Lanarkshire Road Relay Championships, 18th October 2014

Having missed the West District Cross Country Relay due to being in Durham for my aunt and uncle's golden wedding anniversary and being over my pursuit of Kenyan women around Glasgow, I was enthusiastic for a competitive outing. The Lanarkshire Road Relay at Drumpellier Park, Coatbridge fitted the bill. As I did for the George Cummings Relay, I viewed the race as part of training and went out a 5 mile jog in the morning. Before the George Cummings, the 5 miler took me 32:23. By uncanny co-incidence, the same run was completed again in 32:23. I sense a new pre-race superstition. Each time I run on the morning of a race, I'll need to do the same 5 mile route in that very time.

 

Dry but blustery conditions greeted those who gathered for the championship. A number of Cambuslang runners understandably sat this out after a hectic race schedule but, while we had no senior ladies team (sadly there were only 4 of them in all), we still lined up 2 complete mens teams. Each leg was 4km comprising an out and back course essentially from one end of the park to the other and back again. For the record, our A team claimed gold while the B team were a competitive 7th place out of 11 complete teams, only 9 seconds off 6th.

 

In the A team, George Pettit rose to the occasion with 5th place in 13:28, keeping us in contact with, amongst others, early pacesetters East Kilbride. With the fastest time of the day (12:02), Robert Gilroy hauled us into the lead which I managed to extend on 3rd leg with the 3rd fastest time of 12:22 (Shettleston's Paul Sorrie split us with 12:17 on last leg). Breaking my usual habit, I wore my training Garmin (I usually wear a stopwatch in races or occasionally no watch at all) since I had heard suspicions in previous years the course was slightly short. Following a hill session on the Thursday night, a 7.5 mile run home from work on the Friday night then the aforementioned 5 miler, I naturally felt a bit leg weary but pushed hard in the gusting wind and was pleasantly surprised with my time. The Garmin told me the route was exactly 4km(!) and I had run 4:51 for the first mile, 5:05 in the second mile then quickened again to approximately 4:52 pace during the last half mile. That will do fine. Jamie Reid has a tremendous distance running pedigree (see the link I've provided) and, now in his veteran years, is still capable of running very well and dishing out a bloody nose to unsuspecting rivals. He did what he needed to do, ignoring the attention of a loose dog in the later stages ("a Shettleston dog" quipped an onlooker) and closing the race out for us in a swift 12:49. Paul Sorrie brought Shettleston in for silver and Jamie Clements anchored an ever improving East Kilbride squad to bronze.

 

An experienced B team was lead out by Alick Walkinshaw (15:08), handing over to Barnie Gough (15:58) then Paul Thomson (13:44). Alasdair Murray finished the job off in 15:21.

 

In addition, earlier in the day, we had teams in the younger age groups. Notable performances came from the under 13 and 15 boys both winning silver.

 

After jogging another 3.5 miles to complete an 11 mile day, undoubted highlight of the day for me was a good bowl of thick lentil soup in the visitor centre café before the homeward journey.

 

As a footnote, the Lanarkshire AAA has sadly failed to elect a new committee, resulting in the need for an EGM. The failure puts the future of the Lanarkshire championship events, including this one, in doubt. While not in a position to contribute myself, one only hopes a solution can be found.

Amazing Who You Meet 8

I made a late decision to contest this year's Great Scottish Run Half Marathon due to my healthy position in the Scottish Road Running Grand Prix. It being my first half marathon since 2010 and without the level of mileage required to race the distance, I feel more than content with 19th place in an even paced personal best of 1:09:03.

While not particularly enjoying it at the time, I had the honour of running alongside a 2 time World Marathon champion and the winner of the 2011 Boston and 2011 and 2013 Frankfurt Marathons, Edna Kiplagat and Caroline Kilel respectively. They were running an ideal pace for me so I considered it made sense to make use of their experience, stick with them and maybe get pulled through to pick some stragglers off later. The photo below shows me with both women in Pollok Park after 5 miles. I eventually succumbed to them, Kiplagat doing 1:07:57 and Kilel 1:08:53, and my first defeat to a lady since 2008 (I can't recall the last time I lost to two ladies in one race). I guess however there's no disgrace here. Two full time Africans versus a beer drinking, curry loving solicitor after all! Photo courtesy of Chris Upson.

