West Highland Way Relay Minibus Pick-Up Times

The following WHW Relay pick up times have been set by your early morning driver. For those not familiar with the WHW Relay, these times are Saturday 18th May AM! Any questions (or complaints), contact Eddie. 

Club Training Monday 29th April - Chatelherault

Monday is the first of our fortnightly Chatelherault trail run sessions. Full details of where to be and when and what to put on the training registration app are in this post from a few weeks ago:

https://calderglen.blogspot.com/2024/04/chatelherault-training-starts-soon.html

The important point about the Chatelherault session is that it is not a time trial. The session is about building aerobic condition (which means taking the pace relatively easy/steady so that you remain in the aerobic energy system) and building strength from the wide variety of hills, twists and turns. So, for those who know the route, if you hammer the first half such that at the bottom of the log jam you have to walk all the way up and take a rest at the top, then you are not getting the strength benefit of running slowly up the stairs. Arrive at the log jam relatively fresh so that you are able to work up the steps and then carry on recovering on the run from the top.

For those unfamiliar with the Chatelherault lap, please stick with your pack of more experienced Harriers as there are various junctions where it is possible to go wrong. Although not for a while, we have had to send search parties out towards Larkhall in the past looking for missing Harriers! Similarly, experienced Harriers, don't let anyone drop off the back of the pack and be left on their own.

Finally, in the days before Strava, we kept track of Chatelherault times using this form, the idea being mainly to see perceived effort reducing whilst the time per lap remains more or less the same or slightly faster. Anyway, we have years of Chatelherault times and comments in this sheet, so let's keep it going by recording your time, effort level and any comments after each session.

Alan

Harriers' Sports and Quiz Night

As part of the Harriers' 40th anniversary celebrations, Billy is organising a multi-sports night at the club, exposing teams of Harriers and former Harriers to a range of sports. This is similar to the event Billy organised in June 2021 and which was a great success and a lot of fun.

The event will be at the Sports Club at 7pm on Friday 31st May. Please be there at 6:30pm so that teams can be picked.  The sports event will be followed by a quiz on the theme of the history of the Harriers.

Leave your name on this form and this list will be used to form the teams on the night. The events are open to Harriers and former Harriers so do please spread the word and ask everyone to fill in the form.

Any questions about the format, please direct to Billy!

As a reminder of the 2021 event, here are some photos.

Alan

Harriers' Strathclyde parkrun Takeover - Volunteer Roles

The time is drawing near for the Calderglen Harriers takeover of Strathclyde parkrun. The date selected is Saturday 8th June, so only fill out the following if you are available to help on that date. Julie B has provided the following information:

The roles to be covered are:

• Timekeeper- 2 needed 
• Barcode scanning - at least 7 
• Marshalls - 3/4
• Finish Tokens -1
• Finish Token Support - 1
• Funnel Manager - at least 5
• Number checker - 1
• Pre-event set-up (will be needed from about 7.30/8.00 but could go home once they have helped with the set-up). The race director will help the volunteer with this
• First Timers Welcome - 1
• Tail Walker - 1
• VI Guide - 1 (although dependent on whether they are required for this role on the day)

Use this form to select all the roles you would be interested in performing or select "any" if you are not bothered which role you are given. It is particularly important that you provide your parkrun barcode number (it is the number below your barcode). The responses received so far are here.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 25th April

Thursday's session is 400m reps at Langlands Place, following the usual warm-up to Langlands Place via Strathaven Rd and Sainsburys. The cool down is back via the glen, entering at Langlands, if the underfoot conditions are known to be good enough.

The session is 14 x 400m at 5k pace with a 1 minute stand/jog around recovery. The majority of this session should feel more comfortable than Monday's long rep session given that we are breaking the total distance up into smaller pieces, so if you are struggling from early on, you are most likely going too fast!

Remember that Monday is the first Chatelherault session of the year (see the post from a few weeks ago) and that next Thursday will be the first Auldhouse 5k Time Trial of the year.

Alan

Club Training Monday 22nd April

Monday's session is  long interval session (unless you were racing at the weekend in which case run the same route as an easy run.

The session is 10k race specific. Warm up via Strathaven Rd to start of Auldhouse 5k route. Run Auldhouse 5k course at slightly easier than 10k race effort (not pace but effort given the hilly terrain). Rest for 3 minutes then run from 5k finish line back to Auldhouse cross in the reverse direction past Langlands Club House at 5k race effort. Jog back to club via Langlands Club House (or the Boardwalk if it is still there). 

Register as normal so we know who is doing and has done the session but note I won't be able to update packs due to time difference.

