Glasgow Athletics Association Miler Meeting, 4th January 2014

I took full advantage of this year's festive period to train and have some proper rest and recovery (okay, and to also have some beers and play WWE 2K14 on my new Playstation 3). I also made a head start on a New Year resolution of reading more books instead of wrestling magazines by finishing a biography of the great cyclist Eddie Merckx. This sounds less impressive when I point out that I had started reading it on my summer holiday in July! A resolution definitely worth making.

 

I also hope to race more often since my strike rate is reducing year on year. 37 races in 2011, 32 in 2012 then only 24 in 2013. I put last year's average down to the Dublin Marathon which, from now on, will be referred to by the Irish Gaelic word "doluaite." It has a similar meaning to the word "unaussprechlich" I've used in discussion of a so called cross country once encountered in Inverkip.

 

Starting as I mean to go on, I submitted an entry for a series of 3000m races at the new Emirates Indoor Arena in Glasgow. The arena is directly across the road from Celtic Park. I attended the Celtic-Partick Thistle match on New Years Day, thus familiarising myself with the area. I drove there without difficulty before my navigation skills kicked in when I couldn't find my way into the arena car park. 10 minutes driving in a circle round Springfield Road and London Road later, I finally spotted the mini roundabout leading me to my desired destination.

 

After watching some earlier events to acclimatise to the indoor atmosphere then a caramel cake and cup of tea in the cafe, I was soon ready to line up in the B race, the first of 6 races to be run. Dougie Selman (Corstorphine) would be pacing at 8:30 pace. I ran the first of the 15 laps round the 200m track at the back of the pack before moving into the slipstream of Dougie, clubmates Owen Walpole and Alistair Campbell and Gavin McArdle (Kilbarchan). Alistair was struggling a little after a festive flu bug and pulled up after a few laps. I meanwhile maintained position, ignoring the clock until the 1000m mark which I reached in about 2:50. Spot on pacing and a nice personal boost.

 

Photo courtesy of Bobby Gavin.

 

I didn't think I was moving particularly smoothly but I could feel the benefit of recent much needed consistent training. I passed 2000m in 5:42. I had slipped slightly behind the front 3 but was more than happy to try and grind out the last kilometre as hard as possible. I had about 8:45 in mind pre-race so was well ahead of that schedule. Up in front, 16 year old Gavin had taken on the pace followed by Owen then Dougie who was now looking to finish the race. Gavin eventually began to tire and, in the later stages, I found myself closing him down. I reached 2600m in 7:30 then mustered 70 seconds for the last 400m to finish in a very satisfying time of 8:40.24. Gavin finished in 8:37.63. I know he is the current Scottish Schools 1500m champion and has schools international appearances to his name so I took encouragement from finishing so close. Owen won the race in 8:29.45, less than a second ahead of Dougie. I placed 4th out of 7 finishers.

 

I stayed on to watch the other races, plus cheer on another Cambuslang man, Andrew Mackenzie, Kilmarnock's Scott Martin and one of our ladies, Sarah Benson, in later races before going a relaxed 5 mile jog on a refreshingly dry, clear Glasgow night. I then managed to vacate the car park at the first time of asking.

 

This result, being only fractions away from my outdoor best from July 2012, is hugely encouraging but it's only one race. In saying that, as with my reading resolution, I've started as I mean to go on. With any luck, any unaussprechlich or doluaite experiences will be few and far between in 2014. Happy New Year.

 

Full results from the meeting are here.

2013- My Year in Running

2013 Statistics

2013 in words and numbers.

Races- 24, constituted thus:-

Road- 9

Track- 8

Cross Country- 6
Trail- 1

1st places- 4
2nd places- 3
3rd places- 8 (includes team positions in National Road Relay, George Cummings Road Relay and McAndrew Road Relay)

Clubs and Regions Represented:-

Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers- 16

Whitemoss- 6

West of Scotland- 2 (Scottish Inter District Cross Country Championships, UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships)

Personal or Course Bests Set- 9 (not including courses run for the first time)

Championship Results:-

Scottish Inter District Cross Country Championships (8km)- 27:07, 10th place, team gold
Scottish National Cross Country Championships (12km)- 39:38, 9th place, team silver
UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships (12km approx)- did not finish due to illness
Scottish National Road Relay Championships (5.8 miles, final leg)- 29:45, team bronze

Scottish 4km Cross Country Championships- 12:58, 28th place, 4th placed team
Lanarkshire Cross Country Championships (6 miles approx)- 30:59, individual silver, team gold
Scottish West District Cross Country Championships (10.5km approx)- 37:45, 11th place, team gold

Other Achievements
Scottish Cross Country Grand Prix, joint 7th place

Longest Race- Marathon

Shortest Race- 400m  

Best Race- Scottish National Cross Country. I trained well in the weeks leading up and everything simply clicked on the day to give me a second top 10 finish in 3 years. One of those afternoons you look back on with pride.

