Training Before The West District Cross Country

After a wait of what seemed like months to me, the Scottish West District Cross Country Championships took place in Irvine yesterday. I achieved my best ever result of 4th place but took a bronze medal as 3rd senior. This was my first individual medal in 9 attempts. I was also first Cambuslang Harrier to finish, leading the club to a team silver medal. I can barely believe I have just typed those last three sentences. It's as if I'm writing about someone else. To make my astonishment seem more relevant, here is my record in the event going back to my first attempt in 2003.

January 2003, Ayr- 127th out of 155 finishers

January 2004, Irvine, 102nd out of 194 finishers

December 2004, Kirkintilloch- 70th out of 171 finishers

December 2005, Irvine- 47th out of 178 finishers

December 2006, East Kilbride- 46th out of 149 finishers

December 2007, Irvine- 32nd out of 159 finishers

December 2008, Irvine- 26th out of 192 finishers

December 2009, Irvine- 21st out of 181 finishers

A race report will follow. For now, here is my training in the last fortnight up to the race.

Week Commencing Monday 3rd January (day after the Beith Harriers race)

Monday: Track- 800m, 800m , mile, 800m, 800m, mile, 90 second recoveries

Times- 2:27, 2:29, 5:07, 2:29, 2:31, 5:05

7 miles total including warm up and warm down

Tuesday: Club, Hampden run in reverse, 8 miles approx (50:30)

Wednesday: 6-6.5 miles (40:29), high tempo for 15 minutes, easy thereafter

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Hill reps, High Point, 8 reps running hard off top of the hill, jogging flat only, 5.5-6 miles total including warm up and warm down

Saturday: Cross country intervals, Irvine- 4 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, all with 90 second jog recoveries, 9 miles approx including warm up and warm down. (photo below)

Sunday: AM: 12 miles easy, 8:25-8:30 pace

PM: 3.5 miles easy (23:04)

Mileage- 51

Above: training at the West District Cross Country venue 8 days before the race. Photo courtesy of my Dad.

This was a mixed week with my right knee still causing problems. Monday was my last chance to train during the day before going back to work. I took a session from Charlie Spedding's book and tweaked it to suit myself. It worked well. I was getting twinges in my knee again on Tuesday. Wednesday's run wasn't planned that way. It was meant to be an 8 mile tempo run with a warm down. Such was the knee pain, I had to drop the pace and make the rest an easy effort. This explains my rest on Thursday and hill session on Friday, in the company of some very chatty neds. One kindly accompanied me during my last rep.

Saturday was one of my big race weapons- a pre-race run at the venue. The club had a session at Rouken Glen Park near Glasgow in the morning. I drove to Irvine with my Dad in the afternoon and did the same session. That's not all, I wore everything- the very long sleeved top, club vest, shorts, socks and spikes- I would wear the next week. I even put a number on the vest. I followed it up with a long run with Kirsty the next morning then another short run in late afternoon to get over the 50 barrier for the week. I would be back in the knee strap to begin the next week.

Week Commencing Monday 10th January

Monday: Road intervals- 1 min, 1 min, 2 mins, 2 mins, 3 mins, 3 mins, 2 mins, 2 mins, 1 min, 1 min, all with 1 minute recoveries, 6.75- 7 miles total including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: High tempo 8 miles (46:12), club "Hampden run" route, plus 6 minute jog warm down

Thursday: Track- 12 x 400m, 200m slow jog/walk recoveries

Times (seconds)- 73, 73, 72, 73, 72, 70, 70, 70, 70, 70, 71, 70

7 miles approx total including warm up and warm down.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 3.5 miles (21:17), same route as PM last Sunday.

Sunday: Scottish West District Cross Country, Irvine, 4th place (3rd senior).

Mileage- 33

By Sunday's race, it had been 10 weeks since my race double header at Glasgow University and Strathaven. In 7 of those weeks I got my mileage up to between 50 and 60 miles compared to my previous average of 45ish. I had one week of 44 when the District race was originally meant to be. The week leading up saw much less mileage and the only one I would consider a write off was Christmas week losing 4 days with knee trouble. One big race down, three more to go this winter.

Above: West District Cross Country, busier and less snowy, deciding to go for it early before fading to 4th. The race was won by Craig Ruddy (806) followed by Paul Sorrie (922) and Lachlan Oates (935). Clubmates Stewart Orr (895) and Jack Hamilton (894) are also visible. Photo courtesy of Greig Glendinning.