4.2 miles slow

Ran a shorter loop of Hyndland Road, Kelvin Way and North Woodside Road with Natasha. 4.22 miles in 37:01, average pace 8:46/mile, HR 117.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:27 (113), 8:43 (117), 8:27 (117), 9:17 (121), 9:27 (123)
HR zones: 64.1%, 35.9%, 0%, 0%, 0%
Weekly total: 25 miles

Allan Scally relay

I was placed on the 3rd leg for the Vets' team which was also the de facto A team as turnout was somewhat down. It was damp and heavy rain was forecast, but I went with the Asics Hyperspeed 4. I set off with a couple of figures to pursue in the distance and possibly went out too fast. The road was wet and the porous soles of my shoes let in enough water that I ended up squelching the last couple of miles. In the end I made up 3 or 4 places (not sure as the results are fairly mangled) despite suffering a mild stitch in the last mile due to lack of race fitness, finishing in 27:41, a reasonable 16 seconds down on last year and narrowly the fastest time for Garscube on the day. We won the prize for 1st Vets' team but our final position is unknown. Average pace for 4.84 miles was 5:43/mile.

Mile reps

The club session was 4 x 1 mile around Crow Road, Anniesland Road and Southbrae Drive, with a 0.18-mile walk/jog recovery between each rep. I kept up with Euan G and John Bell for the first rep and fell increasingly behind on the other three as I tried to stick to the same pace, with Saturday's relay in mind. Wore the Skechers GOrun and came through the session without any difficulty.

1.00 miles in 5:50, pace 5:50/mile, HR 161
HR zones: 0%, 8.0%, 13.1%, 78.9%, 0%
1.00 miles in 5:52, pace 5:51/mile, HR 169
HR zones: 0%, 2.3%, 10.5%, 87.2%, 0%
1.01 miles in 5:54, pace 5:52/mile, HR 168
HR zones: 0%, 5.4%, 8.8%, 85.9%, 0%
1.01 miles in 5:54, pace 5:50/mile, HR 170
HR zones: 0%, 3.1%, 9.6%, 87.3%, 0%

Warm-up was 1.67 miles, warm-down 1.58 miles, total distance 7.81 miles.

3.4 miles easy

Ran an easy loop of Shakespeare Street and Napiershall Street. 3.36 miles in 25:47, average pace 7:40/mile, HR 135.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:01 (128), 7:30 (135), 7:25 (140), 7:51 (140)
HR zones: 2.7%, 73.9%, 23.3%, 0%, 0%

5.2 miles hard

Not yet ready to declare myself fully fit, I dodged the club's track session and instead ran a reasonably fast-paced loop of Dorchester Avenue and Napiershall Street. Felt in good shape from the start. 5.24 miles in 33:07, average pace 6:19/mile, HR 162.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 6:35 (145), 6:12 (161), 6:19 (164), 6:17 (168), 6:12 (169), 6:28 (172)
HR zones: 1.1%, 2.7%, 28.0%, 68.2%, 0%

4.5 miles slow

Went out in the morning with Natasha for our loop of Kelvingrove Park, Yorkhill and Anderston. I had originally intended to go back out in the afternoon if possible but thought better of it. 4.45 miles in 37:25, average pace 8:24/mile, HR 128.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:20 (119), 8:21 (127), 8:11 (131), 8:45 (135), 8:22 (131)
HR zones: 12.9%, 84.2%, 2.9%, 0%, 0%
Weekly total: 22 miles

National XC Relays

I had got through Thursday's training session OK and was again put on the second leg for the Garscube Vets' team. I chose spikes over trail shoes and went for 12mm on account of the rain earlier in the week, but the course turned out to be mostly fine and only heavy in a few places. Lack of fitness was my main concern but straight away I noticed I was running pain-free which was certainly motivating, and I was picking people off all the way round, making up 23 places in total. My time was 15:21, 24 seconds down on last year which wasn't too bad under the circumstances, and 4th fastest for Garscube overall. We ended up 6th Vets' team.

Average pace: 5:58/mile (for 2.57 miles)

5.9 miles steady

Went along to Thursday training for a third consecutive day of running for the first time since I limped round Central Park on September 7th. Wore the Skechers GOrun. It was billed as an easy session and the fastest packs were combined into one. The route was a simple loop of Anniesland Cross and Queen Margaret Drive, heading anti-clockwise around the warm-up trail at the end to bring it closer to 6 miles. Picked it up along Great Western Road. 5.93 miles in 41:00, average pace 6:55/mile, HR 153.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:56 (133), 7:30 (142), 6:56 (151), 6:32 (162), 6:42 (167), 6:08 (170)
HR zones: 2.8%, 19.6%, 37.5%, 40.2%, 0%

3.4 miles moderate

Felt OK to go out again, this time for a loop of Shakespeare Street and Napiershall Street. Wore my old Lunarglide 2 to encourage myself to take it easy but gradually picked up the pace nonetheless. 3.38 miles in 22:46, average pace 6:44/mile, HR 144.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:16 (135), 6:42 (144), 6:27 (151), 6:12 (159)
HR zones: 2.6%, 18.1%, 75.6%, 3.7%, 0%

Long reps

Couldn't resist having a go at the club's long reps session, on the other side of Switchback Road as before, knowing I could bail out at any point. Wore the Skechers GOrun. 6x1K reps, turnaround 5 minutes. I might have taken it easier except Adam turned up, and as it was I trailed in about 10 seconds back on each rep. Felt nauseous from the 4th rep onwards. Shin was a minor distraction but didn't get any worse and was OK later.

