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. ;-)

After the Fling

Still on a bit of a high after winning a medal. My male pride has taken a bit of a dent at the realisation that the first SV was a woman though. ;-) I'm pretty sure this means that I'll hold the record for the *slowest* men's winning time for the supervet category as there are so many faster 49 yr old guys just waiting to turn 50.

I really enjoyed the event and although I felt a bit ambivilent about doing it in previous years, having done it once, I can't conceive of NOT doing it next year. I might have to pursuade Murdo that there should be medals for first, second AND third supervets so that I'm in with a chance of a medal again. ;-)

I tried a little run on Monday evening. The legs were a little stiff but I had a bit of pain on the top of my left foot that wouldn't settle so I cut my run shot. Having had one stress fracture I'm not going to risk aggravating anything that feels even remotely like my last one. Fingers crossed it's just a bit of tendinitis as it's not bothered me at all today.

I'm undecided as to what to do in the way of long runs between now and the WHW race. I've got the Ben Lomond hill race on the 10th of June which should be good (I really felt that the Carnethy 5 hill race early in the year gave me a boost) but it's not a long run. I'm not sure about doing really long back to back runs either. Not that I don't think that they're a good idea in general, I'm just not sure whether I want to take the attendant injury risk with my history. I might do a couple of shorter "back-to-backs" instead, perhaps on the River Ayr Way.

The general plan (such as it is) is to build back up to my 50 miles/week once I'm sure that my foot is okay and then hold it at that level for this year. If I complete the training without any mishaps this year I'll maybe think about pushing the mileage a bit more but my first priority has to be to get to the start line.

Highland Fling Race report

...or Four Mars a day help you work, rest & run the West Highland Way. ;-)

Oh, where to start? The night before is probably as good a place as any. Perhaps I should have been more nervous but as I was determined (at that stage) that it was "just a training run", it seemed like a good idea to pop out for a couple of nice pints of Spitfire at our local hostelry.

I thought about trying to go to bed early, but not for long as it never really works for me. My racing never seems to affected by lack of sleep and there's nothing more pointless than lying in bed trying to sleep when you're not tired. I set my alarm for 3:00 but woke before it at about 2:30. After wasting some time trying to go back to sleep, I gave up and snuck out of the bedroom to get dressed and let the daughter in. Rather weird to be getting up and dressed just as another member of the household was getting ready for bed.

I don't suppose anyone's that interested in what I had for breakfast, but I'm going to tell you anyway. ;-) Beef bourguignon with new potatoes. Not my normal breakfast but I don't think you can eat too much before an ultra run and the leftovers were begging to be eaten.

I gathered my kit and Dave McLelland arrived at 4:00 to pick me up and take me to Milngavie. We arrived in good time to join the relatively small queue (at that stage) for the loo and then registered. The forecast rain hadn't arrived yet and the temperature felt just perfect for running. I had a can of ersatz Red Bull (ERB) before the start and was itching to set off.

I can't say I felt any trepidation at that stage. I was confident that I could do it without too much trouble and the only bit I wasn't looking forward to was the first stretch to Drymen, my least favourite part of the WHW. I was also really looking forward to doing it self-supported. To be honest, it didn't make it that much harder but it was a new challenge and something to look forward to. I think when you've trained and run on so many parts of the WHW it's good to find new ways of making a familiar run more interesting.

As ever, it was nice to be in the company of so many like minded folk and friends at Milngavie but the time flew and after a very brief briefing, we were off through the underpass and up the road.

Milngavie to Drymen.
I think we were all impatient to get up the road past Drymen. For me, I never really feel that the WHW "proper" starts until I've left Drymen and that no doubt contributed to my early pace. I was conscious that I was probably running faster than I should have been but it still came as a huge shock to reach Drymen in 1:50. (always 2hr+ in training). I had my first Mars Bar (MB) on the long road hill up by Easter Drumquhassle (yes, there really is a place called that!). MBs and running don't really go together so I stuck to eating on the walking sections.
I think another factor affecting my pace was feeling that in a race like this where you know there are going to be lots of unrunnable (unless you're Jez) stretches, it makes a certain amount of sense to put a little "money in the bank" when the going is easy. Even so, I wasn't sure that 1:50 pace to Drymen wasn't going to turn out to be fools gold.

Drymen to Balmaha
The forest roads out of Drymen dragged on rather (a bit worrying to be feeling like this so early) but from the moment I passed though the new gate that replaces the old huge stile and the end of what used to be the Garadhban forest, my legs suddenly felt alive again. Dunno whether it was the mars bar kicking in or just getting away from the forest road surface but I skipped along and made good time up and down Conic Hill. The promised rain had arrived on the way up to Dymen and on Conic hill itself, the wind contributed to the chill but it was never bad enough to require stopping to don a jacket. I had two with me, a lightweight windstopper and a heavier weight gortex jacket but I didn't need either. If fact, the only change I made to my clothing for the run was to move my buff from my neck to my wrist when the sun came out.
I'll never like those big steps on the way down but they didn't feel too bad going down. I think some of my downhill training has paid off. I reached Balmaha in 3:11 and enjoyed shouting out my number and "No bag!" to the marshals as I passed through. This was to be repeated at every checkpoint and I never actually stopped except to pass an empty can to a marshal at Beinglas Farm (and one pee stop).

Balmaha to Rowardenna
It's odd that no matter how often one has run a route, when you're on your own, odd doubts creep in and on the little hill just south of Balmaha I had a moments uncertainty of which path was the right one. Somewhere along this section I had my second MB, on one of the longer road climbs about 4 hours into my run. Just before Rowardennan I had my second can of ERB meaning to dipose of the can at the checkpoint. Unfortunately, the latest litter policy is to remove all the bins (one I agree with actually) but I ended up carrying the empty can all the way to Inversnaid! I was in and out of Rowardennan at 4:45.

Rowardennan to Inversnaid
I was still feeling pretty good but as usual, I walked all the long hills. One runner came up from behind me and seemed determined to run up all the forest track hills which struck me as possibly foolish, particularly for runners going at my pace. He slowly pulled ahead and after many hills, eventually gained all of 200 meters on me. I wasn't too surprised when he paused and looked like he was going to throw up. Not too long afterwards I passed him when he was at a complete stop. I hope he made it to the end. At Inversnaid I was able to get rid of my can at last and again passed straight through (6:12).

