marco on running

Boscombe 10k

2011-11-28T10:28:00.001Z

What? Marco blogging again? And he isn't talking about sore Achiles or the West Highland Way. WTF a 10k race? Really.

Since coming back to running in early September and finding out how much fitness you really do lose by not doing anything all summer I needed a goal to get back into the way of it. I don't know what other people do but I need a race or challenge so that I can focus on training. Without it I find it easy to miss days and not give it my all. With Debbie and I planning on visiting my brother Paul and his girlfriend Gillian in Bournemouth it seemed a great place to also do a 10k where I wouldn't know anyone and so have false expectations of trying to keep up with them. Perfect.

So training started in September after being fixed up by Frank from Sports Medicine Science at Hampden I was then instructed to only run 100m at a time. Training with the lunch crowd I noticed they all now ran at International Standard or perhaps it was that I was just so slow now that I was just miles behind where they and I used to be. But the beauty of starting from scratch is that you quickly make fantastic gains and although they were slow to come by at the beginning by the start of November every week I was getting faster and my endurance better. Even so I knew that a 10k was going to hurt. With no 10k under my belt in over a year as well I had also forgotten how to race them too. Some people might think that is strange but I really think that if you don't continually race a distance you forget how to race it and have to relearn it by racing it a few times to get back to your best.

Anyway enough gibber gabber. Back to the race weekend. Disaster nearly struck when Cairn was sent home for nursery with Chicken Pox and Debbie decided to stay at home to look after the wee man. I was torn what to do and so with a heavy heart I travelled to Bournemouth myself.

Paul and Gillian have been fantastic and it has been great down here. I was getting worried by how much steak I have been eating though and how that would affect the race. When I arrived I had steak, for dinner I had steak, for lunch, yes steak. I have to admit though Paul cooks damn good steak. He also knows a butcher that sells (what I now hope is steak from a cow) very cheap. Seriously though I have eaten very well down here and they have both made me feel so welcome. Both Paul and Gillian are fab cooks. I have had lovely chicken soup, banana cake and tablet. Yum. I needed a 10k to make space for more home cooking.

Race morning came and I was shitting myself. Thankfully not because of the steak and also thankfully not literally as the water was off in the flat for maintenance and that would be embarrassing not being able to flush the toilet.

So we arrived at the stadium for the start of the race. Paul started to point out some fast looking guys to me. "he should win" or "keep up with that guy cause he does about 36mins". Although I wanted this to just be a fun run I was now getting into race mode and was sussing out the runners. Trying to figure them out. What could they do. But I wanted a conservative start so I just positioned myself in the middle of the pack and waited for the race to start.

It was a strange start. All of a sudden a klaxon sounded and away we went round the track. The runners quickly fanned out though and by the end of the loop around the track the front guys had formed a pack of 5 and were galloping off. There was another group of about 6 about 20m just in front of me. I looked at my watch and I was doing 5:40. Too fast. So I reigned it in a bit and relaxed. I felt fantastic. Now running 5:50s I noticed that the group in front weren't gaining any distance and I was now in no mans land between them and whoever was behind. So I picked up the pace and slotted behind the 2nd group of runners.

Perfect. As we ran through an expensive housing estate the wind would come and go and being tucked in helped me here. This was when I noticed the runner that Paul had pointed out to me who was "about 36 min". The thought now entered my mind that I could get 36 mins. The group started to break up now so I moved forward and kept with the lead 2 or 3.

Still this felt easy and relaxed. There was a long way to go and I was worried about the last 2 miles. I hadn't raced at this intensity for a while and I knew it was gonna hurt then.

The route was not an easy one. I had been told this before the race but as I ran through the housing estate that was far from my mind. Then we hit the first hill. I am seriously crap at hills at the moment. Really bad. The Killers Hill session a few weeks back had me crying for my mummy as I struggled round the loop. So it was a big surprise when we hit that first hill and the group collapsed and I found myself at he front and still feeling good. At the top though I slowed a bit intentionally and a couple of the runners caught back up. I still wanted to run in a group and didn't feel ready to go it alone yet.

The course was now getting a bit harder. Under an underpass and then a sharp turn and through barriers. There was a lot of wee sharp turns. I didn't mind the slowing down for them. It was the speeding back up that hurt.

Then we hit the big hill of the run at about 4 miles. A half mile slog up a steep hill just when you are starting to feel it at 4 miles. Again though I seemed to be fitter on the hill and the group collapsed again and I found my self alone. Also I started to see that the front group had collapsed too and a couple of runners that had gone off too fast had been spat out the back and looked like they were struggling.

Now the race was going through trail paths with sharp downhills that made my tired quads scream. Now I could feel the effort and my HR monitor was agreeing. It was now reaching 170. I expected that at this point in a race though. I caught one of the lead pack runners.

Then there was a grass section up a steep embankment. My quads turned to jelly but it wasn't too long and we were back on trail. Then back under the underpass and the dreaded barriers.

On the other side it was back into housing estate. I was caught by a runner who seemed shocked when I shouted well done to him. Maybe that's an ultra running thing talking to the competition. :-)

Only one mile to go and some cheeky sharp uphills through the estate. I was gaining a bit with the runner that had overtaken me but when we got to the stadium he kept the distance from me. The last section was so windy going round the track again.

So that was it. I finished in 36:27. Very happy with that and I think I would have been closer to 36 dead on a flatter course. But that is for another day. :-)

Paul finished not long after in 40:39 and Gillian in 1:03. Both a little slower than last year but happy with how they did.

I would certainly do the race again. A hard wee course but good and friendly.

Coming down and seeing Paul and Gillian and spending the weekend with them has been fab.

Results

Born to Run

2011-06-15T14:39:00.001+01:00

It's only two days to go to my biggest race of the year. Most people that read this blog don't need me to tell them that. They are either doing it or I have bored the hind legs off of them talking about it.
Being injured during the taper has been a weird experience. Everyone has been concerned with, are they doing enough running, too much running, not enough sleeping, too much eating. My only thought is - will my Achilles be okay by Carbeth huts. Even my support plans are just a last minute thing instead of the weeks of research, versions and what ifs. Luckily last years plans are good and it was only a case of changing the year at the top. But do you know something? The taper has been much easier. I haven't stressed at all or worried. It is out of my hands and there is nothing I can do. So on Saturday morning I will line up in Milngavie and run. I won't look at each checkpoint and think I must go faster or slower but instead thank someone (I am not entirely sure who, maybe some ultra running God) that my injury hasn't played up and I am allowed to go on.
Don't get me wrong. I have still tried to do as much as I can to make sure I am on the start line not completely out of shape. I have been to Hampden Park Sports Science Centre. I have had awesome support from these guys this year and it has been great to be able to bounce ideas and receive so much wisdom from them too. They prodded and tapped and said that they hoped I would be okay for the race but not to run again until then. And so it has been two weeks of aqua jogging and cycling. I swear that by the time this race starts I will be faster swimming the Loch.

So like I said before - it's two days until the race. How will it go? I really don't know. But two weeks ago Scott Bradley was winning the Hardmoors race when he collapsed. Thankfully he is making a recovery now but it does bring all this ultra racing back down to earth a bit for me. Nothing is as important as life. No race is and everyone has to remember that. No use finishing the WHW to then spending 6 months recovering or worse - never recovering. We are born to run but it should never take over our lives completely. With this in mind I will start the race. Will I get to the first checkpoint? Will I finish? I certainly will try my best. I will also remember a bit of advice Scott gave to me once - "If your not enjoying it, then your going too fast" Its been invaluable over the last two years. So if it all goes pear shaped then I will also remember one more thing - in the end there is always next year.
JK - did we ever discuss the 5 year plan?

And so I just want to finish off wishing everyone a fantastic race on Saturday, newbies and old timers alike. Try to enjoy it, have fun and enjoy the whiskey on the finish line.
Thank you to all the organisers, marshals and support crews that will battle against the midges, rain, cold and give up their weekends so that us nutters can run. Thank you so much. :-)
See you all in Milngavie. I can't wait. :-)

He's dead Jim

2011-06-06T17:02:00.001+01:00

Well it's all looking desperate now. I went for a 10 mile run yesterday and by the end my Achilles was really sore and my calf swollen. I have a Physio appointment at Hampden Park on Wednesday but it's back to no running for the next couple of days. At the moment it is looking like my shoes is doing the damage so don't count me out yet.
I will be optimistic until 1am on Saturday although I don't think Leonard "Bones" McCoy would have any hope and I am starting to think that wearing a red t-shirt ain't helping either.

The Countdown Continues

2011-06-04T12:34:00.001+01:00

Well it has been a while since I blogged. I could blame a lack of things happening in regards to training but that wouldn't be true. In fact I have done some of my best training ever but I have also been truly tested in terms of injury. I have learnt a lot in the last couple of years about when to listen to your body and believe me I have certainly been having to use that knowledge recently.

So last time I blogged was a week before the Fling. I had Achilles Tendonitis in my left leg after having shin splints on the same leg. All caused by a tight calf and so this caused me to make the biggest decision ever in my running career and drop the Fling race. It was really annoying. Here I was in my best condition ever but an injury meant that I wouldn't be able to race. On the day of the Fling I supported Debbie and there was only one small minute that I wished that I was racing in that heat. While watching Andrew and Jez battling it out for first I wanted to be part of it. Reality though hit me moments later when I realised I never would and would have likely been about an hour behind them. Well unless they were just coming to Drymen and we all know how my story went that year. Back to the Fling and Debbie had a fabulous result coming in second. Even more amazing considering the heat and how she normally only has a comfort range between 14.5C and 15C I was sweeper for the last 12 miles and although it was a long journey I met a few new friends on the way.

After the Fling it was time to ramp up the mileage and try to get back what I had lost during the month of April. Against all my training of previous years I decided that I would need to have 5 weekends of long runs and then taper for the West Highland Way. This completely went against my usual 3 weeks long 1 week short (Recovery) but the way things were panning out I had no choice if I wanted to be fit for the race. I checked with Graeme at Hampden and he agreed with the plan. So the day after the Fling I ran 17 miles easy on the hills. Then the following weekend I did 26 miles on the hills and then 10 miles on road. After the enforced rest for April and only 114 miles total for that month including 40 in one day the running was so tough. But I kept it all easy and this made the runs a good 4 to 5 hours of tough time on feet. The weekend after I ran with Thomas who was still recovering from the Fling. It was great to be back out with my old training partner though. Next day I was out doing 12 miles, the Achilles still niggling but manageable.

Then it was onto the most important runs of my training. The 2 back to back weekends that I had planned. I had taken the Friday off and was running from my house to Callander where I would stay over as part of the Garscube Training weekend. The distance is just under 40 miles and once in Milngavie you take the WHW to Drymen before going onto the No7 Cycle track to Aberfoyle and then Callander. I had ran it last year and thourouly enjoyed it. Again I tried to take it easy and relaxed. I never stopped the watch for any breaks and was pleasantly surprised that the run only took 6 hours. About an hour faster than I thought it would take. So it seemed that the enforced rest and not doing the Fling may have helped. I felt so fresh at the end that I even managed to go running with some of my club mates that night for 6 miles at 7:16 min/mile pace. Probably not the wisest thing to do and certainly if I had known what the next day was going to bring I would have instead gone to bed.

The next day I ran 36.50 miles including two munros (Ben Vorlich and Stuc a Chroin). The first 18 miles I did myself before meeting two runners from the club, Athole and Euan. Athole had done this run before and has supported me in every WHW but this was all new to Euan and I dont think he will ever be inclined to run in an ultra anytime soon after it. All was fine until we reached Ben Vorlich. Athole was going great and forging ahead, but I was having a low point and struggling to get enough food into myself. Once we got to the top the wind and rain hit us. Hillwalkers were dressed for the winter and here was the three of us dressed as if we were going for a newspaper on a summers day. There was gasps of disbelief as we headed for Stuc a Chroin whilst the well dressed Hillwalkers retreated from the top of Vorlich to go to the pub early. By Stuc we were all totally miserable. I was so cold that the fell shoes I had carried for 60 miles over the 2 days didnt come out of my pack in fear that my frozen hands would not be able to tie them up. It was so cold and my hands so numb that they started to swell and looked like red balloons attached to my rain jacket. I had gloves with me but again it was too late as I would never have been able to get into my pack.

Luckily this year we didn't get lost like last year and found the track out (and the correct valley) quickly. Problem was that this year the river crossing that we had to make was horrendous. We had to wade through it but seeing as I was soaked through it didn't matter so I jumped in. The sudden freezing water sending my calfs into cramp. Not great when you have been nursing them for the last 2 months in the fear of more injuries. We got back to the bunkhouse in time for the football that had been keeping us going the whole way. I then missed the whole thing when I fell asleep. 36.5 miles in just over 7 hours with 1800m ascent so happy with that even with the weather.

I then had a slightly easier week to recover before hitting the distance again and running the 30 miles from Balmaha to Inversnaid and back. I had just bought a new pair of shoes (After one and a half hours trying loads on in Achilles Heel, thank you Christine). I had been unhappy with my Nike Pegasus since they had changed the sole to something even more cushioned than the pillows they had before. So with my new Brooks Adrenaline I ran the route in 4 hours 50 mins. It didn't feel fast at all but was quicker than I had ever done it before. But I was sore by the end. My left shin and now my right Achilles. Damn injuries. The worst thing was though that I had promised to meet some other WHW runners on the way that night for a 20 mile night run too. So I spent the next 4 or 5 hours trying to get a rest as my calfs twitched and pulsated and prevented me getting any sleep at all. Nightmare.

I turned up at Milngavie for 11pm after popping painkillers and promising myself that if I had any twinges at all I would head straight back to bed. Fortunately I had no twinges at all and made steady progress until a lot of fallen trees stopped us on the way through the forest after Drymen. At the end of the run and 50 miles ran in the preceding 24 hours I could have actually continued on. That was a great feeling and gave me a lot of confidence which was then shattered when I went out a 5 mile easy jog on Tuesday and the return of my screaming achilles (in the right leg now) and more time off running and back to the pool and bike.

And so after 5 very good weeks training I am back to resting an injury. Luckily its taper time and I am meant to be taking it easy.

The funny thing is that this taper is actually different. The years before my taper has been a nightmare. Three weeks of nerves and fidgeting. Not sure if you should train or not, are you going to fast/slow. This year I cant run and so there is no stress. My body is recovering and I am enjoying it. I weighed myself after the 5 hard weeks and had lost 3 Kg so no food fears as I gain it back on. Is this a new way to prepare for a big race? Don't train at all. Well we will see in 2 weeks time.

The Fling is Flung

2011-04-23T08:49:00.001+01:00

It's a week before the Fling and its now official. I have pulled out. My shin splints have eased but I now have tendinitis in my Achilles. That with the fact I haven't run over 10 miles in three weeks is an enforced taper I wasn't wanting. Running the Fling would be far too risky a strategy for the WHW now. With such an elite field the chances are that I would get pulled along at too fast a pace, end up broken or worse injured more and then spend even longer with little training and really struggle for my main race.

This week started so well. After last week easing myself back into training I felt ready for a bit of speed on Monday and I was flying. Feeling good and reckoning my Fling chances were good. On Tuesday I went out for an easy 8 mile run. After 6 miles I felt pain in my Achilles that would go away on hills but hurt on the flat. I think it was caused by all the calf stretching I had been doing recently to combat my shin issue.

So no running on Wednesday and Thursday and by Friday I was ready to run again. But to be on the safe side I decided to do an aqua session with Graeme at the Sports Science Centre. Into the pool and luckily for me there was Frank the Physio there too. He took a look at my ankle and straight away said 10 days no running. So that was that. No more pressure or decisions. I trust Graeme and the guys at Hampden. It is good having them look at things away from any emotional attachment etc. If this had happened when I didn't have their support I would have run the Fling. And most likely struggled, got a disappointed time or worse injured.
So on with the Aqua session and Graeme didn't take it easy on my injured body. I was knackered at the end but felt good at doing something. We also went through my training plan and adjusted it for not racing the Fling. Afterwards I felt much more positive.

I left Hampden and immediately called Murdo the Fling organiser. Done.

So how do I feel? Actually still okay. I have wanted to see what it would be like to run the WHW without doing the Fling race but I never had the guts to do it. I also think that personally for me any run or more so race over 35 miles are counter productive to my training requiring too much of a taper and too much recovery to be of any real benefit. They do have their place though for a lot of people that like to have done a 50 mile run before the WHW as a confidence booster for it. For me I know I can stagger over a 100 miles so I am happy that my longest run this year before hand will be 35. Kate Jenkins said something similar earlier this year. She does not to badly on that philosophy.
And if I ever worry about my mileage I alway take a look at Gav's blog. He does amazingly well on lower mileage with a sub 20 hour WHW under his belt after having only ran 450 miles that year before it. Well, I am on about 800 so does that mean I can put my feet up until June?

Good luck to everyone running the Fling. It's gonna be some race and I can't wait to watch and cheer you all on.
Enjoy the easy week. I will. :-)

Running Again

2011-04-14T17:40:00.001+01:00

Woohoo. After my enforced rest the Physio gave me the go-ahead to start running again on Tuesday. I had actually gone to the Physio in my running gear in the hope that the answer would be yes. To be honest I knew it would be as my leg was much better and after some prodding and manipulation he agreed with me. Shame that I still had 30 minutes of my appointment left and so he massacred my tight calves.
So I left Achilles Heel limping more than I had when I went in but feeling fabulous that at last I could run again. I drove to a field beside my house and then attempted to run. It was pretty horrific and I must have looked hilarious as I tried to run again. Everything was tight and sore but after 5 minutes I was off. This lasted another 5 minutes and then my body decided it liked being a lazy bugger and decided to get slower and slower. Still I was happy to get out and logged 2.5 miles. On Wednesday I logged another 6 miles and then today it was 8. Today felt great and no problems with my shin but I honestly feel like I ran 30 miles. I was just tired, my legs ached and my HR was just way higher than it normally is for an easy run. Hopefully though after another few more runs everything will settle down.

I also spoke to Graeme at Hampden Park and it was this conversation that brought me back to earth a bit.
The Highland Fling race is probably not going to happen for me. It's not that I can't do it. Heck I could run it tomorrow but the problem is that if I get injured or take too long to recover then my WHW is finished and so is my season.
I am not going to make any definite decisions yet though. I am going to wait until the Monday before the race and I am going to train as if I was still doing the race too. I may still do it but the benefits really do have to out weigh the risks and with a race of 53 miles this is hard to justify.

I am not unhappy about this decision at all. Actually I feel quite grown up and I know that the Fling is a B race for me but the WHW is my A race. Last year I actually felt my fittest in the Fling. Fitter than the WHW and so this enforced rest may be a way to try something new. Richie didn't finish the Fling last year and he did pretty good at the WHW. So everything happens for a reason.

So at the moment I am 50/50 for doing it. I will see how the next week or so goes and make a decision then.

Good luck to Athole, Euan C, Euan G, Russ and everyone else that is doing the London Marathon this weekend.

D Day

2011-04-11T21:53:00.001+01:00

First of all, I just want to say thank you to everyone that has been asking after me over the last week or so. Most people have said that the problems I am having are shin splints and that has helped me in looking at ways to speed up my recovery. It certainly has helped me.

So I haven't ran since Saturday 2nd April now. The longest time without running since the West Highland Way race last year and even then I still did some sort of exercise in the way of Aqua jogging and walking. In the last week I have done next to nothing. I did one session of Aqua jogging on Saturday and it was okay but hurt a bit when I started. My legs felt tired and there was nothing in them.
But I am still optimistic. The last few days have seen an improvement in the pain on my shin and certainly since I started stretching my calf muscles. Tomorrow is the day though that the Physio will reassess me and I will find out if I can run. I feel ready for running again although I do feel wee twinges every now and then. If the Physio does give the okay I have decided to take my time coming back. Maybe I am just getting lazy.

Another reason in posting today is that I am trying some new blogging software that I can use from my iPad. I have had an iPad for a year now and this is the first time that I have found some half decent software to blog with. The iPad is perfect for doing quick blogs with and so hopefully this will help too.
The app is called Blogsy. So far it seems to have some better features than many of the Blogging apps for PCs and Macs.

I'll see what it is really like over the next few posts.

Injured

2011-04-07T13:41:00.001+01:00

I am injured.

After my 40 mile run on Saturday my lower left leg swelled up, got very tight and made even walking painfully sore. I now have to cross roads at traffic lights, use banisters going up and down stairs and get overtaken when walking outside by the young, old and physically challenge. Although I did have one win the other day when I overtook a very fat middle aged woman. Her benefit fuelled fags slowing her down to a crawl.

So what happened to me? I have gone from being the fittest ever to a hobbling mess.

The first signs were just after the D33. My calfs during the race had felt like they were going to cramp and then afterwards had felt tight. During the two weeks that followed they didn't cause me any concern but were still tight. Also though the front of my left shin was now tight too. I had rubbed it, massaged it and stretched it but still it wouldn't loosen. But there was no cause for concern when I met Lucy for a 40 miler from Drymen to Tyndrum as I had had 2 weeks of good training.

After about 20 miles though I could feel the shin a bit. Still nothing too bad and nothing to raise to much concern but by Beinglas and 30 miles I could feel it a lot more. The frustrating thing was my legs felt fantastic. Loads of energy and no tiredness at all. Just the sore shin.

We stopped at Beinglas for a beer (as you do on long training runs) and really on hindsight I should have just called it a day there. Running to Crianlarich was fine and after leaving Lucy there I continued towards Tyndrum when it started to actually get painful. The constant ups and downs of that section was what got me and by the wigwams I decided to just walk, run to the finish. Still my legs apart from my shin felt great. Thomas caught up with me then looking really fresh after his 100k race and I decided since this part was a bit flatter that I could run in with him.

I had no problems at all running again and finished in good spirit thinking that after a day or two's rest it would be fine.

That night I even did some ceiledh dancing too.

The next morning though I woke up to my lower left leg badly swollen and looking a bit bruised too. I knew straight away that this wasn't going to be a couple of days fix.

So I haven't ran since Saturday now. The swelling hasn't gone yet but I did go to the physio yesterday and it certainly looks like the tightness in the muscles of my lower leg and foot is what is causing the issue. The physio (Andy from Achilles Heel) tore into the leg and although painful I was pleased because he wouldn't do that if there was any damage.

This morning my leg is starting to feel much better and I even managed to run about 3 meters (yes meters) in the office when someone was looking for me. There was no pain and I was pleased that things are getting there.

The physio has asked to see me again and has said no running until at least Tuesday when he will reassess me.

So am I worried about this or driving everyone nuts with temper tantrums? No actually I am fairly fine about it. It may even suit me as my body will be fully recovered and repaired for the high mileage next month for the WHW or if I make it the Fling. Yes the Fling, it isn't a definite anymore as I will need to see what happens but I am at my fittest ever at the moment and I don't think that a couple of weeks off will affect that at all. Certainly not my endurance although I may slow down a bit which isn't a worry when your key race is run at 10+ minute miles.

I certainly would rather have a few weeks out at this stage and get it sorted than trying to keep training and mess up the WHW completely.

So now I just need to fill up a full weekend running free. What do normal people do nowadays? I cant remember.

D33

2011-03-22T23:18:00.001Z

Results Garmin Connect Info

The D33 is the first race in the Scottish Ultra Marathon Series for 2011. This is the second time that this ultra has been organised and because I did it last year I decided that I would do it this year again to see if my training was progressing forwards or backwards. Since the Nationals I have felt a little bit more tired than usual and this has resulted in me having an easier weekend last week. But this week I felt rejuvenated and actually started to look forward to the D33.

Last year I finished in 3 hours 57 minutes in 5th place. I was ecstatic with how it had gone. To be honest I was a bit more worried about this year because of that. This year though like last I would run it as a training run. This would mean that I would not taper and the race would be at the end of a normal training week. Well not quite because I would take Thursday easier (aqua jogging) then train as normal on Friday before travelling to Aberdeen and racing on Saturday. The first half of the week consisted of a hill run and two speed sessions. So no way that I was tapering.

So we travelled up to Aberdeen on Friday and stayed at my friend Tom's house. Waking up on Saturday I was very relaxed and didn't worry at all. In Duffie Park I registered and said Hi to Karen and George the organisers before walking about a bit and then wandering up to the start line.

I met some of the usual faces and some new ones too at the start. Matt Williamson and Bob Souter were both here and would be the first time I had ran a race with them. Both are strong runners and I knew would do well. Grant Jeans and Scott Bradley were here and a welcome return by Lucy as well. I also met Mark Cooper for the first time as well. Bob Malcolm, Ian Beattie and others meant that this would be a really social run..

Last year started very easy and I ran an 8 min mile. This year my thoughts were if I did a 7 min mile I could ease back to last years pace and a PB would be certain.

George started the race and I ran with Lucy and Matt. It really was great to see Lucy enjoying running again and she really did seem happy. So the first mile went by quickly as I chatted away and I took a look to see I had run it at 6:45. Result I thought. But it felt very easy and I felt relaxed. Lucy said to go on and so I ran up to the next group and joined in the conversation with them. There was a runner in this group who was running in a pair of plimsoles. I worried how his feet would feel at the end of the run.

Starting with Lucy and Matt

By the second mile I had left the group and was by myself. I kept checking my watch and it would say under 6:50's. But my heart rate was still under 150 so I wasn't taxing myself. I would try to slow down but then my pace would shift back up again as if my body was actually more efficient at the faster pace. At the 6 miles mark I crossed a main road and saw Debbie and Tom taking pictures. It was good to see some people and have some cheers. Looking at my watch my average pace had now dropped below 6:40 so I decided to slow a bit again. But still my natural pace seemed to keep pushing me faster and after the next hilly section my pace had again dropped back down. I decided now that as long as my HR didn't start to cause any concern I would stick at a pace that felt comfortable and hope that my body would feel okay for all 33 miles.

Arriving at the road crossing at 6 miles

At 8 miles there was a checkpoint and I was 5 minutes ahead of my time last year. By now I was in the countryside. The sun was out and I could feel the warmth from the early Spring sun. I was glad because I had decided to just wear short sleeves today and I felt sorry for anyone with warmer clothes on. By now I hadn't seen a runner since the second mile and in fact couldn't see anyone in the distance either but I knew from last year that a lot of people slow down in the second half of the run and I would hopefully catch them then. I wasn't sure what position I was in either but thought I must be in top 10. I didn't care though and just made sure that I was okay. No 1 priority to make sure the body is fine and the race will take care of itself. That's what Mark Johnston always tells me and so far its working.

At about 12 miles I finally caught sight of another runner in the distance. Over the next few miles I slowly caught up with him until when I was only a couple of hundred meters from him I saw Debbie who was there to change around my bumbag just before the half way point. But I was totally preoccupied with the guy in front and I threw the bumbag at Debbie and continued on.

Throwing my bumbag at Debbie

Instantly I felt lighter and within a minute I was right behind him. I waited for a space and then went by.

At just before 16 miles I saw the first of the faster runners going past. It was Grant Jeans looking relaxed with Scott Bradley hot on his heels. I cheered both of them on. Next was Bob Souter. I cheered him on but he looked like he was starting to struggle a bit as he wasn't his usual cheery self. Fourth place also looked like he was struggling and then I reached the checkpoint. Excellent, I was in 5th place. Spurred on and knowing that I would be able to increase the pace over the next few miles I went up a gear and was happy that the headwind instantly disappeared as it started to push me on now.

Straight away I started to go past the runners going the opposite way. Matt wasn't far behind me and looking very relaxed. Certainly someone that is going to do well this year. I was so surprised at how many people cheered me on by name as I went past. This spurred me on more and I caught 4th place quite quickly. He stayed with me for a bit but I soon couldn't hear his steps behind me anymore.

Then I caught sight of Bob Souters blue vest in the distance. I was surprised to catch up so soon with him so I knew that something must be wrong and as I came up behind him I could see he was limping and holding his hamstring. When I past him I asked if he was okay and if he needed anything. But he said he was fine and told me to get going.

The next few miles went by quickly. I was ecstatic to be in 3rd place but knew that I had very competent runners not far behind me. I was well aware that I hadn't refuelled since I had met Debbie and thrown my bumbag at her. So I got back to my 30 min fuelling regime. Because it was a faster run today my food of choice was gels, energy drink and red bull. I quickly ate all three and felt a surge of energy and so pushed on again. The hills I walked up last year, this felt easier this year and I was able to run up them. This gave me more confidence and when I looked at my watch my average pace was now 6:34's and I still felt very good.

With 6 miles to go I met Debbie again. I didn't stop but kept going. The end was close. But things started to go a bit wrong with 3 miles to go. At first it was a tingling in my calves. Then they started to twitch. Then I felt one of them feel like it was going to cramp. I instantly slowed the pace and it went away.

Damn I thought. This is all I need. If my calf cramps I might have to walk the last 3 miles and that would be the end of all my hard work. The twitching went away so I sped up and it would come back again. On a long straight section I stopped and looked round. No-one was in sight so I stretched my calves. This worked great and I managed to get going again at 6:30's. After a mile though it came back again. So I stopped and went through the stretching again.

Finally at the park and I again had to think where I was going like last year. I didn't want to get lost in the last half mile. Any moment I thought that someone would over take me.

