Cobblers & 10Ks

By way of a change from running, my wife and I took advantage of yesterday's fine weather and walked up the Cobbler, a hill that neither of us has ever climbed before . As you can see, it was a glorious day but the heat wasn't suiting our collie cross mongrel very well.

The old adage "better late than never" springs to mind with this hill, it really is a jewel and it's easy to see it's popularity. Here's a view taken from the "back side" (oo er..) looking towards Beinn Ime. The Yorkie is our other dog. Very unfairly, she gets all the sympathy from other walkers because she's so small and "cute". She has no problem with hills or distance (she did 17 miles on the River Ayr Way once with us without turning a hair). Roger, our big dog is getting on now (11 yrs old) and wasn't really enjoying the heat or the climb. We had to make frequent stops by the stream for him to drink and cool down.

Still, he made it in the end as you can see here. Fantastic views all round. Next time I come up here I think I'll try to take in Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnain as well as they're both accessible from the same plateau at about 2000ft.

This was just me playing with the camera trying to photograph a flower. Very pretty but I'm no botanist. Maybe someone can identify it for me.
Regarding 10ks, tonight was our annual 10k time trial which we hold once a year following the Troon 10k. After my miserable 10k in Kilmarnock on the 14th of this month (44:02) I didn't have high hopes for a run tonight, particularly as it was quite blustery and I'd been shivery most of the afternoon. I was beginning to think that I was coming down with something but in the end, I think I was just under dressed! As the old saying goes, "Ne'er cast a clout 'til May is oot". ;-)

Anyway, I didn't push myself in the first 5k and picked it up a little after that and was pleased in the end to finish with 41:33. I'm sure I ought to be able to run a 10k faster with a solid sub-20 5K under my belt back in March (19:21) but somehow things never quite work out and as it happens, it's a lifetime PB so I'm not complaining. It's a timely confidence booster to have before the WHW race even though I know a 10K time is of little relevance to how I'll do on the big day.

If only...

I don't think there's a runner alive who hasn't thought "If only I'd trained a bit harder...". I know that I rather wish I had done more long runs, more weekly miles, more back to back long runs but that desire is tempered by my desire to get to the start line intact.

Barring illness or freak injury, it's looking like I'm going to make it this year and that's been my main goal this year. Yes, I want to run a good time (sub 24 hopefully), but first and foremost, I want to get to the start line! As someone with a 66% "no show" record over the last three years the last thing I want to do is up it to 75%. ;-)

Running wise, it's been a good week. I felt I recovered quickly from last weekend's "back to back" long runs and I've put in another 56 miles in the last week (including a very pleasant 4:30 run along the River Ayr Way). I've also been very pleased with some late gear choices I've made lately.

Firstly, shoes. I bought some Inov8 Roclite 295 shoes whilst at the Ben Lomond Hill race 2 weeks ago. The toebox of the Inov8 315s was completely the wrong shape for my foot so it was rather a surprise to find that the 295's were just right. I didn't run Ben Lomond in them but I did my weekend of back to back long runs in them and another long run on Saturday with no problems at all. They've been really comfortable straight out of the box.

The second bit of kit was some Skins compression half tights. After my problems with the full length ones I was a bit hesitant about going with Skins again for compression shorts but I needn't have worried. I've had no problems with slippage or chafing and I'll definitely be wearing them for the WHW race.

My last purchase was a pair of socks. I've been using a very old batch of socks I bought years ago that I've become very attached to but they really are wearing out and I thought it was time to treat myself. I'd admired Morgan's gaiters on my last run from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William and I saw something similar in Tiso's. What Tiso's were selling though was a sock and gaiter combined into one made by Inov8 and called the Debrisock. I was a bit hesitant about buying a combined product like this as I'd prefer to be able to choose and change my socks independently of my gaiters but I realised that when the sock wears out, there's nothing stopping you cutting the old one off and just using the remains as a gaiter. The socks themselves are made of smartwool so they're a decent product in their own right, even without the gaiters

Anyway, I wore them on Saturday for my long run and enjoyed a wonderful grit-free experience. I don't think you realise just how much and how often grit gets in your shoes until you do a long run with no grit whatsoever. The bits of elastic that pass under the sole look a bit vulnerable but they're easily replaced. Considering that it's easy to spend £10 on just a pair of technical socks these days I think £15 is cheap at the price.

