Club Training Monday 11th October

Monday is our fortnightly cross-country session at Brancumhall. The session is as follows (referring to the aerial photograph below):

Run one side of the quadrangle at 4k race pace then slow down to a "float" pace for the next two sides of the quadrangle and then do the next side at 4k pace. Do this until you have completed 6 complete laps of the quadrangle. So, you start off with side 1 at 4k pace, float for sides 2 and 3 and then side 4 at 4k pace and then sides 1 and 2 at float and side 3 at 4k pace and so on until you have done 6 complete laps of the quadrangle. Press your lap button at each change of pace so there is a good record of there actually being a change of pace.

"Float" pace is not a jog, it is something like 10k to 10 mile race pace, so means taking the foot off the gas from 4k pace. 6 complete laps is approximately 3 miles of which about 1 mile will be fast and 2 miles at float.

Take the usual route to and from Brancumhall and bring a change of shoes, if you have them, for the cross country reps. If we are lucky, someone may even take you cross country shoes to the course in a car but come prepared with a small bag or rucksack to carry them in if not.

Alan

West District XC Relays - Speed Golf Harriers' Style

 

Saturday saw the welcome return to normality as far as Scottish Athletics competition was concerned with a very well attended and competitive West District XC Relay Championship at Alexandra Park, Glasgow. This new venue provided a challenging course with a surprising amount of elevation change but a also a firm, grassy surface in the light rough at the sides of the fairways. There were perhaps only 4 or 5 steps in slightly squidgy ground on the whole course, which was remarkable given the amount of rain in the preceding days and the number of feet that had pounded the course by the time the senior women and men ran at the end of the day.

The women were running in teams of 3, each completing 1 lap of the 4km course. We had one full and one incomplete (2 runners) team competing. We had the two Julies on the first leg of each team (Julie Beveridge and Julie Thomson) and each ran very well. Julie Beveridge paced the leg well and was able to take advantage of the terrain to finish very fast indeed in a time of 16:57. Julie Thomson has taken great strides forward this past year, hitting multiple pb's on the road but is still relatively new to cross country and is learning how to pace herself on hilly courses such as this. Julie had a fine run of 20:09. Kirsty Wilson made a welcome return to cross country (at least it was welcome for all of us supporting; speaking to Kirsty after her run, she was not so certain!) and put in a very strong performance on leg 2 for the first team to finish in 17:40. Frances Ferguson has been struggling with a few niggling injuries in recent months but showed good natural ability to run a very consistently paced lap in 19:38 for leg 2 of the second team. Alison Lessells completed the first team and, as seemed to be the case with most of our runners, got involved in a finishing straight sprint to hold a place, not that Alison had much choice given the very vocal encouragement she was getting to "Gooooooo" by her teammates. Alison finished in 19:06. As the ladies held onto their jokers, the Grand Prix and Scratch Championship leader boards are exactly in finishing order with Julie Beveridge leading both.

For the men we had two complete teams and a half complete team. The men were running in teams of 4 over the same 4km lap as the ladies. Our senior men's team was led off by Kevin Farmer who was getting himself unnecessarily worried about a return to racing. However, once he got going he was fine and stormed around on the crowded first leg in 16:13. Our over 40's (well over 40 in most cases) masters team was led off by Graeme Lindsay, stepping down considerably in distance from his last race. Graeme sped around the lap at a very consistent pace uphill and down in 16:54. For the incomplete team, Gordon McInally made his first race post foot surgery and surprised himself with an excellent time of 19:44. This shows that for all the race distances we cover from 4k to marathons and beyond, the bulk of the energy we use comes aerobically and Gordon has maintained his aerobic fitness despite the layoff from running by doing a lot of cycling. Gordon will of course get faster as he is able to add more running to his training but he has done a good job so far of keeping his aerobic fitness up.

