Cameo Blogger

RACE FOOD AND RECOVERY FOOD ALL IN ONE!


Yesterday I ran the Lairig Ghru Hill race. For those of you who don't know its a 28 mile race from Braemar to Aviemore over the drovers tracks. It was such a great race and route it has inspired me to write a little (a bit epic actually..feel free to skip to the end n the pictures) report about it. It will be a sort of Cameo in blogland as it has been a while- but if you've nothing fit for saying on a public forum I figure it's best not to say anything!!
Now don't get me wrong..I have done plenty of stuff over the last wee while..not as much skiing as I would have liked over the winter but a few Munros and a couple of ultras..the D33 and the Fling. A number of good and testing training runs in between..but I didn't figure they would interest you much..but here's a quick catch up..
The D33 is scenic and flat...cycle track out n back, ran well to 27miles then paid the price for drinking lucozade sport (breaking the golden rule of doing NOTHING different for race day) I staggered the last ten k running and walking and darting behind trees every hundred yards! It was a great weekend...having gatecrashed the girls outing, Jude, carol and Maggie D....do they know how to partay..before and after a race!



The Fling was so much better for me this year. I trained with Bk (work colleague, friend, drinking buddy-only cause he can drink less than me and training partner) It was much easier to hit the long training runs around the shift patterns this year which also helped. It was BK's first ultra..having only done 1 10k and 1 marathon before- he did it no bother finishing in 11:55 a great result.

I ran the race with Carol and we blethered the whole way.I had a brilliant support crew of one- some of you may recall supafit Dave..he was there with every thing I felt I needed and answered every whim I came up with! I got the nutrition better due to the support, and despite the heat finished much more comfortably than last year...feeling great. I'm even entertaining the thought that the whole whw race might not be totally out of the question for me?....2012.

And so to the Lairig Ghru. I didn't know much about this race until my friend Carol mentioned it after the D33, I looked it up and got a good vibe about it...decided it was well worth a blast and entered. I loved the name (dunno why that matters but it appealed to me) and I loved the fact it was in an area of Scotland I haven't really explored. I mentioned it to bk and he decided to enter too.

I was feeling pretty relaxed about the race...treating it as a training run (the Clydestride is only three weeks away)I started out at 3pm on Saturday and collected Carol then BK and we headed North East.
We stopped in Blairgowrie for toilet (wonder who for) and a carry out for the room...u can probably see where this is heading, I did buy a bargain box of the most delicious cherries too, it wasn't all alcohol and chocolate.
I think we finally arrived at the Fife Arms hotel about 7...where we checked out our rooms and had a Budvar..or Cider if your name's Carol, and did that...we're here we can now relax thing...a further Budvar and we decided to head down stairs for food..
As I walked into the bar i thought I recognised a face...however when i went over to investigate, having ordered food and the obligatory Guinness- it turned out we didn't know each other. It was however an ice breaker to introductions and the sharing of stories (not that excuses are needed-these events are so friendly) Their names were Kenny and Mark..a couple of guys who were also racing the next day...and had vital experience on the course...more on that later as I left them to eat in peace...having imparted my ultra CV and full name..(they did ask I didn't just tell them!)
Kenny and Mark

Our meals arrived and we ate.. a big bowl of pasta for me and errrmm more Guinness..race food. Looking around it was very easy to spot the runners...a marked difference..coach party or runner..it wasn't hard to tell. A few polite hellos and nods of heads..I think this means I was looking like a runner..not a member of a coach party which I take to be a good thing! In fact every time we walked past a CP member they stared at us as though they were looking at a two headed alien.

Through the course of the evening Kenny and Mark came over to join us and pass on their knowledge of the Ghru. I am wondering about the vibe I give off...as they had looked up the Fling results to check I was for real, modern technology eh!!! Kenny told us that the start is quite flat..but its all uphill to the 18th mile...hmmmm.

We proceeded to have a great evening with them. Mark has just run the Marathon de Sables and is getting ready to hit the Gobi race in three weeks!! Kenny had recently completed the 70 wild miles so you can imagine there weren't many gaps in the conversation.

Eventually we retired to bed..@ around 3 and I didn't open an eye until 8 am on Sunday...10am is a great race start time! And Carol DIDN'T snore despite her reputation!

Breakfast was included so I shoveled down a full cooked breakfast. Then we packed our things up, settled the bill and wandered about Braemar to find the start point and collect our numbers. There were a fair few runners milling about the street and it was easy to spot the blue parasol that represented the reg point! We attached our numbers and milled about it started to rain..quite heavily...finally the organiser got up onto the roof of his car and introduced the race...as the race is not signed he ran through a few instructions and with no pomp or circumstance or frills finished off by saying.."the race begins in 5 seconds four, three, two, one..go" and off we went!


