Better the Devil you know

Another month has passed and another John K run is upon us.  As I have said to John I hope that after the WHW race that we continue running on the Way as apart from great training it is fantastic meeting up with like minded people.  Well other nutters that think running 42 miles from Tyndrum to Fort William is actually a good thing to do when the rest of Scotland are supporting either half of the Old Firm or shopping.  Neither wind, hail, sunshine or snow would keep me away from today's run and believe me we had all that weather and more as the run went on.

I have ran this section before.  The Devil o the Highlands race on a beautiful June day and without a London Marathon in 2 weeks time.  That day I ran it in 7hrs 3 minutes.  I wondered how I would get on today.  I am definitely a lot fitter and have much better endurance but I had to take care and make sure that I didn't need the months recovery that was needed the last time.  No I had to run this and be able to make it to training on Tuesday without any aches or pains.

 

Debbie and I drove up to Tyndrum early and were there a lot earlier than normal.  I think that this was because Debbie was driving and so for once we were on time.  Debbie had decided that today she wouldn't be running the full 42 miles because of the London Marathon and so would be dropping me off in Tyndrum before heading to Kingshouse to run to Fort William from there.

 

                                                      DEBS AND ME (BEFORE RUNNING)

AHH, THE MOTLEY CREW STILL SMILING AND ITS STILL SNOWING

Running from Tyndrum today was John K, Ian B, Thomas, Neal, Davie, Gavin and me.  Jon C had left earlier in the morning.  Tim and Jim where running from Bridge of Orchy and Debbie and Allyson from Kingshouse.  I had asked Thomas's wife (and support) Silke if she could support me (Thank you so much Silke) and Neal's wife Caroline and her Dad were out to support Neal.  Most people seemed to drop something off in the cars apart from Tim who was being totally independent.

We started off at 8am and ran the easy section to Bridge of Orchy.  This is always a great warm up but I had to tell myself to remember to slow it down.  Because I haven't seen the people that I was running with since the last run over a month we are always so pleasant to each other at the beginning.  Watching our P's and Q's, dotting our i's.  That was until Neal said " I am gonna need a big sh1t soon".  The etiquette broken and more on that one later.

As we headed into Bridge of Orchy, Neal, Thomas and I were again at the front.  The whole of the section we hadn't and it just seemed to be when we came into the village that we were.  I could see a disapproving look from Caroline to Neal.  It is her job as support to tell the runner he is going to fast, too slow, not eating/drinking enough but she didn't need to worry as the rest of the group were only 30 seconds behind.

As usual everyone stopped and made the most of the break until John said that 5 minutes had passed and he was off.  Today John was really good at having short breaks and has made me realise that I need my support team to time my breaks and move me on as soon as possible.  After running 40 miles I am sure that what feels like a 5 minute break will actually be 25 minutes.

Over to Victoria Bridge I carried no supplies as Silke was meeting us again here and being only 2 miles away I thought that I wouldn't need anything.  At Victoria Bridge I refuelled for the Rannoch Moor section.  John was again quick off the mark and we all followed knowing that this was the way it should be done.  After a couple of miles Ian turned back as he had to be in Edinburgh for the cross country championships.  No he wasn't running but was having a slap up meal there.  We said our goodbyes and then I managed to catch up with John.  We had a laugh as I spoke to him about how he was now the most experienced in the group as the rest of us are race virgins.  John was like a rapper and we were his biatches, listening to his every word. 

SNOOP JK AND HIS CREW

On the days leading up to a WHW training run I think of so many questions to ask the likes of Ian or John about the race but when it comes to the run I can never remember them.  So John and I spoke about Everton FC and I told him how my mums side of my family are from Liverpool and they all support Liverpool FC.  Hopefully that doesn't put him off me too much.

As we started to drop into Glencoe I was running with Neal and Thomas.  This was when Neal started to have his toilet issues.  They way he was holding his stomach I thought he was going to give birth and to be honest perhaps he was.  I told him that he should run ahead and try to get to Kingshouse out of fear of what was going to come out and the hope I wouldn't be witness to it.  I immediately felt guilty as any runner knows when you have a runners trot issue the worst thing you can do is run quicker.  Neal stopped about 20m ahead of us gripping his stomach.  Thomas and I made a quick getaway and left whatever devastation was coming for the rest of the group to clean up.

We reached Kingshouse and started to refuel.  The rest of the group minus Neal not far behind.  Eventually Neal arrived, white as a sheet, teeth and bum clenched.  Only stopping at the car for some ermm clothes before heading straight to the Kingshouse toilet.

NEAL CAUGHT HAVING HIS PRIVATE MOMENT

It was a quick stop and then off again towards the Devils Staircase.  Neal only just getting out of the toilet.  I hate the section from Kingshouse to the Devils Staircase.  The track is horrible and appears to go up a hill that you don't need to go up.  At this stage you just want to be on the Devils Staircase not messing about below.

At Altnafeadh (at the bottom of the Devils Staircase) I met Silke who gave me my bottle with energy drink for the next section.  The Devils Staircase isn't too bad.  To be honest it is a great chance for a rest as you need to walk up it.  I noticed that John was off like a bullet, he said later that he really enjoys the uphill sections.  This was where I met Peter Duggan for the first time.  He was full of beans as he came down to shake my hand.  That's one problem about blogging, everyone knows you and everything about you as he beemed "You must be Marco".  Peter had done the race before and lived in Kinlochleven.  Although half of the year the village is in near darkness due to the hills it is a WHW runners paradise with 2 of the best sections right on your doorstep.  No wonder he flew up the hills like a mountain goat.