Leg 2 of the senior team was given to Richard Beaton, making his cross country debut as an adult! Richard made good use of his new trail shoes to finish in 19:26 and with a strategically smart move, played two jokers to take an early lead in the Harriers Grand Prix. Stephen Phimister was on leg 2 for the Masters team and made up ground and passed several, including Richard in our first team, finishing in 17:19 with not a spec of mud on his legs; this was definitely a clean cross-country course. Russell Couper was on leg 2 for the incomplete team and was somewhat isolated but still kept the pace under control, finishing in 22:55.

Leg 3 for the Masters team was taken by me and as I was on the verge of several recurring injuries I lined up for the changeover with some trepidation. However, despite not having raced since October 2019, as soon as the leg was underway, it was business as usual and chase, chase, chase! I definitely felt my age on the uphills, lacking the power that I remember from even a few years ago but paced it well enough to even have a big sprint in the final 50m to make up one more place, finishing in 15:37. Callum Wright was on leg 3 for the senior team and despite not having done many cross country races of any distance, let alone a relative sprint such as this, ran very well and overtook many on his way to a time of 16:05.

Jim Holmes was on the final leg for the Masters team and held on well to the team's position. Jim enjoyed the lap much more at race pace than he did doing the warm-up lap with me, when it seemed there were only uphills on the course! Jim finished in 18:04. The senior team was also fielding a Jim on the 4th leg, this time Jim Mearns. Jim doesn't necessarily like to take the easy option, so somewhat handicapped himself by having a covid and flu booster jag the day before. However, Jim's main concern was finishing in time to see the Scotland match which had a 1700 kick-off. He needed have worried and was another Harrier demonstrating an impressive range of race distances from 4k to ultra, finishing in 18:52 (not at 18:52, in which case he would have missed the first half).

Well done to all who were able to compete and those who came down to support (Anne and Allan). Also a big thanks to Shettleston Harriers who hosted the event and put in a power of effort to put the first post-covid championship XC on at a completely new venue.

The impressive thing about all the Harriers running at the weekend was the very obvious commitment to chase down every vest in front of us and make up places for the team. For those new members who haven't competed in a relay for the Harriers (road or cross-country) and thought that running was purely an individual sport, this sort of event really makes you feel part of a team and, although there are unfortunately not many relays on the calendar, I would recommend getting a Scottish Athletics membership such that we are able to pick you for a future event and you can enjoy the team spirit first hand. 

There are a few photos from Frances and some from me in this album (which you can upload to). Also, the up-to-date Grand Prix and Scratch Championship scores are available via the Grand Prix menu to the left of the blog.

Roll on Scone Palace in two weeks (also remember that the Glasgow University 5 Mile Road Race is next weekend and is a GP event. There are still over 100 places available for pre-entries on Entry Central)!

Alan

Grand Prix Season Start Jokers

I've done a few simulations of the joker scoring system to try to even it up a bit this year as it was becoming possible to run away with a total that was dominated by those with more than a few jokers at the start of the season. This also reflects the fact that the numbers taking part were on average down the last time we ran a full GP which again biased the result to those with many jokers at the start of the season. So, based on the average participation over the past few Grand Prix and some simulations of average positions throughout the field, the list of starting jokers for the season is here and is based on our well established pack ranking. Note that those starting with zero jokers will still pick up jokers after 5, 8 and 11 races completed as described in an earlier post here. To stand a chance of winning, it is still necessary to do at least 11 races.

For this year, given that we are starting with a lower number of jokers, there is no upper limit on the number of jokers that can be played/earned per season.

Alan

WEST DISTRICT XC RELAY TEAMS

 The teams for Saturday are listed below

LADIES A     Leg 1 J Beveridge,    Leg 2 K Wilson,     Leg 3  A Lessells

LADIES B     Leg 1 J Thomson,     Leg 2  F Ferguson

MENS SENIOR TEAM    1 K Farmer,   2 R Beaton,  3 C Wright,   4  J Mearns

MENS MASTER TEAM   1 G Lindsay,  2 S Phimister,  3 A Derrick,  4 J Holmes

INCOMPLETE TEAM     1 G McInally,  2 R Couper,  3 A McLellan.

