Glen Prosen

On Saturday, mutt and I went for a run up Glen Prosen. Despite having been up the adjacent Glen Clova hundreds of times I’ve never actually been to the head of Prosen so I worked out a route on the map which was around about 20ish miles.

I parked at the entrance to Cramie Farm then ran down the road to Cormuir Farm (best get the road run out the way at the start). The climb over the Hill of Strone was fairly pleasant, a bit breezy but sunny, with great views down Glen Prosen.

Sunshine on Glen Prosen

The descent was wet and muddy through the trees down to a ruin named “Hole” on the map. (Note for next time – follow the track south to Glenhead Farm) Unfortunately I chose to run along a path over the Moss of Glanny which was marked on my 1987 map but isn’t there now. They’ve replaced it with a really wet bog so by the time I came through it my feet were soaking. Taking this route really slowed my progress.

There's a dog in there somewhere

I cut over the hill to the driveway for Glenmarkie Lodge and followed the well kept track down to Freuchies then headed north for 6 miles back through the forest. There is a lot of felling work going on and the logging vehicles have churned up the tracks so it was quite hard going. The track petered out for the last mile or so through the trees and the path wasn’t great, again slowing me down.

Mud, glorious mud

Once over the hill and down to the Kilbo ruin it was an easy jog back down the glen to the car, although due to all the sheep I did have to run with Cody on a lead, which is not ideal as he likes to bomb ahead and it can throw you off your stride a bit.

It had been a good day, the threatened rain never arrived, I only met 2 mountain bikers and a gamekeeper all day but had only been out for 4 hrs 33 mins. I would have liked to have done longer but with the terrain I had been covering I was still pretty weary.

Next weekend I have the Devil’s Burdens relay on Saturday followed by a 28 miler on The Way on Sunday – looking forward to it.

Devil’s Burdens Recce

The “Devil’s Burdens” is an annual relay race organised by Fife around the Lomond Hills. 2 years ago it was my first ever running race and last year I was in no fit state to run it so acted as a support driver, a job I found incredibly frustrating ! Happily this year I’ll run it again.

Dundee Road Runners usually enter a couple of teams and this year is no different. Due to the altitude of the course and the strong possibility of bad weather reducing visibility we usually have a recce run to show new runners the route and refresh the memories of those who have already run it.

I woke up on Sunday to hear the wind and rain battering against the window – I was sorely tempted to turn over and go back to sleep, but I’d no way of contacting the other runners so I forced myself along and met with the 5 other hardy souls also turned up - and of course the dog had no choice.

The hardy fools - Me, Grant, Morag, Daniel, Alison & Ged (note the rain on the lens and trees being blown over in the background!)

We ran from the Craigmead car park to the foot of East Lomond, which the howling gale deterred us from climbing, then we followed Leg 1 to Holl Reservoir (with only a slight route deviation!). We then took in Leg 2 passing 3 other groups of equally mad runners who I presume were also recce’ing the route.

Approaching Holl Reservoir (slightly off course!)

From the top of White Craigs, where the wind was blowing the rain so hard it hurt your face, we decided against the descent to Scotlandwell because we would have had to come straight back up again, so we followed the treacherously slippy paths through the mist past Bishop Hill and down into Glen Vale.

The spectacular views as we pass Bishop Hill.

"And that's where we're not going" says Ged pointing at W Lomond

By this time (actually it was probably well before ) everyone was wet through and cold so we ran to Harperleas Reservoir then cut over the shoulder of West Lomond across Balharvie Moss and onto the path and back to the car. The last couple of miles were pretty miserable. We ran a total distance of 11.8 miles which we covered in a leisurely 2 hours 40 mins.

Despite the weather being absolutely miserable I think it had been a worthwhile day, especially for me as I’ll probably run the 3^rd leg and there were bits I couldn’t remember.

A Year's Training Enough?

The following question was posted a while back on the WHW website forum

“Hi everyone, got interested in the race and I've now been keeping an eye on the site for a number of weeks. Started doing some running and I’m now contemplating next year’s event. Question would be – Is a year’s training enough?

I’m in the fortunate position where I can run to/from work so getting miles under the belt shouldn’t be a problem in terms of time (motivation and effort is another matter!!!!) and I’m already looking at half marathons/marathons as well as some other ultras such as Devil O'The Highlands to get used to longer runs (Would it be a good idea to do this if going ahead with entry for next years WHW?). Stay in the Falkirk area so fairly easy access to various off-road trails for training and noted that there is a good “social” side with organised night runs etc.

It’s all good and well looking at the various websites that publish training plans etc, but would really appreciate feeback from those that know best.

Cheers, Chris Buchanan”

A few replies suggested that Chris should build up to the race over a few years, but I thought differently and this is my reply -

”Having read the above comments and thought you might be interested in my experience / preparations for this years race, as you sound like you are in a similar position to the one I was in last year.

By posting this I may be criticised as irresponsible for encouraging you so I must stress the caveat that everyone’s different and what worked for me may not work for you. Oh … and I won’t be held responsible if your legs fall off !

