A F*$@ng Distaster !

Okay, the title really means A Fling Disaster, 'cause that's what I had during the race !

Going in to the race I felt pretty confident with my level of fitness and if I'm honest I harboured hopes of maybe even dipping under 9hrs 30m. As I said in my previous post I was working the night before but managed to get away early however still had bits and pieces to do at home in preparation before bed. Gaynor came over the night before and helped get me ready like a good wee sis should. For some reason I struggled to drop off and was still awake at 2.00am, so really appreciated the alarm going off at 4.30am.

The drive to the start was through mist and rain, so I was hopeful that it wouldn't be too warm. On arriving the staggared start certainly seemed to have worked, cause there were plenty of spaces in the car park. I collected my timing chip said a few hellos in the car park and before I knew it we were lining up at the start.

Start to Drymen


















Muppet !

The start as always is a relief, no more hanging about and the run through Mugdock Park is always quite pleasant. I quickly found myself running alongside Andy Murray (no, not that one) who I always seem to run with at some point on these races. Andy ran in a kilt 2 years ago and it almost killed him. He disappeared off pretty quickly and ran a 9:41:35 race.

I was then running alongside Marco for a good wee while, we were chatting away and I felt pretty comfortable, but I had a suspicion that if I was running with him I was running too fast. He pulled away just after Carbeth Loch and I didn't see him again either. Marco eventually finished 3rd ! (told you I was going too fast) in a time of 8:22:19.

I grabbed a wee Mars bar cake at Beechtree Inn but didn't stop. And on the next section, the one with all the gates, I fell in with a Kiwi chap who I think was called Rob Westaway. He'd flown up from London for the race, I think he was drawn by the UTMB points, but he said that he planned to run in 6 alpine races this year - mad ! He'd got his start time wrong and instead of starting with the male vets he started with the regular males, but his chip was synced to a 7am start - so everyone that finished from 26th place down, you're actually one place lower !

Rob left me as we came in to Drymen, but I was feeling pretty good and arrive in about 1hr 39min. Scanned my chip, swapped a water bottle then off again

Drymen to Rowardennan

As I was running I was concious of my right hamstring but it wasn't feeling giving me any problems. It was a relief to get over Conic Hill without cramp this year as that is where my troubles had started in 2009. I was making a concious effort to drink more in the first quarter this year. I followed my usual mantra of walking off Conic which is really frustrating but I know my quads would explode if I ran, then it was into the car park at Balmaha for another water bottle and more cake.













Arriving in Balmaha (photo © Davie Hall - ta!)

The next section along Loch Lomondside is my favourite, it's a bit up and down, but the views are good and I like running through the trees, although it always seems longer than I remember. I ran well on this part and as I began catching the back markers from the vets race went past a lot of runners, which always gives you a bit of a boost.

I arrived at Rowerdennan feeling pretty good and was met by Gaynor & Cody. I took a reasonable stop and despite not really feeling hungry I had a tin of beans and a Muller rice before stting off again.

Rowardennan to Ben Glas

I had passed Rob Westaway just after Balmaha but he had run straight through Rowardennan so I caught him up again on the track. As we climbed from Ptarmigan Lodge I bagan to feel the first pangs of fatigue which I put down to my body digesting the food it had just taken on. Then, as the track turned to path, the cramp arrived again on the inside of my right leg from my groin to my knee, slowing my down to a hobble. I'm not sure why it hit me again, I'd been drinking plenty, but obviously not enough.

Unusually Inversnaid seemed to appear sooner than I expected - it's usually the other way round. I didn't stop long, took on some fluid and pushed on. The trudge along Loch Lomondside was pretty much a walk for me, the lack of cushioning in my Salomon Pro 3D ultras shoes meant that the balls of my feet were starting to get tender, in fact the right foot was blistering badly - oh to have been wearing my trusty XA Comps.

As I neared Doune bothy I tripped and both my calves went into rock solid cramp, it was excrutiating trying to get on my feet again so I could stretch them. A couple of miles further on I passed Ian Beattie he, like me, was struggling badly with cramp and didn't look like he was enjoying himself either !

I shuffled in to Ben Glas Farm to meet Gaynor who had been joined by TJ - who I heard long before I saw her. I took on sone food and pressed on - I just wanted to get finished.

Ben Glas to Finish

The next stretch up Glen Falloch was agonisingly frustrating. I knew there was still 10 miles to go and I couldn't really run any more, even on the flats I just felt like walking.... I was gubbed. A lot of people went past me and I seemed to get slower and slower. It didn't help knowing that I was not going to see Gaynor again until Auchtertyre Farm, which seemed miles away, and just to make it even more fun the cramp kept coming back periodically.

The last stretch from the A82 to the finish seemed to be never ending, that bit's pretty flat so I felt obliged to run it but couldn't really be bothered. As I got the finish line in sight I was aware of runnner catching me so I was able to up my pace, I didn't fancy losing another place, but they were far too fast, then some kind soul shouted that the person closing in was a relay runner - phew.

I scanned my chip at the line then was awarded my medal from John Kynaston, who looked pretty fresh, I think he'd been finished for a long time. I was such a relief to get to the end, I couldn't have gone on which was a worry for the big race in June, because in 2008 my split at Tyndrum wasn't far off this Fling's finishing time !


















Now I know how it feels to be knighted !!!

Post-Race Analysis

I genuinely believed that I had a 9:30 in me, so where did it go wrong ? It was probably a combination of issues butJohn Kynaston had an entry on his blog about taking positives and learning from a race, even if you were disappointed with your run. So here are my learning points / excuses !

1. I think I may have gone out a bit too fast, Drymen in under 1:40 is a bit nippy for me. I felt really confident of a good time beforehand and thought I probably needed to push it a bit from the start. In hindsight I should have kept it steady for the first half.

2. The evening after the race I was suffering from a heavy chest cold and cough which lasted for a good few days. I would have been running with this developing inside me which is bound to blunt the lungs' efficiency and performance somewhat.

3. Bad shoes. The balls of my feet were badly blistered by the time I'd finished making each step unpleasant, I need better cushioned trail shoes.

4. Cramp AGAIN ! - lack of fluid intake ? Stretching ? Who knows but it seems to hit me regularly at about the 25 mile mark.

And finally ......

A big thanks to my wee sis, Gaynor














With Gaynor at the finish - I may be smiling on the outside ...