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 !

Fling Tomorrow

It's my 3rd Montane Highland Fling tomorrow, which means I can stuff my face contiunually with food today and if anyone makes comment I can just mutter something about "carb loading".

I'm feeling pretty good about tomorrow at the moment. I had a deep tissue massage on Monday night, which was a similar experience to the dentists, but has definately eased my right hamstring. I'll not repeat the profanity Lee uttered when he started working on it, needless to say he was amazed at how tight and knotted it was. I went out for a gentle 10k on Tuesday, just to see how it felt, but I was still aware of it, hopefully the rest since then will have helped.

It's an early start tomorrow, will probably have to be up about 04.30am, and I'm working tonight, hopefully I will get away early. Incredibly this year there are 343 runners involved according to the latest update on the website. I have Gaynor, my sister, and Cody the hound supporting me, they're now old hands at it and are pretty good too otherwise they wouldn't be asked back !

My plan tomorrow is to try and run without the added pressure of a watch, so I'm not going to wear one, I'll just pace myself by how I'm feeling and I'll see how I get on. My previous times have been 09:55:44 in 2008 & 10:20:10 in last years disaster. I think this year I'm on good form so secretly am hoping for a pb - sub 8 hrs ? Aye , right !!!!!

Good luck to everyone running tomorrow, I'm off to get my stuff ready ....

Tapering ?

Ran my usual 10 miler tonight from the house, planning to take it easy and looking to do it in about 75mins. It was a pretty chilly night with a stiff easterly breeze which made the last few miles a bit more difficult. I started off in daylight but ended up in the dark - it's not quite as summery as I thought yet.

As usual I got a wee bit carried away and ran it in 72 mins 24s, but felt quite relaxed, the only niggle I have is my cramp prone, right hamstring which is still really tight, but IO have a massage booked for tomorrow night and, whilst it's not much fun, it usually helps.

One more run on Tuesday with the club, then it's the Fling on Saturday. At the moment I'm feeling a lot fitter and much more positive mentally than I was at this time last year so am really looking forward to the big run, I just need to drink more in the opening stages 'cause I aint running the last 36 miles with cramp again this year !!

Glen Tilt

I'm still on holiday so planned to fit in one more long run before the Fling a week on Saturday (yikes!). Graeme gave me a shout as he was keen to get another long day in too before the Maggies Challenge in May so after seeing Monday's forecast, we decided to head for Glen Tilt. I had planned a route that would take us up the Tilt, across to the originally titled Loch Loch, then back to Blair Atholl to the South of the Beinn A'Ghlo massif. A very rough working showed that to be about 30ish miles.

It was a cracking day and we figured that leaving the car at the Loch Moraig car park would mean we could run down the tarred road at the start instead of at the end of the run. The run up Glen Tilt was pleasant and we covered the first 14 miles in little over 2 hours - then we hit a snag.

We needed to cross the River Tilt, but the only bridge was a a wire bridge, which wouldn't be a problem but we had Cody with us. Now he can do cattle grids, but I think wire rope bridges are a bit beyond him, so it wasn't an option, if he'd tried to swim the river at that point he'dve been swept away. We tried to find a suitable place to cross but the river was just too high and fast with all the snow melt, so we opted to just run back down the glen, giving us a 28 mile run.














Cody hogging the limelight, but that's the uncrossable river in the background

As we went Graeme suggested climbing Carn A Chlamain, a munro to the west of the glen. We'd both done it a few times, but he argued it would take us over 30 miles and make the day abit tougher. He was to regret that suggestion later ...














Looking toward the Charn A Chlamain summit

I was struggling to run in the heat so the walk on the climb was welcome, Graeme however was struggling with the climb. We skooted down the land rover track back in to the glen and by Marble Lodge we decided that I should press on, get the car and meet Graeme at the track end. I found the last few miles tough, I was dehydrated, my hamstrings were tight and to top it all off I had to go UP the tarred road we had run down earlier ! Map of the route -



















The dog launched himself into the loch at the car park and didn't want to come out, it looked very tempting. I was glad to get a long run in hot weather before the Fling as that was my first hot run last year and I really struggled. The pace wasn't great 32 miles in 7 hours, but it did include a munro, and I did manage to keep the cramp at bay this time.