BK, Carol and I hung back as the field shot off along the road a quite a pace..we were a little concerned about the cut off at Derry lodge..which was 90mins...but knowing this point was 8 miles away we were confident that a 10 min pace would be plenty fast enough..knowing from experience that reining yourself in at the start of an ultra leads to a massive boost at the end when you most need it...provided all goes to plan!

We struggled to keep the slow pace and were in fact last for the first 4 or 5 miles until we crossed the Dee at Marr lodge..the path headed up onto the trails.. We made Derry lodge in 85 mins, the Mountain rescue team were there..cheering us on..always appreciated..and hopefully not needed!


After Derry lodge we relaxed a little as did many of the other runners...we hit a very marshy boggy patch of land which required a fair few leaps and bounds just to avoid being sucked in by the bog monster. This is where the trail really started to get beautiful..weaving up Glen Lui to the stream crossing at Luibeg. (I imagine I was a bit of a sight at this point as the water was flowing strong and fast..I had my phone out taking pictures and ended up crossing somewhat haphazardly, using both hands to steady myself feet in the water on slippery rocks..phone in a ziplock bag clenched between my teeth..we know htc s and water dont mix well!)


The path then climbed more steeply by Carn a’Mhaim with the Devil’s Point on the left..quite a sight, as the Lairig Ghru appeared before us.

Devils Point





We chatted along..I felt great and was really working hard to hold back, it was great to be on a new trail, the landscape was so perfect it reminded me of those model villages that my parents used to take me to as a kid..(more to do with my brothers obsession with Hornby train sets) lush and green. I love running in such rich countryside you can almost smell the oxygen all that clean freshly produced O2 coursing into your lungs and around your body. who needs drugs!?




The infamous boulder fields, large wobbly rocks..'Bowser was here' rocks. LESS SAID ABOUT THEM THE BETTER..I quite enjoyed hopping from rock to rock... but BK and Carol didn't so I don't want to evoke the memory too vividly...Brian asked a walker going the other way how far they went on for...'forever' he said 'they just become less wobbly' this was not the right answer and we moved on quickly...Kenny had said they went of for about 2 miles...not FOREVER...! At 18 miles you just don't want to hear some things.....walkers take note! WHW'ers..imagine doing the whw for the first time and being told the loch side goes on forever!

Clearly the boulder field didn't last for ever..and as the chunks of rock got smaller and less boulder like. BK and I pushed on as we were both feeling pretty energetic still. We passed the check point..around this time Aviemore came into view.

As we started the descent I would love to have been able to 'disengage the brain' and 'fall doon the hill' but I need more practice at that..we did release the breaks a bit and had a ball flying down into Rothiemurchus Forest. We were also starting to catch people..I have no idea how many but to be running strong at 20+ miles is just about the best feeling. We were like two kids going to a party or something bounding down this mountain with big grins on our faces...exclaiming..'this is brilliant'..we were flying. The forest is a proper Scotch pine forest, and a beautiful trail to run down through.

As the path evened out we cut our pace..we were cruising along at 8-9 min miles,both feeling a bit unnerved that with 23/4 miles in the bag we were feeling so strong.I put my phone away at this point hence no pictures from here onwards) We kept picking off runners which just spurred us on more... we hit the road at Coylumbridge and had a couple of cups of water. I had Nuun in my camel back which had clearly done me well but I was glad to get some fresh water at the one and only water butt.

The road seemed long...we were still catching people all the way, we headed up the cycle path into Aviemore..really delighted to be finishing so strong..as we turned onto the main street we saw the Blue Parasol and ran into a lovely friendly understated finish. No official times yet but we finished around 5h35
i really didnt eat much along the route..but the big cooked breakfast at 8.30 and the guinness must have been enough..I drank lots of very weak Nunn and had half a go-ahead bar and a packet of salt and vinegars crisps.

There was soup and cake for every finisher .. and it was good seeing all the runners at the end..as we all had to wait until 5pm to get the coach back to Braemar. Kenny and Mark were already there..so we chatted to them and heard how their race had gone..Kenny had done a minuite faster than last year...in 4:26 a very respectable time..and Mark said he was about 20 mins ahead of us.

Carol came in about 10 Minutes later.

The prize giving took place...needless to say there were some awesome times. With a race cut off of 6hrs..this really is a runners race...