Worst Race- it would be easy to settle for the Dublin Marathon but to choose a race where I ran a personal best by over half an hour (2:37:58 in my second marathon compared to 3:08:06 for my first in 2005) seems silly. Unfortunately it was the UK Inter Counties Cross Country only 2 weeks after the National. I cursed my luck by catching a chest infection which aggravated my asthma and left me with no option but to drop out a race for the first time ever. A horrible feeling doing so and it made for a VERY long bus trip back from Birmingham.
 

Most Enjoyable Race- I didn't enjoy many in 2013. For the atmosphere, club camaraderie and post race meal and beer, the Armagh 5k Road Race. I also ran pretty well in a competitive field which gave me the confidence to run the way I did in the Scottish National Cross Country 9 days later.

Summary- the race list is shorter and disappointments are greater because, from June to October, I focused my energies on a tilt at the Commonwealth Games marathon qualifying time. Sadly, it didn't come off for me and it's a shame I didn't get a really good race performance during the training spell to show the work had been worth it. Whatever 2014's goals are, a marathon will not be among them. I certainly intend to make more use of my BMC membership than I did in 2013- I should have made it amount to more than one 5000m race in Manchester. Time to train hard, train smart and make use of the opportunities available. Hopefully the 2014 review is a tougher one to write.

West District Cross Country Championships, 7th December 2013

My report on this race (and indeed any blog update) has been delayed for various reasons but here we go. Little did I know at the time that the West District Cross Country would be my last race of 2013. I decided to do my usual weekly hill session on Boxing Day instead of racing at Ayr and no other races caught my eye.

This year, the event was hosted by Kilmarnock Harriers on a course next to the new Ayrshire Athletics Arena. Not a long journey either on road to the venue nor on foot to the course, the start being about 100m from the sports centre and, at first glance,  a decent course. All in stark contrast to the unaussprechlich  of Inverkip 12 months ago.

The biggest challenge looked to be a 20-30m patch of ground, which could be kindly described as a swamp, just after passing under a bridge. Negotiate that while retaining your footwear and you were on to a winner. Nevertheless, even the firmest of courses will adversely suffer when 8 races have been run on it before you and so it proved.

As the field of just over 200 were set off, I felt I had a point to prove to myself and started with a bit of aggression, moving into 3rd behind Shettleston duo Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab and Lachlan Oates. After a short lap of some playing fields, we faced 3 larger laps, described quite accurately elsewhere as a more agricultural setting. While there were no hills to speak of apart from a few muddy mounds to hurdle, the ground had been softened considerably by several hundred earlier runners. David Vernon (VP City of Glasgow) and Luke Traynor (Giffnock North) had slipped past me before the first of 3 visits to the swamp.

Inverkip, all is forgiven. Being tracked by Matthew Sullivan (Shettleston), who later overtook me, through the East Ayrshire Everglades.

Normally by this point in the winter, I would have had some relay races and 2 months of training in October and November. Since I was tapering off for most of October leading up to Dublin and found walking a challenge in November, let alone running, I had not built up the same fitness base. It told when during the second lap, I slipped to 11th place. 3 of my clubmates, Iain MacCorquodale, Robert Gilroy and Ben Hukins were among those overtaking. As I headed into the final lap, I got a shout from David Cooney that we had the team gold "in the bag" and I was well clear in my position. This helped and gave me a second wind to hold on to the position I had established. With only the first 6 finishers from a club taking the medals, there is a lot to lose from falling out that half dozen. Despite feeling dejected at the defeats I was suffering from other runners and the gaps they had opened on me, I dug in to see the race through, taking 11th place in a time of 37:45 for a course measured by a few at 10.5km. Our 5th and 6th counters, Kerry-Liam Wilson and Stewart Orr came in immediately after me in 12th and 13th to secure us the team gold ahead of Shettleston who, by that point, had only 3 runners over the line. The importance of packing in team races clearly illustrated. A round up of all Cambuslang's West successes is here. The results are here.

