7.5 miles hard

Got to the Science Park just in time to see the fast group heading towards the gate. Marc from Shettleston Harriers had only just arrived as well, so we headed off at a fast pace to try and catch the others, although they were already out of sight and we had to guess which way they'd gone - almost correctly, as it turned out, as we met them running in the opposite direction near the Ski Centre. I held on at the back of the group and became slightly detached as we headed back down through Bearsden. The scheduled run was 6 miles but they opted to do a bit more by turning at Bearsden Station. I thought of heading straight back to the Science Park with everybody else who was doing the planned 6, but as the session had started a bit earlier than usual, I had enough time to take the longer route. Going up Pendicle allowed me to move off the back and I made up some ground on the others going through Westerton. Gained another place with a mile to go, then had trouble following the twists and turns of the route when I lost sight of the group in front, and lost a bit of momentum. Dropped a place on the final stretch but finished not too far back and quite pleased with my effort - longest run at that kind of pace for a good while.

More hills

Took Monday off completely as the legs still hadn't recovered. I toyed briefly with the idea of going to the gym in the evening but I thought I might be risking another injury. This may have been the correct decision as I felt absolutely fine in time for this evening's hill session with the club: alternating long and short hills, six of each, with a jogged recovery. The long one was my favourite hill as well. I tried to keep the reps consistent and the rest of the fast group gradually pulled away, although I didn't fall too far behind and even managed to claw my way out of last place towards the end. The recoveries seemed tougher than the hills and I was convinced I was going up faster than I was coming back down. Felt all the better for this particular session - I'll see how the legs are doing tomorrow. The scales now put me just under 13 stones which is a few pounds down from when I last checked.

7.5 miles slow

Woke up with very sore legs, either from Saturday's hill session or from going out clubbing later on (for the first time in ages). They hadn't got any better by the afternoon so I went out for a slow run round my usual 7.5-mile route to see if it would wear off - nope, still felt the same 58:31 later. No sign of the specific injury which was hampering me last week though. Time included several walking breaks to try to get something out of my eye.

Short recovery and hills

Back training again as planned, starting with the usual slow 5K with Natasha before lunch. Freezing rain came on almost immediately but went off just as we reached Maryhill Shopping Centre.

I still felt OK after lunch so went out to find a hill suitable for a particular session I had in mind - many repeats of a short, fairly steep hill where it takes a few of them for it to start to bite. No need to try to sprint, the steepness of the hill does the work. There are hills nearby of various types: the one in Oakbank industrial estate is too short for hill work; Possil Road isn't steep enough; Firhill Road up to Ruchill Park is long and tough but there's a lot of traffic; I would feel too conspicuous on Bilsland Drive (this also goes for Possil Road); and Cleveden Road is too steep for this particular session and also a bit far to jog back if I feel an injury coming on. My favourite hill is Crarae Avenue in Westerton but I would need to drive there, same goes for Chesters Road in Colquhoun Park which I've only run up a few times as part of a longer run but definitely has potential.

In the end I took a tip from "Debs on running" and headed for Kelvingrove Park. The nearby roads were all deemed unsuitable for various reasons but I found plenty of hilly paths in the park and chose a stretch of about 100m or so with a continuous, steady climb, which only became tough on the fourth rep or so. Ran 10 of them and thought of going on a jog for a few minutes before resuming, but the rain was coming back on and I didn't want to overdo it in any case. Might be back in shape in time for the Hugh Wilson 10K next Sunday. Don't actually remember the last 10K I did.

A few days off

I appear to have some kind of groin/hamstring injury and have decided to rest for a few days, apart from playing football on Wednesday. Didn't feel significantly worse afterwards, so I should be restored to full health soon. Stretching by leaning back as much as possible, particularly when lying face down, seems to help.

Went to training tonight but only to buy a bright yellow top for Natasha. I was immediately pounced on and nagged to run in this weekend's cross-country - I was needed for the team because somebody else had pulled out. Pointed out that I was wearing outdoor clothes but nobody took the hint so I had to explain I was injured, for once conveniently. I expect to be just about OK again by Saturday but no way would I be running 6 miles round a field anyway. I may do one short cross-country race a year (the Dunbartonshire relay championships) but that's it.

