Monthly Mileage

Well it's hard to believe that May's over already - less than 3 weeks to the big event - scary ! My miles for May are not as good as I had hoped, probably because I changed job in the middle of May, (those that were at the start of the Cateran Trail ultra would've seen me on my first day in my new job) which messed my days off a bit, meaning I had a barren couple of weeks in the middle of the month.

To push the mileage over 100 miles I'm just in from a 14.2 mile run which incorporated the 2 mile, 750 feet climb from the Perth Heaven & Hell half marathon, in case your wondering the climb is the "Hell" bit.

I started out really easy and finished strong, running it in 1:45:50 which worked out at about a 1:38:20 half marathon. My pb for a flat half marathon is 1:31:00 so this was quite encouraging, given that I found it easy and it incorporated that hill.

As can be seen from the milage table I usually reduce my miles from the start of June. Again due to the way my rest days have fallen my last long run is scheduled for Wednesday, just creeping in to June, it should really sit with Mays mileage to give an accurate comparison, so I might revise the table in a couple of days.

Footwear Problem Resolved

Isn't the interweb a wonderful thing. These are what I found lurking in a dark corner -

They arrived today, are identical to my last pair and because they are a couple of seasons old, they cost pennies. No more stressing about what shoes to wear, I won't even need to break them in as I know they'll fit straight from the box.

What Shoes to Wear ??

Since the start of this years training I have had an issue with my trail shoes. Previously I have always run in Salomon XA Comps but whilst I find them comfortable, grippy and most importantly very cushioned, they do not last very long -

Shoes : 2008

: 2009

This year its appeared that Salomon had stopped making the XA Comp so I bought a pair of XA Pro's however, as I hinted at a few posts back, after a couple of runs it soon became apparent that they had no where near as much cushioning, exacerbating my shin splints and during the Fling the balls of my feet were really feeling the pain, especially along Loch Lomondside and the sole of my right foot blistered quite badly. I think this was probably a contributary factor in my poor performance during the race.

Despite my 2009 pair of Comps having large holes in them I wore them for my Cairngorm run and despite their high milage the difference was like night and day. The XA Pros have now been ditched and the search is on for a suitably grippy and cushioned alternative. Ideally I wouldn't be changing shoes this close to the race but if I get another pair of Salomon's in a 10.5 I'll know that they will fit and not require to be broken in - hopefully ....

South Cairngorm Run

I've not managed out for many runs recently so a combination of days off and a good forecast meant that I headed for the Southern Cairngorms for a longer run on Monday. I'd run the route before, 2 years ago in April, it was about 30 miles, but then 11 of those miles had been in deep snow - it had been torture, taking 7 hrs 30 mins !

My route was from Inverey, east along the Dee, north through the Slugain, across the Clais Fhearnaig to Derry lodge up to Corrour, down to White Bridge and back.

The route

The first few miles up to the Sluggan used to be part of a Bronze Duke of Edinburgh route that I tooks kids out on a few years back. It would invariably take a day of grumbling to walk it, but too me a leisurely hour and 20 mins.

There must have been a lot of rain fall in the Cairgorms the previous day cause the river levels were clearly much higher than normal. There appears to be a new path on the north side of the Quoich Water but I couldn't get accross to it, the river was far too fast and deep. Eventually I found a spot which although not idea (especially on your own) got me and the dog accross. The water was up to my thighs and ice cold and the poor, wee hound came out the water a good bit further downstream than where he started!














Looking back down to Derry Lodge, Lochnagar in the distance

I then crossed over to Derry Lodge and up to Luibeg Ford where another deep, fast river crossing was necessary. I didn't go up to Corrour Bothy, but cut over to the White Bridge Path. Last time I had done this run it started to snow heavily at this point and the lacing system on my Salomon shoes broke so I had to seek refuge in the bothy to fix them.

Devil's Point & Cairn Toul from just south of Corrour

The path between Corrour and White Bridge has been greatly improved from the muddy swamp it had previously been and after 24 miles I passed my first person of the day. From White Bridge it was a simply case of back to the Linn 'o Dee and along the road back to the car. I felt pretty good over the last 3 - 4 miles which were all comfortably under 9 min/mile pace and would have liked to continue the run.

All in all it was 29.5 miles and took me a comfortable 5hrs 45 min, but there was a lot of very rough ground covered so I was happy with my 5.1mph average. I plan one last long run before the race and that will hopefully be a 43 mile jaunt next Tuesday.

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 ...

A Wee Update

I'm concious that I've not updated my blog since the Fling almost 3 weeks ago, but I should be putting that right finishing off the race report tomorrow or Sunday.

I was hit with a stinking cold, pretty much the second I finished the Fling so that laid me off running for the best part of a week, but I'm back into it now and running quite well. Did my usual Ballo Hill - Lundie Crags run the other day and took more time off my pb for the route - 65:55 - can I get under an hour ?

And also ran my usual 10 mile route from the house, again going faster than I have done before in 70:42, with mile 8.5 - 9.5 run in 6:40. It felt pretty relaxed so I may yet achieve my sub 70 min target.

On Wednesday I went for a longer run, doing the Cateran Trail from Briudge of Cally, to a bothy I know as the Lunch Hut, then running back again. It's about 29 miles with quite a lot of up and down. I set out to run it quite relaxed, went out in about 2hrs 28min and finished in a total time of 5hrs 13min, not a blistering pace but an enjoyable run none the less. I struggled a bit at the end of my run, but I had only eaten a packet of peanuts and a few jelly babies, so it was my own fault.

Map of the route

For anyone running the Cateran Trail race on Saturday Good Luck, I hope to see you at the start line, and remember to leave something in the tank for the end - there's a lot of climbing once you're past Enochdhu !