The coach journey back took forever...having sat in the same position for the 2 hr journey there would have been some worthy entries to the ministry of funny walks as we dismounted the coach. We hot footed it down the road to Bridge of Cally where we met up with Kenny and Mark again and shared some more laughs. (I would recommend the home made steak burger if you're passing) A perfect end to a brilliant couple of days.

Munro Tuesday

Had an early start on Tuesday. Leaping out of bed at 5 30 (yes that was worthy of sarcasmaholics) and collecting Mick and BK for a hillwalking day just past Crainlarich.


Mick being our guide, I packed my tiny rucksack with lunch and a few layers and made the start by 8am!

It was a beautiful day and we got in a full 6h on the hills, The first Munro being Micks 100th! Meall Glas it was a marshy and boggy route up, quite steep in sections and a complete absence of paths, we were approaching from the South thus saving a longer time on the road through Killin.

We dropped and followed the ridge to the summit of Beinn Cheathaich which is to my horror NOT a Munro despite being over 900m! We then had another drop and climb to the summit of Sgaith Chuil which due to the route we took was a pretty steep climb before we could enjoy a stroll along the ridge to the summit.

The journey down was pretty straight forward until I went over on my ankle (the same one as I did in the Fling) and had to limp the last bit over the moor like ground. When we reached the river we all dispensed with the footwear and soaked our feet in the stream. eventually we pried ourselves away from the soothing water and headed for a bit of refreshments in the Bein Glas farm bar. bliss!




Total 6h

Reservoir

Ran three around the reservoir with Robert. it was a lovely day and the view was spectacular!

Wednesdays Mugdock

Met karen and Mike for a run around Mugdock. Good patter good run. Legs definately starting to feel better and we even tackled a few muddy banks and 'inclines'! We ran from Karens through the park, across the road and the moor up the ridge and then back through the park again incorporating the horses field.

5.6 miles

Build up to training

Ive decided to get a bit better at logging runs, this is mainly because I need to get back into the habit of 'training' and not just going out for random runs at a comfortable pace. Proper trainng is set to start in the second week of june but I need to get back in the habit! So here goes:
Ran 3 mile out and back today from clober along the whw with Daisy. Ran out easy in 14 mins then turned and picked up the pace a little making it back in 12mins. Feel a little bit less sluggish, foot feeling better. The weather was stunning and it was pretty warm. Took Daisy with me too.

3m- 26mins

This weeks runs

Still plodding in the guise of recovery this week...last weekend I had the pleasure of being accompanied by Craig, he was visiting from Canada, a seasoned marathon and half marathon runner, and a friend of my much missed pal Lesley who emigrated a few years back. I took him out along the west highland way (where else) for an easy 6m and then back to mine for a BBQ with his wife Alison and Daughter Amanda.

On Tuesday I helped out at the club team race, brilliant turn out. 103 finishers...102 times..glad its up to Robert to sort that out!

I popped out for a three miler and a four miler through the week, both felt harder and heavier than they should have..and I've a few wee niggles in my left foot still.I know it's probably just cause my legs are still a bit tired. Today I met Robert and Karen for a wee 4 miler.

I'm informed that hard training for the 5k begins 7th June...better enjoy the lull before then eh!?

Fling photos

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The Fling's Been Flung

Well I did it, it was painful and long. I made a new friend. And boy am I feeling it today!

The night before was restless, getting drop bags ready and trying to anticipate what I may need. I laid everything out on the lounge floor and futtered about. Giving myself a 'latest' bedtime of 10pm.

I was up at 4:30am gathering things up and pulling on layers to be dropped or otherwise depending on the weather. I hadn't really thought about breakfast and so ended up shovelling a weatabix down..better than nothing I decided.

Robert picked me up at 5:15 and we headed for Milngavie, arriving at 5:30, the place was already buzzing with activity. People meeting up with people, faces being put to blogs! I found the relevant vehicles for my drop bags and realised with horror that my rice pudding was still in my fridge..bother...

Oh well I don't really like it that much anyway!

The weather was promising to be perfect, drizzling a little then fizzling out. I stood with Karen and her support team Robert, Mick and Mike under the bus shelter waiting for the race briefing. Watching from the side as everyone did their pre race thing.

Before we knew it the race had begun and we were gently running through Milngavie under the West Highland Way arch and out to the all familiar territory of the "way"

It felt so good to be doing it at last. I was planning to be conservative due to the patchy training and weak knee and felt no pressure other than to finish it.

