The atmosphere of this race is always great and the nice weather brought more spectators and well wishers out than I can remember in the the past.

Last Saturday I had a poor run from a tactical point of view although I did get a good time, so I was looking forward to running where I knew the course. I started at the back of the pack, this way I can get started at my own pace, one of the mistakes I made in Bishopbriggs was to start in the middle of the pack which was too fast for me. This way I was able to keep a more or less even pace.

A the start I made a mistake with my watch and I missed recording the split time for the first 1 kilometre the also meant that I didn’t have an accurate time while I was on the course. Added to this there seemed to be a problem with the digital timer at the finishing line. I crossed the line at about 58 minutes and 15 seconds according to the timer but it was obvious from watcing it later on that it was not updating correctly and was slightly fast. I was unable to workout what my actual time was which was slightly disappointing.

However I was really happy when I got the official timings through this morning. The ‘gun’ time was 00:57:35 and the ‘chip’ time was 00:56:03.  My previous best for Helensburgh was 01:08:14 which I set in 2007.

My next race is the Polaroid Eyewear Series 2009: Clydebank 10K.

From a tactical point of view I ran a bad race. I started too far up the pack and ran the first 2 km far too fast. This resulted in my legs giving out on me a bit after 5 km this was also partly due to not having taken enough liquids before. I recovered after taking on water. I will have to be more conscious about taking water before a run in future especially when it is hot.

Since I started using my new pair of running shoes I have occasionally been getting a discomfort in the ball of my left foot and this happened again in the middle of the race. It did disappear later on but I am still not sure what is causing in. I have bought new insoles which should provide better shock absorption and I will see how they go in the 10K in Helensburgh on Thursday.

After taking on the water the last 2 km went well and I finished in a new personal best of 59:21 by my watch, the race was not chip timed so this is likely to be the most accurate time I have. I am not sure when the full results will be published.

From the descriptions I had read I was expecting a flatter course but there you go it was good training as I am more aware of the need to get my preparation correct.

Edit : Official time 59:18. Full Results

It was a very windy with rain for nine out of ten kilometres and I think it was probably the worst conditions I have run in and that includes the Dumbarton 10K last year when there was thunder and lightning.

My kilometre splits were quite good with the exception of the first kilometer which was due to the congestion on the course by the sand dunes. I will start recording my split times so I can compare races better.

The big question is what should I call this blog now that I have beaten the hour?

I think my new target for the rest of the season should be to get below 55 minutes.

Tomorrow I am getting out for my first run of the year, long overdue I know. I aim to start regular runs from now on, I have never managed this before but this year thing must change.

During the first kilometre I thought I was going to have to give up as my lungs just wouldn’t work, it was a damp and misty morning and I think I have a cold coming on so that may explain it. After 2.5K they seemed to clear and I was able to do a couple of the next K’s running without walking.

I finished in 1 hour and 7 minutes which is about my average. If I am to improve on this I must start training and get my weight down.

One of the instructions in the race pack was to turn up about an hour early, unfortunately the person in charge of the changing tents did not follow this instruction and it was up to the early runners to decide which tent would be the male and female changing tents and we grabbed some chairs and set them up around the edge.

At the muster area in George Square there was a very long queue at the runners info kiosk, seemingly they had safety pins. I was thankful for the announcement that were would be no mass warm up, the ones at the Jog Scotland events I have been to in the past have been pointless at they are fine for people who do aerobics and can follow the instructor but most people just seem to get lost, me very much included.

The first 1K of the course is up hill but you also lose some height before regaining it which when I ran the the race 2 years ago I found annoying, but having a little more experience with other courses it is not so bad.

The second 2K is mainly over the Kingston Bridge, it is almost worth running the 10k just for a chance to run where usually only cars are allowed The view down the Clyde is good but, there is little time to take it in.

I managed to run as far as 2K from that point on I was on my usual run – walk – run

After the Kingston Bridge I was following the route that I walked last week. The short but sudden up hill section between 5 and 6K did catch a few people and I was glad that I had walked it.

From 7K the route is mainly down hill, my feet were beginning to complain at this point, I think the problem with my toe a few weeks back and the blisters I got from wearing sandals to prevent my toe from getting rubbed my have been to blame.

The finish line was a lot further up Glasgow Green this year, by this time my feet were feeling a little flat and my legs wouldn’t put on a final sprint. I crossed the line at 1hr 12mins on the gantry time. When I get the official time I will post it.

This was the 5th 10K race that I have taken part in this year. I now have some idea of what I need to do to improve my times next year and along with regular training which I must do even when there are no events to take part in, I now know a couple of routes that I can use for training so that I can run a full 10K distance for training. Hill training as another aspect that I must undertake if I am to improve my breathing.

I have run five 10k races, four of them this year and I am running the Great Scottish Run 10k on the 3rd of September. I ran my first 10k race two year ago and finished in around 1 hour and 7 minutes, after that race I wanted to try and get my time down to under an hour. The following year for various reasons I didn’t manage to run any races. This year I have run the four races in the Polaroid series with a personal best time of 1 hour and 4 minutes in the Clydebank race.

The hope was to go under an hour this year but given my total lack of training before, during or after the Polaroid series this was never really likely.

I need to become more comfortable going out for a run, I also need to walk to and from work when I can and just keep fit all year round instead of bursts of activity. Next year I will be entering as many 10k road races as I can find. I will also enter 5k races when I can.

I want to keep a link list of 10k and 5 k races in Scotland so that I will know when races are coming up and hopefully it may be useful to others.