Scottish Veteran Harriers 5K Road Race Championships - 29/06/11

Time today was 17mins 56secs. I finished in 6th place tonight. Gerry Reid (Ronhill Cambuslang) caught me with around 200m to go, but he spurred me on to dip 18mins. Thanks Gerry!

Strathclyde Parkrun Event #62 - 25/6/11

Time today was 18mins 14secs. That was the first time I have won a Parkrun race, so I am happy! I am pictured just tucked in behind my older cousin Andy McLinden (top in the UK for the V60 in the half marathon category). Andy pushed me on in the final kilometre and I was grateful for that.

Brian Goodwin Memorial 10K - 24th June 2011

A disappointing 38mins 04secs tonight. Average heart rate was around 172bm. I shouldn't wear a heart rate monitor for 10K racing, since I feel it probably holds me back a little bit. Terrible half way splits tonight e.g. 1st half 18.24 and 2nd half 19.40 - rubbish tactics!

Mens Health Forum for Scotland (MHFS) 10K - 19/06/11

Time today was 37mins 48secs. Happy with that since it is a season's best so far. I have another 10K, which takes in part of this route on June 24th 2011 at Cartha Queen's Rugby Club, Pollock Park Estate in Bellahouston.

Kirkintilloch 10K - 16/06/11

Time tonight was 38mins 10secs, although my Garmin watch measured the distance as 10.05km (50m long). My time at 10K Garmin time was 38mins exactly. I finished in 15th place tonight. Two runners caught me with 300m to go and that of course was a bit disppointing, but nonetheless it was 18secs faster than last year's effort.

Polaroid Vale of Leven 10K - 12/6/11

Chip Time today was 38mins 04secs. That is a personal best on that undulating course, although to be honest a part of the course (from 6K to 9K) had changed from previous years and is now a bit flatter. I felt good going into this race, but was a bit silly at the start by standing amongst the 50min+ 10K runners, only having to later on dodge between them all to surge ahead - wasting valuable energy and fluency. I spotted Al MacLachlan (Bellahouston Road Runners) at the 8K mark and decided to try to catch him, but he managed to accelerate a wee bit just beyond the 9K mark to re-establish his lead. I wish I had sprinted more near the end to have dipped 38mins, but it wasn't to be. Roll on Thursday's Kirkintilloch 10K Trail Race - another tough course nevertheless! My Garmin Heart Rate Monitor was useless today - it just refused to pick up my heart rate accurately. This seems to happen to me every time I wear a monitor in that part of the world - very strange!

Bellahouston Harriers 2 Mile Time Trial - 9/6/11

Time tonight was 11mins 25secs. I finished 10th. Pace was 5mins 43secs. I really enjoyed this race. Excellent hospitality from a great club!

Glasgow Parkrun #123 - 4/6/11

I was still very tired from Thursday's Dumbarton 10K, where I struggled round in a disappointing time of 39mins 39secs. Today I felt the effects of my efforts a mere 36 hours ago. My time was 19mins 03secs. I was 12th today and quite happy as I finished in front of two other runners who sometimes are in front of me. My time today was not too bad considering I was very tired.

Polaroid Dumbarton 10K - 2/6/11

Wal - what a crap race I had tonight! I wore my Timex Ironman Heart Rate Monitor and although it gives me accurate heart rate readings, I stupidly ignored them and to my cost. My heart rate was up as high 176/177 bpm for long periods and even rose to 179bpm a few times. My splits were still on at the 5K mark (18.39), but I was severely stressed by then in the hot conditions. I was at 26.58 at 6K instead of 26.06 and this really 'broke my resolve'. My heart rate would not go below 176bpm and by the 7k mark I was walking. I then started running again, but stopped again at around 7.8K and walked for around one minute. I noticed at the 8K mark that my time was 32mins something and decided then to try to run the last 2K with more speed. I managed to catch some of the runners and finished in a disappointing 39mins 39secs. I need to learn to 'run more intelligently'.