First Minister's Questions

Tinto

Tinto profile
Originally uploaded by Sparks57

I’ve never done a run with a profile like this one.

Well, perhaps “run” isn’t the most accurate description. Perhaps “run/walk/scramble” would be more accurate.

This is Tinto Hill in South Lanarkshire, which I set out to run as much as was possible along with one other person from Motherwell AC (who had me well and truly beaten long before the top).

Total time taken - 56.24. Consider that when the REAL hill runners go up Tinto, the fastest man is about 32 minutes. I think I made the top in about that time.

Coming down wasn’t that easy though. Very tough on the quads and the rocks were quite icy. The Inovates held up well.

I suspect I’m going to feel this tomorrow.

3 x 1k efforts

3 x 1k efforts
Originally uploaded by Sparks57

It was -5 degrees when I left the house at 8.45am to do this club session. Beautiful but absolutely baltic.

I was first at the meeting point so I had a wee warm-up . No kidding, it really was absolutely freezing cold.

The course was part of the Bellshll Golf Club fartlek run, also known as "The Rollercoaster" because it's so undulating.

Correct that - it's bloody hilly.

The efforts were 0.68 of a mile (1.09km) with no more than two mins rest in between.

Here's how it panned out: 5.08 1.54 4.57 1.54 5.26.

The last one was a struggle at the end. Anyway, glad I did it.

Big change of heart

Sometimes, you just know when something isn't right and no sooner had I pressed the button to enter the Berlin Marathon, I suspected it wasn't the right thing to have done.

I'd had this hankering after doing Amsterdam again, just to see how I could fare over the same course and after at least a day of mulling it over, Holland has won out.

So, after a 180 degrees handbrake turn, it's Amsterdam 2009, not Berlin.

Sunday, October 18. Hotel booked.

Looks like I'll be on my own though. No other MAC interest at this stage.

Figure of 8s

So nice to be back on home soil!

Tonight's MAC session was the Figure of 8s on Hamilton Sports Ground.

One effort of 0.52 of a mile at faster than 10k race pace with 90secs to two mins recovery followed by an effort of 0.35 of a mile. This repeated three times.

First long effort ave pace - 6.24mi; first shorter effort ave pace - 6.14mi; 2nd - 6.15mi/6.15mi; 3rd - 6.21mi/6.11mi.

Splits: 3.21, 1.34, 2.11, 1.34, 3.19, 1.33, 2.12, 1.31, 3.23, 1.31, 2.11.

Happy with the consistency of all that and a good antidote to the slumbering performance on Sunday morning.

Berlin

Now how did that happen?

There I was, just idly musing about having done more than 1,000 miles this year and the next thing I've entered the Berlin Marathon 2009!

I must have been sleep-surfing or been suffering from some such medical condition.

Sunday September 20 is the date, which means another summer of marathon training and that suits me fine.

It'll be good to have the focus while working in London and I'm looking forward already to the long runs at home on weekends.

1,000-mile breakthrough

Hilly run
Originally uploaded by Sparks57

This was the run that saw me go through 1,000 miles in 2008 and it's a pity it was such an inauspicious event.

We set out from Kirkfieldbank and within the first mile we'd tackled a serious hill in the form of a road up into Lanark.

Then into the trails and an undulating route to New Lanark and back.

I was drained very early on because of the cold, which has left me more tired than I'd realised.

But I'm still not complaining. At least not too much.