Saturday 23rd October saw me participate in the National Cross Country Relay Championships at Cumbernauld. This went extremely well, seeing me clock the 18th fastest time of the day of 13:18 on the undulating 4km course. The event will be the subject of a separate post. For now, here is a little bit about my build up that week. If you've read my previous post, you will know I had a strenuous 52 mile week with some tough sessions built in. I went into this on the back of that.
Monday- track with the club on a chilly night. It was myself, Alistair Campbell, Bobby Bristow, Stewart Orr and Jack Hamilton participating. 8 x 600m with 200m jog recoveries. Rep times were from 1:45-1:48. I was happy enough. The warm up and warm down gave me just over 6 miles in total.
Monday- track with the club on a chilly night. It was myself, Alistair Campbell, Bobby Bristow, Stewart Orr and Jack Hamilton participating. 8 x 600m with 200m jog recoveries. Rep times were from 1:45-1:48. I was happy enough. The warm up and warm down gave me just over 6 miles in total.
Tuesday- I did the same cross country hill session as last Thursday on the High Point hill circuit. I moved this to tonight so I wasn't doing an over difficult session only 2 nights before a race. I felt quite jaded. My pace was slightly slower than before. Purpose was achieved though- a run on a hilly cross country surface.
Wednesday- I was now in easing down mode. I'd had a tiring working day, being up at 6.20am to catch a train to Edinburgh for a seminar. I combined the trip with a visit to the running store, Run and Become, to use up a 10% discount card and a £15 voucher I won at the Penicuik 10k in May. I purchased a long sleeved Nike Stay Dry top and a fluorescent yellow Ron Hill running jacket. Full price, £100. Discounted price, £75.
I got back to the office in Burnside (just outside Glasgow) at 3.45pm, caught up with my mail and phone calls then made a sharp exit at 5pm to do the short drive up Brownside Road to the club for a run. I met up with fellow Harrier and occasional training partner Kirsty Grant to set off on a fairly hilly, traffic laden 6.75 mile run in the rain taking us up to East Kilbride and back. I tried out my new Ron Hill jacket. After an effort taking 56 minutes 10 seconds I felt a lot better. It was a recovery run for me and a brisker effort for Kirsty so there was mutual benefit. It was the sort of night where I could have gone home first and just decided to have my tea. Meeting someone and going out immediately helped a lot.
I got back to the office in Burnside (just outside Glasgow) at 3.45pm, caught up with my mail and phone calls then made a sharp exit at 5pm to do the short drive up Brownside Road to the club for a run. I met up with fellow Harrier and occasional training partner Kirsty Grant to set off on a fairly hilly, traffic laden 6.75 mile run in the rain taking us up to East Kilbride and back. I tried out my new Ron Hill jacket. After an effort taking 56 minutes 10 seconds I felt a lot better. It was a recovery run for me and a brisker effort for Kirsty so there was mutual benefit. It was the sort of night where I could have gone home first and just decided to have my tea. Meeting someone and going out immediately helped a lot.
Thursday- I moved my tempo run to tonight, shortening it from 8 miles to 5. I did this in a brisk 27:44. I dispensed with the jog warm down afterwards, doing some gentle stretches instead.
Friday- Rest. I sacrificed going to the Whitemoss Athletics Club dance, instead being in my bed asleep before 11pm.
Saturday- The race. More on this in a future post.
Sunday- longer run. I met up with Kirsty at the club at 10am to do a 12 mile route in the Cambuslang and Rutherglen area we had done 2 weeks earlier. Kirsty is someone who joined Cambuslang a little over a year ago improving substantially since, e.g. improving her 5k PB from around 28 minutes at the start of the year to 21:47. She is looking to improve more. We do the odd run together when the opportunity arises. After an energy sapping race yesterday, this was such a time for me.
On 10th October, we ran the route in 1:41:33 (according to my watch). This time, on a gloriously sunny morning, we completed it over 3 minutes quicker in 1 hour 38 minutes without feeling any more stressed. Progress for Miss Grant indeed.
This was a lighter week of 40 miles. Sessions were mixed up a bit to ensure I was fully freshened up to race. I had been really anxious to improve on Rouken Glen. Next week, with no race, will be along similar lines to week beginning 11th October, the same types of sessions on the same days with mileage between 50-55.
On 10th October, we ran the route in 1:41:33 (according to my watch). This time, on a gloriously sunny morning, we completed it over 3 minutes quicker in 1 hour 38 minutes without feeling any more stressed. Progress for Miss Grant indeed.
This was a lighter week of 40 miles. Sessions were mixed up a bit to ensure I was fully freshened up to race. I had been really anxious to improve on Rouken Glen. Next week, with no race, will be along similar lines to week beginning 11th October, the same types of sessions on the same days with mileage between 50-55.
No comments:
Post a Comment