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Tuesday 30 August 2011

Auldhouse Time Trial - End of Season Special Edition

This Thursday 1st September is the final Auldhouse 5k Time Trial for this year. As a celebration of some great 5k performances through the season this one will be a little bit different. The time trial will start and finish outside the Auldhouse Arms and once everyone has finished the plan is to have a drink (soft or otherwise) in the Auldhouse Arms before a gentile run back to the club. So a few things to remember:

  • be at the club before 7:30 so I can record names and work out the starting order (or e-mail/txt me if you are going direct)
  • bring some money for your drink
  • bring some bright clothing for the run back (probably via the boardwalk so only about 1km on road).

Lets have  a record turnout for the last one.
Alan

Monday 29 August 2011

Final Chatelherault Times of the Season

Good conditions for our last official night at Chatelherault. I should be an expert at running in the dark after the past week's activities. Please record your times using the usual form and see how everyone got on here.
Alan

Sunday 28 August 2011

Midnattslöppet Göteborg - A Wash Out!


It is rare for me to pre-enter a race well in advance but as Gothenburg is where our Swedish office is and as lots (17) of my colleauges from that office were doing the Gothenburg edition of the Midnight Race, I kind of felt obliged as the one with the running reputation. After spending a day in the office on Friday and emerging into 24 degree evening sunshine, I thought that Saturday's race could be perfect. Wrong. The rain bounced all day Saturday and as with most cities in the rain, Gothenburg looked (and was) bleak. The fact that I also had the club Speed of Light cold didn't help my motivation through the day as I tried not to expend too much energy and wondered if I should even do the race.

At 6pm I emerged for a 1.5km jog to pick up my number and chip and then a similar jog back. Soaked! Three hours later and it was time to go meet my colleagues beneath the fountain in the park. Sounded like a good meeting point on Friday afternoon but not in the pouring rain. Anyway, there were only 5 of the 18 in evidence and it looked like the company was going to acquire a reputation as a bunch of fair weather runners. Pre-race talk was not what I am used to with the Harriers; how to fix i-Phones to arm bands, whether to walk up the hills or not, whether they would make the midnight cut-off time (2 hours after the start), etc. This was not helping to fire me up! 45 minutes before the start and I thought I should go and leave my gear at the baggage tent and try a warm-up. Unfortunately the queue for the baggage tent was about 10,000 people long and I started to panic, which did help warm me up. Evaluating the options, I decided to run the 1.5k back to the hotel, get changed into my vest and racers and run back. This would be quicker than standing in the queue and would get me warmed up. I was in the elite start group which meant a pole position starting place in the by now flooded starting pen. As the clock ticked down to one minute to go the starter announced that the police were not ready with the city centre road closure and we would have to delay a few minutes. This turned into a half hour delay by which time my warm-up was history. The started announced in Swedish, 1 minute to go and then 5 seconds later the gun went off (accidentally I think) with me facing the wrong way! As my Garmin subsequently shows, the first km into the darkness sent my heart rate to 106% of my theoretical maximum kind of confirming the way I had been feeling. A Kenyan quite literally disappeared into the darkness as is to be expected and I latched onto a pack of Swedish club runners. The race was torture, dozens of 90 degree bends, slippery city centre tarmac, manhole covers, cobbled side streets and tram lines with the added element of surprise brought about by huge puddles hiding pot holes. I went too fast at the start and struggled the last 3k letting a few places slip. In the end I crossed the line in an official time of 35:35 in 29th position out of 14 000 but I was disappointed to see that the course was 300m long. My Garmin shows I went through 10k in 34:16 which I would have been happy with as a season's best.

There were plenty of live bands, cheerleaders and crowds around the course but I still think the Stockholm edition of this race is the original and the best (although I haven't done that one in the rain!).

