Monday's session is a time based threshold rather than distance. The session is 3 x 10 minutes at threshold with 3 minutes jog recovery. The total distance covered will be a bit less than in recent Brancumhall sessions but each rep will be a little longer in duration, requiring very good judgement of threshold effort (2 or 3 word effort, comfortably hard).
Alan
Andrew Buchanan is organising ordering spike/shoe bags for the juniors as per the below photo. The bag will also have the club badge embroidered on and will print your initials. Andrew wants to order by this Friday so we have the bags before the national XC. Seniors are also welcome to order one so if you would like to order one could you please leave your name here by Wednesday 5th February. Cost is £11.25.
Entry to the stadium will be via Level 3. There will be no admittance through the main reception area on Level 2 (ground floor).
We are back to Lickprivick on Thursday for one of the most impactful sessions we do; long, threshold effort hill reps. This session develops power in the legs and improved running efficiency (i.e. each stride takes you further and faster when on the flat).
There is a very slight progression this week with the addition of an extra 2 minute effort at the end. The total session is 4 x 3 mins + 4 x 2 mins with a jog back down recovery after each rep. The effort is threshold effort which is sustained discomfort, the effort at which only 2 or 3 words could be spoken after the first minute or so of each rep.
Alan
Oh well, the planned post-race run today is out the window along with the actual races! Thanks to all who had intended to represent the club at either or both races over the weekend. Road races at this time of year are usually a bit of a lottery but it really has to be bad for an XC race to be cancelled and indeed it was bad. Maybe these races will be rescheduled which may allow even more Harriers to take part.
As it looks like the EK temperatures are due to rise to 5 or 6 C tomorrow and to remain a few degrees above freezing, the session is back at Langlands Place on the Calderglen "400m track". This is the same session as carried out a few weeks ago and comprises 4 x 800m at 10k pace + 5 x 400m at 10k pace, all with 1 minute recoveries in between. As usual, aim for consistency of pace/time for each rep. The sign of improvement is if the reps can be done more consistently at the same average pace as the last time we did this session and that you feel strong right to the end of the session.
Alan
Teams for Sundays race are as follows Updated Friday 16.12
LADIES leg1 J Beveridge, leg2 F Ferguson, leg3 C McSorley
M40A 1 P Lucchesi, 2 A Derrick, 3 G Lindsay, 4 J Grant
M40B 1 C Ferguson, 2 I Maclean, 3 K McPhillips, 4 R Gibson
M50 1 K Leinster 2 R Couper, 3,4 spare
If we get any late call ups we may reshape the teams to include a full m50 team
This 2025 edition of this masters age group event takes place on Sunday 26th January starting at 11am. The event is open to those aged 35+ on the day of the race. Russell will make the club entry and gather entry fees. To be included in the club entry, please leave your name HERE. Those entered so far are listed HERE. The course is an out and back similar to the parkrun but with a bit extra at the start and finish.
Flat, fast running at Strathclyde Park.
Start 11am
Cost is £7.50 each
I need names by Tuesday 21st Jan
A final word of encouragement before Saturday's 2nd and final race in this season's West XC League being held at Strathaven. Unlike any other event we do, every Harrier counts directly or indirectly to our final league position. How is that you may ask? Well, it is as follows:
There are separate league tables for each age group (U11, U13, U15, U17, U20, Seniors and Masters) for male and female and combined league tables for male + female and for U20+Seniors+Masters. In each category the first three from each club score and your score equals your position in the category e.g. 10th place scores 10 points, 34th place scores 34 points etc. The club with the lowest total score for their top three runners wins. If a club has less than three finishers, then for every missing finisher a penalty score equal to the total number of runners in that category is added. So if there are 102 runners in the male masters category, for every incomplete team, 102 points is added for every missing runner in that team. If we have more than the minimum 3 runners per team, then we are adding to the total number of runners in the age category and adding additional penalty points to clubs who have incomplete teams. Furthermore, no matter where you are in the field, every position you can make up in the final sprint for the line might be pushing another club's first, second or third counting runner down a place and possibly helping our top three counters to finish ahead of that club. So, every Harrier who runs has the potential to boost our league position. There is no other race where this is the case.
After the first race, the league positions for Calderglen are as follows:
We have very good chances of challenging for top 3 league finishes in various categories if we have a full turn out on Saturday. This is a great position for a small club such as ours to be in, so lets make it happen!
Alan
This years National XC Championship will again be held in Callendar Park Falkirk on Saturday 22nd February.
Start times u/13 Girls 11.00 Boys 11.16 (3.4k)
u/15 Girls 11.32 Boys 11.53 (4.3k)
u/17 Boys 12.13 Girls 12.18 (5.9k)
Senior Women 12.50 (10k)
u/20 Men 13.45 Women 13.55 (6.8k)
Senior Men 14.40 (10k)
Cost is u/17 and younger £8.00 and u/20 and older £9.50
Please make sure your SA registration is up to date for the time of entry and the race date.
I need names by Tuesday 4th February.
If you wish entered please add your name HERE. Those registered are listed HERE.
Monday's session at Brancumhall is a repeat of the last time to further consolidate the benefit of our weekly threshold sessions. The session is therefore 5 x 2 laps with a 2 minute jog in between. The intention is that for those who have been able to fit in the majority of the sessions we have done in the past months (and supplemented with plenty of easy runs and consistent weekly distance), then you should be feeling slightly more comfortable and consistent on these 2 lap reps than you were at the beginning of the cross country season back in October. Run to the correct level of effort (i.e. 2-3 word effort) and do not run to the limit such that you are bent over double at the end of the session and fading in the latter reps.
