Vertical Mile is the Grand Prix Decider

 

The Vertical Mile, an event older than the Harriers, was the final event of our club Grand Prix and we had an excellent turnout of 20 Harriers. The race (or "single hill effort" as it was marketed) produced our youngest ever winner with junior Harrier, Charlotte Buchanan taking the lead metres before the line to finish in an excellent 07:35. Well done Charlotte. Close behind, first man, Chris Thomson finished in 07:38 which he reckons is the first thing he has won since the age of 15. First senior lady to finish was previous winner, Julia Pechlof in 08:26. The full Vertical Mile results are here.

The ladies' Grand Prix was already decided before this final race with Frances Ferguson running away with it in the second half of the season and also being top of the table in the Club Championship. Lorraine Buchanan moved in to second place in the Grand Prix from Alison Lessells (who has missed races through injury in recent months). In the Club Championship, Alison is again second but with Emma rising to third place. Note that in both the Grand Prix and Club Championship, some redistribution of trophies will be carried out when masters categories are taken into account.

The men's Grand Prix went down to the last race and jokers played their part. It was also a result dominated by injuries with all of the top 3 having been injured to a greater or lesser extent for the last 3 to 5 months! At the final reckoning, Gordon McInally had a few more jokers in his back pocket than Jason Grant at this last race with the outcome being that Gordon leapfrogged into the lead, winning by 3 points from Jason with the currently out through injury, Andrew Higgins, finishing third. In the Club Championship, the same 3 figured but in a different order, with Jason winning, followed by Andrew and Gordon. As with the women, final trophies will be distributed among senior and masters categories meaning that others not mentioned above will also receive trophies. But that still has to be worked out!

Final positions in these competitions are accessed using the links in the blog menu and the harriers web site. Well done to all who took part and made this a very competitive season.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 18th June

Thursday's session is the final race of this year's Grand Prix series, The Vertical Mile. Think of it as a single hill effort if you are worried about it being called a race. The more we have participating, the more interesting it makes the final challenges for Grand Prix and Club Championship prize winning positions. There are also ladies' and men's individual trophies for first place in the Vertical Mile, the men's trophy going all the way back to the very beginning of the Harriers (and it looks it from it's appearance). 

An uphill mile is effectively a threshold effort session for most rather than an effort equivalent to a flat mile or even a flat 5k. Pace judgement is critical, easing in to it on the first steep bit and then accelerating slightly as the slope lessens. As with any threshold session, it is about maintaining a constant, controlled effort rather than constant pace or speed.

Take the usual route to the start, which is Newhousemills Rd to the top of the hill and then take a left and follow the back roads to Auchentibber. I will be there to do the timing but may go direct to the start if I am held up at my work. The training registration form will provide the start list in the timing app which will make my life easier. So do fill out the training registration form.

See you there.

Alan

Club Training Monday 15th June

Monday's session is a step-down rep session with a gradual increase in pace as the reps get shorter. The session is 2 x 3 mins at 10k pace, 2 x 2 mins at 5k pace, 2 x 1 mins at 3k pace and 2 x 30 seconds a bit faster. The recovery after each rep equals the time of the rep, i.e. 3 minutes after the 3 minute reps, 2 minutes after the 2 minute reps etc.

The route is as follows. Warm up via Strathaven Rd and Sainsburys to the junction just before Langlands Club House. Start the first rep there heading towards Auldhouse. Go straight through Auldhouse Cross and turn right past the kennels on to Shields Rd. Carry on to Greenhills Rd and return to the club via Strathaven Rd.

Be realistic about your pace judgement, meaning don't start out too fast. This should be quite a comfortable session given that the total rep volume is quite low. Keep in mind also that Thursday is the Vertical Mile (ie a single hill rep; don't think of it as a race!).

Alan

Club Training Thursday 11th June

Thursday's session is another Auldhouse variation as an easy run. The route is through the Glen to Langlands, past Langlands clubhouse to Auldhouse. Straight through Auldhouse cross and carry on to take the first junc on the left up the hill. Carry on up and round to Leaburn road and then second left to pass Park Farm. From there, back to the club via Sainsburys. Keep the pace easy throughout.

Alan 

Club Training Monday 8th June - Chatelherault

Monday's session is at Chatelherault, so do please follow the usual arrangements for filling in the training registration form so we know who is coming and who to wait for. 

This week's session is that old favourite, the Chatelherault uphill fartlek session. The purpose of this session is to focus a little on strength (the uphill bit) and a little on threshold (the effort to be put in on the uphills). Each time your pack reaches an uphill section that is more than 10 metres long, increase the effort to threshold effort (i.e. comfortably hard and sustainable for an hour if you had to). On reaching the top of each hill, ease back to an easy conversational pace, slow enough for those dropping off the back of your pack to catch-up. The first hill for the efforts is when you cross the first, big stone bridge and go through the narrow gate onto the trail on the other side of the gorge. The last hill is just before you descend the steep steps you ran up at the beginning of the lap. Run easy down that hill and back to the start/finish.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 4th June - Auldhouse 5k TT

We had a great turn out in May with many fine performances. Let's try and better that in the June edition. Hopefully the weather is favourable. Please register for training as usual as I upload this start list to the timing app and use it as the start list.

Remember that these time trials serve multiple purposes: a) a 5k effort is an excellent training session, boosting VO2max if done with enough intensity b) learning pace judgement; the Auldhouse TT route is up and down and requires a precise distribution of effort to maximise performance, as is the case in most road and cross-country races we do c) to monitor your progress in terms of fitness and strength over the summer. It is also fine just to cruise around the 5k route at a threshold level of effort and do the same effort each month. If you are getting fitter, then the same effort will result in faster times.

Alan

Club Training Monday 1st June

We've had a fairly intense period of longer races over the past month and a bit of an easier week last week to let the legs recover. However, now it's time to reintroduce a bit of an effort. Monday's session is a threshold session on the country roads. The session is 3 x 8 minutes at threshold (once you get a few minutes into each rep, its 2 or 3 word effort, or the effort you could sustain for about an hour in a race\) with 2:30 jog recovery.

The route is the one that starts on the back road across from the Crutherland, starting off through the glen. The first rep starts at the 90 degree bend on the backroad. From there turn right at the junction with Leaburn Rd. Stay on Leaburn Rd all the way to the end where it turns right downhill. At the junction at the bottom of the downhill turn right and then left past the Kennels. Follow Shields Rd back to Greenhills Rd and come back to the club via Greenhills Rd and Strathaven Rd.

Keep the efforts well under control. It should feel uncomfortable but not leaving you bent over double after each rep. It should be possible to slow down to the jog recovery without stopping.

Alan