Then I saw the finish line. I could see everyone smiling and loads of people taking pictures. Wow. This is what its like to finish on the podium. Just as I crossed the line my calf started to cramp. No not now I thought but the moment i stopped it went away.

Finishing in 3rd position

So I finished in 3rd position in 3 hours 38 minutes. I am very happy at that. Looking at my stats I was at halfway in 1 hour 49 minutes and so my pacing was pretty bang on. The only issue I had was my calves which I need to look into.

1st place Grant Jeans, 2nd place Scott Bradley and 3rd place Me

Lucy was 1st Female

Matt was 4th (With Jayne his support and me with Debbie my support)

So I just want to say thank you to my support - Debbie and Cairn and also to George, Karen and all the marshals. It was a fab race and I hope to be back next year.

The D33 Medal

3rd Place Prize

National Cross Country

2011-02-24T22:35:00.001Z

Results

As I said in my last post I was a big doubt about running this one. As the week went on I got worse and by Friday I was feeling awful. I came home a shaking wreck. Whatever was wrong with me hadn't wrecked my appetite though and I ate the biggest serving of Fish and Chips that you have ever seen. Straight away it seemed to do the trick and I went to bed feeling that I might just attempt it.

In the morning Debbie was off to recce the Perth Ultra Course. When I got up I opened the curtain hoping there would be six foot of snow and an excuse not to go to the Nationals but there was nothing and so I spent the morning being lazy and getting ready. I arrived in Falkirk in plenty of time but then spent half an hour pushing Cairn and his buggy through a much muddier course than last year before I met Debbie and Sharon. By this time I was bursting for the toilet and on the verge of kidney failure. The toilet queue was far too long so I jogged uncomfortably about until I found a suitable bush. Then with half an hour to go I realised I didn't have my number and so spent the next 20 minutes looking for the Garscube Team Captain. So much for the warm up then.

This is my second National XC Race. It is some race with the creme of Scottish talent running side by side with us normal punters. The start is phenomenal with 450 runners flying off at stupid pace up the first hill. I remembered this from last year and decided to get over to one side and not be crushed in the stampede. Still when the gun went off I could feel people pushing me and trying to get by. But I stood my own and didn't let them dictate my pace. I wanted to test my fitness and make sure I had no lasting effects from whatever I had during the week, oh and also I had to warm up.

After a few hundred meters the course went down hill (which was really boggy this year) and then around the Loch. I spied Mark Johnston and decided to latch on beside him. He is a great pacer and I knew from recent training that I should be okay to stick with him for a couple of laps at least. John Bell joined us and the three of us started to pass people that had certainly started far too fast. Not long after this Mark dropped off the back and John and I went on but I was keen to stay in a tempo effort HR (<166) and didn't want to push the first lap too hard and so I let John go on.

To be honest I didn't feel that I was going too fast and the effort was easy, well for a Cross Country. I was half way around the first lap and starting to pass runners that I recognised. It wasn't slower runners but runners that have beaten me recently and so I started to think that this could be my day and I might have a good race. I passed Russ and Neil from lunchtime training before we crossed a flooded section of the course and then we made our way towards the start again for the next lap. This is very muddy but still I was passing people without too much effort. I knew it would get harder as the race went on so I was keen to not overdo it or get too excited but rather let others fatigue and slow down.

At the end of the lap Debbie, Sharon and Cairn cheered me on and this encouraged me more. Then I spied Paul Thomson and Chris Upson. Paul had beaten me last year in the Nationals and had been someone I was keen to test myself against and Chris who was injured a lot last year had come back and by all accounts was getting very fit.

Into the second lap and I passed Paul. Feeling strong I targeted Chris who I think had a shock when I said hello. I passed him but he wasn't letting go so easily and quickly overtook me again. He was much stronger on the very muddy section and so I let him go first. I have been strong on flat surfaces recently and thought that I would be better waiting until then. I overtook Chris but all the way round the rest of that lap I kept thinking he would be just behind me somewhere.

Midway around the second lap I heard a familiar heavy breathing and spitting behind me. Only looking halfway round I shouted "I know that noise" It was Mark Johnston and he had caught me up. I was hoping to try and stay ahead of Mark in this race but he is stronger than me in this terrain and has a better racing head than me. Back into the flooded section of the course and I ran through it while Mark had to go around it as he had forgotten his running socks and had some hillwalking socks on instead and was trying to keep them dry. I thought that this would buy me some time to get ahead again but Mark pushed by me not long after. I latched onto him but by the third lap there was a bit of distance between us.

On the third lap I was amazed at how much people were slowing and at the Loch section (which really was like the terrain I train on) I was flying and passing a lot of runners. A few would catch up with me on hills but once it evened out I would start to pass them again. With only half a lap to go I noticed I was getting closer to Mark again but it was too late and I didn't catch him before the end.

So I finished in 90th position in a time of 45:36. 19 seconds slower than last year but 13 places better off. It was much muddier this year with most times at least a minute behind what they were last year so I was pleased with that and pleased at my pacing throughout.

It certainly is a boost to my confidence to be ahead with the training compared to last years races.

A tough week

2011-02-17T13:46:00.001Z

After quite a few weeks on top of the world it was only a matter of time before I crashed back down to earth again. This week has been tough. It could be one of many things Saturday's Race, Faster than usual long run and then a Fartlek on Monday or perhaps one of the many colds that people seem to have at this time of year. What ever it is I haven't been feeling 100% this week. My legs are fatigued and I feel mentally and physically tired.

In response though I am trying my best to be sensible. I am eating well, drinking fluids, sleeping loads and most importantly relaxing my training a bit. It is starting to pay off as I am now feeling a bit better today so here is hoping I feel great by Saturday which is the National Cross Country race where I am hoping to break into the top 100 this year.

So after my fartlek on Monday with Garscube, I ran an 8 mile run on Tuesday at a nice easy 7:44 min/mile pace and then yesterday I did a session that involved 8,6,4,3,2,1 minute reps. I took the first two at my normal pace for this session but tried to lay off a little for the rest of it. Although the pace was still good my HR was in a steady zone rather than my normal tempo zone and so showed I wasn't working too hard.

This morning I was in Hampden Park's Sports Medicine Department for some recovery work with Graeme. I really am enjoying learning from him at the moment. Today we did an Aqua Jogging session which involved some faster efforts but also some stretching in the pool as well. Thankfully he didn't film it as I am hopeless at stretching. On a positive note my legs felt fantastic after it although I do still feel a bit tired.

Graeme spoke to me about some of the training I had done recently and showed me that there was a couple of areas that I looked a little fatigued in recently according to my Heart Rate. So after the Nationals I am going to try to keep a lid on my effort and make sure that I am recovering well. We also talked about nutrition and what went wrong in last years WHW race. I can't wait to start looking into all of this in more detail in the next few weeks. Graeme though true to form told me to eat more and that muffins were good. So at lunchtime I ate a massive muffin. Yum.

So the session with Graeme this morning was very good for me and I am going to try to organise another pool session with him in the next few weeks.

Tomorrow I am going to just do an easy run of about 5 miles with Mark Johnston and forget the strides session. Hopefully with the two easy days I will be fully recovered for Saturday race and the important long run with John on Sunday.

A two PB weekend

2011-02-15T12:43:00.001Z

Saturday 12th February

Garscube XC 6 mile race

Cross Country Championships Results - 12 Feb2011

With Debbie having a weekend training for Scotland duty in the Perth 100k race I was left to my own devices.

I decided to run an old favourite the week before the Nationals. The Garscube XC Championships is a great warm up for the Nationals and I need some practise at this sort of distance as well. Not having raced this distance in nearly a year I also had to work out my pacing before I blew up big time at Falkirk.

Before talking about the race I though I would show a picture of the race after the first mile.

Ben, me and Joe. Garscube XC First Mile (picture courtesy of Alan Blair)

Yeah, I may have gone off a little too fast at the start. To be honest this picture wasn't too bad. A couple of hundred metres after this I was ahead of Ben and Joe.

So back to the start and I had a plan. Stay at an HR of under 162 on the first lap then 166 on the second lap and then I can see how it goes on the third. So I started behind a lot of people but without trying I was before long in a group of Ben, Joe and me with John Bell just behind me. I have to say but it felt easy although I knew that this is normal in the first ten minutes of a race. I tried to relax a bit more but felt myself being pulled along in the group. Towards the end of the first lap though I started to realise that I couldn't sustain this pace and so dropped off the back.

I tried to relax but was wary that John Bell wasn't far behind me. After the first lap I could hear the cheer as John went by so I knew he wasn't far behind but the early pace had tired me out and John was going strong and caught me on the second half of the lap. But instead of going past he waited on me while shouting encouragement to me. He looked very relaxed and strong. He is certainly training well and looking good for Falkirk next week.

John pulled me around the rest of the lap but as we crossed into the last lap he stopped and said he had had enough. I was puzzled as he was so strong and certainly could have got round in front of me without too much effort.

So back by myself again. I could still see Joe not too far in front of me but there was no-one close behind me at all. So I relaxed a bit more until I realised towards the end of the lap that I was onto beating my PB from last year. So I sped up for the last half mile and finished 3rd in 37:19.

Apart from the first lap I was happy enough and taking 20 seconds off last years time too. As a bonus I also won the handicap race by 1 second. I do need to watch next week though because Falkirk is a lot less forgiving if I go out too fast on the first lap.

Sunday 13th February

18 mile Kilpatrick run

One of the things that I am trying this year is doing some of my runs a little faster than I did last year. Its a dangerous thing to do as it could backfire on me and I could end up being injured or overtrained. But at this stage of the year I am trying it now and then but I will monitor my recovery in case it starts to go tits up. I am not totally abandoning what I learned last year though as I still stay within my recovery HR zones, all be it my new ones.

To keep me motivated Matt Wiliamson was joining me for this run. A very fast road runner and hill runner. He is running the Fling this year and if he gets it right then he will do very well. So one to look out for.

I was worried that Matt would really put me through my paces on this run but he was gentle. It was great training because at hard sections we took it easy but at easier sections we pushed the pace a bit more but not the effort. Just like in an ultra race. So great training. It wasn't made any easier though by the fact that it was heavy rain throughout the run and the underfoot conditions were some of the wettest that I had ever seen on the Kilpatricks. At times my feet were so cold that I couldn't feel them at all and this wasn't just for a couple of minutes but for tens of minutes.

By the end we were both soaked through but strong enough to log the last mile at 6:30 and the last half mile at under 6. I am hoping to get out with Matt a few more times before the Fling. He was good company and very strong.

18.48 miles in 2:45:36 @ 8:58 per mile

Next week I will be back in the Kilpatricks for my 20 miler with John Kynaston which I am really looking forward to and that will be the day after the National Cross Countries Race in Falkirk.

January, a long run and an easy week.

2011-02-06T22:28:00.001Z

I always think of January as the start of my training for the ultra season and more importantly the West Highland Way race. To be honest I never stop training but I did have an easier October before using November and December as a time for some 10K training and an attempt to get my speed back a bit. I did hope to do a couple of 10K races during my off season but because of the weather the ones I had planned to do were cancelled. Not a problem because I still managed to train well and get a lot of my speed back.

So onto January then and with the start of Ultra training it is back to my 4 weekly training plan. There is no right or wrong way to training for an ultra but while training with other runners you pick up a lot of wee things from them. I picked this up from John Kynaston. First week I do an 18 mile run, second week it is a 20 mile run, then a WHW run that increases every month and then an easy week for recovery. It worked for me last year and so hopefully it will this year too.

My total mileage for January was 285 but miles isn't everything. I think that it is better to have consistency rather than hundreds of miles. Better to do less miles at the weekend but be fresh to continue your training through the week than do mega miles at the weekend and then need a few days off to recover from it. Like I said before though what works for one person doesn't always work for others but this works for me.

30 mile WHW long run

I love the monthly long runs on the WHW. It really is just a social run with friends on some really stunning scenery. Actually I miss these runs the most when the Ultra season finishes.
The first run of the year always starts at Drymen and finishes at Beinglas Farm. Just under 30miles but along some of the hardest sections to run of the West Highland Way along the east side of Loch Lomond. My plan is to always run these runs within my recovery HR zone but today I also had the chance to test my new recovery zone of < 151bpm. I didn't plan to go near this HR but just use it when I needed it. A bit like an extra gear for emergencies.

Ross, me, John, Thomas, Richie, Richard. (Photo courtesy of John Kynaston)

Debbie and Sharon were also running this but due to training for the 100K in Perth in March they decided to start early and run 35 miles.

Just after 9am we left Drymen and went up the hill into Garadhban Forest. Straight away I felt what my increase recovery zone can do. I ran up the hill without going over. Normally before I would have had to have walked or at least slow right down but today I easily ran up to the top.
Before long I got into my stride and started to chat along with Richie. We chatted about the 100K in Perth and whether we would run in it or not. I have decided that I wont as I am finding it hard to fit into my plan. Before long I looked back to find that everyone else was quite a far bit behind us. It felt very comfortable so Richie and I continued on. Chatting away and running relaxed. I had my large backpack with me full to the brim with unnecessary junk to weigh it down. Train heavy and race light.
On the way down from Conic Hill, Thomas caught us up. He looked like he had ran fast up the hill to catch us.
At Balmaha we waited on everyone to catch up again and then off we ran towards Rowardennan. With the flatter trails I was again able to test my HR zone and found that pretty easily I would gain distance on everyone else and then I would slow down again and they would catch up. I felt fantastic and very light on my feet.
Again I ran ahead but this time Richie and Thomas followed and we ran on. Chatting and all looking relaxed.
At Rowardennan we waited on the others again but then decided just to carry on. The tap at the Park building wasn't working so I had to look for a stream to fill up my bottles. This happened just as we started to go up the hills and my HR monitor started to complain as I tried to run the hills with Richie and Thomas. So they both started to pull away from me but I was not wanting to waste myself on the hills and so eased off and made sure I stayed within my zones.
Luckily though they waited for me at Inversnaid where they had met up with Debbie and Sharon and so we all left together.

Straight away Richie started to push and feeling great I responded and tried to follow. Still within my HR zone and still comfortable. But it was an eye opener watching Richie dance across the hard terrain. He would pull away on this and then I would catch up a bit when we hit easier stuff in which I could run faster. Then Richie would get away again on an uphill and I would start to catch him again on a downhill. The whole way to Beinglas we played this game with Thomas just behind us. He was a bit tired after pushing over Conic Hill but really wasn't too far behind.
It was great fun trying to keep up with the winner of last years race but especially when it felt not too hard. Okay I was touching the upper limits of my recovery zone and going over it every now and then but I felt fantastic and the best bit was I could have kept going once we reached Beinglas.
We met Silke and Katrina. Thomas arrived shortly after us and then Debbie, Sharon, John, Richard and Ross not far behind.
It was a fantastic run and everyone had a great time.

Recovery Week

Monday 31st January

After a WHW run I always have an easy day which means Aqua Jogging. Its a bit different though today as it was my first time trying out the facilities at Hampden Park in the Sports Medicine Centre. It was great having a pool to myself that was deep enough to Aqua Jog around and my legs felt great after it.

Tuesday 1st February

Just an easy 8 mile run. Nice and slow and really just to get my legs going again.

Wednesday 2nd February

2 x 8 min reps + 4 x 2 min reps

It was very wet and windy today but this was a great wee session to do. I felt good and my legs didn't have any problems after Sunday. But I have noticed that I am so hungry since Sunday. I really have had to eat a lot and with less training I feel quite lazy. Oh well thats what recovery weeks are for.. :-)
The nutritionist came back to me from Hampden Sports Medicine as well today. I had given them a list of a normal weeks food intake and they commented that my carbs and nutrients are good but I need to have more protein after runs. Woohoo more food.. :-)

Thursday 3rd February

Another easy 8 miles scheduled although it ended up as over 9 when we took the new route over past Dawsholm. Feeling tired again but that is normal for a Thursday for me.

Friday 4th February

Friday can only mean one thing. Glasgow Green Strides. The weather was horrific but this session is one of my best during the week and great the day before a race. All it involves is an easy 2 mile run and then 20 diagonal strides across the football pitches using the bye line as recovery. Then 2 miles easy back. Simples. But your legs always feel fantastic on the Saturday

Saturday 5th February

No long run on an easy week and so I was on the bike for a 35 minute cycle on my rollers. You would have thought that I would have given up after falling off of them on my first attempt but I persisted and now have no issues. So I spent 35 minutes singing and sweating buckets in the house.
Here is the proof that I can go the rollers... Sorry Murdo about the topless shot again... :-)

Sunday 6th February

Today was a 12 mile steady run on roads. My 12 mile steady route is quite hilly but it is a good hard run especially at steady pace. My neighbour Gary came along with me too.
I felt very relaxed and the pace felt very good. I spent most of the run in my upper recovery zone but with any harder section I went into steady state. I was very happy with how it felt to run along at this pace on a hilly course and feel good. Certainly looks like my recovery week has gone well and now ready for the next 3 weeks being harder again with 2 races including the National Cross Country.

11.37m in 1:16:22 @ 6:43 min/mile Avg HR : 145

Week 1 February 2011 / Total miles 43.16

Fantastic News

2011-02-03T23:22:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Graeme Jones at the Sports Medicine Centre at Hampden Park. He was asking if I would consider the opportunity of being a sponsored athlete for the next 8 months. I didn't have to think for too long. Graeme at Sports Medicine helped me so much last year and the opportunity to be sponsored by them is fantastic news for me. To be honest it has come at a great time for me. After last years successes I was wondering how I would improve on that but with Sports Medicines help I have a feeling my chances have just got a lot better.

Last year I had a test at the Sports Medicine Centre. This included a V02 max test with lactate profiling, nutritional analysis and Graeme looking at my training plan. He then assigned each session a heart rate zone based on my lactate threshold and turnpoint. Straight away I noticed that most of my sessions I was doing too hard. I had it in my head that a session should hurt and afterwards I should be tired and worn out. But when using Graeme's zones I found that sessions were easier and I was forced to slow down. At first I felt lazy but after a couple of weeks my body reacted by getting faster at running even although I still felt it easy. I had stopped breaking my body down completely every session and had started to improve after every session. Mark who coaches me at lunchtime can do this without gadgets and in his head but I needed technology and training zones to help me and the Lactate test helped with this. Also chatting with Graeme I found I was drinking too much coffee and not enough food and water. I changed my habits (one of them was to eat more cake and less fruit) and straight away I got rid of the constant cold I had had for a year. I now drink more water at the slightest hint of a cold and I swear I haven't had one in a year. Amazing considering I must have had a sniffle at least for nearly 80% of 2009. Probably in hindsight not a cold but my body complaining about dehydration and overtraining.

And so I spent a lot of last year telling people the merits of having the Lactate test done to them. I learned so much about how my body worked and so when the opportunity of being sponsored and having another one done I jumped at it.

Lactate Profiling with V02 Max Test 25th January 2011

I was a bit tired when I turned up for the test at 8am in Hampden Park. A 12 mile 6:20min/mile run on Saturday and then a 20 mile hill run on the Sunday and my legs certainly were tired. Not much different from last year though but my body certainly felt fitter than last year. I just wondered if the test would show similar results.
I started off speaking to Graeme and peeing into a cup. I think that is to check for diabetes but I am not completely sure.
Then onto the scales to check my weight. Exactly the same as last year at 73.8Kg even although I am eating at least a 3rd more in the 5 meals I eat a day. Then I had my height checked. Again thankfully I was the same height at 184cms. Cool I hadn't shrunk at all during last years training. Then it was straight onto the treadmill for a 10 minute warm up. The last time I had been on a treadmill had been the last test. I hate them and more so I hate running indoors. Far too warm and stuffy. So I took my top off. So sorry about that seeing as I have included pictures.
After the warm up it was time to put on the mask. I hated the mask last year but this time it didn't seem so bad. I wonder what it will feel like at 100% effort. yikes.

So my test had begun.

At the start it is pretty easy. Graeme sets the treadmill to have a 1% gradient and the speed at 11 km/h. After three minutes easy Graeme asks me what effort I am feeling from a chart on the wall. Then he gets you to jump off of the treadmill and takes a spot of blood from my finger to measure my lactic. Then back onto the treadmill straight away without stopping it. Then Graeme increases the pace to 12km/h. Still easy. Another three minutes - more blood, increase the pace and ask my perceived effort. Still the same.

Before long though I am up at 17 Km/h. The effort level is much harder. Breathing through the mask is hard but not as bad as I remembered before. Jumping from the treadmill to test my lactate is hard work now. Even harder to jump back onto the treadmill again and get my legs back moving. Graeme has music on - Pendulum. I trained to them before so this makes it easier but the song doesn't last long and its back to something I don't know again.

The lactate test is over though its now time to see what my max is.
Onto the treadmill but this time instead of increasing the pace Graeme leaves the speed at 17km/h but increases the gradient. I am tired already but the gradient saps my legs and my heart rate rises rapidly. My legs are complaining now and I can feel that I am struggling to keep up with the treadmill. Graeme is shouting at me to continue - "Come on, keep going." He raises the gradient again and I sink further back towards the edge of the treadmill. My legs complain again and I cant get a full breath anymore. My heart is going to leap from my chest. "Come on" Graeme shouts. My legs are buckling, sweat is pouring over my eyes but still I run. Further back on the treadmill "Am I close to the edge?" I think

But Graeme is watching over me so I don't need to worry. Can I go longer? No I don't think so. "Come on, 10 more seconds Marco" shouts Graeme. But I am further back on the treadmill again. My legs are solid and turning to jelly, I cant see properly, my running form is all over the place and I feel like I am about to collapse but just then Graeme stops the test. Its over and I am relieved but I recover quickly from it. Could I have done better? Not sure. It is hard work but the information you gain from it is invaluable for training and racing.

Results

Graeme was able to tell me some of my results straight away and the rest of them in a report that I received a few days later.
Below is some results this year compared to last year

2010
HR at Lactate Threshold - 147
HR at Lactate Turnpoint - 164
V02 max - 49.5
Max HR - 179bpm
% Body Fat - 14.1
Long Distance HR - 147bpm
Recovery HR - 126 to 145bpm
Steady State HR - 147 to 154bpm
Tempo State HR - 155 to 164bpm
Interval State HR - 165

2011
HR at Lactate Threshold - 151
HR at Lactate Turnpoint - 166
V02 max - 54.6
Max HR - 181bpm
% Body Fat - 12.9
Long Distance HR - 151bpm
Recovery HR - 130 to 150bpm
Steady State HR - 151 to 160bpm
Tempo State HR - 161 to 166bpm
Interval State HR - 167

So I am very pleased that I have according to the test improved my fitness. But I could feel it before hand. I certainly think that the training I have done during the winter has helped but also how last year went and how much I learnt to listen to my body while not only training but racing as well.

The information will be invaluable for this years training. Already I have done a long run and with my new HR zones I am able to push it longer and a faster pace but still feel very comfortable. I do think that having a good last years training plus a good winter training for 10k's has given me a fantastic base for Ultra training this year.

West Highland Way Race 2010

2010-07-20T14:44:00.001+01:00

WEST HIGHLAND WAY RACE 2010
5th position
18:47:34

The last two years it has been easier to write a report on the race. Why do I find it easier to write when things have gone wrong I don't know. Maybe I like the pain and suffering, the heart ache at finishing but knowing I could do better. This year things did not go to plan but I pulled through and got a time I can finally be proud of. But I never felt the pain of previous years. Dare I say it was actually easy? A race of this distance is never easy but compared to previously when I could barely walk at 30 min miles, this was a walk in the park. Firstly though I must apologize for the time it has taken to write this blog and secondly there is a lot of disgusting toilet issues in it too. Sorry.

Milngavie 19th June 2010
1am

I really didn't feel nervous this year. Maybe I should. I didn't feel nervous last year and that all went tits up. So in reality I felt nervous at not feeling nervous. This year I had six months of fantastic training and two good races behind me. I was in a completely different last year - both physically and mentally.
Supporting me this year was ever present Rob, who has supported me in most of my ultras and has a great calming affect on everyone. New boy John - his first venture into support had been on the fling and I was finding that he was great addition. I liked his attention to detail in getting things right and from Beinglas onwards Athole. Another old timer in the support team. Always dependable and this year helped me really come through at a major part of the race. More on that later.
Anyway. I had the best team bar none. In this race you rely on these guys to pull you through and these guys excelled.

Back to the start and I was just sitting back in the car eating cashew nuts. In my own wee world. My mum and dad came to wish me luck and it was great to see them. They get worried about me doing stuff like this and I didn't make it any better when I started to tell them about the medical issues you can have. I told them about how it was bad to drink too much and my dad asked "Why?" to which I, quoting Dr Ellis the race doctor, said "Cause you will die.". I immediately regretted saying it and did wonder if they slept more than me that night or not.

Milngavie to Drymen
12.14 miles
1 hour 51min 19s

Dario was everywhere tonight in spirit. I had only known him a short number of years but when he died it was devastating. Our last conversation together was at Ian Beatties BBQ a week after last years race. I was barely able to walk and standing was difficult too. Dario said that perhaps I wasn't suited to races over 50 miles. The WHW was perhaps a step too far. He wasn't the first person to say that. My support team had and also members at my running club. They were all right because performances up to that time showed that. I just wish it hadn't been the last conversation I had with Dario. He never said it in a bad way, people that knew him know that he didn't have a bad bone in his body. He said it like a father to a son sort of way. He was the wise one passing on knowledge to me.

After a minutes applause for Dario, Gilian (Dario's widow) started the race.

And so it had started and I just started walking. I let everyone run ahead and I walked up the stairs at the start. It's a long race and you don't win by setting records in the first 100 meters.
That was the first thing I learnt this year training. Take care of yourself and the race will take care of itself.
I then started to run with Debbie. I think that she was amazed that we were running together. I felt good and relaxed. I tried to pick my mum and dad out from the crowd. A dog was running all about under our feet and I was laughing. Only a WHW start would be so comical. A hundred odd lycra clad weirdos, running past young neds in a posh suburb of Glasgow, with loads of spectators cheering us on while a dog did it's upmost to trip us all up.

When I had ran in the Fling I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere as I left Milngavie. I was chatting and laughing and I enjoying myself. So in the WHW I really thought that because it was an even slower pace I would settle back and chat and laugh with everyone again. But this was not the case. The atmosphere was tense and you could have cut it with a knife. No one said a word. I came to the first hill and walked easily up it. Back running again and out of Mugdock park. Past Dumgoyach hill I glanced back at the centipede of head torch lights all the way up the hill. Still no one spoke.
I am running beside another runner. He is absolutely gasping for air running side by side with me. I glance over to see him sweating buckets. I just want to say to him "please slow down". I wonder what happened to that runner. I hope he finished okay.

Past the Beech Trees pub and I met my support team for the first time. A quick swap of bumbags with them and I was fully stocked up with supplies for the rest of the trip to Drymen.
Now and then the silence was broken by a cautious "thank you" as runners held open the gates for each other.

Then the silence was shattered. I caught up with Sharon Law. Debbie's best pal and first girl in last years race. Nickname - Gibbering Midget. Dressed in her trademark hot pants even although it was only 2am
Straight away she was discussing toilet issues and farting like a trooper. To be honest so was I. My stomach wasn't feeling too good and I could feel the energy drink sloshing about. A sort of glug glug feeling. Not to worry. It is expected when you are trying to eat at this time in the morning.

Drymen to Rowardennan
15.03 miles
2 hours 37 mins 16s
4:28:45 total (27.18m)

I met my support team again just before Drymen. It was just a check to make sure I was okay and apart from my dodgy stomach I was fantastic. The easy pace that I was going felt extremely good and I was relaxed and confident that the training I had done in the last six months would see me through. The Fling had given me the confidence that a slow start pays dividends in the end.
Through the Drymen checkpoint. I hate this checkpoint. You can't see anyone because it's dark and peoples torches shine in your face. I like to just get through this one as soon as possible and so I asked my support to meet me in the car park in the woods after Drymen.
So there I swap my my bumbag again for fresh supplies and continue on.
I don't feel as good as I did at the same section on the Fling though. My stomach is starting to dictate my running speed and I have to slow down when I feel my stomach going. Still I am going past people. People that have gone to fast at the beginning.
The sun is coming up now and it looks like it will be a lovely day.
I catch Donna Utakis on the way down Conic Hill. She speeds up when she sees me but I soon catch up again as we come into Balmaha. There is still a long way to go but I will see Donna again later.

Now I decide that I must stop and try to fix my stomach. At this point in the race 10 minutes fixing this will gain me so much extra time later on. I stop at Balmaha and notice a confused look from my support. So I go into the toilets at Balmaha.

I spend a long 8 minutes on the toilet. Not much to show for it though. I manage to pee down the back of my shorts and do a lot of farting. There is a bit of mucous but not much of anything else. (I am sorry for the descriptions)

My stomach does feel better though so off I go again. I pass George Cairns which means my pacing must be bang on and I haven't lost too much time. Walking up the hill from Balmaha I meet Stan Bland. I feel good and I have a laugh with him. By myself now and just me and my thoughts as I push on for Rowardennan.
I ran this section with John Kynaston recently and feel like I know every hill and every boulder. I am relaxed and feeling good. Everything is going to plan but every now and then I get a stomach issue. Slow down it goes away for a while and then comes back. Slow down again or walk and it goes away for a bit longer. Speed up and after a while it comes back again. I feel like I am on a tight rope and there is no way that I am gonna stay on that rope all day.