George Cummings Road Relay, 27th September 2014

Having made my first appearance in this race for some years last year, I returned to the Renfrewshire village of Houston for another attempt. It was warm, a holiday weekend, the sun was shining and I felt in a good mood.

 

I experimented by using the race as part of my Saturday double training, going out a 5 mile jog in the morning in East Kilbride then taking on 3rd leg in the afternoon. Apart from the first half mile when I overtook Inverclyde's B team to move us into 4th place, our final position, I had a completely solo effort, clocking 13:05 for the undulating 2.7 mile course. This was only 7 seconds outside my previous best when I had the benefit of competing against Lachlan Oates during 1st leg so it gave me a good training effect.

Above: ploughing a lonely furrow on 3rd leg. Photo courtesy of Alan Derrick.

Overall, I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon with some great company. With no marathons on the agenda (a lesson well and truly learned), hopefully there are more days like this to come.

 

The Cambuslang performances were as follows:-

Men's A team- 4th

Gordon Robertson, 13:55

Bobby Bristow, 13:55

Me, 13:05

Robert Gilroy, 13:03

Men's B team- 9th

George Pettit, 14:36

Greg Hastie, 14:38

Alistair Campbell, 14:08

Scott Hunter, 15:12

Women- 2nd

Eve Mackinnon, 16:03- youngest Cambuslang runner competing and debut in a senior relay.

Caitlin Hendry, 16:19

Katie Bristow, 16:13

Mixed team

Kirsty Anderson, 17:07

Barnie Gough, 17:15

Stirling 10km Road Race (Scottish 10km Championships), 14th September 2014

By the time this race came round, I felt in real need of a performance to give me that spark to push on again. I'd been seriously below par since returning from holiday but my performance in the Scottish 5000m was the prompt to get my act together and got me back into the sort of training I know best and which has got me my best results in the past.

 

Leaving no stone unturned, I booked a Travel Lodge in Stirling for the night before to ensure I wasn't worrying about getting there from East Kilbride for the 10.15am start on race day. I got a call on the Saturday afternoon to say, due to heating problems, my booking had been changed to Falkirk but this was still fine and I stayed overnight as planned. I did take a bit of a risk since the hotel had no restaurant and simply gave me a breakfast pack with, amongst other things, cornflakes (which I don't like), a cereal bar and a muffin. I had the muffin with a cup of tea while watching "Last Night of the Proms" on BBC on Saturday night and relied on the cereal bar, some Jaffa cakes, fruit pastilles, tea and Lucozade as my race day fuel. I arrived an hour before the start, quickly collected my number, snuck away to warm up in peace before re-appearing just after 10am to stand on the start line.

 

The course is an out and back of sorts, going outwards for about 6km then taking a slightly shorter route back to the start/finish at Forthbank Stadium. A good start was necessary and I pushed myself up into the large leading group. My plan was to simply stay there while others dropped off and hopefully still be there at the end. The field contained a number of prominent names, Andrew Butchart, John Newsom, Tewolde Mengsiteab and Robert Gilroy to name only a few off the top of my head. I would be lying if I said I felt comfortable but I was moving well and after 3km as we crossed a bridge into some countryside, I had stayed in the group.

 

Robert Gilroy has re-emerged as a real threat in these races and we spent much of the time either exchanging positions back and forth or side by side. He was slightly ahead as we went through halfway. My watch said 15:01! Any lingering doubts about my pre-race fuelling strategy disappeared. As we came to the turning point, I was just off the group. I saw them bunch and bump into each other, an amusing moment to briefly take my mind off what I was doing.