Inversnaid to Beinglas Farm
I started off well but I wearying of the whole thing at this point. I perversely rather like this section normally but my sense of humour had left me and I was dearly wishing that the race would finish at Beinglas Farm. I really wasn't in the mood for another 12 miles on top of that. Another MB went down and I did what you just have to do, keep putting one foot in front of another. This was probably my lowest point on the whole run. I just wanted it to end. As I approached Beinglas, I chugged down my second can of ERB and managed this time, to dispose of he can at the checkpoint. (8:03)

Beinglas Farm to Tyndrum
I was getting worried now as my goal time was anything with a 10 in front of it but I know how fatigue can make a mokery of your "normal" times for running sections of the WHW. I'd run this last stretch in 2 hrs in the past but now I was worried I might not make it in three. Whether it was the ERB, the MB or the magic of passing a checkpoint, I just don't know but somehow I picked up the pace a bit. I wanted my 10:XX time! After crossing under the A82 I realised that I'd made a bit of a tactical blunder on the hydration strategy. I'd been filling my bottle at streams (I counted using the checkpoint water as "cheating" on the self supporting front) which was fine in the forests above Loch Lomond but here there were cows and sheep sprinkled liberally around, and what they leave sprinkled liberally around. When I went to have a drink I realised that my bottle was almost empty. I debated carrying on to the woods west of Bogle Glen but I was thirsty now so in the end I just looked for a an area of hillside with no visible sheep or cows and filled my bottle from a stream there. It didn't taste of sheep or cow poo, or perhaps, more acurately, it didn't taste any different to what I'd been drinking all along so I decided to risk it.
It was just after filling my bottle that I realised that there was a runner bearing down on me. It had been so long since I had seen anyone I'd alomost forgotten that there were other runners. It was Andy Cole and he was probably within 50 yds of me when I saw him. I know that my goal time was the main thing but somehow I didn't want to lose any more positions this late in the day and the little adrenaline surge carried me off into the distance and him out of sight as I worked my way through the forests beyond Bogle Glen stuffing down my last MB.
The last section through Kirkton farm must count as my second least favourite bit. The farm roads and traks are too flat and sore on the feet. Once back across the A82, things improve a bit and the knowledge that you really are on the home straight lifts your spirits.
What lifted my spirits even more was seeing that I was catching another runner! (Alex Simpson) I did feel bad about "stealing" a position so late in the race but he was reduced to walking due to stomach problems. Had I known that Alex was the leading supervet at that point perhaps I wouldn't have felt so bad but after checking that he was okay to finish, I passed with his blessing. Just before the community woodland I phoned my wife to make sure that she had the required milk for me to quaff post race and I crossed the line after 10 hours, 47 minutes and 50 seconds.

I must admit I was pleased to pick up a trophy. It's only the second time it's happened to me and the first time, I was the only person in my age group so it didn't really count. This time there were oodles of supervets! Well, 16 or 17 anyway. Alas, suspect I'll hold the record for the *slowest* winning time for a supervet for some years to come as there seem to be a lot of fast 49 year olds in this year's race!

Lessons learnt

The "self sufficiency" business worked out well. I enjoyed not stopping at the checkpoints. I don't think using drop bags would have made much difference. Four Mars Bars don't weigh very much and there's no shortage of water. I think the ERB helped and I'd use it again. What would have made a difference though would have been a support crew as I could then have travelled a lot lighter. I was carrying about 9lbs in total at the start although this lessened a bit as I went along.

Fluid & calorie wise, I consumed 1366 kcals (4 mars bars and the two energy drinks) and drank about 1,800 ml of water plus the 500 ml contained in the ERB making a total of 2,300 ml. I didn't use any salt capsules, not out of any determination to avoid them but the weather had been such that my insensible losses had been relatively low. If it had been a sunnier day I'm sure I would have drunk more and taken the capsules.

Equipment wise, my combination of rucksak and bottle belt worked up to a point. In particular, the bottle belt started chaffing the skin around my waist and I think I'm really going to have to find a comfier one for the WHW. If it has big enough pockets I will probably dispense with the rucksak.

I wore my Skinz tights which feel great but suffer (on me at least) from a tendancy to slid down resulting in a baggy crutch. This lead to some nasty chaffing between my thighs. I'd liberally applied Bodyglide before the start but this wasn't enough to stop the chaffing and I have to think again about what to wear before the WHW race.

I started off by approaching this as "a training run". From the way my body feels like it's been "trained all over with a baseball bat", I think it would be fairer to admit that I did race this. ;-)

Thanks to all for the kind comments. I think I've covered most of the questions now. Let me know if there's anything else you want to know.

Highland Fling. Preliminary report

Finishing time 10:47, which was good enough for first super vet on the day in the absense of real competition. ;-) Thomas offering his congratulations and

me downing my favourite post race drink

Me with Lucy Colquhoun (First lady)

Getting better every day

My back is now almost completely better, at least as far as running is concerned. It's still a bit sore after sitting down for any length of time, but as long as I can run, I don't care.

Missing last weekend's long run has been irking me as I didn't really want to do too much too close the the Fling but somehow I ended up doing a 16 miler today in sunny, but windy weather. Still, my mileage for the week has been "average" and I've not caught up my three missed days last week so it looks like I've managed to mostly resist the temptation to play at catch up.

As the Fling and WHW draw ever nearer I feel like I'm walking on eggs trying not to get injured between now and the races, a fate that has already befallen quite a few runners. Having failed to make the start line twice in the last two years I'm perhaps more conscious of the perils of overtraining than most.

Anyway, only a week to the Fling now. Just hope I feel a bit more spritely next Saturday that I felt today. Stocked up on Mars Bars & raring to go!

Running again, slowly...

After a few days of pretty bad back pain, things have settled down to the "discomfort" level and I'm running again thankfully. Not fast but distance doesn't seem to be a problem so as long as I don't mind plodding, it looks like I'll be able to keep my mileage up.

What I'm NOT going to do this time (famous last words) is try and play "catch up" with my mileage. I've a bad habit of doing this (I'm sure I'm not alone in this) but this time I think I can resist the temptation. In the big scheme of things, a few days training lost in a 8 month build-up to the WHW race is neither here nor there.