Postscript: The official results confirm that almost all of my colleagues did in fact take part, they just had more sense than to go to the fountain in the pouring rain. Some official photos of the event here. I was spared having to wear the official orange T-shirt as I was in start group 1A and was flying the Calderglen colours.
Alan

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Speed of Light - Harriers become Gazelles

Prototype Suit of Light
Tuesday evening and 7 Harriers struggled through the rush hour traffic at somewhat less than the speed of light to get from EK to Arthurs Seat in Edinburgh for the first rehearsal for the Speed of Light, a celebration of landscape art through running (?!?) which will be Scotland's contribution to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, paralleling the Sporting Olympiad. Unusually (perhaps a first), Martin and Mandy were there before the rest of us and were preparing to stall proceedings until the rest of us arrived.

There were maybe about 100 runners assembled (50 short of what was required) and we were quickly split into equal sized groups, the bulk of the Harriers ending up with a team from Portobello Running Club under the team name "Gazelles". David Herbertson jumped ship at the first opportunity and joined a team called "Frogs". Big Mistake, the clue was in the name! Martin was hived off to "Echo" I think. That left the rest of us (Eddie and Sandra Reid, Stephen Phimister, Karen Sturgeon and myself to cement the reputation of the Harriers in the far east. A team leader had been pre-selected and had participated in course recces last week so the pressure was off, all we had to do was to follow the leader around 3 pre-determined patterns up, over and around Arthurs Seat. Each pattern had been designed by a choreographer (flown in from Holywood apparently, although it could have been Holyrood, I wasn't really paying attention) who was now sitting with a film crew and walkie talkie high up Arthurs Seat co-ordinating all from above. So the idea was to follow your leader with everyone spaced out at 5m intervals. The first of our team's sequences started with a 5 minute pause which we all managed fine although we did have to endure a lesson from one of our team on what a 5m gap should look like. Then we went from stand still to an immediate near vertical ascent which blew the team apart within about 30 seconds. After a severe climb to the summit (with several stops to re-calibrate the 5m separations) we hit the summit and noticed a vertical drop off the crag only a few metres to our right which will be interesting when this takes place for real next summer in the pitch dark! Then it was an even more severe descent down a rabbit trail through long grass with several hidden vertical drops and rocks to keep you focussed. Sequence 1 was over after about 13 minutes and only 1.2km of running. Sequence 2 sent us away on a different route but still started with another steep ascent. We were now under instruction to run 10 seconds apart as we were too close. This we mastered quite quickly and were soon showing our true artistic form. This took another 13 minutes or so. Finally we ran sequence 1 again. The whole event proved a success and last nights volunteers are guaranteed a place in the real thing next August (18 nights, 2 performances per night, although we can choose to do just one or two nights only!) when 150 runners will perform before a paying audience from 10pm to 1am. Yes really!

Only 6 prototypes of the suit of light were on display last night (see picture above, great for the pub run) so for the rehearsal we had the slightly lower tech solution of high viz vests! Further details of Speed of Light.
Alan

More Islay Photos.....

Sandra took loads of photos on the Islay weekend and they have now been added to the on-line album here. Scroll towards the end for Sandra's photos. Regarding the photo on the left, don't ask but you will notice that I am keeping well out of it!
Alan

Saturday 20 August 2011

DHL Stafetten 2011 - sometime things work out at work!

Arriving in the Danish town of Aarhus for a week of meetings, the omens for at least getting some good running in for a change were positive when I spotted this tower block displaying the Calderglen Oyster Catcher. The fact that the hotel our hosts had arranged for us was on a beautiful sandy beach on the entrance to a coastal, forest park with miles of very hilly trails was even better and even prompted me to get up for a pre-breakfast run on 3 of the days.

The biggest surprise was yet to come when our hosts mentioned that there was an annual running festival taking place over 3 evenings that week and it was based only 500m from the hotel. The running festival consisted of nightly 5 x 5km relays (Stafett in Danish) on a different course each night around the country park and it was spread over 3 nights because there were literally thousands of teams entered. I jumped at the chance when the company hosting the meetings mentioned that they had spaces available in one of their teams if any of us wanted a run.

