Falmouth - Helford Coastal Run

Activity on Garmin Connect

Despite, or perhaps because of, the terrible forecast I decided to head out for a battering in the wet and windy conditions.

I headed out in shorts and T-shirt, which seemed OK to start with, but got pretty uncomfortable after I'd turned at Helford Passage and began the return leg, getting pelted with freezing rain.

It was an interesting mini-adventure with foam blowing off the sea, and a mud-bath trail in many places.

Stats = 23.5km in 2h14m.

London Marathon

Results | My Splits

Sore legs after my 26 mile jog and 385 yard sprint

My preparations for this year's London Marathon had been slightly unorthodox.

With the arrival of Benjamin in January, I'd done almost no running in Jan and Feb; then crammed in 8 half marathons the month before London; but didn't manage a single road run longer than 13.1 miles. So I knew for sure I would fade in the 2nd half.

Without any long run training, I knew there was no point in taking the race too seriously, so instead I treated it as an easy-osy potter around the streets of London, and put up no resistance as runners drifted past for the first 25 miles.

To avoid calculating the difference between my chip and gun time, I decided to lead the charge off the Red Start, and was only beaten in the initial sprint by somebody dressed as Superman. Once underway, I backed right off and went through the first mile in 6:03, which was no doubt too fast, but it didn't feel quick since I hadn't run all week.

I then maintained an incredibly even pace until Mile 14, going though halfway in 1:24:18, before suddenly getting a stupid stitch which meant I couldn't breathe or run properly for a couple of miles. Eventually the stitch must have gone away, but by that time I'd slowed right down, and couldn't really get back onto the pace, so I just plodded along, still thinking I would run around 2:55.

Anyhow, I must have been too complacent and slowed down more than I'd realised since when I was approaching Mile 25, it suddenly dawned on me that I was in danger of tripping over the 3 hours. I got a nice shout from Amy Pitch just before Parliament Square which galvinised me into making one final push up Birdcage Walk. Since at no point so far had I actually been forcing the pace, I realised I could speed up fairly easily and found myself passing crowds of folk, which suddenly became quite fun.

I didn't want to overcook it and cramp my legs or anything, but when the "400 metres to go" sign came into view I realised my watch said 2:57-something. This felt far too close for comfort, so I chucked away the bag of jelly babies I'd been carrying and gutted myself around the corner, only to remember that there is another corner before you see the finishing gates on The Mall. As I came to this final final corner I could hear the BBC annoucer bellowing something about James Cracknell, but then I saw Superman who had out-sprinted me off the startline, so I nipped past him and put in by far my fastest 200 metres of the race to dive under the gate in 2:58:59.

Mightily relieved.

Mile Splits

You can see from the mile splits that I was pretty comfortable until 14 miles, but then got a stupid stitch in mile 15 that clobbered my pace, and I never really got into it again after that, until pulling out all the stops for the final 400 metres.

3 times before I've averaged 6:40 pace or better, so I still think that in future I can run a 2:50 marathon (average pace needed is 6:30 per mile).

Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon

Results | Activity on Garmin Connect | Photos

Perfect conditions for my 5th attempt at the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon: cool, no wind, and bright sunshine.

Photo by Gillian Scott  -  Scott Sport Photography

With London Marathon one week away, my plan was to have a steady comfortable run, trying to stay relaxed and focussing on running at a sustainable pace. I set out without over-cooking the first kilometre, but during the next 2 km I decided to catch up and sit on the shoulders of Alex Chalmers and Mark Walsh. I thought I might be able to stay with them, but bit by bit their pace was too fast for me, and I was dropped as they both chased after and caught Paul Thompson around the 4-mile mark.

I went through 5 miles at Dumbarton in just under 30 minutes, which made me think that 1:18 might be  possible, however once I'd ducked under the railway line and started on the long straight drags through Dumbarton I suddenly felt quite tired and jaded, and could sense I would get caught at any moment.

The first runner to pass wore a Dumbarton AAC vest, closely followed by 4 more runners including Paul Carroll of Clydesdale Harriers, who asked how I was. I replied I was feeling pretty gubbed, which was true, since when the 5 runners passed, I couldn't latch onto their pace.

