4.7 miles slow, 7.6 miles moderate

Went out in the morning for a slow run with Natasha via Kelvingrove Park to Yorkhill, along the Clyde and back through Anderston. In the late afternoon I extended my usual 7-mile route by continuing to Canniesburn Toll and then heading along Switchback Road, which took it up to 7.6 miles. I had vaguely hoped to finish inside 50 minutes and although reaching the 3-mile mark on 20 minutes meant I was slightly outside my goal pace, I picked up enough speed in the second half to be certain of beating my target by the time I got to Queen Margaret Drive. Actual finishing time was 48:56 for a 6:26/mile average.

2.9 miles steady, 6 miles steady, 2.9 miles moderate

It was too icy to go out on Wednesday so I made up for it by running up to training, at a steady 7:10/mile pace to warm up. I arrived just in time to go straight back out again for a steady 6-mile run through Kelvindale and Broomhill, running not much faster than 7-minute miles, although we picked it up a bit towards the end and finished in 41:22. Ran back home again at a slightly faster pace, 2.94 miles in 19:26 which works out at 6:36/mile.

Pyramid reps

With the streets too icy for running, it was a stroke of good fortune (or planning) that the scheduled club training session was in the Kelvin Hall, even if it was still quite dangerous to get there in the first place. The session for the fast pack consisted of a pyramid of 200m up to 800m in 200m increments and back down again, with 60 seconds recovery between each. I was given the job of timing the recoveries, which I only started when everybody in the pack had finished as they seemed a bit extreme. Danny had joined in late and dropped out but wanted to continue the session afterwards, so as it was still quite early and we wanted to get our money's worth, the rest of the fast pack stayed on, usually taking turns to run a lap of the track. Most of the second set of laps were at 40-second pace but we ran the final 200m rep in 30 seconds.

5.65 miles moderate

I ran my usual Monday loop from Bearsden Asda up to Craigdhu Road, where I was really struggling and thought about throwing in the towel, but I recovered a bit on the way down Stockiemuir Road and picked up enough speed that my average pace was just above 6:30/mile when I reached Manse Road. On the way back down Milngavie Road I made up the time I had lost climbing the hill on Kilmardinny Avenue and finished in 36:22 which was almost a minute faster than the previous week's attempt. Run.GPS reported a total of 5.65 miles this time, giving me an average pace of 6:26/mile.

7 miles moderate

Went out in the fog in the late afternoon for my usual 7-mile route via Garscube Estate, although this time I cut down Temple Road, over the canal and down Crow Road in order to dodge a problem junction on Bearsden Road. Felt fine for the day after a race and finished in 46:22 for a reasonable 6:37/mile average. Weekly total: 36 miles.

Hugh Wilson 10K, 4.25 miles recovery

The temperature in the morning wasn't much above freezing but the sun was out, so I thought the frozen ground would probably thaw out a bit and it would be safe enough for racing, although I was glad I had given the Dunbartonshire Cross Country Championships a miss. East Kilbride hadn't really warmed up by the start of the race so I had to wear a t-shirt under my club vest.

On account of my recent increase in mileage I was prepared just to treat the race as a fast training session, but my plan for the first part at least was to try to stick to 3:30 per kilometre, and if this seemed to be going well enough, I hoped to sneak in under 35 minutes.

I went through 1K in 3:23 and 2K in 6:46, although this was just on the other side of a footbridge with some hairpin turns so I wondered if the second marker was slightly out, but I was still feeling OK. During the third kilometre my legs started to feel the cold and I began to slow down. I reached the 5K turn in exactly 17:30 and was in 10th place at that point, but I knew I wasn't going to be any faster on the way in, and on the next kilometre I lost 19 seconds so even sub-36 was looking doubtful. After I had dropped to 12th it occurred to me that I was losing time on the kilometres which were slightly uphill, not helped by the frozen surface in some places. I had made up a few seconds when I reached the 7K mark, and then moved up a place when somebody ahead of me pulled out. Approaching the footbridge I realised that the 2nd kilometre had been slightly downhill which accounted for my fast split, so the 9th kilometre would be uphill and I was going to lose a bit more time there. On my way down the footbridge I moved back into 10th and began to gain on three runners ahead of me, but I didn't manage to catch any of them before the end and finished 10th in 35:24. This improved on my time from last year by 50 seconds. I might have done better with more of a rest before the race.

After getting home I went out for a steady run via Cleveden Road and Queen Margaret Drive, mainly to push me above 10 miles for the day, finishing the 4.25-mile route just inside 30 minutes.