Really looking forward to the Highland Fling race now. Just to make it a bit more interesting I've decided that I'm going to do it without drop bags and carry my own provisions. Two reasons really. The first is to deliberately perhaps make me slightly less competitive (with the intention of lessening the risk of injury prior to the WHW race) and secondly, as a feasibility test for running the full WHW unsupported. I'll top up with water en-route but that's all.

Postscript

59 minutes. That's how long my resolve to "not try and catch up" lasted. I went out for a run not long after my post above and found that my back wasn't hurting at all. That being the case, I just couldn't resist adding a bit on to my planned run in an effort to make up the lost miles. It was only 2 extra miles and I suppose it could have been worse. I could have gone out for a 30 miler to make up last week's deficit. ;-)

Still crocked...

...and I haven't run since Tuesday!

Actually during the night, it seemed to be improving, at least until I got up to make the coffee this morning. Took me 5 minutes to get my socks & knoickers on. :-( It probably wasn't helped by spending hours with the computer re-doing the Highland Fling race website last night.

Dunno if I've improved it but it's a bit different.

Bah humbug!

I bent over to pick up a laptop yesterday and something went "twang" in my back. Since then, I've been struggling to walk let alone run. :-(

All down to doing our builder a favour and helping him carry some awkward heavy boxes the day before. (It's rarely the same say that my back goes, it's nearly always the day after). Anyhow, it's probably no bad thing to have a few days rest from the running and when this happens, I'm usually right in a day or so. Hopefully I'll be recovered in time for the Screel hill race this Saturday.

Till then, it's plenty of ibuprofen & red wine. Not just because I'm an alky, but I find alcohol really helps relieve the muscle spasm. So there's a silver lining after all. ;-)

84...

..is the number of miles I've run in the last week (from Saturday to Friday). That's not how I normally calculate my weekly mileage but given that it's the highest number of miles I've ever run in 7 days (barring running the WHW), I think it deserves a bit of statistical jiggery pokery. ;-)

It only came about because this weelend is busy and I wanted to get my long run done on Friday. The weather was fine (which was a bonus) and my legs (and in particular, my gluteals) seemed well recovered from last Saturday's run.

I set off up my River Ayr Way route to Failford (21 miles) in pleasant sunny weather and experimented along the way with reduced but more frequent calorie intake. Instead of one Mars Bar 10 every 10 miles, I changed to 1/3 of a bar every hour.

Energy-wise, this seemed to work okay but my experiment was somewhat spoiled by the discovery that although I seem to be able to get by with much less fluid than I used to take, I'm no camel. The warmer weather made a big difference to my insensible losses and I'd drained my 500ml of water by 15 miles. Unlike the WHW, there are no crystal clear streams pouring down beside the path and I'd have to be pretty desperate to try the river water or the run-off from the fields.

Still, it didn't seem to affect my time too badly (3:16) and given the terrain and recent long WHW run, I'm happy with that.

Some musings on ultra nutrition and hydration

Amazingly, I was roughing this piece out last night with a view to publishing it today when John Ky posted a link to William Sichel's article on the same subject.

There are more than a few similarities, the stongest of which is his advice to "eat less!". He ran the Spartathlon on 100 kcal per hour which concurs with my view that most people are trying to get far too many calories down.

Anyway, have a look at William Sichel's article here and then laugh at mine, ;-)

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Reading other folks' blogs has reminded me how much my own practice with regard to nutrition and hydration has changed over the last few years. Given that this change has coincided with an improvement in my ultra distance running, I thought it might be worthwhile sharing my current thinking on the subject with anyone who is interested.

Firstly though, I must point out that we are all "experiments of one" and what works for me might not work for anyone else. In addition, what is working for me now, might not work in different weather conditions or race conditions so please bear these thoughts in mind when considering any changes to your own practice.

Nutrition

They say that you burn about a 100 calories per mile when running. Multiply that by the WHW and you get something in the order of 4 days worth of food burnt in one day. One could try and eat that amount but I doubt that anyone could manage that and run the WHW on the same day. Fortunately, training enables us to get away with eating less than that by tapping into our reserves. Anyone who has raced a marathon knows that 26 miles without eating anything is hard, the tendency is to "bonk" (i.e. suffer a collapse in energy reserves) after about 20 miles. According to those who know about these things, there just isn't enough glycogen (the storage from of glucose) in the body to take you past this distance so you have to supplement it with food of some sort.

Clearly what is needed for running 95 miles miles is more than nothing but less than four days worth of food, the big question is, how much do I (or you) need.

As I've worked my way through the WHW training runs this year, I've discovered that one can get away with very little indeed. In fact, I've discovered that about 285 calories per 10 miles works for me (one Mars Bar). This has huge advantages from the point of portability. If I can maintain this level of intake over the whole WHW, I can do it on a 10 pack of Mars Bars which I can carry myself.

On the face of it it seems improbable that this could possibly work given the energy expenditure but one thing that we all have is huge reserves of energy in the form of fat. Even if your BMI is in single figures it's reckoned that we all carry more than enough stored energy this way. The problem is in tapping into it. To "burn" fat, you have to have enough glucose in your system. No glucose = no fat burning = bonking. Just keep a trickle of glucose coming into your system though, and you can burn fat and tap into this resource. In the early stages of the run, this glucose comes from stored glycogen but as reserves fall, you need to supplement your glucose supply. This is where the Mars Bars come in. I really don't think there's any place for difficult to digest food (ham sandwiches etc.) containing protein or fat. Your digestive track is having to cope with a compromised blood supply because you're running and trying to absorb anything other than the simplest sugars is probably asking a bit much of it.

I can't pretend that any of the above will stand up to any sort of serious scientific study and most importantly, I can't say that it's possibly to be competitive on a diet of Mars Bars alone, but if you're having recurrent stomach problems with nausea & cramps, just bear in mind that it's possible that you're suffering from eating too much, not too little and that you may be able to get away with much less than you think.

Anyhow, this is just my current take on nutrition. I'm not a fan of liquid nutrition for reasons that I'll cover under hydration.

Hydration

If there are any ultra-runners out there who aren't scared of hyponatraemia, then they ought to be. Dehydration may make you perform sub-optimally, it may even in extreme cases lead to your collapse. What it will hardly ever do, is kill you. Hyponatraemia (low blood salt levels) will. The first you or your support crew may know about it is dizzyness and/or confusion. Once you have symptoms of altered conciousness, you're already in big trouble.

