Race 2 of the Weekend!...been thinking back and it must be 20 years since I ran 2 races one day after another(I think it was the Alan Scally relay followed by the Stewarton CC next day in 1992!) In fact there has been a few years 2007-2009 where I didn't do much more than 2 races in a year!
Last time I ran this race was 2008 and I was probably the least fit I have ever been, hardly training and nearly 2 stone overweight .I remember finishing the race that day in 37 odd mins, absolutely exhausted and thinking it was time to pack it in altogether....I just didn't enjoy it anymore.
So 5 years on I was going into this race with a really hard 5k the day before in my legs plus the 3 sessions that i had done during the week...I wasn't exactly fresh but at least i'm fit and loving my running again!... My legs were stiff and sore during the first 2k ,which included a fair bit of climbing, but after that I felt not bad at all and got into a good race with Andy Little of Shettleston. Andy outsprinted me at the finish to claim first vet but I was happy with my time of 33.19 considering i'd raced the day before and the Vale course isn't the fastest. No more races for a the rest of June as I get ready for the Arran Half and Arran Relay next month.
Four years after registering for Parkrun I finally run one! The Eggy parkrun has been going since March this year but I've only been available to run once or twice in that time due to work. Couldn't have picked a better day to make my debut however! Arrived at 8.30 am and it was really warm even at that time of the morning and managed a good warm up.Having been off work the week leading up to the race I had taken the opportunity to get some quality training ,including 3 sessions...so wasn't sure how the race would go.Got off to a good start and was working hard,with Alex Allardyce hanging on round the first small lap. Heading into the next lap, a large one, I started pulling away and by the time I reached the final small lap I knew I was gonna win,it was now just about the time I could run.I knew the course record was 17.24 (which Alex ran) so was well chuffed to clock 16.29 withAlex beating his pb with 17.07.....this was only race number 1 of the weekend for me,Vale of Leven 10k the next day! I must have the running bug again!
A better run! Felt a lot fresher than Troon a fortnight ago and finished 9th in 32.54.Got into a decent pace straight away and went through 5k in 16.15 feeling pretty good. Got a bit isolated 2nd half and slowed a wee bit. Didn't realise till after I finished that the first 8 had been taken the wrong way near the end and had missed a bit out making me the first to actually run the full distance! 1st vet prize again so happy with that, starting to feel myself getting race fit again