5.6 miles moderate

The club training session was billed as a steady 6-mile run, which was about as much as I was prepared to do with a 10K on Saturday. The route was up Drymen Road, over Stockiemuir Avenue and back down Milngavie Road. It came out at 5.6 miles which I finished in just over 37 minutes. A 6:37/mile average was slightly faster than I had expected although the fast pack did just about stay together.

2.5 miles recovery

Went out for 2.5 miles via Queen Margaret Drive after playing football.

Long reps

The club training session consisted of 6 1K reps with a 5-minute turnaround, on the other side of Switchback Road. Due to heavy legs I tried to keep to a steady pace, and I ran them all in 3:37-3:40 without any difficulty. The route was maybe 40m long.

5.6 miles moderate

Ran the route from last Monday again. When measured with the Touch Diamond it came out at 5.63 miles. Finished in 37:12, 6:36/mile. Quads quite sore.

5 miles slow, 10.2 miles steady

Went out with Natasha before lunch for a new 5-mile loop. There was flooding on Possil Road under the aqueduct so we took a minor detour up Baird's Brae, then continued along Keppochhill Road and up the footpath beside Springburn Road. We ran along Hawthorn Street into a freezing wind, and the rain came on just after we reached Bilsland Drive, although it was at our backs on the way home down Maryhill Road.

In the afternoon I went out for a longer run as the weather had brightened up considerably. The route I decided on took me through Anderston and Tradeston, along Cumberland Street and all the way down Aikenhead Road as far as the junction with Carmunnock Road, then back home via Battlefield Road, Victoria Road and the George V Bridge. I was faster in the second half and completed the 10.18 mile route in 1:12:33 for an average of 7:07/mile. Weekly total: 47 miles.

2.5 miles steady, 10K moderate

Went out in the morning for 2.5 miles via Queen Margaret Drive, which actually came out at 2.48, in a leisurely 16:51.

In the early evening I set out to run the usual 5.2-mile route via Dorchester Avenue, but changed my mind en route and took a detour along the canal towards Lock 27. This turned out not to be such a great idea as it was too dark to see where I was running, although I hoped it might stretch the route out to 10K. When I reached the Botanic Gardens it was obvious that the route was going to be too short, but going up Queen Margaret Drive would have made it too long. I settled for a contrived route home via Napiershall Street and Burnbank Gardens, and had to run round the block at the end just to make up the 10K. Finishing time was 38:54.

6.7 miles hard

I was still stuck at roadworks on Maryhill Road as I saw some of my clubmates running past, so I was pretty sure I would be late for the club training session, and I did indeed see the fast pack heading out just before I got to Garscube Estate. After parking, getting changed and starting Run.GPS I was around 2 minutes behind them, but as I knew they would be running down Maryhill Road for at least two miles, I set off in pursuit. I finally saw some distant figures near Tesco and caught up with coach Lesley near Queen Margaret Drive, so I got a quick summary of the rest of the course. As I passed the fire station I could see the fast pack further down Maryhill Road, and I caught up with them after they had turned onto Great Western Road at St George's Cross. My time at that point was about 19:30 and the distance had been measured at 3.34 miles, so I had been running at nearly 5:50 per mile, helped by the broadly downhill route to that point.

For the next few minutes I was able to ease off a bit, although it didn't last long, as the pace increased noticeably after the Botanic Gardens and the fast pack quickly fell apart. With no race at the weekend to bother about, I made an effort not to become detached from the front and managed to hold on. We averaged 6-minute miles along Great Western Road and up Crow Road, and I finished in 40:19 which gave me a 6:01/mile average.

5.2 miles moderate

I went out for my usual 5.15-mile route via Dorchester Avenue to test Run.GPS which I had installed on my new HTC Touch Diamond. I didn't have to wait more than a couple of seconds for the phone's internal GPS to pick up enough satellites to be able to get going, although just over a minute into the run, a voice did report that the signal was weak as I was passing some tenements on Garscube Road. Every three minutes I got a comprehensive progress report which included time, distance, average speed, altitude and calories used. I had no trouble with the tree cover along Great Western Road, which had frequently confused my old Garmin Forerunner, and what gmap-pedometer had measured at 5.15 miles came out at 5.2. The distance as measured with GPS takes hills into account and I had noticed on the supposed mile mark that according to Run.GPS, I had already run just over a mile. Finishing time was 33:42 which is 6:28/mile.