Back to the gym

I felt like I couldn't run a step so went to the gym instead, for the first time in nearly a year. Joined up again, a snip at £10 which means each visit is £2 instead of £3. I really just wanted to knock myself out on the elliptical trainer but had a go on some of the other machines as well, as there was nobody around to scoff at my feeble efforts. Didn't really get much done in the half hour or so I was there - just enough to feel it in my arms and legs afterwards.

10.5 miles slow

I originally planned to repeat last Sunday's run to Milngavie and back but got a bit of wanderlust and headed out to the South Side instead - down Pollokshaws Road and round the far side of Queen's Park, then over Prospecthill Road, through Cathkin Park and back into town along Aikenhead Road. I would have gone further out but never felt comfortable, even at a slow pace. Finished just inside 1:18, probably around 10.5 miles.

Glasgow University 5 mile

I have rarely felt worse before a race - I wasn't unfit or ill, but my legs were still very stiff and sore since Thursday night's hard run. I thought there would be a good chance of sustaining an injury. Stretched a bit in the morning and decided late on that I would give it a go, as it didn't really matter, as races go, and I could take it easy if necessary. My main goal was to set a time I could try beat next year, preferably inside 30 minutes (all things considered).

Leg tiredness turned out not to be as much of a factor as I had thought, finished 31st in a reasonable 28:50, according to the results which had already appeared on the web by the time I thought of looking for them. For a long time I was fourth-placed Garscube Harrier with fifth seeming the most likely outcome, but I made some inroads in the last mile or so and moved into third with about 800 metres to go, shortly after I had smacked into the wait box on a pelican crossing. Didn't really notice the pain in my shoulder until I was in the car after the race - I expect to have a large bruise there very soon. Legs don't feel any worse than they did in the morning.

5 miles hard

A hard run sounded less than ideal just two days before a race of the same distance, but I kept up with the fast pack for about two miles before starting to drop off the back. This was obviously bad for morale and I started to worry about being relegated to a slower pack. However, I persevered at a fairly consistent pace, and as others started to ease off in the last mile or so I made up a fair bit of ground and eventually finished comfortably in the middle of the pack. If there hadn't been a race coming up I should have tried to pick up the pace when the others did. Injury situation a lot better than last week, so with Friday off, I should be fine for the race.

Tuesday session

Got to the Science Park a few minutes too late to join the scheduled short reps session so I tried to run my own 650m reps. I felt the calf injury after just a few hundred metres - might have been able to run it off like on Sunday but I didn't want to risk it. Short reps would probably have been even worse. Switched to running continuous 1K loops at a moderate pace but entirely on the forefoot, which I was able to keep up for a few laps with no real trouble. Running on the forefoot was also forcing me to keep the pace up, although I wasn't timing the loops as I had forgotten to bring my running watch. Stopped when I felt a twinge in the hamstring. Not a great session but the forefoot thing went well enough.

11.5 miles slow

I considered taking another day off due to the injury situation but the weather was too good to miss (blue sky and a bit on the chilly side) and my right calf was okay-ish so I applied some Tiger Balm, for the first time in a while, and went out further and slower than usual. Route was basically up the A81 to Milngavie station, left onto Main Street, down to the roundabout and back down the A81 again, trying to run no faster than 7:30/mile. After four miles or so I stopped noticing any particular tightness in the back of my right leg, and on the way back home, on reaching the point where I had blown up on Thursday night, I felt much better than I had then. On nine miles I felt absolutely fine and thought about picking up the pace but stuck to my plan and came home in a leisurely 1:28:26. At this rate I might be able to do the University 5-miler after all.