So, why does it happen? As the good Dr. Ellis has made clear, the commonest reason is over-hydration. In short drinking too much. The question is, why, despite the known dangers, do runners keep doing it?

The popular reason given is that the mantra "if you wait until you're thirsty you've left it too late" and the concept that dehydration is a "bad" thing have over played in the past. It was certainly true that the official advice for marathons used to be to drink "plenty" and regularly, irrespective of thirst. This advice has certainly been toned down but it's still quite common.

When it comes to ultra running, advice that might only lead to a mild to moderate degree of over-hydration in an event the length of a marathon, can lead to serious over-hydration in an event that can last over 24 hours.

Another reason that people inadvertently over-hydrate (and this is just my pet theory) is that we've started really confusing our body by taking calories in liquid form. This means that when your blood sugar is falling, you're feeling tired, you reach for the sports drink when what your body is really craving is just the glucose. "Ah but!..." I hear you say, "I'm taking salt in with my fluid so that should be okay." Well it might be if it contained the same amount of salt as your blood but sports drinks are a long way short of that for the simple reason that they would be horribly unpalatable if they were. So the more you drink, the more you dilute your blood sodium levels. To make matters worse, drinks containing some salt are absorbed more rapidly that those without so potentially, this "advantage" of sports drinks, could potentially be aggravating the very problem it's supposed to be alleviating.

I'm coming round to the idea that we evolved to eat calories, not drink them and that taking calories in liquid form leads to a muddying of the distinction between thirst and hunger, two separate needs that need to be dealt with separately. Treating hunger with inappropriate quantities of dilute calories leads to over-hydration.

My solution is simple and cheap. Drink water. Not necessarily exclusively, but certainly I think it should be your "first line" fluid. Additionally, whenever you find yourself reaching for your camelbak tube or other bottle, ask yourself seriously "Am I thirsty?". I find that when I ask myself this question I realise that I've been reaching for my bottle more often through reflex, not need. I know find myself completing long runs on much less fluids that I used to drink and feeling better for it. In February I ran 31 miles on one cup of coffee, something that I previously would have thought of as "impossible".

I don't expect anyone to change what they do based on my views but perhaps they might encourage people to experiment a bit more and potentially run a better race.

WHW run 29/3/08 postscript

I can never remember everything I want to mention at the time of blogging so I thought I'd add a few more thoughts now before I forget them again.

Both Thomas and Marco commented on the "self sufficient" nature of my run yesterday, not relying on a back-up team. Part of this self sufficiency is just down to bad organisation, part though is down to a desire to do the whole WHW one day as an unsupported run. The WHW is a nicely defined "unit" with a clear start and finish and the thought of doing it all, non-stop, unsupported has a strong appeal for me. I'm not agin doing it with company however so if anyone out there shares similar ambitions, feel free to get in touch. I'm not however planning on doing it in the winter though, once was enough. ;-).

I think the hardest part of running unsupported will be finding the right gear to wear that will remain comfortable for the full distance and getting the nutrition right. Of course I can make up any rules I like but I'd prefer to carry all my provisions for the full distance. Buying stuff en-route would feel a bit like cheating. Coffee deprivation might be a big problem as I've always consumed copious quantities of it during my runs along the WHW. Yesterday's run however showed me that what I'm currently doing works well for distances up to 37 miles. Fingers crossed that I can build on it and stetch it out for the full unsupported 95 miles one day.

Regarding yesterday's run, I mentioned my "Mike Mason moment". For those not in the know, Mike Mason (a WHW runner) was caught "in flagrante cr*ppo" during last year's race. The talk on the WHW forum since then has been of little else. ;-)

I forgot the mention meeting Pete Duggin on my descent down to Kinlochleven yesterday. It was the only point in the route where I'd slightly regretted wearing road shoes as there was a bit of slushy snow at the top but it was a shortlived problem and for the rest of the run, I had no regrets.

It was probably a good thing to reacquaint myself with that stetch of the WHW as it was much longer than I remembered. Curiously, the section from KLL to Fort William was also much longer. I've a sneaky suspicion that the WHW has been lengthened to at least 100 miles since I last ran it. ;-)

After yesterday's run I jogged along to Morrison's in FW to get some milk, some orange juice and to use their toilets to get changed into my dry clothes. Well, I managed the first two without mishap but things went awry on the last stage. Now you would thing that all supermarket toilets were the same. I've been in the toilets in Morrison's in Ayr and think I'm pretty clued up on how they should be. In Fort William however they do things differently. As I staggered into the toilets, rank with sweat & mud and in my shorts, I was struck by the relative spaciousness. After that, the number of cubicles and wash basins struck me as slightly excessive. The absence of urinals and the very effeminate looking long haired bloke by one of the sinks was that last clue that something was not quite right.

I rather lamely enquired if one of us wasn't in the wrong loo as by now, I was begining to doubt my choice of convenience. Sure enough, I was in the ladies. Fortunately, no screaming ensued, no security guards were called and no arrests made. A bit disappointing really. ;-)

Having made my escape and visited the other gents toilet (honsetly, you'd think they could make the signs a bit less confusing to an addled WHW runner) and got changed, I wolfed down a plate of macaroni cheese & chips. It may only have been supermarket cafe fare but it felt like ambrosia of the gods at that moment.

After that, all I had to do was get back to Bridge of Orchy which is easier said than done by public transport in FW. Having looked at the options I decided to hitchhike. I toyed with the idea of staying in my smelly shorts (working on the principle that the more exposed flesh the better for getting a lift) but the smell was pretty bad and having got changed in to leggings I hoped that a lycra-clad leg would be sufficient for hitchhiking purposes. I jogged down to the south side of FW and within 5 minutes I was en-route for BoO. It's nice to know that one can still hitchhike in Scotland and there are still a few psychos prepared to pick up total strangers. ;-)

I'm a weenie (and proud of it)

It could only happen amongst a group of ultra-runners. Had a great run, 36/37 milesish and I feel like a weenie as most of the folk were running 43. ;-)

I could have run the 43 as I made good time up from Ayr and arrived at 7:55 in Tyndrum but I had always planned to run "just" 37 as I'm less worried about my speed than making it to the start line. As a two time "no show-er" in the last two years the thought of not making it to the start line yet again weighs rather heavily on my mind.