Less than 4 weeks to go and no doubt I'll be going crazy with worry about either not doing enough or doing too much.

Ouch!

So what's with the picture I hear you ask. Well, it's how I'm walking at the moment thanks to rather too much abrasion around the family jewels. It's bl**dy painful!

Once again, it's my skins causing the problem and I think I'm either going to chop them off at the knees (they're the full length tights) or buy another pair of thigh length ones and keep the full length ones for post-race recovery.

The run itself was good although I did have a rather low point up on the Larig Mor (?sp) when my energy levels took a bit of a dive and I was reduced to a slow shuffle. Fortunately they picked up again a bit and I jogged in with Morgan over the last 4 miles or so and I felt pretty good by the time I reached Fort William.

Overall happy with my time (7:15) for this stretch but I must admit there were times when my energy levels were low that rather negative thoughts about the whole WHW race crept into my head and it started to seem like sheer madness. Such is the madness of ultra racing it's hard to know sometimes what is a negative thought and what is just a moment of rationality. ;-)

I'm still going to have to fiddle with my nutrition. The mars bars work, after a fashion but they were really an experiment in self sufficiency and I've no plans to run on the 21st in a self sufficient manner and there's no way I could eat them for a full 95 miles. Today I took a leaf out of JKs book and had some grapes on the way round. After three claggy mars bars, the sweetness & freshness of a nice bunch of grapes was just so wonderful! There's definitely going to be in the support vehicle on the day.

Back to back runs. Day 1

Today was the first of two runs planned for today and tomorrow. I ran on my local stomping ground of the River Ayr Way from Failford to home, about as pleasant a way as you could hope to find of running a good distance without involving roads. It was "just" 21 miles but I feel pretty knackered so it'll be interesting to see how I get on tomorrow for the 36 miles or so from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William.

The heat today certainly impacted on my fluid requirements so I'll certainly be taking a camelbak and my bottle tomorrow. Despite what I said earlier, I suspect I *will* be taking the Mars Bars again. I survived one mini bite-sized one today without throwing up so I guess I can cope with them again tomorow.

Mixed feelings about wearing my skins though. The "baggy crutch" problem can cause a lot of discomfort but I'm going to try another WHWer's suggestion of removing the elastic from the bottom of the legs as this seems to be responsible for maintaining a certain amount of traction downwards.

It's official, I'm getting slower...

After a rubbish 5K time (20:29) on the 6th of this month (compared to 19:21 back in March), a rubbish run up and down Ben Lomond (1:54:40) last Saturday and now, a rubbish 10K time in Kilmarnock last night (44:02), I think I can say hand on heart, my speed is rubbish. ;-)

Of course I can think of all sorts of excuses what with possibly still recovering from the Fling, still recovering from Ben Lomond, still recovering from a tough (but great) training run on Tuesday night where we galloped all over Dundonald Hill and a bout of food poisoning thrown in for good measure last week as well. So, all in all, I'm not too downhearted. I know that my 5k/10k speed isn't what's going to get me to the end of the WHW in just over 5 weeks' time.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to joining the WHW family on Bridge of Orchy on Saturday morning for the second half of my "back to back" long runs. Unlike the hardcore crew, I'll just be doing an "easy" 21 miles on the Friday before joining them for the 36 miles to Fort William. Part of me would like to do more but more than anything, I want to be sure of making it to the start line. Touch wood, my legs are completely free of any niggles and I'd like to keep them that way this side of the WHW race.

Tough break DQ

Just heard about a friend's (DQ) withdrawal from the WHW race. As someone who's "been there, done that, got the T-shirt" - twice, I know just how horrible it feels when you have to face up to the fact that you're not going to make the start line.

Although it will bring DQ no comfort whatsoever, my experience the second time round was far less traumatic that the first time I had to withdraw. I was able to be far more philosophical about the it second time and enjoyed my months of rest whilst I waited for my foot to heal.