By Kinlochleven I was feeling great.  Much better than I did in the Devils.  I was amazed at how little this run seemed to be taking out of me.  "Looks like the training is paying off" I was saying to myself triumphantly. Yeah right.  If only I knew what was going to happen in the next section I may not have been so cocky.

The hill up from Kinlochleven is the hardest of the West Highland Way, The Devils Staircase gets a great name but this one has so many others.  Most of them are private whimpers as the unfortunate runner climbs through the trees with Kinlochleven far below and far too obscene to print here.

On the way up I spoke more with Peter and then he turned back once he got to the top.  All the way up I was waiting for Thomas to start to set the pace.  He had run a magnificent time in the Lairig Mor race 2 weeks before which takes in the same section and I could see he had been running strong all day.  The one thing I kept asking myself was should I or could I keep up with him.  And then he was off.  I let him go and was satisfied that I had done the right thing.  I have London in 2 weeks and I can't throw it away when I am this close.  I spoke with John for a bit as one minute he overtook me and then the next I overtook him again and then as Thomas got further away I decided to catch him Thomas up.  I did but could feel that it had taken a bit out of me doing so.  I was glad when I reached him and could take some rests on the hills.

At Lundarva, Neals support team gave me an energy drink that I had left with them but I just couldn't stomach anything else.  Again on the hill I was the slowest and I knew it wouldn't be long before Tom would be away.  I stopped for a comfort stop and that's when it first hit me.  My vision went black around the edges and I felt dizzy and a bit sick.  When I started to run again I couldn't get a rhythm going and any incline just gave me an excuse to stop.  But Thomas was ahead of me and wanted to catch him.  Past the woodland the WHW starts to drop down towards Fort William.  I got a second wind and again started to catch up with Thomas who was ahead talking to Tim.  I caught up and we both spoke for a bit with Tim.  He was talking about Mars bars and I was nearly attacking him for one.  No, I was nearly at the end.  Surely I could make the last mile.  Feeling better Thomas and I again started to pick up the pace and then it hit me again.  Just before Braveheart carpark.  The same tunnel vision and dizzyness.  This time though Tom was talking to me and his voice was just echoing in my head.  I couldn't understand what he was saying and I just felt away with it.  Completely drunk.  I just wanted to be by myself, crawl up and hide from everything.  Goodness knows what Thomas thought so I said to him, "I think I am bonking"  Being from Germany I didn't really think that this may be a new word for Thomas but by that time I didn't care.

Into the Braveheart carpark I couldn't believe it.  The support teams where there.  My eyes couldn't focus properly so I couldn't tell who it was.  The only reason I knew it was our support was because Tom said.  As I got closer I could see a small figure with a blue hoodie on.  It was Debbie and I have never been so relieved to see her in my life.  I just wanted her to hold onto me and tell me it was all over.  I needed food desperately and got some out of the car.  Anything.  It didn't matter.  I went over to Debbie.  "That's it I am finished."  "No, you need to get to the end still" was the reply.

The run to the end was the longest hardest run I have ever done.  All half a mile of it.  I felt drunk.  Totally fatigued.  Not wanting to run and watching Thomas running to the finish as if he was just out for a quick jog about the park.  At the end all I could think of was food.  I cant even remember what I ate.  I just ate it all.  And within 5 minutes I felt fine.  No fatigue.  My legs felt great and I was over the moon to finish in 7hrs 20mins.  Thomas had an absolute cracker of a run.  Everything went great for him.  Pace, nutrition, clothing.  He looked very strong as crossed the finish.

We got changed and met up with everyone else who had finished not long behind us.  Everyone was happy at how the day went.

 

On the way home Thomas talked a lot about bonking.  I quickly realised that perhaps he wasn't too sure that the word has two meanings.  My guess was correct as he later looked it up and posted a comment on Debbies blog later that night.  But just in case he forgets then here is some links.

Sports bonking : Sports Bonking

And what everyone else thinks bonking means : Urban Bonking 

For more blogs on the day and of course John K's videos click below:

Debbie

John K

Thomas

Davie B

Neal (I added your link Neal)

Neals Wife

 

 

John K Videos:

Triple Thursday Taper

STONEYMOLLAN RUN

As I am not able to go to training with Garscube tonight I thought that it would be a good idea to do one of my old favourites.  My Stoneymollan run.  A great 7.5 mile run over the hills behind my house.  I woke up early thinking that this may be the chance to try out my new head torch that hadn't yet been tested outside the dark bathroom.  With the clocks still to go forward, at 6am the sun already looked like it had been up for a couple of hours and so that put that idea on the back burner. 

The idea of doing this run was to take it easy as I have the big WHW run on Saturday and this was meant to be a taper day.  However 20 minutes into the run it looked like I was finally going to beat the one hour mark for this run.  A long standing goal for a long time.  And so I was upping the pace yet again.  My record attempt wasn't being helped by the fact that I startled a dog walker whose dogs tried to attack me.  One even trying to take a bite.  The owner warned me "There is another dog in the field further on, but don't worry it has a muzzle"  Joy.  Luckily it must have been smaller because I didn't see it.

