As you will see from an earlier post there are no club training nights now until the 06 January 2014 (unless arranged with your coach – see earlier post). However, there are some races just after the New Year so we are going to hold a couple of sessions over the festive break for the endurance squad. These sessions will be on the following dates:
10.00 am on Saturday 28 December 2013 – Braidburn Park (Greenbank Road End, Opposite the Garage)
10.00 am on Thursday 02 January 2014 – Ironmills Park, Dalkeith
If anyone has any questions then please contact:
Linda Smith – 07833 667489 (M) or 0131 663 5877 (H)
Kirk Smith – 07805 107857 (M) or 0131 663 5877 (H)
Dave Hand – 0131 663 0434
Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and hope to see you on 28th!
We have a few pairs of second hand shoes in a variety of sizes and conditions, most are spikes but there are a few pairs of throwers shoes. I attach a list of the shoes, Dave Hand listed them and put the condition down as a guide. If you are interested in any of the shoes then please let David Hand (0131 663 0434) or Kirk Smith (0131 663 5877) know and they can bring them along to training. A small contribution to club funds is the only cost.
The East District Cross Country Championships took place last weekend in Dundee on a cold afternoon with a light covering of snow on the ground.
There were a number of Lasswade athletes competing and hopes were high for a few medals based on performances in the league matches so far. The athletes did not disappoint with Sarah Tait leading the way in the Under 13 girls and picking up a well deserved silver medal with team mate Caroline McKinlay running well to finish 25th. The next race was the Under 13 boys with Sarah’s brother, Magnus, improving on his bronze medal of last year to win the race this year, he was closely followed by team mate Rory Ferguson in second place, and our third counter was Lawrie Wilson in 29th. The boys picked up the silver medal in the team race. It was a great start to the day!
In the Under 15 girls, Lauren Dickson, last year’s under 13 winner ran well to finish in 7th place with team mate Lauren Wilkie finishing fast in 33rd place. Our Under 15 boys team hit by injury and illness only had one runner, Jamie Darling who ran well to finish 35th.
We are struggling in the Under 17 age group for cross country runners and had no boys or girls competing which is disappointing.
Amy Frankland was our only representative in the Under 20 women race and she ran strongly to finish 6th.
In the Under 20 men we had hopes of a team medal as we had three Under 20 men. Unfortunately, it was not to be as Callum Clark who has been running well had to withdraw due to a back injury and Ross Henderson dropped out with a groin injury that has been bothering him for a while. It was left up to Rowan Marr who ran a good race to finish just outside the top 10 in 12th place. Looking at the team placing there were only two complete teams so at worst we would have got a bronze had the team been complete.
In the women’s race there was an air if excitement as Freya Murray Ross (former Lasswade athlete) and older sister of Keira was running. It was a good race with Freya and Morag McClarty and Freya ended up finishing second. Keira ran very well finishing in 8th place.
The final race of the day was the men’s race, unfortunately we had a few of our key runners, Peter Avent, Barney Phillips, John Murray, Owen Miller missing for a variety of reasons and the team was incomplete. Martin Gore returning from injury led the team home with a strong run finishing 46th, next home was Paul Bellamy in 142nd followed closely by Scott Dickson in 151st. New recruit Doug MacDonald finished 176th and Derek Wilkie nursing a leg injury finished 227th.
Well done to everyone who took part and represented the club. It looks like the club will have good representation once again at the Inter District match in Holyrood park in January, congratulations to those athletes selected. For full results please click here
The final league match is at Broxburn on 18 January 2014 and we really need everyone to make every effort to compete if they can so please put the date in your diaries.
The second of this season’s East District League matches took place at Alloa last weekend on what turned out to be a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The start was quite tight and saw a few runner’s fall in some races as they scrambled for position before leaving the playing fields to head out on to the course proper which proved to be quite a tough hilly route over fields and through woodland before heading back into the finish on the playing fields.
Well done to all the runners who competed on the day, I hope that you enjoyed the event. The finishing positions are noted below for your information. If you would like to view full results please click here
The next and final league match of the winter season is on 18/01/2014 at Broxburn. Please can I ask athletes to make every effort to compete at this event.
