Club Training Thursday 30th March

Given that there are 10 Harriers signed up for the Tom Scott 10 mile road race on Sunday, Thursday's run is a relatively easy run with a change of pace. For those who did Brampton last November, take a note of your average Brampton pace per mile or per km.

The session is at the Sainsbury's loop and is 5 complete laps of the circuit. Run the first three laps at one minute per mile (approx 40 seconds/km) slower than your Brampton pace (if you didn't do Brampton, choose someone in your pack to run with and run at their pace). For the fourth lap, pick the pace up to precisely your Brampton pace. For the 5th lap, slow back down to 1 minute per mile (40s per km) slower than your Brampton pace. You will have to work slightly harder to maintain the pace on the uphill parts and work easier on the downhill parts. Press your lap button at the start/finish of each lap.

This session is all about self control and knowing your pace. I shall be checking pace judgement on Garmin Connect/Strava!

Alan

Club Training Monday 27th March

Monday's session is a long threshold session on the Stewartfield loop. Take the usual direct route to the loop via Lidl, West Mains Rd and into Stewartfield via the pedestrian lane.

The session is 2 x 10 mins at threshold (1 hour race effort or 3/4 word effort) with 3:30 jog recovery followed by 1 x 6 mins threshold. Return to the club via the reverse of the warm-up.

Alan

Harriers Strathclyde parkrun Takeover - 20th May

The Strathclyde parkrun organisers have confirmed that Calderglen Harriers will be taking over the parkrun on 20th May, this being the most popular date in our club survey. Julie B has liaised with the organisers who have provided the following details of what we will be required to do on the day. In particular, note that you must have a parkrun registration number (the number on your barcode). So do please register for parkrun. Please select the role(s) you would prefer to do using this form. The list of volunteers and preferred roles received so far is here.

Note that the Harriers Committee will make the final allocation of roles and as limited numbers are required for each role, you may not get allocated your preferred role if it is over-subscribed.

So Calderglen Harriers are booked in for the takeover on Saturday 20 May 2023.  What we need to do before then is allocate the following roles:

• Timekeeper x 2
• Barcode scanners x 4
• Funnel managers x 3
• Number checker x 1
• Finish tokens x 1
• Marshall’s x 4
• Visually Impaired Guide (if required)
• Tail Walker x 1

Other tasks include (and these can be performed as an individual role to the above or by a person already covering a role above):

• Pre-event set-up 
• Event day course check
• First timers welcome
• Volunteer coordinator 
• Report writer

In order for our members to volunteer they will need to register for parkrun before hand.

Club Training Thursday 23rd March

Thursday's run is an easy run with strides. The route is all the way down Queensway to the Holiday Inn. From there to Morrisons and along to the lane beside Stewartfield Rd onto West Mains Rd. Then run to Lidl and back to the club via Avondale. Fit in 5 x 50-80m strides on flat or downhill sections.

Alan

EK Sports Club AGM

The AGM will take place at the Sports Club on Thursday 30th March at 7:30pm. Any member wishing to put themselves forward for an office bearer position on the committee must put their name forward in writing with a proposer and seconder. I hope as many as possible can attend.

Frances

(Sports Club Secretary)

West Highland Way Relay 2023

Its now that time of year to plan our West Highland way weekend. We have booked the Ben Nevis hotel for Saturday the 13th May 2023. For those new to the club we hire a 17 seater minibus and leave East Kilbride about 3:30am on the Saturday morning and drive to Milngavie where Alan will allocate a section of the Way to be run by each person although you can, if you wish, run with others on their legs. Arriving in Fort William early evening for a swim if there is time and dinner with some refreshments. Depending on the weather we may do an activity on the Sunday before arriving back in East Kilbride around 6pm. As places are limited it will be a first come first served basis upon giving Frances a deposit of £30 (from Monday 27th March onwards at the Sports Club). Total cost for the weekend will be £95 and this includes your place on the bus and dinner, B&B in the Ben Nevis Hotel. Places will go fast so don't delay. 

Frances

DAAA Clydebank 10 Mile Road Race

Sunday 19th March

My last race report was pre-Covid so probably time for another!

This race evolved from the Balloch to Clydebank half marathon but this time it’s an out and back from the new Clydebank Leisure Center (in a new location from the old one as I found out this morning). However it gives it a good base with plenty of parking, toilet and changing facilities.

