Sunday 22 February 2009

Review of the week

I have done 58m which brings my weekly ave up to almost 49m. I,m v happy with that.
Earlier this week I was struggling fairly singificantly with fatigue. I am sleeping v well but still feling shattered. From experience I know if I keep my head down things will improve and they have. All the same its worth noting.
Yesterday was the national X country champs at falkirk. 4 of us went over for this v prestigious event. There were 9 races. We saw the womens wonby the v impressive Freya Murray. She was well ahead of the rest of the field.
After a warm up we all assembled. 400 runners belting up a hill is quite a thing to be part of. I had overindulged the night before and feeling rather rough didnt expect too much. However I felt prettyy OK and after a slow start made my way past a few. There was a steep dip with a muddy bottom that sucked my shoe off. Luckily it went straight back on. After the 1st of 3 laps I started to feel pretty knackered and decided to settle down. IB passed me near the end of the 2nd lap obviously feeling alot sharper. I kept him in sight but couldnt close the gap. I finished in 49.50.
Today IB and I mey 6 harriers at auchingarrich. The plan was to do a TDS with PM joining us to Crieff. Instead of going down the road we ran to Drunnadarroch and along the river to Comrie. This was lovely but added 1.7m.
I felt alot better today and enjoyed the run. The weather was perfect. My mule bars are proving acceptable. Shame they cost 1.75gbp. We left PM in Crieff and probaly picked the pace up.20m was done in 3.05 and we finished in 3h 21.30. A great run.

Weekly total 58m

Sunday 15 February 2009

Solo pipe run

I arrived on time in Crieff for the club run to fing myself without ant running companions.
I ran the Pipe run steadily in 59.37.
A pleasant run in welcome mild conditions. All the snow has gone overnight fro our house.
Later on I did an 8 mile walk with Liz in Glenlednock.
Week 48M

Saturday 14 February 2009

7x4 and a speed session

This week has been one of recovery. I think on reflection the long run last Sunday was a bit quick. Consequently it has taken all week to recover with some pleasant but slow runs.
I have done 4 7 mile runs Tue to Fri and today we had the speed session in Crieff.
I had had a few drinks last night so wasnt expecting to much. However as soon as we set off I knew I was going to be OK today. I ran the 5m course on 32.15 which is a 25sec improvement. I also managed a negative split with 16.11 and 16.04 . Afterwards IB and I did a circuit of the 10K circuit to get some mileage. I felt pretty lousy for some of that but seemed to come out of it.
On one of my runs earlier in the week I also felt as if someone had pulled the plug on my energy levels.
Next week I'm hoping for a similar week prior to X country on Sat and maybe a long run on the sunday.Hopefully no more energy dips though.

Sunday 8 February 2009

Masters and a long run

Yesterday 4 Harriers went over to Irvine for the National X country masters.
I like the term masters , it sounds so much better than veteran.
It was a great day weatherwise,@ 5deg and bright. We arrived in plenty of time and watched the women.
Then it was our turn. We had 3 laps of 3300m. I set off steadily, tucking in behing IB for the first half of the race. I hadnt run one of these before and wasnt sure how to pace it. I found it harder than I expected. Its difficult to get a rhythm. However it was good fun. I ran each lap at very even pace finishing in 39.33. The prizegiving was great fun. Its a friendly event and v low key. liked the way the annoncer made it v clear the trophies were not for taking away. All v couthy.
All 4 of us did probably what we expected to do more or less.
I have another of these in 2/52 so looking forward to that.

Today IB and I drove to Linlithgow and got the train to Haymarket to run back to Linlithgow.
It was V V cold. This is in preparation for the Glasgow to Edin race in 5/52. We set off quite fast. Its all on the canal towpath so v flat. We ran 22m in 3h 7.30min. We did 7.5m in the 1st hour, 7m in the 2nd and 6.5 in the 3rd. So how did it feel ?
Well I found it OK. Its quite tough on the hams but otherwise its nice countryside and easy running. I think the race will be tough but hopefully doable.

56m for the week

Friday 6 February 2009

Blimey its cold

We have been in the grip of some pretty cold weather this week. The track down to our house has been a fairly lethal stretch of ice all week. In spite of this I have managed some running
On Wed I did the club run which went well. I felt good the wole way and only slowed to accomodate the icey roads downhill
So that was 6m in 45.45
Yesterday I did a run from PRI which was twice round the inch. Again it felt good. I have mislaid my watch but I know I did about 6m again.
I am off today and plan a 7 miler then its cross country tomorrow in Irvine which will be a new experience for me never having done a X country or been to Irvine.

Monday 2 February 2009

Run from home and club ceilidh

Saturday evening was our annual club bash.
This year was special for several reasons. The evening inevitably focussed out thoughts on Simon and Shelagh. Simon passed away 3/12 ago from pancreatic cancer and Shelagh very bravely came to the dinner. I had the privelage of awarding Simon the presidents trophy and I was very glad that Shelagh accepted it for him.
It is also our 25th year and Rob gave an excellent speech.
My speech went OK and some were kind enough to say they enjoyed it so that was good.
I was abit disappointed with my meal but otherwise it was a great evening.
That was the end of Jan in which I ran 192 miles.

Yesterday I ran 16 miles which is the shortest road circuit I can do from home. It took me 2h 6 min. I ran with my ipod which made a big difference as it dstracts me when i feel tired. Overall I felt the run went really well.
46 miles for the week.

Today I did an 8 mile run from Crieff that we call the pipe run. I did it in 65 min.It was punctuated by some blizzard like conditions but was fine underfoot apart from being v muddy. You expect that this time of year. At present I am injury free which is not a condition I am used to. As you would expect every run is done with baited breath awaiting the next twinge or pain. Well I will attempt to make the most of it while I can.
I note that JK has done a superb 232 miles so far which is 40 more than me. I am happy with my start to the year and hope to build steadily over the next couple of months.