Running for Hugs

Two races in 9 days...and not a blog written in between!

D33 - Photo by Chen Chee Kong

Last weekend saw me take part in my second Deeside Way 33 (D33), and in a nutshell, I enjoyed this much more than I remember from last year.

Probably a few reasons why.  Firstly, the benefit of having a buddy drive me all the way there, certainly took the stress off the early start, and gave Angela and I plenty time to catch up (and bore David with our chat I suspect!)

Second, I'd had the week off work on holiday, so was a bit better rested, and organised than last year (when I'd spent 2 days in Dublin with work, and had a late night and a few whiskies on the Thursday, and a late evening flight home).  Although I had done a brutal 11 miler on the Tuesday at Loch Turret, complete with scrambling along snow cliffs!

Third, I think my training year-to-date has been better quality - albeit not specific to running 33 flat miles on mostly tarmac!  The Thursday night club sessions have encouraged me to run at pace, and I've done more hilly miles this year.

I'd been unsure before the race what to do in terms of a plan but felt motivated by a blog from Rhona - Red Wine Runner that races should be 'raced' and also feeling that we all owed it to George, the Race Director, who hasn't been very well (and is handling it in a brilliantly positive way) to put a good effort in.  I also wanted to go a wee bit faster than last year, although doing sub-10 minute miles is something I've not done for a prolonged distance for some time...

After the usual faffing about, gathering hugs aplenty and visiting the toilets more than once, we were off. It's flat, with flat bits...and a few minor climbs....  I started out quicker than planned....caught up in the enthusiasm, and kinda wanting to keep Rhona in view as she was planning a good pace.  We ran together for a few miles until the first checkpoint, and then she was off, and while I did have her in view a couple of times, never caught her again.  Her pacing was spot on and delivered a well deserved PB.  My pace was ok, apart from fannying at the checkpoints (especially the half-way one) and a couple of erratic miles later on and I felt I was pushing out a good effort.  I ran with John Munro for a mile or so just after half way (he'd been taking it 'easy' on the way out..) and on and off with David Meldrum.  Mostly on the return stretch I had my music on to keep me going.  I struggled at a couple of bits but managed to find some oomph for the final mile and into the park, through the finish to collect my medal, race beer and a hug from George....oh, and a PB by about 8 minutes (5hrs 20m, average 9:40min/mile).  Job done!

Managed to eat some of the great post-race scoff, and hurried off to get changed into a million layers of thermals and down-jackets as it was Baltic, and I quickly fell into my post race blue coma!  Also remembered to go collect the new kit I'd ordered from Out-Run (exciting new Injinji socks were the order of the day!), and caught up with many of the finishers (most of whom seemed to have run well) and supporters, before Angela finished her finish line support/photo duties and kindly drove us all the way home!

A great day out, well organised and efficient (from the runners perspective certainly!), and a great crowd of runners this year.  Definitely a potential to do again next year....

Today, saw my first encounter of the Loch Katrine Marathon, and event/festival organised by Audrey McIntosh to raise funds for Alzheimers (one of the many things she does to support the charity).  It was never going to be easy doing another tarmac race so soon after D33, and this one is particularly HILLY (not undulating!).  What a beautiful setting though, even if I don't think I'd ever run a marathon PB here!

Again, wasn't very sure how to run this one.  I'd never been along the road all the way to Stronachlacher so had no concept of what lay ahead (maybe wise!) and I'd developed a sore big toe joint/pad after yesterday's 10 miler, which even with a compeed on it first thing, had me wondering just how far I might actually get. 

No problem with parking and the facilities at the Trossachs Pier are great (no toilet queues as there is a relative small entry field), and not long after many hugs and hellos, and a fly over by a perfect V formation of geese during the race briefing we were off!

I fell into step with Fiona Rennie for the first 7-ish miles, along with Ellen McVey for some of that and it was great to have company.  Fiona was planning to run all the hills, and looked very strong doing so, and eventually I just dropped back a wee bit. 

After the chilly start, I was starting to heat up (all those climbs!) so at the 8 mile drink station, I peeled off my windproof top and left it with Helen/John/Ross who were manning the drinks and tunes!  It felt better to lighten the load (although this has resulted in some lovely chaffing!) and as the weather continued to improve I didn't need my top again!  If anything, from about mile 19-26 I was too hot!


Loch Katrine (before half-way)
Me & John Cassidy - Photo by Chen Chee Kong

From about mile 10 to the half way return point I ran with John Cassidy and we talked about his impending first Fling (for his 50th birthday year) and passed away the miles.  It was great to see Lorna, David and Lois at the half-way checkpoints (and to be able to drop off my bottle to be re-filled while we did the wee extra stretch).

Just after half-way - munching chedds nibbles
Photo by Lorna Maclean

I had a wee good feeling on the stretch from 13-18 and was still managing to average 10min/miles despite the hills (I'd rewarded myself with a headphone and some tunes in one ear).  After that, it got a bit warmer, and the 'graveyard hill' (which was the last of the hills I managed to run all the way up) then tipped me a wee bit over the edge in terms of heat and a bit of cramp, and things slowed down and became a bit more 'effort' from there on in.

