miles in 2:49, pace 5:50/mile, HR 148
HR zones: 7.7%, 6.5%, 68.0%, 17.8%, 0%
0.48 miles in 2:44, pace 5:40/mile, HR 154
HR zones: 7.9%, 6.1%, 23.8%, 62.2%, 0%
0.48 miles in 2:40, pace 5:31/mile, HR 158
HR zones: 7.5%, 6.9%, 15.0%, 70.6%, 0%
0.47 miles in 2:37, pace 5:32/mile, HR 162
HR zones: 7.0%, 5.1%, 11.5%, 76.4%, 0%
0.49 miles in 2:36, pace 5:21/mile, HR 165
HR zones: 4.5%, 5.8%, 10.9%, 78.8%, 0%
0.48 miles in 2:35, pace 5:24/mile, HR 168
HR zones: 3.2%, 5.8%, 7.1%, 77.4%, 6.5%

Also ran a total of 1.92 miles as the warm-up and warm-down.

3.4 miles slow, 7.6 miles steady

Went out in the morning with Natasha for our usual West End route. Wore the Onitsuka Tiger Tai Chi. 3.36 miles in 27:17, average pace 8:06/mile, HR 123.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:21 (121), 8:05 (123), 7:57 (124), 7:57 (127)
HR zones: 22.4%, 77.6%, 0%, 0%, 0%

In the afternoon I ran up to Canniesburn Toll, down to Anniesland Cross and back home via North Woodside Road. Distance was 7.58 miles, time 52:02 for a 6:52/mile average, HR 148.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:20 (128), 6:58 (140), 6:40 (146), 6:47 (152), 6:39 (155), 6:52 (157), 6:42 (156), 7:00 (156)
HR zones: 1.7%, 20.2%, 73.9%, 4.2%, 0%
Weekly total: 32 miles

Glasgow University 5 Mile Road Race

Didn't feel like taking part at all and decided to base my decision on whether the top gate had been opened. For once, it had. There were also mats laid out at the start and finish for chip timing, giving the whole event a very professional feel. I should probably have had more of a warm-up than the jog from the car park up to the gate and back and didn't feel very fast when the race started, although on Temple Road I finally got moving and started overtaking a few people, in the process moving up a place into third for Garscube. I lost some ground and a few places going downhill on Dawsholm Road, and as we reached Maryhill Road I was overtaken for a while by Marco. I was even at risk of dropping into fifth at the start of the second lap, but on the climb up to the top gate I managed to move clear of the small pack we were running with and set about trying to whittle down the gap to Gavyn in second. Somebody who had stopped at the end of Temple Road dropped back into the race as Gavyn passed and ran alongside him all the way to Maryhill Road, so I lost any advantage I may have had and didn't make up much ground before the finish. Crossed the line in 28:28, 12 seconds up on last year, third for Garscube, 23rd overall and apparently third M40. Average pace was 5:42/mile if the distance was accurate. Felt like I should have done better but I may also be over-raced.

5.6 miles easy

The club session was an easy run up Milngavie Road, over Mosshead Road and back down Drymen Road and Maryhill Road. I was slightly late in setting off and it took me the first mile to catch up. Distance was 5.60 miles, time 40:45 for a 7:16/mile average, HR 144.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:00 (142), 7:32 (139), 7:34 (148), 7:11 (147), 7:12 (143), 7:05 (148)
HR zones: 0.7%, 17.4%, 82.0%, 0%, 0%

4.4 miles hard

Anticipating an easy club run on Thursday night, I wore the adiZero Tempo for a quicker run via Shakespeare Street and Cleveden Drive. Finished the 4.35 miles in 26:50, average pace 6:10/mile, HR 161.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 6:34 (143), 6:08 (159), 6:09 (166), 5:59 (172), 5:42 (175)
HR zones: 2.5%, 2.5%, 35.8%, 59.3%, 0%

5.1 miles slow

Dodged the club fartlek session and instead gave the Onitsuka Tiger Tai Chi another try on a run via Hyndland Road and Dumbarton road with Natasha, meeting Meggan at Kelvinbridge and returning home via Woodlands Road. 5.07 miles in 46:25.

HR zones: 17.7%, 79.1%, 3.2%, 0%, 0%