As a challenge, I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.
Day Ten
I have a theory that if I do something first thing in the morning and then wait until evening the next day before doing anything else then that’s the equivalent of a rest day as more than 30 hours pass between activities. I’m not claiming that there is any science behind this theory (because there isn’t) but it does provide a nice cheat to this challenge as I swam first thing and I’m not planning to do anything else until tomorrow night.
How was it? Legs were heavy after yesterday’s eight-mile run and I was a bit lethargic. If I’d waited until later in the day I’d have struggled for motivation but, by swimming first thing before work, I completed today’s challenge before I’d really even thought about it.
As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.
Day Nine
I had no plan going into this other than I would run, bike or swim every day. I didn’t plan how I would chose what to do, or a routine I would follow. Instead, I would decide day by day what I was doing depending on time, weather and location (work or home). Except that is for today as I’d already booked a place on the Glasgow Triathlon Club’s ‘Rugged Run’ around Chatelherault in Hamilton. That meant today I didn’t have to think about anything. I just went to the run as booked, did it and came home. It required no thinking, not that there’s much thinking in a challenge like this but anything that cuts down the amount of time required is a good thing – like former US President Barack Obama only having two colours of suit and two colours of shirt, so that he didn’t have to think about what he was going to wear. He just picked a suit and a shirt and got on with the important job of deciding whether he was going to run, bike or swim that day (or whatever other much more important things he was doing).
In future, if I was doing a challenge like this again I think I would plan more days in advance rather than do it day by day as I suspect day by day is what for US President Donald Trump would do…
How was it? Mud, mud, glorious mud. The park can get very muddy after heavy rains and with the last few days being particularly wet I almost brought my wellys to run in. I should also have brought ice skates for the car park. Anything but trainers… however a few sticky spots meant a slow run and a gentle end to the week.
As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.
Day Eight
After yesterday’s slump, today felt much better and was only spoiled by a common problem of running in Glasgow in January: ninja showers. It doesn’t matter if the sky is blue and the forecast is for a draught, in Glasgow, in January a shower can appear out of nowhere. Today was damp so a shower was not completely unexpected, I thought I had timed my run to miss it. However, if dodging showers was a game of Russian roulette then you have to always assume that there are five bullets in the gun instead of one and that chances are you are going to get wet. Why did I not attempt the challenge in June?!? I got soaked.
Every fortnight we cover the best and worst football songs from every club in the UK from our book ‘The Sound Of Football: Every Club, Every Song’. You can buy it here
Ayr United
Nickname: The Honest Men
Ground: Somerset Park
Stadium Capacity: 10,185
Song: Back In Black
Before Lionel Messi, there was Jimmy Smith.
World-famous ex-Barcelona striker Lionel Messi holds the record for most goals scored in La Liga. However, less well-known Ayr United striker, Jimmy Smith, has the UK record for most goals scored in a single season. In 1927/1928, he scored 66 times in just 38 games. To put this into perspective, this is more goals in one season than most Ayr United squads have managed in the last 25 years. Two decades of underachievement has meant that Ayr is now a solid if unspectacular side that has found its level in the first and second division. Yet, 25 years ago, the future of the club could have taken a very different path.
In 1988 Edinburgh businessman, David Murray offered to buy the team. Murray was a rugby man, but he wanted to use his wealth to own and run a football club. Controversially his bid was rejected by a vote of Ayr’s shareholders. It was said that the shareholders had been influenced by Ayr United’s then-current manager, Ally McLeod, who had threatened to quit if Murray was successful.
Ally was an Ayr legend. He’d led the club into the First Division and the inaugural Premier League. His side had defeated Rangers in front of Somerset Park’s record crowd, and he’d led the club to the semi-finals of both the League and Scottish Cup. A feat that saw him voted Ayr’s Citizen of the Year in 1973.
But, for most football fans, Ally is remembered for only one thing: Scotland’s ill-fated 1978 World Cup campaign.
Ally was a naturally animated character, so his confidence and enthusiasm proved infectious. After Scotland defeated England 2 – 1 at Wembley in 1977, the nation believed that not only would World Cup success follow, so would the trophy itself. Scotland was going to win the World Cup!
This self-belief was so strong even the official World Cup single, ‘Ally’s Tartan Army,’ sings of the team’s triumph. When Ally was asked what he would do after the World Cup, he said, “retain it.“. The song was just as optimistic. Its chorus sang: “we’ll shake ’em up when we win the World Cup.” Note: it doesn’t say “if” the team won it. Instead, it sang of “when” Scotland would win it.