 

On the road back, I feared being dropped and managed to pull myself back up. Andrew and Tewolde made a move for home at between 7-8km. I tried to go with them but simply couldn't sustain the pace and had to relent. In doing so though, I had pulled away from others. I found myself in 4th place a short distance away from 3rd placed Michael Crawley and a possible individual bronze. I was working hard though more to hold the others off than catch him. In the last couple of kilometres, Lachlan Oates then Patryk Gierjatowicz overtook me. In my effort to maintain position, I managed to overhaul Patryk with 400-500m to go and came close to catching Lachlan to no avail.

 

The end result was 5th place with a new personal best of 30:35. Andrew won the race in exactly 30 minutes with Tewolde 2nd in 30:12, Michael 3rd in 30:27 and Lachlan 4th 2 seconds before me. Myself, Robert and Kerry-Liam Wilson (1st vet with a personal best of 31:29) took team bronze for Cambuslang behind Central and Shettleston. This was easily one of my best days in running for some time. You can't beat the feeling when it all comes together. My birthday curry and pint (my birthday was the day after this race) that night tasted all the better. Especially when you've only had a cereal bar for your breakfast.

 

Now the hard bit- keeping it going again.

 



Training for Stirling 10km Road Race (Scottish 10km Championships)- Back to Basics

Plans changed somewhat following the Dundonald 10km. 11 days later, my cautious optimism was shattered with a very poor performance in the 5000m at the Scottish track championships in Kilmarnock. I finished a distant 11th place in 15:45, my slowest 5000m on the track since 2009. The appalling weather conditions didn't help my motivation. The wind was above the legal limit for sprints and the driving rain worsened during the race, sapping my competitive edge. I returned home in the foulest of foul moods where my Dad and I exchanged some words. We reached agreement that I had gone too long without the sort  of training which had produced my best results so agreed on a plan. We called it "Back to Basics."

Race plans were also adjusted. I withdrew from the 10,000m in Stretford, setting the Scottish 10km in Stirling the following week as an alternative target. A report will follow but, suffice to say for now, it went alright. Below is my training leading up to the race beginning with the day after the 5000m. Key recurring themes were my old staple favourites- Monday track session with a jog home warm down home of just over 3 miles (I also got a lift halfway there and jogged the rest for a warm up), run home from work, High Point hill reps, Thursday club session, a Saturday double and long Sunday Windfarm runs. A nice, boring, consistent training diary, my favourite kind.

Week Commencing Monday 18th August

 Monday: Track, 8 x Tempo 100 (alternate 100m jogs and 50m sprints for 1200m) then 8 x 500m in 1:27-1:30, 8.1 miles including warm up and warm down- I was still in a bad mood, hence, the sprints at the start.

Tuesday: 7.6 miles easy (49:43), run home from work.

Wednesday:  10 x High Point hill reps, 7.5-8 miles including warm up and warm down.
Thursday: Club, 2 x 10 mins, 30 secs recovery (average 5:21/mile pace), 6.5 miles including warm up and warm down.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: AM: 8 miles easy (52:29).
PM: 3.4 miles easy (21:39).

Sunday:  Longer run, Whitelee Windfarm, 12 miles (1:17:42), easy first half (41:38), brisk second half (35:54).

Mileage: 53

Week Commencing Monday 25th August

Monday: Track, 6 x 600m in 1:47-1:49 plus 1 x 400m in 69 secs, 7-7.5 miles including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: 7.6 miles easy (48:23), run home from work.

Wednesday:  10 x High Point hill reps, 7.8 miles including warm up and warm down.

Thursday: Club, 2 x 10 mins, 30 secs recovery (average 5:16/mile pace), 6.5-7 miles including warm up and warm down.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Scottish Athletics Mens League Division 2 Match 4, Scotstoun, Glasgow
800m A race- 7th in 2:08.78
10,000m Division 1 and 2 combined- 1st Division 2 and 3rd overall in 32:12.38.
10.2 miles including warm down.

Sunday:  Longer run, Whitelee Windfarm, 12.5 miles easy (1:21:37).

Mileage: 52

Conditions for the Mens League were as windy as Kilmarnock but without the rain. An even paced 10,000m (16:09 first half, 16:03 second half) suggested better things to come. I went a jog for just over 20 minutes at home afterwards because I wanted it to feel like a double session.