A few of our 20+ strong senior men team, left to right- Andrew Coulter, Stewart Orr, Gordon Robertson, Kerry-Liam Wilson, Iain MacCorquodale, Jamie Reid, Robert Gilroy, Ben Hukins and a grumpy me.

In the heat of the moment, I was thoroughly dejected despite numerous assertions I had no cause to be. I know now I simply needed to train though at that time I couldn't see the woods for the trees. Straight after crossing the finishing line, an offer to run the Inter District Cross Country on 11th January wasn't something I wanted to hear but I'm grateful for it now. After a 10 mile crawl in horrific wind and rain the next day, I had 2 complete days off. On the Monday, I watched a Queen's Park reserve team match with a friend and, the following night, had a meeting to attend with Whitemoss Athletics Club. It's encouraging that, as I watched the football match, I actually felt like training again. I've kicked on from the Wednesday onwards (11th December) and, in terms of recovery from sessions, the Christmas break has been wonderful. Due to the organiser's personal circumstances, my annual year curtain raiser at Beith is not taking place so 2014 is beginning with a 3000m at the Emirates indoor track. Hopefully I start as I mean to go on.

Touch wood, after a couple of false dawns, I'm now back!





Lanarkshire Cross Country Championships, 30th November 2013

By the time this race came round, I finally felt I was shaking off the shackles of the marathon. I'd had 2 weeks of 55 and 51 miles with key sessions- track, High Point hills, Saturday grass reps and Windfarm long runs- all in their appointed places. I kept the momentum going in the week leading up to the Lanarkshire though did a short session on the road on the Friday since I had a meeting on Tuesday 26th November so took it as a rest day. Both this race and my next (West District Cross Country, race report to come) disproved me of my notion a little.

 

Looking back as I write this, my preparation wasn't the best. Yet another stressful working week and no ease up in training meant I headed to Coatbridge's Drumpellier Park feeling more like I was getting ready for a training session. I even warmed up with some other guys from the club, something I never do before races. I was in training, not race mode.

 

Cambuslang's senior men responded to a rallying call I issued after the Scottish 4km Cross Country by turning out in good numbers for this local championship. Using Inverkip as my yardstick, the 4 lap course looked perfectly runnable. A field of just over 40 runners, 9 of them for Cambuslang, took to the start line. Among the others were 3 from one of my other clubs, Whitemoss, including my good friend William Sutherland. He's also a Clyde supporter so is rather enjoying the current plight of my own team who happen to also be his side's derby rivals.

 

Heading along the opening straight, myself, fellow Cambuslangers Robert Gilroy and Gordon Robertson, Grant Baillie (East Kilbride AC) and Darran Muir (Law and District) forged a gap. Seeking to boost my fragile confidence, I moved into the lead as we crossed a narrow path under a railway bridge before taking a sharp left into some thicker mud. Not Inverkip style thick mud however. After some grassy trails, we doubled back under the railway bridge again into a full circuit of the area where we started into the next lap.

 

By the end of lap 1, Robert and I were in a straight head to head. He was battling hard and I simply wasn't shaking him off. We remained locked together into the final lap. In a short climb through some trees, I ran hard up the hill then hard off the top in an attempt to create some daylight. In the same pattern as earlier, he descended with more grace than me and closed me down. Through the bridge for the last time, he forged ahead, leaving me broken and unable to respond. Robert won the race in 30:56 with me coming though in 30:59. It was his first victory over me since Inverkip.

 

Looking back now, I didn't take it well and had a bit of a tantrum to myself, throwing my watch to the ground in disgust. However, the better man won and I did congratulate him. I realise all that sounds ridiculous but it was a bad reaction from me in the heat of the moment.

 

Meanwhile, Jamie Reid came through strongly to finish 3rd and complete our counting 3 in the team competition. We took 5 of the first 10 places with Gordon Robertson in 4th and under 20 Ross Stephen, in his senior debut, finishing 7th. Scott Hunter continued a rapid improvement to take 14th, pipping Colin Feechan by 4 seconds after a similar race long battle to Robert and I. Mick O'Hagan in 17th and Dave Thom in 25th rounded off a strong club showing. Gordon, Ross and Scott were unlucky not to take team bronze with a rule change preventing B teams from winning medals whereas they had in previous years.

