Paisley 10k 2019

On August 18, I took part in the Paisley 10k for the 3^rd time, hoping to continue to see some progression in my finishing times.  Last year I finished in 36.35 and, while not disappointed, I felt like I under-performed a bit.  I travelled across with Alan, who picked me up and drove us through.  Once there we met one of his clubmates and the 3 of us went for a warm up run before heading to the start area.

The weather was broadly OK but it was a bit windy and this had the potential to cause problems during the run.  The start area was fairly congested and we made our way in a bit too late, so had to fight through the crowds to get up to the front.  Once there I spotted a football club who had pushed right up to the front – it was clear there was a lot of bravado going on, but equally clear that after a few hundred metres they’d all be done in.

The race started and, true to form, the footballers sprinted off, but by the time I’d got to 500 metres, I had gone past all of them.  I was aiming to go out steady and build into the run, trying to maintain a bit of energy through the entire run, rather than running out of steam.  The initial stages went well and I stuck to a steady pace as we wound round the centre of Paisley.  Through the first couple of k I went past Richard Cooper, who had recently joined the Cambuslang Harriers, and Mark Gallagher, who has continued on his run of form.

Through the 3^rd k I was still feeling pretty good but at that point we turned into the wind and things started to get quite tough – the wind was really strong and we were running directly into it.  The next couple of k’s were hard going – I was trying to keep the pace up but it was definitely taking a lot more effort and I was starting to tire.  I made up several places along the stretch before the turn at 5k, and I was glad to get there because it meant a bit of respite from the wind.

For a brief period, we were running with the wind, rather than against it, but as always, the tailwind was nowhere near as noticeable as the headwind.  At 5.5k, the route turns right up a hill towards the cycle path, and this was straight into the wind again.  Luckily though this section was short and once on the cycle path, the route was more sheltered.  By that point, another Cambuslang Harrier, Andrew Anderson, had caught up, and we ran side by side for a while.

The cycle path is broadly flat for a couple of k and while I was tired after running into the wind, I was able to re-group and push on, setting a pretty fast split through the 8^th k.  Between 8 and 9 there are several little hills, which act to sap your energy, but I dealt with them much better than in the previous year.  Once off the cycle path, the route drops down quite a steep little hill, through the middle of some flats and round to the worst hill of the route.

For pretty much the entire race, I’d been a little behind a girl from a running club in Bath but, not being local, she can’t have been aware of this hill coming up.  I pushed on up it and was catching her rapidly.  Over the crest of the hill I put the foot down – there was still around half a k to go, which is a long way to sprint at the end of a race, but from there it’s all downhill so you can really go for it.  A strong finish let me make up another couple of places, ultimately finishing 35^th with a time of 35.56.  This was 40 seconds faster than last year, which I was pretty happy with, given the conditions.

Given I was still marathon training at that time, 10k wasn’t quite enough mileage so I went for a couple of cool down runs – one with Lawrence, who has recently been training with Cambuslang, and the other with Alan.  I then went for another run when I got home, just to build the miles a bit further!  All in all, Paisley went well and it remains a pretty good and well organised event.

Livingston Parkrun

This year I’ve aimed to try and do a lot more parkrun tourism, and continued this through August with a visit to Livingston parkrun.  It isn’t actually that far away, just a short drive down the motorway, so it was easy to get to.  One of my ex-colleagues, Alan, and his family typically do Livingston, so I anticipated seeing them there.  On getting to the football stadium, I had a short warm up run to the start – Alan and team were indeed there – before heading to the toilet, which is, bizarrely, in the neighbouring police station!  As I came out, I spotted Neil, who quite often shows up at the same parkruns as me when doing some tourism.

Both Alan and myself were running the Paisley 10k the following day and as we made out way to the start line, Alan’s daughter, who is only 8 or 9, noted that we needed to save our legs for the race.  That was essentially the plan, so I started off relatively easily, keeping to a pace that was fairly comfortable.  The route starts up a slight incline before dropping back down towards the river.  A sharp turn at the end takes you down onto a lower path beside the river, heading back towards the starting point.

Unfortunately, the young guy in the lead went the wrong way at this point and lost his lead, allowing the rest of the top 5, including me, to catch up.  He re-took the lead though as we ran alongside the river and back up past the start, over a bridge and into the main part of the park.  I was in 4^th place at this point, running in a group with 2^nd and 3^rd, while the guy in the lead had a decent gap.

We’d had a lot of rain in the previous few days so the route was more like cross country with lots of large muddy puddles to navigate.  There was a bit of a trail section to go through, which included a bit of a hill, before dropping back down onto the main paths again.  At around half way I was still comfortable with the pace but 2^nd and 3^rd were slowing and I went past.  Shortly after, the route took in a section I was familiar with from the 6 stage relays I’d taken part in earlier in the year – this took in a fairly undulating trail section that eventually made its way round the back of the stadium.

From there the route headed back along the path beside the river.  I was gradually catching the guy in 1^st but I was now beginning to feel it as well.  At the end of the path, the route carried on, up another hill before re-joining the earlier route.  There were only a few hundred metres to go and I was now catching 1^st quite quickly, but that would have defeated the point of taking it relatively easily, and in any event I was only that close because the guy in front had taken that wrong turn at the start.  So I stuck to the plan, kept to my pace, and finished around 7 seconds behind.

Once Alan and his clubmates had finished, we made our way to the very nice café nearby for the usual post-parkrun coffee and catch up.  Overall, Livingston was a very enjoyable parkrun, even with the puddles and mud – and it is easily close enough for me to make it back sometime.