Club Training Thursday 29th April

Easing back on the pace tonight with another Threshold Thursday (remember, threshold is one hour race effort, so somewhere between 10k and 10 mile race pace depending on your race times). The session is:

5 x 6 minutes at threshold with a 2 minute jog recovery.

As per usual, if there are more than 15 registered, then we use two routes/venues, otherwise, everyone is at venue 1.

Venue 1 (Park at Torrance Golf Club): out the glen to the tunnel at the Strathaven Road. Up onto the road and past the Crutherland and then onto the backroad. Start the session at the usual 90 degree left hand bend. When you reach Leaburn Road, turn left and immediately right and continue on up the hill to the next junction. Take the right turn and follow the top road (rough road) to the cross roads. Turn right back down the hill and turn left on Leaburn road and them immediately right past Park Farm and back to the club via Sainsburys and Strathaven Road.

Venue 2 (Park at EKSC): turn left on the Strathaven Road and then follow the first part of the Audlhouse 5k. Start the first rep at the 90 degree corner at the bottom of Langlands hill and continue on past Park Farm. When you reach Leaburn Road, turn left and then immediately right and continue climbing to the cross roads where you turn right on the top road. Follow that along the top and then around to the right and down the hill to Leaburn Road. Turn right then left and down to Auldhouse Cross. Turn right and back to the club via Langlands, Sainsburys and the Stathaven Road.

Alan

Club Training Monday 26th April

You'll all have been wondering how this  descending acceleration session is going to progress. Well tonight you find out! For the moment, we are still restricted to training groups of maximum size 15, so if more than 15 register, then we will use two venues/routes.

• 2 x 90 seconds @ 5k pace (90 second steady run recovery after each effort) +
• 4 x 60 seconds  @ 3k pace (60 second steady run recovery after each effort) +
• 4 x 30 seconds @ 1 mile pace (30 steady run recovery after each effort) +
• 4 x 15 seconds @ even faster (15 second steady run recovery after each effort).

The idea is to run slightly faster as the reps get shorter, starting off with 5k pace during the 90 seconds efforts and getting gradually faster from there. So what makes this session more difficult than previous weeks is that the jog recovery has been replaced by a "steady run" recovery (that is something like marathon to half marathon pace). I have been keeping a careful eye on everyone's pace during the jog recoveries in previous weeks of doing this session and most are remarkably consistent at the jog pace. It should therefore be very clear to see after the session if you have been able to pick the pace up enough or perhaps too much during the recoveries (I know that many struggle during the 15 seconds efforts/recoveries, unsurprisingly, so this is where the stress is going to come). This is a bit of a sharpener before next Thursday's (6th May) first Auldhouse time trial of the season but there shall be further opportunities to tweak the pace of the recoveries during future attempts at this session. Just to make it a bit easier to judge the pace, we shall use the same venues as last week.

Venue 1 (park at EKSC car park): Carron Place. Usual warm-up via Murray, Kelvin, etc. Decide in your pack how to return to the club after the session.

Venue 2 (park at Torrance Golf Club Car Park): Collvilles Place (Futura). Warm-up via Strathaven Road, Greenhills Road, Singer Road, Collvilles Road. Return to the club via a route of your choice.

Alan

Highland Fling '21

A wee blogpost for those who may not have been aware of our Trail Race director's feat yesterday.

Very few have trained as normal over the past year with nearly all races having been postponed or cancelled, including (for ultra runners) the D33, the Fling and the West Highland Way race - our normal yearly progression. Not being one to dwell on the negative our Jim decided to run the Fling route as a training run and the early easing of travel restrictions allowed us to do so on the very day the race should have taken place. Under-trained and supported only by Ruth and I and team manager/friend Evelyn, he duly completed the 53 hilly miles in a mightily impressive 14 hours and 47 minutes. His slowest ever Fling time of course but in many ways also his best. Massive kudos to him for a tremendous effort while lacking both adequate training and race-day motivation amply demonstrating his depths of stubbornness and stupidity - bloody well done pal! Ruth and I were chuffed to have done a wee bit to help you along the way.

Callander Run 9th May - Lunch Bookings

Could the following please fill in the lunch booking form as soon as you can please so that Eddie can collate the orders and get them off to the Lade Inn well in advance. If you are no longer staying for lunch, then please let Eddie know.