I don't just feel for DQ though, I more than a bit narked that I've been cheated of the oppotunity to humiliate the loud mouthed git by soundly trouncing him in this year's race. ;-)

I hope the DQ will find someway to be invloved with the race even if he's not running it. Marshalling and supporting other runners certainly saved my sanity the two times I was forced to withdraw.

I'm hoping that as I type, he's plotting to set up the best real ale bar at Lundavra for thirsty runners on the day!

Ben Lomond hill race

Well, as John has already kindly pointed out, I did finish in the top 100. However with only 121 runners, 98th isn't that impressive. ;-) I finished in 1:54:40 (%158.5 of the winner's time).ild u

I was a bit disappointed in my time but a week spent fighting a gut bug (whilst continuing my training) probably didn't help. I could have rested more pre-race but I try not to let pre-whw events interfere too much with my training as I think it's easy to end up missing out on a lot of useful "miles on legs" in the build up to the WHW race if one's not careful.

Weather conditions were perfect for the race. The early sunshine turned to overcast skies with a little light rain and gentle winds, just enough to cool on a warm day but not enough to impede.

The race pretty much follows the tourist route up and down Ben Lomond with a few diversions just to add to the suffering. In character it's quite like the Goat Fell race (but with less road) but the unrelenting climb was more reminiscent of Ben Nevis. Fairly quickly on I decided that I wasn't cut out to be a hill runner. The urge to chuck it all in, have a lie down and just enjoy the fantastic scenery was almost overwhelming, but, in the end, pigheadedness and pride won out and I continued my slow slog to the summit where water was on offer.

Once round the summit cairn it was time to do the thing that I find even harder than running up hills, namely running down them again! As runner after runner came flying down the hillside past me it was brought home to me forcefully how important appropriate trianing is for hill racing.

Of course, for me this race was primarily about building leg strength and surviving the descent intact and I was pleased to get down with all the skin I started with, which was more than could be said for many of the runners.

One of the best aspect of the Ben Lomond race has got to be the proximity of a large body of water waiting to greet hot & exhausted runners. Wading into the loch was sheer bliss. Once we'd cooled down it was off to the hotel for soup & bread (included in the race fee) and a pint of beer which went down very nicely indeed. ;-)

An excellent event and Westerlands CCC are to be congratulated for their organisation.

Relieved, sort of...

I was more than a bit disappointed in my time on Tuesday's 5K but now, with hindsight, it's easy to see that all was not well within the Downie body.

I'd had a slightly gippy tummy on Monday and Tuesday morning but by the afternoon, things seemed to have "blown over". After my run on Tuesday evening, my guts turned to water and my temperature was all over the shop. The last two days have involved many visits to the loo and a couple of exceedingly dicey runs ("runs" being the appropriate word) where I've had to dash off into the bushes at intervals.

Today at last, I can break wind with impunity, something that you take for granted until you lose the ability to do so without imperiling your underwear. ;-)

Fingers crossed now that it really is settling as I've got the Ben Lomond Hill race tomorrow and whilst I don't expect to excel at it, I'd like to be able to enjoy it at least.

This week has also been the week of our club 10K race, one that's proved very popular with west of Scotland runners. It's the highpoint (and maximum stress point) of our club's year and we always breathe a huge sigh of relief when it's over. Since we've introduced chip timing, our stress levels have reduced enormously, or at least mine have. Having spent a few years being responsible for results production using manual timing methods, I, perhaps more than anyone in the club, appreciate the value and accuracy of a chip timing service.

It was good to see Ian, John and Neal on the night. There may have been other WHWers out there but as I spend much of my race night hunched over a laptop, I don't get to see much of what's going on.

Good luck in the Troon 10k!

I just wanted to wish any readers taking part in tonight's 10K race in Troon the best of luck. I think the weather forecast is for it to be another warm night and if it' anything like last night, it's going to make it tough.

I had a miserable 5K time trail last night, partly down to the weather, and partly, with the benefit of hindsight, due to some sort of bug I was brewing. My throat & tongue felt like they were being shrivelled up right from the start and although I ran the first kilometer in 3:50, it had felt like hard work. There was no spring in my step and none of the "get-up-and-go" feeling that I'd had back in March when I ran 19:21.