They make the most of the canal paths along the Clyde which keeps it almost entirely traffic free and scenic to boot. I was there early and picked up my number without any delay but the queue built up and some people must have been starting to worry as it approached start time. There’s a 100m or so between the start and finish as we set off along the Clyde walkway. As with all Clydeside races, running westwards is likely to be into a headwind and today was no exception. It was biting. There are a couple of twists and turns to get from the walkway to the canal path then it’s a straight route to Bowling. At miles 5 to 6 there’s a loop which has a few short climbs but nothing like the Brampton hill. Then its back the way you came and finally onto the walkway and a finish at the leisure center. Almost all flat this is a good course for a time if the wind and weather play ball.

There was suppose to be a goodie bag but this turned out to be a bottle of water and a buff. If you were a size 6 lady you got a t-shirt. I’m assuming this was because they had some left rather than a form of discrimination against us medium sized men !! The chip timing was a company called Protay who I hadn’t heard of before. There was no on-site printer for that wee receipt thing you get but to be fair the results were available on line very quickly.

From memory the race fee was £16 so maybe a wee bit steep although there were plenty of marshals along the way.

From my own perspective this wasn’t the best day at the office. I wasn’t expecting anything major but was a bit disappointed with my chip time of 70:04. I was OK at the turn but with hindsight the split being 40s to the good on my target time of 70 mins was maybe a bit much given the headwind for most of the way out. I had a really bad spell at 11/12/13km and knew my splits were off. Rather than look at the elapsed time and realise that I could get back on track I sort of resigned myself to missing 70 mins by a good chunk. I rallied a bit on the last couple of km but to find out I missed it by 4 seconds was galling. That said I was 42s off Brampton on a less hilly course ( I still find it hard to believe Brampton is downhill)

The race was won by Daryl Reid of EKAC in 51:24. First lady was Lesley Bell of Gascube Harriers in 59:11.

I was 12th MV50 and 88th overall. Results show 217 finishers of the 300 limit

Anyway it’s a good course and hopefully it will continue as it’s a good tester even if not racing it flat out.

Stephen

Club Training Monday 20th March

Monday's session is on the Sainsbury Loop and is a distance rather than time-based long rep session. The session is 5 x 1 mile at threshold effort with a 3 minute jog recovery. Those in the final stages of marathon training should do a 6th rep and make the last two reps at target marathon pace (i.e. slower than threshold effort) just to tune in the marathon pace on already tired legs.

Program your Garmins for 5 (or 6) x 1 mile with 3 minute recoveries. Usual warm-up and cool down.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 16th March

Thursday's session is the start of a block of training where we will be looking to improve aerobic capacity i.e. maximise the ability to use oxygen to the benefit of 5k to 10 mile primarily but useful for even longer distances by giving a bit of pace reserve to surge in the middle of a longer race or to build to a long sustained effort at the end of a race. The session is at Langlands Place (usual warm-up) and consists of:

10 x 400m at 5k pace, 1 minute static recoveries + 6 x 200m, slightly faster pace (not sprinting) with 200m jog recoveries. As the weeks progress, we shall gradually reduce the recoveries between the 400's.

Alan

Club Training Monday 13th March

I lost track of the day of the week, so apologies for the late posting of this. Given the number of Harriers racing over the weekend, particularly at Alloa Half, Monday's run is a post-race recovery run. Thursday's run will be faster reps again.

The route for Monday's run is down Queensway to the Holiday Inn, turn right along to Morrisons and then around Stewartfiel Crescent to Stewartfield Rd. Down the lane parallel to Stewartfield Rd to West Mains Rd, past the station to Lidls and up Avondale and back to the club. This should be an easy, totally aerobic run with no puffing and panting. Stay in full control of the breathing and heart rate throughout.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 9th March

With two races over the weekend (GU Road Race, Alloa Half) in which many Harriers are involved, Thursday's run is a pre-race, easy run with strides. However, with the prospect of potentially icy weather and perhaps snow, the main instruction is to be careful. It is though better to go out for some sort of run and keep the legs moving than to miss a run completely ahead of the race to avoid feeling lethargic and stiff on Saturday or Sunday.

The usual advice is that if the conditions are snowy, then head for the golf course and take it very easy for two laps with 5 x approx 80 to 100m strides at 5k effort. However, if the pavements are not icy and are runnable, then do Queensway, West Mains, Lidl, Chuchill Avenue, Club, again with 5 x 80 to 100m strides.