From 8 to 12 miles I ran along on my own, apart from passing the Dumbarton vest at 10 miles.  From 11 miles to the end, I usually really try to ramp up the pace, but today I was happy enough to potter along at the same pace, which allowed Emilio Cosimo of Springburn to catch me at 12 miles. Normally I would have put up a fight over that final mile, but I thought it would do me more good to concentrate on maintaining the same steady pace.

Turning under the bridge and onto Seaforth Road at the end I was surprised to see my watch still reading 1:19-something, so I thought I should put in a bit of sprint to the line to try to scrape in under 1:20  That finishing straight always lasts a little longer than I remember, but I managed to cross the line in 1:19:54 which was pleasing to meet my target time with a few seconds to spare.

Now I just need to run double that distance next Sunday.

Heaven and Hell Half Marathon

Results | Photos | Activity on Garmin Connect

Photos courtesy of roadrunpics.com

A hilly little route just outside Perth, starting near Scone Airfield.

The main challenge is the rather daunting climb of around 220 metres at 8 miles.

I hadn't done this race before, and thought it might be checking out.

I did a short warm up with course record holder Paul Arcari of Kilbarchan, who'd run the course in 73 minutes, and clearly wasn't going to get much competition today. I thought I might be in with a shout at top 5 or 6 depending on how I played my cards.

The race started at a pretty pedestrian pace, apart from Paul Arcari who raced off into the distance and out of sight almost immediately. That left Grant Wilkie of Corstorphine and Craig Reid of Bellahouston Road Runners as the only targets to chase. I possibly could have closed the gap on them a bit, but instead decided to shelter in a group of 6, and get some protection from the wind, even though the pace was a bit too slow.

Taking some shelter in a group in the first couple of miles

Once we hit the first long uphill drag after 2 miles, the race started to stretch out, and I found myself in 6th position by the top of the hill, giving chase to runner 190 in the blue T-shirt who turned out to be endurance triathlete Douglas Allan.

Crest of the hill at 4 miles

I felt pretty good going through 10 and 11km, before battering down the steep tarmac hill to the 8-mile marker. I was catching Douglas all the way down the hill, and almost got onto his heels at the base of the climb.  But somehow all my resolve vanished once I started climbing, and I ended up shuffling up the hill and little more than walking pace. This meant Douglas quickly disappeared from view, and opened the door for Euan McIntosh to catch me halfway up the climb. Euan and I worked together up the remainder of the hill, into the increasingly powerful wind. Once over the crest at 10 miles, I thought I might be able to pull away, but Euan was strong on the descent, and eventually opened a small gap with 2 miles to go.

In my mind, I was going to put in my final burst with 2km to go, but the course suddenly had a few minor hills which killed my pace, and I could feel I was being caught by another runner. With just over 1km to go, Gerry Craig of VP-CoG came trotting past looking pretty comfortable, and looking like he'd catch Euan as well. For the final kilometre I was hanging on for grim death trying not to lose any more places, and also trying not to keep on looking behind, which is always a sign you are fading away. 

With about 400 metres to go, I suddenly thought that rather than wasting my energies on wondering if I was going to drop more places, I should really just shift my body and jump past Gerry again. This meant doing horrible things to my heart rate, but I upped the pace and was hovering on the point of gauging the exact level of effort needed to pass Gerry before diving into the finishing funnel. I thought I pitched the effort perfectly with one last ditch effort, only to discover that wasn't the finishing line, and there was still 100 metres to go around the corner.  

Turning into the finishing straight just after passing Gerry Craig

 The photo might not show it, but this was me gasping into the final few metres of the race.

So the end result was I finished 7th in 1:27:10, which wasn't too bad seeing as most of the route I was running at a pretty steady comfortable pace.  Paul Arcari won the race by more than 6 minutes in 1:15:05.

Race winner Paul Arcari showing howing it should be done

Nigel Barge 10k

Activity on Garmin Connect

After 2 weeks of not running, I went to the other extreme the past 7 days, clocking up almost 70 miles (including the Alloa Half Marathon and Nigel Barge 10k), which is my highest mileage since March 2011.

