Home Countries Cross Country International, Antrim, Northern Ireland, 26th March 2011

So here I was. 10 years after finishing last in the under 17 men race at the Scottish National Cross Country to complete a clean sweep of cross country wooden spoons that winter, at the age of 27, I was lining up for my first ever race in Scottish colours. Quite a turnaround which even I can barely fathom. The whole thing was rather new. I even asked the week before if we were expected to travel in our tracksuits.

A party of 18 flew out to Antrim split between Glasgow and Edinburgh airports- teams of 4 senior men (half of which came from Cambuslang, myself and Chris Wilson), senior women, junior men and junior women and two team managers. Friday night accomodation was at Antrim's Holiday Inn Express. Much of the race build up- dinner on Friday night, breakfast on Saturday morning, our team meeting and transport to the Greenmount Campus for the race- went by in a blur because I was so tense. It was only when I got to the venue that I relaxed a bit and focussed on the task.

I walked a lap of the course, caught some of the other races and went through my own tried and trusted warm up. I've done the same stretching routine ever since my Calderglen Harriers days and the same stride drills since switching to Cambuslang. Call it superstition. Whether it's the Dundonald 10k or the Home Countries International, nothing changes. England were more or less dominating most races but there was some Scottish cheer. Matthew Gillespie won the junior men race, Sarah Inglis and East Kilbride's Beth Duff were 3rd and 5th junior women and Rosie Smith of Edinburgh's Hunter Bog Trotters was top Scottish senior woman in 6th. Our time came. A good luck card had been posted to my workplace that week. I said a quick prayer to goodness knows who, quickly re-read the card (I had taken it with me) then joined my teamates Chris Wilson, Ross Houston and Michael Gillespie and teams from England, Wales, North England, Midlands, Irish Universities and the Combined Services on the start line. There were 28 of us in total.

We had 10.8km, 6 laps of 1.8km each. The terrain was okay. Some lush green grass then a slight dip into some woodland, slight rise onto grass, a short but sharp hill, more grass leading into the toughest part, a circuit of a farmer's field churned up by a tractor. That was a lap and, because we're senior men, we got the pleasure 6 times. I established a decent position just off a group in the top half. It was encouraging to get over half way through the first lap and still have the leaders visible.

Above: entering the woodland on lap 1. My distinctive heel flick running action is clearly captured. Thank you to Mark Pollard for taking the photo.

I battled into the second lap when I thought the wheels were coming off. Ross Houston passed me at the woodland followed by another athlete. This put me about 12th. I was feeling the strain a bit and feared an avalanche of runners. I rallied up the hill, passing another athlete and injected a surge of pace at the top. Some confidence came back but after negotiating the tractor treads, the thought of another 4 laps of all that was horrendous. As I entered lap 3, I dug deep into my mind- "what does your vest say? Scotland. Why are you here? Because someone deemed you worthy and selected you. Who are these athletes around you? Among the best in the UK and you are holding your own. So many people have wished you well. Someone even wrote you a card. You cannot stop."

Within a few strides, I had re-invigorated myself and became determined that no-one else would pass. By now, I was going back and forth with a Midlands athlete. Together we were pulling in athletes ahead. Ross Houston was running well in the top 10. Michael Gillespie had gone for it from the start and was gradually dropping back. Chris wasn't far away at my back. A marshal on the course shouted your place each time you passed his spot. My Midlands friend and I were 10th and 11th. I'd had a Welsh athlete for company earlier but a "Spedding surge" (see my training posts) up the hill had burned him off. I got through laps 3 and 4 with a degree of confidence, maintaining good rhythm spurred on by encouragement from team manager Mark Pollard and others. Before the hill on lap 5, Michael looked behind him. I sensed I could catch him. I have a golden rule in races- I always look forward, never back. He had looked back. There was a dip which lead into the farmer's field. Time for another "Spedding surge." I threw myself down the dip and round the right turn past Michael to gain another place. My Midlands companion had slowly upped the pace and I couldn't match it.

Above: the 5th lap. Thank you to Mark Pollard for taking the photo.

