Training Log Archive: graeme

Flattish road run, polwarth and around, hoping to find ice free pavements or car free roads. Felt quite hard, about 7min/miles with a couple of slow ones in the middle (ice) and the end (snow)

Little play on the turbotrainer for garmin testing. 4 min warm up, then 5x1 min 1 min recovery. HR peaked at 134/134/134/143/145 troughed at 108/103/109/114.

Goes up to 175 on intervals. I wonder what it all means?

C • Heart Rate on a bike 1

Back into dobbs for more ice and snow around Blackford, Braids and Mortonhall Golf course, with Colin Eades.

Running the Chasing Sprint Open Prologue. First run up Arthurs seat, then round the course. About 55mins, but with knee deep snow or ice, and stopping to check/map/tweak there's no guide to race time at all. With the map sharpened up quite a few areas are now usable - this event has great potential. But if the weather stays like this we won't even reach the carpark - the road has been closed for a week.

Short meadows on ice. Times around 3:50 for the kilometers. Plus run there and back. Ice is getting annoying, need to do something hard while things are still relaxed and I'm getting enough recovery at home.

ELO Festive frolic.

Rather a good format this year - Mass start Norwegian with four different start points, and a "Score" format (i.e. come back after an hour). Twists - you got all the controls marked on the map, but at each control you were told which was next (by solving a picture puzzle).

Ssdly, had to get back to collect James from cricket, so Jane and I went out early and ran around the controls for half an hour.

From Crags centre - Princes St, bit of map checking, then home. Weather now cleared up with ice only on the pavements in minor roads.
Dobbs now a non-starter, but iffy in places in trainers.

Edinburgh now full of tourists again, and hoaching with traffic wardens.

"Run" up Caerketton with Jane, from the Steading, and back again. The powdery snow, up to 3ft deep in places, accounts for the slow time.

As the snow begins to melt, another planning project and another non-run : stoppy starty with mapchecking, navigational errors (!) and snowdrifts, then icy in places on the way home. This is not going to get me fit.


Holyrood is a fun challenge for the Chasing Sprint. Jon could have done a bit better on the gorse, and there's some mapping to do, mainly sharpening up: things have moved on a lot since Godders did his excellent 2002 version. One crag even faces the wrong way.

The Chasing Sprint is an ideal use of the area: its big enough for a 50-60 minute course, but with two high starts the format keeps the climb under control. Some planner's challenges with a chase on an open area, but the draft course runs very nicely: fast and frantic, with scope for costly errors.

A 2k run and a lot of hill reps while sledging with James. It was indeed a white Christmas, though there are hint of a thaw.

warm up :)

At 8pm, dinner finally settled. Should have been at 7 after DrWho, but felt obliged to watch the train set on the Tarka trail. Christmas is, after all, designed for 10 year old boys.

Meant to be about 20 mins, but in the end ran around the old town, including the length of the royal mile. Quiet, with a few taxis and gritters moving about, dark and snowy. Edinburgh still looking superb in the snow, and the pavements yet to turn to ice.

Still powdery snow in Edinburgh. Still running from home in dobbs, today Blackford, Hermitage rim, observatory, Craigmillar Golf course.

Also, 3 hours of "tobogganing" in Astley Anslie with James and his plastic ring.

No idea how long or far really. Run from home in the fluffy snow over and around Blackford, Hermitage, Braidburn, Fairmile, Mortonhall, Braids and Blackford again, dodging sledgers. News says this is the worst snow we've had for 20 years, which is odd, because it feels like the best.

Meadows LSSSS 4:54 3:50 3:42 3:45 3:47

Not a promising start. A beautiful day in Edinburgh, but stuck at home with James and unable to get out. By the time the Meadows came round it was dark, cold and unappealing.

When I got there: fantastic. Fluffy snow on the ground, dobbs on the feet, obviously the slowest session ever, but so what. Even went to the pub afterwards!