On the evening of my race the meetings had over-run and I was stuck in rush hour traffic. However, I had been told that I was doing a last leg, so I would still have plenty of time. I finally made it to the race about 15 minutes before the first leg kicked off and found our host who had the numbers. It now turned out that another person had dropped out of the team and if I wanted I could run 2 x 5km legs. Cometh the Hour Cometh the Harrier, so no problem, I chose legs 3 and 5. It then transpired that we were in the second start wave of about 2000 teams running that night so the 5km loop was very congested by the time lap 3 approached. We had to carry a baton and the changeover was like that in a 4x400m relay with everyone standing on the line shuffling for position (except there were 2000 runners standing on the line and in my case looking for someone that I barely knew what they looked like). Anyway, I was soon off and running and had been warned that the course was hilly and included a constant 1km climb from 3k to 4k, so pace judgement was critical. Being very far down the field and running two legs, I decided it was just going to be a 2 x 5km rep session (25 minute recovery as it transpired) for me and I was going to run at 10km effort and not really go for it. This proved a sensible approach as the course was so congested that even at that pace I was an accident waiting to happen slaloming between the crowds. The course was beautiful being a mixture of sea front esplanade, country park and forest trails, with about 2/3 on tarmac. But it was hilly, especially for Denmark.

Anyway, the nett result was that I ran both legs in identical times of 18:06, set the fastest 2 legs in our team (Team Loads and Aerodynamics Group, very catchy) by a long shot (the others were 22 to 25 minutes) and we finished a totally surprising 13th out of 450 male teams! The team kind of thought it would have been better for the team if I had run all 5 legs but I am glad I didn't. Plenty of pictures here, not sure if I am in any of them but there are many much more photogenic runners there instead!

Alan

Friday 19 August 2011

Speed of Light - An Invitation to The Harriers


Thanks to the 5 who expressed an interest in doing this (Eddie, Sandra, Stephen, David and Karen). I've advised the organisers and we are in. Further details at the link below but the important point is that we MUST be there for 5:45 on Tuesday (and also Thursday if anyone can make that) before the rehearsal starts otherwise we won't be able to participate at all. So we have to get out of EK/Glasgow sharp to beat the rush hour traffic. We can discuss travel arrangements on Monday at the club. I can take all 6 in my car if you want to guarantee that either all or none of us get there!

The latest details for those invited to take part are at this link. Please read.
Alan

Just one more Harrier required to complete a minimum team of 5 for next Tuesday 23rd. We need to be through at Arthur's Seat for 5:45 so I guess we need to leave EK at around 1600 to stand a chance in the rush  hour traffic.

Is anyone up for this? I would quite like to do it, preferably on Tuesday 23rd but possibly on Thursday 25th (I have a big race in Sweden on 27th so don't want to be running up Arthur's Seat too many times too close to that!). I can take my car through if we can get 4 - 6 people interested. We are doing hill reps at the club just now anyway so this would be quite appropriate training .......... maybe. Leave a comment or drop me an e-mail if you are interested (I am away with work this week).


Alan


I am writing to invite your running club to be part of a unique piece of mass-participatory visual art on Arthur’s Seat, called Speed of Light.
Next year, as Scotland’s official contribution to the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival, Speed of Light will light up Edinburgh’s iconic mountain at night with patterns of moving light, for 18 nights. A major commission for Edinburgh International Festival, we will be inviting 300 runners a night to wear specially engineered light-suits and work with a choreographer to create beautiful patterns on the hill which will be seen by over 18,000 ticket holders.
Ahead of that, we are going to chart the networks of paths on Arthur’s Seat and begin to map running times on the hill. We are seeking runners fromEdinburgh and the surrounding areas to help us do this.
I am looking to gather around 100 runners on 23rd and 25th August 2011at 5.45pm at Arthur’s Seat. I have attached more details and hope a team (or several teams) can attend from your running club.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch – I appreciate that this email has come out of the blue and might be an unusual request.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Catrin.

Catrin Kemp
Project Assistant - Speed of Light

Sunday 14 August 2011

Club Beatles Night

Tickets now on sale from Eddie Reid for this night of entertainment on Saturday September 10th where we have booked the Beatles tribute act Just John and Paul (I think). The cost is £7 per ticket, advance sales only, no purchase on the night.
Alan

Friday 12 August 2011

Fife Revisited!