Alan

Allan Scally Road Relay - Full Speed Fun

Since the Allan Scally Road Relay moved to early March and the Glasgow Green venue a few years ago, the weather has been fantastic. The 2023 event was no exception with fine, calm conditions and blazing sun for at least leg 1 and 2 runners. Calderglen Harriers have always had a big turnout for this race, irrespective of the venue and on Saturday we fielded 24 runners from juniors all the way through to M70.

The fine conditions and the hard work from the Harriers training and racing through the worst of the winter weather resulted in fine performances throughout. The accurately measured 5k course is a regular source of fast times and Calderglen PB and Performance Standards awards. Karen Allen has piled on the hard training in preparation for her London Marathon debut in April and has proved that consistent big mileage and quality sessions reward us at all of our race distances as every race we do from 1 mile upwards requires a well developed aerobic energy system. So it was no surprise to me (but a big surprise to Karen) that Karen recorded a fantastic new 5k PB of 19:30 despite being tired from weeks of heavy training. Well done Karen!

Relays always seem to produce very tight times within the Harriers and we had a dead heat for the second fastest ladies' time with junior Rachel McPhillips running a PB of 22:08 and tying to the second with non-junior Frances Ferguson who is getting faster by the week. To further add to the coincidences, this was also identical to the time that Frances ran at this event one year ago!

Alison Lessells was next fastest with a time of 22:17, faster than last year and definitely heading to better and better form with each race. Claire McSorley has had heavily interrupted training in recent months and was happy to be out racing and setting a benchmark of 23:05 to build on. The Harrier who seemed to be enjoying themselves the most on the run was Junior Harrier Emma Hutton who ran a very even race to finish in a fine 24:30, a time that she will soon take minutes off with consistent training. Well done to all the ladies.

In the men's standings, our fastest on the day was the ever remarkable Davie Watt, setting a time of 18:06. This actually puts Davie as the 4th fastest M60 over 5k in the UK so far in 2023 according to the UKA Power of 10 rankings (which excludes parkruns though). Gerry Connelly is also getting back to the fine form of a few years ago, recording a very good 18:31. After a break from racing in the Harriers vest of over 10 years, Blair Matthew made a welcome return in the gold and black stripes to record an excellent time of 18:39. As Blair is on the gentle come back after years and years of injuries and operations, this was indeed a fine return to competitive running which Blair will improve on substantially if he can stay injury free. Duncan McKellar has been one of the strongest Harriers through the cross country season and followed that up with pace on the flat course around Glasgow Green with a time of 18:53. Another huge improver compared to last year was Paul Lucchesi who smashed last year's time by over 2 minutes, finishing in 18:56. This is another reflection on high, consistent miles in training. Rounding out a group of very close finishing Harriers, Andrew Buchanan crossed the line in 18:57, about a minute faster than last year as a result of consistent training through the winter. 

Stephen Phimister is another who has also put in the miles in recent months despite a number of setbacks with lingering illnesses. Resplendent in brand new semi-super carbon plated racing shoes, Stephen got back to performances of old with a comfortable return to the sub-20 club, recording 19:32. Jason Grant is another benefiting from marathon training, just missing out on the sub-20 club to finish in 20:02. Next time! Kai Wheeler is a junior who has been loyal to the Harriers for many years and it was great to see him out in a senior Harriers team, setting a good benchmark time of 21:00. Not far behind, Kieran Rooney, another of our long-term juniors ran very well to finish in 21:41. Well done to all of our younger members for representing themselves and the Harriers in this excellent event. 

Another tie followed with experienced Harriers Martin Howell and Jim Holmes both recording a time of 22:12. Gordon McInally is still suffering with niggling aches and pains and is not at his best yet. Gordon's time of 23:19 reflects his current injury status. Robert Gibson has been getting back into more consistent training recently and ran a time within sight of his usual form, finishing in 23:24. Gerry Mullen made his first race appearance of the year covering the 5k lap in his usual well paced manner to cross the line in 23:44. Richard Lawton continues to take the cautious approach back to health and despite running to a heart rate limit, crossed the line in 24:30 and only around 30 seconds slower than when he was pushing himself to the absolute limit! This is a good demonstration of how consistent, easy training miles will actually make you faster for a given level of effort. Richard is probably fitter now than he was pre-health scare and if the brakes were off I am sure would run faster than ever before. Billy Buchanan tried to use age as an excuse to be substituted for his leg but the evidence provided by a time of 25:28 confirmed that Billy is still in very fine form for an M70. Finally, Russell Couper ran his fastest 5k for a while, crossing the line in 26:07 in the first race of a double race weekend for him.