This has made my legs feel like they've been run over by a bus, although I probably didn't feel quite as bad as John Bishop doing his Sport Relief Hell.  Like at Alloa Half, I knew I wasn't in great shape, so just tried to concentrate on running smoothly and not stressing myself.

Race Start - Photo: MyPhotoFinish

Positions at 2km

I got caught and passed by first lady Julia Henderson soon after this photo was taken:

Turning onto Temple Road at 2.5km. Photo: Claire Thompson

I didn't really have the confidence or energy to force the pace, so just pottered round trying not to drop too many places on the 2nd lap.

At the 5km point

I was caught by John McLaughlin of Garscube several times, but always managed to nip back in front, and managed to hold him off during the final kilometre along Maryhill Road. I could probably have caught Gavin Harvie and Julia before the finish line, if I'd made an effort, but I'd decided I was only interested in not dropping places, rather than catching anyone. My time of 38:03, 1½ minutes slower than last year, showed that I wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders.

Not feeling too great at the finish

Warm Spring sunshine made for ideal lounging around after the race conditions, however easily the highlight of the afternoon was seeing Maryhill Harriers Stephen and Caroline Jones with their gorgeous 3-day old baby Benjamin.

10 weeks, or 1 year old...

Benjamin at 10 weeks, or in other words, exactly 1 year since he was conceived.

Benjamin at 10 weeks  - Awake

Benjamin at 10 weeks - Asleep

Alloa Half Marathon

Results | Activity on Garmin Connect

This morning I went for a 13 mile training run around the Alloa Half Marathon course. This was my first attempt at running for 2 weeks after a lingering cold and sore throat, and my longest road run since London Marathon 11 months ago.

The weather was perfect, with spring sunshine and hardly a breath of wind.

Great weather for running. Photo: Duncan McGougan

I kept a reasonable pace for the first 4 or 5 miles, before lack of training, stamina and endurance all kicked in. But also I was trying to run well within myself, and not get into competition with the steady stream of runners passing me. I was more interested in feeling fine, and getting to the end. My finish time was around 1:22:23, which is one of the slowest half marathons I've ever run. But I'm hoping that the run might kick start some much needed training in the 5 weeks before London Marathon.

Warm weather at Alloa. Photos: roadrunpics.com

Running out of time

It's less than 6 weeks to go until London, and I'm quickly running out of time for any marathon training.

The week commencing 27th Feb, I decided to kick start a phase of higher mileage, and managed a 60 mile week, culminating with a reasonable performance at the Lasswade 10-mile road race (61:43). But the following day, I went down with a sore throat and cold, and haven't run since, which means I've missed a whole week, and still feel pretty rough with a virus. So I'm not sure when I'll start running again. Certainly not for a few days.

My plans for London Marathon last year were scuppered by exactly the same thing. Loads of training, and then I picked up a cold virus that wiped me out for 3 weeks, so my race was a write off. I only completed the course to gain a place for this year.

Hopefully, if this cold clears in time, I'll feel better for the marathon, but it still means I'll be missing 2 or 3 weeks of the most crucial training period. I'll guess I'll just need to lower any expectation (again), and treat the marathon as a stepping stone towards getting some fitness for other challenges later in the year.

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos of Benjamin who is 9 weeks old today:

Benjamin - 9 weeks old

Lasswade 10-mile Road Race

Route on Garmin Connect | Results to appear here | Photos by Bob Marshall

My 4th attempt at the Lasswade 10-mile Road Race:
2006 - 1:01:41
2009 - 1:01:39
2011 - 1:01:07 - PB
2012 - 1:01:43

I didn't quite match my time from last year, but was only a couple of seconds out from previous outings on the course, so not too disappointing given recent lack of training and sleep deprivation.

After about 1 mile - Photo: Peter Buchanan

My plan was to use the race as a stepping stone on the build up towards London Marathon. I hadn't raced this far on the road for about 6 months, so didn't want to push it too hard and risk blowing up, so I paced myself alongside Jamie Thin for the first 5 miles, passing through in 32 minutes.

