Victoria parkrun #1

The Route

I continued my comeback on Saturday at the inaugural Victoria parkrun held in the Scotstoun area of Glasgow.  I had attended the test event a couple of weeks ago, when a dozen or so runners taken part and everything had gone like clockwork.  You can never tell how many people will turn up for a new race and I’m sure that the organisers must have been pleased, if not a little overwhelmed, when some 200 runners appeared, including 14 Bellahouston Harriers.

I did a warm up lap of the three lap course with fella Bellas Christopher Steward and Jim Carson before joining with loads of other running buddies for the 9:30am Start.  There was also a healthy turnout from Bellahouston Road Runners, including my old nemesis Norman Boyle, and from the local Kelvin Runners and Sweatshop Running Community.  My new training partner was also there with a few of her friends doing their first ever parkrun, I was doing my 124th!

My legs were still sore and heavy from last weeks Half Marathon and a hard hill session on Thursday night, so I was happy to settle in near the middle of the field.  I was even happier when I noticed that there was some confusion up the front of the field as a marshaled screamed and shouted at the runners to go “around the pond”.  The lead runners had actually taken the correct path, with the marshal sending us around a slightly shorter route, indicated by the dark dashed line in the map above.  The error had been rectified for the second and third laps.  I had initially played leap frog with fellow Harrier Angela Campbell but was content to sit in behind her for the second half.  That said, despite the course being flat, I still had to work hard, both mentally and physically, to drag myself around the 5k.

I crossed the line in 78th place with a time of 22:29, the fastest 5k that I’ve ran this year.  Whilst it’s still way short of where I’d like to be, progress is progress and I’m heading in the right direction.

Despite the slight problem it was still a great race and I'm sure that it will be a welcome addition to the parkrun family, my thanks to all involved.

Full results

April Round Up

April has been a very frustrating month, with only being able to run a total of five miles and missing out on the Lochaber Marathon. I did manage to walk/jog my 40th parkrun last week but my physiotherapist continues to rule out any running.


On my Bike
The only upside is that I have been able to cycle and have managed to bike more than 300 miles during the month, a total of over 560 for the year. I’ve joined a local informal cycling club and have been out with them a couple of times.  I’ve now cycled more miles this year than I’ve run. I now aim to cycle 2010 miles this year but I will need a new biike as the one I have just isn't appropriate for longer rides.  In the meantime I'm waiting for my employees to put a Cycle to Work policy in place to allow me to buy one for significantly below the price.

Swim
I made only one visit to the swimming pool but hope to get back into weekly swims now that the school Easter holidays are over.

X Training
I’ve slightly increased my time in the gym and have increased the work rate levels on the various machines and the weight of the dumb bells that I am using, now no.8. I have also progressively increased the number of sit ups that I do to 90 and I’ve given the Crossramp machine a couple of shots. It’s a good machine for working up a sweat, especially if the weather is not cycling friendly.  I've been to one yoga class but have decreased my non class yoga.

Focus
I know that my motivation has gone and that I am in danger of losing my fitness/shape so I’ll just need to persevere for self respect if nothing else until I get the all clear to run again.


Run with Mark
The biggest thing on the agenda will be my decision to run with Mark Cooper for the fifth week of his epic journey as he attempts to run 50 marathons in 56 days. He’ll be running from Amsterdam to Barcelona and I’ll be his support team from Cluny to La Chaise Dieu.


Photography
Although I’m injured I’ve still went to a number of races, usually cycling to them or taking the caravan. As well as supporting the runners I’ve been taking a few photos too. My photos have received a number of favourable comments and are being used by a number of runners on their social network profiles and/or blogs. In the old days I had a 35mm SLR and dabbled in photography, even had my own darkroom for a spell in Edinburgh. I’m thinking of getting back in to it and I’m researching 35mm Digital SLRs at the moment.


Films and Theatre
I’ve seen a number of movies both at the GFT and on DVD, including: 2012; I Am Love; Live During Wartime and Sampson and Delilah and I’ve been to the Kings Theatre to see the NTS’s production of Peter Pan.

Caravan
I cleaned up the Beachcomber and took her up to Lochaber for the marathon.  I'm thinking of buying a new one maybe even this year and I'm researching them at the moment.

New
New bike, new camera, new caravan .......we'll see.

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.