I’m 36 years old, 6’3” & 85kg and took up running in late 2006 in an effort to halt the spread which was beginning to start thank to too many beers. I’ve never been a runner but swam competitively in my youth and generally kept myself fit. In February 2007 I did my first half-marathon (Forfar multi-terrain), then did 2 more halfs and a couple of hill races during the year. Training consisted of 15 miles / week max.

In August 2007 I stumbled across the website for the WHW race and thought it looked like a challenge so I entered. As I didn’t have any experience in ultra-marathons Dario (quite rightly) informed me that if I completed the Highland Fling I would get on the waiting list, if I didn’t finish there would be no race place. This was fair as I was an unknown quantity and I planned to do the Highland Fling anyway as part of my training.

Unfortunately due to illness I couldn’t run between October to mid-December and managed no more than 5 miles a week until February. By the end of March I was up to 25-30 mile / week and during April did weekend runs of 20 ml, 30ml & finished the ‘Fling in under 10 hours, which got me my race place. I was also doing around 100 ml/week commuting on my bike.

Mid-May to early-June I was doing 50ish ml/wk consisting of 2 x 10 milers with a longer hilly run at weekends and continuing the cycling. On my longer runs I concentrated on plodding along at race pace (around 5 mph) conditioning myself not to run too fast.

Don’t know if I was lucky but I managed to avoid picking up any significant injury and stopped running about 10 days before the big event so I felt fresh on the day. The race itself went well (tip - walking down Conic Hill makes a massive difference to the quads and only slows you up by about 3 mins !) and I finished in 10th place in 19hrs 54 mins, well under my 24 hour target.

So Chris, I in answer to your post it can be done by someone without a running background but it takes a lot of discipline, good luck staying injury free and a huge amount of mental determination during the event itself.

Having completed the race I would thoroughly recommend doing it (I’m still buzzing) when you are ready. Good luck with however you choose to tackle it.

Gav”

Cateran Trail – 28 miles

In an effort to undo the excesses of Hogmany and also to try out my legs on a longer distance I negotiated with Fi a full day away running and decide to cover a route that I had done in early April last year. The plan was to run along the Cateran Trail from Bridge of Cally to the Lunch Hut a few miles short of the Spittal of Glenshee then back to BoC a distance of around 28 miles.

The weather was similar to how it has been the previous week, cold, still and crisp blue skies, perfect for running. I started much later than I had anticipated at 1130 hours but cracked on anyway confident that I had my new headtorch (Xmas pressie) in my sack. I also took along Cody to see if I could actually tire him out, which thus far has been impossible ..

After around an hour I met another runner heading in the opposite direction. We stopped to exchange pleasantries when she clocked my WHW top (not hard given the colour !). She informed me that she is running the WHW this year and introduced herself as Karen Donoghue who had run from BoC to Kirkmichael and was on her way back. After a blether I cracked on through frozen bogs and planned to turn back at Enochdu but the day was so good, I felt pretty good and the dog seemed fine that I decided to carry on to the Lunch Hut.

I used to take a lot of Duke of Edinburgh’s groups up here and stop at the hut so it was a walk down memory lane reading the graffiti on the wall. One in particular caught my eye, it’s faded but still there - Jenny Duff’s greeting to the groups figurehead Dave Stibbles. And spookily enough there was also a baseball cap with was embroidered with my old school unofficial motto !

On the way back the old knee began to give me bother on the hills but it was fine on the flats and the dog seemed to be going well too, even finding the energy to chase some roe deer after 25 miles.

I must confess my legs were very heavy over the last few miles and I was glad when I picked up the car in the torch beam. It had been a hard day and including stops had taken 5hrs 40 mins, much further that I have run for a while, but I was encouraged that I had managed it. This time last year I couldn’t even do run 10k without stopping.

And yes since he got home the dog has done nothing but sleep – he’s been tired out at last !

Post Xmas Fitness

Following xmas I tried my best to undo some of the excesses so on 28 December I decided to see how Cody our dog would get on with a run now that he is 6 months old. He is a chocolate lab / springer spaniel cross and we cannot tire him out.

I took him on a 17 mile run in and around Loch Ordie near Dunkeld. He has boundless energy and even as we approached the car after more that 3 hours he was going strong. Once we got home however it was a different matter and he fell into a deep sleep…

I then drove up to meet friends Tom, his wife Zoe and his sister Kate in the Black Isle for a couple of days walking. It was absolutely Baltic outside day and night with temperatures between -7 to -10 so it was a real bonus that the central heating in the cottage was broken – not ! On the 29^th we tackled Meall a’ Chrasgaidh in the Fannichs. It was one of those crisp, clear, cold winter days where my camera battery went flat after the first photo.

On the 30^th Tom, Zoe & I walked Cairngorm and the Northern Corries. I have walked this route many, many times but I have never seen it so busy. Probably a combination of the brilliant weather and the holidays.

Tom & Zoe on summit of Cairngorm

On the way down Loch Morlich was completely frozen over and a popular spot with sightseers. This may have been due to the temperatures in Aviemore reaching -15 the previous couple of nights.