Onto the run and into the snow.  Good day for ankle socks and the numbing freezing pain in them was weird even although my feet were nice, warm and cosy.  From the top there was fantastic views of Ben Lomond.  No time to enjoy though and glad to be going back down hill.  The pace picking up and I was flying through Balloch but hit a low point by Christie Park.  A look at my watch soon gave me the energy needed and I finished strong.

7.52 mi 57:52 @ 7:42min/mi.  Elev +281m - 279m

Woohoo.  New record and finally beat the 1hour mark

 

RAPID RECOVERY

Feeling on a high from this morning I decided to go for a recovery run before Mountain Rescue.  Bad Idea.  Why do I always try to squeeze the most out of a day.  I had 30 minutes to do 4.5 miles.

Only point of note was getting hit by a car.  No-ones fault.  He looked one way and I ran the other.  He was probably doing all of 4 miles /hr.  It hurt my hand more than anything.

4.66mi in 29.22 @ 6.18 / mi

 

MOUNTAIN RESCUE

I was getting tired by now and 12 miles of hard running was taking affect.  Not to worry.  It was GPS / Map reading training tonight and that meant an easy night of wandering around a wood.  Wrong.  To make things more fun they decided an orienteering course would be fun.  So it was on with the running shoes again.  Andy Birnie who is in the team is also a runner with Bellahouston Road Runners with similar times to me and we were warned not to team up.  We ignored this and teamed up.  Good news though I could test my head torch.  And what a head torch it is.  A few people in the team I am sure will have one next time we meet up.  It's a Petzl Myro XP and I have posted about it before.  One word. Fab.  Not sure of the distances but Andy and me finished in 29 minutes.  31 minutes quicker than the 2nd place.  There was a prize for the winners but because Andy and I weren't allowed to team up we got disqualified.  Oh well.

 

So today I must have done nearly 15 miles of running.  So much for the taper.

One Km Reps

There is always confusion when the schedule has long reps advertised.  Some coaches have long reps as 400m and some as miles.  Being in the middle of marathon/ultra training I would say that long reps would be a mile or more.  In the end it was 1 km which is ultra long for coach Stevie who spends his time on a track.  Luckily for my group I wasn't taking the session.  My plan was for mile reps in Knightswood. 

We have a great 1km session just along from Garscube and far better than the winter warm up circuit that Debbie's group ended up with.

Alex was the only one from the fast group there today.  I was hoping that Ali would be there as he leaves to live in Arizona next week and I wont be at the club on Thursday so it would have been good to say my byes.

The reps were tough tonight with my legs still feeling heavy from Sunday and my calf muscle doing funny spasms during the warm up.  It was 6 * 1km reps with a 5 minute turnaround.  I was doing the reps on average in 3 mins 20 secs so 1 min 40 recovery felt okay.  Good session, felt pleased with my times and the calf didn't bother me at all.

3.21, 3.17, 3.17, 3.20, 3.25, 3.21

5.3 miles total including warm-up/cool-down

Sonic on Conic

After yesterday's tough run Debbie and I decided a nice long lie and a walk up Conic Hill would be a nice way to relax today.  After three lovely bacon sandwiches (in my bed and made by Debbie) and an hour of Jeremy Kyle we at last started to get our stuff together.  At that moment I received a call out from the Mountain Rescue.  A woman had broken her leg on yes you guessed it, Conic Hill.

When we got to Conic Hill we were stood down as a paramedic helicopter was dispatched to fly her off the hill and the Mountain Rescue was no longer needed.  Debbie and I were joined by Joe from the MR team for the walk up the hill.

At the top we found that the paramedic helicopter was still there and had broken down.  So the woman had to be rescued by a Sea King helicopter.  Ever felt that you have been in the right place at the right time.  Well this was one of those days as I took photos of the helicopter and sold one to the Daily Express with the money being donated to our charity.  The Yorkhill Childrens Foundation.  All good.

To Hells (Angels) and back

Today I probably decided whether directly or indirectly that the London marathon would not be more important than the West Highland Way Race.  Okay that is a bit of a lie.  The West Highland Way Race has always been the more important but I was thinking that I could run a good marathon as well.  But today I decided for sure that London will not be THE marathon of the year.  And how did I know this?  Well it is 3 weeks until the marathon and this should be a marathon specific last long run.  Instead I decided to run part of the WHW.

I have done today's run before.  5 weeks ago.  The run is one of my favourites.  A 27 mile run from my house in Alexandria onto the Balloch Horseshoe then onto the cycle track that joins to the WHW at Drymen.  Then you take the WHW to Milngavie before running through to Bearsden to Anniesland and then taking Great Western Road to Glasgow.

Today I decided to take the bumbag to see how that would perform.  Two 600 mls water bottles, one with energy drink and one with water.  A sachet of energy drink to make another bottle up at the tap at the Carbeth Huts. A couple of raisin bars and since it was Easter a few mini cream eggs.

The run started fine but I had to keep adjusting the bumbag.  The rucksack is definitely the more comfier of the two.  I just can't get used to running with 1200 mls on my hips.  So this is what it is like to have love handles.  Accessing the bumbag is annoying too.  The more I think about it the more I am starting to want to run the WHW with as little as possible.  Have the support team meet me as often as they can and on longer sections use the rucksac.

