Yesterday I completed my first 20 mile run. To make it slightly more interesting I had created a new route which resulted in a stadium tour of Glasgow: from Hamilton to Rutherglen via Celtic Park, Ibrox and Hampden.
Although running around Blantyre, Hamilton and Uddingston is really convenient, it can get pretty repetitive, especially over longer distances. The new route can be seen in the map below and involves running from Hamilton to Uddingston as normal, out along London Road to Celtic Park, into Glasgow and across the Clyde, down Paisley Road West to Ibrox, along Dumbreck Road and onwards to Hampden, before finishing in Rutherglen.
For satellite view, etc. click here.
When I set off around 07:15 it was pretty cold and quiet, ideal. My hamstring was always going to be a concern but nothing came of it for the first 4.5 miles. At this point I came to the junction where I had to decide what I was doing: left into Glasgow or right to go back to Hamilton. Left it was, a good decision as it was absolutely fine.
From here, the route is straightforward out to Ibrox, basically straight roads past Celtic Park (where I had to jump over a drawer lying in the middle of the pavement in a steeplechase-type fashion), into town then over the Clyde. I was supplied with some fresh Lucozade Sport at Ibrox (thanks mum!) before starting the next phase towards Hampden. Traveling towards the King’s Park area and nearing Hampden, things started to get quite hilly. I knew this would be the case by looking at the elevation chart but it still requires a fair bit of effort to get up (and down) steep hills later in a run. Looking back I actually quite enjoyed this.
Around this point there were more runners starting to appear (it’s a more sensible 09:30 now). Seeing other runners in the street happily (or not so happily) bobbing along listening to their music, you can’t help but think to yourself where they stay, how far they’ve run and if they’re training for a particular event. My main thought at this point, however, was what am I doing here, I’m in Pollokshaws!
Passing Hampden was a nice point in the run as it signified that I didn’t have far to go. After that it was a right turn past the new football pitches at Toryglen and then about another 1.5 miles to my finish. It was at this point however that running up a hill with a jacket and gloves on as the sun beats down on you becomes slightly ridiculous. So the gloves came off and the jacket was unzipped, all whilst a Lucozade gel pack bobs furiously up and down between my teeth, attractive!
Anyway, round the corner and down Glasgow Road to Rutherglen Road to where I was being picked up: Halfords. It was then a careful manoeuvre into the car, as my legs were not in the mood for bending, before heading home. This included a stop at Sainsbury’s to go for a toilet break that had been required for around 16 miles. Great!
Overall, with a steady average pace of around 8’08″ per mile I was pretty pleased considering the hills towards the last third of my route. To be honest, this will probably be beneficial when it comes to running the race as it won’t be as severe.
On to next week’s training then, a couple of 9/10 milers during the week and another 20 miler at the weekend. Will probably do the same route as I quite enjoyed the trip (sounds like I’m talking about horse racing) and it will allow me to compare the runs directly which would be good.
Right, where’s the remote so I can get some Sky Sports on the go…