My monthly mileage is progressing well, I'm already well over the total for last month (not hard, I know) and I now plan to do a few shorter runs and get a deep massage before the Fling.

Routine Hill Run

On Saturday I did my normal Ballo Hill - Lundie Crags & back run. I had just finished a heavy week's running for me and felt it a bit as the run starts with a climb, and it was a very warm day (is winter over at last ?!) which my body's not yet used to, and complete contrast to the sleet I ran in last time.

The run didn't feel as good as the last one but this time I did the 8 miles in 68mins 45s, so yet more time shaved off again. At least it's going in the right direction.

Highland Training Camp !

I had a few days up north in Aviemore last week, spent a day skiing (there's loads of snow!), did some mountain biking and managed to sneek in a wee run in the Rothiemurchus Forest. It's one of my favourite places on the planet, in amongst all the knarly old Scots Pine. I ran out the new foot / cycle path between Aviemore and Loch Morlich, which is called the "Old Logging Road" and is an excellent feature allowing you to avoid the road, which was extremely busy with ski traffic.

The snow laden Northen Corries of Cairngorm

I then meandered back through the forest, navigating from memory as I didn't have a map. This was a pity because if I could have stayed out longer and extended my run I definately would have. In the end I covered 11.5 miles in a relaxed and very enjoyable 1hr 36min. Here's my route -

The D33side Ultra

Saturday 3 April saw the running of the inaugural 33 miles Deeside Ultra race. The race's website sums the event up thus - "The concept is simple, turn up at the Duthie park car park in Aberdeen and register and run the first section of the Deeside way to Banchory, check in with marshall, turn round and run back. You get water at checkpoint, anything else you need to carry yourself or get from your Mum." Map of the route -

According to the webpage 120 people had entered, and on the day 94 people trapped. Maybe the others were put off by the forecast which was dreadful, but as it turned out we had a cracking day. I wasn't too sure what to wear on the feet and on arriving I met Ian Beattie who assured me that road shoes would be the best choice so I went with that. Wise words as it turned out as there were long stretches on tarmac and my joints don't like that.













After A quick briefing from George (pic above) we were off. Thankfully the route follows the old railway line so was really flat. As usual I ran my own race and didn't bother worrying about the people passing me. Normally I would think I could catch them in the later stages but this race was a bit short for me so I was treating it as a training run, and besides I've never run a marathon and was sure a lot of the other runners would be marathon runners and this wasn't much over that distance so figured they'd be much more acomplished.

I reckoned from my training runs that if I ran at 6 miles an hour I should finish the race in 5hrs 30min so this is what I was aiming for. After a couple of miles Ian Beattie went past me and he though he could finish in 4hrs 30min. I thought that was a bit fast so let him go.

I plodded on keeping the pace easy and went through the 8 mile checkpoint in 64min dead. I fell in with a chap (who I think was Mike Raffan) and his gps told us that we went through 10 miles averaging 7m 25s/ml way faster than the 9min/ml's I had planned.

I reached the half-way checkpoint turning in a surprising 2hrs 9min, glad that I still felt good and hadn't really dropped the pace, but expected to feel it on the way back. This was the first out and back race I had run so it was good to see the other runners as we passed, but all too soon I went past the back markers and was on my own again.

My hamstrings had been tight all day and about 200m from the 25ml check point, bang, I was hit by cramp in the right one. I hobbled to the checkpoint and took on some water, put 2 packets of dioralyte in it and downed it in an effort to get me home. I had been thinking that a sub 4.30 might have been on but the cramp scuppered that.

The last stretch seemed endless, I was running at a pace just slow enough to keep the cramp at bay. Encouragingly the rest of my body and mind seemed that it would be happy to push the pace a bit more but if I wanted to finish I daren't.

With about a mile to go I was joined by local runner Scott Craighead, who'd never run an ultra before but was looking very comfortable. The chat between us took our minds off the never ending finish and we crossed the line together in 4hrs 35min 5s, joint 18th position.


















