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.

Compare and Contrast

Last weekend, I competed in the McAndrew Road Relay for Cambuslang. Full report to follow. It was only the second time I had participated in the near 75 year old race in a red and white vest having lined up in the yellow and black of Calderglen Harriers numerous times. Here are two photographs from the relay taken 10 years apart.

 

Above: running first leg for Calderglen Harriers in 2003 against a runner from my future club. I never met the Cambuslang man after this since he had gone by the time I joined 6 years later. Photo courtesy of my Dad.

 

Above: running last leg for Cambuslang in 2013, almost 3 minutes quicker than 10 years earlier.

 

 

Amazing Who You Meet 7

On 15th September, I had a significant birthday as I joined the 30 club. I still don't quite know how to feel about it.

To mark the occasion, my parents treated me to a hospitality package at the Queen's Park v Elgin game on 21st September, the closest home game to my birthday. With the team's form of having lost all 7 games played in the 2013/14 season, it felt slightly like a booby prize. Clouds do have silver linings though.

Alas, I was named match ball sponsor which entitled me to access to the Millenium Lounge bar at Hampden before kick off for a drink, to a buffet at half time and another drink after the game if I so wished. I also received a football signed by the players and coaches who had achieved 7 defeats out of 7!

The team however had a lot more stuffing about them, battling back from 2-0 then 3-1 down for a 3-3 draw and their first point of the season. By way of explanation, 12 of last season's squad have departed with the bedding in of new faces a work in progress. Normally, selection of man of the match falls to the match sponsor. With no-one filling this role, I was given the honour. I swayed between midfielder David Gold, on loan from Hibs, and long serving Spider Tony Quinn, settling in the end for the latter for his 2 goal contribution as well as an excellent all round performance. I got a close view as I stood in the tunnel during the last few minutes waiting to present the club captain with the award. It was worth the wait.

Thank you to my parents for the present and to Queen's Park FC for their generosity on the day.

Above: presenting Tony Quinn with the man of the match champagne. Photo courtesy of Queen's Park FC.

Scottish Athletics Mens League Division 2 Match 4, 25th August 2013

A trip to Aberdeen didn't seem to set the juices of many flowing. Despite asking around quite a number of people, I headed north with 4 athletes, including myself, and the required 3 officials with another official meeting us there. Once the culture shock of a 7am rise on a Sunday wore off, I looked forward to my 3rd visit to the Granite City. Our minibus got us there safely. We even had time for a breakfast stop at Asda in Dundee. No sightings of Oor Wullie or the Broons and no jeely pieces though my roll and sausage went down well. I also didn't find Wullie's bucket which, according to that day's Sunday Post, had gone missing.

I had devised a plan to maximise the number of points a long distance athlete (me), 2 middle distance athletes (Alistair Campbell and Craig Whyteside) and a thrower (Ian Smith) could earn the team. To my relief and surprise, the other 3 adhered to my plan. Personally, I felt a 10,000m wasn't enough so pencilled myself in for an 800m and 400m as a warm up. The less said about my long jump, the better. Suffice to say, my personal best of 4.89m, set in 1998, remains unthreatened.

I've found Aberdeen rather cold on my 2 previous visits. This time however, conditions were humid but the lack of wind made for reasonable running weather. I lined up in the 800m A race and duly found myself at the back of the 6 man field with 61 seconds for 400m. With 200m to go, I was in the same place before I found a bit of strength. 29 seconds for the last 200m brought me a time of 2:04.80. I lay 5th with about 10m to go but a dip on the line earned me 4th and 2 extra points by only 0.05 seconds. Stuart Campbell of Corstorphine was 3rd in 2:04.54. The tightest of tight finishes. I was well behind the winner from Inverness (1:55.56). Still, an encouraging start. Craig had a great run in the B race, 2:08.81 for 2nd place. He had also fitted in long jump with more success than me.

The 400m was my litmus test. A minimum points standard of 60 seconds to achieve. 4 runners became 3 as I experienced a career first, being part of a race with a false start. Thankfully the Inverness athlete beside me was the offender. My prayers were answered as, despite finishing 3rd out of 3 in the B race, 58.17 seconds ensured I earned points. Similar to the long jump, my personal best of 55.6 seconds from 1999 is intact. All my personal bests up to and including 400m were set in the last millennium. Before me, Alistair had clocked 51.18 seconds for 3rd in the A race.

Alistair and Craig did me proud in the 1500m, scoring maximum points, Craig with a personal best. Highlight of the race was the announcer's excitement at the sight of 3 athletes called Campbell taking the first 3 places. Happily for me, the one in the Whitemoss vest emerged victorious then finished a whirlwind of racing with 5th place and 24.85 seconds in the 200m A race.

Meanwhile, Ian mopped up a clean sweep of 2nd place finishes throughout the afternoon in the hammer, shot putt and discus. This complete an excellent summer where, with Craig, he has been an ever present at all 4 Mens League meetings, earning more than his fair share of points.

After my earlier successes, I lined up for the combined Divisions 1 and 2 10,000m in a relaxed mood. Only 11 athletes toed the line. A group comprising Alistair Hay, Robert Russell and Dermot Cummins broke away. With 3 laps of the track behind me in 2 previous races and another 25 left, I let them go. I settled into my own rhythm but unfortunately soon found myself in no mans land. It would be a long, isolated effort. No wind at least which was a blessing. I hit a decent but unspectacular pace, completing 5000m in 15:57. I was a bit disappointed with this and upped the effort. Alistair, Robert and Dermot were bunched then I was several metres back with a gap behind me in turn. Racing 10,000m on the track is far different from the road. Your mind plays tricks on you. I started mixed up laps and distances in my head. In the second half, I got something to chase as Robert dropped off the group. Over a period of 3-4 laps, I slowly closed the gap then made a break past him. I'd never beaten Robert so it would be a good scalp if I could hold on.

As the laps ticked by, I appeared to be on for around 32 minutes. I wanted better than this. I found enough to finish 3rd overall in a new track personal best by 25 seconds of 31:50.55. Dermot and Alistair had too much for me on the day, clocking 31:03.26 and 31:14.52 respectively. Robert finished in 32:14.11 followed by an impressive young Max McNeill in 32:37.71.

After a very gentle jog from the track to Pittodrie Stadium and back, that was more than enough for one day. Our quartet exceeded my expectations to take 4th on the day and 4th overall. Fantastic! As well as this, our officials, Mark Stringer, Willie Sutherland, Susan Gatens and Steven Whyteside, ensured we satisfied the league rules and could compete. The final league table looked like this.

Inverness Harriers, 31 points

Arbroath, 28

Giffnock North, 24

Whitemoss, 18

Pitreavie, 14 (531 match points)

Corstorphine, 14 (493 match points)

Clydesdale Harriers, 8

Fife, 5

The top 2 earned promotion to Division 1. Maybe one day.

I was tired but content on the trip home and, after my fish supper dinner, even with work the next day, relived my holiday a little and treated myself to a couple of San Miguels. There are times when running is a great sport. This was one of those times.