As many (hopefully most of the club) are racing once or twice this coming weekend at the West XC League in Strathaven on Saturday followed by the masters road relays at Strathclyde Park on Sunday, Thursday's session will be an easier, pre-race run. These regular winter races are as much a part of the training programme as the sessions on Monday's and Thursday. Such races help develop race fitness and race craft i.e. how to distribute your energy over a challenging course with perhaps challenging weather conditions to ensure you run your fastest possible time on that particular course on that particular day.
Alan
This years Masters XC championship will be held on Saturday 8th Feb.
Venue is Camperdown Park in Dundee.
Start time is 13.00 for Ladies and M65+, 13.45 for Men M40 - M64
6k for Ladies W40+ with M65 and 8k for M40+
Cost is £9.50 and i need names by 21st January
If you wish entered leave your name HERE. Those already registered are listed HERE.
On Thursday the 10k race pace sessions continue at Langlands Place. This weeks session extends the rep distance to 800m. The session is 4 x 800m at 10k pace with 1 minute stand/jog recovery + 5 x 400m at 10k pace with 1 minute stand/jog recovery. This is where you start to find out if the "10k pace" you have been running at in previous weeks over 400m is in fact the correct, sustainable pace. As always, consistency is the name of the game. Be careful doing the U-turn at the half way point in the 800's; take as wide a turn as possible rather than stopping, turning around and starting again. After many weeks of 400's at this pace, the pace should start to feel natural and automatic.
Alan
Monday's session combines strength and threshold again and is a return to Lickprivick for long hill reps. The session is 4 x 3 minutes up Lickprivick at threshold effort with a jog down recovery followed by 3 x 2 minutes up Lickprivick at threshold with a jog down (this is one rep more than we have done previously). The thaw should be well underway and any ice should be gone.
Remember that this session is not flat out; it is a threshold effort which is controlled discomfort. We describe it as something like 2 or 3 word effort, meaning that once underway you could say no more than 2 or 3 words.
Alan
Good luck to Charlotte who is representing the West of Scotland at tomorrow’s Inter district cross country championships at Alexandra Park in Dennistoun. If anyone wants to go along and support her, the U13 girl race is at 11am. Further details of the event can be found here:
We have secured tickets for the International meet in the Emirates Arena on Sunday 2nd February 6pm to 9pm.
These tickets are for BLOCK K and will be drawn at random next Thursday night after training.
If your lucky enough to win a ticket you have to go or return the ticket to the club for someone else to be drawn by the President. (ie you cant sell it on or give it away or leave it unused)
The juniors also have tickets that will be drawn in pairs as an adult needs to accompany the child. They will do this draw seperately
GOOD LUCK IN THE DRAW
Monday's session is at Brancumhall and is a threshold session, progressing from the previous XC sessions and becoming more specific to the longer XC races coming up.
The session is 5 x 2 laps at threshold with a 2 minute jog recovery, each rep starting wherever the 2 minute jog recovery ends. If the pavements are too snowy/icy to run on, then transfer this session to the golf course and do 5 x 6 minutes with 2 minute jog recoveries. In that case, warm-up by running to the small hump back bridge behind Carrigans and then start the reps there, progressing around the normal golf course lap for the session. Cool down by completing whichever lap you finish the last rep on.
(Note, I will be overseas with my work so may not be able to update the pack list at the usual time. I shall try my best though).
Alan
Race 2 in the West League xc will be held on Saturday 25th January in Strathaven. Should be the timetable below. This is not a pre entry but i will look for you to let me know in the week leading up to it an indication that your going to be there. Cost as with all the League races is £3 but only if you run and finish.
| Start Time | Race | Gender | Distance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:30 | U11 | Girls | 1300m | 1 small lap |
| 11:45 | U11 | Boys | 1300m | 1 small lap |
| 12:00 | U13 | Girls | 2100m | 1 large lap |
| 12:20 | U13 | Boys | 2100m | 1 large lap |
| 12:40 | U15 | Comb. | 3400m | 1 small lap & 1 Large lap |
| 13:00 | U17 | Comb. | 5400m | 1 small lap & 2 Large laps |
| 13:30 | U20 Senior Masters | Comb. | 7600m | 1 small lap & 3 Large laps |
Membership fees this year will be kept the same as last year and are as follows. This includes both Sports Club and Harriers fees.
· FAMILY - £194.00 - Includes 2 Adults & all children age 6 to under 18 years.
· ORDINARY/ SOCIAL - £130.00 - Open to individual adults 21 year and over (but under National Pension Age).
· INTERMEDIATE - £90.00 - Open to individuals aged 18 and under 21 years.
· JUNIOR - £50.00 - Open to all youngsters age 6 but under 18 years.
· RETIRED FAMILY - £114.00 - As Family (above), but applicable where both adults are over National Pension Age *
· RETIRED ORDINARY - £90.00 - As Ordinary (above), but applicable to those over National Pension Age *
Payments should start in January and can be paid in full or monthly in 10 instalments. If anyone is experiencing any difficulties and needs to make alternate arrangements then please feel free to discuss it in private with me (Russell) and we can see if we can find an alternate arrangement
Anyone needing the Harriers bank details send me a direct message.
Russell
