St Andrew's Hospice 6K Schools Challenge - 2010

My time today was 21mins 52secs - A PB! I finished 3rd in the teacher category behind Steven Allan and winner David Gardiner. David and I trained together from 87-91 in Moray House College of Physical Education. Dave has always been a class athlete and evidently still is. He won today in around 19mins 20secs or thereabouts.

Cumbernauld 10K - Sunday 12/9/10

Chip time today was 37mins 33secs. Noticeable head wind in certain sections, but not too bad. I wore my heart rate monitor, which is the first time I've worn one in a 10K race for ages. My heart rate (HR) average was 169bpm, which felt reasonably comfortable. I ran at about 172 HR for large sections of this race. At one stage my HR reached 180bpm, but only for a brief period. I think only one or two people passed me in the race. I even caught one of them again in the last 200m. I had the benefit of wearing a HR monitor and it helped me to pace my race properly. My Garmin measured this a tiny bit short (that makes for a pleasant change). Splits are measured in miles, not kilometres.

2010 Great Scottish Run - Glasgow Half Marathon

My Garmin recorded the race distance as 13.25 miles, instead of 13.1 miles. Chip time was 1hr 23mins 36secs (PB!). I must not have 'run the line' or maybe my watch is rubbish at picking up the satellites. It was nonetheless a PB today, although I will always contest that my unofficial PB was clocked last November (2009) at the Hamilton Harriers Half Marathon Championship, where Neil Robbins and I clocked 1.22.00, but since that was an unofficial race it does not count, so my time today I suppose consitutes an official PB. I was happy with my race strategy, since I followed my heart rate throughout and that acted as a good guide for me, as I was able to pace the race properly. My average heart rate (HR) was 168pm, which I knew was my lactate threshold HR anyway. The weather was quite hot and a touch windy in places. No complaints today however!

Paisley Vision 10K - 29/8/10

My time today was 37mins 42secs. It was very windy (20mph), especially for the first 5K. I ran behind Brian Douglas (Bellahouston Harriers) for a large section of the race. Brian's club mate Mark Paterson ran a stormer and passed me at the 8K mark. He clocked a PB today! I dropped off the 6 minute per mile pace at around the 6K mark and faded by about 4 secs per km till the finish. I now have a really sore set of ribs, which I picked up on the judo mat on Friday. My small toe is also badly bruised. I really should be sensible and stick only to running. Judo, however, is a massive buzz and my first love as a sport.

Marymass 10K - Irvine 2010

I was going really well till 7K, then I slowed considerably. I was on for a 37.17 finish until 7K, then the lactic kicked in again. I need to pace these 10K's more sensibly. I am racing them as if they're 5K's and thereby fading badly in the last few kilometres.

My splits are listed above. I also need to calibrate my Garmin.

Glasgow Parkrun #85 - 14/8/10

My time today was 18mins 23secs. This was my 3rd race in seven days. I was going well till 4K, then I slowed a lot going up the hill for the last kilometre. A few runners caught me in the last kilometre, which is always disappointing, but Thursday's 5K was still in my legs and my four beers last night may not have helped - who knows? Is this course a bit short?

Broadwood 5K Race - Cumbernauld (12/8/10)

My time tonight was 18mins 18secs. My Garmin 305 GPS watch clocked the distance as 5.04km, so 40m longer than a 5K. My 5K split was 18mins 09secs, but I may have run a longer distance by 'not running the line'. I really enjoyed the race and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys racing. The organisation and the low entry price make this race a must do event.