New Year Review - a wee update!

I managed to squeeze in another couple of races the Glasgow parkrun on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Two races in two days took my total to 64 for the year!



The icy conditions and my poor health kept road running in the final days of the decade to a minimum. However I managed to beat my 10k PB on the treadmill and went sub 40 for the first time since my records began clocking a 38:56 and it wasn't on a flat programme. I know it's not the same as road/real running but it is a major psychological boost to me as I go into another running year.



My total running milage for the year was 1539, with a further 521 on the bike.


SAHB
On a non running note, I had a bit of a nostalgic trip by attending the Chris Glen gig at The Ferry in Glasgow on Boxing Day. A great night and reminiscent of those Christmas Specials that the bands used to put on.





Auld Lang Syne
I watched It's a Wonderful Life and a documentary about Auld Lang Syne, both brought a tear to my eye. I guess I'm just proud to be an 'honest man'.

Robert Burns penned this in 1788:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

Chorus.-For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o'kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
For auld, &c.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit,
Sin' auld lang syne.
For auld, &c.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne.
For auld, &c.

And there's a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.
For auld, &c.

The weather outside is frosty..........

I enjoyed my walk in the winterland through Queens Park this morning, the snow was crisp and the air was cold, shame I'm not yet up to running in it but it did mean that I could take some photos.

Year End

Like a lot of my running friends I've been ill for a wee while. I caught the flu on Sunday 22nd November and haven't been right since. I poured myself on to a plane and headed to Egypt where I could lie around by the pool or beach and soak in the vitamin D and serotonin. I had a couple of Thai massages when I was there which made me feel like a bit of dough being kneaded but they did help improve my flexibility and help my yoga and ofcourse I tried some of the local customs.



I did the Glasgow parkrun on my return on Saturday 5th December and all things considered I was happy with my time of 22:10. However I missed out on the post race chat and bacon rolls, deciding to get home for a hot shower and back to bed instead. I’m afraid that was a bit of a false dawn as I’ve been struggling since and whilst the fever may help keep the pounds off, wakening up to soaking sheets and pillows every morning is not good. I’ve been on antibiotics, thanks to fellow Ayrshire man Alexander Fleming, but I’m not sure if they have worked. I did wake up in a dry bed this morning though so I tried a wee 20 minute run on the treadmill 2.53 miles and felt ok. Hopefully I’ll get back into running regularly again soon.



In 2009 I managed to run in 62 races and achieved new PBs in the 5k, 5mile, 5.5mile, 10k, 10,000m, 7.5mile and 12.5k distances. No exceptional results but my WAVA is now consistently above 70%, with my highest being 73.78% achieved at the inaugural Edinburgh parkrun. On a down note although I followed Hal Higdon’s 18 week marathon training programme in the end the monkey on my back from collapsing at the Edinburgh Marathon last year with chronic fatigue was just too heavy for me to carry.

In 2010, if I can, I would like to loose that monkey and clock a useful marathon PB. I would also love to get a sub 40min 10k and a sub 20min 5k. Well it’s a target anyway. It would also be good to finish at least one race as first in my category but there are so many good runners out there. I hope to improve my swimming enough to try a triathlon and it would be good to do at least one overseas race.

1500 Miles - Job Done !

Last year I ran 1431 miles so it made sense to me to set myself a target of 1500 miles for 2009. I'm pleased to say that I achieved the target on Sunday 22nd November. I had planned to complete my target at the Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile race but the bad weather and associated flooding forced me to change my plans, my fall back of doing it at the Glasgow parkrun also went awry with the weekly event being cancelled for the first time ever. I therefore got up early on Sunday morning and ran the couple of miles which I needed to reach the big 1500. No more, no less. The Fetch 1500 Mile Club reported “Two new inductees into the hall of fame, so put your hands together for Race Jase, and ian 9657, who got to 1500 and decided that was clearly plenty. It remains to be seen if he ever runs again.”

As it happened I helped out at the Renfrewshire XC Championships from 9am to about 3pm and caught the flu so my running has all but ceased at the moment……. But heh I guess it’s just a way of my body telling me that I needed to rest.