Please arrive in plenty of time. (see instruction post below)

Training Thursday 7th October

Thursday is a pre-race run of relatively short duration with some light strides in the middle. The suggested route is from the club to High Common Road via the lane down past Colonsay Field. Follow High Common Rd downhill to St Leonards Rd and along towards Brancumhall. Carry on past Brancumhall to Maxwelton Rd up to Calderwood Square. Cross over the road and run down to the Whirlies and back to the club via the Kingsway. Start the strides on the better lit parts of St Leonards Rd (if there are any better lit parts) and fit in strides (i.e. a gentle acceleration to a relaxed, light on the feet pace) on flatter parts of the route. Each stride should be approximately 50m to 100m in length (e.g. between 3 lamp posts), Do 4 to 6 strides when the conditions allow, well spaced out with at least a few minutes between each one.

Alan

WEST DISTRICT XC RELAYS INTRUCTIONS FOR SATURDAY

 For those racing on Saturday please read the following.

Parking is available on Blochairn Road (Post codes G21 2DU or 2DZ). This a large industrial area which is free from traffic on Saturday. A footbridge takes you from this road directly over the M8 into Milnbank Sports Hub where you find the tented area and course. Please note strictly no parking allowed in Park or in residential housing next to park. Club tents can be dropped off at the side entrance of the Park via Sannox Gardens (G31 3JE). This street is accessed off Alexandra Park Street and Coventry Drive. Individuals dropping off tents may park in these streets -This will be strictly monitored by Community Police. No others may park in this area.

Can someone pick up the tent and bring it along.

The course is at Alexandra park golf course and is a mixture of golf course and parkland. 

There is no changing available so come ready to run.

The Ladies start at 13.00 and i need everyone there by 12.15 to allow distribution of numbers and to allow a warm up. The Men start at 14.15 and again i need everyone there by 13.30 for the same reason as the Ladies but it would be good if you can be there before this to support our Ladies running.

Anyone that can no longer make it should let us know asap to allow a restructure of the teams.

Those running are J Beveridge, F Ferguson, A Lessells and K Wilson. For the Men A Derrick, R Couper, J Holmes, J Mearns, G McInally, G Lindsay, A McLellan, R Beaton, S Phimister, K Farmer, D Wardrope and C Wright.

There are 2 spaces available in the Ladies team and there are 2 reserves entered K Allen and J Thomson so if either want a run let us know asap. At the moment there are no spaces in the mens team but there are many reserves listed so if anyone not listed above wants a run let me know and if a space becomes available i will let you know.

Teams and running order will be listed when the Club Captains and Vice Captains get back to me.

Club Training Monday 4th October

Note, that following Gordon’s comment below about part of the pavement being dug up on Sainsburys loop, scope it out during the warm up and decide if you are running on the road (in which case run single file facing the traffic) or pavement. The rep pace is 4k race pace so it won't be a frantic pace anyway and if you have to slow down or stop for traffic, please do so. 

A complex session for Monday to get the legs spinning over prior to the first of the short relays.

The session is as follows:

The warm-up is a run up the Strathaven Rd and then onto the Sainsburys Loop. Continue clockwise around the loop, past the entrance to Sainsburys and then all the way up the hill to the junction with Greenhills Rd. The session starts here. Run from there clockwise around the Sainsburys loop at 4k XC race pace until you reach the Sainsbury's main entrance (it is approximately 1500m). Take a 5 minute recovery but during the recovery, jog up to Langlands Place. 

At Langlands Place do 3 sets of the following:

400m along Langlands Place at slightly faster than 4k race pace. Jog recover for 200m back along Langlands Place then run the remaining 200m of Langlands Place to the junction at a slightly faster pace than the 400m was run at. Standstill recover for 2 minutes.

After 3 sets of the above, take a further 3 minutes recovery (5 minutes total) during which you should jog up the hill to Greenhills Rd. Then do one more effort at 4k race pace from there clockwise around the Sainsburys Loop to the Sainsburys entrance.

Jog back to the club as a cool down.

Alan