 

I couldn't stay too grumpy since it was also my Mum's birthday and I treated her to a drink at our local, the Greenhills, that evening. I wasn't too muddy after the race or else she may not have agreed to it.

Scottish National 4km Cross Country, 10th November 2013

The road to recovery from Dublin was a long one. That is, recovery from the marathon, not the "session" that followed at Temple Bar that night though that took a while too! Being barely able to walk for 2 days was no fun at all. If I stood or sat in the one place for too long, my legs seized up. Getting in and out of bed presented a challenge. By midweek, these feelings started to pass but I simply did not feel right. I attempted no running for an entire week and when I did the following Monday, I struggled through 5 miles at 7 minute mile pace with tight joints and calves. The following night, I returned to the club and managed the 8 miles but uncomfortably with my right calf still hurting. 5 and 6 mile runs over the next 2 days started to feel better. However, the jadedness lingered and I didn't run on either the Friday or Saturday. Not so ideal preparation for my next race.

Having missed the West District and National Cross Country relays, I felt I owed the club an appearance so declared myself available for the National 4km Cross Country at Glasgow's Bellahouston Park. I knew my performance would be a lottery. All I could do was my best.

As in previous years, the route comprised a 2 lap course, relatively flat apart from a gradual incline 800m or so into each lap. It was muddy without being of Inverkip proportions. A large field of over 200 lined up for the senior men race. I didn't feel confident enough to follow the initial cavalry and sat back hoping to work through. I coped fine with the underfoot conditions and my legs were alright. I simply felt unfit. I tried to focus and by the end of the first lap, I had worked my way up a few places.

Up ahead, Central quartet Alistair Hay, Robert Russell, Andrew Butchart and Cameron Boyek fought out the first 4 places. They finished in that order. One of our first year under 20s Ryan Thomson was running strongly and headed me going into the second lap. I grinded my way past him as he tired, being passed in turn myself by our first finisher, Ben Hukins. I more or less maintained position, motivated by the shouts for other Cambuslang runners close behind me, taking 28th place and 2nd Cambuslang runner behind Ben in 12:58, 1 minute and 1 second behind the winner (Hay).

Having been top 10 in this race twice in the last 3 attempts, 28th was disappointing but not unexpected given my preparation and fitness level on the day. It's the lowest I've finished in a Scottish race for quite some time but the results show a high level of competitiveness throughout the field which can only be a good thing. I needed the jolt and came away with a clear idea of the hard work lying ahead of me to have any chance of matching the success I've been fortunate to enjoy in recent years. Having a McDonalds for dinner before attending WWE's wrestling show at Braehead Arena 2 nights earlier probably didn't help either!

Team wise, the men were 4th and our senior ladies were 6th, aided by silver medal winning under 20 Katie Bristow. A link to results from all the day's races is here.

Autumn Relays

Each winter season in Scottish athletics starts off with some road and cross country relays. As part of the build up to Dublin, I lined up for the first two of them.

George Cummings Road Relay, 28th September 2013

I hadn't run this race for quite some time and had never done so in Cambuslang colours. The village of Houston, near Paisley, was the setting. Taking place during a 70 mile week, I took first leg which let me churn out a few more miles afterwards while cheering on other runners. The race saw Owen Walpole make his debut for us. We finished 3rd, winning £15 each which helped cover my diesel.

3rd Team

2nd Stuart Gibson, 12:58

3rd Robert Gilroy, 13:12

2nd Alistair Campbell, 13:49

3rd Owen Walpole, 13:33

14th Team

12th, Andrew MacKenzie 14:41

22nd, Barnie Gough 16:48

19th, George Pettit 14:59

14th, Andrew Coulter 13:58

McAndrew Road Relay, 5th October 2013

This came during another 70 mile week. Having done a 3 hour Sunday run to round off the previous week, my legs were quite stiff so I took Tuesday off and went into this race off the back of a 9 mile run home from work on Friday. I did last leg. This gave me extra recovery time from the Friday run. Once again, we welcomed a contingent from Armagh AC. I took over in 4th place and felt more than a little guilty when I overtook them, knocking out the top 3. A wide assortment of ages, abilities and waistlines represented the club at this race.