Back to the run I was starting to feel tired by the Carbeth Huts.  I stopped for a break and to refill my bottle and have a bite to eat and then set off again.  Within half a mile I met Mike Thomson and was glad to stop again for a chat.  By Milngavie I was struggling, big time.  I think that it must have been the ultra from last week.  Well I hope that was what was to blame.  In Bearsden the worst thing happened as my calf started to cramp.  It had been annoying me since Wuthering Hike and now was starting to pack in.  After some stretching it was good enough to go on albeit a little more carefully

When I reached Anniesland it felt like I was running in the London Marathon.  There was crowds of people all over the place all the way along GWR.  It was the Glasgow Easter Run and there was 7000 bikers delivering Easter eggs to Yorkhill Hospital.  This made it difficult to run and a lot of weaving in and out of crowds.  Not great for the calf.

GLASGOW YORKHILL EASTER EGG RUN

Debbie met me at the end of the run.  One look at her face told me straight away that I had overdone it today.  I survived unscathed and unhurt but I have to be careful.  Last time I pulled my calf it took a good few months for it to be 100% again.  If I had pulled it today it could have affected not only the WHW but the London Marathon and the Islands Peaks race.  As everyone says on the training runs for the WHW race, half of the battle is getting to the start line.  A wise warning from the experts and something us race virgins have to heed.

Full Moon

Today I found out how to work out when Easter Sunday will be and why it is so early this year.  Easter Sunday is on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.  It is early this year because the equinox, full moon and first Sunday are all on the same weekend.  But this is not the reason in the naming of this post.  Today when I was driving through Bearsden I saw a member of my running club dodging cars as he attempted to cross Boclair Road.  Being a runner myself and far worse at fighting with motor cars I slowed down to let him cross and since he still didn't realise it was me I beeped my horn to say "Hi".  And he replied by mooning me.  He still doesn't realise that it was me.  So John Murray, you're welcome.

Thursday Club Run

Arriving at Garscube at 7pm I was hoping that Ali Mo wouldn't be there.  My head (or legs) were telling me I had to take it easy today.  Take my time and have this week as a recovery week.  But Ali was there and this would mean the pace would be fast.  Ok I can hear you say that I should just take it easy but it is far easier said than done and although I curse during the session, the benefits of having a fast tempo run are why I will always come back for more.

Apart from Ali, Alex, Stephen and Robert completed our pack.  Debbie looked white as a sheet as she was promoted up two packs.  That's what she gets for running so well recently.  I am so pleased and proud for her though and think she will do great in her new pack.

The route tonight was out the top gate, down Crow Rd to Dunbarton Rd then up Gardner Street.  Took a right along Highburgh Rd to Byres Rd.  Along Great Western Rd to Clevden.  Down to Wynford then Maryhill Rd to the main gate.  About 7.5 miles.

The first mile was pretty relaxed but we soon gathered pace as we went down towards Dumbarton Road.  Gardner Street nearly killed me though.  When you are fully fit and recovered it is a bastard of a hill.  With an ultra marathon in my legs I thought my time was up as I struggled, getting further behind the rest of the pack.  No problems though because when we got to the flat I caught back up again.

I finished the run in the middle of the pack.  I thought that was pretty good going.  Very pleased to have recovered from Saturday so quick.  I just hope that after London it will be the same.

7.53mi in 48:50 @ 6:29 /mi

8:12, 6:39, 5:58, 6:20, 6:16, 6:08, 6:17, 5:39 (Only 0.53 mi)

Town Training Totaling Ten

Well enough of the extended recovery time and now back to the training.  Tonight's schedule called for a 10 mile run and because it was the monthly committee meeting it would have to start in town.  The route for tonight was along Dumbarton Rd up Crow Road past Anniesland through Garscube Estate and then back along Maryhill Road to town. 

Tried to take it easy as my legs were a bit stiff still.  Especially my right calf which has been sore since Wuthering Hike.  I soon got carried away but I felt relaxed throughout.  I ran the last half mile with Debbie who is running fab at the moment and was really fast at the end.

10.06 miles in 1hr 6min 23s @ 6.36/m

7:17, 6:34, 6:24, 6:42, 6:51, 6:36, 6:21, 6:30, 6:22, 6:28

Jack of all, master of none. (Wuthering Hike)

Today I realised the hardest thing in running.  It's not hills or sprinting.  It's not marathons or 10k's.  It's not getting beaten by your nearest rival for the 10th time in a row.  It's not the weather or a speed session in the snow.  No, the hardest thing about running is myself.  I am far to critical of my performances and want to be good at everything.  I want to get a good half marathon time one week and then I want to race a 33 mile ultra marathon which in parts was more like a cross country event.  Looking back to the middle of February when we did our last 31 mile WHW training run I have raced every weekend so perhaps that's what is getting to me but the hard fact is that I felt shocking all week and probably in need of a rest.

Still I was looking forward to doing a race that was different from the norm and meeting some fellow West Highland Wayers.  We had arranged to meet Brian Mc when we got to Haworth.  We have decided to run the OMM later this year together so this was a great chance to finally meet him in person and for both of us to make sure that we wanted to spend a weekend together in a stinky, crammed, wet tent.  After a couple of remarks about farting I knew we would get on just grand.  Brian and his wife are a really nice couple and so is their daughter who was fast asleep but I met the next day.  Then it was off to the Youth Hostel that Debbie had booked to give her a crash course in navigation.  As we got into our romantic bunk beds I couldn't help think that perhaps Brian had made the better choice in renting a cottage for the weekend. Especially when the YHA of England tried to charge Debbie an extra £6 for not being a member.  Lets just say that we are probably banned from future nights in hostels.