Around 2 miles - Photo: Bob Marshall

I then thought I might be able to press on and possibly catch a few folk, but couldn't quite find any sort of extra gear, so instead just aimed at holding position. From mile 8 to the end is virtually all downhill, so the pace picks up automatically with gravity and knowing you're getting near the end.

Around Mile 6 - Photo: Peter Buchanan

The shout from Niall McAlinden at Mile 9 helped me get past Ben Mitchell of Lasswade AC. I then almost caught 2 more runners before the line, but couldn't quite muster a full blown sprint finish, since it didn't seem worth injuring myself for a couple of extra places.

Around Mile 8 - Photo: Bob Marshall

Conic Hill Race

Results | Photos

The 2nd edition of Scotland's most scenic short hill race proved popular with the runners who turned up on the day, plus we were lucky enough to have Scotland's leading hill runners Prasad Prasad and Angela Mudge setting new course records.

The ridge off Conic Hill

Not surprisingly Prasad launched off into the distance straight away, but it was great to see new Westie Alastair Graves giving chase. I pottered along further down the field, and reached the gate to the open hill path level with Angela Mudge. You then get a short section of flattish running before hitting the steep section of wooden steps leading up to wet area below Bealach Ard. From here the race route picks up a small indistinct path that leads straight up the nose of the hill, with patches of steep and slippery conglomerate pudding stone.

Prasad in a class of his own

I was steadily dropping places all the way to the summit, which arrived sooner than I was expecting. I was jostling places with Craig Love and Damien Theaker as we turned to drop back onto the West Highland Way path. At first this was slightly uphill again, but on good surface, but as soon as you crest the rise and start descending the surface was impossibly slippery, and I suddenly realised I was aqua-planing down the hill on my back, going much faster than I could have run. Luckily I didn't smack into any rocks and got back onto my feet, slightly more wary.

Once on the lower section the running suddenly got a whole lot easier on smooth billiard table grass. I could sense I was catching runners in  front but tried to stay relaxed.  I worked hard to close the gap across the rough boggy section before the wall, and ended up in a walking bottleneck at the fenceline and clambering up through the forest. But this allowed me to get my breath back and time my final attack on the plummet to the finish.  Just as we crested the rise into the forest I jumped past Catriona Buchanan, Paul Thompson, and a couple of others before launching my kamikaze descent where I jumped Grant MacDonald and John Hammond just before the line, with 8 of us piling in within 11 seconds.

Dropping off the ridge at Conic Hill

I just managed my sub 30-minute target time, with 29:48 for 18th place overall, and enjoyed giving away a range of pot plants from Roots and Fruits at the prize-giving. And proceeds from the race raised £200 towards West Highland Way footpath repairs.

Scottish National Cross Country

Results | Photos | Route

Perth, North Inch
2004 - 0:42:03 (166th)
Irvine Beach Park, Magnum Centre
2005 - 0:49:39 (129th)
Falkirk Callendar Park
2006 - 0:47:09 (131st) - Slightly different course
2007 - 0:44:44 (88th) PB
2008 - 0:44:48 (107th)
2009 - 0:45:11 (133rd)
2010 - Missed race with gout. Took photos instead.
2011 - 0:46:27 (111th)
2012 - 0:49:18 (180th)

Saturday was my 9th Scottish National Cross Country, and by far my worst ever result. Almost 3 minutes and 70 places down on last year. I guess that's what happens with 6 weeks of sleep deprivation, combined with a virtually non-existent training regime.

Race Start from Scottish Athletics Facebook page

I had tried to cram some training runs into lunchtimes the past couple of weeks, but that only served to give me shin splints and a painful right adductor.  I therefore hobbled off ridiculously slowly around the first lap, thinking that I'd be able to enjoy the next 2 laps, passing a constant stream of runners. However it didn't quite work out like that. I got round Lap 1 in 15:57, about a minute slower than last year, but was finding it heavy-going on the slippery muddy hills, and was generally feeling pretty washed out, and not really in the mood for it, and very close to just dropping out altogether.

