Training for Bedford

As I got up at 4.45am last Saturday for a flight to Luton, I did wonder for a moment if it would all be worth it. I'd managed to get into a 5000m at the British Milers Club (BMC) meeting at Bedford through what I saw as the back door by being selected for the West of Scotland team for the Track and Field Inter Counties. Priority is normally given to BMC members which I'm not. However, after breaking my 1500m and 3000m personal bests and also running a best of 4:25.5 for the mile at Crownpoint the Tuesday before (earning £30 for 3rd place which got me my fish supper afterwards), a 5000m personal best was the last one to go for this summer. Bedford was the only event which fitted the bill.

I got the B race and, in breezy but warm conditions, surpassed my expectations with a time of 14:48.03. Whether it was taking advantage of the evenly matched field, simply being well prepared or a combination, something on the night just clicked. First half in 7:20, second half in 7:28. In the Scottish 5000m in June, I was 7:21 at halfway and 7:39 for the second half. Something has been done right somewhere. The time makes me eligible for BMC membership.

For now, it's formulation of winter targets. I have one already- don't get injured. Training leading up to the Bedford race is below. Big thanks to Cambuslang's Joe Kealey and his good lady Anna for giving me a room on Saturday night at their home in nearby Hitchin and to Joe for dinner on Saturday, the company on Sunday's morning's run, a mean fry up afterwards and the lift to Stevenage for the train home.

Race Result

Week Commencing Monday 6th August

Monday: 7 miles easy (44:22).

Tuesday: 9.3 miles very easy (1:26:31).

Wednesday: Track, 12 x 400m at target 5000m pace, 4th, 8th and 12th reps at target 1500m pace, plus 1 x 200m

5000m pace reps- 68-72 secs, 1500m pace reps- 67, 65, 66, 200m- 32 secs

6.1 miles total including warm up and warm down.

Thursday: 5 miles tempo (28:53) plus 8 x High Point hill reps running how I felt, 9.8 miles total (tempo run plus hills) including both warm ups and warm down.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Longer run, Whitelee Windfarm, 20 miles (2:15:43).

Sunday: 9.4 miles easy (1:01:27)

Mileage: 61

Big week which started cautiously and gathered momentum. Two short, sharp races at the Mens League gave me a tight left groin so I had easy runs on Monday and Tuesday, the latter assisting Cani Fit's Lindsay Cloughley with one of her training groups. This was at the Windfarm where I do my long runs. An enjoyable night soured only by my car getting stuck in a ditch. I delayed the track session to Wednesday and decided to do a run before the hill session to get used to running hard with tired legs. Two lengthier weekend runs rounded things off.

Week Commencing Monday 13th August

Monday: Track, 8 x 600m at target 5000m pace, plus 1 x 200m.

600s- 1:45-1:46, 200m- 31 secs.

8.2 miles including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: 6 miles (35:48), 15 mins brisk then 3 sets of 3 x 30 secs strides, 30 secs easy between reps, 5 mins easy between sets.

Wednesday: 4 miles (24:11) plus 8 x High Point hill reps, running how I felt, 8 miles approx (run plus hills) including both warm ups and warm down.

Thursday: Club, 2 x 10 mins, 30 secs recovery, 6.6 miles including warm up and warm down.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Longer run, Whitelee Windfarm, 25 mins easy then 4 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, 4 mins, 1 min, 2 mins, all with 5 mins easy recoveries, 14 miles (1:30:17).

Sunday: 5.5 miles easy (35:52) then track, 2 sets of 3 x 300m (47-48 secs), 2 mins between sets, 6 mins between reps, 7.6 miles total including run plus warm down.

Mileage: 50

Lower mileage but just as tough. Two sessions (Wednesday and Sunday) were again to experience running hard on tired legs. Tuesday was squeezed in after work before going to Hampden for the Queen's Park v Partick Thistle cup tie (a losing effort for the Spiders, 5-4). Thursday was an attempt to resurrect a Thursday training group at Cambuslang. The Sunday track session was to sharpen for the mile at Crownpoint.

Week Commencing Monday 20th August

Monday: 3 miles easy (18:54).

Tuesday: Race- Shettleston Harriers Open Grade, mile, 3rd in 4:25.5, PB.

Wednesday: 4 x High Point hill reps running hard off top, 4 miles including warm up and warm down.

Thursday: Club, 2 x 10 mins, 30 secs recovery, 6.7 miles including warm up and warm down.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Race- BMC Grand Prix Final, Bedford, 5000m B race, 7th in 14:48.03, PB.

Sunday: 10 miles approx easy (1:17:25).

