The Keys to the Executive Lounge

It's an awfy long time since I blogged, and maybe I felt there was little to say....but actually, I think I'm more inclined to blog in times of "challenge", and things have been going pretty darned well this year...and I've been kinda busy!  But no excuse, and that won't help me recall my 'memories' in my old age!

Anyhow...the stories of this week...much phenomenal-ness has been shared already on Facebook, and other blogs, but time for the mini-adventure that was my week, and my 'race' (yes, I'm going to call it a race now it's over, instead of continually correcting myself to say "no, it's not a race, it's an event, I'M NOT racing...")

Two motivations this week...the second of my BIG events of the year, in my second run of the Devil O The Highlands...but interestingly the fear and build up tempered by the realization that "if" I ran 20 miles in the 5 days leading up to the race, the final mile of the Devil, would break me through the 1,000 mile marker of running this year (and Running Gannet would unlock the door to the fictitious "Executive Lounge")....as a stats junkie, there was no way I was going to let this one lie....

 So the more usual tapering, was replaced by a new plan....one consumed with where to fit those precise, vital miles into a jam-packed week!  That's not to say that I thus avoided any of the usual taperitis...grumpy, tired, everything hurts, danger of catching the lurgy (so Bob was banished!), not eating enough/correctly, dehydrated....blah blah blah...

So, with a final 3 miler on Friday morning, and the day off work, it was TIME!  Eeeeeek!  The whole day to get packed and organised....hours of fannying about, moving piles of clothes, food (enough to feed a small army of hungry anything), trying to get a wee nap, trying to fill, and re-fill beds in the cabin as people's plans had to change, checking and re-checking lists and bags...oh, and looking several times on Facebook to see if everyone else was doing the same (errr....yeah, they sure were!)

The condemned! (photo by John Munro)

So, Bob picked me up and we headed off to Tyndrum for the night, driving through the ominous "biblical" rain, before spending the evening having a good last supper scoff and catching up with pals at By The Way, and in the pub, before heading for a restless sleep and a 4am alarm call!

Up and at 'em, with a hearty breakfast, and a good laugh at/with Sarah and Bob (the latter opting for a long lie, some cheese on toast burning, and generally getting abuse for faffing around!).  There was a general nervousness in the air, which heightened as we rocked up to registration, meeting friends old and new, and all paced around anxious to get started, despite the somewhat hideous conditions!

I had 2 vague objectives for the day: (1) To be nicer to my support crew! Apparently I was a wee bit narky last year...and (2) Ideally to hit just sub-9 hours...both could prove a challenge!

6am...the count down...and we're off....5 paces of gentle jog...and then 5 minutes walking (well, it is uphill.....!!) before getting the "easy" first section (c7 miles) to Bridge of Orchy out of the way!  Objective 1 still in check, as I literally skipped and bounced through the checkpoint! 

Just to prove it (photo by David Mooney)

Arriving at Inveroran (photo John Munro)

Climb from BoO (photo by Fiona Rennie)

Straight through the checkpoint and up and over Murdo's Mount, greeted by the inspiration that is Fiona Rennie at the first gate, and managed not to trip over a guy that did an amazing 'comedy' fall on the descent. (he seemed ok...said only his pride was hurting!)

Heading out over Rannoch was wet and wild, but at least that drowned any potential midgies!  The shoes were struggling a bit on the slippy cobbles, but the highlights were the minute patch of blue sky (and the guys ahead all stopping to point at it!), the rainbow and the massive stag running across the moor.  I seemed to lose time on this stage, and by the time I got to the checkpoint I was 10-20 minutes behind my 'gold' plan.  I decided at this stage "stuff it, the weather's awful, stop looking at the watch and just run".  So after a few minutes being nice to my lovely crew, and assorted Ultra Dafties supporters, I trotted off down the road, with a handful of pretzels, a  caffeine gel and a bottle of coke, with the motivation to "just run".

Met Julie (in supergirl pants?) and Katy just past Kingshouse (after a moment to abuse Tim for sitting cosy in his campervan), and said a quick hello before motoring on (well, I think I was).  My fingers were really sore at this point with both rings digging into my swollen sausage fingers, and I spent a good 10 minutes trying to work out how to get the rings off, before giving up on the idea!  Passed Dave Hetherington just before the Aultnafeadh who sadly told me he was having to DNF due to injury :-(.

