Race

Since mid-December I have not really been running. The hectic last few weeks of my PhD left no time for it, and the last couple of post-PhD months I have not felt like doing much at all. I've started back a few times, but not kept it up. So today I raced a half-marathon on ridiculously low training (my one February run was 10 miles on Wednesday). Nine loops around the meadows. Not at all easy, and I'll pay for it for the next few days, but I got around some time under 1:40. Slower than my first half, but then I did train for that.

Got another in 2 weeks, hopefully I will be starting to get some fitness back by then.

I'm spending an awful lot of time in the office writing away. Weekends, late nights and so on. Conveniently this afternoon the Braid Hills Cross Country race was on. Two laps of the bridle path around and over Braid Hill, for a total of about 9.2km, a little under 6 miles.

It wasn't too wet and muddy today, but my fell-shoes still seem to have been a good choice, good traction on soft ground. An odd experience of a race, initial placing is important as there is not much opportunity to overtake. Each loop consisted of a mile up a (car-width) track, followed by a steep descent then a single-file dirt path. The first lap I snuck by a few people in a few wider spots, but mostly there wasn't much more to do than follow the guy in front. By the start of the second lap, the track provided enough room to drift past people, and I made up a good number of places. I managed to reach the front of a group just before the descent, and with a big gap in front it was a case of "brakes off, brain off" for a much faster drop than before, great fun. For the remainder of the race then I was just trying not to slow down, maybe pick off the odd person. I went past somebody who seemed to have faded badly, at the finishing straight I got a shock when they shot past me...

I came in at around 39:20.

Good fun, and very convenient for KB. Now back to work.

Results are out. 1:25:01 and 32/855. Next time!

On train back from Aviemore. Tough race. I think with a strong finishing dash I may have just scraped under 1:25, but it's a very close thing.

My abiding memory from last year was the downhill road, I wonder how I managed to edit out just how hilly the forest tracks were, just how hard it is running on gravel and stone-strewn ground. I did recognise some of the better and worse bits as being the same as last time, and I passed people on the same couple of tricky bits as before.

Okay, there were some fun tussles with a couple of people, a bit of back and forth, and it's nice when these are acknowledged post-race. But I think I will have to forget a little before I'm ready to return.

Another week, another race. I don't have another planned for over a month, so I'll have to find something else to write about in the meantime...

The weather has been changeable recently. Some rain some days, some sun often enough. Wednesday was rather stunningly blue-skied, so I couldn't resist heading off for a cycle down to Cramond, with a run afterwards. This morning I felt like I hadn't quite got that out of my legs, nor was I fresh after running Friday and Saturday, so I didn't expect much at the Forth Bridge 10k.

A decent warm up loosened me up a bit, but my legs still seemed lethargic. The start was somewhat congested, with an immediate downhill with corners, under the rail bridge then turning uphill. This seems to me to make for a faster start, and I thought at this point I was probably going far too fast, but I stuck with it, drifting past the odd person but broadly holding position.

At the bottom of another hill we came to the start of the Forth Road Bridge, and so a gentle uphill. At this point I felt fairly good, and started passing people. Past the middle and down to the Edinburgh side of the bridge, then up and down and around to an underpass to cross the road, up and around back up the bridge. Still passing people with a bit of effort now; I've come to the conclusion that to maintain pace I need to regularly pass people from about a third of the way in right up to the end, as they fade after starting too fast. It certainly feels good to be able to do that.

Finished in 38:55. The race was won in a ridiculous 30:53—winning by almost three minutes, the solitary figure I could see running back across the bridge during the race seems to have been in a race of his own.

Woo! 39:44!

Another race largely along Silverknowes esplanade and around the roundabout at Cramond. For variety, we went around counter-clockwise this time. First km was downhill and surprisingly fast at 3:40, after which I kept a fairly steady 4:00 pace. A strange sight a quarter into the race as the concurrent 5k racers peel off and turn around a set of cones to head back, and then we head down to the roundabout. Some welcome water, and then back home.

On the return stretch it became apparent that it was generally down going out, and up coming back... I delighted in passing a few people on the hill heading up towards the finish area. That weekday run through the hermitage of braid seems to pay off. A few turns around the Scottish Gas building and suddenly the finish line is right there. Woo!

A light misting of rain after. I got a good 20 minutes jog along the bus route before catching the bus home.