HAWORTH YOUTH HOSTEL

I woke up the next morning feeling a bit better than I had been.  Maybe it was adrenaline.  Debbie and I got dressed quickly and it was off to registration and the start.  After some pictures with Phil Robertson and Brian, we were off.

PHIL, DEBBIE AND ME

ME AND BRIAN

ME, BRIAN MC and PHIL

I started pretty far back in the pack and through the narrow streets of Haworth it was difficult to get out of the pack.  Once out of the village I felt I could breath again and spent some time talking to Brian Mc.  By mile 3 I was feeling shattered again and Hugh caught me up.  I spoke to him for quite a long time but I was really struggling to keep up with him and eventually he pulled away.  Not long after that Kate Jenkins caught up with me and I decided that I would have to stop feeling sorry for myself at being of peak and try to keep up with her.  At first it was a nightmare but after chatting for a while I started to forget about feeling gubbed and started to finally enjoy the run.  Kate was funny and didn't seem to have any patience for anything.  Later on in the race when I was about 20m in front of her I could hear her shouting and swearing at a car that was beside her on the road.  It made me laugh and I was waiting for her to throw something at a car.  When I asked her about it at the end she said that one year she did throw stones at a car.  Kate had her dog with her as well.  I think the crazy dog was more crazy than Kate and must have covered 50 miles in the race as it ran all about.  Kate seemed to talk to the dog in 5 different languages as well. 

When we went up Stoodley Pike (the highest point in the race) I noticed that a lot of runners ahead of me had started to slow down.  I love hard walking up hills and I had soon left Kate and started to catch up other runners.  This gave me a bit more confidence and near the top I heard a familiar voice shouting me from above.  It was Hugh.  I passed him and then had to slow a bit for the descent into Hebden Bridge.  It really killed my legs on the steep downhill.  there was then a big uphill section that I managed to walk fast and get refuelled before the last 8 miles of the race which was more like the WHW.  I finished in 25th position in 5hr 2min and 12 secs.  Debbie finished in 7hr 3min.

EEK, DEBBIE AND ME WITH OUR WHW BUNNETS

THE FINISH

ALL FINISHED AND TIME FOR A FEED

HUGH LOOKING DODGY

It was a good day out that I would like to do again one day with a bit better preparation.  The best part though was meeting all the WHW people (Brian, Hugh, Phil, Kate and Jim)

Also wanted to say well done to everyone that ran the Lairig Mor Hill race.  John beat Ian to make it 2-1 to Ian in their race series and Tom had a marvelous result to come in 8th in 1:38:22.  Well done to you all.

IAN, JOHN AND TOM DISCUSSING THE LAIRIG MOR RACE.  JOHN LOOKING EVER SO PLEASED AT THE RESULT. MUCH BETTER WEATHER THAN WHAT WE GOT

100 Days to go!!!

Today is exactly 100 days until the toughest race I have ever done.

100 days 5 hours and 42 minutes to go until I run the 95 miles from Milngavie to Fort William.  And how do I feel today.  Awful.  The half marathon has taken quiet a lot out of me and I know that it will take a few days to get over it.  I feel tired, lethargic and my limbs hurt.  I am taking today off running because I need to be fit for the Wuthering Hike 33m ultra on Saturday where I will meet Brian Mc for the first time.  Hopefully we get on as we have already decided to do the OMM this October together.  I have always wanted to try one so this will be my chance.

It is also good because I have been wondering what to fill the void that will be left once I have run the West Highland Way.  Every waking moment seems to be filled with it and I can see how people get obsessed with challenges.  I have even had dreams with people from the race.  Yes Dario and Davie A.  I am sorry to say that you have appeared to me at night much to Debbie's horror.

So the way I see it is before the race you can't wait for the race.  During it you can't wait for it to be over and after it you can't wait to do it next year.  After talking to John K on one of the training runs he suggested that a good way of looking at the race is to think of it as a 2 year challenge, with the first year being a warm up for the real race the second time.  And so I have decided that if all goes well this year I am going to enter the race in 2009 as well.  This way I will have hopefully learned from my mistakes and most importantly there will be no void to fill.

Tuesday Torture

Debbie and I are away to see a talk on the Everest Marathon by Angela Budge tonight and so we decided to do our normal Tuesday session at lunchtime.  It was back to our normal Kelvingrove 600m session which we haven't done since at least December.  I was still feeling a bit rubbish after the half on Sunday so I really wanted to take it easy.  Debbie warned me not to go off at my normal pace but to be honest it was me trying to hang on to her pace as we warmed up.  During the warm up I spied Lindsay Cunningham and Scott Kennedy doing a speed session and for a moment my competitive side gave me a bit of energy and I thought about joining them.  But that faded pretty quick as all I could muster was a "Hello".

Onto the session and I decided to change it to 400m with a 200m downhill recovery.  I just did the six of them and then hung onto Debbie for the run back to work.  Felt better for doing them but knew that it wasn't a 100% effort.

The Angela Mudge talk was excellent and I think that she may have done some of the hard work in trying to talk Debbie around to doing it some time.  I felt very cold and shivery during the talk and so I must be run-down.  I was glad to get into the warm car, home and to my bed.