I started the final lap in 10th and was determined to stay there. Strangely this turned out to be my strongest lap. As I left the field behind for the final time, I even found a sprint in the home straight to hold on for 10th place in a time of 35:36. Ross Houston was 7th in 35:18, Michael Gillespie rallied for 12th with 35:41 and, showing how close it was for positions, Chris Wilson finished 21st in 36:32. We were 2nd team behind England and ahead of Midlands with Wales in 4th. The race was won by England's Jonathan Pepper in 34:12.

As far as Scotland debuts go, I was happy to have been competitive throughout. Hopefully Chris has taken similar satisfaction. Having raced at Birmingham then Antrim, something I've noticed is how intense the races are. If you have a bad spell, you are down several places in an instant. A key difference between my performances in Birmingham and Antrim was that I was much fresher for the second one. The UK Inter Counties were only 2 weeks after the Scottish National. I ran at one pace all the way. Here I had the benefit of a 3 week gap so fitted in an easy week to freshen up. It made all the difference. I was able to respond to other athletes' moves, I could up the pace and I had the energy to hold off any challenges at the end. These races are a whole different ball game but I am grateful to have had a taste and want to sample more.

The 4 of us warmed down together then, after a chance to shower and get a bite to eat, we were all transported back to the airport. The bar in the departure lounge had stopped serving food and my only options for dinner were Burger King or nothing. I opted for a Whopper, fries and cola just this once. I was desparate!

I suffered a slight ankle sprain during the race. I'm pleased to report as I write this 4 days later, it has cleared up.

Training for International Duty

 

My 2010/11 winter season started in Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae on 12th September 2010 (above)...

 

 

...and ended in Antrim, Northern Ireland on 27th March 2011 (above) with numerous stops in between. Thank you to Mark Pollard for taking this photo of me in my Scotland tracksuit before the race.

So my international debut has come and gone. I feel that I fared okay, finishing 10th, and 2nd Scot, out of 28 finishers in the Home Countries Cross Country International in Antrim. I had fears of being in a race involving the four Home Nations comprising 15 good athletes plus me. I'm pleased to say it didn't turn out that way. The race also included teams from North of England, Midlands, Irish Universities and Combined Services. Out of the internationalists, I finished well and kept some good runners, including the whole Welsh team, behind me.

For those whom it interests, here is how I prepared, starting with the Monday evening 2 days after the UK Inter Counties Cross Country.

Week Commencing Monday 7th March

Monday: Track, 2 sets of 7 x 300m, 100m slow jog between reps, 800m slow jog between sets, times- all 50-53 seconds, 7.5-8 miles including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: Rest- at Clyde v Queen's Park match.

Wednesday: 6 miles easy (37:23)

Thursday: 10 miles easy (1:02:46)

Friday: 3 miles easy (29:53)

Saturday: 10 miles easy (1:05:29)

Sunday: 14-14.5 miles easy (1:34:22), Whitelee Windfarm

Mileage- 51

Having received the Scotland call up, I knew I had to keep training. However, I was so tired after Birmingham, I needed an entire week of easy running to feel fresh enough to tackle the sessions I wanted to do before Antrim. Monday's track session was not done at full tilt and the rest of the week was devoted to running how I felt. Friday saw my first run with Kirsty, who is recovering from a serious illness, for two months. This was the early stages of her recovery, hence, the pace. I was going to do a little extra alone but it was Friday night, I wanted my dinner and, to be perfectly blunt, I couldn't be bothered. I ended the week fresher than I started.

Week Commencing Monday 14th March

Monday: Track, 2 sets of 12 x 200m, 100m slow jog between reps, short recovery between sets, times- 32-34 seconds, 8-8.5 miles including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: Club, Hampden run, 8 miles brisk (47:03).

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Hill reps, High Point, 10 reps, running hard off the top of the hill, 7.5-8 miles including warm up and warm down.

Friday: 6.5-7 miles easy (52:17)

Saturday: Showground, East Kilbride, 10 x 3 minutes, 90 second recoveries, 8.5-9 miles including warm up and warm down.

