18 Mile Training Run to Uddingston and back via Hamilton - 19/4/11

Time tonight was 2hours 13mins 32secs for 18 miles. Pace was 7mins 25secs with an average heart rate of 148bpm. Peak heart rate was 159bpm and total energy expenditure was 1710 calories. Great running conditions tonight.

Balfron 10K - 17/4/11

Time was 39mins 49secs (chip). Probably the toughest 10K course I have ever run. Killer hill after killer hill. My heart rate average was 169bpm, but for most of the race it hovered around 173bpm. My tactics today were rubbish. For the first 5K I allowed my heart rate to rise as high as 175bpm and even 179bpm (briefly). My 5K split was 18mins 52secs, but I was severely stressed by then and knew there would be no way I could sustain that pace or heart rate for the second half of this out and back course. A lot of people passed me in the second half of the race (seven I think). The last two kilometres were particularly demanding. I sprinted to the finish line to dip under 40mins and was completely shattered at the end. My mate (Robert Gilroy) won it in a great time of 33mins 20secs - fab!!!

Hamilton 9 Mile Training Run - 12/4/11

My time today was 1hr 05mins 04secs (7mins 08secs per mile). That is a minute or so slower than last week, but I still have Sunday's 10 mile race in my legs and it was windy today as well. The average heart rate was 144bpm. I have decided to enter the Moray Marathon on September 4th 2011. That is 20 weeks on Sunday. My weight is 9st 9lbs and my BMI is 22.48. To run under 3hrs I will need to reduce my BMI to around 21.0 or thereabouts i.e. body weight of approx 9st, give or take a pound or two either side.

Tom Scott Memorial 10 Mile Road Race - 10/4/11

Time today was 1hr 02mins 55secs. I finished 32nd out of 164 runners. I chased Andy McLinden (fellow Hamilton Harrier and cousin) and Scott Mitchell (University of Glasgow Hares and Hounds) and caught both of them at the 7 mile mark. Then to my surprise they caught me again at the 9 mile mark and stretched away from me with about 1/2 mile to go. Andy was 7 seconds in front of me and Scott was 5 seconds ahead. I was happy enough though, since I personally clocked a PB today. It also makes up for the disappointing Parkrun I had yesterday. My average heart rate was 168bpm, but I ran the vast majority at 170bpm and it even rose to 182bpm very briefly at one stage. Happy enough :-) Ali-g won the Lochaber Marathon today in 2hrs 35mins - superb!!

Glasgow Parkrun #117 - 9/4/11

Time today was 18mins 47secs (16th placed). I over-trained this week and 'died' around the 2K mark. Nothing left in the tank; totally drained and washed out. I think one hard session (>95% effort) once per week is all I can manage; two or more just seems to wear me out and degrade my race performance. I ran six days on the trot prior to this race (not all recorded here) and paid the price - too much!!! Hopefully I can learn something from this. Sod it, I am having a couple of beers tonight. Swithering whether to do Tom Scott 10 mile race tomorrow. Might check heart rate out in the morning and see how it is.

Uddingston Hill Training Session - 5/4/11

Last week (27/3/11) I ran up and down this 570m hill six times in around 2mins 30secs, drifting to 2mins 45secs as I progressed through the reps. The warm up run to and from the start is 1 mile (1.6km). Today (5/4/11) I ran up and down seven times. The splits are as follows:
(1) Downhill - 2mins 28secs (130bpm)
(2) Uphill - 2mins 35secs (153bpm)
(3) Downhill - 2mins 33secs (146bpm)
(4) Uphill - 2mins 38secs (159bpm)
(5) Downhill - 2mins 34secs (151bpm)
(6) Uphill - 2mins 38secs (163bpm)
(7) Downhill - 2mins 38secs (154bpm)
(8) Uphill - 2mins 36secs (164bpm)
(9) Downhill - 2mins 44secs (155bpm)
(10) Uphill - 2mins 40secs (166bpm)
(11) Downhill - 2mins 51secs (153bpm)
(12) Uphill - 2mins 43secs (164bpm)
(13) Downhill - 2mins 54secs (152bpm)
(14) Uphill - 2mins 43secs (163bpm)

Total time for distance (7.98km or 5 miles) was 37mins 22secs with average heart rate (HR) of 155bpm. Peak HR was 174bpm. Minimum HR was 120bpm. Total energy burned was 536 calories.

Hamilton 9 Mile Training Run - 4/4/11

My time tonight was 1hr 03mins 51secs with an average heart rate of 143bpm. That is 7minutes 05seconds per mile pace. That is the fastest yet for such a low heart rate. Avoiding alcohol seems to be working at the moment. My weight this morning was 9st 9lbs. I would like to reduce this to 9st, although that will take a fair amount of time and dedication.

Long Training Run - 3/4/11

Sunday (3/4/11)- I embarked on a long run after yesterday's parkrun to build up my endurance. I plan to hopefully race in the Moray Marathon in September. Today I ran about 15.5 miles or thereabouts (no Garmin on today). I wore my Timex HR Monitor and I clocked a time of just under 1hr 53mins. My average heart rate was 146bpm on a quite windy day and my pace was 7mins 17secs per mile.

Glasgow Pakrun #116 - 2/4/11

I was 12th today in a time of 18mins 37secs (6 minute per mile pace). I have had no alcohol for two weeks now. This last week I have managed a good hill session and a steady 14 mile run in a time of 1hr 41mins at a heart rate average of 144bpm.