Mileage: 31

Racing for Suppers

A downside to midweek racing when working full time is it's not conducive to eating well. A couple of quarter pounders, cup of tea and some other fluids (it was a warm night) followed my 3000m efforts at Stretford. Before this, the race at Linwood, which I attended straight from the office, saw me warm down, shower, change back to my suit and get in the door with my briefcase, holdall and a single fish under my arm. Not the best when you then have to settle down to sleep then be up again the next morning.
 

While Stretford was the boost I needed, I still felt the need to keep a grasp of the nettle. Training the rest of the week included a satisfactory hill session and long run plus a hilly 10 miles in Glasgow's West End with 2 sets of reps of 4 minutes, 1 minute and 2 minutes with 3 minutes brisk between reps. I was pretty pleased to complete that run in just under 61 minutes. A track session of 2 x 800m (both in 2:16) and 2 x 400m (62 seconds and 64 seconds) the next week gave me grounds for optimism for the 1500m I'd entered at Scotstoun.

Glasgow Athletics Association Miler Meeting, 3rd August 2012

This being a Friday night event, I was a tad more relaxed leaving the office knowing I didn't have work the next morning. It comprised a series of graded 1500m races, plus a 5000m. Earlier in the summer, there was a meeting comprising 800m and 3000m races which I missed due to holiday.

I lined up in the C race, which was second on the card, and settled into the pack following pacemaker Mark Pollard. With my 2 year old PB of 4:05.76 to aim for, a 66 second first lap was reasonable. I replicated this on the second lap. Ahead of me, another Harrier, Gordon Robertson, was pushing on. It started to feel like a Monday track session, me hanging onto his coatails during a rep. I sat around 4th or 5th but could sense most of the field were still in touch as I completed 1200m in 3:19 (67 second third lap). I really didn't want to lapse into a 50 second final 300m and end up with 4:10, as happened in Aberdeen, and managed to find another gear as did a number of others. I gained a place in the back straight and dropped back one on the home straight but, most importantly for me, 46 seconds for 300m got me a new PB of 4:05.27. Like Stretford, only by hundredths of a second but every one counts. After no PBs all summer, two in succession felt good. Gordon also set a new best, 4:04.52, finishing 3rd.

After a breather and some post race discussion, I acted as 16 minute pacemaker in the 5000m. I actually felt more nervous about this than my earlier race. Two athletes, Kevin Brydon (Shettleston) and Elspeth Curran (Kilbarchan) were looking for this pace and, I admit, I had scribbled split times on a sheet and tried to memorise them. I still carried the sheet in my hand and referred to it several times as I ran. In short, the pace called for 3000m in 9:36/9:37 and I went through in 9:42. I carried on for another lap and stepped aside after 3400m. After the race concluded, I exchanged handshakes with both runners, talked another Cambuslang runner, Alistair Campbell, into a 400m at the Mens League two days later, unsuccessfully tried to persuade another, Katie Bristow, to don a disguise and run a 1500m on the same day (she clocked 4:47.78 at Scotsoun, comfortably below the minimum points standard of 5 minutes) then headed off home via the chip shop for a fish supper. Getting in at 10pm, it had been a long day but at least I had a lie in the next morning.

Meeting Results

Scottish Athletics Mens League Division 2 Match 4, 5th August 2012

With the attractions of an event of some description in London, numbers were quite sparce in Grangemouth for the final Mens League match of 2012. With no prospect of promotion, I took the chance to experiment a bit, lining up for an 800m then a 400m. Admittedly it was hard to escape a feeling of anti-climax following the Friday night's efforts but I gave both races everything I had on the day.

The 800m saw an improvement from Linwood with a time of 2:03.17. While not a PB (I've run 1:59 before), it was a much stronger run than Linwood with consecutive laps of 61 and 62 seconds. The heavens immediately opened as I took my marks for the 400m B race (Alistair had kindly run the A string). 58.07 seconds was nothing earth shattering but fulfilled the points standard of 60 seconds which, on the day, I considered satisfactory enough. Gordon ran a strong 1500m, finishing 2nd to Conor McNulty after leading much of the way. Myself, Alistair, Gordon (for part of the way) and Aberdeen based Cambuslang man Davy Munro rounded the afternoon off with a 50 minute jog around downtown Grangemouth. To continue the food theme, a king prawn Chinese curry was the choice on this occasion.

Leaving the 400m aside as an experiment, the 800m constituted a continuation of the upward curve. While I'm not there yet, I certainly feel more optimistic.

I'll go into the Mens League season in more detail in a later post. For now, here is the Division 2 final table.

1. Kilbarchan, 34 points (1368 match points)
2. Lasswade, 33 (1273)
3. Pitreavie, 29 (1050)
4. Whitemoss, 22 (721)
5. Corstorphine, 20 (612)
6. Fife, 17 (446)
7. Clydesdale, 13 (454)
8. Dunfermline & West Fife, 8 (306)
9. Kirkintilloch, 0 (0)