Club Training Monday 30th August

With the good news that the winter season kicks off with the West XC Relays, the recent phase of speed endurance training is well timed to bring us into condition for this and subsequent relays. The relays themselves become training sessions in their own right as we build towards the Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile road race.

Monday's session is once again at Langlands Place:

8 x 400m at 3k pace, 90 seconds recovery.

Possibly aim for the first 6 reps in the same time as you have done the session previously and then the final two reps 1 second faster (not as fast as you can go but still under control).

Warm up via Strathaven Rd and round by Sainsburys and then up the hill to Langlands Place. Cool down via Greenhills Rd and Strathaven Rd to the club.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 26th August

Route Change: I am advised that the hill at Langlands is potentially contaminated with liquid deposited by fly tippers and hence is slippy/unsafe to do reps on. Therefore, please switch to the hill at Auldhouse, running the reps up towards Leaburn Rd. For the warm-up run up the Starthaven Rd, past Sainsburys main entrance, past Langlands club house to Auldhouse. Turn left at Auldhouse Cross and down to the dip where the reps start. For the cool down, come back up to Auldhouse Cross and straight through back via the new houses/fingerposts and Greenhills Rd to Strathaven Rd.

Alan

A slight progression from last Thursday, tomorrow's session is as follows:

12 x 30 seconds hill reps, jog down recovery at the hill at Langlands

Consistency is the name of the game. So try to hit the same finishing points on each and every rep. The effort should feel like a 1 mile to 3k race effort, although the uphill pace will be somewhat slower. With this session, we are trying to develop running power. Therefore, keep the body tall and extend the leg fully when powering up the hill. Keep good form. If you are tying up towards the end of each rep or towards the end of the session, you have probably gone too fast.

Take the usual warm-up through the Glen (probably for the last time due to fading daylight) and gather at the corner at the bottom of the hill. After the session, return to the club via Sainsburys and the Strathaven Road.

Alan

Club Training Monday 23rd August

This Monday the intention is to momentarily interrupt the out and out speed and power work we are doing (which increases running efficiency and maximises our oxygen uptake) and to reintroduce a threshold session. We shall do this only occasionally at this time of year. The session will use the Sainsburys loop and is as follows:

2 x 9 minutes at threshold effort with 3 minutes walk/jog recovery.

Remember that threshold is the effort you could maintain in a race for 1 hour, so it might be somewhere between 10k and 10 mile race effort depending on whether you can run 10k in an hour or 10 mile in an hour. After a few minutes at this level of effort, you will only be able to gasp out a few words and not hold a conversation. It is uncomfortably hard.

For the warm-up, go up the Strathaven Road to Greenhills Road and then round by Sainsburys main entrance. Start the session just after the entrance gate and run the circuit in a clockwise direction. Regroup into your pack during the 3 minute walk/jog recovery. Remember to take the 3 minute recovery after the second effort too (as if anyone would forget!).

For the cool down, run down Singer Road through the factories and carry on up to the Stroud Road, turn right, head back to Kelvin Road, along to the Murray Rd and back to the club via the Crooked Lum, NEL roundabout and Strathaven Rd. Make sure you slow right down for this run back to the club and take it very easy.

For those who have been racing 10k on Sunday, do the above route as an easy, recovery run, you will catch your pack during their 3 minute walk/jog recovery.

Alan

COVID 19 Training booking reminder

Most legal restrictions relating to COVID 19 were lifted on the 9th August 2021 which includes restrictions on physical distancing and the size of social gatherings.

Scottish Government continue to set baseline measures which get feed into Sports Scotland then Scottish Athletics our governing body. 

Therefore our process of booking for a session and maintaining a register for Test & Protect remains the same. No exceptions. We have been operating this process since we returned in August last year.

These rules were developed by the committee for members to train safe and allow the club to comply with all the new rules laid out by our governing body Scottish Athletics.

The training online booking system was created and managed by Alan every week. So for it to work efficiently and support Alan managing the system please initially read the COVID-19 Training Booking Forms and Pack link at the top of the blog page.

Please note the timing of booking a space for the next available training session is critical.

We train every Monday and Thursday so book your space as early as possible. If your circumstances change the system allows you to withdraw.

Key Points

• Book your place by the day of  training before 18:30 to allow the background of the system to work.  Otherwise timely manual adjustments need to be made.
• Between 18:30 and 18:45 Alan is assigning the packs to be issued on the blog for after 18:45.
• If your not registered by 18:30 you can't train with Harriers that night. Also please don't turn up at training venue if not registered. We need accurate registers of attendees of the sessions for Test and Protect if anyone tests positive for COVID-19 after a  training session.
• Entries re-open at 20:00 for the next session after each session.

Please be mindful of your actions and the impact on others in the club and your pack.

Calderglen Harriers Committee

Scottish Athletics COVID guidance page: https://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/clubs/club-support/coronavirus/

Club Training Thursday 19th August

 Continuing the process of running economy development, Thursday's session is as follows:

10 x 30 second hill reps at 1 mile effort (but not 1 mile pace as that is too hard going up hill). Jog down recovery. Use the Langlands hill for this one (the hill where the Auldhouse 5k starts).

