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'.

Dechmont 10K Training Loop May 30th 2011

I was wondering how my left hip would feel after the weekend cufuffle. It felt a bit sore when I was running on it yesterday. Today I ran at an average heart rate of 144bpm and my time was 45mins 11secs. No reaction from my hip either. Hopefully everything will be okay for Thursday night's Dumbarton 10K. The weather forecast is for 12mph winds with no rain.

Glasgow Parkrun #124 - 28/5/11

I stewarded today - that's eleven times between Pollock Park and Strathclyde Park. I went out for a few drinks today with my wife to celebrate her achievement in gaining a degree. I ended up scrapping with a big heavy guy at the back of the pub - against my will! He was a complete nutter and I went outdoors with him to avoid any confrontation inside the pub. I sustained a few cuts, but it was more of a skirmish than a war. Still, I managed to upend him and he is around the 20 stone mark. Well it was in Blantyre I suppose, so nothing new there then. No more alcohol or going to the pub!

2011 Polaroid Clydebank 10K - 26/5/11

Chip time tonight was 37mins 57secs and gun time was 38mins 05secs. I was happy enough with my time, because I was actually considering not running this race as I was feeling unwell two hours before the race with an elevated resting heart rate of 45bpm. My heart rate average was around 173bpm for the whole race.

2011 Polaroid Helensburgh 10K - 19/5/11

Time was 38mins 11secs (chip) and 38mins 17secs (gun). The conditions were far from ideal as it was cold and very windy. I wore my Garmin 305 watch and heart rate monitor and ran at an average of 172bpm. My heart rate hovered around 174bpm for long periods. I was happy with my effort tonight. :-)

Glasgow Parkrun #122 - 14/5/11

Time today was 18mins 49secs. I finished 16th today. I struggled a bit going up the hill on the final kilometre - again! Still it is 22secs faster than last week's poor effort, where I was very sluggish due to the presence of a heavy cold.

Self Transcendence 5 K Road Race - Scottish 5K Road Race Championships - 11/5/11

Time tonight was 18mins 17secs. I finished in 81st place. Obviously there was a top quality field for this Scottish Championship. The weather wasn't that kind, since it was damp and windy.