3.5 miles slow

Went out in the morning for 3.5 miles with Natasha via Shakespeare Street and Napiershall Street.

2.9 miles easy, 6.1 miles tempo, 2.9 miles steady

Ran up to the club training session on Thursday evening as usual. This time the route was down Crow Road, along Danes Drive, back up Anniesland Road and back to Garscube Estate via Knightswood Road and Anniesland Cross. We were running no faster than 7-minute miles for the first couple of miles, after which the pace was gradually increased. After about 4 miles I felt like I was having to work reasonably hard to keep up. It came out at 6.14 miles in 40:44 for a 6:38 average. Ran back down the road with Ben afterwards.

3.25 miles recovery

Went out after playing football in the snow for 3.27 miles via Shakespeare Street and North Woodside Road.

6.2 miles fartlek

As I reached for the Wiimote for a quick game of Wii Sports Tennis I realised exactly what had been causing the same lower back and hip pain I had in September. It's not as bad this time as I'd only played a few games recently, but it's obviously the cause. The club training session was a fartlek through Kelvindale and Jordanhill. Due to the hip pain I gave up trying to keep up with Danny after the third or fourth fast burst. I was worried about aggravating my injury but didn't feel any worse off afterwards. The total distance came out at 6.2 miles or so.

4 miles steady

Headed off from Bearsden Asda to run about 4 miles at a 7-minute pace, using the same route as last week, except this time the top gate at Garscube Estate wasn't locked so the total distance came out at 4.03 miles, completed in a steady 27:42.

3.9 miles slow, 8.8 miles moderate

Went out in the morning with Natasha for a slow run via Shakespeare Street, Cleveden Drive and Napiershall Street. In the afternoon my lower back and right hip were causing me a bit of pain but I had another attempt at the loop of Auchinairn via Woodhill Road, with the aim of finishing inside 60 minutes, as well as racking up over 50 miles for the week. I lost a lot of time running into a strong headwind on the way back down Springburn Road and Keppochhill Road but I picked it up again running downhill on Possil Road and got home in 59:37 - not a route PB but a better effort. Average pace was 6:46/mile for 8.8 miles. The first mile came in at 7:30 which seems a lot slower than I felt I was running, although it was mostly uphill. Weekly total: 55 miles.

3.2 miles steady, 7.6 miles moderate

Went out in the morning for a few steady miles via Maryhill Road, New City Road, Maitland Street, a loop of the Craighall Business Park, across the canal and back up Garscube Road - 3.23 miles in total at a pace just outside 7-minute miles. In the afternoon I ran up Maryhill Road as far as Canniesburn Toll, following the path through the wood, then back home via Anniesland Cross. This time it came out at 7.63 miles in 50:09 for a 6:34 average.

2.9 miles steady, 6.9 miles tempo, 2.9 miles easy

I ran up to training at a fairly steady pace although slightly too fast for comfort because I though I might be late, but it turned out that I still had to wait a few minutes when I got there as there was a larger gap than usual between packs going out. The fastest two packs were combined into one, and we ran the first couple of miles down to Anniesland Cross and towards Crow Road at a 7-minute pace. As we headed towards Dumbarton Road the pace increased and people started to drop off, particularly after the climb up Gardner Street. After having dodged pedestrians on Byres Road, we were down to two on Cleveden Road and now running 6-minute miles, but only just starting to catch the earlier packs. We eased off slightly after the last climb up Cowal Road and got back to Garscube Estate in 43:48 for a 6:22/mile average which is a bit skewed by the slow start. Ran back home at a fairly easy pace.

3.8 miles recovery

Went out for after playing football for a steady run via Shakespeare Street, Cleveden Drive and Napiershall Street, which came out at 3.84 miles.

2.9 miles steady, medium reps, 2.9 miles easy

Ran up to Tuesday training for once. The scheduled medium reps turned out to be 12 x 600m or so on the warm-up trail, run alternately anti-clockwise and clockwise, with an additional pair of reps jogged as the warm-up. I ran them at a reasonably consistent pace, staying just off the front, but put in more of an effort on the final two, and still felt fine to run back down the road. Total mileage for the evening was about 11.

4.2 miles steady

I wanted to run about 4 miles at a 7-minute pace, and headed from Bearsden Asda over West Chapelton Avenue, down Drymen Road and up Switchback Road to the top gate of Garscube Estate, which was locked. I rattled it a bit in case it was frozen, but by the time I had decided it really was locked, and reached the 2-mile mark after running back to the other gate on Switchback Road, Run.GPS was showing a 7:30/mile average, so I had to speed up to achieve my target. I went round the warm-up trail, out the side gate and back up Maryhill Road, arriving back at Asda in 29:17 for 4.2 miles (6:58/mile).

7 miles moderate

Ran my usual route via Garscube Estate although I got interrupted after about 5 minutes and stopped Run.GPS while I walked for a bit, so the total distance came out at 6.95 miles which I completed in 44:25, about 6:23/mile. Weekly total: 33 miles.

3.7 miles slow, 6 miles moderate

Went out in the morning with Natasha for about 3.7 miles via Byres Road and Sauchiehall Street. In the late afternoon I went out to run a few miles at 6:30 or better and headed up Maryhill Road as far as Dawsholm Road, where I lost some time on the path down to the river because it was too dark to see where I was going, and near the barrier on the other side of the river where I had to pick my way across the ice. I was faster going along Dorchester Avenue and Great Western Road, and took a detour via Burnbank Gardens in order to make the distance up to 6 miles, actually 6.01 in 38:28 (6:24/mile).

6.8 miles hard

Being resigned to missing tomorrow's 10K on account of other commitments (as well as some lower back pain) I went out for a run along the canal while it was still light enough to see properly where I was going. The first mile, which included the climb from Garscube Road up to the canal via Baird's Brae, came in at about 6:45, and I felt sufficiently OK to speed up a bit. Approaching the aqueduct over Lochburn Road, I thought of heading straight back home via Maryhill Road to see if I could beat 25 minutes for once on a route from years gone by, but I wanted to get more miles in so continued to Lock 27, down Crow Road and back along Great Western Road. I whittled my average pace down to 6:15 and had enough seconds in hand as I passed Achilles Heel that there was no real danger of missing the target. Finished the 6.78 mile route in 42:02, 6:12/mile.