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

Club Training Monday 1st April

No joke, Monday is an easy, recovery run following on from the excellent performances at the Tom Scott 10 Mile on Sunday. To be effective, recovery runs should be at the lower end of your aerobic range which means very conversational pace with no stress on the breathing. On the day after a race, the pace at which there will be no stress on your breathing will be slower than usual. For those wearing a heart rate monitor chest strap, this is the best way to confirm that you are running at a very easy effort as the heart does not lie.

The route is our first tentative venture into the country. Run out Strathaven Road, round by Sainsburys, up to Langlands Club House. From there, run towards Auldhouse. At Auldhouse cross, turn right and head back towards the new houses and the fingerposts. Turn left on Greenhills Rd, up to Greenhills Roundabout, down Lickprivick and back to the club via The Murray, Crooked Lum and NEL roundabout.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 28th March

Thursday's run is a pre-race run with strides. The route is Strathaven Rd to Greenhills Rd. Along Greenhills Rd to Greenhills Roundabout. Down Lickprivick and bear right onto Westwoodhill heading towards the Murray Road. Murray Rd back to the club via Crooked Lum and NEL roundabout.

On flat or slightly downhill sections fit in 6 x approx 100m strides, increasing the pace to 10 mile race pace. Decide within your packs where each stride section starts and finishes.

Alan

Club Training Monday 25th March

Monday's session is a repeat of the recent 10k-specific session at Carron Place. The session is the 8 x 1 lap of Carron Place at 10k pace (averaged over the full lap which means slower on the uphill, faster on the downhill) with a 90-second standstill recovery between reps. This is a challenging session which requires strict control of the effort to remain consistent throughout. Each lap is approximately 1km, therefore 10k pace judgement is straightforward; a 35 minute 10k pace will take 3:30 per lap, a 40 minute 10k will take 4:00 per lap, a 50 minute 10k will take 5:00 per lap and a 60 minute 10k will take 6:00 per lap.

Thursday's session will be an easy run ahead of the Tom Scott.

Alan

West Highland Way Relay 2024

Its now that time of year to plan our West Highland way weekend. We have booked the Ben Nevis hotel for Saturday the 18th May 2024. 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 Thursday 28th March onwards at the Sports Club). Total cost for the weekend will be £100 and this includes your place on the bus and dinner, B&B in the Ben Nevis Hotel. As we have to pay the hotel in full two weeks in advance, we need the final payment of the balance to Frances by 2nd May. Places will go fast so don't delay. 

Frances 

Club Training Thursday 21st March

Sorry for the delay in posting; lost track of the days.

Thursday's session is on the Sainsbury's loop in a clockwise direction, starting on the pavement after the entrance into Sainsbury's warehouse. This session is speed endurance, specific to 10k racing.

3 x 4km with 2 minute jog recovery. The total distance is greater than race distance and consequently, the pace for each rep must be slightly slower than race pace. The target is to do each rep at 15 to 20 seconds/km slower than race pace. So for a 40 minute 10k, race pace is 4 min/km and rep pace is 4:15 to 4:20/km. Similarly for a 50 minute 10k, aim for 5:15 to 5:20/km rep pace, for 60 minute 10k, aim for 6:15 to 6:20/km. For intermediate or faster 10k race pace, work out the relevant rep pace in advance of the session. During the 2 min jog recovery, keep moving but regroup into your pack. Faster than target pace is not doing you any good. Be disciplined and stick to your target pace.

Alan