Into Rowardenan and I think about stopping again but the slow then fast running is working and keeping any accidents at bay and I decide against it.

Rowardennan to Beinglas
13.98 miles
2 hours 45 mins 29s
7:14:03 total time (41.15m)

My support team have Weetabix ready for me here. One of my plans this year is to try to keep my stomach working for as long as possible in the hope I will feel stronger later on. The weetabix goes down a treat as I walk through Rowardennan.
I see Thomas "The Crazy German". We have trained so much together this year. I wave over to him. Out of everyone I know that is running the race this year I want him to finish so much. Even if I struggled myself I would feel better knowing he had finished. He had had a few issues in the four weeks prior to the race with his shin but seemed to get better in the week before. I just hoped his shin would hold out.

I walk out of Rowardennan with my support team. They are making sure that everything is okay. Shoes, food, stomach. Stomach still dodgy but manageable. It should go away soon.

Thomas catches up and my support wave goodbye. It will be a long time before I see them again in Beinglas. Thomas and I walk out up the hill at Rowardennan but Thomas complains that my walking is the same speed as his running and so runs away up the hill faster than me. I think that he will only run a bit and then stop and I will catch him. But he doesn't. He just keeps running all the way into the distance and I wonder if I will see him again. I hoped he will be okay.

My quads are sore now. Why are my quads sore. They never hurt at all in the Fling so why after only 30 odd miles are they hurting now. I start thinking that the only things it can be is that stupid 3 week taper has de-trained me or perhaps the 1am start has made me tired. Maybe next year I will shorten my taper I think to myself.

Before long I am in Inversnaid and the Trossachs Mountain Rescue team are there with supplies and our drop bags. Also there is Thomas. Thomas? I didn't think I was gonna see him until much later. I run towards him happy that we can run the next section together. But he is not happy. In fact he looks broken and finished and I fear the worst. He looks at me and mumbles about his shin giving him grief. Compared to how I saw him as he left Rowardennan he is a shadow of himself as he limps out of Inversnaid. I finish getting my drop bag from the MR team and catch up with the crazy German.
I ask him if he needs help or painkillers. He tells me to go on. He is struggling to get down the small hills now and asks me to go ahead and let Silke know about his shin. I don't feel as bad leaving him now that I have a job to do but I know now that his race is finished and I feel awful for him. I fear that this will be the last time he will attempt the WHW and I selfishly fear that without a common goal in life we will lose contact. But I can't think like that now. I have a job to do and I must get help for my friend and let his wife Silke know he is in trouble.

But as Beinglas gets closer I can't get Thomas out of my head. It's just not fair. I so wanted him to finish this year and after his fling performance I thought it was a dead cert.

Then my stomach problems come back with a bang and instantly bring me back to my race. Okay I need to forget Thomas now and get back to me.

The day is really turning out to be a belter. There isn't a cloud in the sky but luckily I am still in the shade of the surrounding hills.

Just before Beinglas farm there is a hill at the top of the Loch. I always think of Dario here and my thoughts go back to him not being about this year. I turn round to look at the view down the loch to see Thomas flying along towards me looking great. Fantastic I think. Thomas is back.
As I come down the hill into Beinglas I see Rob and let him know about Thomas so that he can use the walkie talkies to let Silke know. I can hear everyones concerned voices as Rob let's them know so I shout that he looks a lot better now and not to worry.

At last Beinglas and I decide to change my shoes into my road shoes. Straight away I feel lighter and curse that I didn't start out with them.

Beinglas to Auchtentyre Farm
9.56 miles
2 hours 8 minutes 30s
9:27:11 total time (50.82m)

I was out of Beinglas quite fast considering I had changed my shoes. But I walked the first bit as I refuelled. John walked beside me and it was good to talk to someone. The start time of the race makes it even harder on the body. When I was at Beinglas in the fling I felt fresh but this time the hours of no sleep was taking it's toll. Not even half way I thought. My quads feel trashed, my stomach issues are still continuing to be well an "issue" and I am so tired. Not physically. Mentally.
I leave John and continue up and down the hills towards Crianlarich. It is now that I take the decision that I must try to fix the stomach issues. I need to stop now or else I will get slower and slower until I have to walk the final 20 miles. I won't do that again and risk not running for 6 months. Sure a goblet is a great thing to have and want but in the end I have had 2 previous races where I have had to push right to the end and it has done me no good whatsoever.
I find a giant rock and crouch behind it. Nothing much came out. A lot of air again but really not enough to solve the issues. I tried to massage my stomach and try to force something out. Why was this happening? I had done everything right over the last 6 months. Trained properly, ate and drank properly. Why why WHY?
I crouched. 5 minutes, 6 minutes. Thomas and another guy went flying past. Thomas looked very strong. It was like his twin brother had taken over at Beinglas. He was a different man. Not wanting to attract attention to me and my bare bum I didn't shout over but inside I wished him well and doubted I would see him again. I felt broken.

I got going again but it did feel a bit stop and start. I was glad when I got to the A82 crossover as now I would have an excuse to walk.
I had to do something to light the spark again. So I started to listen to music. I cheered up a lot but still I wasn't going anywhere fast. I needed more and more breaks and I could see Thomas far in the distance getting further and further away.

Then a thud on my back. Well more of a pat but it startled me. It was George Cairns. He said something but it was drowned out by Pendulum on my iPod. I wasn't sure what he said and my reply must have been unintelligible, but I think I may have managed a half smile. He disappeared hot on the tail of the crazy German. Maybe I should drop out I thought. This was getting worse and I was finished. The first year I had to walk 12 miles, last year 20 odd miles. I really can't walk any more than that. I don't want to be the person that could do better. Not again. I would rather drop out. My support could go home and not waste any more time on this fruitless task and I could go and support Debbie.

NO I must get myself together. If George Cairns has only just passed me then I am still on for a good time I thought. If only I can get myself together. The stomach issues were now worse than ever. Every step I could feel it sloshing and gurgling. I was scared that wind would turn out to be something messier if I pushed it.
But I don't think that the stomach issues should be stopping me from running. Okay they won't help and will mean that I will need to go slower but they shouldn't stop me from running at all. Have I eaten enough? Have I drank enough? I had been eating and drinking very well up to Rowardennan but I had struggled drinking my energy drink from Rowardennan to Beinglas.
Okay it could be lack of energy as well as stomach problems I thought.
As I limped into Crianlarich and met my support I had decided I would stop here and sort this once and for all.

I must have looked a sorry state cause my team didn't look as cheery as they had been. I didn't want to let them down and although this looked bad and me stopping probably looked really bad from experience I knew I had to sort it now. Athole had joined the team now and I was embarrassed that he once again was seeing me broken.

Toilet roll in hand I was off to the bushes. This time though I had food and coke. In one end and out the other I was hoping. I was there 10 minutes and there was a lot of strange noises and more horrible mucus. Walkers came past but I didn't care. I ate jelly babies and drank coke. I could feel the energy seeping back to me.

The section towards the wigwams wasn't much better. My stomach was still gurgling and I was feeling sorry for myself. The highs at the start had vanished and now I must just hold on. More people past me and I didn't care.

I reached the wigwams and said to my team that I would have to try the toilet again. I had to wait for the toilet to become free and then spent a long time trying to force something out. Again air and mucous. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to just stay in the toilet. Now and then Athole would knock the door to ask if I was okay and awake me from my half asleep state. I just need 5 more minutes I would say. Nothing was working and I was getting ready for yet another demoralising walk to the end.

Suddenly a cheer awoke me from my daze. I shot out of the toilet to see Sharon gayly dance by smiling at everyone. I met John from my support and felt like crying as I remembered the mocking I got from Debbie when she reminded me that I was well and truly beaten by a girl last year. I whimpered to John. "I have really fucked this up. Sharon is gonna beat me by miles again." He answered cooly and calmly that there was a long way to go and I was still looking good. I didn't believe the looking good bit but he was right about the long way.

Auchtentyre to Bridge of Orchy
9.73 miles
2 hours 5 minutes 43s
11:32:55 total time (60.55m)

So I refueled up again and chased after Sharon. Before long I was catching her. I felt great. Then my stomach would strike again and I would slow down. "Fuck, Fuck, FUCK"
I just wanted to scream. I would slow down and she would put distance between us. Then I would catch up, then my stomach, then slow down, then she would put more distance again.
Then I really had to stop. Emergency touching cloth stuff. I found a bush and crouched, knowing that Sharon was getting away again. It was a relief as this time something came out. "whew at last" I thought.
I checked my bumbag for my emergency toilet roll. " damn". I had used it all up at Beinglas and hadn't restocked.
I looked about for leaves or moss or something but the only thing available was sunbaked arse stabbing grass. I used it and really worried that I was gonna have the chaffing from hell tomorrow.
So I started to run after Sharon again. God my bum is killing me already. I turned round to find that I was still trailing half the grass behind me as it stuck out of my shorts.
"This really isn't my day today" I thought.

I reached Tyndrum and was surprised to see Sharon still there. I walked straight through as my support team followed me and fed me. On the hill Sharon caught up and we walked together. It was good to have a chat with someone. She looked so fresh that I was amazed she had ran the same 53 miles I had. We ran together most of the way to Bridge of Orchy and chatted. It was good to take my mind away from the race and everything else that had bugged me today. It felt just like a training run.
By the time I reached Bridge of Orchy I was ahead of Sharon. I met my support team and walked with them for a bit. I real wanted to fuel up here in readiness for Rannoch Moor.
I was eating boiled potatoes when suddenly I felt very tired again. As I told my support team that I had to sit down I could see the more worried looks on their faces.

Bridge of Orchy to GlenCoe
10.50 miles
2 hours 16 minutes 47s
13:49:45 total time (71.07m)

Then I saw Sharon galloping up the hill again and this made me move.
I walked up the hill half dazed and feeling very tired. I saw a saltire flag in the distance and immediately knew it must be Murdo. I cheered up as I approached him and tried to look happy at the prospect of all the miles left. I thought I was doing a really good job of looking happy as he gave me a jelly baby but later after the race Murdo told me that he thought I was completely finished.
Sharon again gleefully overtook me but I caught up again at Victoria Bridge although she kept a small distance between us this time. Perhaps she is bored of my chat.
As I started the climb into Rannoch Moor another chap catches up with me and we start talking. It was good to talk with someone on the hill but soon he is too fast for me and runs away.
Along the moor we pass walkers. Sharon is still ahead and she is running well were else I am run/walking. Paranoia sets in as I think the walkers are laughing at me chasing after a wee girl unable to catch her. Sharon looking fit while I am blowing up big time.

As we continue I just accept that this is what happens at nearly 70 miles and that I will never be able to have a really good race.

As I approach the Checkpoint at Glencoe I overtake Sharon again. To our teams it must look like we have ran the last few sections together but we haven't. There is a big difference between us though. Sharon is cheery and light on her feet but I am glum, heavy and want to sleep. Debbie's support are there too. It's the first time I have seen them and the thought is now that Debbie will also catch me too. I ask how she is doing and she is having a great run and they expect to see her in less than half an hour. I calculate that if she hasn't caught me by Kinlochleven it will be soon after.

Glencoe to Kinlochleven
10.55 miles
2 hours 11 minutes 48s
16:01:39 total time (81.60m)

My support team look even more worried. They pack me off before I want to go but they are doing their job admirably. That is what they need to do. Tell me to get going when everything in my body is telling me to stop. The mile odd down to Kinghouse feels like an eternity as I run down having left the checkpoint with Sharon. I am fading again though and let her go on. I immediately eat loads of Jelly babies, a gel and a caffeine shot.
Feeling the energy inside me I catch Sharon again and we run to the bottom of Devils staircase together. My legs feel goosed now so I ask my team for pain killers.
I am fatigued, my stomach is achy and I don't want to be here anymore.

Athole forces me to eat more and I guzzle down more jelly babies. I tell him that I never want to run this race again. Too much time has been spent training for the exact same outcome year in year out. I can't be bothered ever again training for this race.

The walk up the Devils Staircase is a nightmare and my legs are buckling beneath me. I can't believe that such an easy hill is killing me. I look back to see Sharon (behind me again) but catching up quickly. Not again I think.

Then at the top I see Donna Utakis away in the distance. The jelly babies kick in and I am away. I run all the way down to the bottom and then continue running up the next hill. I look around and Sharon is still not at the top yet. Maybe I could try to get to the top of the next hill before Sharon gets to the top of the staircase. I set myself the challenge and run. All the way. No stomach problems, no fatigue, no leg issues.
I run and run. As I go over the hill I look back and Sharon is no where to be seen.
Donna is in the distance still and I set my next challenge. Could I overtake her at the same place she overtook me 2 years before.
I run, nothing is stopping me. I feel light and bouncy on my feet. One minute Donna is a speck in the distance the next I overtake her exactly at the spot from 2 years previous.
What can my next challenge be? I want to make my support team proud and happy again.

I refuel. More jelly babies and a gel and then shoot off. Passed an American guy and someone else. I can't believe how easy this is now. How can I run like this when I was done in just an hour before. As I run I am already making plans for next years race.
Then I catch a glimpse of Thomas. The hill down to Kinlochleven has taken it's toll and he is badly limping. But I am happy for him. He has got this far and he will finish now even if it means he has to walk. We talk briefly but I am on too much of a high to stop for long and I push on.
I catch someone else and then as I enter Kinlochleven I see Rob in the distance. He is walking up the hill and is very surprised to see me. He fumbles for the Walkie-talkie and I can hear him having to tell John twice in disbelief. "Marco is having a storming section. He will be with you in 5 mins"

I am absolutely glowing with pride as I run into Kinlochleven, 30 minutes ahead of schedule for that section. This may work out after all for me I think.

I literally fly into the Community Centre as Neal Gibson meets me. I tell him that there is no way I will beat his 18:42 time. He answers back "i know". There is no way I could get to Fort William in two and a half hours. So I don't even think about it again.

It was great seeing Caroline, Neal and Silke at the Community Centre. The race doctor shouted something over to me but I never caught what it was and was scared to ask again. As I arrived there I saw the person one place in front of me suddenly stand up and tear away. I let him go. I will refuel again and then I will catch you soon enough I thought. I was feeling fantastic and very confident.

Kinlochleven to Fort William
No data as watch battery ran out
18:47:34 total time (95m est)

Running around the corner just before the hill out of Kinlochleven I met my support and made sure I ate a lot. More rocket fuel Jelly Babies and another Gel. I was guzzling the sugar down and I certainly was using it up too.
I galloped up the hill and caught the guy in front in no time. He looked like he was struggling but to be honest so did everyone apart from me. I am not trying to be big headed about this but I really did feel like I was flying here. It was as if everyone was going in slow motion.

The Larig Mor was a tremendous experience. I ran most of it. Dancing around the rocks and running all the way. Now and then I would walk and eat more Jelly Babies. No wonder Angela Mudge swears by these I thought. I couldn't believe the difference between now and the last 2 years. I couldn't believe that my body could run like this after 80 odd miles.

Into Lundavra and I change into my lighter tshirt. It is warm but there is also a strong head wind all the way. My support team are excited. I am so happy that they are now and I am at last doing this race in the manner that they deserve.
But they are excited for other reasons. John and Rob tell me I am in 6th position with Kate Jenkins just in front but struggling badly.
Another challenge I think and I refuel with the magic babies again.
A steady climb and my legs feel as fresh as the start.

At the top I catch sight of a figure in the distance. That must be Kate I think and it spurs me on again. Running like there is no tomorrow. She looks back, sees me and also picks up the pace. Kate is a fabulous runner but can also be pretty scary. I had overtaken her before 2 years ago and I remember asking her if she was okay in which her reply would have made a soldier blush. And so with some in-trepidation I caught Kate and honestly she couldn't have been nicer.
She said that she couldn't believe how well I was running but she also asked where the second placed female was. (Kate was in first). I told her that Donna Utakis was at least an hour behind. Kate relaxed a bit and seemed to go down a gear now and I ran on. I felt bad for thinking that she might be in a bad mood as she was so pleasant.

I ran on through the wood and out at the top of the hill to the most marvellous sight. Ben Nevis and in the distance Fort William. I looked at my watch to check what time I was on. It was the first time I had looked at it since Kinlochleven and it was as dead as a dodo. So much for the 20 hour battery life that the Garmin 310xt is meant to have. I was sure that I was well under the 20 hour mark but by how much. I wasn't sure and by now time was a blur.

I decided to take it a bit easier now and keep some energy for the last straight and have, for once a strong finish. I started to look at the scenery and enjoy myself. I was nearly in tears as I knew I had at last done the race proud with the thought that Dario had helped me from up above.

Just then I heard what sounded like a bear behind me. I looked round still with tears in my eyes and so could hardly make out what it was.
"Donna" i spurted out as I thought it was Donna Utakis. Immediately I thought of the rubbish information I had given Kate. Oh no she was so nice to me. She won't be that nice next time she sees me.
But it wasn't Donna it was Thomas. In utter disbelieve I called out "Thomas". Believe me when I tell you that he was that broken at Kinlochleven that I thought it would be hours before I would have seen him again.

But Thomas didn't answer me. He was completely focused. A man on a mission. So I turned round and ran as fast as my legs could go. Immediately I regretted my decision. Should I slow down and we can run in together I thought. I wanted too but what happens if Thomas doesn't and I have surrendered my lead to him.

As I ran down towards the brave heart car park so many feelings went through my head. I wanted to run with Thomas so much but I also wanted to finish in 5th. But he is my friend and we have trained all year together. I should wait for him.
I changed my mind so many times. I was scared to look back incase Thomas saw it and thought I was weakening. I didn't know where he was or what he was doing.
In my mind I just saw his face totally committed.

I made my decision and pushed on. I had heard before about ultra races that ended up sprints on the last mile and here it was happening to me. God I really didn't want to have to do this with anyone let alone Thomas.

My legs were screaming any moment I feared something would twang. But I had to give it my all. Into Braveheart carpark and my support were there with my Garscube vest.
"No time" I shouted "Thomas is right behind me". I threw my bumbag at John (and felt really bad for doing so) and then ran on.

Moving from the downhill to the flat nearly killed me. The effort was multiplied but I had to go on. My support drove past me. I was praying that they would say that Thomas was no-where to be seen but instead they shouted "Thomas is 10 seconds behind you"
I wanted to look. I couldn't believe that he could have kept up with the pace I was doing down the hill. Was my team lying to get me to go faster? I didn't know but I couldn't look. I couldn't give Thomas the advantage of seeing me look.
My legs complained every stride I took. "where is the effin 30 signs" I cursed.
I wasn't sure I could keep up this speed for much longer but I had to try.
Then there it was. The 30mph signs. Like an oasis in a desert. Nearly there. So close.
I ran at full speed along the road, straight over the middle of the roundabout. I didn't care anymore. I just kept my fingers crossed that the cars would slow down and avoid me.

Then I saw the leisure centre and the glorious finish line. I thought that Thomas might appear at anytime and beat me to it. To be honest if anyone was ever to beat me I would always want it to be Thomas. But after the effort I had just put in I didn't want it to be for nothing.
Into the car park and there was a huge cheer. Up to the door and I was finished.
I was beyond happy. It had been hard work but I had finished it under 20 hours. Actually well under I finished in 18:47:34 and in 5th place. At last a result that I could be proud of.

Thomas finished 2 minutes later. I was even happier that finally he had the race he deserved but I felt guilty that we hadn't come in together.

Richie was there waiting having finished first and proved to be a very popular winner. Over 2 hours quicker than me. Amazing.

Debbie took what must be the best improved time of the year. 10 hours off her PB to finish in a marvelous 20:58:36. The gibbering midget finished in 20:12:29. John Kynaston struggled this year a bit but dug deep and finished in 22:15:02.
This was just some of the amazing performances that people had.

So, it took me longer to finish the blog than the race. But here I am at the end of it. I just want to say thank you so much to my support team. Rob, John and Athole. They were absolutely fantastic. I would also like to thank Mark for all his training help. Helping me to make a plan, coaching me and making sure I RELAX. Also Graeme for helping me with my zones, nutrition and the odd email or 10. I would like to also thank the organisers of the race for all the fantastic work they did and making Dario very proud I am sure.
So many people helped me and listened to me chat on and on about this race. Thank you to you all.

So to next year........

Glass Slippers

2010-06-01T22:13:00.000+01:00

So at last it is now the last part of my training before the race. The dreaded taper. Well actually I have been looking forward to the taper. There are many theories about why we should and shouldn't taper but really who cares.
I am just looking forward to all the spare time I now have as I don't have to run 30 miles and instead can have long lies in my bed. So Debbie would have me doing DIY but I decided to put the spare time to even better use.
I decided to take a page out of Billy the Shoes book and make my own shoes.
Billy the Shoes Blog

And so I started with the soles.

...But then I got really bored. Making shoes is not my thing. Sorry Billy. I can't make Pimped-up Primark Plimsoles.

So it was back onto the world wide web thing and the Nike Web site.

Nike have a service where you can design your own shoes. It is called NikeID

NikeID

And so 3 weeks later and UPS delivered a box from China. My carbon footprint though is massive.... Check where the box went on its way here..

So excitedly I rushed home today to find a pretty cool box waiting for me to open.

Check these things out....

They are based on Nike Pegasus Trail. You can customise just about anything on them. The colours, whether you have Gore-Tex or not, what type of grip, what level of cushioning and of course the writing on the front.

So I will have a couple of test runs in them although being based on my normal training road shoe I shouldn't have too many problems with them.

Flinging out my Ultra Ghosts

2010-04-28T17:29:00.001+01:00

I remembered it well. It was a cold February morning and Thomas the Crazy German and I had met at 6am to run on the Kilpatrick Hills. The idea was to get a 20 miler in before Silke's Birthday party at 11am that day. It was cold and dark and Thomas was telling me he didn't do morning runs. To cheer us up I started to imagine winning a WHW race and so I said to the Crazy German. " Just imagine us on the podium. I am first and you are second." As we climbed the hills we laughed. I am sure we both were thinking to ourselves "Yeah right. As if that ever could happen"

Highland Fling Race 24th April 2010

Results
Garmin Connect Running Log

I wasn't too serious about running the Fling. The plan has all been about the WHW race in June and so I didn't schedule in a proper taper. The weekend before the race I ran 26 miles on the hills and then 12 steady on the Sunday. Then 2 speed sessions before my body started to complain and I took the Thursday off. On Friday I felt fine so did an easy 5 miler and some strides. My plan was just to get through the Fling and be able to walk the next day. Unlike the year before when I couldn't straighten my legs on the Sunday.

I felt a bit bad when I was telling my support team, John and Rob that I wasn't too serious and this was all about testing things for the WHW. I hope that they didn't mind giving up their Saturday to test things and not properly race.

We arrived in Milngavie with plenty of time to register. I was annoyed because I was getting nervous. It's just a training run. Stop worrying, I told myself. I walked up to registration, got my chip and walked back to the car and sat down. I wasn't even that bothered if I missed the start. "I'll just start at the back anyway" I thought.

John was on the phone to John McLaughlin's support team. I could hear him saying "I bet you a pint of beer that my Garscube runner beats your Springburn runner"
"Oh God John, no" I thought. I will never beat John McL today.

Off to the start and I had to forget the starting at the back. There was pacing signs up so I just went into the middle and stood there. I spoke to Drama Queen for a bit and then we were off.

So off I jogged on. I could see the leaders tearing off into the distance and this year it wasn't me. I didn't even feel the need to. I had a pace set out for the first leg to Drymen. 1:38 was the time I wanted. Last year I did 1:27.

There are people this year that I owe a lot of time and effort to. Mark Johnston has been a major help getting a schedule and training plan together. Teaching me how to relax and pace myself. Graeme from Hampden has helped get training HR zones sorted. I knew that if I screw up this and the WHW again that I wouldn't only be letting myself down but also these guys and the others that have helped and put up with my constant ramblings about the WHW and training. Yes, my poor wife being the one that has to put up with it the most.

And so on I jogged. I walked up the first hill. I talked to Dave Waterman. I ran with Gavin who kept saying that he was slowing me down. Not true Gavin you were going too quick for me at that point. I said hello to Brian who asked why I was so far back. You see if you don't know me then you won't know that I am well known for going away too quickly and blowing up. Only to limp broken to the end.

Beech Trees already. I just kept to my 8 minute mile pace and walked the hills. I felt a bit of a fraud. Here I was in a race yet I was just taking my time and dare I say enjoying it. Never had that feeling before. My stomach was sore though. Maybe I was eating too much.

I met my support. No rush getting changed and fuelling up. I get overtaken by someone. I don't care. I am relaxed.

Onto Drymen now. Walk the hills, enjoy the view, talk to people. The field is more spread out and so I do something I have never done before. I listen to music. Why not. Scott Bradley does it and I remember the WHW briefing in January when Scott said "If you don't enjoy it, you are going too fast" That will be my mantra today.

Drymen. Bang on time. I feel a bit lethargic but also I don't feel like I have ran at all. I see Caroline and Murdo. They cheer me through and I feel a bit embarrassed. My support team tell me I am the 17th senior through the checkpoint and it is then I start to have doubts. Perhaps I took this relaxing a bit too far. What happens if I still get slower later and end up hours over my PB. "No Marco, stick to your plan."

As if by magic I start to pass people as we head towards Conic. I am not running any faster. I continue to walk the hills. But something funny is happening. I am walking at the same pace up the hills as people are running. I think that all the training that I do where I walk hills is paying off. I am still not racing just keeping one foot going in front of the other.

I overtake another couple of guys at the top of Conic. They get competitive and tear past me on the way down. I let them go. No use racing at this point. One of them falls but he is okay and continues on.

I start to pass 7 am starters. One of them has pulled something and I ask if he is okay. He has pulled a muscle but is nearly at Balmaha where he can get help. So off I go.

I end up in Balmaha in 1hour 2 mins from Drymen. This isn't actually a bad time. But still I felt good.

Off I head towards Rowardennan. Although I am running slower I seem to be getting to places faster. Not faster time wise but faster in my head. I must be enjoying this. I overtake more people. Its as if people are running in slow motion. I am used to people passing me by now but nobody does and I continue on. Salochy bay already?? My support team are there and it is getting warm now. "Just give me some water" I ask.
They tell me that I am in 5th or 6th position. I start to think that there must be a mistake. I haven't started to race yet.
I catch up with Ian Beattie and I shout something about poo to him. But I see that he is not having a good time at the moment. I go past and hope that he feels better soon.

At Rowardennan I meet loads of people. I have been in my own bubble with my music for miles now and the noise confused me. People shouting "Well done" and "Come on Marco". I didn't know where to look and just wanted away. Everyone was wanting my number for some reason but I couldn't remember it.
It dawned on me that they wanted to find my drop bag. "I have a support team" I murmured.
John and Rob handed me my rucksack. It would be a long time before I met them again. My race head surfaced. I wanted a quick turnaround here as I knew most runners would be refuelling and getting ready for the long way ahead. I tried to be as quick as possible.
I was still bang on my splits.

Rowardennan
27 miles
3 hrs 53 minutes

I left Rowardennan with Keith. I love his accent and he kept saying "Your doing well mate". I was shaking my head. I am just having a training run.

I went on and turned a corner. There was a runner in a red top. It was Kenny Valentine. A very good runner and someone I didn't expect to see today. Within moments I was right behind him and I actually think that I gave him a fright. I went past but expected to see him later again. The first thoughts came to me that maybe I was doing well.

There are big long hills after Rowardennan and again I walked them. I fully expected Kenny to appear and run past me but he didn't. I walked every hill again keeping up with people running the hills. Then overtaking them on the flat or downhills. Richie once said that when it is easy push when it isn't take it easy. I was flying downhills without trying. My legs were strong. I couldn't believe that I had done 30 miles already.

I passed Graeme Reid and he said I was in the top 4. Really? It still wasn't registering.

I wonder where everyone else is? Was Debbie doing well? Where was Sharon and the Crazy German? John K? Andy Birnie? John McL? What about Silke on her first ultra? I was sure we had worked out that I would meet her at Rowardennan. She must be having a brilliant run as I hadn't seen her yet.

I looked up and saw the powerstation across the Loch. It is one of the landmarks I look out for to let me know when I am nearly at Inversnaid. "Wow. Nearly there already"

I just ran straight through Inversnaid. Runners seemed to be sitting about stretching or pouring water over themselves. "Bah, you are wasting time" I thought. Then I remembered the state I was in when I did the WHW last year at this point.

Between Inversnaid and Beinglas a large section of the way is hard to run on. For the first time I started to struggle with the extra effort required to go over all the boulders. It is expected though. Whether you are training or racing this distance you will have low points and high points. A packet of Jelly Babies later and I was away again.
Every 30 minutes I was eating something. An alarm on my watch would keep reminding me but as it got warmer it got harder to eat. I also wasn't drinking enough and this would affect me later on.