Note: Martin turns out to organise this session in all weathers, and at Xmas we give a small gift and card. Today he handed round a note, thanking *us* for turning out and making his effort worthwhile: "by showing trust in a senile old man like me, you have allowed me to fulfil my personal aspirations". Some officials like to grumble and get all holier-than-thou, Martin, ever the contrarian, gives us this lovely thought. Happy christmas indeed.

Snow amended version of the Monday run, Alnwickhill, Braids, Fairmile Park, Swanspring alley/road, Braidburn, straight back through the Hermitage.

Got out between snow showers, pavements largely clear of snow. Just lovely, really.

There was this discussion about junk miles on here lately.

Today, in the snow, I ran some. Running home from M&S in morinside via Craiglockharts, Oxgangs (note to self - should map before it gets blown up)
Mortonhall Braids etc. Too cold to run fast, too slippery of snowy to run easily. Real junk.

And it was absolutely fantastic fun.

To the Godfrees for a first sight of rather super two-day old baby Emma. Gillian was off asleep, so Dave and I sneaked off into the snowy Pentlands for that run you can do without breaking the night champs embargo. And some extra golf course action among the children on sledges and general pre-Christmas Christmasiness. Tired legs, slippy terrain and icy cold didn't really dent the delight of being in the hills today.

Heading back, a black cloud charged towards Edinburgh, snow falling as we finished, then piling down, and among a carnage of crashed and abandoned cars getting home was entertaining. Just slid off the road the once...

C • hamstring 3

Slightly shortened hilly Friday run, in the snow. Blackford Glen road, Blackford Hill, Craiglockharts, Blackford Pond & back to KB. Quads still a bit sore since Saturday, generally hard work and slippery.

The KB dash. Snowy, slippery and cold. Garmin says .. 5:59 6:33 6:20 7:13 10:01. First three miles would be about right, downhill and flat on the road/ no headwind. Slippy climb through the Hermitage, Further climb then flat on Midmar. Seems to have the final undulating mile as being short (not according to Alex Jackson's measuing wheel it isnt).

Ran to three miles with Brian Kirkwood, but he was a bit more aggressive on Midmar staying on the tarmac with the car rather than the snowy pavement. Faded a bit in the last mile as Oleg came by and Brian pulled away by 20sec.

"Warm" up and down at KB

Rather weary jog around Mortonhall. Garmin gives mile splits of 8:21 7:47 9:06 7:22 7:11 7:09. So I ran up a muddy hill then came back down a road.. Like I hadn't noticed.

Still, must be getting the hang of this press tap stroke business.

Back for a Meadows session after far too long. Only the Uni one though, with a novelty fartlek pre-Christmas format of running in pairs in opposite
directions, one fast, one slow. I've spent too much of this year running O-races with Mike McIver, so today we paired up to run in opposite directions, something like 7x600m for the session in the end, plus jog down from KB, about 10mins jogging on the meadows, and then back home again.

Very nice to be moving again without coughing, and surprisingly warm compared with recent weeks.

Steady, rather tired run around Craigmillar in the hope of finding my Chasing Sprint hat. Some tracks in the quarries to show where people went, but really rather little. No joy on the hat front.

Craigmillar Castle. Organising and planning.

One interesting thing about the garmin is it answers that question of how far you run as a planner putting out/checking/ policing and collecting controls. I was surprised how much it added up to. It even claims 1312 cal, and I suspect in the freezing cold it may be more.

Anyway, this was a big event for me in terms of time invested. I've long thought Craigmillar should be up there with Arthurs Seat as a "proper" area, but it's never made that breakthrough. Two challenges today: to plan the best technical non-urban course inside the Edinburgh ringroad, and to showcase a new bit of Urban mapping making an area big enough for a proper course.

Nobody seems to have run clean on the long course...

http://www.obasen.nu/winsplits/online/en/default.a...

...and the errors are strewn throughout the course, so its not down to a few dodgy controls. I'm very pleased about that! The inset map exchange confused a few people, which is disappointing (it was in the details...) Only Rob Lee and Cat Taylor went clean on the middle.