Newsflash !!!!

People are pulling out of races left right and centre at the moment.  Firstly some guy called Haile Gebrselassie has pulled out of some big run on the other side of the world and blamed air pollution and this made the news for some reason.  More importantly, and for some reason this didn't make the news, Chris Upson has also pulled out of the WHW race due to injury.  It was actually a shock when I heard because I was looking forward to running it with him.  Out of all the people that are running the race he has the closest times to me.  Well for road races anyway as his forte is fell running which I have no experience at.  His half marathon PB is only one second quicker than mine.

Here is hoping Chris recovers soon.  A much bigger shock to me than that other guy pulling out. ;-)

Let there be light

I have found the perfect head torch for the WHW and Islands race.  What more it is called the ULTRA.  It is the dogs boll*cks in the head torch world.  At 350 lumens and the reviewer saying that people in the street were asking him to turn it off as it was blinding them I knew I had to get myself one.

Checking the Internet I found a place that was selling them when they are available in May.  Perfect timing.  BUT.  £300?  eek.  My dreams of dazzling cars while out running were shattered.

Back to the internet I took a look at the Ultra's wee brother.  The Myo XP.  At 150 lumens max and 85 lumens normal this looked like a good bit of kit.  The price was £50 and I would probably be better with 6 of these bad boys than one ultra. 

A quick jump to Tiso's and it was mine.  It really doesn't disappoint.  Ok I have only tested it in a dark house but it really does light up a large area.  Perfect for running with.

Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon

RESULTS    BALLOCH CLYDEBANK HALF HOMEPAGE

My preparation for this half was strange.  I ran 7 miles yesterday with Paul and Arun. Although a bit more than I should have ran it was comfortable.  Paul's achilles injury came back and that will be him out again for at least a week.  Worrying now as it is getting close to the London Marathon.  I also didn't give up milk and coffee as I normally do (I find it gives me a dodgy stomach, Debbie says it's in my head) and I didn't have dinner last night.  Strange but I didn't feel hungry and felt like I ate enough for breakfast this morning.

The weather was meant to be very stormy.  Windy and rain was forecast and during the night I wasn't let down with the rain lashing the windows.  The morning was a different matter though with the sun trying to peak out.  I warmed up with Davie Bell, one of the WHW crew, and then the rain came back again.  The Lore of Running book had said if you are not cold at the start line of a race then you have too many clothes on.  I was certainly cold and so took comfort in that my running vest is adequate protection for Scotland in the beginning of March.  Chris Upson was here today and I was a bit worried.  I don't want him to beat me in this race as well.  He leads 2-1 in the competition that I am having (which he doesn't know about)  It certainly keeps me focused although maybe he is at a disadvantage not knowing.  Then I saw John Kennedy had arrived.  This was worse.  Not only had he well beaten me in Prestonpans he was also a member of Clydesdale and so qualifies for the first Dunbartonshire prize.  I had won it last year and was here to defend it. 

So it was off to the start.  Familiar faces and a good turnout from Garscube.  Said my hi's to Andy, Kenny and Matt from Bella and then bang on 9:30 we were off.

Ready Steady

I know the route of this half off by heart.  This is my third year running it and the start is a stones throw from my front door.  I ran behind a full time triathlete called Catriona Morrison for the first half mile.  I felt good so I went to overtake her when suddenly just before the right turn onto Balloch main street she veered straight into me.  "Right" she growled and I could only wimper "sorry" in reply.  Well if I ever become a full time athlete, don't snigger as I am sure there is a place in the woman's knitting team that  could join, then I must remember my manners.

By the first mile marker I was in a comfortable 6th place with 7th not within ear shot of me.  It was now I remembered what went wrong in Blackpool.  I kept up the fast pace of the start and so struggled at the end trying to keep my pace.  I decided to ease back a bit and try my best to stay at 5:50 /mi for the rest of the run and hopefully have enough left in the tank to have a strong finish.  Just in case I was yet again seconds away from my PB.

The course runs from Loch Lomond shores in Balloch then into Alexandria then Renton, Dumbarton, Bowling, Old Kilpatrick and ends in the Clydebank Retail Park.  For a race starting at the bonnie banks it certainly ain't scenic.

The first part of the half to Dumbarton is marshaled by Garscube.  So I just want to take this opportunity to say thanks to Rob, Charlie, Dave H, Dermot and Chris.  There was more people but I was in the zone!!! hee hee.  I also have to say a big thank you to Alex from Springburn. From Dumbarton onwards he seemed to be at every corner cheering me on and beeping his horn. 

Debbie has been trying to get me to watch my running form recently and as I came up a long incline into Bowling I felt my form slipping and I was starting to hunch.  At the exact moment I thought "Debbie wouldn't like to see this" I heard Rob shout "Keep your form!!" Instantly I straightened up and felt better for it.

As I reached Clydebank I was still in 6th position and hadn't really seen much of any runners.  A strange feeling in a half.  Then I started to hear people cheer me and then shout "Come on Nick"  there was someone behind me.  The footsteps came up behind me and I tried to keep him off but it was no good.  I was beaten and he overtook me like a gazelle.  I was never going to keep up with him.  Luckily he was a Bella runner and my first Dunbartonshire was still on.  Unless John was close by.