I battled a bit with the head and legs, especially when a few folk passed me and looked strong.  However, was still broadly on course for a circa 4 hours 30 min finish (which was playing around my head from fairly early on), so there was nothing for it but to keep plugging away.  I was quite emotional just before (and after) the finish, so that's a good indication of the battle!

In hindsight, I'm not sure if maybe I started too fast, or didn't hydrate well enough for the heat (I didn't carry the spare NUUN tablet I should have...), or was just a bit tired, or still under-the-weather from some medical guff earlier in the week.  I think I ate enough - a combination of banana loaf, chedds nibbles, a GU Espresso Love and a Viper Lime gel and some jelly babies from the guy out at c17 miles (not sure if he was official marshal or just a lovely man from the house).

On the whole, I'm pleased with the effort I put in and the result (4hrs 33). Taking me to a 43 mile week (after a 50 miler the D33 week).

Plenty finish line hugs (and some 'abuse' to Audrey about 'undulations'!)...followed by a blue coma and car park change (hopefully the pensioner buses weren't too upset...).  I shuffled upstairs to the café and bartered with the lovely girl there to exchange all my crappy change for a coffee (I don't think it was enough) and that sorted me out a bit, allowing me to loiter around for a short while to see Angela cross the line for more hugs (and then very impressed to see her launch into a set of glute stretches straight after!)

A great event, well organised and plenty drinks stations.  Epic course, and the beauty does something to offset the efforts needed for the hills!  Another definite contender for next year...hills are our friend....





Running the Numbers

It's taken me ages to get started on this tonight as I was looking for an appropriate image.  And then I looked through Facebook and stumbled on this one, taken on the Beinglas checkpoint in last year's WHW race.  A picture tells a thousand words so they say.

 

This year's race is never far from my mind.  When I signed up in November, I wasn't sure if the 2015 WHWR would have the same influence on my daily thoughts as last year. 

I guess I thought I might think about it less. 

I don't. 

It's there, most of the time. 

Perhaps shaped slightly differently from 2014. 

But still there. 

And still a positive influence, and slightly surreal memory. 

I did that. 

Me!

 

Numbers seem to have been fairly prominent these last few weeks.  I'm sure there's probably some mystical reason for it, if you're into that kind of thing. 

 

Whether it was chasing a 50 miles run week a couple of weeks ago (needing to run precisely 8.6 miles (which I did, on the nose) on the Sunday after my 30 miler (which in itself was chasing the 30 mile point))....

 

Or the random conversations with strangers that land you on trying to explain that you can run 95 miles....in one go....(girl at the spa this week was gobsmacked...)

 

Or the seemingly ever present reminders that I'm turning 40 later this year.....

 

Or winning the lottery (don't get excited, turned out to only be £25)....

 

Or the numbers on the scales.....

 

Or the reminder on Facebook today that it's only 100 days until WHW race day!  100 days?!  Holy moly, that seems like nothing, and like there is soooooooo much to be done (in life, not just training) before then!  HOW can it only be 100 days??!!  WOW. 

 

I suspect it's all the more thought provoking as the first event of the year is on Saturday, with the D33, and there's a wee bit of pre-'race' nerves and niggles starting to kick in. 

 

Half-way through my time at the D33 in 2014 I swore I'd never do it again.....and here I am....George and Karen have set up an event perfectly timed to lure you back in...

 

I'm not following my usual pre-race week, as I'm actually on holiday this week.  Timing not ideal (usually I have the first week in March off (I'm getting predictable in my old age), although it will be interesting to see how a week without work translates into a long run. 

 

And I've not over-done the training this week, I'm mostly trying to just chill.  I also had a lighter training week last week (25 miles total running, a couple of spin sessions, one short gym session), so should be in an ok position come Saturday morning (unlike last year when I'd been away with work having fun learning about Irish Whiskey for 2 days before the race!)

 

I'm not sure what to aim for though.  There's always that desire to do better than before (which always makes going back to something that little bit harder), so anything sub 5hrs 28m would do that (running <10min miles for 33 miles seems somewhat laughable given the pace of my long training runs...but I must've been in a similar position last year...so, we'll just have to see!).  Numbers again, always thinking on the numbers.  Maybe I should run without the Garmin (ha ha ha ha ha......never going to happen!!)

 

All roads lead to Milngavie.  And Saturday is another step, and a few more days, closer.

 



 

 

 



Image by Ross Lawrie (hopefully he doesn't mind!)

Powered by Tattie Scones, Cheese and Irn Bru

 I had a cracking run yesterday.  Mentally and physically everything seemed to click.  30 miles and 4,300ft of climbing from Beinglas to Rowardennan and back....and a cheeky wee extra out and back to hit the 30.

The weather, well, it was weathery.  We were fairly lucky until about 2.30pm when, as forecast, the downpour started and didn't cease, so our last 3 hours were through rivers that used to be paths, slippy rocks and death defying wooden bridge crossings.  (Well, perhaps that's a little over-dramatic.  It was pretty horrid though!)

There'll be no running pictures to illustrate the tale this evening!  (Until someone posts the group pic from the start of the run and I might edit it in!)

