Goatfell hill race

On Saturday I ran the Goatfell hill race. It's one that I think is quite tough because of the length of the road section.

It never feels good to run on the road after you've come off a hill but the local rugby club makes such an excellent start/finish area with showers etc. that one can easily understand why the organisers use it, despite it being the best part of a mile and a half before you hit trails.

Whilst my uphill running is undoubtedly improving I think I'm putting too much effort into the the climb and not saving enough for the descents. You just can't run downhill fast on spent legs and on both Ben Lomond and no Goatfell, I've been passed by runner after runner on the way down.

The trouble is, I rather like pushing hard on the ascent. It's such a simple challenge. You, the hill and the clock. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other and trying to either keep running for longer or start running sooner than the man (or woman) ahead of you as you grind your way uphill.

I was the first of our club to the summit but it really counted for naught as I lost so much time on the descent. Alex, my clubmate, was just behind me on the summit at 1:11 but he finished the best part of 8 minutes ahead of me by the finish. (1:54 vs 2:02)

I keep thinking "next time, I'll hold back", but I never do. ;-)

Still, that's water under the bridge as they say and to put things in perspective, the winner was finished 6 minutes after I left the top which rather highlights just how rubbish I am at hills so I don't know why I worry. ;-)

If I've done this right, you should be able to "play" this kmz file with google earth to fly up Goatfell. goatfell.kmz

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying reading "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. It's fascinating stuff, mostly about the Tamahumara indians in Mexico who are amazing ultra distance runners.

A lot of the book also focuses on the injuries afflicting modern runners, problems that aren't being helped by advanced shoe technology, indeed, it may be the shoe technology that's to blame.

It's not a new message but it's one forcefully delivered by this book. So forcefully indeed I was out for my first barefoot run (on the beach) on Sunday and plan to do more to see if I can do something to strengthen the intrinsic muscles in my feet. I've also ordered a pair of Vibram's 5 Finger KSO shoes. They're the nearest you can get to running barefoot without actually doing it and getting your feet cut to ribbons.
Ridiculously expensive but I feel I've got to try them. Can wait for them to arrive!