Ladies Team- 2nd
Katie Bristow, 20:05- fastest Under 20
Kirsty Anderson, 21:48
Sarah Benson, 19:16

Armagh Ladies Team- 5th

Fionala Ross, 19:29
Danielle Fegan, 20:14
Ashlene Fegan, 24:22

Male A Team- 3rd
Al Campbell, 17:48
Bobby Bristow, 17:24
Iain MacCorquodale, 17:15
Stuart Gibson, 16:22

Armagh AC Team- 4th
Stephen, 16:06 - 2nd fastest overall
Shane, 16:48
Kris, 18:17
Chris, 20:07

Vets A - 9th & 1st vets team
Scott Hunter, 18:56
Greg Hastie, 18:17 - 3rd fastest vet
Dave Thom, 18:51
Frank Hurley, 20:01

Male B Team - 11th
Ross Stephen, 18:19
Robert Rossborough, 19:35
Barnie Gough, 21:14
Jamie Reid, 18:10

Composite Team - 25th
Marty (Armagh), 20:31
Paul (Armagh), 22:51
Brendan Carey, 20:57
Robert Anderson, 23:02

Vets B - 30th
Cliff Carey, 22:00
Colin Stephen, 22:40
Angus Reid, 21:41
Jim Orr, 24:31

Airtricity Dublin Marathon, 28th October 2013

The blog has been quiet in recent times, mainly because I've been keeping something to myself. Since June, I had been building up to have a crack at the Commonwealth Games time for the marathon of 2:19:00. A fairly high target but if you don't try, you will never know. Throughout June until my summer holiday in mid July, I trained at my winter mileage with a maximum long run of 18 miles. On holiday I churned out 63 hot, sweaty miles in week 1 then a chilled 30 in week 2. From late July, I upped the ante again, reaching over 70 miles per week for the first time ever with long runs of 21 miles and one of 3 hours duration 4 weeks before race day. By my standards, this sort of mileage was a lot and I was feeling it big time, e.g. feeling ready to sleep by mid afternoon at work every day. On Fridays, this feeling lasted all day. However, I managed it. The target race? Dublin Marathon on 28th October.

I'm not keen to dwell too much on the experience. Suffice to say, I did not enjoy the race at all, even when I was running well which I was for 18 miles. I realised early on the Commonwealth time was not going to happen so focused instead on having a good run. I went through 10 miles, just after exiting Phoenix Park where I saw some deer, in 55:40 ish feeling okay. I encountered a strong head wind between 11 and 12 miles where my pace dropped as shown by my half way split of 1 hour 14 minutes. A time of 1 hour 30 minutes however for 16 miles showed it had only been the wind slowing me down. I even thought at that point "right, it's just a 10 mile race now. 10 miles in under an hour and you've a good time." Just like the poor mouse in Rabbie Burns' poem, "To A Mouse," the best laid plans of life and men left me nothing but grief and pain for promised joy.

By 18 miles, I felt my right calf twinging slightly. Nothing major but a little uncomfortable. From 18 to 19 miles, I started to feel I was dragging my right leg. Then came the cramp in both legs. It was as if someone had turned off a light switch. One second, nothing. The next, unbelievable discomfort. 20 miles in 1 hour 54 minutes confirmed the drop in pace. I was now in a lot of trouble.

Among the things I expected to let me down were my body's fuel burning economy and my breathing due to having asthma. Neither of these did. I at least expected to have the legs to see it through. Every time I turned into a new street I tried to lengthen my stride. I couldn't lift my legs. I was fuelled up but on a pair of legs which had caved in.

In running terms, this was a new experience. I'm not strongly religious but I'm not ashamed to say I said a few prayers during those long, painful miles. Quite how I got there I'll never know but I kept running, taking 43 minutes for the last 6.2 miles, and crawled over the finish line in 38th place in 2:37:58.

Above: a few hundred metres to go, despite everyone around me, feeling very isolated.

I certainly don't regret having a go (the training was a worthwhile learning curve) but those of you who run marathons are welcome to them. I've been told by a few sources my time entitles me to an automatic place at the London Marathon. Absoloutely no thanks. Stuff it where the sun doesn't shine!

For the record, the race had an Irish winner for the first time since the early 1990s, Sean Hehir in 2:18:19. Fellow Scot, Stephen Trainer, ran strongly throughout in 10th overall with a time of 2:26:36, a personal best by around 5 minutes. I narrowly avoided my first loss to a lady since 2008 with Maria McCambridge finishing 44th in 2:38:51. She ran a much more even pace than me.

As for Dublin itself, apart from the above timeframe, I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 days there. I defy anyone to say they were more grateful than me to hit the Temple Bar area for a beer that night. I'll definitely be back, on a different weekend from the marathon.