Photo by Mary Hunter

Anyhow, I battled on, counting down the kilometres, and waiting for that second wind to arrive, whilst listening out for the shouts behind me and trying to guess who would be the next runner to pass. At the start of the final lap I was caught and passed by Danny McLaughlin of Greenock Glenpark. We exchanged a few words, and I let Danny go. But once we reached the 3km to go point, I decided to start trying a bit harder and managed to catch Danny again and possibly also caught Craig Love. It was all getting a bit blurry by this point.

I think I maybe caught another couple of runners, including Grant MacDonald of Bellahouston Road Runners, and put a token gesture sprint finish down the final straight. All poised to catch another 3 or 4 runners in front, when suddenly it didn't seem that important to dive into the funnel before them, so I pulled out of the sprint and Grant nipped back in front right at the line.

It was a relief to finish, and I was glad that I hadn't just dropped out, but I didn't enjoy too much feeling quite so far off the pace.

Carnethy 5 Hill Race

Results | Route

My 9th attempt at Carnethy 5. In 2001, it was my first proper hill race since joining Westies, and I remember being in close contest along to West Kip with Charlie Campbell and Kate Jenkins, the then record holders for the Munros and West Highland Way.

2001 - 1:05:14
2003 - 0:57:14
2004 - 0:57:53
2005 - 1:01:14
2006 - 1:00:40
2007 - 0:56:26 PB
2008 - 0:56:49
2011 - 1:00:57
2012 - 1:02:17

The next 4 out of 6 races were well under the hour, with two 57s and two 56s. In 2009 I was in Wales and 2010 I was crocked with a long term adductor problem. I returned in 2011, not very hill fit and just missed the hour. In 2012, i.e. last Saturday, I was probably the least hill fit I've been in years. Plus I was feeling somewhat shattered less than 5 weeks since the arrival of Benjamin.

I arrived at Beeslack School in plenty of time to deliver the SHR calendars. I then went to the massage room and attempted to get some sleep by lying on the floor behind the desk, only to be woken by Angela Mudge and Andy Spenceley discussing Carnethy secrets, before Rob Jebb came bounding in with his 2 daughters plus Sharon Taylor.

I attempted to waken myself up a bit by jogging the 4.5km up to the start with Stewart Barrie. It was refreshingly cool but bearable in the field before the gun finally went off shortly after 2pm.

The usual stampede ensued, this time of more than 500 runners charged for the gateway after 600 metres or so. Having done virtually no hill running in the past 4 or 5 months, I settled in pretty gradually and tried not to overdo it on the climb up Scald Law. I topped out with folks like Oli Blomfield, Greig Glendinning, Peter Buchanan, Catriona Buchanan, etc. and thought I wasn't doing too bad.

The first climb up Scald Law 

I hung on reasonably well past South Black, and the climb up East Kip was caught by Alan Smith and Johnny Knox.  I think I was also caught by Scout Adkin on the climb up West Kip, but managed to pass quite a few on the descent and held my own to The Howe, apart from being passed by Bruce Smith.

The next section, the long climb up Carnethy, was where I came properly unstuck, and dropped at least 15 places to the likes of Ronnie Gallagher, Scout Adkin (again), Ali Welsh, Cameron Burt, and all sorts of other folk I didn't recognise. My legs were clearly in no state for climbing. However once on the descent I had the rare experience (probably because I was now so far down the field) of being passed by almost nobody. Just one young guy flew past and then Charlotte Morgan bounded past me through the heather, springer spaniel style.

Approaching the finish

I thought I would easily track Charlotte and catch her on the flat run in after the gate, but instead I dropped 2 more places crossing the bog to Adam Anderson and Ewan Dytch (down as Steven Heeps). But with 200 metres to go I decided to make a move, so surged past Ewan and Adam, and almost caught Charlotte before the finishing funnel.  The overall result was 73rd place in 1:02:17, which wasn't too bad given the circumstances. I then enjoyed another 4.5km jog back to Beeslack for a delicious school dinner.

Photos courtesy of Paul Dobson at fellrunner.net