I passed Rachel and Karen from Garscube. Both doing their first ultras and looking like they were just going out for a wee jog.

Still I was amazed at the speed I was now going between checkpoints. Before I knew it I was at Beinglas in 6hrs 16min 14 seconds. Last year I had got here in 6 hours 16min 44 seconds. My whole aim for today was to get to Beinglas in the exact same time as last year but still be able to run. How was that for pacing? I had run 40 odd miles and was only 30 seconds out from my plan.

In my head I calculated that the remaining 12 miles would take 2 hours. If I could run it. This year I could run it. A PB was on.

Everyone was getting very excited. My support team especially. I tried to keep focused. "Marco, you are having a blinder" "Your only 2 minutes from Thomas" "Your in 3rd position" and then the bombshell.... "Richie has dropped out". I sank. We are all meant to be competitive but the difference with ultra running is that we are all members of a close community. We text each other, we train together, we go to each others houses for dinner. In short we look after each other and we don't want to see anyone get injured or drop out.
I hoped that he was okay and wasn't injured. Maybe he is just fatigued and it isn't his day.

Where the heck is Silke?

I ran up most of the hill out of Beinglas. Last year I was nearly sick on this hill. I stopped listening to music and started talking to people again. The sun was shining I was RUNNING!!! What a beautiful day.

Then I saw a Bella top in the distance. It was Andy Birnie and he was going through a bad patch. Still he was on a good time for his first ultra. I asked if he needed anything but he had some guys running beside him. He looked sore and uncomfortable but I knew he would finish. I just hoped that he would give it another go in the future.

I passed more people. Everyone of them telling me that I was in for a podium finish. Still I didn't believe them. To be honest I didn't much care. I had my plan and I was sticking to it.

Past the Beinglas farm and hundreds of cows and my support met me at the Crianlarich junction. I felt great. They were calling my name and I was still RUNNING. I needed water though and food was getting hard to swallow. I was a getting dehydrated and too warm.

Through the woods, up and down the hills. I hate this bit and although it felt faster today I could feel it sapping my strength. The lack of food in the last 12 miles was taking it's affect and I could feel my body slowing. But still I was catching people. I saw John Kennedy in the distance and caught up with him.
If John Kennedy was about I didn't think that John McLaughlin from Springburn would be far in front. Maybe I will win that pint for John after all.

Passing John Kennedy must have spurred him on as he stayed with me until the end. In fact he pushed me on as I now felt like walking more and more due to running low on energy and not being able to eat anymore.

My support were at the A82 cross over. "Debbie finished in 9:40" they shouted. I was so pleased. That was a fantastic time and must be high up in the female finishers.

At the wigwams I dumped my bumbag. It's no use to me if I can't eat anymore. I pushed on. John was shouting me, giving me encouragement and I tried to run faster.
Still I wasn't racing. I didn't care that Thomas was in front. If anyone beat me then I would always be chuffed that it was the Crazy German.
I ran, walked along this last section. Annoyed that this was my worst section just at the finish. Wishing that I had eaten just a bit more and been able to run that last 3 miles stronger.

Into the woods at Tyndrum I decided to walk a small section. Regain my energy for a running finish. But Rob was out and shouting "Come on Marco!"

I started to run and it was easy. I ran through the river and past the piper.
Running staring at the ground through the finish. The fabulous finish with flags. I looked up. There was loads of people looking at me. Debbie was there too. We hugged each other and Murdo shouted she was top 3 female. Fantastic I thought. That was great news. What about me? Murdo was away before I could ask.

Thomas was there. He was 2nd. What was your time? Was I close? No way, the Crazy German got 8:09, a fabulous time. My time was 8:22. A 30 minute PB and I felt brilliant.
Later on I found out I was 3rd fastest too.

So Thomas in 2nd, me in 3rd, Lucy 1st female, Sharon 2nd and Debbie 3rd there was a lot of people I knew on the podium. Jez Bragg was there to present the prizes too which was great.

Garscube even won the Female team prize.

Where the heck is Silke though? Well transpires I did pass Silke at Rowardennan but she was having a comfort break. During the race I had gone from Where is Silke? to Silke is doing very well to Silke is having a fantastic run to Silke must be winning to Silke went off to fast to Silke must have dropped out. In the end she finished just before the awards to see Thomas pick up his trophy.

Lessons Learnt

While in the pub my support team told me a story that while waiting for me at Beinglas someone asked who they were supporting. They said Marco and the person replied "Bah he will blow up"
Anyone that knows me will know that was how I raced. But it was different this time and the D33 earlier this month and both times I ran better than ever before. It is good to hear people say that I paced it well etc and I hope I have banished those ghosts for good. But the West Highland Way is a race not a training run. Will I be able to hold back or will the person at Beinglas be correct in the long run. A good debate to have while John sipped his free pint.

There was also a lot of debate before this race about pacing. On one side we had people saying go fast at the start and on the other people saying go slow.
Both ways work for certain people but I think that the slow start works for a lot more people than the fast start.
To me personally the fast start is too risky. I have now ran in seven ultras 4 of them fast starts and 3 of them slow starts. 2 out of the 3 slow starts I have placed high up but more importantly recovered quickly from it. Out of the 4 fast starts I placed high in one of them but in the long run I failed to recover well and so took far too long to train for the next one.
I am sure this debate will continue on for a long time

Something though that isn't so clear cut is should we taper for an ultra. I the Thursday before the Fling off running. It was my first day off since the day after the D33. On Friday I was out running and doing Strides. I have tried the long taper and I find that I feel like I am de-training. Certainly for the WHW I will have a bit more rest and won't be doing 38 miles the week before but for races of 50 miles and less I am not sure. Would I have been faster if I tapered for this or would I have been slower. I will never know.

I need to have emergency food that I can eat when I can't eat anymore. Maybe bananas might be better. Something to try in training.

Anyway this blog is too long. Sorry about that. I just want to say thank you to Rob and John. Fantastic support. To Murdo, Ellen and all the Fling marshals for making this one of the best races ever and of course all the guys that have congratulated me.
Now time to come down from cloud 9 and back to WHW training. :-)

Jack Shirley Memorial Handicap and 2009

2010-01-04T14:06:00.001Z

The Jack Shirley Handicap race is held every year at around about Hogmany. It is in memorial of Jack who was killed in 1995 in a cycling accident and remembered fondly by Jon and Jude Austin who organise the race.
I had won the fastest time last year but I wasn't the fastest as Stephen Mulrine was but also happened to be first and so couldn't win both prizes. Not expecting the race to be ran today I did a 10 mile run yesterday and so when I arrived at just after 11 I was surprised to see a crowd had gathered already.

I was second last to start this year with Mulrine being the scratch runner. This year the race would be run backwards (not the runners but the course). This meant that the race would have a tough steep hill in the first mile. With no warm up and the freezing conditions I decided to take the first mile very easy and hopefully push the last section. A gradual descent past the Rangers Training ground and back to the start.

The first mile went well and the icy underfoot wasn't too bad. I had to run most of it on the road though so there was a lot of traffic dodging. As I came down from the first hill there is a stream to cross. This was very icy so I had to walk over it. At this point I could hear Stephen catching up with me. Damn, I had taken it to easy at the beginning. Back up another hill and again I took it easy. No point killing myself up these hills. The flat is coming and I want to be fresh for that. More sections of snow and ice and I nearly fell. Onto a flatter section and I could see that Stephen was at least 20 seconds behind me. Good he hasn't caught me up anymore and I still feel fresh.
Now onto the last big hill. It was completely iced up and I slid and flapped. But there was a narrow band of grit along the side that I managed to get purchase on. I started to pass some runners now. Down the hill it was still slidey and I had to take care on the bends. Slowing to a walking pace. Then I hit the gritted last road.
Wham... I started to feel as if I was flying. I passed more runners and looked at my watch. I was 5 minute mileing. It may have only been for a few moments but I was under that too. For a full mile there was no stopping me and then came the last corner, full of snow. Slowing back to a crawl (a painfully slow crawl) as I slid about in my DS Trainers.
Then the final push to the end.
I felt good but it would all count for nothing if Stephen was right behind me still.
He wasn't and I won the fastest time. 24:42. 10 seconds slower than last year and a minute slower than my best but still with the conditions I was pleased. I do have to admit that I liked running it the opposite way.

One thing I was very pleased with though was that I actually stuck to my tactics. The same ones I used during the Cross Countries late last year. Start conservatively and finish strong. It's working so far and feels a heck of a lot better than struggling at the end.

The pace is the green bar. Starting slow and finishing strong. (Mark you would be so pleased)

2009 Totals

Last year I had a few struggles but still managed to clock up 2178 miles. That is my highest yearly mileage yet. I am pretty pleased with that but my training during the year was rotten. I started off strong and fell apart. But I feel that I have learnt a lot and so I am planning ahead. I already have a plan that I am putting my finishing touches too. Last year I didn't have a plan. So that is a step in the right direction. I will post it soon.

Monthly mileage for 2009

One thing that I found interesting is the last two months, November and December. I haven't done a lot of long runs just consistent training and the mileage is some of the highest of the whole year. Compared to the months earlier in the year when most high mileage months consisted of long runs and inconsistent training. My new training plan is based more on consistency. Well only time will tell if it works or not.

West Districts Cross Country Championships

2009-12-06T23:02:00.000Z

My Race according to Garmin

Results

Today was my 35th day in a row of continuous running. Time for a race to see how I am doing.

I ran the West Districts XC Championships and my new found vet status although hasn't helped make me win anything has made me wiser. Instead of running like a bat out of hell for the first half of a race and then wishing I was dead for the second half I am now trying to finish the first third fresh and then start to push from there. The last third is still sore but nowhere near what it used to be.
Last year I did this race the old way and was well up at the beginning but then slowly people overtook me including Thomas the crazy German as I puffed and panted to the end. Coming in placed 74th.
So this year I started at the back of the pack and worked my way up. After the first lap (2 miles) I honestly didn't feel that bad at all. What gave me even more of a boost was Debbie and Cairn had sneaked over to cheer me on so that was a very pleasant surprise. I had left her in the house after her long run and didn't expect them to come down to cheer me on. It was great and pushed me on for a bit.
Most of the race I had a battle with the same group of people. Another new situation for me as I am used to them all overtaking me. One moment I was in front then behind the group. Then in the middle. Back and forward we all battled.

Picture from Chris Upson's Flickr Website
Mens Photos Womans Photos Chris Upsons Blog

I finished feeling pretty pleased in 55th positions in a time of 36:56. Well 20 places better than last year must mean progress and hopefully is setting me up for next year. Running everyday is certainly helping and is pushing up my mileage without really tiring me out.

So so far so good. Next week I am doing my first West Highland Way training run for the 2010 race. So here we are full circle again.

...and on the 7th day the Lord said run

2009-12-01T22:48:00.001Z

Well if He was a runner that is what he would have said. And for November that is what I did. Ran all seven days of the week.
Running had not been going to well and I was finding that I wasn't improving as fast as I was hoping. So it was time for a new challenge.
I decided to try and run every day in November. At first I didn't tell anyone but as I came closer to the end I did.
I had some rules for my challenge.

You must run every day
To count as a run it must be over 25 minutes or 3 miles. Whichever is first

I found it much easier than I thought it would be and the closer I got to the end the more I enjoyed my running. I was actually looking forward to running every day.
My legs no longer felt heavy at the beginning of each session but light and fast.

So what did I learn from my challenge. For one you can run every day of the month but you must listen to your body. When I was tired I did a recovery session. Forget the watch and just ran how I felt.
I always had an eye on my main sessions of the week. My Monday and Wednesday speed sessions and a race on the Saturday. Once I knew that I had to be 100% fit for these sessions the rest took care of themselves.
I also changed how I did my long runs at the weekend. I tended to run off road and give my legs a rest. Forget how quick I could do the run and just go out enjoy myself and get time on feet.

So a typical week was:

Monday : 20 min tempo + 6 * 200m strides (about 7 miles incl. Warmup)
Tuesday : 8.32 miles easy
Wednesday : 6 * 4 min reps (75s recovery) (7.6 miles incl warmup)
Thursday : 8.42 miles easy
Friday : 4 miles recovery including strides
Saturday : 6 miles XC Race
Sunday : 18 miles hill run (3hrs 15mins)

This was last weeks training and totalled just under 60 miles.

It has gone so well that I am now going to continue and run as many days as I can. I wont be fanatical though. If my body needs it I will have time off.

Now Debbie is wanting to try the same thing in December. Much harder month with all the festivities.

Management Course

2009-11-19T14:27:00.001Z

No running so far today as I have been on a course all day. Here is what I have learnt so far.

Lesson 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour... Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel’. After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'who was that’?
‘It was Bob the next door neighbour,' she replies. ‘Great,’ the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?' The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?' The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.' Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great
opportunity.

Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'
'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk 'I want to be in the Bahamas driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'
Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'
Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch'

Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4

A turkey was chatting with a bull.

'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.' 'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients..'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at t he top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Lesson 5

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

(3 ) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

Birthday : Hills, TV, Food, Beer, Bed. Perfect.

2009-11-16T17:17:00.001Z

Yesterday I became a vet. Not the animal kind with their hands up cows but the one that has grey hair and is rapidly losing his teeth. Yes the running one. To be honest the vet category is a bit of a grey area (get it). I think that in road running I am classed as a vet but to be honest they are all big softies. No offence I am part of the road runners fraternity too but compared to other off shoots of the sport we are.
The real men (and woman) do hill running and cross countries and in their eyes I am still a youngster. 40 is the magic age of a vet when racing these nutters.
In case you hadn't guessed I am now 35. Inbetween two of lives milestones, well past it if you play football but as one of my pals pointed out. I can still run further than my age.

Anyway I was up early and decided to do a run that was two years in the planning. I have always wondered at the possibility of running up the Kilpatrick hills and then over to the Whangie and back. What better day than my birthday to give it a go.

After waking up and receiving some wonderful pressies from Debbie and Cairn which included a new pair of X-Talon Hill running shoes (I am trying to get into hill running), a magic mouse (you need to be a geek for this one), some running gear (t-shirt, arm warmers and gloves) I was off to meet Joe for our run.

(Miss this bit if you don't want the techy details of our run)..
The run started at Hardgate. We would take the Cochno road up to Greenside Reservoir. Over the dam and then up the Slacks. Down to Loch Humphrey and then over to Duncolm. Down from Duncolm and then over the bog to Burncrooks Reservoir. Then up to the Whangie. Now down past the Queens View to the Stockimuir Road. We then took some tracks to avoid having to run the main road before joining the tracks at the Carbeth Huts and then over to the West Highland Way. Taking the WHW as far as Mugdock wood and then taking the road back to the Stockie. Then on to the right of way over Douglas Muir to Faifley and then back to Hardgate.

Altogether it was 19 miles and 2,500 feet of ascent/descent. Three hours three minutes of running but with all our stops to enjoy the view the total time was closer to 3:45.

Joe is a road runner and did very well on the run. We took our time and walked when we had to. It was a great laugh and we were absolutely mankie when we got back to the car. A really good route and one that I am sure I will do again and again.

Our route. Forgot to start the watch at the beginning so it isn't a full loop

When I got home from the run I ate a full pizza. (hey it was my birthday) and I still felt hungry afterward. But I was saving myself for later.

I spent the afternoon watching Battlestar Galactica and Debbie let me?? Yeah I had a great birthday.

Then it was off for something to eat. Debbie was taking me to Yen in the Rotunda for Teppanyaki. It was absolutely fantastic. I really would recommend it to everyone. Eight courses, all brilliant and all cooked in front of you by a fab chef and showman. He kept us entertained and fed the whole time.

I had a great birthday. Thank you to everyone that wished me all the best and thank you to Debbie for making it fantastic.

Debbie does Devils

2009-08-10T20:20:00.000+01:00

It was my turn to support Debbie on the Devil o' the Highlands 42 mile ultra race.
Oh my God, did she do well. Blowing away all her dreams and finishing in 7:08:59 and 2nd lady finisher.
So there is an ultra runner in the family after all.
Fantastic performance Debbie and we are all so proud of you.
Here is the video of the day.
Hopefully the embedded video works but if you have any problems then please visit the link below. The link is also higher quality.

Devil o the Highlands 2009 Video

Goodbye Dario

2009-07-25T07:54:00.001+01:00

On Thursday we all said goodbye to Dario. Both his immediate family and WHW family. There was loads of people dressed in all sorts of WHW garments. From the fluorescent ones you can see from space to the ones you can actually wear outside without fear of ridicule. It was strange to be with so many friends and not have him there.
Like Richie said in his blog Diane, Dario's sister, asked us all to pick a memory we had with him.
My thought went back to the awards ceremony this year.
I struggled and so when I finished Dario wasn't there. I had been looking forward to his smiley face at the end and felt I hadn't finished until I did. When he called me up to get my goblet that meant I had finished and I went up and gave him a big cuddle and he gave me one back. I was so glad that I did. The picture was taken just after that. I didn't know him for very long but I didn't need to. He will always have a special place in my heart and I will miss him.

West Highland Way Race 2009

2009-07-03T22:16:00.001+01:00

RACE REPORT

I really enjoyed the time before the race this year. I had been here before and this time I wasn’t so nervous. I was confident of my schedule. My training runs had been good up until April although after this they spluttered a bit I was still confident that I had the endurance. If there was any doubt in my mind it was that I had had a bug on the Monday/Tuesday before the race. Unable to eat properly without throwing up. But I felt I had caught up with my carbo loading on the days between then and the race.
Relaxed, I watched all the race virgins pottering about nervously. I was sure that I could beat the 20 hour mark. If everything went to plan I would only have to slowly jog or even shuffle the last 14 miles as last year it had taken me five hours to walk it. I could never be that slow this year. My schedule called for an easy pace to Tyndrum in the hope that I could keep going and so catch up on the times from last year.
This was the thought.
I spoke to the rest of the WHW family. Sharon, John, Ian, Richie, Karen, George, Davie. All looking nervous. I did too as I gave blood.
Along with Debbie my support was completed with Athole and Rob from last year. My mum came along to wish me luck and Rachel from Garscube as well.

At the start line I met Thomas and Neal. Thomas had been struggling a lot since the Edinburgh marathon and had a physio appointment only days before to try to sort out his damaged legs. I felt confident that there would be no stopping him this year as he was so disappointed that he DNF last year. Then my heart sank when he told me that he hadn’t told the physio about the race and that they had said that he may be able to do an easy run on the Saturday. Okay the WHW calls for an easy pace but I wouldn’t necessarily say it was an easy run. My fingers were crossed that he would be okay. Neal on the other hand was full of confidence. He told me his time to Drymen was scheduled at 1:40. WHAT? Suicidal I thought. Thats 15 mins faster than my plan. Neals training hadn’t seemed to go to well either. Certainly not as well as the year before. I expected to see him broken at some point later on up the Loch side somewhere.

1am and we were off. I started at the back and jogged slowly past the local neds who were out taking pictures on their phones at the sight of 150 runners in lycra. I wanted to kick one of them up the backside but then had second thoughts. Imagine putting in six months of training and ending up in a police cell for GBH to a ned at the start. I ran, sorry jogged on and saw my dad there to cheer me on. I was embarrassed as I was at the back of the runners. My dad will be proud of me when I finish under 20 hours I thought.

Through Mugdock park and onwards towards the Beech Trees the pace was excruciatingly slow. But I had my plan and my schedule. I wanted to show everyone that I could do this. No running on ahead at break neck speed just to die in the last 15 miles and be overtaken by everyone. I owed it to my support team and to the people I had trained with.
I met my team just after Beech Trees. It was hard to see who was who through the midgie nets but I knew it was them as we had gone over the plan meticulously. “Brilliant pacing Marco” “Your going well” they shouted . I was pleased with myself. Finally I was pacing a race correctly.
At Drymen I looked at my watch. Bang on 1:55. On my schedule precisely. I hadn’t broken a sweat and I felt fantastic. I spoke to Silke and asked where was Thomas. She said he was in front of me. Fantastic I thought. Looks like he is going to be fine then. But there was still a long way to go for both of us.

Drymen to Rowardennan

Onto the Conic Hill section and the field of runners was starting to break up. Excellent. I wanted to have some time on my own now. I was eating well and the sun was starting to come up. Ah life is great. At the top of Conic Hill there was a blonde haired girl with a camera crew. She started to ask me some questions and I gave some quick answers as I ran past. “I think she wanted me to stop and give an interview” I thought. Yeah right. Who would stop at the first 20 miles of a 100 mile race. I thought about it and then I imagined Sharon fixing her hair and applying her waterproof mascara and talking to them for 10 mins. They would have to tell her to go away.
Just past the top of the hill I saw a figure in front of me. I didn’t recognise the running style but it looked a bit like Mike Thomson. Imagine my surprise when it was infact Thomas. He was running awkwardly but he had got this far and looked cheery. Still I worried when he didn’t follow me even although the pace I was doing was so slow. On the way down Conic Hill I met a Kilbarchan supporter. “Hey Marco your doing well” he shouted “Neal is twenty minutes ahead of you” “Oh no... I hope he knows what he is doing” I thought.

I reached Balmaha and stopped to chat to my support team and the Mountain Rescue guys. They couldn’t believe I had run the 19 miles. “You haven’t even sweated yet” they remarked. This added to my confidence. Any more and I am sure my head would burst. The mighty Scottish midgie soon put an end to our conversation and I ran on taking a walking break at the next hill and devouring yet another gel.
On I went. This section is harder than it looks on paper with lots of small ups and downs but my pace was still so slow that it was just too easy. Thomas quickly caught up again. Perhaps I was going too slow. At times I tried to quicken up just a notch and try to get my legs out of this shuffle pace to Fort William. Just a little stretch I told myself. But instantly my legs said no. There was no 5th gear and no rest bite from this tortuous slow pace. “No reason to concern myself” I thought to myself. “My legs are just preparing themselves for later on when this pace would be fast”
I said to Thomas that my legs felt tired and he smiled reassuringly at me. Later on I would find out that he was worried about me but at that moment I wasn’t. Running was easy and I was with my friend and the scenery was fantastic.
Sharon caught us up. She looked shocked to see us so soon in the race. The three of us ran together and talked. Well Sharon talked and we listened. She seemed in great shape and was easily eating the miles (and chatting)
Into Rowardennan and my time was 4 hours 41 minutes. 1 minute behind my schedule. Fantastic. I was so happy.

Rowardennan to Carmyle Cottage

I walked with Athole for a bit and let Sharon and Thomas go on ahead. I wanted to make sure that I had eaten enough as it would be a long time until I met my team again. Running again I easily caught Sharon and Thomas. Good my legs are back again. I didn’t push but I started to run away from Thomas and Sharon. I could still hear Sharon behind me but not a lot of Thomas.
Then things felt strange. This section was just not feeling as easy as it should. Don’t worry. Ian Beattie says you get 3 low points in the race and this was just one of them. Sharon, Thomas and two other guys caught up with me. I stayed with them and then went on again. I needed time by myself to regain my strength. I felt bad as I had left Thomas and Sharon. Sharon would be okay and I was certain she would finish but I was still worried about Thomas. At the moment though I needed to be more worried about myself as my right knee started to hurt. Great that is all I need.
I was then overtaken by one of the other two guys. My knee was struggling as we were now on the rougher section just before Inversnaid. That boads well for the next section.
At Inversnaid I am again bang on schedule. But this pace is starting to hurt more and more. My stride was way to short and my knee was hurting. Not enough to stop but enough to know about it when on rough ground.
Andy from the Mountain Rescue team was at Inversnaid and started to look for pain killers for me. Oh well at least it is later than last year where I needed them at Rowardennan.
He didn’t have any and I started to get impatient when David Dodds the MR team leader started to look as well and also drew a blank. This wasn’t me. They were doing me a favour and I was getting ratty. Sorry guys.
Sharon and Thomas arrived. What the hell. I was sure that I had been going much quicker than them. Thomas wasn’t looking happy but Sharon was infuriatingly so. How does she find this so easy?

I left them for the arduous route to Beinglas. My knee still sore as no-one had painkillers. I was in a foul mood and just didn’t want to talk to anyone. My progress was good though and before long I was out of the hard bit and on to the hill at the end of the Loch. I looked round to see a progression of people behind me. “What? I thought I had been flying” Obviously not. Sharon was the closest to me and quickly caught up.
Again she was surprised to see me. I thought she would have learnt by now that she is much better at this game than me and shouldn’t be surprised that she kept catching up. Actually maybe she was surprised that she hadn’t already overtaken me.
She asked how I was and I explained about my knee. She stopped and out of her bumbag she gave me pain killers. I am an idiot. If I hadn’t been in such a rush at Inversnaid then Sharon would have offered them to me there. Anyway mental note for next time. Carry pain killers. Thats two years I have made that mistake now. Anyway Sharon you are a lifesaver. Thank you so much.

By the time we enter Beinglas Farm the painkillers hit in. I am a new man and less concerned with my self. I asked Sharon where Thomas is and she informs me that he is struggling a bit but still going. I am a bit more worried but I as long as you can put one foot in front of the other then keep going. Problem is it is still a long way and a lot of one foot in front of the other.
My new found strength is a godsend and I start to pull away from Sharon and make steady progress towards Carmyle Cottage. This is easy. Reaching the cottage my support team are there ever ready and waiting to attend to all my needs. They really are the best I could ever wish for and it is great to see them after such a long time. Murdo is one of the marshals at this checkpoint and tells me I am in 12th place. Wow I think. Okay I had a rough patch but I have hardly pushed. Now to make an assault on the top 10.
“Where is Neal” I asked. “20 mins ahead of you but don’t worry about that” I wasn’t worried at all. I actually just wanted to know how he was. My own goals was my race this year not anyone else.
I was getting more and more surprised at how well he was doing. It was entering my mind that maybe today was his day. That one inexplicable day that everything goes well and you can do no wrong. So far this wasn’t my story but I was still within reach of my schedule and I was feeling great now. Well within my 20 hour target.

Carmyle to Bridge of Orchy

Again I felt great leaving Carmyle cottage easily catching the people that had overtaken me after my extended break. I met my support again just at Crianlarich and scoffed some more food and a Capri Sun. Off again and through the woodland to the Wigwams. On the downhill I felt a small twinge in my left shin. Nothing to worry about just the terrain.
My support team weren’t ready with the weigh in card at the wigwams. I lined up for the weigh in impatiently. 20 seconds to long. Not a problem normally but again I was feeling the rage that kept affecting me today. Everything had to be to a schedule and 20 seconds waiting wasn’t planned for. I had to be at Tyndrum for bang on 10 hours. Athole appeared humbly apologising and instantly I was embarrassed that I could even contemplate being annoyed. Ultra running rage. Everyone no matter how nice they are gets it. My team knew I didn’t mean it. Hopefully. Perhaps they sensed my distress or maybe I didn’t hide it well enough but they offered to get me an ice cream at Tyndrum. And oh how I looked forward to it as I passed runners all the way. They were all dying.
My plan was coming together now. I felt great and here was all these runners struggling. Rob met me at Tyndrum. “This is working Rob” i said. “I am going to beat this West Highland Way. Everyone is dying and I am picking them off. I feel great” I could see Robs concern. There was 42 miles to go. But I was on a high and floating on my way to the finish. Nothing would stop me now.

With my ice cream I walked up the hill out of Tyndrum. Two of the “dying” runners overtook me. “I’ll catch them on the downhill section. May as well enjoy my ice cream first” I thought.
I finished my ice cream and started to run. I couldn’t catch the two runners. “Strange. I feel good but my legs won’t do what I want them too.” Instead of giving me energy it was as if my ice cream had sapped it.
Okay onto the downhill. I’ll get back into gear now. A very familiar pain shot up from my right ankle up the shin. The same one from last year but on the opposite leg. Still it only affected me downhill. Once on the flat I got back to my scheduled pace.
But it wasn’t good. I had to fight to get up to 11:23 per mile that was called for in this section. What the hell was wrong with me. One moment fine and then within minutes dead on my feet. My body had given up. The legs hurt and my energy levels were very low.
Pick yourself up I demanded from my body and I got going again but again I was sapped on the hill at the half way point of the section. I struggled up to the top and turned to see Sharon skipping towards me in the distance. I say skipping because she may as well have got out of the car just a mile before. Fresh as a daisy she bounded towards me and with feelings of deja vu from last year and John overtaking me towards the end I turned and mustered what I could to run towards Bridge of Orchy and the safety and sanity of my support team.
I tripped and fell, nearly pulling every muscle in my body to stop myself landing on the path in an effort to land on the grass. Now muddy and covered in sheep shit I reached the downhill and finally my team for a recharge of my batteries.
I sat on the chair willing the race to be over. Embarrassed that within 7 short miles I had gone from superman to grumbling moaning wreck. Unable and unwilling to get going again Sharon hopped skipped and jumped into Bridge of Orchy, like a diva she waved away her support and continued passed me. I was broken and any chance of getting under 20 hours were gone. My race was finished and my head sunk. I could have cried and to be honest I just wanted to go home.