George still at large in Fife (not George the midge this time):
Thursday night was a dilemma for me. A wet 5k TT or a visit to Balmullo, Fife for what was stated as 4.9 mile trail. My notable absence from the TT correctly suggests that I opted for Balmullo.
What a nightmare! Thought I had left in plenty of time, but got stuck in the road works on the M8 for an hour. Looking at the sat-nav, I would get there 2 minutes late, and I wasn't even changed! I thought just persevere and maybe make up the time on route. Well, I got there 10 minutes to spare, so a quick registration, a frantic change in front of the people behind the desk in the hall (didn't even have time for my trademark bandanna!) and a 3 minute run round the corner to the start. Bizarre!
I arrived in time to hear them say "watch out for the mud, the wet and the animals...go!!"
We're off and running up this rocky path for about half a mile or so (there's kids in this race too - strange!), round up on to grass and a mixture of surfaces (puddles were ankle deep), then a steep muddy grass hill (this was a joke, as people were hanging on to branches of the trees to try and prevent them falling, it was becoming more of an army assault course)....I thought "just go for it" but you get carried off to the side and end up facing the wrong way round. I wished I had a tea tray handy as I could have sat on it and been first down. Eventually, I got clear of it and came to the farmers field with the animals. There was plenty of evidence of "heavy duty grazing" in this area as I painfully watched where my feet landed. I ended up walking a few steps and was passed by a wee boy in a Liverpool top and what looked like his mum. The mum was soon walking too, so I took the opportunity to at least get one of them back. We continued for another half mile over a more rocky surface and I could see for miles (no point in coming up this hill and no taking in the sights). At last I was at the top and it was round a phone mast and all the way back.
This was great as it was mostly downhill, but I was thinking "how in the hell am I going to get back up that muddy slope?" All was going well and I was actually passing people now. I then came to this slope again and it must have taken about 3 mins to scramble up 100mtr and was being passed by people that seemed to be getting a better footing (my trail shoes were pretty useless in this terrain).
I eventually find myself back on the half mile rocky path where I had started, and was able to pass the people that glided past me on the slope. I was really finishing fast and was more than able to hold off the other fast finishers. However, I then see the wee lad in the Liverpool strip about 20 mtrs from the line. I thought "how did he get here and wondered if he had actually ran it?". He's almost walking, but hears me coming and starts running again...he finishes a couple of seconds ahead of me.
I was quite pleased with my run. 43.04 for maybe 4.9 miles, but I had never ran a course like that before in my life, plus the winner was 30 mins plus for this tough route.
I will  never forget this race, not just for the route, but for my absolute dismay on looking at the results the following day and seeing that my "Liverpool stripped" Master Van Rensburg was an M under 11 year old!!!
Next Tuesday is the last of the summer races in Fife, so I'll be heading to Ceres for an 8 mile road....hopefully my wee running pal will be in his bed!



Well done to George on another adventure!
Alan

Thursday 11 August 2011

Auldhouse Time Trial - Dreich!

Despite the poor weather, 13 die hards turned out for the 5k TT tonight and several obtained impressive course bests or pb's. So course bests for Colin Banks, Julie Beveridge, Billy Buchanan, Russell Couper and Hugh Simpson and several season's bests too. Full results available using the Auldhouse Time Trial Times link in the menu to the left.

Very well done to all!
Alan

Remember the Summer?

Russell's photos of the WHW Relay have now been added to the gallery. I would rather put up with the midges illustrated in this cartoon in the Inveroran Hotel bar than the floods we have now.
Alan

Wednesday 10 August 2011

August Auldhouse 5k Time Trial Tomorrow

The August edition of the TT takes place tomorrow, 11th August as part of normal club training. Please be at the club well before 7:30 so I can record names and decide starting order or leave a comment on this blog post if you are going direct to the start.
Alan

Mental Toughness Survey

A chance to contribute to some research and something that many of us are good at, coping with injuries!