I ran with Karen through the first part of the race, and to be honest I can't remember that much about the early stages, just the determination to keep the pace easy...walk up hills as instructed by just about everyone. As we headed past Craigallian Loch we started chatting to Mary who had been runnin around our pace up until that point.

The miles ticked by as we chatted and ran...walking every incline and before we knew it we were passing through the Beech trees and heading out towards Drymen. Dumgoyne was hiding in the mist, we were pleased of that as the sun was eager to burn it off and heat us up....I don't do well running in heat! Gate after gate was opened and closed and the wee winding paths were eaten up with out any complaints.

We approached Drymen and spotted Mike who had scouted down to chum us in to the check point. I was guided to the pad where my chip was swiped..very efficiently and we continued on up through the forest to Conic. That section to the hill always seems longer than I remember...even though I tell myself that..and given that the last time I had done it with Karen...our aborted conic attempt due to snow...we had missed the turn and got all mixed up. We managed not to go wrong this time thankfully and negotiated the forest well talked our way through the forest more like.

Conic Hill arrived and we kept a pretty brisk pace walking up, Karen firmly dictating a speedy ascent, then the slippery slide down the otherside. I usually love the descent but since the trouble with my knee I dread them a little and sure enough I started to feel my knee niggle.

Mike was waiting near the bottom full of cheer and crazy stuff..I hit the carpark and first drop bag station to find my kids there with an array of banners and smiles...a lovely surprise. Also Davie Hall and Jude were faces to behold...its amazing how seeing friends can lift you.

I should have stopped for longer though..I looked round to see karen disappearing and panicked a bit...grabbed a hand full of grapes and ran...Karen however had set her own pace which I know I would never have kept up with and so Mary and i didn't attempt to catch up.

We ran on during this section I was really starting to feel the pain in my knee, I was welcoming every climb as a rest from the running and wincing with every descent. I was also starting to feel nauseous, and the nuun in my camel back was starting to get too much. I realised the muller rice was going to be missed as I was starting to crave something more savoury than the contents of my drop bags...how stupid of me to have not realised this! Mary was amazing talking and pulling me through a real low as we descended into Rowardennan, I was trying to think what i could stomach and for some bizarre reason Tea was at the forefront of my mind.

As we arrived at the base at Rowardennan a marshal directed us to the swipe pad and bag drop..the kids were there with their banners and so were Mick Mike and Robert. Mike asked.."what can I get you..do you need anything?" Tea I snapped I need tea...I knew this was an unreasonable request but within seconds there were two flasks on offer...coffee or green tea..I took the green tea and immediately felt the nausea ease, Robert was shouting at me to eat...rifling through my drop bag hand feeding me pistachios and chocolate!

After a few minutes Mary and headed on our way..easing back into the run, ready for the section to inversnaid.

This section although a shorter leap between bag drops does go on and on...then suddenly u see a building through the trees and realise you're there. I was trying to ignore the pain in my knee but couldn't help but sit down on the floor and take the weight off at inversnaid...cursing the lack of savoury items in my drop bag Mary shared her crushed up ready salted crisps with me..they really helped and definitely something I would pack for future ultras (wait a minute did I just say that?!!)

I tipped out the NUUN from my camel back and Mary got the marshal to put water in it... I just couldn't stomach any more! I decided that it was time to take a couple of Ibuprofen tablets to dull the pain in my knee..I wouldn't usually do this but I just had to do this race.

We hit the Lochside which I must say I quite enjoyed. The scramble makes for a real adventure feel. I recall that by this time the sun was breaking through a little but still not enough to cause too much concern, I have walked/run this section in real heat in the past and it can be almost tropical against the rock.

I can't say I found the treck to Bein Glas easy. I was suffering, my knee was still sore and I felt like I was running on empty. But I was still going and I was determined NOT to stop! As I sit here typing this Im trying to remember where Marco passed me...I really cant but i do remember how fresh he was looking.

As we approached I could see the drovers through the trees to the left, What a welcome sight that was. Another pit stop.

I was craving something savoury and almost hallucinating sausage rolls or soup, but I knew I had nothing of the sort in my drop bag. i slumped down and shared my pistachios with Mary, she had spotted one of her friends who was having a Low so she went to chat with him. There was a lady in front of me giving support to another runner who promptly headed on her way.. she had a flask of coffee so I asked for a wee sip...hot n strong and welcome..so thank you that Lady! It was a tummy settler!