Then in the last mile I noticed that yet again it was going to be close to my PB.  Not again.  I wasn't going to be beaten by the odd second this time.  I picked up the pace yet again and noticed that the Bella lad in front was starting to struggle.  Perhaps he had overtaking me a tad too early.  Spurned on by this I picked up the pace more and overtook him with half a mile to go.  Rob and Rachel were marshaling the last turn and cheered me through.  Rob shouting out "Watch Marco, there is a runner 10m behind you".  "Ah but Rob, I have just overtaken him" I thought to myself with a wry smile.

10m to the finishing line, a glance at my watch.  I was going to do it. Finally.  My longest standing PB was about to be beaten.

10m to go, 10m in front of Nick

Over the line, what's my time. 1:16:45 (although the results released later say 1:16:46).  So officially that's 7 seconds faster than my last PB from the Glasgow Half in 2006.  A small margin but a PB all the same.  Still in 6th position I was first Dunbartonshire club runner.  Cool.  No wooden trophy for me.  And I had finished before Chris Upson and John Kennedy with a strong finish.  I was never good with strong finishes before but a I think that all this really long endurance running is helping me with that.

At the finishing line as everyone gathered and compared times etc two guys came up to me and asked if I had got my PB.  I didn't recognise them but they said they knew me from my blog.  I was really touched by that and think that made my day more than my PB.  So I just wanted to say thanks to you both.  If you could post a comment cause I can't remember your names and just want to say hi.

Debbie, Not a hair out of place and another PB.

Debbie also got a PB. 1:42:56.  She is taking loads of her times recently.  So it's 3-3 in the PB's competition in the Consani house this year so far.  Sharon got a PB too.  And Ian B ran in Inverness today getting 1hr 24mins 30secs which I hear he is really pleased with.

Davie and me looking ultra glamorous. Debs n' Sharon must try harder

Running in the Buff

Went out for what was meant to be an easy 4 miler before tomorrows half marathon.  It ended up as 7 miles although the pace was relaxed.  I had arranged to meet Paul (who is running the London Marathon and the Scottish islands peaks with me) and his pal Arun (who is also running the London Marathon).  It was all just a nice relaxed run plenty of chatting and a chance to try out my WHW buff.  I have to admit that the buff is excellent and will now be part of my running gear. It may look ridiculous but it does the job.  We all received a WHW Buff as part of our goody bag and mine came with a useless skip bit on the front.  10 minutes with a pair of scissors soon sorted it out.  I ran most of the run with it tied around my wrist but then we decided to go around Milngavie reservoir  and the wind and rain could have cut you in two.  Immediately after putting it on I was instantly warmer with it easily protecting my ears.  A great piece of multi functional gear.  On a more sour note Paul hurt his Achilles again and will be out for another week.  I am worried but not that he won't get to the London Marathon.  I am worried about his recovery from that before the Scottish Islands race.  The recovery time from your first or any marathon is long and doing the Scottish Islands race was always going to be a hard one but if he is also carrying an injury it may be impossible.  I hope that it all gets better cause I am really looking forward to running this with him.

WEST HIGHLAND WAY BUFF

The appliance of science

Tonight's session was billed as short reps so I was ready for nice quick 50m sprints with my light weight training shoes.  The session ended up as 450m reps in the Science Park at Acre Road.  I swear that last time we did this session it was billed as medium reps.  Oh well.  After last nights mile reps session I was prepared to just take it easy tonight and Lesley's announcement to say that anyone running the half this weekend should take it easy put a seal of approval to my thoughts.  The session was 12 x 450m reps with a two minute turnaround.  My quickest was 1min 16s and slowest 1min 23s.  So I was getting on average about 40s recovery between each which felt comfortable.  Some of the slower members of the group must have been lucky to be getting 30s recovery so it must have been a tough session for them.  Enjoyed tonight but quads still felt heavy from the Deerstalker and mile reps from the night before.

Got home to Celtic losing 1-0 to Barca.  Out of the champions league 4-2 on aggregate. :-(

Knightswood Mile Reps

Back to the dreaded mile reps tonight.  My quads are still on fire from the Deerstalkers on Saturday and the attempt to try to stay upright in road shoes.  Debbie and I actually sat in the car longer before starting than the session lasted.

The reps were all slower than the last time I did them but I managed 5 of them and cut the recovery to 2 minutes.  I think that for half marathons and above that it is a better session to go that bit slower and try to increase the amount.

Felt good when I finished and felt like it wouldn't take much to increase the amount.

The splits were: 5:12, 5:18, 5:19, 5:14, 5:16

Just wanted to add to my blog... congratulations to Pacepusher and Brian Mc for breaking their half marathon PB's at the weekend.  I just hope that I can follow suit this weekend.

Oh how the mighty (deerstalker) have fallen

It wasn't long ago that road running was the be all and end all in for me.  Trails and hills were for hillwalkers and ramblers and the roads were the domain of marathoners and 10kers. This slowly changed.  First I started to train on trails.  More so to give my legs a rest from the tarmac.  Then came the Devils and I had found what I truly enjoy.  Ultra running off road.  Everyone is friendly.  It's all more relaxed and to me it is a much sterner test of what your body can do and put up with.  There is another type of running that is gaining popularity nowadays.  Adventure running.  Sure I had tried this before running Hellrunner in Milngavie last year.  What they had promised was that I would get wet and muddy.  There was a couple of bits that were muddy but mostly it was trail running with none of the river crossings that they had promised.  So it was time to try another adventure race.  The Mighty Deerstalker.  Yet again they promised that you would get wet.  I didn't believe them.  They promised we would be running in the dark.  I didn't believe them.  They promised an assault course.  And still I didn't believe them.  They promised I would be cold.  I believed that.  Its March in the Southern Uplands.