Dear Runners

I am currently studying for a MSc in Advanced Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, from Teesside University. To fulfill part of my course I am conducting research into “The Relationship Mental Toughness has with Coping with Injury and Rehabilitation Adherence in Runners” the study aims to look at any gender, age group and participation level differences.

I am looking for runners over 18 years old and any experience level, distance/terrain etc. the runner needs to have sustained an injury, which led them to miss training or competition for at least 3 days.

I would be extremely grateful if you could forward this on to any of your members, also if you were able to post the link on your website/any social networking pages (i.e. Facebook).


The survey will take approx. 10-15mins to complete, if you have any further questions about this research or would like to see the results when it is completed, please do not hesitate to contact me on d4071185@tees.ac.uk

Thanks in advance for your time, I am extremely grateful for any help you can give me.

Pamela Andrews

Sunday 7 August 2011

Islay Half Marathon

After an absence of 5 years the Harriers returned to Islay along with 170 other runners to celebrate the 25th anniversary Islay Half Marathon. And it is just as it has always been, a great weekend of fun (except maybe during the run) and a haul of prizes (mainly liquid) for the Harriers.

The weekend started in the usual fashion with a leisurely Friday afternoon drive from East Kilbride to Kennacraig in warm sunshine. Six Harriers shared the one car, Stuart and Maud Waugh, Eddie and Sandra Reid, David Wardrope and myself. Ian Hughes would join us directly on race day from his family holiday at Kilberry on the mainland which is close to the Kennacraig ferry. A lunch stop at Inverary filled us up nicely for the remainder of the trip ahead. The crossing from Kennacraig to Port Askaig was smooth although we somehow managed to be almost first on but last off the ferry and joined the back of the long line of cars on the road to Bowmore where finding a parking space was now an issue. The Harriers were accommodated in three different places around Bowmore (The Lochside Hotel and two B&B's). An excellent dinner in the Lochside (now under new ownership for all of two weeks) was followed by a relatively early retiral to bed for the fully primed team. I went out like a light but Eddie and Sandra in the room opposite apparently found the two bag pipers, amplified accordianist and drummer playing in the hotel restaurant below till the wee smaw hours kept them off their sleep. These townies just can't adapt to the sounds of the country it seems.........

Race day and the clouds had moved in along with a light breeze, perfect racing conditions. After a light breakfast, the Bowmore resident Harriers gathered at around 9:15 for a warm-up run at which it was clear that some problems had developed over night with Eddie puffing, panting and yawning and Stuart hanging back at a slower than usual pace. Only myself (who had arrived on the island with two injuries and an illness already safely declared) and David seemed to be running smoothly. As we warmed up I spotted the silhouette of Ian Hughes on the service bus from the morning ferry so the team was complete.

After the peculiarly Islay formalities of declaring your presence to the race organisers (who were heard telling a competitor who had forgotten to bring his number "if you were flying abroad you wouldn't forget your passport would you?") and declaring our team counters, we headed to the imaginary start line for a 10:45 start. With Robert Gilroy lining up (and declaring to all that he was going for the course record held by Calderglen's Allan McLellan since 1989) I knew that at least I would not have to worry about trying to hang on to the leading pack as Robert would be off like a shot. Despite three faulty starts (one where the hooter blower was taking a picture rather than holding the hooter, two when the hooter didn't work and three where the very international field of around 160 didn't all understand the final instruction "auch oan ye go then"), the race was off with local lad (now a veteran) Marcus Covell making his traditional early break up the main street only to fade once round the first corner 100m later.

Ian Hughes went with the early pace up hill but I hung back until around that first corner then drifted through to second place as we reached the round church. Robert was already gone. It would be a long, lonely race for both him and me as we both ran 13 miles effectively on our own. By the first mile, which felt quite comfortable, I had acquired Eddie's early warm-up puffing and panting and things were not looking good for a finish let alone holding on to second place. Although the breathing did not improve, I managed to keep the pace reasonably consistent for the first half of the race which is predominantly uphill. I had dropped outside of 1:20 pace which was the time I had mentally decided I would be happy with. However, I had forgotten that the link road down to the airport was a full mile long and that it was all downhill and I really picked the pace up and got my breathing under control on that descent. The long airport road then stretched out ahead and I could see the next big climb three miles ahead. However, with a slight wind assistance, I kept the pace going and hit ten miles in under 59 minutes so I was back on schedule for a sub 1:20. With two miles to go the climbs are really quite severe and the pace fell away again but I had enough in hand to coast down the steep main street and around the corner to the finish line in 1:17:57 and a very comfortable second place. Robert had finished in 1:10:19, missing out on Big Al's record by around a minute.