It was the second of the official Hoka Highland Fling training weekends, organised by Johnny Devil-Fling, and held at By The Way in Tyndrum.  I wasn't staying over this time, but we were allowed to join the organised run on the Saturday, and I was keen to have some company, and get some miles in on one of my favourite, most challenging sections of the WHW.

After leaving the house slightly later than planned, I arrived at Beinglas just in time for the second last parking spot, and the group picture.  There was a great turn-out, many familiar faces, and many others who were new to the race, and this section of the route.  Some quick hello's with Katie, David, Dave, Carol etc and we were off.  I was aiming to do 30 miles....and no-one else seemed to be talking that distance (apart from the speedies, who I would never keep up with)....uh oh....this could be a long day.

On the first wee climb, behind a chap called David who I didn't know, and some chat with Katie, Andy Johns came speeding past and told us slower folk to get out of the way and that caused a wee bomb burst and broke the group up, letting a load of speedies through and they skipped up the hill.  I caught up with the lovely David Meldrum again here, and that was to set the course of the day.  David was one of my support crew last year, getting me safely from Bridge of Orchy to Glencoe, and is one of life's good guys.  We were keeping a pretty steady pace, and quite evenly matched, chatting away and having a good catch up about everything and anything.  While David didn't have a set agenda for the day, he was keen to aim for 3 hours out before turning back, and I was grateful that would be great for company for me, even if I ended up with a few extra miles on my own at the end.  As the day progressed, and we both were running well, David got into the mindset of aiming for 30 too.  I'm hoping I didn't railroad him too much, as he was later than planned for his dinner (sorry Susan!!)

Heading for Inversnaid (where a lot of folk were turning) we ran with a guy called Scott that I had run a wee bit of WHW training weekend with.  It was his first time on this section, and it was great to hear his thoughts on the views, even on such a yucky day...and hopefully we were able to share some of our 'wisdom' with him!  The terrain was as tricky as I remembered, and there's a few more fallen trees (and dead goat) to contend with since I was last there in June!  We arrived at the hotel in hardly any time (it seemed...bearing in mind some of those tricky miles can take 20 minutes to cover!) and sheltered under the porch with others who had arrived just ahead of us to get some scoff on board.  I think by this point (7 miles in) I'd had a mini oatcake and one of David's oat/brekkie biscuits.  I had a wee swig of Irn Bru and a packet of Haribo before David and I continued over the waterfall and onwards to Rowardennan.

There weren't many folk out on the way..we saw a couple of runners we didn't recognise (who then passed in the opposite direction on our way back), and bumped into Keziah and Lorna near the top of the hill outside Rowardennan, and stopped for a wee blether (and I think I started on my tattie scones at this point!).  David and I agreed at this point to run on to the car park at Rowardennan for a 'luxury pee' and then head back.  More snackage at Rowardennan - some banana cake, cheesey nibbles and fresh Nuun - along with a dry buff and gloves.  It wasn't overly cold at this point, just getting wet!  So, 14 miles and about 3.5 hours on the go!

I felt ok/strong as we headed back.  I was probably walking more of the inclines than David, but not struggling, and still working hard.  I was drinking and eating regularly, with no problems with appetite, stomach or energy levels.  I didn't have an energy gel all day, which is quite unusual for me.  And probably eating more savoury than sweet, or a better balance certainly...maybe the banana bread is one to try again (and I don't even like banana!!)

We took turnabout at the lead, and with only a few moans about the end of the loch never getting any closer, and surprisingly little moaning about the torrential rain, we plugged away at the miles, passing many a stinky (live) goat , pausing briefly to pat Dario's post, and got back to Beinglas at just over 28 miles.....  Our tired brains did the sums (well, David did) how far out we had to go to get to 30 and we marched/ran on past the farm and northwards....naturally the turning point was the top of the next 'big' hill!  A wee quad trash back down and we were done!  30 miles!  And feeling AMAZING!  Dripping wet, but brill!

It's while since I've felt so pleased with a run of that length, and yesterday I truly did.  And so chuffed to have David's company all day too, as it would've been so easy to bottle it, or have a very sad day out instead.

There were no other cars left in the car park as we peeled off soggy layers in the fading light, said our goodbyes and headed off home.  Getting my socks and calf guards off was a challenge...getting my dry trousers on, an even bigger one!  The drive home was hideous....two near death aqua plane moments on the Loch Lubnaig road, and many crazy drivers not taking enough care!

So:
Cheese - good
Tattie Scones (actually they were Paul Rankin Farls I think) - good
Irn Bru - good
Haribo - good
Banana Bread - good
Mini Oatcakes - good
Kona Kola and Lemon Tea Nuun - good (remember to pack spares)

Congratulations if you've read this far and not died of boredom.

Just to round off the week I did my back-to-back today of 8.6 miles (plan said 8 but I decided 50 would be a nice round number to end the week).  A flatter soggy bimble with the dog, with tired legs which still kept moving.  Definitely needed my granny nap this afternoon though!

Other stuff this week:
1 x 30min gym strength session
1 x hour of pilates
1 x steady 6 miler
1 x club speed/hills session