0.64 miles in 3:42, pace 5:47/mile, HR 154
HR zones: 5.9%, 6.3%, 27.9%, 59.9%, 0%
0.63 miles in 3:42, pace 5:51/mile, HR 163
HR zones: 3.2%, 5.9%, 9.9%, 81.1%, 0%
0.64 miles in 3:45, pace 5:52/mile, HR 165
HR zones: 2.7%, 7.1%, 7.6%, 82.7%, 0%
0.63 miles in 3:40, pace 5:49/mile, HR 171
HR zones: 0.0%, 6.4%, 7.7%, 83.2%, 2.7%
0.62 miles in 3:41, pace 5:54/mile, HR 176
HR zones: 0.0%, 1.8%, 9.5%, 18.1%, 70.6%
0.63 miles in 3:41, pace 5:53/mile, HR 177
HR zones: 0.0%, 0.9%, 7.7%, 19.5%, 71.9%

Warm-up was 0.50 miles, warm-down 0.89 miles, total distance 5.18 miles.

Gym

Tried a slightly longer session on the elliptical trainer at the gym - 5x4 minutes with a 1-9-16-9-1 work level pattern.

Weekly total: 16 miles

4.2 miles steady

Ran a fairly easy loop of Shakespeare Street, Winton Drive and Napiershall Street. Noticed a conspicuous bruise over my tibialis anterior which suggests I may be on the road to recovery, given that bruises have sometimes appeared as past leg injuries were healing. 4.17 miles in 29:07, average pace 6:58/mile, HR 149.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:26 (136), 6:49 (148), 6:57 (155), 6:41 (158), 7:03 (161)
HR zones: 1.8%, 12.2%, 69.9%, 16.1%, 0%

6.4 miles tempo

Decided I couldn't risk the Dunbartonshire XC relays on Saturday, but needing to maintain some kind of fitness I had a go at the club's tempo session, a loop of Fulton Street, Knightscliffe Avenue, Great Western Road, Crow Road, Clarence Drive and Cowal Road. Wore the Skechers GOrun. I was prepared to be dropped early on, but ended up staying on the pace which nobody was really pushing ahead of the cross-country. My Garmin gave up the ghost halfway along Cleveden Road so the subsequent pace splits had to be worked out from Euan G's stats and HR was only recorded up to 4.59 miles. The tempo section ended at Maryhill Road and we coasted in from there. 6.38 miles in 45:17, average pace 7:06/mile, HR 151.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 8:34 (132), 7:40 (140), 7:23 (151), 6:06 (176), 6:26 (177), 6:46, 6:58
HR zones: 2.1%, 27.7%, 36.6%, 26.9%, 6.6%

Gym

Went to the gym for a different elliptical session, this time 4x4 minutes with a 1-5-16-9 work pattern (after I discovered the maximum setting).

5.2 miles easy

Ran a loop of Cowal Road, Dorchester Avenue and North Woodside Road at an easy pace. Lower leg still not 100% but decidedly better. 5.16 miles in 38:05, average pace 7:23/mile, HR 140.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:48 (129), 7:15 (140), 7:18 (144), 7:13 (146), 7:16 (143), 7:48 (149)
HR zones: 4.0%, 31.5%, 64.5%, 0%, 0%

3.9 miles steady

Ran a loop of Shakespeare Street, Cleveland Drive and Napiershall Street at a steadily increasing pace. Lower left leg was painful but didn't seem to get any worse. 3.91 miles in 27:12, average pace 6:57/mile, HR 153.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 7:26 (140), 6:58 (151), 6:47 (159), 6:36 (162)
HR zones: 1.7%, 9.7%, 62.1%, 26.5%, 0%
Weekly total: 9 miles

Gym

Went to the gym again for the same elliptical session, this time with shorter breaks between reps.

4.6 miles slow

I had just about recovered enough to try a few miles so I went out in the evening with Natasha for our usual loop of Hyndland Road and Charing Cross. 4.64 miles in 42:03, average pace 9:04/mile, HR 120.

Pace splits (ave. HR): 9:00 (114), 9:00 (121), 8:54 (120), 9:07 (123), 9:27 (121)
HR zones: 42.0%, 58.0%, 0%, 0%, 0%

Gym

Went to the gym for the same elliptical session as on Thursday.

Weekly total: 0 miles