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.

Mugdock to Drymen

Ran with Karen and Ian again today.

We started from Mugdock and ran out to Drymen.


Crossing the Blane Water with Dumgoyne in the background (above)



Gartness



View over Loch Lomond and surrounding mountains



It was a crystal clear day and quite mild.

We headed out over the moor which was particularly muddy due to the bucket loads of rain we've been having. After descending the ridge we picked up the WHW at the Carbeth huts. From there we followed the route into Drymen.

It was a great run and we really worked hard up the hills before the drop down to the car (which we had deposited there first thing!) I think even Ian took a moments pause during the climb or it could be that I had fallen far enough behind to be out of earshot:-) Most of the time he must have been breathing through his ears!

11,1m approx 1h50m

Milngavie-Drymen

Robert and I decided to run the first section of the West Highland Way this morning.

By the time we started it was close to 9am, having dropped one car off in Drymen.

It was another scorching day. (I am told Berlin can be quite hot so I guess it's good training) For some reason it feels more of an adventure running point to point.

The route is a very familiar one, but no less breathtaking. Today was so clear. Even Ben Lomond was braving the skies without her usual misty covering.

I had forgotten how many gates there are once you pass the Beech Trees! Double sets every quarter of a mile, some of them are really quite fascinating with their weights and chains and different self closing contraptions. Makes it tricky to really get into your stride though. I wasn't complaining today though as I was in no hurry.

There were lots of walkers out, setting off on their 95 mile challenge. As I approached Drymen I passed an older couple coming in the opposite direction (obviously) who were covered in lots of banners and signs. Turned out they were walking from John O'Groats to Lands end for Marie Currie. Now there's a challenge. Didn't get chance to ask them how long they were taking to do it in. I wished I'd had my camera.



Drymen was full of drunk teenagers (yes...it was only about 11 am) and they had clearly never seen a runner before (obviously not from Maryhill) Grabbed a roll and coke in the wee cafe (another perk of a point to point:-) and came home.

12.36m-1:57:04