Born to Run

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.