A mini Cateran

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.