Now excuse me, lunch is calling...

Visited my mum's this weekend. Ran the Famous Grouse Crieff 10k today.

The race starts on the playing fields by Morrison's Academy (the local private school). Recently there has been a bit of rain around, but yesterday evening was a pleasant and clear one, and this carried over into this morning. So after milling around in the sun, we set off up the field in the sun. The first km or so is on road (gently up), before a turn off into the woods. Then we're off up some nice quiet tracks, past the odd bemused walker. Up 100m in the second km or so. The next 3km to half-way is a bit of a mix, some flat or slightly up mixed in with some big downhill sections. Not too steep, but you do have to fly down to make up time from the earlier uphill (watch those roots and the muddy patches by the corners). Hits the quads a bit I suppose.

Anyway, half way we pop out of the woods and get handed a cup of water. Still don't know what the guy said to me when he handed me the water. From here it is mostly flat, initially along a nice one-person-wide path with fields either side. The sun is beating down, suddenly seems very warm for a bit after 11am. Not a whisper of wind. Along the path, I'm trying not to drop any further back from the yellow shirt in front trailing the group ahead, while the guy (wearing the same top as me) who I tried to pull away from on the downhills was now no longer in view. Time passes, it's getting tough. The 10k is a race run a couple of percent above the "lactate threshold", where lactic acid accumulates in the muscles, and I don't think an early hill helps that much...

We are now going down a wide wooded riverside walkway. I experience the strange sensation I often have, when my legs are tiring and I feel I am fading, that I seem to be just jogging along so much slower than I was before—but still making hard work of it—and yet my pace can't have dropped much at all, I don't seem to be dropping back. Looking down, the legs still seem to move at the right speed...

A piper gives a bit of a boost, then shortly it's back onto the road, thinking about the approaching grassy finish. The guy I had dropped earlier is back, and makes to overtake me on the tarmac, but I move past again before we turn into the field. With the change of surface, I simply don't have the energy to keep up, and the he passes followed by another while I concentrate on a steady finish. 42:26.

Afterwards, doused in water, relaxing with tea and sandwiches on the grass, it all seemed rather civilised.

Went along today to the race being held on the Meadows. Part of the Self Transcendence Summer Race series, this one was a 5k. My second, 3 weeks after the Silverknowes one.

Changeable weather recently, earlier today I nipped to the shops on my bike wearing a t-shirt, then it was pouring down with rain, then sunny again. When I left to jog to the meadows for the race, it was starting to rain, but when I got there it was warm and sunny... Rather hot for 7pm. The race was good, after a 6 minute first mile/lap I was expecting to slow down lots towards the end. Second lap was a bit slower, although I don't think I was passed, while the third I managed to start passing people and ran about the same time as the first. Came in at 18:55, over a minute better than the last one. Complete lack of wind helped, of course.

Having surpassed the obvious sub-20 5k goal, what next? I've entered a few 10k races in the next 6 weeks, and the obvious goal there is sub-40... I'm not sure if that's possible on the second or third of those without a faster 5k time, but it's something to work towards.

Last night was the Black Rock 5. The race starts under the railway viaduct by Kinghorn station, heading up the road beside the station, the other end of which is a bridge over the railway. A strange start, for this year there is scaffolding up by the station, to reduce this road to half-width, for a slow uphill funnelled start... As we turned left away from the railway gently down the road to the harbour, I seemed to be passing people... I can never seem to resist in the early portions of a race. Down another wee hill and we turn around the corner to see the beach and black rock sands stretching into the distance.

The name of the race comes from this— a large part of it is run on the sands out to the "black rocks", the turn-around point. The race is scheduled according to the tide, but of course it's still rather wet, everybody splashing through wet patches and sand and salt water getting everywhere... At first the hard wet sand seems easy enough to run on, but I suppose it does take a little more out of you than asphalt. As we neared half way I was having trouble getting enough breath and my stomach or side seemed to be protesting, so I was happy to try to hang on beside the guy beside me and not let many pass. Somehow the anticipated slowdown never really seemed to occur, and I came off the sand beside the guy I was with at half-way.