Bridge of Orchy to Kinlochleven

“Get up time to go. Get on with it” Debbie woke me from my self pitying hole that I was digging myself. She nearly dragged me out of my seat and up the hill and I wish she had. “Get on with it Marco” I said as I headed up the hill. At the top I got ready to increase speed and get back into the race on the way downhill.
Straight away the pain in my shin. Getting sorer and sorer. Every step the pain shot up my leg and sapped what little energy I had left. At the bottom Debbie ran towards me with a very energetic Harvey, Neals dog.
I could only whimper “I miss Cairn”
I had never wanted to quit so much as I did then. I had done this race already. I had my goblet, what do I have to prove? That I can walk whimpering and crying over the finish. I know it is an achievement and when everyone says that it was a good time even although you had to walk I feel good. But it is shortlived. I will not let this race beat me. I want to one day be proud of what I have achieved. To say I tried the hardest I could and my time was whatever. To be honest I don’t care what time I get. I just want to say that I did the best I could. Not like last year. Always the reply to “What time did you run the WHW in” was “I got 20 and 3 quarter hours but ......” and then it would be the excuses. I had to walk, I had cellulitis, I had a sore leg. Maybe everyone gets that when running an ultra and perhaps I never will have that perfect race but this year I was determined to do it and now it was unravelling before me. Falling apart and I was helpless to stop it. By now I was past caring I just wanted it finished and to be home with Cairn and Debbie watching TV and doing anything else but this bloody race.
I started to recover again over Rannoch Moor. Perhaps the hill onto the moor gave me time to gather myself again. The sun was out and the views were tremendous. Billy Minto caught up with me and overtook me but I didn’t care. I was just glad that I was moving forward. One foot in front of the other.
Now John Kynaston caught up with me and I was determined to stay with him for as long as I could. I managed to the hill before Glencoe before again the irritating pain in my shin stopped me from continuing. It really was beginning to hurt now and felt worse than last year. Although I may have taken over the prescribed amount of pain killers that time.
Debbie joined me just before the Ski Club and asked what I needed. I don’t remember what I said as my memory of all the events begins to get hazy as I battled the pain in my leg. All I wanted was a cuddle and then she jogged off into the distance. Within a couple of minutes I couldn’t even see her and I was alone in my thoughts and agony as the downhill stretched into the distance.
Oh so I prayed for uphill as I ran along the road toward the Kingshouse. Debbie joined me again and said that the film crews were here. I tried to look strong as I shuffled into the checkpoint. The camera was in my face and I just wanted to swear and tell them what I really felt as they asked me questions and I gave the shortest possible answers. Trying to conserve as much energy as I could.
My team sat me down and shoved soup into my face. Thank you. I had been looking forward to this for hours. I always planned on soup at Kingshouse. Potato and leek. It was cold but I didn’t care. Still the camera was in my face filming me eating and still asking questions. I thought my one word grumpy answers would have scared them off by now but instead they were closer, zooming in and watching as I spilt soup over myself, drinking from a pink pot. I had lost all of my politeness and civilised correctness. I was an animal slurping and howling as I died a slow death. Perfect TV viewing nowadays in the age of Big Brother and I shudder as I think that will be how people remember my WHW race when it is shown in September.

Kingshouse to Fort William

Again I am kicked out of my chair and I try to run in case the camera is still filming. But they are bored of me now and there is other poor cretans coming in to the checkpoint all the time. John, Alex Kas and Mark are here. They love watching the WHW race and are always there to cheer me on. Putting me on a pedestal high up for achievements that I have never quite achieved. I feel sorry for their wasted trip as I am a shocking mess and an excuse of an athlete.
Where am I and how did I get here? I have no idea about times of day or times of the run. The schedule is out of the window and it is just a case of finishing now.
I reach the Devils Staircase and although they don’t admit it I know my team is worried. John and Debbie run up to the top of the staircase in preparation for me making an appearance. The climb I so looked forward to as a rest from the downhills kills me and I sit down to rest but Debbie is at the top shouting me to get a move on. I just want to sleep. Just 5 minutes. Please.
At the top Debbie tells me to look good. The dreaded camera is there as well. The camera man is blethering on about fantastic views and artistic light. Pity it is all to pot as I stumble towards him, broken. He switches the camera off and looks more annoyed than me. Again more questions and I grunt back.
Debbie and John run off ahead of me and I hit the downhill.
More pain this time even worse. They are both out of sight before I am a third of the way down.
Then some walkers overtake me. The humiliation of it all. One of them looks like a statistic for how unfit people are nowadays with his huge beer belly. “Your doing fantastic he gleefully tells me”
The big downhill now begins. Just less than 800 meter down to Kinlochleven. I can’t do it but then remember John Kynaston telling me how he had to walk backwards. I try it and instantly no pain. In the end I seem to be able to get quite a good speed going. Backwards. I laugh as I think how I will explain to Dr Chris how I managed to crack the back of my skull open while running.
Now and then I meet someone and turn around so I don’t look too daft and straight away the pain is too much. I grit my teeth. I am too proud to run past them backwards like an idiot.
The awkward stones have taken a toll in this section and my knees and shins hurt.
Into Kinlochleven and the team are having fish and chips. I manage a few chips and then tuck into some weetabix. A tip from Jezz Bragg and oh how good it is.
Ally Bea is there as well. Straight away she looks worried. I thought I was hiding how bad I was. She gives me a cuddle. In a strange way it feels like my mum (sorry Ally) and I feel so much better. I laugh. It’s like a dying soldier calling for his mum.

By now I am over four hours behind the leader and can have a support runner. I am a bit worried as the speed I am shuffling at is far too slow for a fit person to be going.
Rob is the first unfortunate person to be tasked with this unthankful task. Back up another 800 meter hill and I am out of breath trying to keep up with Rob. But he is a saviour. I would surely have curled up and gone to sleep at some point but Rob keeps me going.
I try to do some maths in my head but it is hard going. Rob is talking to me and I find it very hard to concentrate on anything.
I am doing on average 30 minute miles. My God. Old woman walk quicker. Every step is painful now and there is no rest bite. I calculate that there must be only 12 miles left. I nearly cry with anguish at the thought of another six hours of this. Also I am struggling at the thought that this pace will mean I will be over the 24 hour mark.
Okay another “quick” calculation and I work out that if I walk/shuffle at 25 minute mile I will be just under 24 hours. I can’t work out anything that is complicated so a lot of rounding was done. Also I am not sure about the 12 miles as that is a guess.
Rob is in front of me. He has the patience of a saint as he tries to get me to speed up. I don’t tell him about my pace goals. It’s too hard to speak and I am trying to hide the pain. Slowly I manage to speed up and the average on the watch slowly decreases. 29:40, 29:30. Every 10 seconds is a goal now. Keep going.
It is now speeding up as we are now on flatter ground. 29:00, 28:50....
I am getting cold now and start to put on clothes that Rob has brought with him. 5 layers and a hat I have on but I am still cold. 28:20, 28:00
Downhill sections now and the time is really going down 27:30, 27:00
Past the old farmhouses but the ground is tough. The average pace is still going down but slower, 26:30, 26:20
Up hill now and I stop looking at the watch. Its no use. I feel slower. I cant get the average pace under 25 minute mile.
It doesn’t take much to dishearten me now and so I am resigned that I will be over 24 hours. I relax and slow down. But Rob isn’t hanging about and I am again breathing hard to keep up with him. All the way I look forward to turning the corner and seeing Ben Nevis in the distance.
Everyone is overtaking me now. Still running. George, Mike. All doing and looking great.
I am scared to look at my watch now. But I do.
25:20. eh. I can do this I thought. A new wave of excitement hits me and if I know if I keep this up I will do it. Under 24 hours. It’s not my original goal but it is my goal now. I don’t care who overtakes me, what time I get or what position as long as I beat 24 hours.

We reach Lundavra and Debbie meets us and tells me that she will be taking over from Rob. Rob looks relieved as if admonished from a life sentence. What has Debbie let herself in for?
She is more caring now. Helps me. I know that is because it is just a case of finishing and because there is no time targets to adhere to. I don’t tell anyone that I have my own but I am sure they guess.
Up the hill from Lundavra, young John overtakes me. Full of beans and running away from his support. He is talking to me but doesn’t notice that I can’t keep up. I can’t hear a word he says as he runs into the distance.
25:00
I am going to make it but it’s getting really hard. I know realise I need a cushion of time because I may struggle coming down the hill at the end. Damn. Not long left to try to get the average down. I settle on 23:00. If I can make that then I will have some leeway.
Its getting dark now and we only have one headtorch between us. Debbie has it and is trying to light the way for her and me. It keeps shining in my eyes and casting big shadows and is worse than if we had no torch. I snap at Debbie and tell her just to care about shining it for herself.
Down the stairs to bonking boulder. My legs are killing me and I fear they will buckle with disastrous consequences on the stairs.
I can’t see my watch now but hear it beep low battery. I don’t even want to turn the light on in case it drains what remaining charge I have.
I don’t have a clue what time it is or what my pace is. I just concentrate on one foot in front of the other. One step at a time. Always forward.
Debbie is scared of the dark in the trees. She grabs my hand and pulls me along. I can’t keep up with her adrenaline fueled march and start to stagger. “Slow down” I moan.
Every downhill is torture, I can feel every root. We stagger around and I wonder if we are even on the path. but always on my mind is what is my pace?
Headtorches behind us. Ian Beattie and George. I am pleased that Ian will complete it this year and then curse as I think it is his fault I am doing this.

At last out of the trees and on to the big new path. I try to see the watch in the low light. Was that 23 something? Downhill is excruciating. The pain is awful. Another runner passes and asks directions. I tell him the wrong way and Debbie tries to correct me. I shoot her down. I am right I tell you. I just hope he didn’t listen to me.

Braveheart carpark and light. I am under 23 minute mile and then the battery runs out. I will make it. I have no time to see by how much but if I have calculated correctly it will be a close thing.

My team joins me and we walk together towards the finish. I am talking now. Relieved that I am near the end and the 30 mile speed limit sign that welcomes you as you reach Fort William.
Graeme Reid overtakes me at the end. I am so pleased for him. It looks like his kids are running the end with him too.

We reach the Sports Center. People are cheering but I am just glad it is over. Last year I managed to run in. Not this year. I can barely walk. It passes in a blur. 23 hours 33 mins. Well under the 24 hours. So much for my calculations.
I don’t care. I give my blood sample. Get me out of here. I am finished with this race. I will never do it again.

WILL I EVER LEARN?

95 miles is a long way. Believe me though when I say it that on Saturday it felt so much longer. I certainly had a lot of time to think during that time. Why the heck am I doing this again? Especially on the last 14 miles through the Lairig Mor. A carbon copy of last year walking in pain for five plus hours. Yet this year I was three hours slower. What went wrong this year? It wasn’t the weather as it was perfect and so many people ran PB’s with the top times being some of the fastest ever recorded on the WHW bar Jez’s time.
Was it my training? My training went to plan right up until April then I stuttered and started to feel run down and burnt out. I remember after a fast 42 mile run which was only two weeks after another 42 mile run and felt fantastic, John Kynaston said that he hoped I hadn’t peaked too soon. I dismissed the comment as I was on a high from running the route so well but as the race drew nearer I heard his word over and over again. He was right, you train to race not race to training.
I had got over confident from a few months of good training. If the race had been then perhaps things would be different.
In the end it wasn’t my day. Actually I wouldn’t say that. I completed the race and that is always an achievement in itself. The thing I am disappointed with is that I put a lot of work into my training. I paced the race perfectly and I ended up slower and just as broken as the year before. Neal ran off like a bat out of hell and everyone thought he would blow up. He proved us all wrong and finished in a time that I can only dream for. Everyone said don’t race the Edinburgh marathon and Thomas proved that that was the wrong thing to do, but again Neal proved us all wrong and raced it just 3 weeks before. I on the other hand was taking an extended taper and trying to undo the damage I had done with over training pretending that I was being cautious and preparing when in fact I was praying that my battered body would feel better.
This was proved time and time again and it is only now that I realise what my body was telling me. The two day 75 mile run for example. I had had a couple of niggles before it but they didn’t affect me.
I felt worn out at the end. Much more than John who seemed to get stronger as the finish grew closer.

Perhaps I need to go back to basics. How I used to run. When I first started running I ran in orthotics. Years of hillwalking had given me dodgy knees and they fixed them. I stopped wearing them. Perhaps they would stop me getting the pains in my legs that I have now got both times on the WHW.

Also when I train it is very rarely over 7 hours. Does this cause me problems? Do I need to have more time on feet runs?

In the end with failure I have probably learnt more than if it had gone all to plan. I want to do the race again now that I have had some time to think about it. But do I have the will power or determination to do 6 months training for it all to amount to nothing. No I don’t. I need a different plan. I need to involve other races and other challenges. I can’t afford to give up another year for one goal because when it goes wrong you have nothing.
Yes I will do the race next year but I will do new things too. Hill running is something I have been wanting to do and other challenges too. Next year won’t be the year of the West Highland Way but rather it will be a year that will include the West Highland Way. I won’t be ruled by it but also I won’t be beaten by it. Hey I must get it right eventually.

West Highland Way Race 2009

2009-06-22T13:01:00.001+01:00

Woohoo I finished the race in 23:33:47 and 38th position. I just want to say thank you to everyone that wished me well or came out to see me. Most of all I would like to thank my fantastic support crew, Debbie, Athole, Rob and Kas. Thank you so much guys. You kept me going through the good and bad times.

There was some fantastic performances this year.
Scott Bradley was first in the second fastest time ever in 16:11:56. Sharon Law was 1st "lady" in an amazing 19:55:28 and her first race over 55 miles.
Richie Cunningham took 2 hours off his PB to finish in 16:24. George Cairns again finishing strong in 16:46
Neal "pacepusher" Gibson had the race of his life (so far) and finished in 18:42. I have to admit Neal that I thought your pacing was suicidal but you proved me so wrong. John Kynaston taking more time from his PB and finishing in 19:51:59. I told you you could do it John.
Ian Beattie putting last years DNF to rest with a 23:11:19 finish this year.
Other finishers Gavin, Billy Minto, Jody, Mike, George, Stan, Karen, Davie all doing fantastic.

I really trained for this one but in the end I was slower than last year. What went wrong I really don't know. It was just not my day. I finished though and have another goblet for my collection.
I will try again though. I still feel that me and this race have unfinished business.

Race report to follow... while I am sipping a beer in Rome. :-)

Friday Night Run

2009-05-30T11:45:00.001+01:00

So while everyone was enjoying pay day and a little drink after work I and a few others were getting ready for a night run. The idea is to get used to the start of the Way using headtorches. I was going to miss this run because I was meant to be working but also I found that last year it took me days to get over it. It was only 20 odd miles but the lack of sleep, running at a time your body isn't used too and running in the dark takes its toll.
But when my planned working weekend was cancelled I signed up immediately. Not because it was a night run but because it gave me the chance to run the first bit of the Way and also the only bit we didn't run last weekend.

I met John, Ian, Dario and Sue at the Balmaha car park. The plan was to take Ian's car and drop off Dario and Sue at Beech Trees and then drive on to Milngavie where we would start on the way back to Balmaha.
I was feeling a bit yuck as I drove to Balmaha. My cold had come back and I had done no running all week. I didn't say much when I met everyone and was quite content to sit in the back of the car and contemplate the run.
Sue mocked me, asking if I had fake tan on my legs. Perhaps I have been sleeping too close to Debbie at night. :-)
At Milngavie we met Jim, Davie and Stan. Jim and Davie were doing a different route that even although they told me twice went in one ear and out the other. I was still away with it as they left ahead of us. Richie appeared and after the photo's we were off. The normal start is still being worked on so we went to the Fling start.

As we passed the shocked locals through Milngavie village we went straight back into the pace we ran at the week before. 10.20 /min mile. But it felt a lot harder than it should have for me. I struggled a bit and the pain came back to my hip. My foot also started to become sore as well. So much for the rest week. I just couldn't really get into it at first as I tended to sit at the back.
Luckily though as we came out of Mugdock I got more into it and started to talk to everyone. Earlier that day I had sent JK some predicted splits for the WHW race and we spoke about that. It was great to get him to look over my times and have his opinion on them. I have really enjoyed running with him over the last week and sharing our thoughts and opinions with each other although I really have to stop swearing in front of him.
Stan spoke about his grandkids. "Bullsh*t" I thought (sorry I will stop the swearing)... ".... you must mean your kids.... your not old enough" I later found out he is 60. I really thought he was in his 40s.
It was about now that I found out that Murdo has pulled out of the race due to injury. Everyones mood changed as if there was a death in the family. Sometimes it is like that when you hear that someone pulls out. It affects us all and Murdo will be sorely missed. Although I do hear he has been talked into marshaling by Dario.
Onto Conic Hill and Richie ran up beside me. I kept with him for a bit but pulled back and waited on the rest. My competitive spirit is on hold at the moment and by that time my foot was causing me some problems.
Into the Balmaha car park and although it was a good run I was glad we were finished. I felt tired and a bit bashed but by the time I got home I felt like I hadn't even been out.
Debbie and Cairn were out overnight at Debbie's mums. I promised myself a long lie but after four hours sleep I awoke to beautiful sunshine and couldn't get back to sleep. I will pay for that later.

Anyway I just want to say good luck to all you Edinburgh Marathon runners tomorrow and if you want any advice then watch this
Coach Cairn Marathon Tips

75 miles. Will it be tears or glory?

2009-05-26T23:12:00.001+01:00

Johns Video of the run
Silkes Pictures
Johns Blog of the run

When I started my training this year I always had in mind the two day training run. All of my long WHW training runs were ran the day after or before another longish run. These back-to-back sessions were an attempt to stop the fatigue that I felt at the end of last year's West Highland Way race.

The thing is I am not sure now that the fatigue I experienced was caused by never running over 55 miles so now I am unsure whether back to backs would be as beneficial as I thought. Sure they will help but perhaps not in the way I imagined.

You see for the last two years people have said to me to watch my pace, to hold back at the beginning of a run. I pretend to listen and I am full of good intentions and believe me I even try. I set off at what I think is an easy pace but it never was. I was kidding myself. On a road race it may have been but during an ultra it was suicide.
People saw me during training runs and said that I had a natural talent to do well and this went to my head. I would run against world class athletes and think that at the beginning I could stay with them. Lactic acid would set in and I would finish in a whimper in agony and posting a time that I should be proud of but know I can do better.

Then I ran the fling. Again I ran fast. 20 miles with Jez Bragg in view. I felt great and life was good. Then by Beinglas I was broken. I contemplated pulling out but continued my legs unable to run and so again I walked the last 12 miles. Thomas the crazy German overtook me looking as fresh as a daisy and running all the way. I had blown it again.

At that moment I swore that I would change my tactics. I wanted to be humble. I wanted to be cautious. To forget about finishing in the top ten of a race and just finish in a time I am pleased with. I signed up for the Cateran Trail 23 mile race and paced much better, but my tired legs gave up before the end. They still had the Fling in them.

So it was on to the two day training run. I had to learn pacing before the race and who better to help me than John K. The most organised WHW runner that I know. JK has all the times worked out. Every two or three miles there is a time checkpoint. If anyone can help me then JK can.

Day 1
Balmaha to Bridge of Orchy
40 miles

Running on the first day would be Sharon, Davie Bell, John and myself. Straight from the off I wanted to prove to everyone that I could in fact keep a lid on the pace. It was easy to do that as my hip has been hurting for a couple of weeks and to be honest I couldn't go any faster than the 11 minute mile pace that we were running. As we ran though the hip seemed to get looser and less sore. In fact by the end of the 75 miles I couldn't feel it at all.
The four of us chatted away taking turns each to speak to each other in two separate group. Never did the two groups have more than a couple of meters between them.
Before long we were in Rowardennan. 67 miles to go I said to myself and all of a sudden I realised that this wasn't going to be just a wee run.
We had quite a long break here. I met Ben from Garscube and I spoke to him for a bit. He was telling me he was still injured and not running the Edinburgh marathon. I felt awful for him as he was in such a great shape a few months ago. He will get a marathon and he will get a great time.

We left Rowardennan and walked up the first big hill and then ran the second. This seemed a nice and easy way of doing it and I will try during the race.
I felt no pressure at any point. My stomach felt a bit upset so I stopped for the toilet and let everyone push on. I didn't rush and knew that I would catch them eventually. Whether it was in two minutes or two hours. I would never have done that before. It would all be about racing and beating people.
I caught them up (I don't know how long it took or even care) and before I knew it we were in Inversnaid. I couldn't believe we were there already and that was when I realised. Running like this is enjoyable and I haven't really enjoyed many runs this year.
Pacing properly isn't about being lazy. Taking your time at the beginning shows that you are intelligent and have thought through your tactics. Everyone has heard the saying that one minute saved at the beginning is ten minutes saved at the end.
(I am sorry that I am going on about pacing)
Back to the run and we were on our way to Beinglas. This section was great and I felt light and bouncy. I started to pull away from the rest and for a moment the old me surface. Then I heard Sharon worn Davie not to go with me and I stopped and waited. We pulled away from John and I think he thought we would leave him. We didn't and we arrived together in Beinglas. Just as we did Davie seemed to have a problem with his leg for a bit but by Beinglas it seemed okay.

I ran out of food at Beinglas and started to struggle. I had dropped a food bag at Carmyle Cottage but that was 50 minutes away. John gave me a Murray mint and straight away I felt better. A second one got me to the drop point.

It got cold quickly as it hadn't stopped raining all morning and everyone left at different times with me being the last.

I caught Davie quiet quickly and he was starting to struggle. His ITB band was playing up but he said that he would just continue slowly. With my pack filled with energy drink from the drop point I pushed on with a new lease of energy. I caught Sharon and before long we caught John but Davie was getting further and further behind and Sharon was getting worried.
We slowed for Davie but he never caught us. Again we were getting cold so we pushed on safe in the fact that Davie would call if he had any issues.
Debbie and Cairn were at the wigwams. It was good to see them but Debbie informed us that she was looking for Davie. He had text her and had to end the run short because of his ITB

Not long now until Bridge of Orchy and I was so surprised that I felt great. Nearly 40 miles ran and I felt that I could pick up the pace again. And I did a couple of times as we neared the end. In fact all three of us picked the pace up and ran strongly into Bridge of Orchy and the promise of a shower and a slap up meal.

Day 2
Bridge of Orchy to Fort William
35 miles

I was worried about the second day. I have never ran as far on a second day after running 40 miles the day before. Especially as the 40 miles we had done are not the easiest. My legs were stiff but not tired or sore. Something that I just couldn't comprehend. It was a completely alien feeling to have done so much but still be in a relatively good condition.

I was last to start off today out of the four starters from yesterday. Sharon was first to go at 8:30, then John at 9:28 and me at 9:40.
To be honest I was a little disgruntled that John wanted to start without me. Not at him for leaving me to run myself but because it would put pressure on my pacing strategy. I wanted to run side by side with John and learn about pacing correctly. Would this mess it all up.
As I climbed the hill out of Bridge of Orchy I started to look at things differently. I was back into the relaxed pace of the day before and enjoying my running. John had done me a favour and shown that I can pace myself correctly. I still wanted to catch John so that we could run together but gone was the instinct that I had to beat him across the finish.
A new me but also because I was more relaxed I didn't ask Debbie to support me at Victoria Bridge and so I carried a light backpack and felt free. No stress and back to enjoying my running.
I met Silke at Victoria Bridge and instead of a quick hi and bye I stopped and chatted. Thomas was on the WHW too and I was looking forward to catching up in the chat when he caught up with me. He had started at Tyndrum but I knew that he wouldn't be too far behind.
I ran on and walked the hills up to Rannoch Moor. I chatted to all the walkers and jogged the flats. Looking at my watch I was averaging slightly faster than the day before. Perfect I thought. This way I would catch up with John and we can run together.
I never once pushed it and by about 4 miles from Kingshouse I caught him up. He was running with another John and the three of us would run together for most of the day.
The hill down past the ski center was sore on my hip but not to bad and we arrived not long after at Kingshouse. The weather was such a difference from the day before. It was sunny and warm.
Thomas arrived soon after but we left before him. He caught us near the Devils Staircase and looked very strong. In fact he ran all the way up the Staircase without stopping once. Very impressive.
The two Johns and I reached the top not long after. The weather was starting to get cold and rain was not far away.

We arrived in Kinlochleven and refueled. Now this was the hard bit. The 14 miles to Fort William. In the race last year I took nearly five hours to complete it. In this training run I would do it in two hours 40 minutes.
At no time did it feel hard although towards the end I started to feel that I hadn't had enough food. The thing is that with the slower pace I seem to be able to eat a lot more and with a lot more variety. John seemed very strong at the end. His new food routine seemed to be a real winner. I was very impressed at how strong he was at the end and he seemed to have more left in the tank. In fact both of us did and it will give us both bags of confidence on race day.

So by the end what have I learnt. Firstly I have hopefully learnt pacing. How much easier is it to pace correctly and finish strongly. Why didn't anyone tell me. Oh sorry you have been for the last year.

Secondly don't wear hair gel in the rain. Yeah my hair went all white.

Third, I need to eat more. Its much easier when the pace is slower.

So that is it. Training finished and I am feeling so relaxed about tapering. Dare I say I am looking forward to it.

Thank you to my ever present support Debbie and Cairn. Sharon and Davie for their chat. Silke and Thomas the crazy Germans and my good friends. Katrina for keeping Debbie company and making me laugh when John was discussing his schedule and you knew nothing about it. All the fellow runners we met on the way.

Last but not least though I have to thank John. If I have finally got the idea of pacing then you will be the one I have to thank for it. I think you have shown me how to tactically think about a race. I am sure your voice will be ever present during the race.

Thank you to Silke and John for the pictures

A mini Cateran

2009-05-11T18:24:00.001+01:00

For a small tiny millisecond I thought about throwing away my training plan and running the Cateran Trail ultra. A 50 odd run around Perthshire. Thankfully I decided not to and instead I entered its smaller older brother, The Cateran Trail 23. It is deceiving though. For one it is nearer 24 miles and two there isn't a lot of trail. There is on the other hand a lot of bog and hills so it is a tough wee race but the organisers are a very friendly bunch and I definitely think I will enter again.

This race was all about getting some race experience under my belt. After my Fling I wanted to see if I could ever learn what proper pacing is.
Straight away though I showed my naivety. I had decided on running in my road shoes. "Why has everyone got trail shoes?" I wondered.
The start was at 10 am, 1 hour before the relay teams. I was hoping to keep in front of them today but also I didn't want to go off fast. Richie Cunningham was there so I hoped that I could maybe keep up with him for a while and learn from someone with much more experience.
Straight away at the start a lead group of 4 or 5 runners tore off and for a change I wasn't in there. I caught up with Richie and we ran together. It was good to chat with him for a bit. Soon though he stopped for a call of nature and I seemed to start to catch the lead group but I held off and soon they were out of site. Had I done the right thing? I thought.
Richie caught back up and again we ran together as the ground got muddier.
The only trace of the lead group was footprints in the mud.
We reached the 1st checkpoint and Richie stopped. I didn't need to stop but I wanted to stick with him for the first part of the run so I waited for him to fill his bottles. I was trying out my new North Face hydration pack that was working out quite well.
Then we started up another long drag of a hill and I quickly lost Richie. I didn't mean to but I did feel good and so I just continued on. It was good to run myself for a bit but I was wary about going the wrong way. Training and racing only on the WHW does that to you.
Then I heard voices ahead. It was two or 3 of the lead group. Without trying I had caught them as they had started to wilt from the pace. They also seemed to be having some navigation issues as well.
I shouted the right direction to them and continued on. I was in 3rd position without trying and was nearing the half way point.
Then we hit the mud.
I was sliding place and a runner overtook me. He shouted to me to watch my navigation at this section and just as I replied I went flying and landed in loads of mud. Note to self. Don't wear road shoes, white socks or white tops doing this race.
Richie danced past me as I did my best impression of Todd Carty in Dancing on Ice.
Then back onto trail. My legs battered by the mud section kicked into action and I overtook the runner and caught Richie again.
But I was gubbed. I could feel the torture of the mud section had sapped my battered fling legs. I then arrived at the second checkpoint and Debbie waiting for me. 15 miles gone.
I grabbed some coke and continued. But it didnt settle too well in my stomach. No matter I could see Richie and I was catching him. We then reached the beginning of the last long hill before the end.
Straight away I struggled and so started to walk. Richie didn't seem to get much further away when doing that so I continued. But then I was caught by another Carnethie runner. I just didn't have anything left in my legs to keep up
By the time we reached the top of the hill and onto a flat section the two Carnethie runners were a long way away although in their day glo colours I could still see them.
I was able to get back running again on the flatter section, all the time wary that I was going to be caught by an influx of passing runners. Then I saw that there was still a short steep hill left to conquer. Oh no I thought. But then I spied a white top only half way up and struggling. This gave me the push. If I could catch him then that would be great.
I rocketed up the hill and finally got him at the top and then got a sizable lead on the downhill section. Again sliding in the mud bath all over the place. I tried to jump a muddy section at the same time as 2 hillwalkers and ended up sliding and falling awkwardly. This caused my calf to cramp and as I writhed in agony in the mud I saw the runner I had just passed steadily catching me.
I shot back up and sprinted as fast as I could to the finish, every jump making my calf spasm as if about to cramp again.
Fourth position in 3:20:03 and 3rd senior male. Did I win a trophy? I am not sure as we had to rush off to go to the Gibsons for dinner. Well worth it though as they put on a fantastic spread (thanks guys) and also the crazy German trying to sing Michael Jackson was hilarious.