With less than a half marathon to go I knew that I was going to make it...even if I had to resort to walking. the pills had dulled the pain in my knee but I was not feeling strong. We started to set targets...a tip that Marys husband had given her..."even if you get really tired..run/walk...set targets and run to them" we did that biting away small chunk by small chunk. run to that cattle trough..run to that lamp post....run to that gate...walk for two mins. We came across the cow barricade and edged our way past them...they didn't bother with us as we opted for the cow sh*t slurry trench rather than barge right through the middle. There were calves and I wondered how the runners with dogs had negotiated this bit?

The killer hills through the forest were killers...I couldn't remember how many there were from the training runs but I knew they went on a bit. I knew we dropped down to the road just not how soon. At this point my garmin gave up too... seems I wasn't fast enough for it. It died at 47.5miles! Bother.

Well I really did limp home those last few miles. run a bit walk a bit.past the wigwams where we met a friend of Marys who gave us a good prep talk.

As we approached Tyndrum I could see the green welly 800m sign on the road and told Mary excitedly. Running past some backpackers as we approached the end of the community forest path I went over on my ankle..the air was blue and I was done..I felt I was going to have to sit there until someone brought me some wheels..I couldn't believe it...THIS CLOSE!!! Of course it was a total over reaction and Mary grabbed me firmly under the arm and said..."NO! You're going to walk on it a bit then in a minute we'll run and you'll see it will be fine!" and do you know what..it was.

We were met by her husband Hugh who had overtaken us and finished in an amazing 9:40 he chummed us along to the end...taking my camel back for me (could you carry my bag pleeeese)...yes I was that pathetic! As we came into the field the piper piped us in and the finish was in sight..Flags lined the path and we crossed the line. It was emotional..I was soooooooooo glad to have finished. The king of blogland John kynaston was there ready to remove the chip..I'm glad he was cause I was in no state to do it. I found a seat n sat down for a long time.

I could go on to write about the time since them...the legs the trying to undo my shoelaces in the tea room toilets....the inability to eat..until 4am this morning when I just HAD to have supa noodles. But I wont. What I will do is say a huge well done to everyone who did the fling yesterday. Specially Karen who did it in 11:52 and Debbie and Sharon who did it in 9:49 and 9:41 the three of them securing the team prize for Garscube. Marco who did an awesome time of 8:23...and was 3rd man. you're all amazing!

it was a brilliantly organised race and the Marshall's were fantastic.

I'll post some pics when I get them! Oh and I nearly forgot..my time was 12:41 !!

Countdown

Karen finishing the 8 miler





Well here we are in the final run up to my first ultra. My thoughts are really pretty 'open' I would say. I've had a few problems with my left knee (ITB) on runs over 20 miles but this hasn't stopped me from running and the recovery has been pretty quick. I just hope that it doesn't get too bad on Saturday.

The last few runs have been pretty good although I really feel as though I'm p%$$ing in the dark a bit with this training having done REALLY structured training plans for past marathons!

In my favor i do know the whw like the back of my hand...although this didn't stop me getting lost on the 30 miler (I know) I know I respond well to a challenge and race day vibes so I hope that that will make up for the patchy training!

I ended up missing my longest training run of 42 miles and replaced it with some aimless wanderings of Clydebank-Knightswood-anniesland...just to get a run in! hardly the whw but better than nothing!

I ran back from the airport a couple of weeks ago-having abandoned my family in Essex with the outlaws. Anyone who hasn't done that it's well worth it! (Maybe not this week) There's no more liberating feeling than boarding a flight with only runnin gear on and a wee back pack...skipping down the steps of the plane...past the baggage pick up, out of the doors, past the taxi/bus queue's, and running home. I took the wee footpath that runs down the side of the Normandy Hotel and round the banks of the Clyde, passing the rather Dr Seuss like scrap yards (sure I saw a few Sneetches)It also gave me chance to use the renfrew Ferry which was well worth the £1:60 charge for the novelty and the avoidance of te tunnel or the erskine bridge. I'm not sure that nipping into the 'Ferry Inn' for a bottle of water and change was advisable however I got out unscathed..more I think because I had the priceless element of surprise on my side!

Last week Karen and i ran along the Strathblane railway accompanied by Robert on his bike. A nice easy 8 miler to mark the start of the taper..it was freezing and we just had to head to the strathblane deli for a coffee n snack afterwards.

Mick a fellow firey from clydebank and I headed up into the hills on Monday...early rise so I could be back for 3pm. I'm pretty random it seems..I'll climb anythin but Mick had a destination in mind..so we bagged Meall Buidhe making it to the top in 70Min's, thick cloud and hail/snow hammering us from the start. As if by way of reward as we left the cairn the sun burnt away the mist and we were treated to stunning views over Glen Lyon and the reservoir below.