Sunday: Longer run, Whitelee Windfarm, 25 mins easy then intervals of 4 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, 4 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, 4 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, 5 mins jog recoveries between reps in the first 2 sets of 3 and 3 mins jog recoveries between reps in the third set of 3, total- 14 miles (1:27:49)

Mileage- 53

This was a great week. Monday and Tuesday went to plan. Wednesday was a night off because I had a seminar to go to after work. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday's sessions convinced me I was in the best shape I could be for the following week. To average around 6:15 per mile for 14 miles in a training run was amazing. I only shortened the recoveries because I was nearly home and running out of ground to complete the reps. 3.5 miles of Friday's run was done with Kirsty at 8:40 per mile pace, an incredible improvement from one week previously and her fastest pace since resuming post-illness. Her running has continued to come on leaps and bounds since. She's not quite where she was before yet but, bit by bit, she will be.

Week Commencing Monday 26th March

Confident in what I had done, I pulled the training right back.

Monday: Track, 600m, 500m, 400m, 600m, 500m, 400m, 600m, 500m, 400m, times- 1:46, 1:27, 69, 1:46, 1:27, 70, 1:44, 1:26, 68, 5.5-6 miles including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: Club, Hampden run in reverse, 8 miles easy (49:23)

Wednesday: Hill reps, High Point, 4 reps, running hard off the top of the hill, 3.25 miles total including warm up and warm down.

Thursday: 5 miles comprising mile hard, mile easy, mile hard, remainder easy, fast miles in 5:25 and 5:21, 29:50 overall for the 5 miles.

Friday: Rest- working in the morning then flew to Belfast in the afternoon.

Saturday: Race- Home Countries Cross Country International, Antrim, Northern Ireland- 10.8km, 10th in 35:36.

Sunday: 1 hour easy (9.3 miles)

Mileage- 40

 

Above right: competing in Scotland colours in Antrim (It was too warm for the long sleeved polo neck incase anyone wondered). My finishing position matched my race number (10).Thank you to Mark Pollard for taking the photo.

UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, Birmingham, 5th March 2011

It's been a little while coming but here now is my account of the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships. I had earned my first ever selection for this race thanks to my performances at the West District, National 4km and National Cross Country Championships. I had been 4th West of Scotland runner in each race so, with a team of 8 travelling, I was safely in.

I was keyed up about the race. It doubled as the UK World Cross Country trials. The best athletes from the counties and regions in the UK would be competing. The race was live on Sky Sports 3. I felt the best approach was to travel independently from the rest of the team. I needed my own time and space to prepare and focus for what would be my highest profile race in 15 years as an athlete. So while the team stayed in Solihull on the Friday night, I got the 1400 Virgin train service to Birmingham New Street, arrived in Birmingham at 1800 hours and stayed at a Premier Inn in the city centre. I know it seems anti social but, on this occasion, I needed to do trust my instincts and do things my own way. I was asleep by 10.30pm. It would have been 10pm but I sat up for half an hour reading some of Haile Gebrselassie's biography, "The Greatest," kindly leant to me by clubmate Kirsty Grant.

The next day, I caught a train from New Street to the station closest to the race venue, Cofton Park. I located the Scottish Athletics tent, collected my number and walked a lap of the course with fellow Cambuslang Harrier Iain Reid. We had around 12km and 4 laps ahead of us. At first glance, apart from the odd mudheap, everything looked fine.

I had arrived 90 minutes before the race. With so much going on, other races etc, the time flew in and I was soon in racing gear and going through the tent with 291 others to the start area. In these races, you line up in a pen with your team mates one behind the other. Our starting order was where we finished in the National compared to each other. I therefore took up 3rd spot in pen 24 behind Derek Hawkins and Tsegai Tewelde.

I had heard numerous stories about how furious the start was so had a game plan to be more conservative than normal. I resisted the urge to tear up the first hill and focussed on my rhythm- arm movement, knee lift and stride length. I tried to ignore the other Scottish runners as well. Sometimes in Scotland you race the same people all the time and can get hung up on who is in front of or around you. Old foe Paul Sorrie was up ahead but I blanked him out. By the middle of lap one, I was picking people off and moving confidently. Each lap had two significant hills. The second one was a long drag near the end of the lap. I negotiated it quite well and tore on into lap two.