So, onwards and upwards, with the Devils Staircase ahead...and food the plan of attack!  Tried to get a good stride on and eat a 9Bar on the way up...both fairly successfully.  

And then...time for the secret weapon for the descent.....one headphone, and my new tunes!!

I had the most AWESOME time on the descent, stomping through the rivers that used to be paths, singing along, and passing a handful of people on the way.  Felt pretty strong, and I'm sure the beat of the music kept the rhythm going in my feet!  So much so it seemed, that I arrived in KLL to no support crew!!!

Thankfully, David Meldrum and some friends from Wee County Harriers were on hand to deal with my expletives and mini-strop, before my crew appeared at the far end of the village, with the necessary Irn Bru and Mrs Tillys!

I felt MUCH better climbing out of KLL than last year, kept fueling up, and kept ahead of a couple of guys who opted to stay in my slip-stream!  Onto Lairig and it was...yep...you guessed it....wet and windy!!

Not sure who the other chap in the photo is, but I tried to reel him in to keep running as much as I could, looking forward all the time to my Irn Bru from Jeff at the Wilderness Rescue van!  I can't help singing "follow the yellow brick road" every time I run across here!

I'm not saluting, my cap was about to blow off!
(photo by Jeff from Wilderness Rescue)

Enjoyed the next wet section too, down into Lundavra, where I expected to see my support crew.......Nope, they'd been replaced by David Meldrum again!!  This time, it turned out it was all John Munro's fault for 'parking' his car in the ditch and blocking the road!!  David supplied me with the eagerly anticipated can of Red Bull, and I was off....FINAL SECTION! Woohoo!!

I spent a good deal of the next 3-4 miles tailing/cat and mousing with a couple of folk, and mulling over in my head the memories of Clark who 'ran' with me this section last year and spent much of it saying 'but WHY can't you run it'...and actually laughing with how I felt so much better and stronger this year (oh, the power of caffeine, gels and tablet!!)

Final hill, and on to the fire road...final gel...and ready to run!  A support runner heading the other way told me "Well done, I think you're in the top 10 women".....Holy Crap! I've never been top 10 anything, EVER!  And as if I wasn't motivated enough by that, I'd promised myself a wee glance at the Garmin...and it said 8hrs 9 minutes!  Holy Crap! How did I do that!?!?

So, off I motor, passing the guy I'd been tailing and then a couple of girls on the way down the hill....could I really be in the top 10 women?!  Can I sustain this pace?!?  I'm GOING TO BEAT MY 9 HOUR ASPIRATIONAL TARGET!!

Keep drinking....have some tablet.....keep running.....and finally through Braveheart and onto the tarmac....less than a mile to go...and I can run it!!!.....Through the 30mph sign and the finish is in sight.....the crowd go WILD (well, maybe I'm making that bit up....but there was definitely clapping and some "Woohoo")...

Sleep running... (photo by Clark Hamilton)

And it's done!  A MASSIVE PB at 8hrs 41m!  A bit of blubbering and hugging!  And a nice cup or two of prosecco from Lorna!

So that's my story!  A quick wash, change and clapping at the prize ceremony - much respect to Noanie (3rd lady) and Jo (4th lady, 1st Vet), and all the other winners!  Then back to the finish to cheer Helen, Bob and the other finishers through their final steps, each overcoming their own personal devils and demons to cross the line!  Overall I was 63rd of 134 finishers.....and I was 10th lady!  (Good job I overtook a couple of girls on the fire road eh?!)

Job done, good times!

Fears, Cheers & Tears

The well earned finishers medal!

Race Day!  Well, I did actually try to stop referring to the Fling as a "race" and more "event" in the weeks leading up to it - I always think "race" means I should be in contention for a podium finish, when clearly that's not going to happen!  However, as one of my 'motivational notes' in my drop bags said 'the only competition is with the voice in your head', so there is a bit of 'race' in there, even if only with myself!

The last few weeks leading up to the race hadn't really gone according to plan and had given me a few reasons to worry - I hurt my wrist (resulting in a visit to A&E), ripped my feet to shreds wearing new shoes on a 25 miler with Jo Rae, and then got a head cold....I was starting to think someone was conspiring against me, having been quite pleased to have done some pretty decent mileages for the year so far!  But, as the cold abated, I was determined to make it to the start line, and not let all that effort go to waste!

