A devil, a canal and a long weekend

A devil

From the start of WHW training this year I have tried to have a run on the way every second week. The idea was that I would run the route of the training run at the end of the month two weeks before just like a practise attempt.
Also part of my training runs are to run half of the long run either the day before or the day after. This was a great idea until the distances started to increase.  In two weeks time we are running the Devil of the Highlands route. All 42 miles from Tyndrum to Fort William.
And so, to keep with the training plan I had to do the same. Two weeks before.

Devil o' the Highlands Route
Tyndrum to Fort William
42 miles

To make it all work out I had to take the day off work. You know that you are becoming a fanatic for ultra running when you take a day off, then get up at 5am and then drag your wife and seven week old baby with you too. Okay perhaps it may have been Debbie that dragged me out my bed.
Anyway we arrived at Tyndrum and I set off at 7am.
Apart from a slight niggle in my right calf from the beginning I had a great run. I really enjoyed it and the weather was very kind to me. It was sunny with spring well and truly out.  I even saw blossom on a tree in Kinlochleven of all places.
Training wise I was trying to keep to the running up hills but not as many as last time. Keeping with the one gel and 500ml of energy drink formula although I did have a terrific egg sandwich at the Devils Staircase.
The top of the Devils Staircase had a lot of knee deep snow that slowed me down and worried me because you couldn't see the boulders below the soft snow.
I felt good at the end and pleased that I didn't bonk like I did last year.
Thank you so much Debbie and Cairn for all your great support and to JK for your text asking how it was all going.

Distance : 42.19 miles
Time : 6 hours 38 mins
Avg Pace : 9:26 / mile

A Canal

On Saturday, a new event was being held. It was the Glasgow to Edinburgh Double Marathon. I had contemplated running this but in the end decided not too. It also seemed a bit pricey at £50 and after seeing the event organisation I didn't really see where all the money went but the organisers seemed friendly enough even although they looked like a bunch of university students.

A lot of the people running were from the WHW family and it was great to meet up with them all. But Debbie and I were here to support Sharon.

I also decided to run 18 miles of the canal as part of my training.

Running the 18 miles didn't feel to hard. Okay it was not as easy as it should be but a strong wind was behind me and the canal is as flat as a pancake.

Distance : 18.23 miles

Time : 2hrs 21 min

Avg Pace : 7:46 / mile

During my run I ran with Lucy Colquhoun for a bit and we chatted. I felt slightly embaressed because I had once posted that on a blog "I beat Lucy" It was totally tongue in cheek and I just hope that she read it that way.

I also ran with Kenny V as well. He is running the WHW this year for the first time and seemed to be very strong. Thomas came in a great 4th place. I was really pleased for him as at Bonnybridge I thought he looked done in but he must have got a second wind because he finished looking strong. Sharon came in a great 6th position and second girl with Davie minutes behind her with sorer ears than legs.. ;-)

I didn't get to talk to anymore people as I had to leave to go to John Bell's 40th birthday party. A great night but after all the running I swear I had a few dizzy spells and it wasn't caused by alcohol. Debbie on the other hand had a few dizzy spell that were.

Full Results for the run are here, and a good run by Phil, Ian, Aileen, Keith and Mags. Well done to everyone.

A Long Weekend

So after quite a busy weekend running, how do I feel? Quite good funnily enough. My legs are fine although a bit stiff. Energy wise though I feel it will take a few more days to get back to 100%. Today I did 16 * 200m reps. None of them fast but they felt great for getting all the rubbish out of my legs. Back into a cold shower after it and I felt great.

100 days, thoughts and views

I started blogging at the end of 2007 because everyone else was doing it and although we are now in 2009 and I don't blog as much, I do try to write about the more important runs. But I should post about more than just the runs. I need to post more about my feelings as well.

The reason for this isn't for the people that read the blog but for myself.

At 1am this morning it was exactly 100 days until the West Highland Way race. It was a landmark last year and I was very worried and nervous. This year it passed without me even noticing. Last year I had ran the Balloch/Clydebank half marathon exactly the same as this week. Last year I ran 2 minutes quicker. Last year I was running Wuthering Hike the following weekend but this year I am doing a West Highland Way training run. Last year I had race 5 weekends consecutively. Last year at this time I decided to run the WHW in 2009 as well.

Here is a copy of my blog from last year. For me reading this is amazing. For everyone else it may not mean much but to me it is the point that my training started to go wrong.