Of course having started off by running down to the harbour, we had to run back uphill to finish... Somehow the uphills never seem so bad as one imagines coming down them, so I was okay as we headed back into town. I then started passing folk again on the flat and heading back down to the viaduct, where one sees the hill up to the finish... My legs were fresh enough for a bit of a sprint up this, passing some more people on the way, just in time to cross the line feeling like collapsing. The race is sponsored by the pub at the finish line, so we were supplied with water, banana and a bottle of ale. Great!

A pint and some food later, and it was off on the train back to Edinburgh. I think I'll do this one again next year, 'twas fun. Results are now up for the first 10, the rest go up later. The race was won in a ridiculous 23:12... I came in a little under 32...

I ran my first 5k race last night, the Sri Chinmoy Silverknowes 5k. The course runs from the tea room on Silverknowes esplanade down to the roundabout (which was the turnabout for the Forthside half), back past the start to turnaround some cones and finish by the start. There was a good bit of wind which started behind us, but of course was a headwind in the middle section.

The pain! I found the race hard, my heart was hammering and breathing hard from about 2k. I've not raced the distance before, and not done any speed work ever, so I'd imagine there is plenty of scope to get a good bit faster. Even so, I think my time mostly reflects my recent Marathon, while my legs feel fresh they seem to lack a bit of oomph, and my breathing is a bit quicker than usual to become laboured at easier paces. I'm happy with my time, but you can imagine that I was a little irked at the time to come in...wait for it... 1 second over 20 minutes, the first person to fail to be sub-20 and 2 seconds behind the girl I had been running beside for well over half the race.

Oh well, an obvious goal for next time!

Did it!

This morning I wandered down to Princes St with dearg, who kindly accompanied me to the start. It was raining. Baggage given away for transport and a last pee stop, I lined up in the 3:30-4:00 pen. After a short wait, we were brought forward to the start line, and the race soon started.

I intended to run 8-minute miles (3:30 marathon), and started off by the pair of 3:30 pacers (imported). I found myself drifting forward, at an easy pace, and by the half way mark was 3 minutes up. Hard to judge the pace there really, since either I was changing pace by about 1 minute/mile each mile, or the markers were off. Good signage, mind (and water/energy drink stations for that matter), just probably off.

At perhaps 15 miles I found myself running with a guy, with the odd bit of chat, and we seemed to be passing quite a lot of people quite effortlessly. Anyway, some time later after he took a pee-stop, a mile or two later he reappeared, and shortly disappeared in front, clearly my pace was slowing. Things were fine until about 22 miles, when my legs disappeared. Those last 4.2 miles were ridiculously hard, at a slow jogging pace with runners streaming past. I suppose at this point my remaining goal was to not drop to a walk at any point (a fair few in front had), which I am glad to say I achieved, slow as my pace was.

Finally at 26 miles we turned into Musselburgh Racecourse, and the .2 struck. The crowds, generally good throughout the course despite the rain coming in off the Forth (at one point almost horizontally), were bigger and louder here, and I really needed that support to push through to the end. My finishing sprint was still rather slower than my average pace, but finally I crossed the line in about 3:26. All that remained was to try to stay upright, and get home.

It seems I overdid it a little, when I wrote my last post, as I developed a bit of a swollen right ankle. Mostly from too much running on cambered surfaces that week, I think, although there are other factors. A week's enforced rest together with an easy start to this week seemed to sort it. So after a lovely day wandering about Corstorphine Hill in the sunshine yesterday, I decided to shoot for 1:30 in today's Edinburgh Forthside Half Marathon.

I had to get up early this morning, for a quick breakfast and then a walk to Princes St.—the bus which usually runs from outside my flat to Ocean Terminal, the start of the race, doesn't start until about 9 on a Sunday morning. Well, the walk woke me up, and I arrived at the start a half hour before the race. Which turned out to be exactly enough time to get to the head of the queue for the toilets, and onto the course for the start.

Starting out slowly, I kept pace with the runners around me, completely missing the first three mile markers and thus being generally clueless as to my speed. At mile four, I had been feeling a little worried about my ankle, and found out that I was a little behind schedule. It is about this point I find the race starts getting hard. Then came mile 5... where I found out that either my mental arithmetic was wrong, or the previous marker was, as I was actually running ahead of schedule.