Our best team position of the day was achieved by the M50 team of Davie Watt, Gerry Connelly, Martin Howell and Stephen Phimister who finished an excellent 4th in a very competitive field. Our M40 team of Duncan McKellar, Blair Matthew, Jason Grant and Paul Lucchesi finished 8th in a very strong age category.

As mentioned at the beginning of this report, the flat, fast course provides an excellent opportunity for Calderglen 5k performance standards (and PB standards) to be achieved. I shall leave it to individual Harriers to self report their own PB's as it is too difficult for me to keep track of but the performance awards achieved were: Davie Watt (M60 Gold), Frances Ferguson (F55 Gold), Karen Allen (F35 Bronze), Gerry Connelly (M50 Bronze), Blair Matthew (M45 Bronze) and, if in M45 rather than M40 age group, Duncan McKellar (M45 Bronze) and Paul Lucchesi (M45 Bronze), Stephen Phimister (M50 Bronze). All of these are subject to correction if I have the ages on race day wrong of course, so do please self report your own results using the Performance Award menu on the left of the blog home screen.

Finally copious photos from myself in this album and Kai in this album. Here is hoping that we are out of winter racing conditions and into fine weather racing for many months to come.

Alan

Club Training Monday 6th March

After a very full Harriers representation at the Scally on Saturday, Monday's session takes the pace down a little bit to 10k race pace. The total distance of the session is also being kept down to aid recovery and maintain quality. 

The session is 8 x 3 minutes at 10k pace with a 1 minute jog recovery. Use the Sainsburys loop for this session, starting the first rep at the main gate and proceeding in a clockwise direction.

(note that a Scally race report is coming but I'm having laptop Internet connectivity problems this evening and it's too much to write on my phone).

Alan 

TEAMS & RUNNING ORDER FOR THE ALLAN SCALLY RR

 Teams for Saturday are as follows. 1st leg starts at noon if the early leg runners could be there for 11.15 and later leg runners by 11.45

Ladies A team    leg1  K Allen,  leg2  R McPhilips,  leg3   F Ferguson,   leg4   A Lessells

Ladies B team    leg1   C McSorley,  leg2   E Hutton

MV50     A      leg1   D Watt,   leg2   G Connelly,   leg3   M Howell,   leg4    S Phimister

MV50     B      leg1    J Holmes,    leg2   G Mullen,    leg3   G McInally,  leg4   G Ferguson

MV40     C      leg1   D McKellar,  leg2    B Matthew,   leg3   J Grant,    leg4    P Lucchesi

M Sen      D     leg1   A Buchanan,    leg2    K Wheeler,   leg3  K Rooney,   leg4   R Gibson

MV40      E     leg1    R Lawton,    leg2     B Buchanan,    leg3   R Couper

Anybody not listed that wants a run let me know asap

Russell

SCOTTISH ROAD RELAY CHAMPIONSHIP ( Livingston)

This year's National Road Relay Championship will be on Sat 25th March in Livingston.

Starts are 11.30 for men and 11.40 for Ladies.

Sen Men 6 legs, M40 6 legs, M50 4 legs

Sen Ladies   4 legs,   F40  4 legs,  F50  3 legs

The odd legs are short legs (approx 3 miles). The even legs are long legs (approx 6 miles).

Cost is £5 each

You must be a current member of Scottish Athletics and your membership must be valid on race date at the time of entry.

I need names by Tuesday 7th March

If you wish entered please leave your name HERE. Those already registered are listed HERE.

Official competition information is here.

Club Training Thursday 2nd March

Thursday's run is a pre-race easy run with 5k paced strides. The suggested route is Strathaven Rd to Greenhills Rd. All the way to Greenhills Roundabout, down Lickprivick, bearing right back towards the Murray and back to the club via the NEL roundabout. Within each pack take it in turn for someone to choose a flat or slightly downhill stretch to introduce 80m to 100m at 5k pace. Do this 5 times starting from about the Whitehills junction on Greenhills Rd. With a large proportion of the club racing at the Scally on Saturday, try to finish this run feeling very fresh.

Alan