After leaving the crew in Tyndrum I drove on to Bridge of Orchy. It did cross my mind to wait for that main pack to arrive but I've discovered that I'm more comfortable with running at my own pace and don't like running faster or slower to fit in with others on these long runs. Alas this means I end up being a bit antisocial but I honestly feel I'm running better because of it. I was very satisfied with my time of 7:02 for the 37 miles today.

As I was starting on my own I'd decided to be more or less self sufficient, carrying a change of clothes for Fort William and enough Mars Bars to see me through. What I lost in speed through carrying the extra weight I think I more than made up for by not stopping at any of the "check-points" where the others were meeting the support crew.

I would love to pass on a few funny anecdotes but it would only turn into "another poo story" and my wife's heard more than enough of them. Suffice it to say I had a major "Mike Mason moment" (an MMM) just outside Bridge of Orchy. Aileen commented that I could have easily used the facilities in the Bridge of Orchy Hotel but that wouldn't have been half as much fun. ;-)

I had a camera and tried to take a few pictures but despite the oodles of megapixels, I must have had something on the wrong setting so they were all pretty grainy. The only decent shot was this one of Jon and Aileen, fellow West Highland Way runners.

A good week (but could do better)

Ever since Angela's excellent talk last week I've been thinking about but never quite getting round to updating my Blog. Perhaps I just don't lead an exciting enough life or perhaps I just don't lie convincingly. ;-)

Anyway, runningwise, it's been a good week which has helped to make up for my slight disappointment over my Inverness time.

Since last Tuesday:

Wednesday: day off

Thursday: Carrick hill run. This is my 4 miles each way run up and down the Brown Carrick hill to the radio masts. Ran a training PB without really trying too hard. Of course, training PBs don't tell you an awful lot but they're nice to have nevertheless.

Friday: another day off!

Saturday: River Ayr run racing my wife. Before you think I'm setting my sights just a little low, I did give her an 11 mile and 25 minute head start so it wasn't that easy. ;-) We drove up to Failford, left a car by the pub, drove back to Oswalds Bridge at Auchincruive (10 miles downstream) where I dropped my wife, the dogs and her friend. After dropping my daughter in town, I drove home (21 miles from Failford) and set off from there. To be honest, I didn't really expect to catch them, and I didn't. What did surprise me though was that I was only beaten by one minute! I reckon if it hadn't been so muddy I would have made better time and might have caught them. Then again, they might have gone faster too. Still, made for an interesting challenge. As before, finished off with a pint of milk & some fine real ale.

Sunday: An easy 5 miles with my wife.

Monday: An easy 8.25 miles with the dog. He really is getting too old for his lark but he never learns and demands to be taken out and I'm too weak willed to resist his pleadings.

Tuesday: Club hill repeats. Just 3 x 1 mile. I had planned to do four reps but we were keeping the rests down to 3 minutes and my legs really weren't recovered when I started the third rep. Still, my times were good if somewhat inconsistent. First mile was 6:14. I'd consciously held back a bit but perhaps held back too much. On the second rep I was flying (for me anyway) and ran 5:51, my fastest ever. My third rep on heavy legs still managed to squeeze in under 6 minutes (5:58) so I was pleased with that. Definitely a case of "Could do better" for my report card but pleasing to get two sub 6 minute laps in.

Just to brighten a dull blog, here's a picture of Roger cooling his paws.

There is no god!

How else can you explain why the first three raffle prize winners at Angela Mudge's talk about her record breaking run in the Everest marathon, *didn't* pick up the video camera and then Debbie swans up with her ticket to take away the top prize!

Not that I'm jealous or anything. ;-) Guess I should have bought more tickets!

Post-race run

I may not have excelled in yesterday's race but my training seems to be paying off in term of (apparently) speedy recovery. Apart from aching biceps (which was a bit odd) I've had no muscle aches since the race and I went out for an easy run around my regular loop (about 7.2 miles) with Roger tonight. A bit wet but if the forecasts are to be believed, nicer than it's going to be tomorrow!

Inverness half marathon

After my great run on Tuesday I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed not to get nearer to 1:30 (or even under). I actually finished with a 1:33:25 which was under my "middle" goal of sub 1:35 (based on relative lack of expereince of half marathon racing & training) but short of my "dream" goal of sub 1:30.

If you look at any of the race time predictors (like this one) you'll see that based on a 19:21 5K, they all come up with sub-1:30 times. Of course all predictors only work if you've only done the appropriate training for the distance and I think my WHW training runs may have built my endurance up well but not provided me with the combination of endurance and speed over the half marathon distance. If I was serious about getting a sub-1:30 I think I'd need to concentrate on improving my 10K times first but in the buildup to the WHW, 10Ks have always felt like a very low priority. Perhaps if the right race comes up at the right time before the WHW I might have another bash at a half marathon but for the moment, I'll have to settle for being 10th V50-54 out of 68 in Inverness. (Yes, they were quoting 5 year age groups in the results). Meanwhile Ian finished an excellent 8th out of 130 in his age group.

Three photos from http://www.northsport.com/ who were the official photographers. One of Ian (looking like he's out for a spot of power walking), one of me and one of a guy who passed me at 9 miles (a real "heartsink" moment).

Today's run

I was out with my old collie cross mongrel Roger this afternoon. He's not really up to long runs but he just can't help himself, particularly when he's just come out of kennels where they walk all the dogs three times a day. In there for two nights and he's expects the same service at home!

Anyway, it a repeat of my route out to Craig Tara. It was after reading Debbie's blog and her encounters with neds etc. in her neck of the woods that I realised how lucky I was to have the shore to run along. There are usually big flocks of curlews along the shore by Craig Tara making their characteristically evocative sound, something I'm willing to bet you don't hear in Glasgow too often. Of course, I do miss having decent hills to train on but you can't have everything. Roger started off full of beans but soon realised that he was in for a longer walk than he was expecting so we had to stop a few times at streams for him to cool down but no matter how tired he sometimes looks, he always has some energy to chase the squirrels in Bellisle Park on the way back! Still, it was good to have him with me to ensure a nice slow pace. My legs are a little stiff after Tuesday's 5K and driving 400 miles to Aberdeen and back yesterday.

It's a funny old world 2...