I had 3 good days of exercise and thankfully can report no ill effects.

Club Championships

It was the Dundee Road Runners prize giving on Tuesday night. Unfortunately I was in Manchester with work so I couldn’t attend, which is a pity because it transpires that I am now the club’s ultra distance champion.

Claim to fame – here

I’m now included alongside Alan Kay who hold the joint record for finished on the WHW at an unbelievable 13 ! I can’t see my knees ever letting me do that.

Physio

Since I had a fall in 2001 I’ve had a problem with my left knee and during the Fling and the Race I was swallowing ibuprofen like they were sweeties to help me get through. My knee had also been a bit painful after the training run last week.

After falling from my bike I had arranged through occupational health at work to attend a physio, but by the time I arrived at the appointment today my hip was back to normal so I took the opportunity to speak with the physio about my knee (which was also heavily bruised after a fall whilst walking the dog).

I thought she may be annoyed that I had changed the reason for attending but she was great and decided that there was nothing wrong with any ligaments, but my kneecap may not be tracking properly so showed me how to tape it up so it was back in place.

First thoughts are that it is making a difference and feels better supported but I’ll need to give it a try on a long run.

John Kynaston’s 1st Training Run

My training has not been going well having suffered with a chest infection that I couldn’t shake for 5 weeks, then when it cleared up I was back running for a week when I hit black ice on my bike and landed heavily on my right hip leaving me suffering from trochanteric bursitis, which made walking painful, so that was another month out.

I was pretty unfit but decided to go in at the deep end and signed up to the first of John K’s monthly runs along the Way. The first outing was on the 30 November 2008 followed the route Beinglas Farm down to Inversnaid and back then Beinglas Farm up to Carmyle Cottage and back, a total distance of 22.42miles.

I had arranged via the forum to meet up with Ian Beattie and Phil Tipping in Comrie and share a lift through. It was a good chance to meet up as I had never met them before and we had a good blether on the way over to the start.

It was a crisp clear day and the temperature dropped to -9^oC on, but had risen to -7 at the starting point. Thankfully we were there early because John’s run had proved so popular parking was at a premium. I think around 35 people ultimately appeared –

9.30 am and we were off. It was very icy underfoot which slowed the pace down. I found myself running along with Davie Bell who I had run with in 08’s race. He is clearly much fitter than I at the moment and after a while I had to let him go, and found myself running alone. There was no point in doing that with 34 others around so I hung back until I was joined by Phil and we ran together for a while. The narrow path along Lomondside was treacherous and one chap behind me almost plunged into the loch at the bottom of the really steep set of wooden steps. If he’d gone in the bank was so high and steep I don’t know how we would have retrieved him.

I arrived at Inversnaid felling pretty good, the run had been easily paced. After a refuel we set off again and retraced our steps. This time I found myself running in a group which contained John so we had a good chat as we ran. I arrived back at Beinglas Farm with a couple of chaps who were calling it a day there so I hung back and waited for John to catch up. This is my least favourite stretch on the first half of the Way so it was good to have John’s company to help me pass the miles.

We turned back at the underpass and after a couple of miles I was tiring so I told John just to press on, which he did easily. With around half a mile to go both my hamstrings spasmed into excruciating cramp, which was so frustrating as I could see the cars but couldn’t get any nearer to them. Eventually it cleared and I hobbled in to the car park after 5 hours 5 mins of running.

It wasn’t a fast run, even by ultra pace, but I was pleased that I had completed the distance and been able to keep going for more that 5 hours. An encouraging start to my build up given my current level of fitness.

Lessons Learned

I’ve listed a few points before I forget them on the things I learned during my first really big race -

1. Don’t start too fast, repeat the mantra this is a marathon, not a sprint. Do not worry if people are passing you, if you’ve done the training and pace yourself, you will catch them up, although it might take another 15 hours to do it. My splits show that I made up a lot of places in the last quarter of the race and I was the fastest person over the last leg - splits spreadsheet

2. ALWAYS WALK OFF CONIC HILL ! It’s a bit slower but you make up time in the long run as it saves your quads.

3. Run through the Rowardennan checkpoint. Both times I’ve raced on the WHW I’ve had lengthy stops here which has frustrated me, I will now quickly take onboard food and drink that I can walk with thus probably saving 10 minutes.

4. I have found Salomon XA Comp 2 in a size 10.5 to be the perfect shoe for me. Great fit, never given me blisters, well cushioned, lightweight, with grippy soles. Although as you can see the pair I used are now dead –

5. Wear lycra undershorts to avoid chaffing which can be crippling. Also rub copious amounts of Vaseline between the toes as rubbing between the toes gave me problems all the way after Kingshouse.

6. Invest in a good head torch. My Tesco value £8 torch was cheep and gave me a headache. I have now purchased and used in anger a Petzl Myo XP – so much better.

Sponsorship

A Massive thank you to everyone who sponsored me.

I raised well over £2,000 for 2 charities –

Cancer Research UK & Tayside Children with Cancer & Leukaemia

You were all incredibly generous and your support gave me an added incentive to finish.