So here I am... contemplating what I should put in my drop bags...hoping it doesn't snow! Forecast looks good though and i don't have to catch a plane anywhere. Good luck to EVERYONE running this weekend Fling and London, Debbie..I've packed my club vest for that team GH shot..if you can hang around at the finish for me that is!!

Oh and BTW just in case you haven't noticed Im looking for sponsorship for this race and the Tunnel to towers 5k in New York in September. follow the Just giving link at the top of the page...all donations appreciated!

Sparrow and the workshop

This band was the support band at The Joy Formidable gig I was at on Saturday...brilliant

OK Go are at it again..nothin to do with trainin

Ironic

Well another age has passed and i am finding it slightly ironic that in training for the longest race of my life I am doing the least most disorganised training EVER!

Oh well it cant be helped...My life now revolves around my three little angels and Strathclyde Fire and Rescues 5 Watch Duty System! Runs must be shoehorned in where they can and often I just cant arrange them to coincide with my runnin Bud Karen...I have managed the key runs...since last blogging there was a 30 miler from Home to Rowardennan along the whw route. Last week was a washout-literally, and I just finished a dayshift and did a poxy 10.5 road route.

I now have to decide whether to go ahead with the 42 miler scheduled for this weekend...but I cant do it till next Thurs/Fri...or cut the mileage to 30-34 due to the proximity of the race....comments welcome. The fling is on the 24th for anyone who doesn't know!

Anyway I'm sure it'll all come out in the wash!

Aborted 30 and some other stuff

Life.s just been too busy to blog but I have a few pictured from the last few runs Karen and i have done in trainng for the fling. so Ill post them...we ve done a 22 and and a 26 so far. Last Saturday we planned to do 30 Drymen -Inveranan. ill expand on that one!

I had just come off my second night shift...and thanks to the new duty system was lookin forward to two day shifts (sunday and Monday) before bein back on normal shift pattern on Wednesday. This really only left Saturday for the long one. During the day on Friday I had dumped my car at the Drovers (Inveranan)

I got home filled my camel back with NUUM citrus...not quite as nice as cola but a change. And stuffed other random snacks into the remaining space...these included raisins, rice pud and chocolate. See picture of our new favourite snack....pistachios and chocolate mmmmmmm heaven!

We made it to Drymen and headed off but soon found that that nights snow fall had hit the area badly, it was passable but running conditions weren't great. We plodded on, jumping into the footsteps of some walkers who had made an early start.
In parts we had to walk and watching the time realised that we were going to struggle to get to inverannan in a reasonable time frame at the kind of pace we were making.

As we came out of the forest trails the snow got instantly deeper, and the wind chill had caused a hard icy crust to form making it harder to crunch through. we litterally ploughed on...reconciling to a run based on time on feet NOT miles.

As we approached the bottom of Conic we caught up with the walkers. The had decided to turn back...the snow was now thich deep..which means waist deep on me!!
after some discussion and reluctance we decided to abort the run...it was bitterly cold and we just werent dressed for the conditions.

We bid the walkers good bye and headed back to drymen.

A little way into the forest trails we were starting to warm up and we met Marco heading the other way. We relayed the conditions but he was set to meet deb...and thankfully went on to make the rendez-vous... (see debs blog!) As we were talkin to him another runner came up on our tail..Dave..who had travelled up from keswick kto train for the fling and ultimately the whw race.

We ran most of the way to Drymen...and following a slight navigational error (well I dont think ive ever done it backwards before!) repeated the last couple of miles a few times!! Fortunately Dave is very fit and very chatty...


In total we did 12miles in 3 hours!!!! Now Im just trying to work out how to fit in a long run next week with a night shift on saturday and sunday!

Oh well we'll see.

Pictures are from a few different runs..along the whw.

Canal

A run was had...given the icy conditions that are still present on the majority of routes we would like to take, Karen and I opted for an out and back along the Canal from Bishopbriggs. It has come to my attention that Karen has started reffering to me as 'The Late Rachel Stevesnon' can't think why..but determined to get shot of this tag I was making good progress..untill I hit a blockage on Boclair Rd, just by Dobbies. There's been a collision and so I turned round and headed back to take the other route...makin me 15 mins late..I think Karen thought I was fibbing as I met her stare when I pulled in to the Playdrome...