You remember how my phizog appeared on the back of the Loch Ness Marathon entry form? Well, it's sort of happened again. I was looking at the e-newletter that the organisers send out to previous entrants when I spotted this new picture on the right. The sharp-eyed ones amongst you will have noticed that my number is different. Now this means, not only have they chosen me once, they've now started looking though their old files for publicity shots and the best they can come up with is me, again!

Of course, it could just be very clever psychology and every entrant is getting a different e-newsletter (with their own picture pasted in) but I'm not the only person to spot my picture so I suspect they've used the same pictures for everyone.

I did wonder if I had an unknown friend amonst the organisers but they've assured me that it was pure chance and no doubt due to my extreme photogenicity or words to that effect anyway. ;-)

Think it's about time I got myself an agent!

What a difference a haircut makes!

I always feel that I run better after a haircut but even I was surprised by the difference yesterday's haircut made in tonight's 5K time trial.

Last month I had a runner to chase and another one hot on my heels so I felt I had really given it my best shot. I was pleased to squeak back in under 20 minutes with a time of 19:59. Tonight though, I had no one to chase so I knew I'd be setting the pace myself. I was hoping to get under 20 minutes again but without anyone to chase, I wasn't sure whether I'd pull it off again or not.

I needn't have worried. My legs felt full of beans right from the start and unlike previous months, I didn't feel like I was slowing significantly as I progressed. In the end I was delighted to stop my watch at 19:21, 38 seconds faster than last month.

My splits this time were 3:48, 3:49, 4:02, 3:50 and 3:50. If only I could have held my speed over that 3rd Km! That would have been another 10 seconds off. ;-)

Still, mustn't grumble, I'm more than happy with a 38 second improvement in my 5K time in one month. Of course, it probably won't make a ha'pence worth of difference to my WHW time but I enjoy my 5Ks. Doubt I'll pull off a similar improvement next month. ;-)

Stupid bl*&dy targets!

Like most runners I'm sure, I'm apt to set myself targets and then stick to them come what may. Today, I was really regretting that decision.

Dunno if anyone else has ventured out but it's wild here in south Ayrshire. I'd set myself a 200 mile target for February and was 12 miles short this morning. Nothing for it but to brave the elements! It was, without a doubt, one of the most unpleasant runs I've done in a long time. Running two miles along Ayr seafront into the teeth of the wind took me over 30 minutes. I swear it was nearer 40. The constant wind was bad enough (much worse than last weekend even) but the gusts meant that there were occasions when I only went up and down, not forward.

The irony of it all is that I had time yesterday but squandered it! Still, what doesn't kill us must make us stronger (I hope). ;-)

It's a funny old world...

I was running last month along with a group of other WHW runners. After the run and on the way back in the minibus I was chatting a bit with George Reid. You can see him in the picture on the right, a screen capture from John Ky's video.

Well I have to be honest and say that his face didn't ring any bells with me and it was George who realised that we'd met before and who dropped me a line to confirm that I was who he thought I was. When I last saw him, he looked more like the second picture on the right! (Taken by my brother circa 1977-78)

Of course chance dictates that people from your past pop up in all sorts of unexpected places but I wouldn't have anticipated anyone turning up in the WHW race.

If you're reading this George, I hope you'll forgive me posting this little slice of history. ;-) I dare say I've changed a bit too in the last 30 years.

Looking forward to getting together again and doing a bit of catching up.

Running scared

There's nothing like the fear of dying to make you feel more alive. Such was the intensity of the wind and rain today over the 30.6 miles that I ran from Tyndrum to Kingshouse & back to Bridge of Orchy, stopping running, or even walking, would have been a sure fire ticket to hypothermia.

I picked up Dave McLelland from his home before heading up to Tyndrum. It rained steadily all the way up, varying in intensity, but never drying up. We had planned to set off at 8:30 but having told Dave about my bacon sandwich for breafast, we couldn't leave until the Welly Boot opened. ;-) After Dave had scoffed his roll, we set off into the wind and rain which alternated between pellety lumps of rain and sheets of windblown low cloud, all equally wetting. The first climb out of Tyndrum always feels like hard work, being an uphill drag before your body has really accepted the idea that you really do mean to run 30 miles.

The dry feet lasted for about half a mile. After that, flippers might have been more appropriate footware. ;-) Nevertheless, we made good time and arrived in Bridge of Orchy after 61 minutes, which was a bit unfortunate really as we had a 17 minute wait for all the other runners to arrive, 17 minutes of getting progressively more chilled as we huddled under any cover we could find.

Ellen, Lorna & Mark were already there (having arrived early) and then Michelle & I think Steve arrived to complete the group. We set off and I tried to stick with the group but I was too cold to run too slowly and felt I had to push on just to rewarm. Shame really as I was looking forward to the social side of the run but I was running easily and and beginning to really enjoy the run, despite the atrocious conditions.

After Inveroran, Dave & Steve caught up with me but then Steve had to drop back as he was carrying a camelbac for Michelle. That left two of us out front making good time as we headed towards Kingshouse arriving there 2 hours and 8 minutes after leaving BoO. At Kingshouse we enjoyed a coffee & a bag of crisps and after about 5-6 minutes the rest of the group started to arrive. The coffee incidentally was the only thing I drank for the whole distance. I can't honestly say that I was thirsty at any point despite this. Perhaps I was absorbing the rain through my skin. It was certainly wet enough! ;-)

After 28 minutes, a dry shirt and a heavier waterproof, it was time to head back. We'd had the wind predominately on our back whilst heading west (although it contantly changed direction and force - at times blowing so hard it felt like we were being sandblasted instead of rained upon) but I knew the headwind on the way back would suck the heat from our bodies given half a chance.

The run back was tough. Whilst the run out had felt pretty easy, almost like freewheeling, the return was more akin to grinding up hills in low gears. Still, once again Dave and I soon lost sight of everyone. I'd like to say that I wasn't holding Dave back but in truth, he's such a strong runner. Fortunately for me, he's an incredibly patient guy who seems to not mind slowing down for others. Still, despite the weather, we managed 2:15 for the return trip, again well ahead of the pack. Our overall time (including stops) was 6:09. Minus stops, 5:32. Measured off Memory Map this comes out at 30.6 miles.