From this point on, I spotted and got an emotional boost at each mile marker, I was doing great... After 7 miles the course takes a U-turn at Cramond, so you get to see the runners ahead of you heading back to the finish. As we headed towards this point, a very slow trickle of fit looking runners went by; after turning back and running for a mile alongside the oncoming (slightly) slower runners, those on the other side were more like four abreast to our single file, providing a good illustration of the bell curve.

From about 10 miles it's a bit of a struggle, and while I keep up with those I am following, my quads feel knacked, and it's clear I have no hope of regaining a couple of runners I was close behind earlier. I held on, and soon enough came back around Ocean Terminal. A last dash up the finishing straight, and I came past the line in about 1:25:30. Rather faster than I intended.

Update: results are up, 1h25m30s, position 102/2756. Bed now.

Not been up to much interesting recently. This weekend, however, has been dominated by running.

Yesterday I entered the KB5, a local 5-mile road race. The shortest distance I've raced so far, with a bit of a faster field. The race starts from the University King's Buildings campus, and heads immediately downhill. I got caught up in a fast start, and supposedly did the first mile in 5'45, before soon starting to feel the pace. I was probably okay for the first 5k or so, but the last couple of miles rather took it out of me, and after holding out most of the way I let quite a few people past towards the end. Finished exhausted in 31'22, placed 69/218.

Today I recovered with a long slow run, along the Fife Coastal Path, from North Queensferry to Kinghorn, about 15 miles (24km). Rather pleasant, while I got soaked cycling both to and from the train station, once I reached Fife and got off to run it was dry, and it never really went past a very light occasional drizzle. It's quite warm for this time of year, so a little mist is just cooling... The Path was quite enjoyable, rather varied from sections past the industrial parts of the coast to paths by the sea, beside beaches and through the small towns along the coast. Certainly some sections I'd like to walk along at some point, only real problem is the sections which have to cut away from the coastline. I'd imagine the continuation of the path (it goes around the coast to the Tay) might have a slightly more coastal character as the industry is left behind.

Oh, and I dipped my feet in the sea while I waited on the beach for my train home. Got a strange look...

Hello, I've been back home from Aviemore for a few days now. Time for a few pictures!

As I said the race was great. Times are now up, and I got 1:33:05 (65/598), which is a couple of minutes faster than the last one. Better, I felt much fresher at the end, and generally felt more in control. Should be able to improve quite a bit next year (and planning on trying a marathon).

The clear weather continued into Monday, and I went up Cairn Gorm with dearg. A nice day of great rewards for modest effort. Spectacular views. And then a nice dinner out in the evening.

On Tuesday I had a run around the woods behind the Youth Hostel we were staying in (rather nice), and we headed home. A very enjoyable weekend.

Hello from Aviemore. I ran the half marathon this morning. We got stunning clear sunny weather, and the scenery was fantastic. Great running through forest, and around Loch Morlich. Less spectacular down the ski road, but gravity and smooth surface were appreciated as the legs tired.

Nice finish, and I felt well enough to put in a final sprint to the end. Didn't remember to stop my watch, but I think about 1.33.

This morning I ran in the FRESH 'N' LO Great Scottish Run, at the Half Marathon distance, in Glasgow.

I got up at 6am to observe that it was in fact raining outside, rather convincingly. A fitting start to my first race, so I breakfasted and headed off (with the support of dearg) and caught the 8am train to Glasgow. A little delay meant that there was about 45 minutes to warm up (and keep warm) in slight rain.

Soon enough, it was time to line up, and here I made a bit of a mistake. I positioned myself in the middle of the first section of my assigned group, but this turned out to be much too far back. The start was very slow, and rather frustrating; there were over 20,000 entrants for the event (over half for the longer distance, as I understand it), and that is a big mass of people. Starting far back, even with a lot of weaving and suchlike it was rather slow and frustrating over the Kingston Bridge (narrow lane to run in).

As I made my way forward, and the course opened up through various streets heading down to Bellahouston park, I perhaps overcompensated for the slow start. In any case I made it to the half way point fast enough, and from the far point back towards the start found inspiration from the various pipers and supporters lining the route.

The last five miles or so were challenging (I certainly had no great burst of speed for the deceptivly long finishing straight), but I pushed on to finish in (by my watch) 1 hour, 35.5 minutes. Faster than I could have hoped for!

An excellent experience for my first race, the weather cooled by the rain but not too wet (but big puddles!), decent course and support (particularly considering the weather) and a time I'm very happy with.