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.

My 50th Race of 2009 - The Isle of Bute 10k Sat August 22

My 50th Race of 2009 and I wanted to make it a bit special so I took the opportunity to join with the small Bella posse that was sailing over to Rothesay to take part in the Isle of Bute Highland Games 10k. I had heard that parking at Weymess Bay was a bit problematic and although I thought about taken the train, when Katy and her kids agreed to come along for the ride, I decided to drive down and park at a railway station a couple of stops north.

The weather was glorious as we sailed across the Firth of Clyde in a jam packed Calmac Ro-Ro ferry. The Bellahouston Road Runners had all went for an earlier ferry but I met up with some Clydesdale Harriers, including Marina and they showed me the way to the Games, the Registration tent and the changing rooms.

I met up with my fellow Bellas and we made our way to the playing field for the start of the race and some team pics. After a brief description of the amended route we lined up and the Games Chieftain, Blyth Duff, of Taggart fame, sounded the Start.

Andy and Maddie Smillie said that they would be aiming to run the race in between 45 and 48 minutes. I had run a relatively fast 10 mile training run on the Friday “That will do me” I stated, whilst Norman Bolye said that he would run it at his marathon race pace. Whilst the massed cheers from the packed stand as we made our way around the Games’ stadium encouraged us to run a wee bit quicker than planned, the heavy underfoot conditions played their role in cooling our enthusiasm. After leaving the stadium the race ran down the High Street to the seafront and the 1km marker and then turned left and headed along the promenade. I was in front of most of the Bellas apart from Andrew Hardman who is a class above me and Joanna Lennox, who I could see in front of me. I decided then that my target for the day would be to beat Joanna and I started to increase the pace. I was overtaking a few other runners but there was a young lad from Motherwell AC who was running along with a female club mate and kept running on my shoulder, so close was he that he actually clipped my shoes on a couple of occasions. He did apologise though and I didn’t mind when he ran shoulder to shoulder with me as this encouraged me to dig deep. The sun was scorching and I was so happy to see that they had a number of water stations which allowed me to take a small drink and cool myself down by pouring the rest of the water over my head. In a reversal of Wednesday’s race with Paula Wilson, I overtook Joanna at about 3k and was aware that she was sticking close to me as we reached the turning point at just after 5k. I had noticed that Joanna’s brother Jethro and Robert Gilroy where running along together at the front of the race and that Andrew Hardman was doing well.

As we turned around and made our way back I could see that Joanna was just behind me and then Andy and Maddie, then Stephen Bell, Norman, Jackie O’Grady, Terry Brennan, Scott Telfer and finally Carla Deans. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the scenery was gorgeous, with the Firth of Clyde and the views over to the Ayrshire coast. Joanna had tried to overtake me a few times but I had been able to increase my speed and held her off. About 7k I was starting to tire and decided to let the Motherwell pair overtake me. I also think I might have eaten too late as I was feeing sick by the time I reached the 8k marker. I could hear the footsteps of a woman running quicker behind me and thought that Joanna had caught me and was therefore a little surprised but relieved when Greenock red haired runner Terri overtook me. Just after the 9k marker the route headed back up the hill and I worked hard to overtake a few runners on the final section. I noticed Jethro running down the hill and heard him shouting to Joanna to overtake me but I had spied Terri slowing in front of me and managed to overtake her just as I entered the cheering stadium. I saw and heard Katy and her kids in the stand and I gave it my all for a strong sprint to the finish line overtaking a few runners on the way. I was shattered and was still feeling sick but composed myself enough to congratulate Joanna on her great race, she had managed to take 2:45 off of her PB and was exhausted but also extremely happy. We collected our bottles of water and our smart looking medals and then made our way back to the finish line where we applauded the other runners, especially the Bella ones over the line. Before posing for some post race photos and heading back for a cold shower. I then met up with Katy and enjoyed watching some of the Games, including the Caber Tossing Final before heading back to the pier and homeward.


Bella Results:
Andrew Hardman 38:34
Ian Goudie 45:28
Joanna Lennox 45:29
Norman Boyle 47:24
Stevie Bell 47:24
Maddie Smillie 47:27
Andrew Smillie 47:28
Jackie O'Grady 49:29
Terry Brennan 49:41
Scott Telfer 56:44
Carla Deans 60:14