As trailed through the week, more exploding buildings mean this is probably the last chance to enjoy the "ghost town", and there's not as much left as when I started on this project. And, in true Craigmillar fashion, the police came to the event to deal with a post-joyridden Golf GTi.

Still, people were asking about borrowing the map for this, that and the next event, so maybe Cindermiller will find her prince. Or burn out like the car.

And finally, on collecting controls in the quarry, I heard a barking and there, not a dog, but a deer. Never seen one that far into town before.

C • Thanks Graeme 1

C • Deer 1

St Georges - Ferry road path - Portabello Prom - Craigmillar - home

Meant to be a decent paced long run (7min/miling) and a nice visit to the seaside. Which it was for about 8 miles until I turned inland at which point the wheels started to come off. Short break in Craigmillar at 11 miles - new fence, one more demolished building - red pen work required. Then putter home wrong side of 8 min/mile.

Distances by Garmin, which nicely picks up the road crossings as big peaks in the mins/mile. Unless that was the haar getting at it.

Haven't done a session like this for ages. Obviously need to!

Icy haar, Monday run, with pushes. Very old school, haven't done that session in years.
Subsequently, garmin suggested the fartlek pushes only shifted the heartrate by 5-10 bpm (almost in the noise). I wonder if this is true.

Craigmillar. Bugger - they've blown up another tenement. I'll have to get the red pen out for Sunday.

7 miles, according to Garmin 14.07. I dont think it noticed I stopped before tomorrows run.

Failed to get out during the day, some fartlekky stuff at night, pushes of 5, 7 and 6 minute. Still leaden, producing gunk, but no longer coughing. much.

Pre breakfast steady run in the Parks in Oxford. Really nice to be back there checking off lots of happy memories. Definitely on the mend now - Christchurch college wine is the answer. Not thrilled about the guy coughing throughout the meeting in the afternoon.

Event: Glasgow Park Champs
 

00:13:17 00:12:40 00:22:36 = 00:48:33

Three parks in one day, Springburn Kelvingrove Cathkin Braes and some associated warming up and down.

This event really is a lot of fun. Proper competition, decent amount of orienteering, time to chat to people.

Still struggling for air in the parks, so well off the pace, starting fifth at Cathkin. 15sec = line of sight to #4 Kenny Milton, who had a sight of Donald Petrie ahead. He goes off like the clappers, I'm struggling to keep in view and unpick the seal on the map. Eventually the whole thing tears. Not sure where we are but Kenny looks confident. Until he stops, turns and asks if I know. Bugger. Headless chicken for a bit to nearby kites, then finally relocate at our #8. 2 mins down the tubes. Robin Orr is past, John McKendrick, Kenny and Ian Maxwell on my tail FFS. I don't want to run round with these guys - they can sprint. So absolutely cane it to #3 and spike #4, get clear. Haul back Robin Orr over about 4 legs, spot Donald faffing on a dogleg between 8&9. Sadly, he's got 8, and sorts it out before I get back

Feel a lot better for all that adrenaline. Like I said, a lot of fun.
Jane wins WomenVet by a large margin, James is also 4th.

Craigmillar long course. Wet and slippery in the woods, but at 69 minutes its quite long for a blue. "whole shebang" is more like it! Despite the rain, it really is a good course, not much let up between the detailed sections, and the quarry is really intense. Nobody is going to get through it clean at pace. Not sure I've ever really raced through there before, even though we've had the map for years. May not be a KB-type revelation but people might be surprised.

note: meant to be at the East Districts, but with green gunk still whizzing in all directions and lungs not playing, I don't imagine I'd have been popular
there.

C • pre entry? 7

Taping, dog-dodging and coughing at Craigmillar.

Check it out...

http://www.gmci.demon.co.uk/Interlopers/Craigmilla...

"Reps" 3x1km. No time, couldn't start the watch and the accompanying gastropods were similar chronologically challenged.

Except you can't run a km without breathing, and coughing scares the natives. This is really p*ssing me off. And how do you tell the difference between a tap and a stroke on a bezel in the dark when you're not supposed to get it wet?

Stupidest thing ever.

Grumble grumble.

C • wet watch? 1