Under 11 Girls
Rachel Mair – 40th
Louise Hamilton – 55th
Leyla Edmond – 59th
Under 11 Boys Christopher Stratham – 45th
Eoin Morton – 54th
Under 13 Boys
Magnus Tait – 1st
Rory Ferguson – 16th
Lawrie Wilson – 44th
Under 13 Girls Courtney Simpson – 54th
Under 15 Boys Thomas Snodgrass – 27th
Jamie Darling – 28th
Under 15 & 17 Girls Lauren Wilkie – 41st
Under 17 Men Iain Lawson – 15th
Women Keira Murray – 8th
Amy Frankland – 11th (1st Under 20)
Sarah Gledhill – 72nd
Karen McKinlay 78th
Men Owen Miller – 14th
Rowan Marr – 32nd (5th Junior)
Callum Clark – 46th (6th Junior)
Paul Bellamy – 100th
Doug McDonald – 140th
Derek Wilkie – 199th
The thirty second Annual Cross Country took place under sunny skies in Gore Glen on Sunday 3rd November. The course, slightly altered from previous years because of Borders Railway site works, still offered a stiff challenge to the competing athletes. The set up also provided a better spectator experience for the supporters attending with the younger runners in particular.
An total entry of over 400 athletes made this an excellent event and we are delighted with the support we received from far and wide.
On the organisational and delivery front our contingent of loyal officials and volunteers from the Club and the wider Athletics family, did us proud.
Midlothian Council, Sponsors and Friends of Lasswade were to the fore in supporting our Club and our Community.
Congratulations again to all the competitors. See where you featured below:
It’s been another quick month in Albuquerque! Time is going by pretty quickly and it doesn’t feel like a month since writing my last post. Since the last post I have raced twice, had another solid month of training and feeling fit!
My first race in the NCAA was an 8k cross country at Notre Dame University. It was just how I imagined, a flat golf course with no mud and 80f degree heat! The race had over 200 college athletes from around America as well as a few Brits too. I saw Chris O’hare and Kris Gauson, 2 Edinburgh AC athletes who also went to the NCAA. The race set off fast and didn’t slow down. It was very physical at the start with lots of pushing and a few falls. Luckily I stayed on my feet but I found my self in about 120th place after 800 metres. I got into a rhythm and spent most of the race coming through the field. I’m the end I got 88th and 5th counter for New Mexico. At first I was very disappointed but on reflection it wasn’t too bad a result. It was my first race since July, it was 75-80% humidity! I had just had 10 days off from an injury and I managed to place 5th in the team when I was expecting to finish 7th or 8th. It showed I had work to do and I needed to be ready for Wisconsin in 2 weeks time.
My next race was the Adidas Wisconsin Invitational cross country. Again it was held on a golf course however it was a bit hillier this time. It was also freezing cold which was a big change from Notre Dame. I felt fitter and more confident going into this 8km race and was looking forward to having a good run. The course was much wider so it wasn’t as physical and I was looking for a position somewhere between 45-70th. The race started pretty steadily and I got in a good position with 3 other guys on my team. We worked together for the first half but gradually we started breaking up and gaps were appearing. I was 8th counter for New Mexico at half way and over the next 1-2 miles I got up to 5th. I was running well and on target for a good finish until at 4 miles I felt a stitch coming on. I tried to run for 200 metres but it gradually got worse. I started to slow down and before I knew it 50 people had passed, then 100 and before long I was last counter for the team and close to last out of the 300+ runners in the team. I’d gone from roughly 80th to last in the space of 600 metres and dropped out with 1km to go. I was gutted and so disappointed however it was out of my control and something I have only ever experienced in a race once or twice. The team went on to finish 5th however if I’d finished strongly and held my position we could have won a place on the podium.
This month was an introduction to the NCAA. I experienced the depth of the quality in the fields and saw how finishing 10 seconds slower can truly cost you 40+ places. At Wisconsin our 4th runner ran 24:11 (69th) and our 5th ran 24:25 (110th).
Since Wisconsin my training has gone up another level and I’m no longer feeling tired every day or have aches and pains. This is good news for my next race which is on the 1st of November at Colorado Springs. This race is a much smaller race with only 70-80 guys in the race and New Mexico have won the meet for the last 5 years in a row. The race is held at 6200ft so the altitude might make things more difficult.
University is going well too. I have scored 90+% in my last 2 tests and I’m enjoying the classes too.
I hope everyone had good runs at Stirling XC, the East District Relays and the National Relays too! And congratulations on winning Impact Club of the Year at the Scottish Athletics Annual Awards!