Week Commencing Monday 1st September

Monday:  Track, 16 x 300m in mainly 50-51 secs plus 1 x 200m in 33 secs, 7.9 miles including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: Rest- decided on after Sunday's run to let legs recover from the Mens League.

Wednesday:  10 x High Point hill reps, 7.8 miles including warm up and warm down.

Thursday: Club, 2 x 10 mins, 30 secs recovery (average 5:18/mile pace), 6.5-7 miles including warm up and warm down.

Friday: 6.3 miles easy (39:26), shortened run home from work.

Saturday: AM: 8.5 miles easy (55:19).
PM: 3.5 miles easy (22:16).

Sunday:  Longer run, Whitelee Windfarm, 12 miles (1:17:16), 6 miles easy, 4 miles brisk (23:30), 2 miles easy.

Mileage: 52

Week Commencing Monday 8th September

Monday: Track, 7 x 400m in mainly 70-71 secs plus 1 x 200m in 34 secs, 5 miles including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: 6 x High Point hill reps, 4.75 miles including warm up and warm down.

Wednesday:  4.5 miles easy (28:11), shortened run home from work.

Thursday:Club, 2 x 7 mins, 30 secs recovery (average 5:08/mile pace), 5.5 miles including warm up and warm down.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: 2.5 miles easy (16:31)

Sunday:  Race- City of Stirling 10km Road Race (Scottish 10km Championships)- 5th in 30:34, PB and team bronze.
10-10.25 miles including warm down.

Mileage: 32

It's incredible what going back to basics can bring you.

Above: Cambuslang's 3 team counters post race. Left to right- me, Robert Gilroy, Kerry-Liam Wilson. Photo courtesy of Scottish Athletics.

Dundonald 10km Road Race, 6th August 2014

By the beginning of August, I was in a "race yourself fit" type mode which I hoped would pay off for my two target races. Being in such a mode gave me a reason to return to Dundonald, an old favourite with several appearances to my name over a 12 year period. A 7.30pm start gave me more leeway than the previous week and I arrived more relaxed with time to spare.

 

More on the setting and race route can be found in my blog post on 6 August 2011. A sizeable field of almost 200 runners set off along Dundonald's main street for the first half climb into Symington. I started relatively conservatively, not wishing to blow a gasket on the first climb, slowly moving into 2nd place by the 2km point. An unknown runner in a yellow vest was clear ahead of me and taking a bit longer to catch. I suspected it may have been the previous year's winner David Phee but couldn't be sure.

 

Eventually, around the 3km, I caught him and made an effort to pull away to no avail. Things essentially remained that way for the rest of the race. I completed the hilly first half in 17:06, preparing myself for a relentless assault on the flat, downhill second 5km. So too did the mystery man. He stuck to me like glue. I had one last trick- run hard up the hill to the castle and run hard off the top to the finish. A tactic I learned from reading about Robert de Castella. Part one (running hard up the hill) worked to perfection. Part two (running hard off the top) not so much as I ran the finish out myself rather than my opponent who overtook me on the blind side on the way to victory.

Above: approaching the finish. Photo courtesy of Kenny Phillips.

 

I came through the finish in a new course best of 32:08 having run 15:02 for the second half and it not being enough for first place. On exchanging handshakes, the mystery man turned out to be Matthew Gunby of Woodford Green, an Australian born Englishman who has just moved to Edinburgh. Learning that his 10km best is 29:42 made me feel better about myself. He pipped me here by 3 seconds.

 

In the other results, Bellahouston Road Runner Craig Reid secured a second consecutive midweek 3rd place in Ayrshire, clocking 34:46. Fellow Cambuslang Harrier James Healey sampled the Dundonald experience for the first time and was rewarded for heeding my pre-race pep talk with a time of 36:52. In the ladies competition, Melissa Wylie (Dumbarton) took the honours with 40:10 ahead of Laura Wallace (40:16), one of a large turnout from Ayr Seaforth. Laura McGarrity (Troon) took 3rd with 40:25 in a keenly contested race.

