Andrew

My generation (Andrew)

Last night was my last game of football.

I’ve said this before. You can read how successful my previous retirements were in this blog post. But, last night, was definitely my last game. (Maybe).

This time it helps that our five-a-side booking had finished. We had a block booking until the end of March and, as previous years have shown, once the clocks change we lose players to light nights and golf courses. March is a good time to end the booking.

Even if I wanted to play next week, I couldn’t. Well, I could, but it would involve me hanging round pitches pretending to be 14 and begging people to “gonnae gie us a game, mista!”. I think I may be too old to do that. At 14 it shows that you’re keen to play. At 38 it shows you want to hang around with 14 year olds. It’s a bit of a different look…

My last game was meant to be an Old Guys vs Young Guys match. Old guys being anyone over 30. Unfortunately, five of the seven ‘Old Guys’ pulled out due to various injuries including “my feet are buggered after wearing high heels all day*”, which is not an excuse you often get before a game of football. Well, mens football anyway. I imagine female football players are more prone to this than Wayne Rooney.

*A stag do was involved.

Instead, the game became a normal game of fives, and an anti-climatic end to my football career. I thought I was finishing on a ‘cup final’, instead it was just a cold Wednesday night in Falkirk in an industrial shed with a leaky roof. My last game. Definitely. (Probably).

Iain

Alloa Half Marathon (Iain)

I mostly travel on canal paths whilst biking to work. Now that the the weather is getting better more people are using the paths. Where were you all in the depths of winter? Probably nice and warm indoors , rather than biking in the freezing cold like this idiot!

I have a bell to warn people of my impending passing but, one time, I biked round a corner and a women was in front of me. I politely said, “Sorry, excuse me,” as I thought the bell would be too loud as I was very near her. She told me to “F**K off!”

The lesson here is people can be twats no matter how polite I try to be.

I was reminded of this yesterday when taking part in the Alloa Half marathon.

Just after the start I had to pass a blind runner. They were attached to a sighted runner. They were going slower than me so I passed them on the right hand side. As I passed they shouted angrily “PASS ON THE LEFT!!!!”

I immediately wondered whether I had done something wrong. Is there an etiquette for passing people? Is there an etiquette for passing blind people? There was plenty of room to pass on the right…

I’ve asked around and the consensus is that you can pass on either side as long as your polite about it and don’t get in the way.

The lesson I’ve learnt is that even blind people can be twats.

Other than that the race was enjoyable. The weather was beautiful with hardly any wind. It can be a tough course if a westerly wind blows due to a five mile east to west section.

I was four minutes faster than last week’s race (when I ran with Andrew)

Andrew wasn’t taking part this week so this proves his boring chat has a drag effect of 20s per mile!

alloa

Iain

Buy cheap. Buy twice. (Iain)

There’s a stereotype that girls love shoes. I’d argue that men have an equal passion for protecting our feet but our collection of foot warmers is much less glamorous.

Here’s what I own:

Mountain Bike Shoes, Road Bike Shoes, Running Shoes (work), Running Shoes (home), Running shoes (old pair), Squash shoes, Golf Shoes, Hiking Boots, Work Shoes, Summer Shoes (x2), Smart Shoes (x 2), Sandals, Crocs and a pair of slippers.

If I ever appear on hit BBC2 programme Dragon’s Den it would be to flog a shoe that does everything. The top part of the shoe would be normal, but the sole can be screwed off so it can be changed to a different sole. I’d then screw on a golf sole or a squash sole or a… you get the idea.

I suspect Duncan Bannatyne would say “I’m ooooooot!!!”

Why all the shoe talk?

This week I ran the Balloch to Clydebank half marathon. See Andrew’s post for a more detailed view of the race.

I wore a pair of Asics trainers. They’re the second pair of Asics I’ve ever owned. I hated the first pair, they were very uncomfy.

That didn’t stop me from buying a second pair. My principle of buying running shoes isn’t how good they are but how much of a discount I get on a sale.

This new pair were very cheap (60%off!)

By the end of the race my right foot was very sore. I won’t buy a pair of Asics’s ever again!

  • Iain goes to shoe shop
  • Iain spots trainer with 80% of marked price
  • Its a pair of  Asics
  • Iain buys them!

Hey. Don’t judge me. It was 80% off. That’s a bargain!

Andrew, Race Report

Never mind the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon (Andrew)

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Two surprises. Although the first was not really a surprise. It didn’t rain, which I knew after checking the weather constantly in the run up to the race (see last blog post). The second surprise was that the route had changed. While you couldn’t call the new route scenic, it was an improvement over the old. Instead of running through along the main road through Balloch, Renton and Alexandria, the route followed the canal for the first few miles instead.

After that it was the usual ‘scenic’ route of bookies, chip shops, newsagents, whiskey warehouses and industrial units. All the sights. (All the smells).

The one thing that hadn’t changed was the bus trip from the finish line at Clydebank to the start line at Balloch. The important thing to remember when getting on the bus is to make sure you’re the first off it. Everyone goes to the toilet when they arrive. The longer you’re on the bus, the further behind you’ll be in the queue. A queue that gets slower and slower as the toilet roll in the cubicles is used up until eventually there’s only one cubicle for 200 runners. As I said, all the sights. (All the smells).

The race itself was good. I ran with Iain until mile 12 when I checked my time I thought I could beat 1 hour 45 minutes if I pushed myself and run just under 7 minutes a mile. I ran on, but I miscalculated. The finish line was further back than normal due to the change in route. I missed out by 24 seconds. I was pleased with my time though and still felt like I could have kept running. I didn’t though. I ate a banana.

