I had had a decent week training: including running; cycling and swimming. I’d looked into signing up for swimming lessons with one of the local tri-athlete clubs but had noticed that the minimum ability was to be able to swim four lengths freestyle. Of course, I can swim four lengths, the only problem being that I tend to stop after every one, or sometimes two. So on Wednesday morning, in the pouring rain, I headed to Bellahouston Sports Centre. I entered the 25m pool and swam four lengths, had a wee rest and then did another four. I repeated this until I had completed 16 lengths. I think 400m is about right for a novice tri, so I rewarded myself with a rest in the steam room. Cooled down and did a further four lengths, rewarded myself with a sauna, did another four lengths and then had a relaxing spa before heading homeward.
My knee seemed alright after my swim, so I gave it a test on Thursday, by running 11.8 miles on the treadmill. There was some minor pain but nothing serious, although my hamstrings started to tighten up after my run. Friday was the local September Weekend holiday, what used to be known as the Blackpool Weekend – as bus loads of Glaswegians used to head to the Lancashire resort for their fun. I settled for a seven mile cycle, in an effort to slacken some of the hamstring tightness.
Saturday is parkrun day
Saturday morning arrived and my hamstrings were still tight, so I gave them a massage with some balm that I’d bought in Thailand last year, before making my way to Pollok Park for the Glasgow parkrun.
Although a number of the regular club runners were not participating, as they had the George Cummins Relays in the afternoon, there was still a surprisingly large turnout of some 245 runners. As well as my usual warm up and pre-race chats, I had a wee blether with Smiley Pace’s Charlotte Jenkinson. The Sheffield lass was running the Glasgow course for the first time, whilst I was doing it for the 71st! Well she said that she was from Sheffiled but she'd never heard of Graham Fellows, Jilted John or John Shuttleworth !
My Race
Knowing that the field wasn’t as strong as usual, I made my way to closer to the front than normal. I had decided to try my knee without any support and started more conservative than usual. The 1st k took me 4:22. By the time I was approaching the 2nd K, I was quite happy as I was set to catch Clydesdale’s Watson Jones. It had taken me 4k to catch him last week at Strathclyde Park. However I then heard someone sprinting down the hill and looked on with disbelief as I noticed that it was my old Nemesis, Norman Boyle, who was storming past me. I passed Watson and was surprised to see Norman just ahead of me at the first hill after the glade. He complimented me on my running as I overtook him on the hill. I was focussing on Irvine’s Mike Flinn and Giffnock’s Martin Myant who were both well ahead of me. Mike seemed to find another gear going down towards the glade in the second lap and I saw him pass Martin with relative ease. I stuck to my task, presuming that any slip in my pace would allow Norman to catch me. l passed Ken MacArthur just before the sign for the last 200m and although I caught up with Daniel Robertson, my challenge wasn't enough to beat him but it did help spur him onto a great finish and a PB of 22:19.
I finished in 57th place, with a time of 22:24. Exactly the same time as it had taken me to complete the quicker Strathclyde race the previous week! Mike Flinn placed 44th with 21:46, whilst I ended up surprisingly just four places behind Martin Myant, who had taken 22:08 for the undulating 5k. Watson had placed 60th with 22:39, whilst Norman’s burst of speed had cost him and he placed 68th in 22:47. The Bellahouston Road Runner, being overtaken by rival Harriers William McAllister and Michael Healy, who placed 66th and 67th consecutively, with times of 22:45 and 22:46. Ayrshire lass Marianne Wilson placed 71st in 22:48, with Angela Campbell running yet another PB to finish in 72nd spot with a time of 22:56.
Results
Up at the front of the race, Victoria Park/City of Glasgow’s teenager Ethan Sloan- Dennison crossed the line first in a time of 16:19. Runner-up spot was earned by Sheffield’s Philip Cooper with 16:48, with Giffnock teenager Andrew Clark collecting bronze with a new PB of 17:03.
Youth was also to the fore in the women’s event, where Giffnock’s J14 Chloe Cowan took pride of place with a time of 20:11. In a successful day for Sheffield runners, Charlotte Jenkinson earned silver, in 21:14, with someone who may hail from even further than South Yorkshire, Nataliya Polozhehentseva placing third, with a time of 21:32.
Full Results
Thanks
Well done to all concerned and thanks, for the 71st time to the volunteers who make it all possible.
No Coffee for Me
I’m afraid I had to miss the post race banter over coffee, as I had a photo shoot arranged, pictures to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment