11K steady

I needed to do some rapid acclimatisation to the late summer heat in Minsk so went out in the afternoon to have a look at Saturday's marathon course, along a couple of main roads and then a dirt track at the far end of the Botanic Gardens which continued across the Children's Railway and took me to the Slepyanka water system. Stopped a couple of times to work out where I was. It came out at just over 11K, got back home in about 54 minutes.

7.4 miles steady

Went out before breakfast for a few exploratory miles, from the hotel at Hahn Airport past the bus station, through a car park and down to Büchenbeuren-Scheid for a loop of the old USAF barracks, then back to Lautzenhausen, part of the way down the road to Büchenbeuren until I ran out of pavement, and down to the edge of Sohren before heading straight back to the hotel. The airport is a lot more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists than I would have expected. The total distance was about 7.4 miles which I completed in just under 54 minutes although I ran out of steam a bit on the hill back up from Sohren.

Achilles Heel Bella 5K, 4 miles recovery

The Bellahouston 5K took place in good conditions, slightly damp and not windy at all. I tried to maintain a 3:15/K pace from the start and judged it exactly right for the first couple. Some time between 2 and 3K I went into the nosebleed territory of 4th place, and I was still maintaining the same pace at 3K, but I soon started to fade a bit and was passed twice in the last kilometre, finishing 6th in 16:42. This was 7 seconds down on the JogScotland 5K, which may have been slightly on the short side in any case. I was first finisher for a somewhat underrepresented Garscube and claimed two valuable Summer League points.

After getting back home I went out for 4 steady miles around the West End (via Shakespeare Street, Cleveden Drive, Cleveden Road and Napiershall Street) just to stretch the legs a bit, completing the route in a steady 27:34.

2x3 miles steady, 6.4 miles tempo

Ran up to the club training session at a fairly steady pace, just to get a few extra miles in, but it was harder than I expected and I was glad of the ten minutes' worth of waiting around when I got there. A smaller-than-usual fast pack ran the first mile in about 7 minutes and got progressively faster, reaching a 6-minute mile in the second half of the route. I had been sure I would drop off the back at some point and maybe even have to take a shortcut home, but I managed to hang on and finally started to feel reasonably OK after about 4 miles. Finished the 6.43 miles in 41:10, about 6:24 per mile. Ran back home afterwards at a steadier pace, another 3 miles or so.

3.85 miles easy

Went out for a few easy miles in the evening immediately after playing football, 3.85 in just under 30 minutes.

4.8 miles steady, hill reps

Ran the shorter version of the canal route at a comfortable pace to avoid aggravating a thigh strain. Finished in 32:34, 6:50/mile, sore quads as usual but no suggestion of an actual injury. The club training session in the evening was in Kelvingrove Park. We jogged down to the meeting point outside the Kelvin Hall and then back to the park for 10 minutes of strides and another 10 minutes of continuous hills.

10K moderate, 7.5K steady

Went out before breakfast for my preferred 10K route along the canal. It was a bit tougher than usual after I'd overdone it slightly the day before. At the halfway mark it looked unlikely that I would beat 40 minutes, although I was quite content to settle for completing the run. Got back home in 41:08, around 6:37 per mile.

In the evening I ran a loop from Bearsden Asda past the rugby club and round the far side of Milngavie Station. It looked like coming out a bit short so on the way back I made a detour via Roman Road and Bearsden Cross which took it up to almost exactly 7.5K. Time was 32:34, an average of just inside 7-minute miles. In the last few hundred metres my sore quads turned into a bit of a bit of a thigh strain on the right side, which I attempted to work on with some stretching when I got home.

9K slow, 800m, 6 miles recovery

Went out in the morning for my usual 9K route with Natasha. I wouldn't normally run so far a few hours before a race but Saturday had been a day off. In the afternoon I had an 800m at Linwood in the last league match of the season. I got there in plenty of time and felt OK after a short warm-up. I got slightly boxed in after about 100m but managed to escape and set off in pursuit of a small pack which had broken away. I went through 400m in 65 seconds which was 1 second down on my previous attempt at the same venue, but I was still feeling fine and it looked like my run earlier had made no difference at all. On a very windy afternoon it was eerily calm in the back straight, and I regained my lost second to go through 600m in 1:39, but lost it again running into the headwind in the final stage of the race. I was still closing fast on the runner in 3rd place but couldn't quite pick up enough speed to catch him. Time was 2:14.8 and I was 2nd of the Division 3 participants.