Ian had run a steady race, also aiming for around 1:20 but found the first half and last few miles tough, finishing 8th in around 1:22:16. Eddie sounded to me like he was struggling on the warm-up and I am sure he is in better form than his time of 1:29:20 suggests. Unfortunately disaster struck the in-form Stuart Waugh. He had felt a slight niggle in his knee on Thursday's training run and again during the warm-up but it seemed to ease. He kept this to himself. However at 1.5 miles, something in his knee let go big time, launching Stuart hopping into the air. Thoughts of the team convinced Stuart to try to keep going and somehow he hobbled on to 11 miles in increasing pain before it became impossible to continue (note to all; if anything like that happens to you in a race, just stop immediately, it doesn't matter about team prizes). I hope Stuart gets this injury treated as soon as possible and that it is not as bad as it looked to all of us. Worst of all, with Ian returning to the mainland and Stuart injured, we now no longer had a complete team for the Dashing White Sergeant at the post race ceilidh. Veteran of over 100 half marathons but never Islay, David Wardrope really enjoyed the course and was very pleased with his time of 1:45:00. More impressively, now a vet and having run for years, we were as delighted as David was that he won his first ever prize in a race, completing the Calderglen team that took the team prize.
Winning Team

We are now also able to officially dispel the myth that the course is long. Both David and I independently recorded the distance on our Garmins and we both got 13.05 miles (horizontal distance so undoubtedly 13.1 miles following the road profile).

A leisurely dook in Bowmore swimming pool for Eddie, David and I preceded the 2pm prize giving. Only the strong arm and locksmith skills of Eddie saved me the embarrassment of having to attend the prize giving in my trunks as the locker door jammed with my clothes and hotel key inside it. Crisis averted, we hobbled up the hill to partake of the sponsor's produce.

Third, first (behind bottle) and second placed runners
I have never seen so many trophies and bottles of whisky in one place as were on display at the Ardbeg sponsored prize giving. Wee Robert Gilroy won a 4.5 liter bottle of 10 year old Ardbeg which was as big as him. With me picking up second place and first vet, Ian Hughes collecting 4th vet and Ian, Eddie, David and me collecting the first team, we soon had more bottles of whisky, shields and trophies than we could possibly carry. The prize giving was conducted with perfect comedy timing as always by Margaret, with Kate in the wings correcting errors and a somewhat bemused old lady, Doris, substituting for the unavailable Ardbeg manager handing out the prizes.



The afternoon was a bit driech to say the least so we retired to a local cafe for tea and scones (I know, not as hard core as in the old days) before another excellent dinner in The Lochside and a few drinks in the bar. This took us nicely up to the ceilidh at 9:30. After a half hour the hall was packed and the band subjected all to a 10 minute strip the willow as the second dance which clearly took its toll on a lot of weary bodies. After a Canadian Barn "Recovery" Dance, normal service resumed and the ceilidh was as lively as always. The weary and injured Harriers all retired before midnight (a first I think) and I once again was out like a light (although Eddie claims there was singing going on in the restaurant below his room).

Now able to enjoy a full, cooked breakfast, Sunday started well although the weather was driecher. I had promised a trip to The Big Strand, a beautiful 5 mile long beach just outside Bowmore, so as I never break a promise even if it is pelting down with rain, I found the road to the beach on only my second pass along the airport road. And as the rain had stopped the beach made an impressive sight. The ladies had a paddle in the sea whilst the blokes discussed how good it would have been if we had just brought our running or swimming stuff with us (which was 200m away in the car). As we were on the 1pm ferry, it was all too soon time to head back to Port Askaig where both the ferry journey and the drive back to EK seemed to pass very quickly. We are definitely going back next year, no discussion necessary!!!

