Lasswade 10miler

About a decade ago I used to run this every year. Then stopped. Can't remember the exact reasons, but something like: THIS IS UTTERLY HELLISH. Mainly due to the 2 large steep hills you have to crampon up, often in bleak Wintery conditions. This year Mary decided it would be fun to revisit. And Nick signed up saying it would be good marathon training. (It somehow compresses much of the joy and lighthearted fun of a marathon into just 10 brief miles.) And it was a PRC club champs race. Just before the entries closed I reluctantly signed on the dotted line.

more like a hill race than a road race

The Jarvinator warming up on the rise to mile 9

My memories of this event were that it was 6 miles of up hill followed by 4 down. As the route profile above shows there is slightly more to it than that. And it used to finish with a welcome super-fast downhill mile you could cruise down in not much more than 5mins, even on trashed legs. Then they changed the route (presumably because a nice fast downhill mile to the finish was too pleasant) to give us a long rise to a turn at 9 miles (pic above) before descending on gravel then another smaller rise on tarmac to the finish line. I think it was about then I banished Lasswade 10 to Room 101. And there it might have remained until Mary and Nick signed up and I bowed to peer pressure. The one solid thing about this race is the legendary sandwich and cake table afterwards. I resolved to eat at least £14 of post-race scran to make good on my entry fee.

Hoka Arahi 2s

I had run Manchester Marathon in Arahi 2s and they were perfect: mid-sized Hokas with enough support and bounce to see me through with no complaints. I was admiring the Arahi 3s in the shoe shop and tried them on alongside the world's last remaining pair of Arahi 2s. (The internet had sold out entirely of 2s in my size.) The colourway of the 3s was much more to my liking but the 2s felt, well they just felt more the right shape. I had to get the 2s. I will probably get the 3s next. The 2s were perfect today at the race: the true test being I never thought of them once after tying my laces to taking them off, back at the football grounds.

I warmed up with Nick and then Mary and Porties near the start line. Generally complaining about that hill at mile 9 and that it, (being here) was all Mary's fault. That said, I was actually feeling quite chipper. The sun was shining and I had put in quite a few miles over the last week and had a reasonable hill workout with Carolyn and the Carnethies on Thursday. Carolyn (despite height differences) had stood in for Fergus. 2 days was sufficient recovery. And hill-legs were in not bad shape from all those Pentland miles pre-C5. It's only ten road miles - how bad can it be??!

photo Michael Philp

At the last moment I decided to ditch the t-shirt I had been wearing under the club vest. It felt like it was warm enough for just a vest and I often feel fortune favours the bold. I also carried the B camera, as it was set to stay fair until later on.

Initially I stuck behind Willie J. He has run much faster times over this course than I have or ever will manage. I thought it best to take my pace from him to begin with. I also saw Daniel from Carnethy who had finished just ahead of me at Feel the Burns. He remained in my sights for quite a few miles.

In the sunshine there were quite a few scenic vistas opened up in front of us. As we crested the brow of this hill I recognised this part of the course although I felt we had maybe approached it coming in the opposite direction. Later when we came back this way I had that aha! moment.

I had looked over the course profile before starting. I knew that shortly after we got going there was a steep downhill followed by a steep up hill, the first and possibly steepest climb of the day. Shortly after the climb began Nick, who had been just a small distance behind came past looking strong. I was pleased not to drop a massive amount of places here, but I didn't enjoy the ascent either and it took a while to get my breathing and heart-rate back down to just emergency levels.

can you guess what the decorative element in the bottom left corner is?

Approaching 4 miles we scooted downhill into Auchendinny. I must have overtaken Daniel because he doesn't appear in any further photos. Nick was still up ahead, then Darin of Moorfoots. It was his tattooed shoulder bottom left in pic above. I hadn't seen Darin since the Dunbar Multi Terrain. Again we both seemed in similar form. Also sneaking into the photos was Nick's clubmate Craig. 

I thought it best for my health not to push too hard going up this 2 mile hill. What I had forgotten was that it was not as unrelenting as the first climb. In fact there was even a couple of breathers where you went downhill briefly before continuing up. I didn't recognise much of it at all. But I was also surviving better than I thought and when I got to the junction and left turn, I came out from behind Craig where I had been hiding from the wind and started to chase Darin.