Debbie and I arrived in Inverleithen in plenty of time.  The B&B that Debbie had booked was amazing.  A lovely house with excellent views of the OMG!!!! the course?  As Debbie and I looked up the hill behind the guest house we could see what looked like ants making their way slowly to the top.  Except they weren't ants.  Dressed in skin tight lycra and deerstalker hats it could only be the easy Deerstalker.  The 5km version of the Deerstalker for kids, novices and southern softies was already running.  The first section of the Mighty Deerstalker, our race, follows the same route as its sibling up what looked like an incredibly high hill.

Anyway it was about now that I made the first of my mistakes of the day.  seeing that the hill was covered in trails and thinking back to the Hellrunner I decided to wear my roadshoes for the race.  oops.

We left for the start of the race which was just a short drive from the B&B.  We parked the car at a large carpark and started to walk to registration which we guessed was just around the corner.  It was a lot further and by the time we registered it was only 20 minutes to the start.  Only problem was our gear was still in the car.  So I volunteered, or perhaps I was told, to get the car and bring it closer to the Start/Finish.  By the time I did this and then found Debbie again it was nearly 5.  After all the running about I was knackered and not really in any mood for the race.

It was a really nice bright evening and this is when I made my second mistake.  The race is 10km long.  I should be able to walk that distance and still get back while it is still twilight.  I don't need a head torch.  And so I left it.  Debbie forgot to lift hers and so for a 3rd or maybe 4th time I sprinted back to the car to get it for her.  I think by this time I had already ran 10k.

This was when I made my 3rd mistake.  As I said before Hellrunner didn't even get my feet wet.  I should be able to run this deerstalker race with my car remote.  If anything looks deep I can hold it in the air.

At the start line I felt uneasy.  Not only was I one of the only people in running gear but also the only one in shorts, roadshoes and not sporting a headtorch.  Do I have time to run back to the car again? No.  We were off and immediately I dropped back from the front line to half way back as all the novices sprinted to a line of hay bails that we had to jump over.  Within 200m I was in 3rd position.  Good choice the road shoes as I easily caught the lead group.

Then I saw it.  The first water feature.  It looked at least knee deep so to be on the safe side I decided to take my car remote out of my pocket and hold it in the air.  I was in first position as I jumped in and straight under.  Completely soaking from head to toe.  My remote was soaking as I put it back in my pocket.  Oh well I tried.  Perhaps its water resistant.  Next up there was a steep muddy hill.  I couldn't get any traction in my road shoes as I dropped to 3rd, 4th, 5th, and then 6th position.  Onto trails I managed to catch back up and kept within a group of 3 not far off from the leaders.  This was when we made a fatal mistake.  Instead of taking a left turn down from the top of the hill we took a right turn and went even higher up the hill.  Once we realised our mistake we came back down and ended up behind a large group of runners with no way of passing them.  As we got to the bottom of the hill someone called out to the guy in front "You're in 60th mate, well done"  1st to 61st position in 20 minutes.  Great.

As we reached back into the village I remembered that the map had a long straight section.  Good.  A road. I should be able to catch some people up now.  Wrong.  The road was a river and we had to run 300m up that river.  My legs were numb, my feet were number and there was a real unpleasant stabbing pain between my legs.  I felt sorry for a chap that I passed that only looked like he was 5ft 5.  The water nearly reaching his head.

I still wasn't really catching many people by now and I was starting to tire with the effort of trying not to slip at every muddy bit.  Luckily the next hill was a scree slope.  Unlucky for everyone else but seeing as I used to do loads of hillwalking I had the technique for getting up.  I started to pass a lot of tired people and as I reached the top I turned to see hundreds of lights behind me.  Everyone had their head torches on and it was getting dark.  Really dark.

I really struggled to get through the last parts of the race as I couldn't see a thing and had to rely on catching people with torches and running with them until we caught someone else and then running with them.  Another few river crossings, a really steep slope that had a rope to help you down but I couldn't see and so jumped down it and a tunnel full of what looked and smelled like sewage.  Finally I was getting close to the end.  Spent another 5 minutes lost before finally the finish was in sight.

After 9.6 miles I was at the end and an official told me I was in 30th position.  Not bad but I had been stupid in under estimating the event and should have had the right gear.  Okay a lot of the course was badly marked and I was amazed that nobody broke anything. But that is how this sort of race is meant to be.  I will be better prepared next time.

Before Debbie finished I thought that it would be a good idea to go to the car and get some dry clothing for us both.  I ran back to the car (again) but the remote didn't work.  Debbie finished and we both sat shivering beside the car as I tried with numb fingers to dry the remote out enough to allow us to open it.  Finally we got it open but the car was now stuck in the field and we had to get 3 of the car park attendants to help push it out.

Finally we were back to the B&B to get showered and have a wee night out.

The next morning though the remote didn't work again and so we spent 30 minutes drying it with a hairdryer.  We had met 3 lads that are training for the Marathon des Sables next year.  It sounded like excellent fun and we chatted for 2 hours about running, ultras, food etc.