Drop bag trauma finalised on the Friday afternoon, and it was off to Milngavie to register and get an early night (not that much sleep was expected!).  Met up with the Wee Grumpies from Skye in the pub, so stayed for some extra dinner :-), and then Fiona and I went back to the hotel to meet up with Victoria who had arrived a bit later due to some family hospital trauma!

I decided to bail early and was tucked up in bed by 10pm, ready for my 4:30 alarm call, which came all too early!  Leapt out of bed and kicked into action, with my porridge pots and coffee!  Met up with Fiona, Vic, Darren and Dave to await the O'Gradys arriving, as they had kindly agreed to taxi all our bags to the start!  We walked along to the station and arrived just in time for the race briefing.

I'd been a bit worried about the mass start, wondering how we were all going to fit on the trail, but needn't have had any fears - everyone set off based on their expected finish times, and there didn't seem to be any real congestion for the whole day.  I'd done some groundwork looking at last year's results and some of my training times, and had a rough plan based on a 13 hrs 25 min finish.  I wanted to start slow and steady, not getting carried away by this 'easier' section, and had a thought to try and stick with Fiona/Victoria (who shot off too fast for me) or Noanie (who I lost shortly after saying "Hello" in the station car park), but ultimately knew I had to do my own thing, as nothing is more stressful (for me) than worrying you're holding someone back, or feeling all skippy when they're having a bad section....

Motivational signs left on the gate by
Alan Lindsay ! 

So off we trotted in the early morning sunshine, cool and clear, and I ran for a while with Darren Barnes, who I hadn't seen since DOTH.  We separated just after the Carbeth Huts, when I came across the great signs Alan Lindsay had diligently tied to the gate to motivate the 'Ultra Dafties' training group and had a wee chuckle to myself!

Drymen check point arrived slightly ahead of schedule (2 hrs 13 m), but I felt strong, and had eased off whenever I felt the pace was getting ahead of itself.  A quick text to Clark & Bob, and straight through the town and up the detour hill (didn't like that as much as the real path, but needs must!)

Conic came around pretty quickly, aided by another encounter with Fiona/Victoria as they shot past again, with tunes playing, singing and chatting!

Heading to the Balmaha drop bags
(by Helen Munro)

The new path over Conic was dry and good progress was made, whilst munching on a 9Bar.  I was also buoyed by a chat with a guy telling me he'd run the first 5 miles with someone whose longest training run had been 11 miles (WTF??!!), and got a wee (evil) chuckle when I found out he didn't know what to expect on the path after Inversnaid!

Daftie support was in force from the descent and into Balmaha, with David, Helen, John and Bob all on hand.

It was great to get some fresh supplies, some chat, and the first of my 'surprise' drop bag messages I'd asked Clark to put in each bag!  I didn't hang about long and trotted off into the sunshine!  I'm not sure I remember much of the next section, other than the hills in the part from Sallochy to Rowardennan (one of 2 small sections I'd not done in training!), and once again, it was good to see friends, a big crowd and supplies at the checkpoint (even if I did need Alan to help me get into the drop bag!)

Rowardennan - trying to untie
the drop bag! (by Fiona Rennie)

Noanie came into the check point just as I was about to head out, and it was great to see her looking fresh and bubbly as ever...and that didn't seem to fade (especially at Inversnaid where she shot through like Tigger on speed!).  There still didn't seem to be too many drop bags left to be collected, but I think I was further up the field than expected, and was definitely still ahead of schedule at this point and feeling strong :-).  I knew there was a lot of climbing out of Rowardennan and there wasn't really anyone around to chat to, so I plugged into my headphones to give me some tunes to sing along to.  

Inversnaid (by David Ross)

Passed quite a few walkers who all offered words of encouragement and Inversnaid came along in no time at all where David Ross was on hand with drop bag, camera and most importantly, big man hug!  Even though I was expecting the next section to be the slowest, I was really looking forward to it with all the twisty, climby rocks and roots, so probably didn't eat enough in my eagerness to not lose time.  I was also finding the heat getting to me a bit by now, so stuffed a handfully of jelly tots into my glove and trotted off again.

Leaving Beinglas..chomping on
something! (by Helen Munro)

I passed quite  few folk on this section up to Beinglas - I guess that's the benefit of having practiced this path a few times, and still feeling pretty strong, even on the walking bits.  Quite surprised how many people were walking down the slopes before Beinglas, but all these little overtakes seemed to give me a boost (and I don't mean any disrespect to those I passed!).  I got into the checkpoint at 9 hours 7 mins.