I was pleased how well this photo came out
though obvs taken on the hoof; I didn't stop to compose it.

At first I thought this was the top of the climb. Although it levelled off and even went down into a curved dip, it then climbed dramatically back up, where the ascent began to round off. I must have overtaken Darin around here. I can remember trying to get my legs going as quickly as possible to up the pace and get the average to under 6.30 pace. And maybe catch up to Nick a bit. Normally I would be happy to still be seeing him ahead at this stage, but I knew he had had a sub-optimal Saturday night sleep (teenager partying) so I might have a slight advantage. I ran solo for a while till Craig caught up with me again. I could hear a small group gathering just to the back of us and was vaguely concerned I could drop half a dozen places in the sprint for the line.

I love this predictive sign: Ice in Winter

It was about here coming down the long descent back to near the race start that a bloke flew by. Craig asked where he came from as we hadn't seen him thus far. I remarked he must have hidden behind the hedge on the way out and waited for us coming back. Alarmingly he looked to be in my age category and really shifting. He ran up past Nick but then seemed to settle down, with nobody just ahead left to catch. As Craig and I shortened the distance between us and Nick I formed a game plan. If this new guy (Garry from Carnethy) hadn't appeared until now it probably meant he preferred the downs to the ups and he might just be catchable on the rise up to 9 miles. Best get close and then push with everything at the final climb and see if I can't win back the place.

photo Michael Philp
the crucial push - Garry in the dark top

I was pushing so hard I didn't even see Michael P taking photos from what must have been the top of the road by the 9 mile marker. I was immersed in a world of pain as the photos show. I knew I had to use the hill to put as much distance between me and Garry and then fight the whole of the last mile (which immediately went downhill again) to keep it. Somewhere along the way I passed Nick and we made monosyllabic grunts of recognition. Craig stayed with me and Nick got back past Garry as well, though there was one young guy who came past us all in a splendid dash to the line. No idea where he had been all this time and he went past looking comfortable. Meanwhile I was beginning to fall to bits and started making unusual animal noises. Praise be it's not a half marathon. There was 7 of us finished in that same 64th minute and I was proud not only to be second of us but also the oldest. I had no idea where I was in the field overall, and was happy to see it was 12th out of 281. 

world of pain

young dude dashed past easily!!

first woman

Roy, second PRC team counter

Craig and Roy shake while Lorenzo (3rd counter) arrives

Lorenzo was stuck in this position for ages.

Willie was first m60 but possibly disappointed with his time 

compared to his previous here. (It was hellish windy.)

Lorenzo still locked in pain!

Grace led the Porty women home.

With Jen hot on her heels
They won the ladies team prize with a delighted Julie.

There was a small crowd cheering Ollie over the line. He was so unimpressed with the course (particularly the fine country smells all the way round) that he signalled his pleasure as above. He is normally so upbeat and cheery (and was again, 5 minutes later) that I told him I'd definitely be posting this photo as we don't normally get to see that Ollie, and he gave his blessing. Talking to him later we were coming to the conclusion he might have been racing too often recently and might benefit from some time off for R&R.

Aileen was ahead of Mary this week.

Smiling after all that?!

We all stood around cheering the runners in, then went back to the football grounds for the legendary post race sandwiches and homebakes. Great spread, and I tried not to pile the plate too high. I felt a bit giddy from the last mile, but happy about the result. Unfortunately the age group prizes didn't go above v40 in either gender. I felt I did a better job of this race than any recently. Times were slow due to strong headwinds in the first half. Only the first 3 runners got under the hour. 

What made a difference? Probably upping the training miles (out chasing non-existant butterflies!) and all the other races recently getting me back into the groove. And maybe getting used to soaking up the pain. I also got swept along in the excitement, something that can be missing if you just go along to the same old races feeling less than enchanted by the prospect. I enjoyed the lack of pressure today and the feeling I had another gear when push came to shove, something I haven't had that much of lately. Also I like the distance. There are far too few 10 milers about. Not as common as half marathon distance but they should be. 

Big thanks to the organisers, bakers and many marshals - every corner and junction was well patrolled, keeping us right. I never thought I'd say this, but I almost enjoyed it!

9.9 miles, 64.25