Anyway eventualy we got started, the first three miles I felt like my legs were lead but we managed to chat along. The canal was completely frozen still, the poor swans and ducks trying to find the water. We saw two buzzards, chris fron Kirky olympians..lookin strong in his mara trainin, and it really was quite a nice change to run along the canal. We both commented on how we usually have times and goals when we run the canal but today we just ran.

It wasn't an overly long run just 6 out and 6 back but it was a good start. My knee was a bit niggly..just keep on rollin it I guess.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Forgive me I have sinned..its been so long since my last post.

Its due to a few reasons..one was that Nov was a pretty busy time at work..the 5th really does stir up the coals it seems. The chaos of Christmas, and the fact that the pc is rarely free nowadays!

I think I need a laptop!

The main reason however is that I really felt I had little to say about my runs..they've been made up of short 'fit it in run like sh*t' runs and non runs due to the ice which stuck around for ages!!

I did a few long runs with Karen before christmas among them...Milngavie-Balmaha. Balmaha-Bein Glass but I had a sore knee and got concerned that my plans for the fling were ambitious.

Tomorrow we are headin out again and I will write..am sure it will be good and get me back on track!! Hopfully no grief from the knee! Will post no matter what!!
Cody winnin the Jack Shirley memorial Garscube Christmas handicap cup.....after he ran so hard he spewed his dinner everywhere!! Nothin to do with Maz makin him run hard or me givin him his lunch less than an hour before...Looooooooong story!!

TATE

last weekend was a pretty busy shift..with all the bonfires and such. KAren and I braved the horrible weather and did a short 4.5m round mugdock and last night we met at mine and did another 4..
I didn't run on Tuesday but I did do something else.

Some of u may know that I had tickets to see the amzing Airbourne Toxic Event, (TATE) at the ABC...with a plan to meet Mrs Mac, DQ , Dino and Subversive.

Well against all the odds I did...and the gig was fantastic...moshed my way to the front and loved every second....they even had a little dallience with the Smiths.. shyness is nice and shyness can stop u..from doing all the things in life u'd like to....moving from Ask to Panic..(I was the only one singing along to that bit..think they all thought I had a secret Toxic album) but for me it was the icing on the cake to have made it one of my top gigs EVER!!

After the gig Jeremy and I managed to catch up with the others in a bar down the road..(to the right Sub!) And a few more drinks were drank and it was good. I was trying to see how good the video was (of the gig) on my phone....which got smashed at the gig...Not great sound but specially for those who were there who I doubt will mind..here's S A M. (Anyone not a the gig I'll put the shiny new video below instead.).

And Now for something Different...a word from my running mate Karen!

Having featured on Rachel’s blog more times than I can remember, I actually feel that I have accomplished my first Cameo Role……so without further ado, here goes!
Now I had a work meeting on Saturday, and Rachel had her usual run of hefty shifts from Thursday until Sunday this week, so we had to plan our long run around this. Let’s face it, she doesn’t exactly have a boring office job where she can sleep off the effects of a long run, combined with the all essential socialising tasks one must undertake of a weekend, so long on Sunday was off the table.
So, we agreed Friday night we would tackle 14 miles; now we don’t normally enjoy road running such distances, but being an evening run we decided to head off from Rachel’s, and meander through Milngavie and Hardgate until we reached the Erskine Bridge. It was a great night for such a target for the out and back run and the bridge provided a great vantage point for the variety of fireworks going off all around us.
On the return I needed to stop for the usual call of nature, and not running on our preferred terrain meant ‘the ever ready bushes’ to hide in were few and far between. Rachel suggested I use the loo of the pub The Lovat; now I’m not normally that shy, but hey, it was Friday night, and the last thing I wanted was to be spotted running into a pub with my running gear on, JUST to use the loo!!! I was already considering running in a balaclava incase anyone I knew passed us in their car; I almost made us a sign for the back of our rucksacks saying “it’s gin and tonic in our water bottles”. Anyway, on the way back the rain started and it didn’t seem to stop. It’s a slow slog back from the bridge with what seems to be a constant pull all the way back up to Milngavie; at times I felt I was running as slowly as treacle running through a sieve!!!
Well, one thing’s for sure, Rach and I can sure talk through a 14 miler, so I guess if we’d taken the G n T we’d probably still be out there:-)

Trig Point 365

Was Dayshift on Thursday (5th) and should have therefore expected to be late...and so it was perhaps a little daft of me to arrange to run with the hill runners and invite Bob along..a Crew Commander from Springburn...who was also working!
But u can't not plan things can u?