After the run, the plan was to get a lift back to Tyndrum with Mark or Ellen but we realised that they'd need to change before setting off (our dry clothes were back in Tyndrum) and we were cooling fast. I popped into the hotel to enquire about public transport (a long short but always worth asking). The train was going to be about 3 hours but the next bus was due in 18 minutes. Rather than wait getting colder, we decided to try hitchhiking back to Tyndrum. About four cars went by when a couple came out of the hotel and took pity on two drowned rats standing in the rain and offered to give us a lift back. Fortunately I had a black binbag in my rucksack so we were able to sit on this to save soaking the car seat. I'll always carry one now. ;-)

10 minutes later we were stripping off under the hot air hand dryers in the Welly Boot and enjoying more coffee and bacon sandwiches feeling like we'd survived some of the worst conditions we could possibly expect in June. All in all, a tough but good run.

No pictures alas, it was just way too wet to risk getting a phone or camera out.

No DOMS & mile reps

The delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) that I had feared after Carnethy never materialised and I had a good run out on Monday evening whilst watching an absolutely glorious sunset.

Last night was our night for "mile repeats". I say "mile" as I don't think it's ever been accurately measured but that's less important that having a consistent distance loop to run. Last month I had a horrid run round the same circuit. I started slow and just kept getting slower. The following day I had to cut a training run short I was feeling so weak.

Yesterday though, I started reasonably quick (6:11), then ran my second lap at 6:07 and my third lap at 6:03. Now that was a much better session. Ideally I should probably do more reps but the enthusiasm wanes pretty darned quick, particularly when all your club mates have had enough too. Think I need to trade them in for a faster lot. ;-)

One thing that I'm never sure about is the relative benefits of long (say 4 minute) over short (say 90 sec to 2 minute) recoveries. Last night I was taking 4 minute recoveries which certainly helped me with repeating (and improving) my times) but in a race situation (well road race anyway), you don't get time off to recover so I'm never sure whether shorter recoveries would be better. Any opinions gratefully received.

Things are looking good for a long run this weekend (Tyndrum to Kingshouse and back to BoO). If it goes as well as my last run on the WHW I'll be pleased. My hydration & nutrition seemed to work out well on that occasions. My biggest worry is about stopping for too long in Kingshouse before returning. I actually found the last run more enjoyable because I stopped less. I fear the sunny frosty weather is over but as long as the company's good, it really doesn't matter what the weather's like.

Baaa... buzzz...

Nothing to do with running really except that the first one was taken during my evening run up the river Ayr last weekend. The sun had set but the sky was still glowing and the sheep were gently steaming in the field as the frost developed. Could have been a nice shot with a proper camera.






The second one was a rather surprising find in my loft. Had it been occupied, I would have been running - for cover. ;-)

Carnethy 5

Whilst John K et.al. were enjoying an easy 31 mile jog along the WHW I was doing some real running over 6 miles of the Pentland hills. ;-)

The Carnthy 5 is one of the classic scottish hill races, taking in five peaks in the Pentland hills. Superbly organised by the Carnethy hill running club, 500 runners are bussed out the the start line and then returned the the school for showers & lunch.

This was my third time running this race. First time in 2005 (1:13:11) and again in 2006 (1:17:18). This year wasn't a PB or a PW at 1:16:21. Looking back at my logs I can see that I was running about 30sec/5K faster at around the time I ran in 2005. In 2006 the course was much icier which I think accounted for much of my slowdown. This year, the ground was frozen in many places which I find very hard to cope with on the descents. Having good descending skills really does make a huge difference in this sort of race.

As to the actual race, I was rather dreading the waiting around in the field to get started, but the weather was kind to us (for February) and apart from a bit of a wind, we had blue skies and sunshine. Indecisive as ever, I couldn't decide whether to run in shorts or leggings and opted for leggings, a move I was regretting within the first 200 yrds. Not that leggings were really a problem, just that they were unnecessary as my legs really don't seem to feel the cold once on the move.

The race plan was to sprint to the first gate/stile where there's a bottle neck and then just hope to hold my position as best as I was able after that. As ever, feet were soaked almost from the outset in the bogs preceeding the gate and I managed to take a tumble (on to soft grass fortunately) by tripping over a rock sticking out of the ground. Still, I was almost immediately back on my feet and shortly thereafter, through the gate.

A race of this length with 500 runners means that getting past folk when you're going up hill is hard, it's jst so tempting to settle into the pace of those around you, even when you could go a bit faster. Consequently, I think I lost quite a bit of time in the early stages that I could only hope to make up on the flat bits. Every time we came to a downhill bit, I lost a lot of time (and position) due to my lack of downhill technique. In particular, I lost a lot of time and places coming down off West Kip and off Carnethy. My hill works on the roads hadn't done much to prepare me for running down rough hills although I think it has reduced the damage to my quads which feel fine today. Either they're going to hurt like b*ggery tomorrow or I wasn't going fast enough. ;-)

Anyhow, not too displeased with my time. Sub-75 would have been nicer and sub-70 a lot nicer but without better technique and doing a lot more hill racing, it's probably as much as I could have expected at the moment. Still, having dipped a toe back in the hill racing water, maybe I'll try my hand at a few more races, if only to stop Alex having it all his own way in the club hill running championship. ;-)

Today, I've been for an easy run along the cycle path again (my 6.9 mile route) and the legs feel fine. Looking forward to a run on the WHW next weekend with Mark & Ellen.

New look blog, hill reps and an easy run

Hope you all like the new look. The old one was very boring and it really put me off posting so I thought it was about time I made my blog look a bit "classier". Doesn't make the content any better but maybe I'll update it more frequently. ;-)

On Tuesday it was "hill reps" on Troon's tiddy hills over the railway line. The sprints aren't really long enough but you have to make do with what's on your doorstep and I enjoy blasting up the hills. I tend to wear my flats for these sessions as I just love the feel of the contact with the road and extra leg turnover speed it seems to give me. Having said that, my feet and ankles are complaining a bit today so maybe it's not sure a smart move at the moment.

Wednesday was a rest day as I very much don't want to overdo things before the Carnethy 5 this weekend. I have to say, I'm getting quite nervous about it. I'm not sure if it's the thought of being humilated by Alex (our club's resident mountain goat) or just the thought of shivering whilst standing round in a boggy field waiting for the start. I really don't like getting cold! (I'm such a wuss).

Today was another easy jog out to Craig Tara and then back along the beach to the Ayr India restaurant before wending my way home. About 8.25 miles at a nice easy pace.