 

I definitely won't leave it another 3 years before I return to this idyllic corner of Ayrshire. I may have said it before but look out for this little gem in the calendar and put it in your race plans.

Kilmaurs Gala 5km Road Race, 30th July 2014

Experience over the last few years since making my jump forward in running has told me that I train best when I have targets. When I'm not targeting anything, training goes wayward and, in my Dad's words, I "phone it in." Following the Calderglen Trail Race, I had no immediate races to aim for but did have considerable preparation to do at work before going on holiday at the end of the following week. By the end of June, I had trained at a consistent level for 16 consecutive weeks since returning in mid March from my mini sabbatical with some very pleasing training sessions logged (so I found while reading my training diary at the pool). I had also raced 13 times in that period, enjoying a considerable amount of success along the way. I'll save the details however for my end of year review. My race total for first 6 months of the year (including my DNF at the National Cross Country) stood at 17, far more prolific than I've been for at least a couple of years. I therefore took the week off, focused almost exclusively on my job, including Saturday and Sunday shifts (I left 10 pages of holiday notes) then enjoyed 15 days with my brother in the Costa del Sol. More on that in a future post. Running wise, the most generous thing I could say is I ticked over.

 

There's a lot to be said about getting fit by racing. My race targets are the Scottish track 5000m at Kilmarnock on 17th August and a BMC track 10,000m in Stretford on 6th September. Any others around those I'm seeing as preparation. The Kilmaurs 5k had caught my attention after I saw Ian Goudie write about it but I'd never been able to attend until this year. Having a week and a bit of proper training behind me and being 12 days removed from the last of my 14 San Miguel fuelled nights, this constituted an appropriate "see where I am" type race.

 

It nearly however didn't happen for me. I reached Kilmaurs without a hitch then hit a problem. I couldn't find Morton Park, the race venue. After driving round what seemed like every street in the entire village, I gave up the ghost and started heading home before seeing a small arrow which said "5k" out the corner of my eye at the very last second. This lead me up a narrow lane barely wide enough for a pedestrian never mind a car then, eureka, a pitch with a dirt track surrounding it and, most importantly, runners. By my time of arrival, I had only 20 minutes to collect a number, change out my suit (I drove straight from work) and do a warm up of some description.

I lined up for the 7pm start alongside Robert Gilroy and over 150 other runners, an amazing turnout for a midweek race in a rural location during the Commonwealth Games. The first kilometre comprised 2 laps of the dirt track before leaving the park down a flight of stairs into Kilmaurs main street. Robert and I quickly established position and a sense of deja vu from Calderglen Park set in on my part.

Above: leaving Morton Park after the initial 2 laps. Photo courtesy of Kenny Phillips.

 

 

The course then followed an undulating route in the countryside surrounding the village. I was feeling sluggish but kept with Robert until just after 2km. He is full of confidence and rightly so and slowly forged a gap. After 3km, to be honest, I was glad I only had another 2km to go. Eventually, we turned off the roads onto a trail surface heading back to Morton Park. I re-entered the track for a final lap to the finish just as Robert finished. He clocked a swift 15:11 with me following 15:39. The organiser said at the prize giving I was "hot on his heels." I'm not sure that's a totally accurate description. 3rd placed runner Craig Reid (Bellahouston Road Runners) was close to me in turn with his PB finish of 16:11.

 

The remainder of the Cambuslang contingent comprised George Pettit (7th, 17:08), Chris Upson (8th, 17:13), James Healey (13th, 17:42, a PB) and Eddie Carr (43rd, 20:16). Robert, George and I shared the £20 team prize between us and had the pleasure of photos with the Kilmaurs Gala Queen. In the women's contest, local girl Kara Tait (Kilmarnock Harriers) claimed the win and an excellent 10th place overall in 17:17, fending off Laura Wallace (Ayr Seaforth) and Kilmarnock team mate Lindsay McMahon in the process. For me, the race gave my heart and lungs a jolt and, for that reason, was a worthwhile exercise.

 

Full results are here.