Morning run

Felt a bit stiff after Sunday's guest run and I was determined to get out this morning so I went with S and her pals to Victoria Park.

They went off back to school and I stayed in the park to do a mile warm-up, followed by three miles - 7.31, 7.40 and 7.48 - with quarter mile recoveries in between.

I finished with a half-mile jog back to the car. 

All in all, 6.7 miles, which was just fine.

Still a bit of niggling in the left shin but it's not coming to anything more.

Sunny run

This was the club's April guest run yesterday, which took place on a warm, sunny day - the kind of day that makes you say: "This is why we run!"

We started in Bellahouston Park and went into Pollok Park, then round some of the trails in the middle of the latter park, and back to where we started.

All in all, 7.34 miles and conducted at a very stately pace which is how it should be on a day like that!

Two runs

Out twice on Tuesday. The first was with S and others for a fast mile round Victoria Park, which was good fun.

The second was a fartlek in the evening round a midgie-infested Dalziel, which wasn't so much fun.

That all accounted for just over nine miles.

A bit of a niggle in the shins. All very familiar.

Sunday

A late afternoon 4.08 miles.

I thought about going a bit further but decided against because the route I'd taken would have meant going up a bloody big hill.

Total miles for the week - just under 27.

Today's wee jaunt

A 4.34 miles run from the house and back in an attempt to push up the week's mileage a bit more. That makes just under 23 since Monday.

As an additional bit of inspiration, I've been sorting out my past race numbers. They're my souvenirs, something I always keep and write a note of the race, the time and the conditions.

Given that I live in a hi-tech world, I've scanned them all and put them here on a .mac gallery.

New Steve Winwood song with Eric Clapton on guitar

Chatelherault

The lighter nights bring more options for evening runs during the week and last night was a 5.4 miles spin round Chatelherault.

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself running with JH although I'm sure he was being kind to me.

Always a source of encouragement, he offers sage words if the going gets a bit hard.

We ended up covering the distance in 43 minutes, not lightning speed but continuing to be in the range I want to be.

I'm aiming for all my long runs to be at target marathon time pace - 9.07mi - and runs like last night's in the region of 8mi.

That leaves the "quality" sessions on Tuesdays which are faster still.

Tuesday efforts

Had a really good session last night. After a couple of miles up and down the side of Strathclyde Loch, we did half km efforts with half km recoveries right round the loch.

I managed to keep the efforts to within 1.55 and 2.05 all the way and kept up with the back of the leading pack so I'm happy with that.

Just the very slightest hint of tenderness in my left mid-shin, which is troubling but not overly so.

Need to keep the calves loose!

Marathon inspiration

The sun shone today ... has summer arrived?

Having missed the Tom Scott on Sunday because of a late night and a pretty ropey head, guilt got the better of me today.

After parting with another ridiculous sum of money to replace a tyre - the second in six weeks - I had a nice run from Bellahouston Leisure Centre into Pollok Park.

I thought I was being oh so clever and went along the White Cart Way rather than through Pollok Park on the route I know and ended up in Corkerhill. I doubt if I could find my way there again if I tried.

I had a better than vague idea of the direction I needed to go in to get back to the leisure centre and the run ended up at 6.5 miles in a time of 49 minutes. That was just fine on a lovely sunny morning!

I'm hoping to get to the club session tomorrow night, all with a view to doing a decent time at the Great Edinburgh Run on Sunday May 4.

Watching the London Marathon yesterday gave me some much-needed inspiration. I've volunteered to help at the Edinburgh Marathon next month.

Nearly three months ...

... since my last post.

The main reason I'm writing now is because I have some time and I want to put down a bit of a running marker.

Over the last couple of months, I've been managing to get out fairly regularly and have seen my times improving.

Grangemouth in February wasn't a happy occasion and since then I've resolved to knuckle down.

The Welcome the World 5k a couple of weekends ago was an encouraging event - 23.03, about 1min 30secs off my Great Winter Run time in January.

I felt quite strong in the National Road Relays at Livingston last weekend - 43.42 over a 5.85 miles course. At that pace, I wouldn't have been far off a 46 min 10k, which is heading back in the right direction.

Still undecided about the Tom Scott 10-miler this Sunday.