New shoes

Well, my new Landreths arrived yesterday. I had forgotten that new shoes could be so white! heck if I'd had those on Sunday evening I don't think I would have needed a torch! ;-)

Anyway, I was itching to try them out and thought I'd take them for a gentle spin out the cycle path towards the beach. I was halfway along the cyclepath, heading towards Greenan Castle when I remembered what a mudbath the farm road was. Not wanting to dirty my shoes *quite* yet, I diverted south to Craig Tara (aka Wonder West World, aka Butlins) to head down the tarmac road down the the shore. Unfortunately buiding work at Craig Tara had rendered the road almost as muddy as the farm track and the tide was so far in I was jogging through piles of rotting seaweed. No doubt this was some sort of divine punishment for my sin of pride. ;-)

In a way, I'm glad. I no longer have to agonise about keeping them clean. Way too late for that. ;-)

Off now to pick up a copy of Running Fitness. Rumour has it that I feature in their Loch Ness marathon report

A great run and a lesson learned

I planned my long run today to start from home and finish at the Failford Inn, a distance of 20.9 miles according to Memorymap.
I started at 3:00pm in sunshire and (relatively mild conditions) in shorts & a t-shirt. I'd decided just to take a bottle belt which doesn't leave room to carry too much so the gloves and headtorch stayed at home. I did take a small windy-up LED hand-held torch though as I knew it would be dark before I reached Failford.

It was great running weather but it cooled down quickly after 4 o'clock and my fingers really began to suffer. That wasn't too bad though until I got past Stair when I started to need my torch.

Charging the torch before I started would have been smart, trying to charge it by winding the handle with frozen hands, in the dark , whislt running isn't to be recommended. ;-)

Still, I made it to Failford, largely down to knowing the route well. I think anyone not familiar with that part of the route would have really struggled. Once there, after a swift pint of milk (very obliging folk the Failford Inn staff) and a change of clothes, it was time to enjoy some real ale and pub grub. A perfect way to end a long run. ;-)

Pacewise, I felt strong throughout which was nice and finished in 3:15 (about 9:20 pace) which given the terrain and darkness, I more than happy with.

Weirdest find whilst out running?

I was out running today along a quiet, narrow country lane over the Carrick Hills when I spotted these in the ditch by the side of the road. At first I assummed that they must be bent or damaged in some way but as you can see, they're in prefect conditions.

The mind boggles as to why they were there. Anyone got any suggestions? Before you ask, no, there wasn't and unconcious (or dead)body nearby ;-)

Being a bit of a packrat, I'm keeping them until I decide what to do with them. Naturally I want to keep them "just in case", but in case of what, I don't know yet. ;-)

Forgive me for I have sinned

Today, for the first time ever, I ordered my first ever pair of running shoes on-line.

Okay, I know that for many runners that's no big deal but I've always been a firm believer in supporting specialist running stores. The only specialists within easy reach for me are Achilles Heel and Greaves, both in Glasgow. I've always felt (and still do) that if we aren't prepared to pay a bit over the odds for shoes (that subsidise the service that specialist stores provide) we've only ourselves to blame when they shut up shop and we lose a valuable resourse.

So why have I gone against my pronciples this time. Well.... (wishy washy justification coming up), firstly, like a lot of more experienced runners, these days I'm not so wowed by having the latest version of a shoe. I'm also less inclined to experiment. If a shoe works for me, I'll stick with it. Consequently, I'm not really interested in any of the "extra" services offered by the shop.

Secondly, the shoe I want (the Asics gel Landreth) is, I feel, a good "cooking" running shoe. It fits my foot well and is nice an comfy. It does have two faults though. Namely, the price and its durability. Every pair of Landreths I've owned have headed into the bin because the upper starts tearing away from the sole near my little toe which is long before there is significant (visible) wear in the rest of the shoe.

I'm still getting 4-500 miles out of them but it annoys me, particularly when they cost the between £70 & £80 quid in the shops. On-line, I can get them for £39.99 (+£3 p&p). That's a big saving and one I find hard to ignore.

Do I feel guilty? Yep. Will it keep me awake at night? Probably not. What'll probably happen is that I'll feel duty bound to buy something hideously overpriced from Achilles heel in the next month or so to assuage my guilt. ;-)

Strange yellow thing spotted in the sky...

I saw something today I haven't seen in ages. My shadow! I really can't remember the last time the sun tried to put on a decent show but this afternoon suddenly felt like spring.
I had intended only doing a gentle 5 or so miles after yesterday's 5K but it seemed way too nice to turn back for home so I kept adding bits on until I'd done about 8.3 miles. Golly it felt good!

It's good to be back...

...under 20 minutes for 5K again. I've missed it badly and it's 15 months since I last managed it.

Tonight was a perfect night for it. Cool (needless to say really) but more importantly, nearly windless. I was determined to give it my best shot tonight so I wore my Vapourflys, my lightweight racing shoes.

Looking at my splits, I overcooked the first km a bit with a 3:49. Next one was a more reasonable 3:57 and the third km was completed in rather poor 4:09. (Clearly paying the penalty for setting off too fast). The fourth km was a 4:04 but by now I was beginning to hear the sound of approaching footsteps behind me. Charlie caught me at the 4km mark but rather than pass me, he hung on to my back. I really didn't feel like I had anything left to fend him off with but it seemed he didn't have quite enough left to pass me with. As we got to the last 400m, I pushed as hard as I dared and just sqeaked in under 20 minutes with a 19:59. (3:59 split)

Only just under 20 but it's enough to make me a happy man tonight. ;-)

A run in the snow

May be nothing special for a lot of runners, but here in Ayrshire, it's a pretty rare event. ;-)

My legs seemed fine after my run down the Carrick hills (possibly helped by the fact that I couldn't run flat out due to the hailstones) but I rested on Friday before enjoying a run down the River Ayr Way from Failford again. Probably as well that I had rested as my legs were a bit tired (though not hurting). We started the run in gently sleety snow/hail but that soon stopped and the weather was fine for the rest of the run. Rather disappointingly, the snow disappeared as we ran downstream until there was nothing visible by the time we reached Annbank.

On Sunday I finished the week off with an easy 6 miler taking my weekly mileage to 49 miles. Not a humungous amount, but a satisfying number to have clocked up nonetheless.