Finally, also remember that next Monday is first Chatelherault of the year. 

Alan 

Club Training Thursday 18th April

Its a threshold Thursday. Ensure that this is at the lower end of threshold, i.e. just on the edge of uncomfortable, as this is still an easier week before another brief build to the next GP race. The session is 3 x 6 minutes with 2 minutes jog recovery. The efforts should be consistent which means that the pace will vary depending on the hills and wind.

The route is a warm-up to the Langlands Golf Course junction via Strathaven Rd/Sainsburys and then down the hill to the corner. Start the first rep at this corner and run to Leaburn Rd via Park Farm. Turn right onto Leaburn Rd and right again down into the dip and up to Auldhouse Cross. Turn Left at the cross and then right past the kennels and along Shields Rd to the fingerposts. Turn right on Greenhills Rd and back to the club.

Alan

TTC Provisional Date

Change of (still) provisional date. Due to key personnel being unavailable on the weekend of 13th September, I am going to try for the following weekend (starting Friday 20th). The post below has been updated.

Subject to the Dreadnought Hotel and Lade Inn being available, the Trossachs Training Camp is going to be from the evening of Friday 20th September to mid-day on Sunday 22nd September. 

Once arrangements and costs are confirmed, I will post details on the blog.

Alan

Remaining Grand Prix Races

The dates for the remaining GP races are listed here.

Alan

Chatelherault Training Starts Soon

The Chatelherault sessions start on Monday 29th April and every two weeks thereafter until late August. This is a 7 mile trail run. Hopefully by delaying our start date by a week the weather will have improved and the ground will have dried out.

On Chatelherault nights, either go direct to the car par to the right of the main drive as shown here on Google Maps, ready to run at 19:30 (select "Training Venue" on the training registration form). Alternatively, if you need a lift or can give a lift, be at the Sports Club changed and ready to leave at 19:00 (select EKSC on the training registration form so we know there are people needing a lift and to wait for you). 

Alan

Club Training Monday 15th April

Monday's session is a post-race recovery run. The route is: Strathaven Rd to start of Auldhouse 5k, follow the Audhouse 5k route as far as Auldhouse cross then turn left and right past the kennels and along Shields Rd to Greenhills Rd and back to the club. Make this a very easy run. Thursday will be back on to Threshold.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 11th April

Thursday is a reduced duration, pre-race Threshold. Although the rep durations are shorter than usual for a threshold session, do not go faster than you usually would. The idea is to finish this session fresh. The route is: 

Warm up to Langlands Club House via Strathaven Rd and Sainsburys. From there do 3 x 4 minutes at threshold effort with 1 minute jog recovery, heading towards Auldhouse. Go straight through Auldhouse Cross and turn right to pass the kennels. Carry on along Shields Rd to the Fingerposts and back to the club via Greenhills Rd.

Alan

Club Training Monday 8th April

Monday's session is a pre-race 10k session ahead of the Grangemouth 10km this coming Sunday.

The session is at Langlands Place, so usual route there and back via Strathaven Rd and Sainsburys. The session is:

8 x 400m at 10k pace with 1 minute stand/walk about recovery immediately followed by 8 x 200m at 5k pace with 200m jog recovery (i.e. effort to half way along Langlands Place and then jog to the end, turn around and start the next rep).

Be very focused on hitting an accurate, consistent and realistic 10k pace during the 400's. The paces per 400m for different 10k race times are:

Alan

EAST KILBRIDE SPORTS CLUB AGM

 The Sports Club AGM will be on Wednesday 10th Apr at 7.30pm in the Main Hall. All paid members of Calderglen Harriers are invited to attend.

Club Training Thursday 4th April

It is threshold Thursday comprising of 3 x 10 minutes at threshold with a 3:30 jog recovery. Use the Sainsburys loop for the session, this giving a good mix of flat, uphill and downhill sections to cement the aim of maintaining a constant level of effort and varying the pace to maintain that effort depending on the slope and wind resistance. Apart from using the watch to time the efforts, you should not be glancing at your watch to check pace as it is irrelevant. The objective is to learn to run by feel and know your own limits as this is what you have to do in real races. Trying to religiously stick to a pace when conditions during that particular stretch of the race are against you can very often destroy your race whereas those who run to feel may well come flying past you later in the race having controlled their effort. Threshold is the 2-3 word talking pace between breaths or the effort you could maintain for an hour if starting off totally fresh in a race situation.

Take the usual warm-up/cool-down to/from the Sainsburys loop and start the first effort at the main gate as per usual. Thereafter the session is continuous, regrouping into your packs during the recovery jogs.

Alan