After getting back home I went out to rack up some more miles, this time an old 6-mile route up Firhill Road, through Ruchill Park, along Bilsland Drive, then Balmore Road, Skirsa Street, a footpath down to Summerston Station and back down Maryhill Road. This became quite a struggle, even at an easy pace, and it took me slightly over 45 minutes.

10.1K steady

I managed to go out before breakfast again, in much better weather this time, although I could barely move. Decided to stay off the canal (for the most part) in case of flooding and run the 10K route I had originally planned, which is the same as the 9K route as far as Cleveden Road, then to Lock 27 via the canal, down Crow Road to Anniesland Cross, and back along Great Western Road, except I misremembered the last part of the route and came back up Queen Margaret Drive which added an extra 100m. Finished in 43:40 (6:57/mile).

9K moderate, 9.15 miles steady

Went out before breakfast for the first time this week. My only concession to the terrible conditions was that I stayed away from the canal and ran my old 9K route via Dorchester Avenue. I reached Great Western Road in a brisk 19:05 and tried to ease off a bit after that, but finished in a route PB of 36:40 (6:31 per mile).

In the evening there was nobody around for the club training session as they were mostly involved in a trail race at Dawsholm Park. A small pack had gone out a bit earlier so I ran the route I had already had in mind, up Milngavie Road to the West of Scotland Rugby Club, then the undulating countryside course of the Hogmanay Handicap, and back down Milngavie Road. It came out at 9.15 miles which I completed in a fairly steady 1:04:04, about 7:00 per mile.

2.5 miles recovery

After playing football I thought I might shake off some minor strains by running a couple of miles, so I ran a 2.5-mile loop via Queen Margaret Drive.

Dreilauf

The scheduled club training session was a paarlauf, but with teams of three in a continuous relay. I was on the long grass above the cricket pitch for the entire 25-minute session, although the other teams were rotating better so that nobody stayed in the same place the whole time. I didn't mind running on the grass but it was raining so my feet were soaked within a couple of minutes.

3.5 miles recovery

Went on a short recovery run from Bearsden Asda in the evening. Up Milngavie Road, over Mosshead Road and back via Stockiemuir Avenue and Drymen Road. Probably just over 3.5 miles. Right hamstring was a bit tight later on.

Helensburgh Half Marathon

I can't remember exactly when I last ran a half marathon but it was probably around six or seven years ago. I thought I should have run enough miles recently to make a reasonable attempt at this one, which was on the Garscube Summer League calendar. My plan was to stick to a 6:00/mile pace as far as possible, with a goal time of somewhere around 1 hour 20 minutes.

I went past the first mile marker in about 5:45, so I tried to settle back a bit, although I was already running with a pack. All the runners in front were still visible so I could see that I was in about 14th place. It started to rain quite heavily but the pack stayed together over the next few miles, and one or two runners who had started off faster were gradually caught. Coming up for 5 miles, there was the only significant climb on the course, and having fallen back slightly by now, I used the hill to move up a few places and went through 5 miles in exactly 30 minutes, which suggested we had been losing time over the previous mile or so. It was downhill for the next stretch as we headed back towards Helensburgh, and I picked up a bit of speed to get back ahead of schedule. As the course moved onto the old road for a few hundred yards, I broke away from the pack and went clear in 7th place. After the next couple of mile markers I had made up 30 seconds in total on my 6:00 average, despite having to splash through some minor flooding en route. I had been getting gradually closer to the leading Garscube runner and finally moved into 6th place shortly after going through the 10-mile mark in about 59:30. The pace was becoming harder to maintain but at the next couple of mile markers I was still running a consistent race. I had spotted some fast finishers gaining on me at one point when I had dared to look back, and I was passed just after the 12-mile mark by a runner from Dumbarton, but I held onto 7th place and crossed the line in 1:18:04. This works out at a 5:57 average.