Due to family commitments tomorrow...Rory's going Scot carting to celebrate his 11th birthday with some friends. It was necessary to do the long slow run today. (Yes that is me...photo courtesy of Robert).It is amazing how after only a short spat of fabulous weather we all turn into complete wimps! I got up and looked out of the window in horror to see, not a beautiful blue sunny morning sky, but a dull, wet miserable morning.
I was forced to dig out my shower proof Gillette which I thought I had put away till at least September. Alas no. This is Scotland how could I have been so forgetful.
I wanted to try a new route (a common theme just now!). The aim was to head out along the canal from Westerton to Bishopbriggs. Then cut off across the fields towards Milngavie and do a big circle back.
We missed the turn off and ended up doing an out and back! Duh! I will need to study the map harder...or perhaps I was just soooo in the zone I was blind to my surroundings:-) Yeah right!
Many people hate the canal and find it really dull. If I run any route a lot I get bored but occasionally I enjoy the canal routes. It is so peaceful and the wildlife can be enthralling (even the Possil vagrants, still p**sed at 9 am but very encouraging) you can concentrate on the run with no traffic or roads. And it isn't half as busy as the whw!
We passed Rosin near the kelvin walkway. (another club coach) Who was out with a group of girls from the club. They were heading in the opposite direction.
Ultimately we had a great run. The rain stopped and I also ceased to shiver shortly after we began (It was actually positively hot at 10 degrees). As usual leaving your warm cosy bed is always the hardest part when it's miserable out!
We ran 4m easy(approx 9mm or slower), 4 miles paced (aim 8mm), last 4 miles easy.
12miles-1:46:00
6 comments:
Map reading is really not your forte. Join the club. That's why I have a Marco. xx
Enjoyable run. I like the canal as its flat and fast and ideal for marathon paced runs. I reckon we ran faster than 32 for middle 4 as i stopped my watch when you went to recover your hat when it blew off and forgot to restart until i checked wi you 0.5m later. We ran them approx 7.45. So glad of that 4m easy at end, it was slower than first 4 and pushed the time up. It was a hard week but a good one.
Judging by the photo, I think you would have passed your turnoff about 200m earlier at the canal junction. It looks like this is you on the way back home, so on the way out you would take the steps on the right down to Lochburn Road, then run through the short tunnel and back up onto the towpath. After a mile or so you come to a bridge over the canal. Rejoin the road here (A879 to Milngavie), turning left. There's a cemetery up ahead on the left and then it's all fields. I expect this is the way you meant to go!
Thanks Stephen
I will have another go at it! I did think there was a path that meets up with the Allander water path?
R
The A879 (Balmore Road at this point) has a reasonable pavement and will take you all the way to the Allander Toll roundabout where it crosses the Allander Water. It looks like there's a path of sorts that can be reached from just along Boclair Road. I usually head along Auchenhowie Road though(signposted A807).
I can't see any other obvious way to reach the Allander Water path from the canal as it flows into the Kelvin shortly after the roundabout. There's another path back along the Kelvin which supposedly comes out somewhere in Summerston.
Thanks. Will investigate.
R
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