As it turned out I recieved a txt from Bob to say he was on his way to mine...at 18:05...At that point I was heading down the Grt Western Rd in the big red truck..as the daylight faded the jets and rockets had decided to come out to play...giving us many oportunities to spoil everyones' fun by dumping a load of water on their lovely bonfires. Eventually we pulled into the station to hand over to N/S an hour and a half late.

Back at home Jeremy had been doing a little redirecting of his own and had sent Bob up the road to The Professor's house..the meeting point for the hill runners.

Knowing that they often don't leave on time I decided to try and catch them. This was not as hard as I had thought as I made it there before Superfit Dave!

And so it was, we did the trig point 365 catching a ww2 decoy bunker (Douglas Muir?) on the way.
At the top we had a pretty good view of the numerous fireworks being deployed and the occasional siting of a flashing blue light!! he he.

Mugdock-whw-Beech Trees

Following the wee runs through the week which I can't even remember now, Karen and I opted to have an 'easy' week and aim for 8 miles covering the all to familiar start of the WHW.
Now I enjoy running in the rain, and I am looking forward to some good hard winter training runs, but on this particular morning it was absolutely bucketing down and really uninviting.

Rather than setting of from the clock in Milngavie we decided to set of From Karens which is in Mugdock Village. Looping down to the the West highland way and hopefully adding on the extra mile we needed to make the run to the Beech trees a round 8..(why is this so important to me I don't know. But a run always has to end on a .5 or a whole one!)

So we ran..it was cold and wet but a fairly good run, we are so familiar with this route and so we managed to get a fair amount of chatting done before reaching the pub...

Unfortunately the pub wasn't open and so, realising that we had arrived at the destination half a mile short and before our taxi (Karens Husband (the VERY handy and musical) David we ran on a quarter of a mile and back to make up the distance!

No pics of the run this time although David did mention that he wished he had taken a shot of us shivering and huddled underneath the little information post....so I'll post one of him..helping me with the shower room!

Rowardennan-almost Inversnaid

OK So it has been noted that I haven't blogged for a wee while! I have however been running..so that's ok I think!
I have run around the local streets in the rain a few times and I've gotten very wet and deserving of much coffee and cake.
On 23rd of October Karen and I decided to drive out to Rowardennan and run almost to Inversnaid and back...almost cause we were limiting ourselves to 12 miles and we figured the whole distance would be 14.


In the week leading up to this Karen was off on holiday and she had done a substantial amount of research regarding our commitment to the Fling...never one to do things by halves!! And so as I rolled up..at her door..a bit late, missing a few items of clothing and a camel back full of water assembled wrongly. Karen was well prepared, she'd done the home work and had a camel back full of Nuun (cola flavoured), a 'bunch' of grapes, granola bars for the end and our very delicious favourite brand of hot chocolate.

Now this may sound excessive for a wee 12 miler and we have run this distance and more with a wee hand bottle but we decided to train as we plan to do the race..and get used to running with a bit of juice and whatever else we decide to test run.

And so that's what we did. We set off and hit the trail..a fairly undulating bit of the route (more so cause I had remembered it as pretty flat) and it was a bit drizzly...perfect for running. We took it easy as speed is not our focus and despite gasping up the 'inclines' at first we soon got into it, loving being out doing our long run on a Friday..while the rest of the world were at work or school.

The grapes were a big hit..and the Nuun was surprisingly good too..for marathons and training we've always used the sis gels...(or as we call them sensation breaks!) they do the job but I'm not sure I could stomach a whole 53 miles on them!!

When u get to the turning point on an out and back run in a location like Loch Lomond there's a temptation to carry on..it's just so beautiful and fresh and you feel so good...on this occasion there was further reason as a keen looking guy had agilely picked his way along the path behind us and caught up with a certain amount of ease. I wasn't surprised to find that he was a crazy man called Murdo (the other one) and by crazy I mean it in the nicest possible way..in the way that my friends have been calling me crazy woman since I told them about the race...ok they may have a point..but I mean that Murdo was instantly recognizable as a whw race regular. Underplaying his achievements..just out for a wee stroll kind of chat...yea right!!

Anyway we were so busy chatting to him we over shot a bit. The look on his face when we turned just half a mile shy of Inversnaid was a picture...like 'how can u get so close and turn here?'


Worry not..we will return and do it soon....and more. And hope to bump into Murdo...BTW

And so we returned just making it to the car b4 a really heavy downpour, steamin the windows up with the hot chocolate and munching on granola. Fabtastic.
13 miles in all.