By now athletes were getting harder to pick off. I did catch up with Scotland West team mates Craig Ruddy and Paul Sorrie. Cometh the hour, cometh the time for a couple of Spedding surges (see my training posts). Some pace was injected a couple of times to pull away from them. With 6 to count in the team competition, I knew I had a chance. Derek Hawkins was in the top 10 with Tsegai Tewelde and Tewoldeberhean Mengisteab around the 30s. The race started to kick in and I nearly went flat on my face through a muddy section. The number of shouts I heard for myself personally and Scotland West was incredible. The second hill took the stuffing out me a bit and I entered the third lap treading water. It was feeling a race too far and I seriously contemplated stopping. Only sheer bloody mindedness kept me going. This was a UK Championship, an honour, a privelige, you cannot stop. I focused again on arm movement, knee lift and stride length. All those High Point hill sessions were helping since I was keeping in touch, closing down or even overtaking runners on the hills.

Cambuslang clubmate Chris Wilson passed me at the beginning of the final lap looking like he was running a well paced race. I kept him in my sights for the remainder. He got himself into a small pack of runners who were pulling each other along. I simply didn't have the zip in my legs to get any closer than I was. I counted down every hill, every corner etc until I went up the second hill for the last time. I managed to negotiate it well and dug deep to run hard over the top to pull away from one or two runners. Sadly, I had left my sprint finish behind at the National two weeks before and I dropped three places in the home straight but hung on for 63rd in a time of 38:22.

Above: Chris Wilson (left, partly hidden) and myself in the 2010 National Cross Country. Chris finished 18th while I was 30th.

I was physically and mentally exhausted as I took congratulations from Cambuslang coaches Jim Orr and Owen Reid. My mood improved no end as I heard Scotland West had earned team silver behind the North East of England and, as 5th finisher, I received a medal. Talk about beginner's luck! Our first finisher, Derek Hawkins, was an excellent 6th place in 36:21 which earned him a place in the UK team for the World Cross Country. Our other runners were Tsegai Tewelde (23rd), Tewoldeberhean Mengisteab (36th), Chris Wilson (55th), Paul Sorrie (67th, final counter), Craig Ruddy (77th) and Iain Reid (79th). To have every team member in the top 80 was amazing. We also made a little history becoming the first Scottish Senior Men team ever to win a medal at the championships. For the record, UK International Andy Vernon won the race in a time of 35:45.

Above: my team silver medal.

After a short warm down, I considered it a job well done as I relaxed on the team bus back north. It says something about the quality of the race that, if I had been a minute faster, I would have finished in the 30s and, if a minute slower, would not have made the top 100. We got back to Glasgow in time for me to get a train to East Kilbride and I arrived home at 11.30pm. I contemplated an easy jog the next day then temporary retirement for a couple of weeks before tackling the summer season. If you have read my last post, you will know the latter notion was blown out of the water very quickly.

There are an abundance of photographs from all the races but the photographer has asserted copyright and I cannot download any. Click here to view them. The senior men race is featured from page 11 onwards. For a guaranteed sighting of me, click the very first photo on page 13. Look for the only guy in the photo wearing a long sleeved top under his vest.

Big Breakthrough At Last

A major development occurred at the start of this week which changed my running plans. I was extremely drained physically and mentally after the UK Inter Counties Cross Country and indeed spent a chunk of the bus journey back from Birmingham telling clubmate Charlie Thomson how clapped out I felt and how much I was looking forward to a fortnight's break before turning my attention to the track and roads during the summer months. I jogged for an hour the following day then settled back to watch Liverpool v Manchester United on Sky and toast my temporary retirement.

During this I happened to check my emails on my mobile. There was one from Mike Johnston, Cambuslang Harriers coach and Scottish Athletics National Endurance Manager. Would you be interested and available to run for Scotland in the Home Countries Cross Country International in Antrim on 26th March?

And so it happens I have accepted the offer and am now poised to make my full international debut against teams from the other three home nations in Northern Ireland. This will be my first full Scottish vest at any age group during my 15 years in athletics. I'm totally gobsmacked. This has obviously put the post-winter/pre-summer rest on hold. As I've said, Birmingham left me drained so, apart from Monday's track session, which wasn't done at full tilt either, I've prescribed myself relaxed running this week, a full, proper Winter training week next week then an ease down leading up to the race. Hopefully it will pay off.