Good race and I will do it again next year. The pacing felt better although it still needs work. The Fling is still in my legs though.

Stuc a Chroin Hill Race

2009-05-04T23:04:00.001+01:00

I played around with the idea of running this race but I think that it is a bit early to run your first proper hill race one week after the fling. Okay I know that I ran in the Islands Peaks race but I think of that more like an ultra.
It was an even harder decision when I was going to be just 10 minutes along from the start of the race at Strathyre because it was the Garscube Training weekend just down the road in Callander.
We were staying in a beautiful hostel, the same one that we stayed in last year and I am sure the same one we will stay in next year.
Trossachs Tryst
The training weekend isn't normally a training weekend in that it is normally an excuse to consume loads of food and drink and attempt to run after it. In fact recent years have been hilarious watching us athletes trying to run with a hang over or still drunk from the night before.
Still I normally run more miles than hours slept although this is easy as no-one seems to sleep much.
But as the years have gone by the weekend has got a lot more civilised with wine, kids and quiz shows. And so during all this fun 4 of us decided that on the Saturday we would go to the top of Stuc a Chroin to watch the race.
We wouldn't run the same route as the runners but would run up the back (and easier) slope from Callander and time it right so that we would meet the leaders at the top.

We set off at lunchtime and ran for a couple of miles along a track to the dam and a stalkers bothy. Immediately we started our ascent up the hill. It was an easy incline and we managed to run most of it. There was 4 of us. Grumpy Euan, Ian the hill runner, John the Jogger and myself.
I have never found Euan grumpy but his partner Ali calls him that so it has stuck, Ian is the hill runner of the club and known for his mental hill runs in inaccessible places of Scotland and last but not least is John the Jogger. Not much of a jogger when doing 32 minute 10Ks.
John unfortunately had his road shoes today but the rest of us had our fell shoes on.
200 meters or so up the easy incline the hill started to get steeper. I tried a mixture of walking fast and running but my quads were burning and by now I was glad I wasn't running the race. The views were beautiful and I wished I had brought my camera. The morning had been showery but the afternoon was sunny with a biting wind. But we were running and you don't notice the cold. Again the incline eased and we ran, passing walkers on there way up. I started to feel stronger and was finally shaking off the fatigue of the fling and the easy week I had had. The last section was steep but we still couldn't see the runners on the ridge and so we took it easy.
Up at the top the marshals for the race were gathered waiting expectantly. It was icy cold and we quickly cooled down.
This was the first time that I have ever watched a hill race and it was an eye opener. All the runners looked knackered. Okay I know that it is no mean feat to get to the top of a munro but I thought that perhaps the front runners would have looked a little fresh. But the didn't and again I was thankful that I wasn't running it.
I started to see people that I knew. Tom Owens, Iain Ridgeway, Richie Cunningham, Angela Mudge, John Kennedy, Andy and Emma Birnie, Nick from Bella and the only Garscube runner running Davie Dickson. He has just started running hill races and seemed to be running superb.
By now we were bloody freezing and it was time to go down. I love the downhill sections and managed to get a good pace down some sections. John in the other hand had a hellish time with his road shoes. Slipping and sliding everywhere.
Just before we got back to the car we got a soaking from a rain shower but that didn't dampen our moods as we all had a great wee hill run.

Stuc a Chroin Results

11.41 miles
2 hours 29 mins

No sex please... we are runners

2009-04-24T08:50:00.001+01:00

So the big race is tomorrow. Not the big, big race but my first ultra of the year. So what does everyone do the day before a big race? I am having a lazy day feet up, TV on and cleaning my shoes from the last time out. I am an athlete Debbie, okay. :-)
This week has not been the best in terms of preparation. I had to go to London at the start of the week. I have felt awful. Not sure if it is a cold or the taper. My legs feel awful. I have been struggling to come down the stairs in the morning. What will I be like coming down Conic Hill. I am sure that this will all disappear in Milngavie at 7am but will I still feel okay later on. Bloody tapering.

I am really looking forward to meeting up with everyone tomorrow. Catching up with friends.

Garscube have a team in the race. Rob McLellan, Davie Aitkin and me make up the team. Looking forward to seeing how we get on.

So my bed beckons me back again and so I just want to wish everyone running the Fling tomorrow the best of luck and a big thank you to the support teams and organisers without whom we wouldn't be able to do this.
But most of all thank you to Debbie and Cairn who without, I wouldn't be able to get out of the door for the race.

A post for Thomas

2009-04-22T17:35:00.001+01:00

Hi Thomas,
As promised here is a picture of my socks.
They are thin hillwalking sock (liners) but they have protection in all the places that rubbing can occur.
Hope that helps.

Marco

Taper Tantrums

2009-04-15T17:08:00.001+01:00

Its day three in the world of tapering and I ran my last speed session before the Fling. I will do some easier speed work to freshen my legs up but nothing like today.
Today's session was 3 * 8 minutes with a 90 second recovery.
I wanted to take this session easier than before but actually found that I had a much better session because of that. My splits were good and I felt quite refreshed at the end. My legs did feel a bit tired but this was probably due to my leg massage last night.

Rep 1 : 1.43 miles @ 5.38 /mi
Rep 2 : 1.37 miles @ 5:52 /mi (This one is hilly)
Rep 3 : 1.48 miles @ 5:27 /mi

For my taper I plan to run about 8 miles tomorrow then a rest on Friday. Saturday will be an easy 12 miles with Sunday as a rest. Then I will run Monday and Wednesday before resting before Saturday.

A Cairn on top of Conic

2009-04-13T22:05:00.001+01:00

WHW Training Run 12 April 2009

So it was back on the Way again for the second half of my weekend training before tapering for the Fling.
Today the plan was to run from Milngavie to Balmaha. Debbie was also having her first run on the WHW since Cairn was born. And so the plan was for me to drive to Milngavie and then run to Balmaha where Debbie would meet me and then she would run from Drymen to Milngavie.
It was easier to plan all that than what pace I wanted to run. I had a few texts with Tom but still no clearer on pacing. In the end I decided on 1:30 to Drymen and 1 hour to Balmaha.

Milngavie to Drymen
12.15 miles
1:29:35

The pace for this section I had worked out as being 7:22. Straight away from Milngavie I could feel the pace. I think that my body isn't used to running the WHW at that pace and perhaps the 20 miles on Friday were still in my legs. Also it is a hard work when you are constantly looking at your watch instead of the scenery. Is this really what running on trails is all about?
Thankfully within a couple of miles I started to feel good and settled down a bit.
Although John likes them I struggled with the new gates. These last couple of years of trying to get into Ultra Running have given me strong legs. Unfortunately I would struggle to arm wrestle a 10 year old girl as my arm muscles have disappeared completely. I found the new gates stiff and annoying to open. Perhaps I should learn to vault them.
I was glad to get to Drymen. This section is far from being my favourite but the next section I really like.

Drymen to Balmaha
6.92 miles
1:02:17

I had been running up all the hills until Drymen but on the hill up to the woods at the beginning of this stage I took the opportunity for a break. This also gave me a chance to sort out some food and gels. By Conic Hill my quads were very tired and so I had to take a lot more walking breaks than I would have liked and I reached the top on 52 minutes. Looking at my watch I realised I only had 8 minutes to get to the car park and so I picked up the pace.
By this time there was a constant stream of walkers coming up the other side and the would stop and get out of the way as I ran down. At first I thought perhaps it was because they were in sheer awe at my graceful descent but as I got closer to the bottom I realised that they were all just waiting on my slipping and falling on my backside.
Thankfully I didn't and two minutes slower than I scheduled I arrived at the car park with Debbie and Cairn waiting patiently.

Milngavie to Balmaha
19.16 miles
2:31:52
7:56 /mile
12 April 2009

The 2 runs at the weekend while not being tough were certainly not the easy runs that I have been used to on the WHW. But should race pace be easy? Shouldn't ultra running be pick a pace and then run slower? Will I be able to average 8 min mile from Milngavie to Balmaha and then run another 35 miles without dying. Questions that I have to answer during my taper. Less than two weeks to go and uncounting.

Easter Monday on Conic 13 April 2009

On Easter Monday, Debbie, Cairn and I went up Cairns first hill. Conic Hill. It was lovely weather but Cairn missed most of it as he slept.
We met John and his family at the top who were out for a walk too. It was good to catch up with them.
Cairn did great and was very settled in his papoose. A good sign for any munros we do later in the year.

On the way to 22

2009-04-11T11:25:00.001+01:00

I decided that it would be a good time to do a 22 mile run on the WHW at Fling race pace. I did wonder if this was a wise thing to do but having read JK's blog he did the same thing as well.
Wow so for once Marco is being wise I hear you say. No not at all, after this 22 mile stint I am taking Saturday off before another 20 miler on Sunday. Then it is taper time for two weeks and the Fling.

On Friday I was running from Balmaha to Beinglas. I reckoned it was 21 miles and 3 hours 33 minutes seemed like a good time to aim for. I based my individual stage times on some Fling times from last year.

Debbie and Cairn, my ever present support this year, dropped or rather threw me out of the car at Balmaha and off I went on my run.

Balmaha to Rowardennan
8.10 miles
01:06:59
8:17 /mile

I had thought that this section was 7 miles and so my pacing was way out what I thought I should have been doing. I thought I was going way to quick as I was aiming for 1:09 for this section. If it had been the 7 miles I would have been under 1 hour. Okay this time it worked as the distance was longer but again it showed that my pacing especially at the beginning of a run is woeful.
I felt great on this section and the rain that was falling when I started had stopped within 5 minutes. Yesterday I had ran 13 miles with 7 under 6:40 pace so to have recovered was great especially after the week off with the cold.
The West Highland Way was muddy throughout the day. I hope it is a bit drier in two weeks.

Rowardennan to Inversnaid
7.29 miles
01:03:30
8:42 /mile

For this section I again practised my running up the long hills out of Rowardennan. I am finding them much easier now and they save so much time. By Inversnaid though I was starting to feel quite tired. I was not sure if the pace was just too quick for me or if the run from the day before was still affecting my legs. I like this section and found that the time went by quickly. My aim was for 1:03 and I was bang on.

Inversnaid to Beinglas
6.63 miles
1:16:01
11:28 /mile

It is hard to keep to a pace in this section. I was wanting to run at 11:30's but during the difficult section at the start I was going at 13 min mile. It was muddy and slippy and I had a couple of slips. I knew that I could catch up later though.
By the end I had to walk up most of the bigger hills but I was still on my pace and I felt strong as I came to the finish.

Balmaha to Beinglas
22.02 miles
3:26:30
9:23 /mile

A good run that taxed me enough to make me wonder about my pacing. I tried different gels today (GO) and found them a lot more watery and so much easier to eat. I also tried mint sweets which are good.
Debbie and Cairn met me at Beinglas. I am so lucky to have them helping me out this year. Thanks guys. :-)
On Sunday I am running from Milngavie to Balmaha. I would like to aim for an 8:20 minute mile pace. I think that this is easy for this section but I want to feel good at the end of it.

A devil, a canal and a long weekend

2009-03-16T15:46:00.006Z

A devil

From the start of WHW training this year I have tried to have a run on the way every second week. The idea was that I would run the route of the training run at the end of the month two weeks before just like a practise attempt.
Also part of my training runs are to run half of the long run either the day before or the day after. This was a great idea until the distances started to increase.  In two weeks time we are running the Devil of the Highlands route. All 42 miles from Tyndrum to Fort William.
And so, to keep with the training plan I had to do the same. Two weeks before.

Devil o' the Highlands Route
Tyndrum to Fort William
42 miles

To make it all work out I had to take the day off work. You know that you are becoming a fanatic for ultra running when you take a day off, then get up at 5am and then drag your wife and seven week old baby with you too. Okay perhaps it may have been Debbie that dragged me out my bed.
Anyway we arrived at Tyndrum and I set off at 7am.
Apart from a slight niggle in my right calf from the beginning I had a great run. I really enjoyed it and the weather was very kind to me. It was sunny with spring well and truly out.  I even saw blossom on a tree in Kinlochleven of all places.
Training wise I was trying to keep to the running up hills but not as many as last time. Keeping with the one gel and 500ml of energy drink formula although I did have a terrific egg sandwich at the Devils Staircase.
The top of the Devils Staircase had a lot of knee deep snow that slowed me down and worried me because you couldn't see the boulders below the soft snow.
I felt good at the end and pleased that I didn't bonk like I did last year.
Thank you so much Debbie and Cairn for all your great support and to JK for your text asking how it was all going.

Distance : 42.19 miles
Time : 6 hours 38 mins
Avg Pace : 9:26 / mile

A Canal

On Saturday, a new event was being held. It was the Glasgow to Edinburgh Double Marathon. I had contemplated running this but in the end decided not too. It also seemed a bit pricey at £50 and after seeing the event organisation I didn't really see where all the money went but the organisers seemed friendly enough even although they looked like a bunch of university students.

A lot of the people running were from the WHW family and it was great to meet up with them all. But Debbie and I were here to support Sharon.

I also decided to run 18 miles of the canal as part of my training.

Running the 18 miles didn't feel to hard. Okay it was not as easy as it should be but a strong wind was behind me and the canal is as flat as a pancake.

Distance : 18.23 miles

Time : 2hrs 21 min

Avg Pace : 7:46 / mile

During my run I ran with Lucy Colquhoun for a bit and we chatted. I felt slightly embaressed because I had once posted that on a blog "I beat Lucy" It was totally tongue in cheek and I just hope that she read it that way.

I also ran with Kenny V as well. He is running the WHW this year for the first time and seemed to be very strong. Thomas came in a great 4th place. I was really pleased for him as at Bonnybridge I thought he looked done in but he must have got a second wind because he finished looking strong. Sharon came in a great 6th position and second girl with Davie minutes behind her with sorer ears than legs.. ;-)

I didn't get to talk to anymore people as I had to leave to go to John Bell's 40th birthday party. A great night but after all the running I swear I had a few dizzy spells and it wasn't caused by alcohol. Debbie on the other hand had a few dizzy spell that were.

Full Results for the run are here, and a good run by Phil, Ian, Aileen, Keith and Mags. Well done to everyone.

A Long Weekend

So after quite a busy weekend running, how do I feel? Quite good funnily enough. My legs are fine although a bit stiff. Energy wise though I feel it will take a few more days to get back to 100%. Today I did 16 * 200m reps. None of them fast but they felt great for getting all the rubbish out of my legs. Back into a cold shower after it and I felt great.

100 days, thoughts and views

2009-03-12T15:44:00.002Z

I started blogging at the end of 2007 because everyone else was doing it and although we are now in 2009 and I don't blog as much, I do try to write about the more important runs. But I should post about more than just the runs. I need to post more about my feelings as well.

The reason for this isn't for the people that read the blog but for myself.

At 1am this morning it was exactly 100 days until the West Highland Way race. It was a landmark last year and I was very worried and nervous. This year it passed without me even noticing. Last year I had ran the Balloch/Clydebank half marathon exactly the same as this week. Last year I ran 2 minutes quicker. Last year I was running Wuthering Hike the following weekend but this year I am doing a West Highland Way training run. Last year I had race 5 weekends consecutively. Last year at this time I decided to run the WHW in 2009 as well.

Here is a copy of my blog from last year. For me reading this is amazing. For everyone else it may not mean much but to me it is the point that my training started to go wrong.

Wednesday, 12 March 2008

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.

At the beginning of the blog I speak about being knackered. Today I feel great. No aches, no fatigue. Tomorrow I am running a 42 mile training run easy. Easy pace, big breaks and just a time on feet run. On Saturday I aim to run 20 miles on the canal, again easy. I would never have been able to contemplate this last year.

Although I blame running the London marathon and the Islands three peaks race as reasons that my training plan went wrong last year after reading my blog from the month of March last year I can now see that training was starting to go wrong before then and there was a reason to be nervous last year with 100 days to go. This year though with 100 days to go, I am just really looking forward to it.

So this year everything seems easier. Perhaps when I get to 10 WHW's the training will finally go perfect.

Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon

2009-03-09T22:48:00.000Z

8th March 2009

The Start

This half marathon has put me in some what of a dilemma. Should I tell the truth or not? Evil me says no and the good me says yes.

It all started last week. I had a terrific run on the WHW and I knew that Thomas would be wanting to get one back on me this week by beating me in the half marathon. He was running the Inverness Half and I was running the Balloch to Clydebank. It is my PB race so things looked good for me, but I have concentrated on doing less races this year. Thomas on the other hand has been doing a lot more races and been getting very good times.

Let me set the record straight - and I am sure that Thomas would agree with me. We have a very friendly competitiveness. We never gloat and I am sure if one of us got injured or hurt the other would stop. We are running brothers.
And so to the race. I met a lot of old Garscube faces and a helluva lot of new Garscube faces. Thats what happens when you haven’t been about in a while. I am sure they thought the same when they saw me, the imposter in a Garscube top who is never at training. Shock horror though. Stephen Mulrine was running a half-marathon. To be fair he was once an ultra distance runner and now after a period of time on the dreaded track he was back to distance runs. Also running today my brother Paul. He already had two PBs this week. One for a 20 mile race last Sunday and one for a 5k on Friday. Could he make it three?

So off we went. I was trying for an average pace of 5:50 and for the first seven or eight miles I was bang on and feeling great. Well within myself and slowly overtaking people. Stephen Mulrine was miles in front of me. Good on the track and good at distance.
Debbie and Paul’s girlfriend Gillian were spectating and giving me support. They would meet me and Paul at different points and cheer us on. Thanks girls.
Apart from them the whole route was lined with supporters. Garscube people, Millies (Davie) and WHW. I felt very popular.
By the 11th mile my pace was dropping. I was now averaging 5:55 with heavy legs and no way that I was going to increase that back up to 5:50’s. Resigned to that fact my pace slowed even more and two Bellahouston runners overtook me.I gathered my self together when another runner overtook me with half a mile to go and I mustered enough energy to pass him just before the end.

I was tired at the end and glad it was over but within two minutes I felt I could continue again. Race finished and no injuries or pains. So that was a result but my time according to my watch was 1:18:36. Two minutes behind last year. I was gutted but it wasn’t really unexpected as I am not training for half marathons. That is my plan for the second

half of the year. Stephen finished in 1:15:27, a fantastic time and Paul finished in a NEW PB of 1:31:56. Three PBs in seven days. Well done Paul.

The WAGs are waiting (Thanks to Davie for photo)

I texted Thomas and a few other people. Thomas replied later to say that he got a new PB. 1:18:31. Well done Thomas. That was excellent. Silke also got a fantastic time 1:51:59. She is faster running than on skates now.

So Thomas beat me by 5 seconds. He deserves it especially as it’s his 45th birthday. But then the official results came through and I can only think that it is a typo but my time is 1:18:26.

So I ask my blogging friends. Should I own up or should I tell Thomas that I beat him.....:-)

Paul sprint finishing the finish

WHW Training Run - Beinglas to Kingshouse

2009-03-05T09:13:00.000Z

Beinglas Farm to Kingshouse

1st March 2009

Distance : 31.54 miles
Time : 4 hours 37 minutes
Pace : 8:48 / mile

I had been looking forward to this run all week but I guess that everyone does. Even work seems to suffer as I prepared and worked out what I would like to try/learn from this months training run.
It felt like months since my last one and it near enough was. I had missed the January one and had instead ran with JK on a fantastic run from Drymen to Beinglas but also because of the way dates clashed their was no February run. The bonus with that is that there are two March runs.
February’s training didn’t suffer and I still managed to run 200 miles. Not as good as my January which topped 285 miles.

So by Friday I had a list of what I wanted to do.

Change my watch to display Average Pace
Too often on a run I have been trying to base the pace on what I am running at that moment. This doesn’t work on the WHW. There are too many ups and downs and too many high and low point. This time I was going to base it on an average of the entire run and try to keep it steady

Attempt to run as many hills as I can
After running with JK last month I learnt that you can run up most hills as long as I keep my breathing rate down. Okay sometimes the run is more like walking pace but I have found that it makes me less lazy and therefor instead of just walking every hill I actually make an attempt to run it

Keep to an average 10 min/mile (6 miles per hour)
I am trying to work out what my Fling pace should be and so I wanted to try this and see how I got on.

Start practicing with new support team
Debbie is now part of my support and has very kindly offered to support me on these long training runs. I think that this will be invaluable training for both of us.

Stick to the Energy Drink and Gels for fuel
During the race last year I stuck to energy drink and gels for most of the race. 500ml of energy drink and one lucozade gel per hour seems to work for me. Soup and weetabix gives me some savory at checkpoints.

Beinglas to Derrydarroch
Distance 3.75 miles
Time 35:29
Pace 9:29

As usual I was late. Debbie managed to have the baby, herself and everything a support team required and still be waiting on me. I only had to get myself ready. A shower, a good dab of Glide anti-chaffing gunge and breakfast was all I had to do.
We arrived at the Drovers Inn to sea of luminous jackets disappearing towards Beinglas Farm. Damn I thought. I missed the group photo.

Group photo minus me (Photo from John Kynaston’s Blog)

I quickly said my byes to Debbie and Cairn and then I was off. By the time the group had reached the West Highland Way at Beinglas I had caught the stragglers. Strangely enough it was Neal and Thomas who are usually way out in front rather than propping up the rear.
I spoke with Neal. It was the usual running chat as we sounded each other out “I don’t feel good” and Neal replies “I only slept 2 hours” To be honest he had been up most of the night due to his neighbours keeping him up all night having a party. Neal swears that they have a copy of his training plan. Perhaps I should own up to posting it too them. ;-) I then caught Thomas. I haven’t seen Thomas for ages and I was really looking forward to talking to him on this run. But he stopped to tie his shoe lace and I didn’t see him again until the end. We both have different ways of training. Tom starts conservatively and finishes very strong. Today I wanted to keep a steady pace. I spoke to John for a bit and congratulated him on his new job and then I caught up with Sharon and Davie. Before long I was with the lead group.
I didn’t mean to be here so quickly but the average pace was sitting at my 10 minute mile plan and so I stayed at it.
I felt comfortable running up the hills taking it easy and making sure that I didn’t struggle for breath.
Before long we were at Derrydarroch where I met Debbie and Cairn. I felt great but the pace had picked up so for the next section I tried to hold back.

Arriving at Derrydaroch

Derrydaroch to A82 crossover
Distance 0.93 miles
Time 10.24
Pace 11.08

I am not really sure why I recorded this as a separate section but I did

A82 crossover to Auchentyre
Distance 5.42 miles
Time 50:30
Pace 9:19

I left Debbie and straight away ran up the steep hill from the road. I had never felt so light going up here and quickly started to catch back up with Gavin. We spoke together for a bit and on his excellent run last year. We then spoke about plans for this training run and for this years race. The section at Crianlarich seemed muddier than usual or perhaps I just didn’t want to dirty my new trainers in the cow shit. My new trainers were so far so good. A bit slippy on some of the rocks but very comfy. I spoke with Joe from Bella on the way to Auchentyre. For some reason it felt very easy and a lot shorter than usual.
When we reached Auchentyre I met Debbie and gave her my bottle and picked up a gel while the rest of the group ran on. This gave me a chance to run without my bottle for a while.

Auchentyre to Tyndrum
Distance 2.72 miles
Time 20:54
Pace 7:41

I caught up with the rest of the group but felt very comfortable. Before long I had left them behind. I was now on my own and wouldn’t see anyone else from the 9am group until the end of the run. I had a very fast section here but as I was feeling good I just went with the flow. Because I was feeling good I decided to change my goal from an average of 10 min mile to 9 min mile
The rain was heavier and cold but I still ran with just my t-shirt on. At Tyndrum I met Debbie again and grabbed a bottle of energy juice and then off again. I was keeping the breaks to a minimum.

Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy
Distance 6.67 miles
Time 49:50
Pace 7:28

I ran up most of the hill out of Tyndrum only taking a break to drink some juice. I now started to overtake some of the people that left at 8:30. Davie Hall commenting that he felt good until he saw me. Again I felt very comfortable apart from my chaffed nipples. At Bridge of Orchy Debbie laughed at my white t-shirt that was now covered in blood.

Bridge of Orchy to Victoria Bridge
Distance 2.84 miles
Time 28:35
Pace 10:03

I ran up the hill over to Victoria Bridge only taking a gel to keep me company on this section. I felt very comfortable. I couldn’t believe that it would be this easy to run up this hill and I actually thought that running may be easier than walking this hill. At Victoria Bridge I had some soup and decided to take my bumbag for the next section with some more food and my bottle in it.

Victoria Bridge to Kingshouse
Distance 9.20 miles
Time 1:21:56
Pace 8:55

Again I wanted to run up the hill and over Rannoch Moor. Straight away it was far harder. I decided I should take some walking breaks and ate when I did. After about 20 minutes I was back running at a good pace but still I was finding the hills hard and having to walk them. I thought back to the hill out of Bridge of Orchy. Although it was easy at the time I probably tired my legs out a bit too much. I walked up most of the last hill and although my average for the whole run was bang on the 9 min/mile I ran the downhill faster and so my average decreased. At the end I felt quite tired but within 10 minutes I was okay.
Before long everyone else had finished and all seemed to have a great run. Ian seemed over the moon with his run and looked like he had just jogged 2 or 3 miles. John finished but was tired after fighting a cold all week as well. In the pub I found out that Sharon had had a fall and had to cut the run short. She seemed okay in the pub but I have since found out that she has cracked some ribs. Hopefully she will be better for the Glasgow/Edinburgh race in 2 weeks. Thomas, Silke and Neal all had good runs with Silke running a fab time from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy.

So how did my run go....
Here is my aims and conclusions.

Change my watch to display Average Pace
This worked fantastically. The watch seems to help more when you are judging pace across the whole run and not just at that present time. I suppose though if the run was going bad that this might not be so good but for today it was great.

Attempt to run as many hills as I can
Until Rannoch Moor I ran nearly all the hills and felt great doing it. I have to admit that this has a positive advantage in that it makes you feel great to easily conquer hills but also it makes me far less lazy. Before in runs like this every hill would be an excuse to walk. Now I try to run them all as long as breathing isn’t affected. I must make sure that I don’t over do it though and then end up struggling at the end of the run.

Keep to an average 10 min/mile (6 miles per hour)
This aim was perhaps too easy. Increasing it to 9 min/mile made sense half way during the run. Still doable but not as easy.

Start practicing with new support team
I just want to say thank you very much to Debbie and Cairn for their help today. They did a great job and it really helps to get used to how we all gel.

Stick to the Energy Drink and Gels for fuel
Again worked great. I feel light and full of energy. The soup as well at Victoria Bridge was great too.

This was probably my best run on the West Highland Way performance wise so the training up until now must be going well. Last year at this point I was also feeling great but after this run things went downhill due to the amount of races I was doing. This time with less races I am hoping not to peak too soon. I did miss the chat though and this felt a bit like a normal Sunday training run. I really enjoy meeting up with all my friends and I missed that today.

Out with the old, in with the new

2009-02-28T21:32:00.004Z

Don't worry I haven't swapped Debbie for someone else but have finally got a new pair of shoes.

My Asics Trabucco's have been with me since my

very first ultra. The Devil of the Highlands in June 2007. They must have done over 700 miles. For my last 10 long runs at least I have promised myself that that would be the last and I would buy a new pair for my next run. But alas I never got around to it. To be honest I never could figure out what I would replace them with. I ran last years WHW in my good old road shoes. But minus 6 toenails later I knew that for this year I

had to go for something else. Within the WHW community a lot of people have sworn by Inov-8 Rocklite 315's and so I went to Run 4 it for my pair. Instead I came away with a pair of Saucony Progrid Xodus. Much more like my road shoes but sturdy enough to hopefully stop losing toenails. The big test will be tomorrow on a 31 miler from Beinglas to Kingshouse.

The Old

The New

Also today I went on my normal Stoneymollan Hill run. I added a bit onto the end to make it just under 9 miles. I took it very easy with an eye on tomorrows run and was surprised that pacing better on this actually didn't make me that much slower. After Wednesday's run I am starting to hopefully become wiser. I will know for sure tomorrow after meeting up with Neal and Thomas. :-)

Whizzing one moment, wheezing the next

2009-02-27T09:04:00.004Z

After having two quite easy runs on Monday and Tuesday both around about 8 miles it was time for a speed session.
I had been looking forward to this all week but as it grew closer I was getting nervous. Todays session was 4 * 8 minute reps with a 2 minute recovery. The crowd at lunchtime is growing every week and I was assured that there would definitely be a couple of faster guys there.
I wasn't wrong as Jamie and Mark came along. After a quick "Hello, how are you?" we were straight into the session.
I let Jamie and Mark go but found that after the first minute that I was catching Mark. I overtook him and found that the distance to Jamie wasn't increasing. Maybe I am getting fitter?
By the end of the 8 minutes I was gasping for air but had finished in-between Jamie and Mark.
The problem though that I have been having with these lunchtime sessions is the recoveries. 2 minutes was up far too quickly and again we were away. Again I overtook Mark and sat snugly behind Jamie. Letting him hopefully break the wind although anyone that knows him will know that his stick like frame has little chance of that.
Again I was in second place when the rep finished. I was wheezing and feeling a bit dizzy with the effort of trying to keep Mark from overtaking. Mark then calmly came up to us and said "Well thats the second easiest one finished" I snapped back "Shut up" not meaning it to sound bad but immediately feeling bad for the rest of the session.
Now this was when it dawned on me that Mark was training far more sensibly than I was. Well he has been running for 18 years compared to my 6 years.
The 3rd rep had me gasping for air. Even John who has been out with shin splints for the last 4 weeks was catching and overtaking me. Mark and Jamie were miles in front.
I nearly stopped after 3 but I continued and ran the 4th one. At the end of it there was a short uphill. Nothing in it and you probably wouldnt even notice it if you walked it. My legs turned to jelly and I my body was screaming. I would have done anything for the last 20 seconds to finish quicker.