Wednesday, 12 March 2008

100 Days to go!!!

Today is exactly 100 days until the toughest race I have ever done.

100 days 5 hours and 42 minutes to go until I run the 95 miles from Milngavie to Fort William. And how do I feel today. Awful. The half marathon has taken quiet a lot out of me and I know that it will take a few days to get over it. I feel tired, lethargic and my limbs hurt. I am taking today off running because I need to be fit for the Wuthering Hike 33m ultra on Saturday where I will meet Brian Mc for the first time. Hopefully we get on as we have already decided to do the OMM this October together. I have always wanted to try one so this will be my chance.

It is also good because I have been wondering what to fill the void that will be left once I have run the West Highland Way. Every waking moment seems to be filled with it and I can see how people get obsessed with challenges. I have even had dreams with people from the race. Yes Dario and Davie A. I am sorry to say that you have appeared to me at night much to Debbie's horror.

So the way I see it is before the race you can't wait for the race. During it you can't wait for it to be over and after it you can't wait to do it next year. After talking to John K on one of the training runs he suggested that a good way of looking at the race is to think of it as a 2 year challenge, with the first year being a warm up for the real race the second time. And so I have decided that if all goes well this year I am going to enter the race in 2009 as well. This way I will have hopefully learned from my mistakes and most importantly there will be no void to fill.

At the beginning of the blog I speak about being knackered. Today I feel great. No aches, no fatigue. Tomorrow I am running a 42 mile training run easy. Easy pace, big breaks and just a time on feet run. On Saturday I aim to run 20 miles on the canal, again easy. I would never have been able to contemplate this last year.

Although I blame running the London marathon and the Islands three peaks race as reasons that my training plan went wrong last year after reading my blog from the month of March last year I can now see that training was starting to go wrong before then and there was a reason to be nervous last year with 100 days to go. This year though with 100 days to go, I am just really looking forward to it.

So this year everything seems easier. Perhaps when I get to 10 WHW's the training will finally go perfect.

Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon

8th March 2009

The Start

This half marathon has put me in some what of a dilemma. Should I tell the truth or not? Evil me says no and the good me says yes.

It all started last week. I had a terrific run on the WHW and I knew that Thomas would be wanting to get one back on me this week by beating me in the half marathon. He was running the Inverness Half and I was running the Balloch to Clydebank. It is my PB race so things looked good for me, but I have concentrated on doing less races this year. Thomas on the other hand has been doing a lot more races and been getting very good times.

Let me set the record straight - and I am sure that Thomas would agree with me. We have a very friendly competitiveness. We never gloat and I am sure if one of us got injured or hurt the other would stop. We are running brothers.
And so to the race. I met a lot of old Garscube faces and a helluva lot of new Garscube faces. Thats what happens when you haven’t been about in a while. I am sure they thought the same when they saw me, the imposter in a Garscube top who is never at training. Shock horror though. Stephen Mulrine was running a half-marathon. To be fair he was once an ultra distance runner and now after a period of time on the dreaded track he was back to distance runs. Also running today my brother Paul. He already had two PBs this week. One for a 20 mile race last Sunday and one for a 5k on Friday. Could he make it three?

So off we went. I was trying for an average pace of 5:50 and for the first seven or eight miles I was bang on and feeling great. Well within myself and slowly overtaking people. Stephen Mulrine was miles in front of me. Good on the track and good at distance.
Debbie and Paul’s girlfriend Gillian were spectating and giving me support. They would meet me and Paul at different points and cheer us on. Thanks girls.
Apart from them the whole route was lined with supporters. Garscube people, Millies (Davie) and WHW. I felt very popular.
By the 11th mile my pace was dropping. I was now averaging 5:55 with heavy legs and no way that I was going to increase that back up to 5:50’s. Resigned to that fact my pace slowed even more and two Bellahouston runners overtook me.I gathered my self together when another runner overtook me with half a mile to go and I mustered enough energy to pass him just before the end.

I was tired at the end and glad it was over but within two minutes I felt I could continue again. Race finished and no injuries or pains. So that was a result but my time according to my watch was 1:18:36. Two minutes behind last year. I was gutted but it wasn’t really unexpected as I am not training for half marathons. That is my plan for the second

half of the year. Stephen finished in 1:15:27, a fantastic time and Paul finished in a NEW PB of 1:31:56. Three PBs in seven days. Well done Paul.