More photos will follow in due course. Official Event photos and results are here. Some of my photos here.

Saturday 6 August 2011

Tour of Clydeside Day 4

My efforts on the Hills at Garscube had moved me up from 14th to 12th going into tonight's 10k. The Garscube girl had a 17 second lead on me and her club mate wasn't far behind so I had my work cut out. Boosted by my performance last night I decided to go out quickly and see if I could open up a lead. If I had thought about it I would have realised that the garscube pair were faster than me on the flat!
The race had changed from previous years to go anti-clockwise round the park. So with poor race strategy in hand off we set at a fair old pace. Stuart Gibson was running and he disappeared into the park, the next time I seen him was when he was cooling down and I was at 8km. I went through 5k in 19:20 which was a bit fast but the garscube pair weren't in site. It was hurting now and the anti-clock seemed harder with a few long climbs. At 8km the Garscube pair went past and my legs went. Another couple went past and I was now running against the clock trying to keep the gap down.
Finished in 39:26 a pb by 6 secs but it didn't feel like a good run not being able to hold off the pack in the last few km. Stuart won the race.
Overall I was 2hr 5 min 38 s which gave me 14th place. The girl from Garscube won first lady and 12th place. There was a chance to meet up in the Cartha clubhouse afterwards. A few prizes at various categories but the MV40 was a busy category so nothing but a cup of soup and a fairy cake for me.
That's the 3rd time in 4 years for the Tour and I still enjoyed it. Not looking forward to the physio session tomorrow though.  

Friday 5 August 2011

Tour of Clydeside Day 3 - Garscube Gallop

This is the day when people start to compare cumulative times and eye up their nearest rivals. 15th on day 1 and 14th after day 2 (somebody must have dropped out). The two above me were a guy and a girl (first lady) from Garscube Harriers but as they were on home ground I wasn't holding out for much.
A slightly different course from previous years meant the start and finish was in the same place. The course involves a brutal hill climb on each lap, this year made worse by fallen trees which you had to hurdle 2 in a row while going uphill. The torrential rain during the day had made the course very muddy in parts and I regretted only having racing flats rather than trail shoes. Nothing like always being prepared ... and I was nothing like it.
 
The 4m/km pace strategy went out the window as this was about personal victory ! A long downhill straight to start with which set a frantic pace. This slowed slightly on the first climb but I passed both my nearest rivals from Garscube. Some of the downhill section into the forest were very muddy, slippery steps and another fallen tree to hurdle. The second lap has the toughest of the climbs. However with all our training in the Glen and the log jam this race is made for the Harriers. The 3rd lap was tough but the last 200m is a downhill section which seen me edge out a victory from a 3 way group.
 
This race sees a completely different set of results from the flat races. Don't have the official results but I know I beat a few who had been in the  top ten at the start of the week and a good gap ahead of the garscube pair. It might not be enough to close the cumulative gap and I hope I have enough left for the 10k tomorrow.
 
Time 20:54 (about 20s faster than previous course best)
Pace 4:19 m/km (but who cares its the position that counts !)
Ave HR 90% max 96% (on the hill).
Phimi

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Tour of Clydeside Days 1 and 2

First installments of Ra Tour from the Lone Harrier, Stephen Phimister:

Couldn't keep up with George's epic reports from the East so the following is a slightly shorter version of events in the West:


Day 1 Kilbarchan Classic - 5.5miles / 8.8km approx

Looks like I'm the only harrier here with domestic and racing issues keeping a few away. Lots of the same faces from previous years. Same course as before. They call it a trail race but its a tarmac path rather than the type of trail we are used to.



Woke up on Monday with a hamstring injury and didn't feel like running but the thought of a wasted £10 and the being the sole harrier I pulled on the neoprene bandage and gave it a go. Target was to try and run most of the week at 4m/km pace. Started conservatively and worked my way through the pack passing a few on the way out and similar on the way back. On the way out took a mark from the bridge at 1km but obviously wasn't paying attention as on the way back there were about 4 bridges, each giving rise to a bit of a kick / checking of Garmin / feeling of deflation when I realised there was more than 1km to go. Steady run in a reasonable time.