If you are no longer able to attend the run, then please fill in the run booking form again but state in the "Other Information Box" that you are no longer attending. This is so that our official track and trace contact list can be up to date on the day and also to allow well balanced packs to be chosen (i.e. mixing those who can navigate with those who can't).

Still to book lunch: Hazel Stewart, Richard Beaton, Claire McSorley, David Wardrope, Karen Allen, Graeme Lindsay, Ian Hughes.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 22nd April

Its Threshold Thursday! This session will be incorporated into a longer run rather than a specific venue. However, as always for the moment, if there are more than 15 registered, then we will use two routes/venues. Note that I have switched the parking around so the parking is nearer the start of each route and there is no cross-over of packs at the start. 

The session is:

2 x 10 minutes at threshold, 3:30 jog recovery (regroup into your pack during the recovery jog).

Venue 1 (park at Torrance Golf Club): Up the Glen, climb up to Strathaven Road at the tunnel, Crutherland then onto the back roads. Start the first rep at the usual 90 degree bend in the road. Turn right on Leaburn Road. Take second on right down the dip to Auldhouse Cross, turn right and back by Langlands and Sainsburys to the club.

Venue 2 (park at EKSC): Strathaven Road to Sainsburys, Park Farm, turn right on Leaburn Road and continue to the end of Leaburn Road where it turns right down the steep hill. Turn right and immediate left past the Kennels. Back along Shields Road to Greenhills Road and back to the club.  On this route, start the first rep at the bottom of the steep hill at Langlands, heading towards Park Farm.

Alan

Club Training Monday 19th April

 We return to interval training this week with a view to the approaching 5k time trials (first Thursday in May). As usual, if there are more than 15 of us registered to train, then we split over two venues. Otherwise, everyone at Venue 1. The session is:

2 x 90 seconds @ 5k pace (90 second jog recovery after each effort) +

4 x 60 seconds  @ 3k pace (60 second jog recovery after each effort) +

4 x 30 seconds @ 1 mile pace (30 second jog recovery after each effort) +

4 x 15 seconds @ even faster (15 second jog recovery after each effort).

Note that the idea is to run slightly faster as the reps get shorter. So long as the first set of reps are at 5k pace, just focus on running a bit faster at each subsequent set; it doesn't matter if you do not know what 3k, 1 mile, etc pace is. Regroup  to your pack during the recoveries (this may not be possible after the 15 second reps).

Venue 1 (park at EKSC car park): Carron Place. Usual warm-up via Murray, Kelvin, etc. Decide in your pack how to return to the club after the session.

Venue 2 (park at Torrance Golf Club Car Park): Collvilles Place (Futura). Warm-up via Strathaven Road, Greenhills Road, Singer Road, Collvilles Road. Return to the club via a route of your choice.

Alan

Callander Run May 9th - Lade Inn Lunch Choices

For those who have put their name down for the run and lunch in Callander on 9th May, Eddie now needs to gather lunch choices. The menu will be remarkably familiar to those who have done the TTC in recent years! Please make your choice using this form.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 15th April

More easy runs! As per usual, if there are more than 15, then we use two routes, otherwise everyone is on the Venue 1 route.

It's been pointed out to me that the steps on Strathaven Road are no longer accessible due to the road modifications. Therefore, use the modified start/end to the respective routes below. The Venue 2 group should delay your start by 5 minutes to allow the Venue 1 group to clear the Strathaven Road section. 

As I can't know the status of roads in EK, then before or following any session, do let me know if certain parts are unusable and I will modify future advice. Otherwise, use common sense and modify the routes accordingly on the night within your pack but avoiding the mixing of the two groups.

Venue 1 (park at EKSC car park): Up the Strathaven Road and onto Greenhills Road. Follow Greenhills Road to the fingerposts. Take Shields Road past the Kennels and then turn left at the junction after the Kennels to Auldhouse Cross. Turn right at Auldhouse Cross, down into the dip and up to Leaburn Road. Turn left and then left again at the Park Farm junction. Continue on around in front of Sainsburys, back to the Strathaven Road and back to the club.

Venue 2 (park at Torrance Golf Club car park): the route is the reverse of the above! i.e. along Strathaven Road, around in front of Sainsbury's, Park Farm, Leaburn Rd, Auldhouse, Kennels, Shields Road, Greenhills Road, Strathaven Road, Club. 

When you see the packs from the other Venue approaching, run on opposite sides of the road (run on your left).