I will be joined in the four man Scottish team by clubmate Chris Wilson who is himself earning his first Scottish call up. Cambuslang Harriers making up half of the team cannot be bad.

Training Before the UK Inter Counties Cross Country

Any of you who follow my Facebook page will know that, following my 9th place finish at the Scottish National Cross Country, I earned my first ever selection to run the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships and World Cross Country Trials. This took place yesterday at Cofton Park in Birmingham. It meant my pre-summer break had to be put back by another 2 weeks. It was hardly a hardship because the call up made all the efforts I've made in over 15 years of athletics worthwhile.

As usual, a separate report on the event will follow at a later date. Suffice to say at the moment, I took 63rd place over the 12km course (perhaps a little shorter but not by much) in a time of 38:22. I was 5th counter for the Scotland West team which finished 2nd in the team contest behind the English North East team. It meant I came back up the road with a UK championship medal, an achievement which has still barely sunk in. For now, for anyone interested, here is my training in the 2 weeks leading up to the race. On Sunday 20th February, I ran gently for an hour to recover from the previous day's National. I pick it up from there.

Training, Week Commencing Monday 21st February

Monday: Track, 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 1km, 1km, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m, all with 200m slow jog recoveries, 9-9.5 miles including warm up and warm down.

Rep times- 33, 72, 1:52, 2:27, 3:08, 3:07, 2:27, 1:51, 72, 34

Tuesday: Rest.

Wednesday: High tempo, 8 miles (43:31), 5:30 jog warm down.

Thursday: Hill reps, High Point, 10 reps, running hard off the top of the hill, 5.5-6 miles including warm up and warm down.

Friday: 6.5 miles easy (39:48).

Saturday: Cross country intervals, Showground, East Kilbride, 8 x 3 minutes, 90 second recoveries, 6.5-7 miles including warm up and warm down.

Sunday: Longer run, 20 mins easy then 4 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, 4 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, 4 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, all with 5 mins jog recoveries, total distance- 15.5-15.75 miles (1:42:02).

Mileage- 52

All the aspects of my stereotype winter training week are here- track session, easy run, tempo run, hill reps, cross country intervals or a race and a long run. Monday's track session is known as a "pyramid"-gradually longer reps up to a maximum then gradually decreasing in the same way. I love running hard in groups and this gives me a chance to do a lot of it. At Cambuslang, we have a great wee Monday group of up to 8 athletes all working hard together. The reps were a bit slower with the Saturday race still in my legs.

I treated myself to the night off on Tuesday to watch Queen's Park defeat Annan Athletic 3-0 at Hampden. Fellow Queen's fan Lachlan Oates of Shettleston Harriers did the same since I chatted to him at half time. Wednesday's Thursday's and Friday's sessions all went to plan. The club had a session in Glasgow on Saturday morning. I was heading into town that afternoon and was a little pressed for time so did my own session in East Kilbride with three Buckfast drinking youths for company. One very kindly called me a "toothpick with hair" and offered some forthright views on my running technique. A Sunday run at the Windfarm with some Charlie Spedding intervals thrown in rounded off a very good training week.

Training, Week Commencing Monday 28th February

Monday: Track, 400m, 600m, 400m, 600m, 400m, 600m, 400m, 600m, all with 200m slow jog recoveries, 5.5-6 miles including warm up and warm down.

Rep times- 71, 1:49, 68, 1:45, 68, 1:45, 68, 1:46- felt very strong and fluent throughout.

Tuesday: Club, shortened Hampden run, 6 miles easy (38:18).

Wednesday: High tempo, 5 miles (27:12), 5 minute jog warm down- personal best in training for the route.

Thursday: Rest- out for dinner with work colleagues for our cashier's retirement.

Friday: 3.5 miles easy (21:02)- done in the morning, 4 hour train journey to Birmingham in the afternoon.

Saturday: Race- UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships and World Cross Country Trials, Cofton Park, Birmingham- 12km (approx), 63rd in 38:22, 5th counter for the silver medal winning Scotland West team, 7:30 jog warm down before the coach journey back.

Sunday: 1 hour easy- felt surprisingly good. Big spring in my step.

Mileage- 39

Events have taken a swift turn since my Facebook post last night. All I will say for now is my planned rest has been put off again. Watch this space to find out why.