Finished 15th - well behind first lady.

Time 34:45

Pace 3:58 m/km

Ave HR 88%

Day 2 Clydebank Canter - 4.4miles / 7.7km approx

Hamstring feeling a bit better but was late leaving work. Flat tyre didn't help and only made it with 10 minutes to go. The rain during the day hadn't cleared the air and it was just as muggy as last night. The course is out and back along the canal path, part tarmac, part path.

No warm up to speak of and probably started a bit fast. The pack soon thinned out and but the first lady passed me just before the turn. Not really running in a group but the distance in front and behind didn't change much. At times you can see quite far in front but the best entertainment was the Clydebank locals - it amazing what you can get up to in and around a canal! I was closing on the female in front but 2 guys caught me with 1km to go. Made it an interesting run in and although I closed the gap never caught them.

Time 30:37

Pace 3:58 m/km

Ave HR 88%

Consistent or what ?

and the Lord said ... on a Wednesday you shall rest.
Phimi

Monday 1 August 2011

Tour of Fife Day 5 - "The Conclusion - but is it King or Queen?"

It’s finally arrived, the last race of the series! I had been looking forward to this one, as it‘s a great mixed multi-terrain course. However, the car park gossip was that they had changed the route, so I went off to investigate. Sure enough it’s true, something to do with the replanting of trees. The new course is now 5.1 mile consisting of 800 mtrs of a cabbage field (2 sides really and all uphill), about three quarters of a mile on the tar, then up through the woods, up on to a rocky ledge, along there to a cone and back. The “and back bit” I liked, but knew it was going to be tough on the way out.


This being the last day it was fancy dress, some clubs really went for it with wrist and ankle bands, and quite a few with their face painted. John from Shettleston and Vivienne from Kirkintilloch were on their honeymoon and John ran in a tuxedo, with Viv in a wee white number! All the girls at Corstorphine, which club colours are black and white, had been wearing long socks with cow patterns. All helped the carnival atmosphere.

Down to business. So, we’re off up the cabbage field in 2 straight lines, running in the grooves in the ground made by the farmer’s tractor wheels. Soon we’re on the tarmac which is quite undulating. I remember my old veteran pal, George Black putting his arm across me last year and telling me to just wait, as there’s a hell of a climb coming. Who am I to argue with a 70 yr old vet? So, I decided to just let our Julie go in the hope that I’d either catch her on the downhill or she’s be lying in a heap towards the top. I thought that this new route wasn’t as bad as last year, but as you keep twisting and climbing, well you end up walking...and so was everyone around me. Julie was still looking strong and not that far ahead. She past me at the turn, but I was still climbing and Julie was on her way back down. I heard a shout, no idea what it was, but I’ll assumed words of encouragement. I really bombed it down the hill in a faint hope of catching her, but as I hit the bottom she was nowhere in sight. I managed to keep it steady with no-one passing me at all, and was just glad that it was all finally over.

Afterwards we all congregated in the village hall where there was a great tea and cakes spread put on for everyone.

First male was Lewis Millar from Central winning all 5 races and holding on to the yellow jersey throughout. He was 2min 16sec ahead of Corstorphine in the end. Both of these clubs made up the final 4 places.

The female race was won by Julia Henderson from Helensburgh by 2mins 2 sec, she managed to win 4 out of the 5 being narrowly caught in the beach race.

In terms of us bunch...........

Results – Julie's sister, Louise 4th female 35.12 (46th position), Julie 11th female 37.40 (65th position) and George 38.53 (81st position).

Overall - Julie’s sister, Louise 4th female 2.28.26 (47th position), Julie 9th female in age group 2.36.37 (61st position) and George 2.39.32.....2min 55sec behind! (71st position)

Well done Julie!!...... a hard fought 5 days, and think you may be the cause of my 2 PB’s. Next year will be different!
George