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When training bites you in the bum

*** Please note, this posting contains nudity ***

Ask someone in the street to name you what they think are the most dangerous sports and I guarantee that running will not be there.  Before I was a runner I would never had included it in a list of dangerous sports but now I would.

Today's session was mile reps.  Scary but not scary enough to make running a dangerous sport.  I met Lins as usual outside his work at 12:30 at we jogged to Kelvingrove Park to meet John.  The "mile" reps are in fact 0.91 miles but being hilly work out time wise about the same and so I was looking at about 5:10 for the mile and Lins and John just under the 5 min.  Because of this I would set off 5 to 10 seconds before them.  This would cause me some issues later on.

The first rep was tough, downhill from the statue and then all uphill after that.  I ran it in 5:08.  We had a 1:30 recovery and then ran the "mile" the opposite direction.  I was shattered after this one.  My calf muscles really felt like they were about to cramp on the down hill section of the rep but I still got about 5:10 for it.  We were now half way through our session and so had a longer recovery of 2 minutes.

The third rep started as normal.  I felt much better after the longer recovery and so pushed the downhill a bit faster in an attempt to stay ahead of the others for a bit longer.  All of a sudden a doberman left its owner and bit me on the bum.  It felt more like a wee nip but I soon gave the owner "dogs" abuse.  I was screaming at the top of my voice, effin this and bast*rding that.. half of the park heard me and now I was centre of attention.  I continued my rep for a few paces when Lins and John asked to see my ass.  Okay maybe that sounds a bit dodgy but they really did.  I was cut and bleeding.  So we chased the owner.  The one that I was giving my entire vocabulary of profanities to.  He looked mental with tattoos in places too painful for me to even write down.  To be fair he was very apologetic to me but Lins was starting to wind him up so I thought it was time to go.  But as I thought about it Lins was right.  What if it was a child that the dog had pounced on?  

We did the last rep and then headed back to work, training over for the day and that bit warier of dogs.

...  and now for the porn....  a picture of my bum... ;-)

Monday Blues

Just a recovery run today.  Legs still heavy from yesterday.

8.59 miles in 1 hour with Lins and Ben

Sunday Long Run

In an attempt to get used to the idea of getting up early for runs in preparation for the arrival of bambino Consani, I decided to get up for my long run at quarter to six in the morning.  Okay compared to some people thats not early but for my Sunday run it was early enough.  The thing is I wasn't very prepared for the early start and wasted most of my early rise by not being ready until 7am. My route today was from my house, onto the Balloch horseshoe and then onto the number 7 bike route which joins the West Highland Way about 2 miles short of Drymen.  Then I would follow the Way to Sallochy Bay where Debbie had offered to pick me up from.  A rough calculation had the route at about 21 to 23 miles.

The Balloch horseshoe was pitch black.  Within 5 minutes I had nearly fallen over a pot hole.  I should have brought my head torch I was thinking but soon I was able to make out the road and the run got easier.  I was going to listen to Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds today but out in the pitch black I decided not too.  I would end up freaking myself out and running at race pace.

 

Before long I was crossing the bridge just before the No 7 Cycle route joins the WHW.  I have always wanted to take a photo of it so I stopped and did.  The beauty of racing the day before a long run is you don't feel guilty stopping and enjoying yourself.

I went past Drymen and then text Debbie on the way through Garadhban Forest.  She was doing me a big favour picking me up and I was feeling guilty at waking her up first thing this morning.

Now it was on to my favourite part of the West Highland Way before Loch Lomond.  Conic Hill.  It was starting to snow now and getting cold.  I was so glad that I had brought my woolly hat.  I also felt safe enough to listen to War of the Worlds now.

The way down from the top of Conic was very slippy and wet today and I had to take a lot of care on it but I felt great as I ran into Balmaha and straight into a gathering of runners.  It was one of the Glee Club runs and Ian had joined them too.  I stopped for some photos and decided to run the rest of my run with them.  I was really glad of the company.  They were all asking how Debbie was and I think they were slightly surprised when I said they should ask themselves when we reach Sallochy.  They then freaked me out with talk of changing girls nappies and other horrors.  I then kept them all amused when I tried to cross a river and ended up nearly waste deep in what I can only describe as quicksand.