The tournament was a disaster. An opening draw with Iran followed an opening defeat to Peru. To qualify, Scotland needed to win by at least four goals against its final opponents, Holland, but, despite scoring one of the World Cup’s greatest goals – Archie Gemmell’s celebrated individual strike – they could only win 3 – 2. It was not enough, and Ally’s tournament was over.
By 1985 Ally Macleod was on his third spell as manager of Ayr. His voice carried a lot of weight. When Ally said “no” to David Murray, the shareholders listened and rejected the offer.
After his bid was rejected, David Murray invested in Rangers instead, helping them win nine titles in a row, and coming within one game of the European Cup final.
Ayr, on the other hand, struggled. Ally managed to win the second division title before leaving the club for the last time in 1989, but subsequent managers have not managed to reach the same heights. A recent highlight was reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup in 2012. However, a 1 – 0 defeat to local rivals Kilmarnock and subsequent relegation from the first division later that year meant that the campaign was unsuccessful.
Ayr does have a musical claim to fame. Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro has claimed that it is named after a footballer who played for Ayr United. However, as Somerset Park has never seen a Mr. Biffy Clyro, the band has also claimed they got their name after a Finnish footballer from the 17th century and a Welsh astronaut who had tried to become the first man on the moon, this may be another tall tale.
Ayr United walk out to ‘Back In Black’ by AC/DC. This is not a reference to its financial position: it’s always been in the red ever since rejecting David Murray.
As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.
Day Seven
For the last three years I’ve been working towards a long distance triathlon in the summer. Challenge Roth in 2019 and Celtman in 2020 and 2021. I’d normally start the year by following a rough training guide from Tuesday to Sunday with a rest day on Monday. I’d always have one day off a week. So, as this is day seven, this should be my rest day – and I think my body thought so too. I woke up tired, I had no motivation to do anything and my original plan to swim in the morning was scuppered by a heavy snow shower overnight which made driving dangerous until the roads were clear. Instead, I avoid doing anything until work was done and then jumped on the bike for a second day of riding. Tomorrow, hopefully, my brain will think I’m back at day one and will just assume I had a rest day today. Where’s Derren Brown when you need him to brainwash you?
How was it? Found the easiest training plan on Zwift and then the best that can be said is that I did it.
As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.
Day Six
If yesterday was an example of how to fit the challenge around working in the office, today was an example of how to fit it in around working from home. I have a bike set up behind to my computer and, when running short on time, it’s great to be able to use my lunch to go straight from ‘office’ to ‘gym’ just by turning around. Today was my daughter’s first birthday so as well as work there’s a party to have and sweets to eat so the challenge had to take place before I ate too much of the party cake!
How was it? I like to use the training programmes in Zwift to provide a bit of structure. My favourites are the ones which have short fast bursts followed by long easy stretches. The fast sections don’t seem too bad when you immediately have an easy section after it.
As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.
Day Five
Back to work today and a chance to swim before going to the office. One good thing about lockdown is that when I do need to go to the office I know it’s easy to get parking nearby as the city centre is empty, which also makes it easy to drive to a swimming pool first and then start work as there’s no traffic either. On pre-lockdown days I would never drive as it would take longer to get to the office than it would to jump on the train. Lockdown has been a big help for swimming – well, except for the 12 months when the pools were closed. But, apart from that…
How was it? I’ve been swimming 2 – 3 times a week for the last month and today felt like a breakthrough as I wasn’t lap counting to try and hit a target, just enjoying the swim while I aimed to hit 1k.
As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.
Day Four
I haven’t changed any settings but, when I start an activity on my Garmin watch, it suggests a training run. Today, it suggested 7 x 10 second sprints over 44 minutes. Given I’ve got 31 days I thought I might as introduce an element of surprise to the challenge and I do whatever my watch tells my to do. So, seven 10 second sprints it was. Three minutes of running then beep, beep, sprint. Normally, I only spring in Glasgow when I realise I’ve run down the wrong alley.
How was it? One of those nights where it’s cold enough that it’s impossible to sweat but not cold enough to have to worry about patches of ice on the pavement. I love running in these conditions so it felt easy to be out today.
As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.
Day Three
If it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen. So, when I forgot my watch I had to make very sure of the number of laps I was swimming so I could update Strava when I finished. The tricky bit is that the pool I was swimming in was 21 metres and not 25m, which makes it trickier to work out laps when every five laps is 104m and not 100m.
Top tip for the rest of the month – remember watch. Or get better at maths.
How was it? An almost empty pool with only one other person swimming. An otherwise easy and relaxing swim.
Twin brothers swimming, cycling and running in Scotland 