Andrew

Here is the weather… (Andrew)

This Sunday is the Balloch to Clydebank half-marathon, one of my favourite races. It starts beside a shopping centre, dodges through the grimier parts of Alexandria, weaves through the back of Dumbarton train station before finishing with the bookies, chippies, an industrial estate and a car park in Clydebank. It must be the only race that starts with one of Scotland’s most beautiful spots – Loch Lomond – and immediately turns its back on it and runs as far away from it as it can.

I love this race though for one reason – for almost all of the 13 miles it feels like you’re running downhill. You can’t ask for a better start to the year, even if you couldn’t find a less welcoming finish.

What you also can’t ask for is dry weather. I don’t think I’ve ever run this race without it raining. Once it was even snowing (the race was cancelled). This year however it looks like we’ll finally have a dry day, at least if the weather reports are accurate. So far I’ve checked BBC Weather, the Weather App, The Met Office and checked them again an hour later in case its changed.

Even though there’s nothing we can do about the weather I think runners and cyclists like to check it constantly anyway just in case it might rain. I think its so that when we get to the start line we can say “I told you it would rain” and look smugly at those who’ve just turned up in singlets and goosebumps. We, on the other hand, are dressed in the latest Gore-tex bin bag. We have waterproof socks. Some of us even have caps (though not anyone who has any dignity or self-respect). We’re prepared. And then we overheat and wish we hadn’t brought all this kit…. but at least we were right! It did rain.

But not this year. This year the Balloch to Clydebank half-marathon will be dry. Unless the weather’s changed in the last hour. I’d better check.

Uncategorized

What are you doing with my phone?

elie

Last year, in Elie (Fife) I was walking on the cliffs above the town when I came across an iPhone lying against a post. My first thought was “I’ve found an Iphone. I can sell it and make a few hundred pounds!”  Thankfully, my second thought was “someone has lost an iPhone. How do I get it back to them?”

I picked the phone up and looked through the contact list for a “home” or a “mum” who I could phone and inform that their partner or son had lost a phone. Unfortunately there wasn’t any obvious names.

As I wondered what to do next a man ran up the path to the top of the cliff. He took one look at me and said “For F*&Ks sake!! What are you doing with my phone??”

I replied that I thought it had been lost as no-one was present. I was looking to return it to whoever it belonged to.

He continued to swear profusely and eventually explained that he’d set the phone up to record his attempt at running up the cliff. The run was “famous” and he was going to post his best time to a hill running forum.

Personally I wouldn’t leave my £600 phone out where anyone could walk of with it!

Since that day I’d always wanted to try the run. Luckily, this weekend, I was up tin Elie. I ran the route and I can honestly say it isn’t worth videoing! It was short and not that difficult. I think his friends should thank me because if he had videod it, I bet he would have bored them with it again and again and again….

 

 

Andrew

And the winner is… (Andrew)

“If I was five years younger,” I said, “I’d still be 10 years older than everyone else here”.

I’ve always been one of the older players at our weekly five a side football game. We had one player in his forties, another few in their thirties (including me at 38), and most in their twenties. Tonight though I was the only one in my thirties, there was no one in their forties, and the opposition was straight out of university.

I don’t mind playing people who are younger than me. I’m not a great footballer but I do know how to run so I make up for my lack of skills by always moving around the pitch. This gives the impression I’m actually doing something even if all I’m doing is mimicking a headless chicken. I don’t see myself as better or worse than anyone else because I’m older than them. Yet, when it comes to triathlon, we’re always divided by age. The fastest under 30, under 40, under 100 etc. Yet, it’s a sport where age is less important than technique and where technology can make more of a difference than how many candles you blew out on your birthday.

So, instead I propose a new classification, one borrowed from Iain who suggested it during a race last year, instead of fastest man under 30 or fastest woman under 40, we should have:

  • Fastest man with a mountain bike;
  • Fastest woman without a trisuit;
  • Fastest man with a £10k time trial bike he only rides twice a year because he’s frightened to take it out.

You get the picture.

What would you have?

Iain

What’s the point of a plan?

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This is an interesting perspective on training.  http://www.samiinkinen.com/post/11347268687/hawaii-ironman-secrets

I think it mainly applies to people who are already quite fit but I do agree with some of the points.

  1. No brick sessions. I never do them. I know I’m tired after biking so training isn’t going to change that. Some people claim “It helps you train your body to move after the bike” What do you think I do after biking? Lie in my bed for the rest of the day? I’ll walk, have other commitments and continue with the rest of my day so I think my body gets plenty of practice of moving after biking without a brick session.
  2. Shorter distance exercises when training for long distance. When training for the Iron man swim I swam mostly 1.5KM  (30min) a day. I rarely if ever swam an hour and less often for more than an hour BUT I did swim allot (3/4 times a week) so my weekly swim distance was the equivalent of two long sessions. I swam the iron man swim in a good time and I didn’t feel tired.
  3.  1 long bike ride and 1 long run a week. I think this is essential part of training. I’m not too bothered by what I do during the week (as long as I bike commute to work and get a couple of runs in) but I like to get these two sessions done.

The key message is don’t follow a plan for the sake of following a plan. Question everything you do and then alter it so it fits into the way you work/think.

PS – this week I didn’t manage to get a long run in but I did climb a hill instead. Even the best laid plans can be thrown out. Never be a slave to a plan!

 

 

Andrew

Good times (Andrew)

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Some days you can run, swim or cycle forever. Yesterday was one of those days. I swam at lunchtime and felt as strong on the final stroke as I did on the first. I cycled 15 miles in the evening on the turbo and I felt like I’d only just got started. Yesterday was a good day. Why can’t every day be like yesterday?

Today, on the other hand, is muthaf…

UPDATE
The good thing about a training plan is that some days you just have to follow it. It doesn’t accept arguments. It doesn’t accept excuses. It just tell you what to do and doesn’t take no for an answer. It’s less a training plan more of a training mum.