The WAGs are waiting (Thanks to Davie for photo)

I texted Thomas and a few other people. Thomas replied later to say that he got a new PB. 1:18:31. Well done Thomas. That was excellent. Silke also got a fantastic time 1:51:59. She is faster running than on skates now.

So Thomas beat me by 5 seconds. He deserves it especially as it’s his 45th birthday. But then the official results came through and I can only think that it is a typo but my time is 1:18:26.

So I ask my blogging friends. Should I own up or should I tell Thomas that I beat him.....:-)

Paul sprint finishing the finish

WHW Training Run - Beinglas to Kingshouse

Beinglas Farm to Kingshouse

1st March 2009

Distance : 31.54 miles
Time : 4 hours 37 minutes
Pace : 8:48 / mile

I had been looking forward to this run all week but I guess that everyone does. Even work seems to suffer as I prepared and worked out what I would like to try/learn from this months training run.
It felt like months since my last one and it near enough was. I had missed the January one and had instead ran with JK on a fantastic run from Drymen to Beinglas but also because of the way dates clashed their was no February run. The bonus with that is that there are two March runs.
February’s training didn’t suffer and I still managed to run 200 miles. Not as good as my January which topped 285 miles.

So by Friday I had a list of what I wanted to do.

Change my watch to display Average Pace
Too often on a run I have been trying to base the pace on what I am running at that moment. This doesn’t work on the WHW. There are too many ups and downs and too many high and low point. This time I was going to base it on an average of the entire run and try to keep it steady

Attempt to run as many hills as I can
After running with JK last month I learnt that you can run up most hills as long as I keep my breathing rate down. Okay sometimes the run is more like walking pace but I have found that it makes me less lazy and therefor instead of just walking every hill I actually make an attempt to run it

Keep to an average 10 min/mile (6 miles per hour)
I am trying to work out what my Fling pace should be and so I wanted to try this and see how I got on.

Start practicing with new support team
Debbie is now part of my support and has very kindly offered to support me on these long training runs. I think that this will be invaluable training for both of us.

Stick to the Energy Drink and Gels for fuel
During the race last year I stuck to energy drink and gels for most of the race. 500ml of energy drink and one lucozade gel per hour seems to work for me. Soup and weetabix gives me some savory at checkpoints.

Beinglas to Derrydarroch
Distance 3.75 miles
Time 35:29
Pace 9:29

As usual I was late. Debbie managed to have the baby, herself and everything a support team required and still be waiting on me. I only had to get myself ready. A shower, a good dab of Glide anti-chaffing gunge and breakfast was all I had to do.
We arrived at the Drovers Inn to sea of luminous jackets disappearing towards Beinglas Farm. Damn I thought. I missed the group photo.

Group photo minus me (Photo from John Kynaston’s Blog)

I quickly said my byes to Debbie and Cairn and then I was off. By the time the group had reached the West Highland Way at Beinglas I had caught the stragglers. Strangely enough it was Neal and Thomas who are usually way out in front rather than propping up the rear.
I spoke with Neal. It was the usual running chat as we sounded each other out “I don’t feel good” and Neal replies “I only slept 2 hours” To be honest he had been up most of the night due to his neighbours keeping him up all night having a party. Neal swears that they have a copy of his training plan. Perhaps I should own up to posting it too them. ;-) I then caught Thomas. I haven’t seen Thomas for ages and I was really looking forward to talking to him on this run. But he stopped to tie his shoe lace and I didn’t see him again until the end. We both have different ways of training. Tom starts conservatively and finishes very strong. Today I wanted to keep a steady pace. I spoke to John for a bit and congratulated him on his new job and then I caught up with Sharon and Davie. Before long I was with the lead group.
I didn’t mean to be here so quickly but the average pace was sitting at my 10 minute mile plan and so I stayed at it.
I felt comfortable running up the hills taking it easy and making sure that I didn’t struggle for breath.
Before long we were at Derrydarroch where I met Debbie and Cairn. I felt great but the pace had picked up so for the next section I tried to hold back.

