Interview with a runner – Alasdair McGill

I raced a bike for 10 years, towards the end I was racing cyclocross over the winter, and in cross you do a bit of running as part of your training. At the end of the 2014 season I decided to keep running and entered the Edinburgh half marathon. I’d never run before, so it was a big challenge, but I loved it and eventually did several races in 2015 including 2 half marathons.

However there was still a part of me that missed the bike, so in 2016 I spent more time riding & racing than running, but I got it out of my system. Since the Spring of 2017 I’ve been focused on running and hardly touched the bike!

I ran my first marathon at the end of 2017, it was the hardest sporting thing I’ve ever done. My target time was 3:45, and I was on track until around mile 18 when the wheels came off. I limped round in 4:01. But I loved training for it, the anticipation and then the experience on the day. I’m looking forward to going sub-4 in 2019 when I’ll do my next one.

It has to be consistency. As Des Linden says, keep showing up. Make running part of your daily routine, then it becomes something you just do. As well as making you a better runner, it will also make you a better human – it will keep you fit and is good for your mental health.

I do like a good tempo session. At the moment we’ve moved up to 3 x 10 minutes, after doing 4 x 8 minutes the past couple of weeks. These are good sessions that build endurance and get you used to harder efforts. I’d best describe them as sessions where you’re comfortably uncomfortable…..

It’s really not something I have a problem with. I rarely have mornings (I do most of my training at 6am), where I don’t want to get up, but when that does happen all I have to do is think about the goals I’ve set myself an that will get me up. I think goals are important in life, and certainly in sport. I’ve competed most of my life (it was golf until I started cycling), so I know that if I want to get better I have to put the work in.

What are your favourite running shoes?

I’ve always run in Brooks shoes. Bought my first pair from Run4It, the local running store and I’ve just stuck with them. I started our in Glycerins, had several pairs of those, had a pair of Ghosts, but they wore out too quickly. At the end of 2017 I bought a pair of Launch 4s, really liked them, so I’m now onto my 4th pair. I also have a pair of Brooks Hyperion racing flats that I use for 5k & 10k races.

I’m still a novice at this running lark, so it’s all about steady improvement. I’ll be 50 next year, and doing my second marathon, so I want to go sub 4 hours. Ideally 3:45. Beyond that, I simply want to stay injury-free and enjoy my running.