Then it was the end of my run.  I reached Sallochy Bay and Debbie was there waiting for me.  I was quite tired now and glad not to be going any further.  The Glee runners still had 20 odd miles to go and I knew that the weather was meant to be changing later.

My GPS recorded 22 miles but it was more than that because I had stopped it and forgot to start it again.  No doubt I will do it again though so I can record it then.

I beat Lucy Colquhoun ;-)

I am not sure who Jack Crawford is and after after a quick search I am still not clear.  A fictional character in the Hannibal Lector books or a tennis player.  Luckily I do know a lot more about this 10k race and this would be the 3rd time I will have run it.  Last year I got my PB in this race of 34:48 but that was in perfect conditions.  You see this race is along the canal.  Last year was cold and frosty and so the canal path was firm.  This year was mild and wet so the path was flooded and soft and quite windy.  As we all lined up at the start the organisers informed us that one of the canal gates was sealed shut at the 2km marker too.  This would slow me down a bit as well.

So I went here a little bit less fit than last year, but I still hoped to get under 36 minutes.  I met the other Garscube runners at the beginning and said hi to the familiar friends that you get to know running these local races.  Andy B, Chris U and Donald.  All running faster than me at the moment.  Also a few people that I have been slightly quicker than recently.  Joe, Euan and Gerry.  So a good crowd to keep me on my toes.

The start was muddy this year with the first 2km being like a cross country.  I spied Chris and decided to tuck in behind him for a while.  He is running strong at the moment so I thought this would be a wise choice.  Onto the third kilometer and Andy overtook me.  Chris seemed to be a bit off pace and so I tried to tag along with Andy.  I struggled with Andy's pace and so ended up in no mans land between his group and the group with Chris.  Inside I kept thinking that Andy's pace would drop and then I could try to catch him but it never did and I never got close to him.  Infact he just got further and further away.

Near the halfway stage I struggled against the wind and the worst section of the race.  Over the bridge at Lambhill.  At this point I looked back expecting to see Joe right behind me but he was still at least 30 seconds.  I relaxed a bit when all of a sudden I heard a scream from the other side of the canal.  Startled I looked over the bank expecting to see some sorry runner had fallen into the canal but it wasn't.  It was Rachel shouting at me wishing me good luck.  Sorry Rachel I would have shouted back but I was struggling with my breathing at that time.  Soon the finish was in sight.  I was surprised at Debbie and John screaming at me to get a move on.  I expected that maybe Joe was sneaking up behind me so I picked it up.  Only to find that they had made a mistake and thought I was on for a sub 35 min. 

So I finished in 36:12.  12 seconds over what I wanted but I was happy.  I finished one place ahead of Donald who has beat me in all the races this year.  I was in front of Chris although I suspect that he didn't have a good race and a good bit in front of Joe and Gerry.  Andy was well in front though.  Another highlight was I beat Lucy Colquhoun the female record holder for the West Highland Way race.  Bet I won't be saying that come June.

No medal with this race so I am no closer to Debbie's medal tally but I have to mention that Jill the Jogger did win a jogging water bottle.  One of the organisers must have seen her potential as a jog Scotland jogger. 

Jack Crawford Race Results

Hill Reps (Well sort of)

Back at Kelvingrove for some hills today and the dreaded 5 long and then 5 short.  The 5 short being impossibly steep and you are already knackered from the 5 long.  Lindsay secretly loves these ones but for everyone else they are a nightmare.  Luckily I was given a reprieve as I will be racing the Jack Crawford on Saturday.  Well I will be if the weather is half decent as I can think of nothing worse than racing along the canal if it is raining and windy.  The long reps consist of a long (yeah obvious) grind with a short steep recovery.  Taking it easy I ran up behind Lins, John, Ben and Jamie but found that I was catching them during the recovery.  A case of the tortoise and hare.  I then took the 3rd one fast and managed to overtake Lins.  Something I have never done before.  During the 4th rep I noticed that although I was taking it easy the Garmin was showing a pace of 5:49 so I bowed out of the last one and did some stretching instead.