I have been in Albuquerque for 1 month now and I’m settling in really well. The team is getting on great and the standard of the runners is far beyond what I expected. I wanted to train at a university where the runners were good but I’m now wondering if they’re too good! It just shows what a great opportunity I have getting to train with such a good group.
The first 3 weeks were tough but I found myself running as well as ever and adjusting to the altitude really well. I was just getting to a fitness level that saw me keep up with the fastest guys when unfortunately I got a bit of an injury. My peroneal tendon on my right foot became tight and painful and I struggled to walk for the next few days. Luckily however (maybe a present for my 21st) I managed to run pain free today for 1 hour to top off my birthday.
The injury meant I had 10 days off running but I don’t think I’ve lost too much fitness and I have 59 days to get to my peak for the national championships (if I make the team).
The whole injury incident let me see the university’s approach to injuries. I was able to get treatment most days which varied from light massage, ice baths, ultra sound, a massage technique called scraping (where they use basically a scraper that you would use for scraping ice off your car) and used this to scrape the muscles in my calf. I was told to aqua run for the next 10 days to try to maintain fitness level for the upcoming race. The cross training (pool/bike/gym etc) was very intense and quite monotonous. The good news is my foot is feeling better and it has acted as a reminder to know not to go overboard with training and realise my limits.
University is going well too. I got A’s for my first 2 tests and the timetable is great! 7.5 hours of classes per week which means I have plenty of time to relax by the pool at the apartment and play on the xbox, I have to remind myself I’m here to train and it’s not just 1 big holiday!
Overall I am enjoying the experience so far. If I can stay injury free then I really believe I can make big steps over the coming months and get myself a space on the Glasgow 2014 team!
Hopefully my next update brings more good news about training and university!
Today I left the Uk to head to albuquerque, New Mexico to train with the NCAA d1 school, the university of New Mexico. I have mixed emotions, I am setting out on the experience of a lifetime but leaving friends and family at home until Christmas. To date, the longest I have been away from home was a 3 week altitude training camp in font Romeu, France. However the squad in albuquerque looks strong and hopefully I can progress as an athlete, student and in other aspects of life too.
Currently I am not in the shape I would like to be in heading to one of the most competitive platforms the sport offers. The year started off great with a pb indoors over 1500m as well as regaining my national u20 cross country title. This was followed by more injury-free months filled with target specific sessions and a drive to make the European u23 team. However tonsillitis struck in early April resulting in 6-7 weeks of zero or little training. This was followed by weeks of feeling lethargic and racing at about 80%. Later in the summer I found the root of the lethargy, the Epstein Barr virus. This was more than likely a post illness virus linked to the tonsillitis and would require a structured diet as well as iron supplements to control and hopefully overcome the illness. The addition of altitude could also prove problematic in recovering from the virus if training isn’t monitored/controlled. The head coach Joe Franklin is aware of the situation and seems to have plans for the coming months so hopefully we can work together in returning to my best form.
The last 2 weeks have been on/off training due to plantar fasciitis, an injury caused most likely as a result of my increase in mileage. The heel pains seem to have subsided so I am hoping to be able to get straight into the training phase when I arrive. I am living with 3 other students (2 of which are also runners) in an apartment owned by the university. The weather very hot (30+ degrees) and classes start 3 days after I arrive, so not much time to get familiar with the campus. My first race is scheduled for the 4th of October, what kind of shape I’ll be in then I have no idea but hopefully I can perform to a good level and move on from there to the bigger races later on in the year. The bigger picture is still the Glasgow 2014 commonwealth games and this year will see me choose between the 1500m or the 5k. In an ideal world I would have had the qualifying time for the 1500 by now and round about 14:00 for 5k however this season has been a bit of a nightmare so the times will have to wait.
I will try to update the blog with posts every month with my progress and any race results.
The course has now been prepared for the big day. Strimmers buzzed continually on this bright autumn morning, ensuring that all paths are suitable for our runners and visitors. Despite some necessary changes, due to the Borders Railway work being undertaken, the course still offers a fine challenge to all age groups.
Newtongrange Gala Committee will once again be providing a range of hot and cold snacks and drinks for purchase on the day.
We are still seeking volunteers to marshall the event so if you have’nt been in touch already please do so now.