Short recovery and fast reps

Natasha and I went out for a slow 5K in the morning. Calf felt OK afterwards but I did a load of stretching in the afternoon and then risked some fast reps later on in the nearby industrial estate - didn't want to pay to use the track at Scotstoun and then have to give up after a few minutes if the injury flared up. The reps were around 250m with a steep climb for the first 75m. I ran 45-45-42-43 into a significant headwind and jogged home, not wanting to push my luck any further. I didn't time the recoveries but they couldn't have been much more than a minute as it took about 5 minutes for my breathing to return to normal afterwards. The last 50 metres of the third and fourth rep felt like the end of an 800m.

7 miles hard - nearly

Got to Garscube just before 7.30 due to heavy traffic on Maryhill Road but there was no sign of anyone, not even on the way up the road. Marc from Shettleston Harriers appeared after a few minutes and he hadn't seen anyone on the way down from the top gate either. We thought they must have headed out towards the Ski Centre in Bearsden so ran in what we guessed would be the opposite direction in the hope of meeting the fast group halfway, but after a few miles it looked like we were on our own. Really cold - I had dug out my running tights and a long-sleeved top for the first time this year. Kept up well enough for the most part but coming up for 5 miles I told Marc he could go ahead if he wanted, then I got stuck at some lights and couldn't pick it up at all afterwards. Right calf really stiff but I think I should be able to fend off actual injury with a course of stretching. Total distance was 5.8 miles. We saw the rest of the club coming in from the top gate just after we arrived, no idea where they went.

I should add that Wednesday's five-a-side match turned out to be a gruelling 3 vs 3.

1K reps

After taking yesterday off completely due to lack of energy and weak calf and hamstring, I felt much better and went up to train with Garscube. Five 1K road reps at 5K pace or better with a 95-second recovery. Going OK for the first three, got a stitch of some sort towards the end of the fourth and took it easy on the fifth until I managed to pick it up a bit halfway. Poor effort but all I could manage and better than nothing. Right leg complaining a bit as I ran back to the car afterwards. I sense the fridge will soon be filling up once again with Slimfast (vanilla) and For Goodness Shakes (chocolate) for recovery purposes - maybe they really did make a difference.

Track session and long(ish) run

I would normally go out for a few leisurely miles with Natasha on a Sunday morning but she had a sore knee and said she would rather go swimming. I don't like swimming because it tires me out too much, so we struck a compromise which involved going to Scotstoun where she could swim while I ran on the track. It was cold and, unusually for Scotstoun, there was no wind to speak of. Some VPCoG kidz were out training but mostly in the home straight. Planned to run 300s, 2x5 in 49-50s each with a 2-minute turnaround - about five years ago I could do 2x5 in 44-45s (I think) although with a longer recovery. Anyway, ran 47-48-48 and during the second one it was getting tough so I opted for 3x3 instead. Had a rest for about 10 minutes after the first set but on standing back up I felt too nauseous to continue and just jogged round the track until I got bored. I guess it was too hard a training session for the morning after a race.

In the afternoon I went out on a 7.75-mile route and planned to take it slowly enough that I would just scrape in inside the hour. As it turned out, I felt like I couldn't have moved any faster anyway. Bumped into a pal after a mile and stopped to chat for about 3 minutes, and realised a few miles later that I would be outside the hour if I didn't pick it up, which I couldn't. Calf tightened up a bit towards the end but not dangerously. Next race is the Glasgow University 5-miler on the 17th so I will try to push it a bit until the middle of next week.

Allan Scally 2007

First entry in this blog - just in time for the last relay of the season! Out first, up against Robert MacFarlane in the B team and a VPCoG runner in the composite C team. Felt fine after two days off and tried to run a steady pace all the way round. I stayed just behind a group containing our C team runner and passed him going up Springboig Road, Robert also not far behind at this point, then battled some students on the long drag down Edinburgh Road which seems to get longer every year, and made up a couple of places in the last half mile or so. Went round in 27:13 which is 9 seconds down on 2 years ago (didn't do it last year due to injury). However the course was estimated at approximately 10 seconds longer due to annoying new barriers at the roundabout on Mansionhouse Drive, so it's clearly a net gain of 1 second. Team was 9th overall. Goal for next year is to go under 27.