Alan

Club Training Monday 12th April

This week is an easy week to allow some time for adaption to the hard training of the past few months. For Monday, the run is an easy run. If there are more than 15 registered, then we will use two routes/venues. Otherwise, everyone does the Venue 1 route.

Venue 1 (park at EKSC): through the glen to the tunnel under the Strathaven Road. Climb up the bank onto the Strathaven Road and then out past the Crutherland and turn right onto the country road. Follow the road to Leaburn Road and turn right along Leaburn Road. Run along Leaburn Road, then right at the Park Farm junction via the Langlands hill, Sainsburys main entrance and Strathaven Road to the club.

Venue 2 (park at Torrance Golf Club): Up the Strathaven Road and onto Greenhills Road. From Greenhills Road, turn into the factories, around past the main entrance to Sainsburys and then to Langlands. Follow the Auldhouse 5k course as far as Auldhouse Cross but instead of turning right, carry straight on at the cross and back to the fingerposts and Greenhills Road. Turn right along Greenhills Road back to the club.

Sunset is at 20:18 approximately, so should be back in the street lights just before then. If the Venue 1 and Venue 2 groups pass each other round about Park Farm, please keep to opposite sides of the road.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 8th April

 As promised, another rep session on Thursday ahead of a week of easy running next week. The session is:

8 x 2 minutes at 5k pace, 2 minutes jog recovery. Everyone turn and jog back to the last person in your pack during the recovery.

Precede the session with a gentle run to warm-up and the same again to cool down.

Under the current SA rules, if there are more than 15 registered, then we train at 2 venues. If there are 15 or less then everyone trains at Venue 1.

Venue 1 (park at EKSC car park): Sainsbury's Loop clockwise (should be daylight so shouldn't matter if the Greenhills Rd lights are out). For the warm-up, exit the club, up the Strathaven Road to the roundabout, cross onto Greenhills Road and then continue through the first 2 roundabouts to the top of the hill and then turn left onto Langlands Road and down the hill to Sainsbury's main gate where the session starts. Agree on the cool down route within your pack.

Venue 2 (park at Torrance Golf Club car park): Carron Place. Warm-up via NEL roundabout, Murray Roundabout, Kelvin Road and up into the factories via the usual route. Decide on the cool down route within your pack.

Alan

Club Training Monday 5th April

To give you the heads up, this week will be moderately hard with reps on Monday and Thursday. Next week will be a recovery week with easy runs, no reps on either Monday or Thursday.

So this Monday, the session is the same as we did a couple of weeks ago. In future weeks we shall progress this session but for now the session is exactly the same as last time to give you a chance to practice the pace for this session. The important thing to focus on in this session is getting a definite progression in pace as the rep distance becomes shorter.

The session is:

2 x 90 seconds @ 5k pace (90 second jog recovery after each effort) +

4 x 60 seconds  @ 3k pace (60 second jog recovery after each effort) +

4 x 30 seconds @ 1 mile pace (30 second jog recovery after each effort) +

4 x 15 seconds @ even faster (15 second jog recovery after each effort).

Note that the idea is to run slightly faster as the reps get shorter. So long as the first set of reps are at 5k pace, just focus on running a bit faster at each subsequent set; it doesn't matter if you do not know what 3k, 1 mile, etc pace is. Regroup  to your pack during the recoveries (this may not be possible after the 15 second reps). Refer back to the video on how to set up your Garmin.

If we have more than 15 registered, then we will be training at two venues. For 15 or less, everyone is at Venue 1.

Venue 1 (park at EKSC car park): Carron Place. Warm-up via Murray, Kelvin Road and Stroud Road. Cool down via a route of your choice.

Venue 2 (park at Torrance Golf Course/Zoo car park): Collvilles Place (Futura). For the warm-up, exit the Golf Course car park via the one-way system out to the Strathaven Road at the New Farm entrance. Run up to the mini-roundabout and then onto Greenhills Road. Run up Greenhills Road, through the first roundabout to the second roundabout at the top of the hill (be careful/walk if the street lights are out at the top of the hill). Cross over and down Singer Road into the factories and along Colvilles Road to Colvilles Place. For the cool down, decide within your pack the safest way back (you will know better than me the status of the roadworks and road-crossings). Ideally, re-enter the country park via the New Farm entrance back to the golf course car park.

Alan