Bob was doing his final support stint at Beinglas, and I got a big hug and words of encouragement, diet coke and snacks...and I remembered to collect my final message from Clark...and this one made me cry (in a good way), with encouragement and memories of Dario.

I took my diet coke with me for the trudge up the next wee hills and knew that, whilst the end was in sight, and there was no chance of not making it, it might take me 3+ hours to get there....and I'd not run the section from Criainlarich - Auchtertyre before (and having done it yesterday in the race, kinda wish I had...straight up / straight down!).  I felt this was my slowest section, but I still moved faster than plan, power marching when the hills got the better of me!  And there's quite a lot of uphill in those final 12 miles, including the killer climb from under the railway line, and the encounter with the killer cows and cowpat field!

I shed a couple more tears about 2 miles from the end (and picked up some pace when I realised I might be in for a sub-12 hour finish), and some in the finish straight, and some after the finish..... The piper was a welcome site as we entered the By The Way site, and then the chap (on my shoulder in the photo) appeared from nowhere and moaned about the uphill finish...and I thought f^ck, I'm going to get whipped in the last 100 yards......NO!!!  And he didn't get me in the end!  The cheers, the fantastic finish line with all the flags, and seeing Clark and Cori spurred me on and I got away from him (check determined look in second photo!!)

The finish straight

Making sure I beat that bloke
who caught me with 50 meters to go!

Noanie and I (photo by David Ross)

 After collecting my medal and the fab goody bag (bottle of fizz and t-shirt) I didn't hang around for long after the finish - my usual post-race routine of turn blue and shiver uncontrollably kicked in so I headed for home.....smug grin intact!  Job done and forecast time blasted!! 

Big thanks to all the supporters, runners, training buddies, facebook groups, husband...without whom this wouldn't have been nearly as fun or achievable!  And a big cheer to all the Fling organisation team and volunteers, who did a fantastic job, and hopefully had as good a day as I did!  (oh, the prosecco is very nice too....thanks!)

You can't do it without support...together we are stronger!

I know it's been said by many a runner/ultra-runner before, but you really cannot do this without support - friends, family, colleagues...they all have a role to play in getting you to the start line in one piece (even though many of them may not be aware of it!)......and in the best piece you can be (within reason, since the burden of responsibility has to lie within yourself)!  

And it's not always easy...the stresses and strains, the long weekend days away to get those 6 hour+ training runs in to recce the race route when you've been dashing around all week, followed by rest days when you feel frustrated, hungry, grumpy and needy....and neglectful of all the 'duties' you should be doing....but that's why you surround yourself with the best support you can get!

#1 Support Crew!

A massive chunk of that support comes direct from home, and I know and feel more than lucky to have such good support, understanding...and patience (whilst often putting his own priorities to one side).....or maybe I'm just being sentimental since it's my wedding anniversary....  

But friends play a big role too - those close enough to motivate you to get out of bed at 6am on a dark wet windy morning, and those in wider networks, some discovered through Facebook groups, some friends of friends, and some at races, sharing a passion for this crazy ultra-running, and sharing the doubts, the highs and lows, the injuries...but all the time giving you a reality check and sometimes the boost you need to get out there and train!  I've found these sources all really beneficial in training for the Fling (T-13...) and had fun getting out exploring new routes and making new buddies for life!  And that's without even mentioning all the non-running friends and support!

Ultra Bob...possibly the only ultra runner
armed with a water pistol?

Some of the D33 'Facebook' Training Gang at Dario's
memorial post

So, as my injuries heal and tapering begins in earnest, we gotta stay strong, stick together and toe the line, in person or in spirit at 6 am on 27th April (and beyond)!

The Final Countdown

So, 1st April and the turn of the calendar reveals 'Highland Fling' day for all to see!  Eeek!  Suddenly that feeling of running out of time engulfs you.....

But, no time for that, gotta think positive and flip those energies on their head and focus on being a better me for the next 27 days!  So, as of today, I'm on the wagon, and back on the healthy eating (a la Slimming World, but starting to read up about reducing the amount of carbs I'm chomping), and ready to get those final quality training miles logged to get the body and mind in the right place for 'race day'!  And a focus on the rest and recovery too (I will bring the foam roller into the house and use it!!).

It's easy to say, sitting here at the end of a great week off in Aviemore - fresh air, relaxation, and without any work stress, but here's hoping to hang onto that feeling of freedom and fresh legs running through the Ryvoan pass, with awesome views and no dramas, as the month ticks past!  