Onto the short ones and I decided to listen to my wife for once.  She said it would be beneficial to go up the hill as if you are running up stairs.  Fast legs with a small stride and remember to work the arms.  Since I had gone a bit harder in the long ones I decided I would only run fast in the 1st, 3rd and 5th one.  Doing what my wife said paid off as I felt quite good going up.  Even managing to get to the top before everyone else on the first one.  Okay I had done less on the long reps but I was pleased all the same.  These guys that I train with are all running well at the moment although Lins tries to tell me otherwise.  The 5th one was tough but I managed to just stay ahead of Ben but Lins was first up still looking like he was enjoying it.  I told Jamie my new style of running up hills i.e. Debbie's idea and he will try it next time.

For anyone looking for a good film over the next few weeks then you can't go wrong with Slumdog Millionaire.  I had heard good things about it and so you go to the cinema expecting to be disappointed.  The exact opposite happened and the film was even better than everyone had said.

Kelvingrove 1km Reps

Autumn in kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, originally uploaded by Mistapurple.

Today I was out at lunchtime to run some 1km reps with Lins, John and Ben. It is a tough wee route with a lot of turns and as usual for all of Lins reps a stinker of a hill at the end. Today I tried to take it easier in the first two reps (although the times will say otherwise) and so have enough left for the last ones. I felt well within myself in those ones but by the end I was gasping for breath. Probably due to the recovery only being 70 seconds.
3:28, 3:28, 3:30, 3:33, 3:34

Legs still a bit heavy after the Saturday long run but recovered very quickly at the end to enjoy the run back to work. Total distance 7.5 miles.

Not sure yet whether to run in the Jack Crawford 10k at the weekend.  I want to get under 36 minutes for it but as it's on the canal the weather has to be perfect.  My PB is on this course 34:48 but I don't think I am ready for that pace yet.

Windy Weekend

As I am not sure when the new arrival will appear, I decided that it would be good to run the Drymen to Beinglas section of the way on Saturday.  What a day to pick for it.  After a month of lovely cold crisp clear weather Saturday's forecast was heavy rain and strong winds.  Also as part of my new training plan I would do a sandwich session.  This would involve running the day before.

So on the Friday I was up at 6am to run 14 miles.  As usual my normal efficient planning ended up in me not leaving until 7am and only running 11 miles.  After the run I felt great and full of energy.  I think that shortly I may be able to run the whole 18 miles to work.

On Saturday I met up with Rob who would be running the 30 miles with me.  Also along for a shorter run was Athole, John, Robert and Joe.  We set off at 9am with Rob complaining that I had made him park 500 metres down the road and therefore 500 metres longer running.  Within the hour we were on top of Conic Hill and the wind was horrific.  I could feel the skin around my eyes flapping in the wind and I was bent over 90 degrees as I tried to push against the wind on the way down.  A few hours later Neal would have the same issues which he also posted in his blog. http://pacepusher.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/weekend-roundup/

Halfway between Balmaha and Rowardennan at bang on 10 miles it was just Rob and I as the rest had decided to turn back.  It was about now that the rain started and with the wind, things were starting to feel unpleasant.  We had arranged to meet Kas, Rob's fiance, in Rowardennan but a mix up by Kas on where the West Highland Way went meant that we missed her.  We later found out that she had bumped into the rest of our team, lost.

Once we got to Inversnaid we were thorouly wet.  To make matters worse this sections was slippy and very wet.  With only two miles to go I was really starting to get cold.  My hands were completely numb, I was soaked to the skin and the drips were running down my back.  We reached the Drovers Inn but Kas wasn't there yet.  We stood frozen for 10 minutes before deciding to go into the packed pub and stand in front of the fire leaving a puddle where ever we went.  Kas arrived soon after and was upset at missing us.  Today was training for runners and support.  I felt really bad for her because she felt so bad but she was doing us a big favour.  By now my hands had finally thawed out enough so I could now have a pint of beer.

29.8 miles in 5hrs 40 mins

Today was Debbie's first day on maternity leave.  By 8am she was bored already and when she switched the TV on to be confronted by Mr Motivator she had lost the will to live.  Great news for me though as I came home at night to a big cuddle, home made soup and a lovely dinner.  No new baby yet though.

{Edit: Debbie also got up first thing in the morning to make my breakfast and lunch.  Who said having children is the end of your life.  I'm loving it.}

We have a new website that we will post when the baby appears.  Just go to www.consani.co.uk to check out all the latest news and pictures.

Tags: Beinglas, Drymen, West Highland Way, Drovers, Maternity