The finish.

At the finish there was a massive table of very welcome cakes and every finisher recieved a bottle of race beer and a medal - made of chocolate !!



















I was delighted with that run, way faster that I had imagined possible for me, and apart from the cramp felt very comfortable. The leason I learned though was that if running long distances unsupported then I need to drink more, the problem I have though is that I carry everything in a rucksack and my water bottle isn't easily accessable which discourages me from drinking. In future I think I need to wear it in conjunction with a water bottle belt and that may solve the issue, I'll try it out next long training run.

Full results can be found HERE.

Monthly mileage update

My monthly mileage is going the right way, but not quite at the rate I would have hoped for. I was hoping for about 25 - 30 miles/week in March i.e > 100 miles, but work scuppered that.

I'm aiming for 35 miles/week in April. This should be acheivable as I'm doing the 33 mile Deeside Way this Saturday and the 53 mile Highland Fling at the end of the month.

There are 120 names down for the D33side Way race, not bad for its inaugral running. Well done to George Reid for organising it, it's just the right distance for me at this stage in the season. Hope the forecast for Saturday keeps improving. Good luck to everyone who's running it.

Return of the Shin Splints ?!

I used to be troubled big style with shin splints until seeing a podiatrist a couple of years ago. She increased the correction on my orthotics and suggested a neutral, cushioned running shoe - bang, they disappeared overnight !

The last couple of days I've had that feeling in my shins again and I'm not sure why but think I have identified two possible causes. When I did the Griffin Forest run I forgot my orthotics and ran anyway, this wouldn't have been a problem in my old Salomon XA Comp's. I have owned and loved 3 pairs, marvelous shoe, light, grippy, cushioned and fit my feet perfectly requiring no breaking in. But they don't make the Comp any more so now I have XA Pro 3D Ultras, which don't seem as cushioned or as grippy, but they are still v comfortable.

The other reason, and I think the one that is to blame, is that at work on Saturday night I had to sprint about 300m as if someone's life depended on it (actually, it did) on a road in my work boots. They are not cushioned and I didn't feel it at the time, but it started a couple of hours after. Maybe the damage was done in the big run and aggravated by the clumpy, booted sprint.

So today I decided to do my normal 8 mile off road route from Ballo Hill to Lundie Crags and back, taking it easy and seeing how the shins got on. Here's the route -

I have to report that my shins didn't feel too bad on the whole, a wee bit pained on some of the faster downhills, but hopefully not too much damage has been done. Taking it easy and running through sleet for most of it, I ran the route in 69 mins 25s, the first time under 70 mins. The dog didn't seem too impressed and the wee idiot showed off running most of the way carrying a stick, or should that be a log ....

Griffin Forest run

In order to bump up March's milage I went for a run in Griffin Forest, leaving from the Hermitage at Dunkeld. I know from experience that running in the forest is pretty boring, but this time I took the dog and Graeme, who plans to run the Maggie's Challenge in May so was looking to get some training in.

We started off in light rain which soon blew through, however the rest of the day remained pretty damp. After a couple of miles and a big climb we entered the forest and quickly discovered that the snow had not disappeared from here. As the track was shaded there was still a good foot of soft icy snow lying on it, which made the going hard. Thankfully after a about a mile of it (which took ages by the way) we came accross forestry operations and the daily passage of vehicles had churned up and removed the snow.


















Graeme battling through the snow

I had planned to run out, do a lap of Loch Kinnard then run back, but at the junction of tracks it was apparent that the snow on the track round the loch was even worse than it was at the start so we ran on to the road, had a bite to eat then just ran back. To miss the snow on the return leg we dived off down the hill past a load of ruined farm buildings picking up the Rumbling Bridge road again, then back through the Hermitage to the end. Graeme had an good run and I struggled to keep up with him in the last mile, he should skoosh Maggies.

My left hamstring was a little tight particularly going uphill but the pace felt pretty easy going and we covered 23 miles in 3hrs 39mins averaging a speed of 6.4mph, which given the terrain, mud and snow I was delighted with.

Route showing proposed and actual