​Arriving at Derrydaroch

Derrydaroch to A82 crossover
Distance 0.93 miles
Time 10.24
Pace 11.08

I am not really sure why I recorded this as a separate section but I did

A82 crossover to Auchentyre
Distance 5.42 miles
Time 50:30
Pace 9:19

I left Debbie and straight away ran up the steep hill from the road. I had never felt so light going up here and quickly started to catch back up with Gavin. We spoke together for a bit and on his excellent run last year. We then spoke about plans for this training run and for this years race. The section at Crianlarich seemed muddier than usual or perhaps I just didn’t want to dirty my new trainers in the cow shit. My new trainers were so far so good. A bit slippy on some of the rocks but very comfy. I spoke with Joe from Bella on the way to Auchentyre. For some reason it felt very easy and a lot shorter than usual.
When we reached Auchentyre I met Debbie and gave her my bottle and picked up a gel while the rest of the group ran on. This gave me a chance to run without my bottle for a while.

Auchentyre to Tyndrum
Distance 2.72 miles
Time 20:54
Pace 7:41

I caught up with the rest of the group but felt very comfortable. Before long I had left them behind. I was now on my own and wouldn’t see anyone else from the 9am group until the end of the run. I had a very fast section here but as I was feeling good I just went with the flow. Because I was feeling good I decided to change my goal from an average of 10 min mile to 9 min mile
The rain was heavier and cold but I still ran with just my t-shirt on. At Tyndrum I met Debbie again and grabbed a bottle of energy juice and then off again. I was keeping the breaks to a minimum.

Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy
Distance 6.67 miles
Time 49:50
Pace 7:28

I ran up most of the hill out of Tyndrum only taking a break to drink some juice. I now started to overtake some of the people that left at 8:30. Davie Hall commenting that he felt good until he saw me. Again I felt very comfortable apart from my chaffed nipples. At Bridge of Orchy Debbie laughed at my white t-shirt that was now covered in blood.

Bridge of Orchy to Victoria Bridge
Distance 2.84 miles
Time 28:35
Pace 10:03

I ran up the hill over to Victoria Bridge only taking a gel to keep me company on this section. I felt very comfortable. I couldn’t believe that it would be this easy to run up this hill and I actually thought that running may be easier than walking this hill. At Victoria Bridge I had some soup and decided to take my bumbag for the next section with some more food and my bottle in it.

Victoria Bridge to Kingshouse
Distance 9.20 miles
Time 1:21:56
Pace 8:55

Again I wanted to run up the hill and over Rannoch Moor. Straight away it was far harder. I decided I should take some walking breaks and ate when I did. After about 20 minutes I was back running at a good pace but still I was finding the hills hard and having to walk them. I thought back to the hill out of Bridge of Orchy. Although it was easy at the time I probably tired my legs out a bit too much. I walked up most of the last hill and although my average for the whole run was bang on the 9 min/mile I ran the downhill faster and so my average decreased. At the end I felt quite tired but within 10 minutes I was okay.
Before long everyone else had finished and all seemed to have a great run. Ian seemed over the moon with his run and looked like he had just jogged 2 or 3 miles. John finished but was tired after fighting a cold all week as well. In the pub I found out that Sharon had had a fall and had to cut the run short. She seemed okay in the pub but I have since found out that she has cracked some ribs. Hopefully she will be better for the Glasgow/Edinburgh race in 2 weeks. Thomas, Silke and Neal all had good runs with Silke running a fab time from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy.

So how did my run go....
Here is my aims and conclusions.

Change my watch to display Average Pace
This worked fantastically. The watch seems to help more when you are judging pace across the whole run and not just at that present time. I suppose though if the run was going bad that this might not be so good but for today it was great.

Attempt to run as many hills as I can
Until Rannoch Moor I ran nearly all the hills and felt great doing it. I have to admit that this has a positive advantage in that it makes you feel great to easily conquer hills but also it makes me far less lazy. Before in runs like this every hill would be an excuse to walk. Now I try to run them all as long as breathing isn’t affected. I must make sure that I don’t over do it though and then end up struggling at the end of the run.

Keep to an average 10 min/mile (6 miles per hour)
This aim was perhaps too easy. Increasing it to 9 min/mile made sense half way during the run. Still doable but not as easy.

Start practicing with new support team
I just want to say thank you very much to Debbie and Cairn for their help today. They did a great job and it really helps to get used to how we all gel.

Stick to the Energy Drink and Gels for fuel
Again worked great. I feel light and full of energy. The soup as well at Victoria Bridge was great too.

This was probably my best run on the West Highland Way performance wise so the training up until now must be going well. Last year at this point I was also feeling great but after this run things went downhill due to the amount of races I was doing. This time with less races I am hoping not to peak too soon. I did miss the chat though and this felt a bit like a normal Sunday training run. I really enjoy meeting up with all my friends and I missed that today.