After the session I struggled on the run back to work. I spoke to Mark about pacing and where it went wrong for the session for me. I should never at the moment be running faster than Mark and so I was finished after 2. Mark on the other hand got faster in the last 2. That afternoon I was completely wasted and spent my time surfing the internet. I couldn't work. I couldn't even hold a conversation with someone.

On Thursday morning I felt a little better so I went out for an easy hill run over the Stoneymollan with Euan. It's about 7.5 miles and we completed it in just over the hour.

Friday is a rest day before the weekends long runs.

My splits for Wednesday were

Total distance 8.3miles
Rep 1 Distance travelled 1.40m Pace 5.37/mile 7:51 Rep time ?
Rep 2 Distance travelled 1.41m Pace 5.40/mile 8:00 Rep time
Rep 3 Distance travelled 1.44m Pace 5.33/mile 8:02 Rep time
Rep 4 Distance travelled 1.42m Pace 5.53/mile 8:16 Rep time

A little update

2009-02-23T22:08:00.002Z

Well it has been a month since I posted and I thought that it was about time I did. So what has been happening. Well after Cairn was born I was on two weeks paternity. Apart from getting to know my wee boy I also did some runs. One of them was an excellent 30 miler with John Kynaston but I also managed to get out myself one morning. For this run I decided to video it and so here it is. I ran on the 6th February

Back to training in a whole. It has been a slow progress but my endurance is slowly increasing. My speed isn't but this year I am trying to limit my races and focus on my ultras. On a plus point it can't be all bad as I have just heard that I came in joint second in the Garscube Cross Country League.

Its a Boy!

2009-01-21T22:48:00.000Z

For more photos and movies go to www.consani.co.uk

When training bites you in the bum

2009-01-20T22:47:00.005Z

*** Please note, this posting contains nudity ***

Ask someone in the street to name you what they think are the most dangerous sports and I guarantee that running will not be there. Before I was a runner I would never had included it in a list of dangerous sports but now I would.

Today's session was mile reps. Scary but not scary enough to make running a dangerous sport. I met Lins as usual outside his work at 12:30 at we jogged to Kelvingrove Park to meet John. The "mile" reps are in fact 0.91 miles but being hilly work out time wise about the same and so I was looking at about 5:10 for the mile and Lins and John just under the 5 min. Because of this I would set off 5 to 10 seconds before them. This would cause me some issues later on.

The first rep was tough, downhill from the statue and then all uphill after that. I ran it in 5:08. We had a 1:30 recovery and then ran the "mile" the opposite direction. I was shattered after this one. My calf muscles really felt like they were about to cramp on the down hill section of the rep but I still got about 5:10 for it. We were now half way through our session and so had a longer recovery of 2 minutes.

The third rep started as normal. I felt much better after the longer recovery and so pushed the downhill a bit faster in an attempt to stay ahead of the others for a bit longer. All of a sudden a doberman left its owner and bit me on the bum. It felt more like a wee nip but I soon gave the owner "dogs" abuse. I was screaming at the top of my voice, effin this and bast*rding that.. half of the park heard me and now I was centre of attention. I continued my rep for a few paces when Lins and John asked to see my ass. Okay maybe that sounds a bit dodgy but they really did. I was cut and bleeding. So we chased the owner. The one that I was giving my entire vocabulary of profanities to. He looked mental with tattoos in places too painful for me to even write down. To be fair he was very apologetic to me but Lins was starting to wind him up so I thought it was time to go. But as I thought about it Lins was right. What if it was a child that the dog had pounced on?

We did the last rep and then headed back to work, training over for the day and that bit warier of dogs.

... and now for the porn.... a picture of my bum... ;-)

Monday Blues

2009-01-19T22:41:00.000Z

Just a recovery run today. Legs still heavy from yesterday.

8.59 miles in 1 hour with Lins and Ben

Sunday Long Run

2009-01-19T21:30:00.007Z

In an attempt to get used to the idea of getting up early for runs in preparation for the arrival of bambino Consani, I decided to get up for my long run at quarter to six in the morning. Okay compared to some people thats not early but for my Sunday run it was early enough. The thing is I wasn't very prepared for the early start and wasted most of my early rise by not being ready until 7am. My route today was from my house, onto the Balloch horseshoe and then onto the number 7 bike route which joins the West Highland Way about 2 miles short of Drymen. Then I would follow the Way to Sallochy Bay where Debbie had offered to pick me up from. A rough calculation had the route at about 21 to 23 miles.

The Balloch horseshoe was pitch black. Within 5 minutes I had nearly fallen over a pot hole. I should have brought my head torch I was thinking but soon I was able to make out the road and the run got easier. I was going to listen to Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds today but out in the pitch black I decided not too. I would end up freaking myself out and running at race pace.

Before long I was crossing the bridge just before the No 7 Cycle route joins the WHW. I have always wanted to take a photo of it so I stopped and did. The beauty of racing the day before a long run is you don't feel guilty stopping and enjoying yourself.

I went past Drymen and then text Debbie on the way through Garadhban Forest. She was doing me a big favour picking me up and I was feeling guilty at waking her up first thing this morning.

Now it was on to my favourite part of the West Highland Way before Loch Lomond. Conic Hill. It was starting to snow now and getting cold. I was so glad that I had brought my woolly hat. I also felt safe enough to listen to War of the Worlds now.

The way down from the top of Conic was very slippy and wet today and I had to take a lot of care on it but I felt great as I ran into Balmaha and straight into a gathering of runners. It was one of the Glee Club runs and Ian had joined them too. I stopped for some photos and decided to run the rest of my run with them. I was really glad of the company. They were all asking how Debbie was and I think they were slightly surprised when I said they should ask themselves when we reach Sallochy. They then freaked me out with talk of changing girls nappies and other horrors. I then kept them all amused when I tried to cross a river and ended up nearly waste deep in what I can only describe as quicksand.

Then it was the end of my run. I reached Sallochy Bay and Debbie was there waiting for me. I was quite tired now and glad not to be going any further. The Glee runners still had 20 odd miles to go and I knew that the weather was meant to be changing later.

My GPS recorded 22 miles but it was more than that because I had stopped it and forgot to start it again. No doubt I will do it again though so I can record it then.

I beat Lucy Colquhoun ;-)

2009-01-18T23:09:00.002Z

I am not sure who Jack Crawford is and after after a quick search I am still not clear. A fictional character in the Hannibal Lector books or a tennis player. Luckily I do know a lot more about this 10k race and this would be the 3rd time I will have run it. Last year I got my PB in this race of 34:48 but that was in perfect conditions. You see this race is along the canal. Last year was cold and frosty and so the canal path was firm. This year was mild and wet so the path was flooded and soft and quite windy. As we all lined up at the start the organisers informed us that one of the canal gates was sealed shut at the 2km marker too. This would slow me down a bit as well.

So I went here a little bit less fit than last year, but I still hoped to get under 36 minutes. I met the other Garscube runners at the beginning and said hi to the familiar friends that you get to know running these local races. Andy B, Chris U and Donald. All running faster than me at the moment. Also a few people that I have been slightly quicker than recently. Joe, Euan and Gerry. So a good crowd to keep me on my toes.

The start was muddy this year with the first 2km being like a cross country. I spied Chris and decided to tuck in behind him for a while. He is running strong at the moment so I thought this would be a wise choice. Onto the third kilometer and Andy overtook me. Chris seemed to be a bit off pace and so I tried to tag along with Andy. I struggled with Andy's pace and so ended up in no mans land between his group and the group with Chris. Inside I kept thinking that Andy's pace would drop and then I could try to catch him but it never did and I never got close to him. Infact he just got further and further away.

Near the halfway stage I struggled against the wind and the worst section of the race. Over the bridge at Lambhill. At this point I looked back expecting to see Joe right behind me but he was still at least 30 seconds. I relaxed a bit when all of a sudden I heard a scream from the other side of the canal. Startled I looked over the bank expecting to see some sorry runner had fallen into the canal but it wasn't. It was Rachel shouting at me wishing me good luck. Sorry Rachel I would have shouted back but I was struggling with my breathing at that time. Soon the finish was in sight. I was surprised at Debbie and John screaming at me to get a move on. I expected that maybe Joe was sneaking up behind me so I picked it up. Only to find that they had made a mistake and thought I was on for a sub 35 min.

So I finished in 36:12. 12 seconds over what I wanted but I was happy. I finished one place ahead of Donald who has beat me in all the races this year. I was in front of Chris although I suspect that he didn't have a good race and a good bit in front of Joe and Gerry. Andy was well in front though. Another highlight was I beat Lucy Colquhoun the female record holder for the West Highland Way race. Bet I won't be saying that come June.

No medal with this race so I am no closer to Debbie's medal tally but I have to mention that Jill the Jogger did win a jogging water bottle. One of the organisers must have seen her potential as a jog Scotland jogger.

Jack Crawford Race Results

Hill Reps (Well sort of)

2009-01-15T16:25:00.001Z

Back at Kelvingrove for some hills today and the dreaded 5 long and then 5 short. The 5 short being impossibly steep and you are already knackered from the 5 long. Lindsay secretly loves these ones but for everyone else they are a nightmare. Luckily I was given a reprieve as I will be racing the Jack Crawford on Saturday. Well I will be if the weather is half decent as I can think of nothing worse than racing along the canal if it is raining and windy. The long reps consist of a long (yeah obvious) grind with a short steep recovery. Taking it easy I ran up behind Lins, John, Ben and Jamie but found that I was catching them during the recovery. A case of the tortoise and hare. I then took the 3rd one fast and managed to overtake Lins. Something I have never done before. During the 4th rep I noticed that although I was taking it easy the Garmin was showing a pace of 5:49 so I bowed out of the last one and did some stretching instead.

Onto the short ones and I decided to listen to my wife for once. She said it would be beneficial to go up the hill as if you are running up stairs. Fast legs with a small stride and remember to work the arms. Since I had gone a bit harder in the long ones I decided I would only run fast in the 1st, 3rd and 5th one. Doing what my wife said paid off as I felt quite good going up. Even managing to get to the top before everyone else on the first one. Okay I had done less on the long reps but I was pleased all the same. These guys that I train with are all running well at the moment although Lins tries to tell me otherwise. The 5th one was tough but I managed to just stay ahead of Ben but Lins was first up still looking like he was enjoying it. I told Jamie my new style of running up hills i.e. Debbie's idea and he will try it next time.

For anyone looking for a good film over the next few weeks then you can't go wrong with Slumdog Millionaire. I had heard good things about it and so you go to the cinema expecting to be disappointed. The exact opposite happened and the film was even better than everyone had said.

Kelvingrove 1km Reps

2009-01-13T14:00:00.002Z

Autumn in kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, originally uploaded by Mistapurple.

Today I was out at lunchtime to run some 1km reps with Lins, John and Ben. It is a tough wee route with a lot of turns and as usual for all of Lins reps a stinker of a hill at the end. Today I tried to take it easier in the first two reps (although the times will say otherwise) and so have enough left for the last ones. I felt well within myself in those ones but by the end I was gasping for breath. Probably due to the recovery only being 70 seconds.
3:28, 3:28, 3:30, 3:33, 3:34

Legs still a bit heavy after the Saturday long run but recovered very quickly at the end to enjoy the run back to work. Total distance 7.5 miles.

Not sure yet whether to run in the Jack Crawford 10k at the weekend. I want to get under 36 minutes for it but as it's on the canal the weather has to be perfect. My PB is on this course 34:48 but I don't think I am ready for that pace yet.

Windy Weekend

2009-01-12T23:03:00.004Z

As I am not sure when the new arrival will appear, I decided that it would be good to run the Drymen to Beinglas section of the way on Saturday. What a day to pick for it. After a month of lovely cold crisp clear weather Saturday's forecast was heavy rain and strong winds. Also as part of my new training plan I would do a sandwich session. This would involve running the day before.

So on the Friday I was up at 6am to run 14 miles. As usual my normal efficient planning ended up in me not leaving until 7am and only running 11 miles. After the run I felt great and full of energy. I think that shortly I may be able to run the whole 18 miles to work.

On Saturday I met up with Rob who would be running the 30 miles with me. Also along for a shorter run was Athole, John, Robert and Joe. We set off at 9am with Rob complaining that I had made him park 500 metres down the road and therefore 500 metres longer running. Within the hour we were on top of Conic Hill and the wind was horrific. I could feel the skin around my eyes flapping in the wind and I was bent over 90 degrees as I tried to push against the wind on the way down. A few hours later Neal would have the same issues which he also posted in his blog. http://pacepusher.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/weekend-roundup/

Halfway between Balmaha and Rowardennan at bang on 10 miles it was just Rob and I as the rest had decided to turn back. It was about now that the rain started and with the wind, things were starting to feel unpleasant. We had arranged to meet Kas, Rob's fiance, in Rowardennan but a mix up by Kas on where the West Highland Way went meant that we missed her. We later found out that she had bumped into the rest of our team, lost.

Once we got to Inversnaid we were thorouly wet. To make matters worse this sections was slippy and very wet. With only two miles to go I was really starting to get cold. My hands were completely numb, I was soaked to the skin and the drips were running down my back. We reached the Drovers Inn but Kas wasn't there yet. We stood frozen for 10 minutes before deciding to go into the packed pub and stand in front of the fire leaving a puddle where ever we went. Kas arrived soon after and was upset at missing us. Today was training for runners and support. I felt really bad for her because she felt so bad but she was doing us a big favour. By now my hands had finally thawed out enough so I could now have a pint of beer.

29.8 miles in 5hrs 40 mins

Today was Debbie's first day on maternity leave. By 8am she was bored already and when she switched the TV on to be confronted by Mr Motivator she had lost the will to live. Great news for me though as I came home at night to a big cuddle, home made soup and a lovely dinner. No new baby yet though.

{Edit: Debbie also got up first thing in the morning to make my breakfast and lunch. Who said having children is the end of your life. I'm loving it.}

We have a new website that we will post when the baby appears. Just go to www.consani.co.uk to check out all the latest news and pictures.

Tags: Beinglas, Drymen, West Highland Way, Drovers, Maternity

A little repetition

2008-12-03T17:04:00.000Z

First of all thanks to everyone that has welcomed me back to blogging world. Didn’t think that my mutterings would be missed.

Today we decided to forget running on the road and a repeat of yesterdays useless session. So we all dusted off our spikes and headed to Kelvingrove park for some cross country reps. Yeah you heard right, during our lunch break.

The route that we ran was 450m. The first 200m on a gradual downhill then onto a short sharp hill with the last 200m odd on a gradual slope to the finish. Sounds easy. Well times it by 10 and only take a 1minute 10 secs recovery.

After kicking up the mileage this week my legs weren’t feeling like this but they needed some speed injected into them. The first 4 were easy enough but I took the 5th a little easier as I was struggling with the recoveries. 6,7 and 8 were all fine and the 9th felt very comfortable and fast. I really struggled on the 10th with my legs turning into jelly. Also on the 10th the police arrived. Possibly to move us if we did any more as I am sure the 5 of us were starting to cut up the park with our spikes or maybe they just wanted to eye up college birds while they sipped coffee and ate doughnuts. :-)

The run back to work was awful. My legs buckling as I ran up the hill at St Vincent Street. Tough session but well worth it.

Slippery Slope

2008-12-02T17:48:00.000Z

Out for another lunchtime run. Today was meant to be a fartlek session but we had to change it to just a run due to the conditions. Very slippery. Actually I am surprised none of us didn’t end up in the river or injured. We kept plenty of people entertained on the route with the gypos that are normally resident on the Kelvin walkway laughing at our attempts to run on the ice. Most of the time it felt like we were running at under 6 min pace due to the slipping and Bens heart rate monitor was showing the same effort even although the watches were saying barely under 8 min mile. Did think about going to club reps at night as well but felt a bit tired and thought I would keep something for reps tomorrow.

8.74m in 1:08:14 @ 7:48/m

A strange route with us trying to miss the most icy patches

Recovery Run

2008-12-01T18:00:00.001Z

A nice easy recovery run with Ben at lunchtime. Felt even easier when we saw the usual crowd running reps around Kelvingrove.

8.52miles in 1:00:52 @ 7:08 /mi

Legs a bit stiff but nothing too bad. My back is a bit sore from yesterday and I have felt very hungry all day.

It is now exactly 200 days until the race. Not that long. :-)

On my way again

2008-11-30T17:51:00.000Z

WHW TRAINING RUN : BEINGLAS TO INVERSNAID, BACK TO BEINGLAS, UP TO CARMYLE COTTAGE AND BACK TO BEINGLAS

DISTANCE : 22.74 miles, TIME (RUNNING) : 4:07:21, TIME (TOTAL) : 4:31:36, PACE : 10:53 / mile, ASCENT/DESCENT +582.8 –589.2, WEATHER : CLEAR, ICY, 1C

201 Days to go

It was strange to be going to a WHW training run by myself. My usual partner in crime has hung up her running shoes and is now indulging in the usual pregnancy delights of swimming and chocolate. It didn’t feel good to be with out her but also I didn’t have someone making sure I was there in time or packing my gear for me. So 20 minutes before I was meant to be at Beinglas Farm I raced out of the house and raced up to our meeting point. I think I may have cooked it too much as my dashboard is now lit up like a Christmas tree and telling me it needs some loving care at the local Honda garage.

Back to the run and it was great to be meeting everyone again. The usual faces there again apart from Neal. Caroline informed us all that he had the flu (not manflu I fear as Neal would not have missed this for anything). In the next breath though Caroline pointed out that there was three footy games on and he was watching them. Perhaps it was a case of manflu after all.

We all lined up for the mandatory JK piccy.

(courtesey J Kynaston, Someone (not JK) complained last year about me using one of their photos. Hopefully this helps)

John counted at least 35 of us. A turnout that Garscube would be proud of on a training run. I have to admit that I was very dubious about doing the route to Inversnaid with so many of us. In the end I didn’t need to worry as we broke up quite quickly into a few different groups. I spent most of the run to Inversnaid, talking to John. We spoke about training for next years WHW race and were it went right or wrong last year. He had such a wonderful run this year and so it is good to talk to him and see what helped him.

I was telling John that today I wanted to take it easy. That all went to pot when we met Murdo just before Inversnaid. He told us that a group of three was well ahead and before I knew it I was saying “no problems JK and I will catch them later”

At Inversnaid we caught up with the fast group of 3. Sharon, Davie and Russell. A quick gel and we were off again. I ran along with Caroline for a bit and then caught up with Sharon and Davie. Sharon was rocketing along. I chatted with them for a while before I saw another group just ahead and so I started to try to catch them up. The path was very icy and a lot of people were falling so you had to be very careful. Just when I caught up with the two fast guys I slipped and bashed my toe. The big toe that I had lost the nail from during the WHW race. Immediately I thought I had done some real damage. I was nearly in tears as one guy asked if I was okay. Trying to be macho I nodded and made it look like it happens every day. I limped on and came back into Beinglas again and straight onto the section to Derrydaroch. I hate this section. Most people hate the section before from Inversnaid but from Beinglas to Derrydaroch is just a nightmare. You feel like it should be easy but being predominately uphill it is very tough.

I struggled on but I was worried that I made an error. There was no-one in front of me and no-one behind. Had everyone stopped at Beinglas and not told me? By now I thought what the hell. May as well run all the way even if they have. Passed Derrydaroch and on my way to Carmyle cottage. The snow was deeper and the path was icier. Some bulls decided it was good to stand on the path and wouldn’t move. I had to weave inbetween them thinking that at any moment one of them would kick out and end my hopes of competing in next years race. At the underpass I turned back and headed towards Beinglas. At last I saw some runners and knew I was doing the right thing. The run back down to Beinglas is really easy and at last I really started to enjoy myself and pick up the pace. Then I met Caroline going the other way to Derrydarroch. I have to admit that I thought she might find the run hard but she totally proved me wrong and had a terrific run. Well done Caroline.

Slowly we all finished and gathered in the Inverarnan for a pint and tried to warm ourselves up. Here I managed to catch up with a few people that I didn’t get a chance to talk to during the run. Thomas and Silke and Ian as well. All of them looking like they had excellent runs.

Note to John. The name stickers were a great idea in theory. The only thing was that everyones stickers fell off apart from mine. So every time I passed someone they said “Hi Marco, How are you?” I didn’t know if I knew them or they were just reading my name badge.

Cant wait for the next run. :-)

Dunbartonshire XC Championships

2008-11-29T22:56:00.001Z

In preparation for tomorrows first West Highland Way training run with the team I decided to go for a quick 6 mile cross country race. Good planning, yeah!

After reading Toms Blog with a picture of his spikes after his cross country race I thought I would post a picture of what your spikes should look like after a proper cross country race. Dunbartonshire XC isn’t for wimps. Ploughed fields, 18 big up hills, loads of mud and 6.33 miles. Tom this is what your shoes should look like…

After a couple of weeks training at lunchtimes with Lins, Jamie and Ben I am finally getting my speed back and strength for uphills. I finished in 41 minutes today and still to see the results. Ben was first (well done Ben) and I am certain our mens team came first too. We have a strong team and so I was over the moon to be 5th Garscube home. I felt like I ran well within myself with an eye on tomorrows West Highland Way run. Really looking forward to it and really looking forward to seeing my old chums.

Debbie was at her yoga today. I think that she has stopped running now and is now swimming instead. She is doing great and we only have 7 weeks to go now until there is 3 of us.

Training starts now

2008-09-20T20:23:00.000+01:00

That's it. I have had my rest. I have eaten the 16 thousand calories that I burnt during the West Highland Way race. (too be honest, probably more than once over) I have had my holiday abroad, I have hillwalked and relaxed. I have enjoyed my summer. I needed it. Away from serious training, away from racing, away from running. No need to blog and no need to bore everyone with tales of ultra running. I have spectated at a few races and watched my friends run spectacular times. New PB's and race records. I have watched them all go from strength to strength. They have all done fantastic and I am so pleased for them. Some have managed the triple crown of West Highland Way races, some have even won them. Others have continued their magnificent WHW runs with more magnificent runs during the summer. Some have gone from supporting to running and have now decided to enter an ultra themselves. Sure I have run on and off but I have done so in my terms and nice and relaxed.

But after successfully entering the 2009 West Highland Way Race I have to get my ass back in gear. Just before I went on my holiday I ran a 10k. I filled in the application form. It asked for my PB and I wrote 34:40 and then it asked for my expected time. I put in 40 minutes. I didn't expect anything better. I had been hillwalking the day before over 2 munros and had only gone along to the race because Debbie had wanted to. The first half I just ran relaxed. My legs stiff from not doing faster than 7 minute miles since the London Marathon in April. Then I felt good and picked up the pace. How surprised was I when I got 36:39. It may as well have been a PB. I was over the moon. Maybe I hadn't lost too much of my fitness.

I went on holiday for two weeks to Vietnam. A wonderful place with wonderful people. I feel privileged to have visited before it become a tourist hotspot.

When I returned I was back at training with the club. On the Tuesday it was hillreps. Just a short easy hill of 150 - 200m. By the end of 10 I felt sick and dizzy and could hardly run back to the car. On the Thursday we did a tempo run. I felt better but had dropped a pack.

On the Saturday I did a hill run with Rob, Athole, Ian and Euan. The original plan was to run from Corrour Station but this was scrapped when the traffic was so bad that we would have missed the train.

A quick re-write of the plans and we decided on the mamores. Here is a wee video of our route.

It was also a chance to try out my new Inov-8 Mudroc 290's. Debbie had bought them as a present for me and they were all shiney as I took them out of the box.

As this was Athole, Rob and I's first proper hill run we decided to start at the Mamore Lodge, a move that cut out a couple of hundred metres of ascent.

The first 5 miles was along a track past Loch Eilde Mor. By new shoes rubbed a bit on the heel but I expected this as all the reviews I had read said that people felt rubbing on the heel when new. Then the proper ascent began. We missed the start of the track and so it was off road and bog from the beginning. The shoes then started to prove themselves with excellent grip. I on the other hand could feel the lack of fitness but I kept the pace steady.

We climbed the long North west shoulder of Sgurr Eilde Mor with the sun threatening to come out all the way. The promise of views keeping us going up the long slog. But it wasn't to be and we reached the top in 2hrs 22 min and a distance of 9.15 miles. It was cold but the downhill soon warmed us up and I found the Mudrocs had excellent grip and I was able to keep up with Ian on the way down. I was having great fun. We reached Coire an Lochain and then immediately went straight up Sgurr Eilde Beag. The climb was relentless but very quickly we were at the top. It was drizzly and cold but we were all in good spirits. Now we could get some running in and we were able to run good parts of the ridge to Na Gruagaichean. There was a couple of bits of easy scrambling on the way.

After we reached the top we had a bite to eat and then took the decision to head straight down to Alt Coire na Ba. It was a very steep grassy slope with a few cliffs to avoid but my new shoes stuck to it like glue and I was first down to the track. Then we had an easy run along a track to the car.

14.6miles 4 hours 45mins 1,305m ascent

When we reached the car Rob had bad cramp in his quads. It looked pretty sore but probably not much of a surprise since he had only ran a marathon 2 weeks before. All of us were knackered but soon felt better when we used the free showers at Kinlochleven's Ice Factor.

West Highland Way Race

2008-06-21T23:13:00.000+01:00

The week before the race was great. I felt so at peace, relaxed and enjoying eating the calories I would need for the race. I knew that some people were nervous about it and the blogs reflected it. The training was done and no amount of worrying or last minute training would help. In my eye everyone was a winner but I knew that there would be blood sweat and tears before the end.

Even Debbie was more relaxed than usual and I was glad. Debbie and I took the two days before the race off. To prepare the admin for the support teams and relax. After two days of watching West Highland Way DVD's and race videos I was dying to get started. My legs were heavy and ached with lifelessness but I knew or hoped that this would be blown away with the cobwebs when we started.

MILNGAVIE 1AM

The start was electric. Debbie and I arrived in Milngavie for 11:30pm. Rob in my support team was already there and so was my Mum and sister Lisa. I was really touched that they came out to see me go. My mum was worried about what was to come but tried her best not to show it. The rest of my support team arrived, Athole who with Rob had been my support for the Devils, and Davie Aitken who has run the race before. My support team was fab and I really owe them big time. Straight away they sat me down and wouldn't let me do anything while they packed the car up and prepared the gear. My legs were itching to go so I kept standing up and moving about much to my teams disgust.

Dario, the race organiser, did the briefing which I turned up for at bang on 12:30 and ended up standing and queuing to get in. He went over the usual stuff but also talked about the weigh in process. The more I see and talk to Dario the more I like him. He is a great wee guy and according to everyone I have spoken to has brought this race on leaps and bounds. I think that he may be colour blind though as all the merchandise for the race is the brightest fluorescent colours ever. You wont get lost in the dark with any of it on.

Back outside and it was barely 15 minutes to go. I was getting worried now as I still didn't have the nervousness that I thought I should have by now. I was just looking forward to it. Like a kid with a bar of chocolate. I spoke to some of the people that I had met and trained with over the last 7 months. JK, running fabulously at the moment and looking relaxed, Thomas looking good and over his hamstring issues, Ian B relaxed, composed just like a man of his WHW experience would be and his wife Ally B gave me a big hug. Neal who I was worried about after his two 10k races in the week before. Brian who I was hoping would complete in his third year of trying. Davie Bell who I had no worries for. He was a trooper and I knew he would get to the end. Mike was here and I wasn't sure how he would be but he seemed to have no real issues in the weeks before. George another person I knew would be just fine. Then there was the others that I hadn't seen or trained with for a while or at all. Murdo, Graeme, the two old Jim's, Hugh, Gavin, John. I saw them all and hoped that they would all finish but I knew that the numbers were against that and some would not.

I said bye to Debbie and hoped that she would be okay and her foot would hold out. I knew that she would have to have a limb hanging off to quit so I knew I would see her in Fort William at some time. I lined up towards the front of the pack and without warning we were off.

Milngavie to Drymen

It took me at least 10 to 15 seconds to get my watch onto the right setting and started. I didn't expect the start to be like that. I expected a fanfare or Dario shouting 3-2-1. But we all just seemed to go at bang on 1am. I half expected us all to be called back with a false start. Up through the village centre and passed a few surprised locals. There was well wishers all about and my mum and Lisa were at the corner just before the darkness of the woods. As I entered I could still hear my mum shout "That's my boy Marco" I was a bit embarrassed as I knew most of the runners would know who she was talking about.