As usual, no heroics on the first and last reps. Just consistency. Note where you get to in 30 seconds and try to get there on every rep. No prizes for going further just less recovered for the next rep.

Warm up via the glen to Langlands. Cool down via Sainsburys.

Alan

Club Training Monday 16th August

 Monday's session is a step up in difficulty (running difficulty and watch programming difficulty). We are still focussing on this 3k pace which is faster than race pace for all events we are likely to do but will help with running efficiency at our normal race paces. The session is:

2 x 800m at 3k pace with 3 minutes recovery. Take a further 2 minutes recovery after the second 800m's 3 minute recovery (giving 5 minute recovery in total) and then do 4 x 400m at 3k pace with 2 minutes recovery between them.

Probably best to do the session at Langlands Place although the 800's will require a tight U-turn and acceleration back to 3k pace. Take the usual route to Langlands Place via the Strathaven Road and round by Sainsburys.

The 800's will be tough but will give a realistic impression of whether you are doing a 3k pace and are not going too fast. When it comes to the 400's make sure you do not speed up beyond the pace you did for the 800's (i.e. total time should be half that it took you for the 800's; no faster!!!!).

Alan

TTC Lunch & Dinner Choices

I've sent out an e-mail to everyone registered for the TTC to make lunch and dinner choices. In case you lose the e-mail, the message is repeated below along with the links to the menus and forms

Alan

Dear TTC'ers

It's time for what is for many the favourite bit of the TTC, the lunch and dinners. This year we are doing lunch on Saturday only. Although it is the same caterers as usual, due to the covid restrictions in place they shall be delivering individual lunch boxes rather than a help-yourself buffet. Therefore, we have to choose lunch in advance. The lunch box options are described in the following: Lunch Menu Saturday (individual lunch boxes).

Choose your lunch box using this form. As the caterer is still running a relatively limited business due to lack of office lunches, etc, we need to give them plenty notice with our order so they can stock up, so please fill in the lunch form by 27th August (or we will choose a couple of lettuce leaves for you :-)) 

Dinners will be at the Lade Inn on the Friday and Saturday evenings and will follow the usual format. Refer to the following menu for the details of the menu, including vegetarian and gluten free options: Lade Inn Menu (Friday & Saturday dinner).

The TTC cost covers two courses (starter + main or main + dessert). Remember to choose "None" for the course you are not having. If you want 3 courses then choose that third course and we will collect the extra £3 on the night. Please make your dinner choice by 30th August. Choose your dinners using this form.

Any questions, then do let me know.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 12th August

Thursday's run is a longish, easy run before we start on a few more weeks of faster reps. The purpose of these runs is to develop the purely aerobic system, so the slower you do the run, the longer you are out there, the more benefit you are getting from the aerobic point of view. In other words, bombing round the course achieves nothing other than making you too tired to train the next day!

The route is along Strathaven Rd, around by Sainsburys and then follow the 5k course past Park Farm to Leaburn Rd. At Leaburn Rd, turn left and carry on along through Leaburn until you come to the next right. Turn right and climb until the next junction where you turn right again onto the very rough road at the higher level. Follow that road to the cross roads and then turn right again and run down the hill back to Leaburn Rd. Turn left at Leaburn Rd and then carry on to the second on the right which is down the steep hill and back up to Auldhouse Cross. At Auldhouse Cross carry straight on to the fingerposts. Return to the club via Greenhills Rd and Strathaven Rd.

This may be one of the last longish runs out in the country due to failing daylight.

Alan

Club Training Monday 9th August

Focusing again on speed this Monday. Although the following session is faster than the pace we will be racing at, it does develop running efficiency (i.e. makes our actual race pace seem easier). The session is:

8 x 400m at 3k pace, 90 seconds recovery.

Do the session at Langlands Place. Warm-up via Strathaven Road, around by  Sainsburys and then up the hill to the start at the junction with Langlands Place. Cool down via the reverse.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 5th August - Auldhouse 5k

It's time for the Auldhouse 5k again and unfortunately, its the last daylight one. Conditions should be reasonable for fast times so hopefully we see some season's bests or course bests (you can see all the times from this year and previous years using the Auldhouse TT Times menu item on the left of the screen).

Warm up to the course via the Strathaven Road and round by Sainsburys.

I think Eddie is away on holiday this week, so looking for a volunteer to work out the start list (fastest going off last), set each person off at 30 second intervals and finally take the times and send through to me.

Alan

Club Training Monday 2nd August

 As this Thursday is the Auldhouse 5k, Monday's session is a relatively light, 5k pace session. The session is:

10 x 2 minutes at 5k pace, 2 minutes jog recovery.

Warm up along Strathaven Rd and then up Greenhills Rd to the fingerposts. Start the session at the fingerposts, along Shields Rd. After the kennels, turn left into Auldhouse and then straight through Auldhouse cross heading to Langlands. Return to the club via Sainsburys and Strathaven Road.

Note that if you can't make the Auldhouse 5k on Thursday evening, you can run a solo effort anytime from Thursday morning through to Sunday night.

Alan