After the first km, I struggled and crossed the line in 20:29. I dare say some of the Highland Fling aftermath accounted for some of my slowdown but I had been feeling better towards the end of last week that I did at the beginning of this one. Spending the best part of 12 hours in the car at the weekend didn't help my back either.

About an hour after the race, I was siezed with a violent attack of shivering and went to bed with an extra blanket. Some time during the night I awoke completely drenched in sweat so it seems that there was clearly something not right with me. Lets just hope I can shake it off before the Ben Lomond hill race on Saturday.

Musings on massage

There have been a couple of comments on the WHW board recently about massage and it seems an opportune moment for me to share my possibly eccentric views on the subject.

Firstly, no tittering at the back, I'm talking about "sport" massages, not the kind with a happy ending. Now I must admit to having little experience of either but that doesn't stop me having an opinion, the wackiness of which I leave for you to judge.

It is probably true that appropriate massage can help with the treatment of some injures and I'm not about to go tilting at that particular windmill. My concerns lie with it's use (or perhaps that should be "abuse") for the enhancement of recovery by the release of "toxins" or other unexplained mechanisms. This article makes quite interesting reading about "toxins" and massage.

Like everything in life, moderation is the key but it's tempting to believe sometimes that if a bit of something is good, more is better. Following the experience of a runner in last year's race, I'm not so sure that you can't have too much of this particular "good thing".

This particular runner suffered from renal failure post-race due to a condition called rhabdomyolysis. This is breakdown of the muscle cells which then release their cell contents & myoglobin (the muscle cell equivalent of haemoglobin in the blood) into the blood stream. This mixture causes clogging of the kidneys and renal failure (of a type known as "acute tubular necrosis" - ATN for short). Now fortunately, if treated appropriately, this is something from which you can recover but in the short term, you may need to be placed on renal dialysis (a kidney machine) until such time as your kidneys recover. If undetected & untreated, it can be fatal. This particular runners condition never quite got to the point of needing dialysis but it was touch and go.

So, what's all this got to do with massage? Well, the cause of rhabdomyolisis isn't always known. Sometimes it's due to heatstroke, sometimes a "crush" injury where a large muscly body part has been crushed in an accident. Sometimes it's caused by extreme exercise and there seems to be a genetic predisposition involved (which is really just another way for doctors to say "we don't know").

When I read the runner's account of his race, I started looking for anything that might have caused his rhabdomyolysis and one feature of his race struck me. Namely, he underwent massage four times during the race.

Now this is far from being conclusive proof but I'm sure every ultra runner is familiar with the feeling of owning a couple of sacks of mince where we used to have quads during the latter stages of an ultra. It seems reasonable to me to ask the question, "If my quads feel this bad, is pummelling them more or less likely to make them leak their cell contents?".

Common sense is a dangerous tool but it seems to me that the balance of probabilities is that it certainly won't make them less likely to leak. Indeed, I think it's much more likely that pummelling an abused muscle is likely to increase leakage of cell contents.

So, is there any evidence? Well, there are the odd case reports of renal failure following massage (see this article here). Now that case refers to an 88 yr old man, but I dare say there might be a few similarities between 88 yr old men and WHW runners at the end of the race! There is lots of information on rhabdomyolysis and extreme levels of exercise.

Now I'd be the first to admit that I'm trying to link the two in the absence of published evidence, but the question is, to paraphrase the words of Dirty Harry, "'Do you feel lucky?".

To my mind, it just seems a risk not worth taking. If you're a fan of post race massage then you'll no doubt claim that you recover faster but to my mind, recovering a day or two faster doesn't justify the potential risk. It would probably be far more beneficial (in the long term), to delay the massage for a few days until the muscle stiffness has settled.

This article isn't intended as a criticism of that runner's actions. I have a medical background and what I've said is just my tentative hypothesis of why perhaps he developed renal failure. I think it's reasonable to voice my misgivings about a practice which I think may carry an unusual level of risk for ultra runners.

So there you go. Hit or myth, you decide. ;-)