Everything worked. My legs felt light and I felt great. Onto the first hill and I jogged straight up it. I was relaxed and glad that we had done the night run of this section only a few weeks before. I knew it like the back of my hand and so quite a few people going in wrong directions only to be shouted back by the rest of us. No use doing extra when you have 95 miles to go.

Before I knew it I was at the front of the lead group, although later on I found out that there was one or two guys that must have sprinted the beginning only to tire later on. I was speaking to Alan Reid who I was sure seemed to be holding back because I knew the way and he didn't.

Slowly all the chat disappeared. This was surprising as I really thought we would be talking for ages. The loch at Carbeth was lovely with mist rising above it. I felt lucky to be alive and very happy to be running the race.

I ran into Carbeth and realised that it is nearly impossible to recognise your support team when you have a headtorch on. Luckily they were calling out my name and the handed me my cheese sandwich. I decided to eat from the off and so it was just to keep my stomach going and not because I was hungry. Alan again was going the wrong way but he stayed with me. As we came past Dumgoyach I turned my head, half expecting the group to be all split up, but it wasn't and there was at least 40 bobbing headtorches right behind me. This freaked me out a bit and I decided to lay off the pace a bit and so down towards the old railway that leads to the Beech Tree quite a few runners overtook me. I expected some of the gang to catch up with me, or at least John and Thomas, but they didn't an I was worried that perhaps I had got carried away with the pace and they were being sensible and I had blown it. Just then Kate overtook me and I decided to stay with her. Hoping that she would pace it all well and knowing that I have run with her before in Wuthering Hike and was able to stay with her comfortably. It also worked to my advantage as she had to open all the gates for me. I felt bad at this but the gates really do my head in so I didn't dwell on it to long. I reached Beech Trees in 1:03:42, just quicker than my planned 1:05. I was amazed at the amount of support teams that were using the Carbeth and Beech Tree's as stops. I honestly had felt bad at asking my support to be there and thought that I would be the only idiot.

More gates and I let Kate do the opening still. She hadn't lost her temper yet so I left her to it. She did go the wrong way a couple of times and heard her muttering that she didn't like headtorches. I was starting to need a pee but didn't want to stop and get stuck behind the main group so I continued on. We reached the road that leads to Drymen and at the first hill I lost Kate. Not sure where she went but there was no more gates so I decided to press on. I blame John K as he said on the Fling that when he went up the hills he would count to a number before walking. I couldn't remember the number so ended up running up them all the way to Drymen. I kept trying to remember it through out the day but couldn't. Again I was running with Alan. The pace was easy and I felt great.

Again Alan nearly went the wrong way at the cut off from the road when you get to Drymen and again not remembering the magic JK number I ran up the grassy hill. Davie from my support met me at the hill and I ran in with him asking that I just wanted more energy juice and a cheese sandwich.

Drymen to Balmaha

I couldn't believe the cheers as I entered Drymen. Everyone was shouting my name and I was nearly in tears. I didn't know half of the people and I couldn't see anyone because of the headtorch. All I could hear was "Come on Marco" "Looking great Marco". It was fantastic. There is no race in the world that everyone knows everyone and we are all friends. As Alan and I ran out of Drymen He even commented that I had brought my own support bus. Maybe people got to know me from the training runs or my blog. What ever it was I felt inspired and I just want to say thank you to all the support teams that cheered me. It was fantastic.

Alan and I overtook a runner as we went up the hill to the forest. He looked tired and perhaps had gone off too quickly. Had I? At the top of the hill I looked back. Not a single runner behind us. I expected some people but there was none. Running straight through Drymen had worked. No need to ever stop there. Half way through the forest I was able to stop and pee. I expected to see someone come around the corner at any minute but there wasn't. Alan had run ahead and I didn't expect to see him again but as I started to run he had waited for me just further along the trail. As Conic Hill approached I kept thinking that it shouldn't be this easy. I hadn't felt out of breath and my heart rate hadn't been that fast at all. This whole run was like the slowest training run. Actually slower than that. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't feeling cocky and I knew that the pain would be later. I had never ran more than 54 miles. The race for me would start there and not here. Alan started to talk more about himself. He had been a 100K runner, his marathon time was 2:20, he ran 20 miles every day. EEK, say no more. Was I totally in the wrong place? Conic Hill was a skoosh, and I was glad to have ran it only a week before. At least this week I was closer to my 1:20 race time. I was up and over in 1:10. The view from the top was beautiful and as we came down into Balmaha Rob met me and said that there were 2 guys ahead of us. No need to push this pace was perfect. Into Balmaha and again everyone was cheering my name. I felt like a celebrity. I just hope they weren't saying "He's gone too fast". Dario high fived me as I ran across the car park. I still felt fab. Again I had a quick hand over of gear and was away within 10 seconds.

Balmaha to Rowardennan

I overtook the guy in second place. It was Jody from the WHW DVD. He was walking and seemed to have a massive backpack. I took my break as I walked up the steep hill out of Balamaha. My shin started to hurt. It was the same problem as I had during the Islands Peaks race and seemed to affect me when running at speed. The lump had never gone away but the pain wasn't too bad so I ignored it and went on.

It looked like Dario had positioned marshals along this section because people had been cheating in years before and taking the road. It was good to meet some people as I ran along and again Dario was there with a high five.

My support team met me a few times when the way goes onto the road and replenished me with coke. It was fantastic and I had a burst of energy that made me feel on top of the world. The woods were eerie at this time in the morning. I was by myself and suddenly something large and red ran between the bushes in front of me. "Most likely a red deer" I told myself, but it freaked me out and all of a sudden my mind was filled with stories of big cats roaming the countryside. Talking of frights, I bet there was a few campers that got a fright when they heard all the runners running past their tents at that time in the morning. Not the drunk neds at Sallochy Bay though. I ran through with half of them still up from the night before, looking disgustingly at me through bleary eyes. Then the way was blocked by 5 or 6 of them. As I got closer I noticed that they were in fact drunk university students and so I pushed passed them without fear of being walloped by them.

Running into Rowardennan and I was met by Davie and again I planned to just go through. I checked into the checkpoint and continued walking. I had been struggling to eat my Lucozade bars and so decided to just take the gels from now on and so asked my team to bring me a couple for the Inversnaid stage. Pity they brought more bars.

Rowardennan to Beinglas

As I left Rowardennan I saw Silke, Thomas's wife and support. I asked her what position I was in and she told I was in 4th. I later found out I was in first. Don't worry Silke I didn't try to catch the runners in front.

On one of the hills that I had decided to walk up I met a wee old man who was obviously out for a quiet walk. I started to talk to him and he asked me where I had started from. Hoping he would ask me that question I smiled and said "Milngavie" "My God was the answer" I could tell he didn't quite believe me. "Just ask the 100 odd runners behind me" I replied.

As I came into Inversnaid I started to have a bit of a low point and was starting to have more and more walking breaks on hills. I was overtaken again by Alan. Up until that point I had thoughts of a top 10 position but now as my body ached and I struggled I was just happy with completing it. At Inversnaid I picked up my bag that was left with the Trossachs Search and Rescue and continued on. Fearing the dreaded Inversnaid to Beinglass section in which I had always heard so many stories from Ian.

The section ended up fine. Although by the end of it I was dying to see my support team. I was overtaken by another 2 runners and just as I entered within view of Beinglas Kate overtook me too. I never saw Jens Lukas overtake me but I guess that he did around here somewhere.

Beinglas to Tyndrum

After now my account of the race is a little less detailed. In some ways I was a bit spaced out but also because I should have written my account earlier and not a month after the race.

At Beinglas I took my first real break. At least 10 minutes. I really didn't want to but my body needed it and my support team had a chair and food layed out. I tried to make it short and continued on. I met my team again at Derrydaroch but it was just a check and I remember them shouting they would meet me at Crianlarich. I spent the next 2 miles trying to work it out. My brain was mash. "They can't meet me at Crianlarich, the WHW bypasses it" I thought. But my support team was as usual on the ball. They walked up from Crianlarich to the WHW with a box full of goodies and met me there. I took some juice off them and walked up the hill. Rob accompanied me up some of the hill making sure I was okay and checking that I was fine. I later found out that they had been worried about me when I was in first but where now much happier that I had dropped some places.

As I entered Auchtertyre I saw someone who looked very familiar. He was cheering me through and I ran past him smiling. "Hi Ian" I thought. IAN? Why was Ian here? In his civvies. It dawned on me that he had dropped out. I tried to ask what had happened but he was having none of it. He was here to see everyone else. I knew it must hurt him big time to do that but that was the measure of the man. To him it was more important to see his friends run the race than dwell on what had happened to himself.

I had another sit down here and my support team fed and watered me. But I was a million miles away. What had happened to Ian. It wasn't just me that was wondering. The news was reverberating throughout the race.

Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy

I was off again and eventually reached Tyndrum. Thank God. I was at my favourite and easiest section. Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy.

But it was also another landmark. I was now at the furthest distance I had ever run. 53 miles. The run towards Bridge of Orchy was tough and I felt like I was running while trailing tyres behind me and giving a 20 stone fat man a co-carry. This shouldn't feel like this I kept saying to my self. This section is downhill. What the hell am I gonna feel like when I get to the real hills.

I felt spent when I got into Bridge of Orchy but I had a plan. I asked my support team to give me a food bag full of food. I would walk the hill to Victoria Bridge and use the break to eat.

Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse

My goody bag was great. It had potato and biscuits and sweets all mixed up. But the energy flowed into me and I felt better by the downhill section to Victoria Bridge. When I got there my support had a chair out and I decided it was sock change time. I spent ages sat here and watched as Murdo passed and shouted that I looked awful. I felt awful and really didn't feel like getting back off the seat. I eventually got my socks changed and my team ejected me from the seat. Just like I had asked them to but at that time I was wanting to curse and curl up in a ball to sleep. I couldn't believe how quickly I went from a high to feeling like shit. Was my race starting to come undone?

I started the long run from Victoria Bridge across the Rannoch Moor to Kingshouse. The whole thing is all up hill, very gradual apart from the big hill at the beginning and end. Another section that I love during training but during the race I had a nightmare on. I had to walk up most of the first hill. Every now and then looking back to see if anyone was catching up. And eventually someone did. They went past at what seemed like a hundred miles an hour.

NO! I am not letting this happen. I am not surrendering to this race. I started to jog and then a quick jog and slowly I caught up with him. It was Phil Mestecky. And Phil... you saved my race. Thank you.

I had used up all my energy catching Phil and struggled to keep the pace going. I slowed down and expected Phil to pull away. But he didn't. He recognised my name when I introduced my self as he is in the same club as Ian. "Did you know that Ian has pulled out" he said. The shockwaves were still reverberating. He stayed with me and said we would try 5 mins walking and 25 mins running. I was dubious that I could run for 25 mins but agreed as I just needed to walk at that time. We walked and I gathered my energy in what felt like the quickest 5 mins ever. Then it was off running again. And oh how it hurt. But all this time Phil was patient with me and slowly we made our way to Kingshouse. It was 20 mins of running and I was dying so we cut the running bit short. I was so relieved as we walked quickly up the last hill before the descent into Glencoe.

Phil's wife met us on the way down. I hadn't really spoken to many people so it was good to speak to someone and it made the pain not go away but at least seem distant.

Kingshouse to Kinlochleven

At Kingshouse my support team were as usual all ready for me. Apart from my 3 guys Athole, Dave and Rob. Alex from Springburn was still up following the race but also Mark McColl from Shettleston was there too. I just remember that he looked funny because I never see him in anything but running gear and here he was in a pair of suit trousers. But there was one person I didn't want to see at Kingshouse. Mike Thomson. He had pulled out. The highs and lows in the race are amazing, the highest moments are when everything is going well but the lowest moment was never when I felt bad for myself or sore. It was always when I saw someone pull out. First Ian and now Mike. I knew there would be casualties but I didn't think I would be affected by them. I started to wonder how my other friends were doing. Please let there be no more. What about Debbie? Everytime I asked my support crew where she was I got the same answer. "She was doing great at the top of Loch Lomond" I started to think that they were hiding something now. Debbie and I had made a pact that if one of us pulled out then we wouldn't tell the other. I looked about Kingshouse. Had she pulled out and was hiding somewhere? My support team had made me soup. If Debbie was about she would be cursing. "Soup never helped anyone run. A waste of time eating it" she would say on training runs. I disagreed and added to my food plan. Sorry babe, but the soup was fantastic and gave me loads of energy.

I was out of Kingshouse before Phil but knew he would be right behind and would catch up soon. But I felt great again and had a really fast section to the devils staircase. It might have been because the 2nd girl was right behind me or because I saw the 1st girl in front of me. It was Kate Jenkins and she was walking. I passed by her and asked if she was okay covering my ears as I knew whatever she said would be colourful. She was finished and I spoke to her support team and they looked like they already knew that. Maybe they were glad as I heard she really puts them through their paces.

Anyway my team were at the Devils Staircase. what a great job they were doing. A quick t-shirt change and I was off up the staircase.

I felt fantastic and was able to get quiet a good pace all the way up meeting Athole about half way up for a quick refresh of drink and food. In no time I was at the top and desperate to get back to running. Down the hill I started. "Ouch". the shin was getting very sore now. "When did I take my last lot of painkillers for it?" I asked my self. Trying to calculate it was hurting my head. It felt like I had been running for days. 2 hours, 5 hours, 30 mins. I didn't have a clue and hoped my support would know. Running just wasn't happening for me. I got to the bottom of the first hill. Just before it goes back up again. I looked around and away in the distance was Phil and the first woman. If he passes now I will never keep up with him.

Walking wasn't too bad though and so I pushed it up the hill. But the downhills were now killing me whether I walked or ran. Walking seemed to actually be faster than running as well.

The hill down into Kinlochleven is very steep and rocky. Every step I had pain running up my leg. If I could just grit my teeth and hold on to Kinlochleven I said to myself. There I could have more painkillers and get myself sorted.

Phil overtook me. He looked strong and I wished him well. I wasn't keeping up with him this time. Not long after the first placed woman went passed. I didn't care. The pain in my leg was distraction enough and as I limped into Kinlochleven I was nearly in tears."I will get painkillers in Kinlochleven" I met my support team and thankfully they saw my pain and brought a seat over to the checkpoint for me. "Weetabix" "Give me Weetabix" I demanded.

Kinlochleven to Fort William

ate my weetabix and then nursed my sore leg. It was red and swollen. Very strange looking. Was it a stress fracture? Chris the Doctor saw me rubbing it. I asked him what he thought. He asked me a few questions and said it wasn't a fracture and I was fine to go on.

I jogged round to the hill out of Kinlochleven. "Damn I forgot to get the painkillers" How could I forget them I was in agony. For some reason I didn't go back for them. I walked up the hill and met Davie Aitkin at the top. He gave me more food. "Do you have painkillers?" I asked. Really hopeful. "No". "Oh, it's okay. I should be fine to get to Lundarva" But inside I was broken. My leg was agony and I couldn't run at all. I started my long walk to Fort William.

No-one passed me at all for the next few miles. I was surprised. My pace was awful. I couldn't jog downhills. My leg was too sore for that. Uphills was a no go either. And flats was getting more and more difficult. I was lucky now to be doing 1 minute jogging and then 10 minutes walking. As I closed into Lundarva still no-one had passed me. Where was Thomas? I hadn't seen his support team for ages. I kept thinking he must have passed me already and I didn't notice. "Oh no" I thought. "I hope he doesn't think I was rude to him not saying hi" What about Neal. I kept seeing his support team at every checkpoint. "He can't be too far behind" I thought.

Then I looked back. I could see a small figure in the distance. "That must be Neal" I thought. A few minutes later I turned around again. I was walking but the figure wasn't any closer. "It must be a walker" I thought. "Even walkers are catching me"

Then I could see the smoke from Lundarva. Once I get there I only have 6 miles left. "I am gonna do this" I turned around to see the walker. All of a sudden they were only 400 meters away. It wasn't Neal, it was John. John has had a fantastic year and I wasn't surprised to see him catch up with me. He passed me with the biggest smile I have ever seen. After Ian I think of John as the person who is Mr WHW. He eats, sleeps and runs for this race and I can think of no other person that I would rather see overtake me. I smiled.

Probably not as big of a smile as John but I smiled for him. Then I thought. No I can keep up with him. Yes. So I started to run. 1 meter. 2 meters. Crack. I stubbed my toe on a big rock. Splash. My other foot landed in a stream. Great. Now I have one sore shin, one sore foot and the other foot soaking. "See you later John" I thought as I went back to my walking. But John had done me a favour. Now I was in 11th position and could have someone support me.

I met my team at Lundarva. 6 miles to go. Rob joined me for this stage. I am sure he wanted to at least jog but I couldn't. we walked the entire section apart from 200 meters at the end when I gritted my teeth and ran. For the pictures. :-)

I had done it. 20 hours and 47 minutes after leaving Milngavie, I had run, walked hobbled and dragged myself the 95 miles to Fort William. I was happy, sad, sore and on top of the world all at the same time. My support team were there. Dario was there. I checked in. Just as I had seen countless people do on the DVD that I had watched time after time. And then Dario offered me a whisky. And it was beautiful.

But where was Debbie. Surely my team had to tell me something now. But still the same answer. She was doing well at Beinglas.

Later on as I hobbled to the hotel that we booked I heard from Debbie's team. She had hurt her foot and was having to walk all the way from Bridge of Orchy. Sheer determination would bring her through to the finish. I was so proud of her as she had gone through 2 full nights to get to the finish. when I finished I didn't feel like spending another 10 minutes on the WHW.

One last note. I just want to thank everyone that got me through it. Firstly my support team. For giving up their weekends and seeing the crabbit side of me. Thank you Athole, Rob and Davie - I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you to my wife Debbie. For telling me I had the ability to do it and for shouting at me when I needed it. Thank you to my Mum and sister, Lisa for coming to the start to wish me well. Thank you to Paul and Murray for volunteering to be on my support team but unable to make it in the end. And thank you to all my new family. Ian, JK, Thomas, Silke, Neal, Caroline, Davie B, Tim, Brian, Mike, Dario. Thank you for all the training runs. They were fantastic.

Last but not least Jez. Thanks mate. Weetabix at Kinlochleven Rocks!!

Will I do it again. You bet yah.

1000 miles

2008-06-17T22:19:00.000+01:00

It was my last run today before the big one and this was a big one. My 1000 mile of the year. It was a mixed session of 200m sprints on grass and then hill reps. For the 200m sprints I took at a fast but easy pace but for the hill reps I made sure that I just jogged up and down the easy incline. I hit my 1000 mile towards the end to a big cheer from everyone that was out with us.

I was glad to do my 1000 mile before the race. I really didn't want to be running through Milngavie at 1am in the morning cheering.

Did a wee search on the Internet for pictures of past winners of the West Highland Way race. Found the winners from 2004 on their way to the awards presentation.

My Times

2008-06-16T16:20:00.001+01:00

Okay I am nearly last to post these and I have to admit I am hopeless at it. Here are my times that I would love to run the WHW race in. I have just concentrated on each section and so there are no rests and I will not try to catch up if I go behind at all. I have never ran over 54 miles and so I have given myself extra time towards the end as I don't know what state my body will be in.

Is it too optimistic? I don't think so as long as everything goes to plan. And I mean everything. Food, liquid, energy and of course barring injury. Perhaps being a race virgin and without all the years of experience that the other guys have, has made me cocky. I hope not but a week from today we will see if I am being foolish or not.

Cold feet. Cold ears.

2008-06-10T22:59:00.000+01:00

It was fartlek training with the club tonight and a great chance to loosen up the legs a bit. Tonight's session was in Mugdock park.

Would my new hair cut make me streamlined? All I felt was very cold. I think I will need a new hat for the WHW race.

Stevie took the session tonight and so the fast parts of the fartlek all ended up being timed efforts with one minute being the smallest and two being the longest. The first, one minute was easy enough and I was able to overtake the rest quite easily but I realised that wasn't beneficial for me and I took the rest easier. I was surprised when I started to catch up with the fast lot towards the end which showed that although my speed is all gone my endurance is still good.

Breathing feels a bit sore and legs are heavy and numb. All part of the taper process and I am sure it will be okay on the big day.

Went back for a massage on the Wednesday morning and Christine commented on how much better my legs and feet are than last week. She said that I had done well not to run and to take it easy. I felt a bit guilty as I had been enjoying watching TV with my feet in hot water.

Scare Cut

2008-06-10T17:43:00.000+01:00

Preparing for the WHW means a lot of admin and preparation. Top of the list has to be the hair cut. So off to the barbers for a budget cut which offers superb streamlining (although my ears don't help there) and cooling (believe me it's cold).

I have to admit I am still not used to it and Debbie sure isn't. The things that I have done for this race... :-)

DOES MY HEAD LOOK BIG IN THIS?

I've made my bed, now I'll lie in it...

2008-06-10T10:42:00.001+01:00

Lets just hope I don't die in it.

It's been a while since I posted. I am finding the tapering very difficult. Corpses have more energy than me, condemned men are faster than me and the West Highland Way race couldn't be further from my mind.

Everyone is posting about sleepless nights and every now and then Debbie looks at me in terror and says 10 days to go. But I have never been so relaxed. Of course I am having issues. My legs and especially my feet are Christine, my sports masseur's, worst nightmare. I feel like I have the cold and no matter how much sleep I get I feel tired. At the moment I feel a million miles from the West Highland Way race and a billion miles from being prepared for it.

Perhaps work is taking me away from it. Our company was recently taken over and so in great timing all the work started last week for it. But to be truthful it's just the taper that's doing it. I have to find my love of running again and I think that on race day it will come back with avengance, hit me square on the face and for 50 glorious miles I will love it. The next 50 I will hate it but hopefully if it all goes to plan my love of running will come back when I get my goblet from Dario. Actually writing this has proven to me that my love is still there. I am welling up at the thought of receiving my goblet.

On Saturday, it was Garscube Harriers West Highland Way relay. Just a social event in the running club's calendar and an excuse to run the WHW. Again!

Debbie had elected to run the Lochside from Rowardennan to Beinglass and I was going to run from Beinglass to Tyndrum. I always thought my section was easy until I did the Fling run. Then I noticed how much uphill there is on it. I know that it will be tough here on race day.

We drove to Rowardennan for Debbie to start her section. The midgies were really bad. So any support teams reading, bring your midge nets and midge repellant. Lots of it. Just as Debbie started we met Mike from the WHW family but didn't have much of a conversation through the clouds of biting insects. Debbie was off and I had the leisurely drive around the loch to Beinglass.

By the time I started my run it was hot. Very hot. And the section I was doing doesn't offer much cover until after Crianlarich. Rob, Euan, Alex and I started off at 11:15 and straight away Rob said that he was just running at a leisurely pace. I should have stayed with him but thought I would run with Alex and Euan for a bit and then fall back and run the end with Rob. It didn't happen and I ended up running the full thing with Alex and Euan. Well not with them as Alex was always a minute in front and Euan a minute behind. I had one 500ml bottle of energy drink with added electrolyte because of the warm weather. The more I drank it the thirstier I got. Euan and Alex were well dehydrated by the end. I think that I will swap between water/electrolyte and energy drink on the race

My times for the run were

Derrydaroch    25:51

Crianlarich      49:08

Wigwams     1:19:31

Tyndrum      1:40:08

A little bit on the fast side. I did walk up all the big hills and didn't ever feel like I was really pushing it but by the end I was glad it was over. The heat was a nightmare to run in but I soon felt better after a big ice cream. Debbie picked me up after her run and looked fantastic without a hair out of place. She didn't even look like she had run and I was so glad she hadn't had too much bother with her foot.

Metcheck has a 14 day forecast. Race day looks like this..

Hey John, you might get that view from Conic Hill after all.

RACE PACING

Everyone is starting to post there race plans. I am struggling with mine. Should I take the start ultra cautious? Should I keep up with certain people at the beginning? I haven't got a clue what to aim for. I want to enjoy it and most of all finish it. Hell, yes I have ambitions and dreams for certain times and I will post some but I don't want to get too wrapped up in it. My support team will probably disagree though.

Late Call

2008-05-28T16:42:00.001+01:00

Just like the religious program from years ago that was on late at night and had a minister contemplating life and religious matters I have decided late on to jot down some thoughts about tonight's run.

Tonight's run scares me. Not the dark or the mileage, both of which I have done before. I am totally happy about running in the dark even by myself and I have total faith in my headtorch. What scares me is my leg. It hasn't been sore now since Saturday. The swelling has all but gone and the hair is on it's way back. I have had 6 days off from running and my legs feel great. They have benefited from the enforced rest and all the little niggles that all runners have and ignore have gone away. I even started to get phantom niggles that I have never had before. But what scares me is what happens if the pain in my lower leg comes back again. Do I take 12 days off and hope it goes away? What affect will that have on my training?

After a month of fantastic weather our night run is planned for the first night of horrible weather. Oh well. Everytime John K runs this section it seems to rain and so we will probably get the rain on WHW race day. May as well get used to it. The aim tonight is to run to Drymen in 1hr 55mins. Around about 9.5 min/mile pace and around about WHW race pace. It will be good to experience this section in the dark at that pace. Then if my leg allows the plan is to run back to Milngavie.

I am also looking forward to meeting up with everyone. It feels like a long time since I have seen them and it will be good to catch up with them.

Sleeping with the Enemy

2008-05-25T22:30:00.000+01:00

Since the Islands Peaks race I haven't been running very well. I am injured. Yes, four weeks to the big one and I have a swollen lump on my shin across the tendon that goes from the top of my foot. No worries I had felt it niggle after my fling run so I am sure it will go away again. On Thursday I went out and ran just over seven miles but the last two were a nightmare with pain around the tendon and my ankle. Straight away I decided I needed time off running and started to ice and take nurofen. I surfed the net and found that it can be a common injury for Ultra-Marathoners or runs that have a lot of ascent. Heck, the peaks had both. But after a few days the swelling went down but the hair around the area all fell out and now looks like a small plucked chicken. Weird.

Today though it felt sufficiently better to go out with the Lomond Mountain Rescue to support a charity walk up Ben Lomond. The charity was The Rangers Charity Foundation which is a worry because I am a Celtic supporter but it is for charity so it's for a good cause.

My job was to go to the top and check off each person as they made it. What I didn't know was that they were taking the Scottish Cup to the top so that each charity walker could have their picture taken with it. So each Ranger supporter posed for a picture and each of them quipped "It should have been the UEFA cup" There was of course a lot of Celtic comments but there was no way I would say anything. Not out of fear but because no matter what team they supported each and every one of them had raised a lot of money and had made it to the top of the Ben. Good on them I thought.

Connal, the chap that organised it, didn't take a hand off the cup all day. He seriously looked worried about something happening to it. I don't blame him as it is 114 years old. I asked if it was a replica and they told me it was the actual one that Rangers won the day before.

Anyway he needed to do something and asked if I could hold onto it for two minutes. Well at least one Tim got his hands on the cup this year. :-)

The Scottish Cup and me on top of Ben Lomond

I also just want to add congratulations to everyone that ran this weekend. Caroline for a fantastic PB, Neal for surviving Edinburgh un-injured, John for getting 1:25:56 beating his goal for 2008 of running faster than 1:27 for a half and Ian for running 2 marathons. Stornoway and Edinburgh. Well done Ian. Also thank you Ian for inspiring me to writing on my blog when he sent me an email wondering what happened to my posts.

The great ship Kookaburra

2008-05-19T17:26:00.000+01:00

Just a small note to thank everyone for their good lucks and congratulations for the Scottish Islands Peaks Race. We finished at 7:30am on Monday morning. Although we came in last we did finish. There was a few boats that didn't make it. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and if we ever do it again we will have a much better idea on what to expect. The jump up to this sort of challenge was immense and we all pulled together through thick and thin to finish. Full report to come but for the meantime I couldn't resist posting the picture of our boat from the top of the mast again.

A full report of our trip that includes the sailors point of view as well as the runners can be found at http://fb5.blogspot.com

Congratulations must go to Chris Upson and his boat Blue Chip who won the event an amazing 23 hours ahead of us.

Finishing party ready!

2008-05-19T07:24:00.000+01:00

Its our finishing party! One runner and one sailor. Will we do it again next year?
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Check the view John

2008-05-18T21:17:00.000+01:00

The summit of Goatfell. Hometime now and a beer at Troon.
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The ferry

2008-05-18T18:56:00.001+01:00

Maybe we could just get the ferry back. Looks a lot less bouncy!!

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Paul wasn't happy to learn it was another 14 miles

2008-05-18T18:50:00.000+01:00

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Charlie goes bananas!

2008-05-18T14:10:00.001+01:00

Charlie tidying the cabin.
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Top of the first pap of jura

2008-05-17T19:49:00.001+01:00

Bloody feezing!!!!
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Motherwell score!

2008-05-17T13:47:00.000+01:00

Motherwell equalise plus boatfull of Celtic supporters equals joy all around.

Come on Motherwell!!!

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