I think the support on Facebook really helps keep the motivation going (as long as you can avoid the stress of folk getting some great runs done while you're at work!), and it will be good to 'toe the line' with so many friends on 27th....hopefully full of good banter to help the miles pass!

So, here's to a month of good training everyone, culminating in a great day out at the end of the month!

I feel the need.....the need for speed...(relatively speaking!)

Time flies when you're having fun!  I meant to start this post at the weekend, and now, all of a sudden, it's Wednesday, half-way through my holiday, and I'm only just putting a word on the screen!

I don't "do" speedwork...unless you count the training runs I do with Clark, since he is a significantly stronger/faster/more gutsy runner than I...that I inevitably try harder to keep up with him when we do go out together. I know there is mixed opinion on speedwork for ultra's, but in reality, most of the time it's a struggle to find time to train, never mind do speedwork!

Last weekend however brought the opportunity for a little "racing" over "short" distances, due to heading to Nethy for a week's holiday.

The A9!

Saturday was the Newtonmore 10 miler, starting at 11am...and on the way North, so no excuses really (even the drama of the A9 being closed for 24 hours before seemed not to get in our way!).  

The race itself was ok.....quite expensive I thought for a fairly basic, flat out and back (£16 entry which included a local beer), although we didn't stay for post-race scoff and awards (because the Mountain Cafe Aviemore all day breakfast was calling our names!!).  



The conditions were baltic (headwind all the way out) and snowy underfoot, so we both opted for trail shoes despite the terrain being mostly tarmac and cycle path.  The field seemed to be pretty evenly split between those in trail vs. those in road shoes.  Outbound the trail shoes were an advantage, gripping through the snow, and making me feel I had a wee edge over the road shoe runners...in fairness though I think they benefited on the return!  I did the usual race strategy and set off faster than I usually run (a 7:59 first mile), and tried to sustain it (8:21 average), although a poor fuelling strategy made the last couple of miles pretty tough going!  A decent enough time though at 1:22..and I only go overtaken by 3 runners on the return leg.....so I'll notch that one up as a speed-work session!



Sunday brought the "unofficial" invite only off road "half-marathon" at Munlochy on the Black Isle. When the alarm went off first thing, we both felt the affects of running 10 fast miles on tarmac in trail shoes the day before.....but this was the event we had both wanted to do, so, nothing for it, but MTFU, get the kit on, in the car and off we go!  Entry fee for this one was much more reasonable....cakes, a flask of tea/coffee and an optional donation to help the organiser's son go to the special Olympics!  A quick pre-race briefing in the village hall, followed by a mad car dash up to the Mount Eagle mast before the 11am start.  

Me, Cori and Kate (from Cairngorm Runners

Dogs were allowed to run too, so Cori got to try out his new cani-x kit (which worked pretty well, although I don't think made me run any faster!).  He ran with me the first 9.5 miles (by which point Clark had finished, coming 2nd no less!!!!), so I dropped Cori off on the way back through for the second section.  A really nice off road route with a few challenging hills in it, and some options for those who didn't want to do the full route (12.2miles), or wanted to bike it.  First Aiders on bikes and marshalls on all the key junctions, and on bikes were all on hand, as well as an official photographer!  Great organisational efforts put in for a "social" run.  I think there were maybe 30-40 people in all, and there was talk of making it official in year's to come as it was thoroughly enjoyable!  I still count this as speedwork as my average of 9:37 miles is faster than my usual!

Running through Ryvoan Pass

So, now we're firmly entrenched in Nethy Bridge, enjoying the peace and quiet....both pretty tired from the hustle and bustle of "normal" life, combined with a weekend of speed!  

Managing to make the most of the beautiful surroundings though, with a 15 miler yesterday through the Ryvoan Pass...at a "better" pace....albeit the last 4 miles were all around 9:30 or less....!  A sports massage yesterday, a rest day today and a 30ish miler planned for tomorrow!  All peppered with good scoff, and a few cakes/wine!  Perfect holiday!  Just can't believe how quickly the time is passing!

Lochan by Ryvoan

Oh yes, and we managed to find time to join Cairngorm Runners club....the things I'll do for a discount at the Mountain Cafe!!

So, that's all for now....back to the log fire, and to raise a glass to toast absent friends!

Run on, and stay safe.....

Tales of a Leaky Bladder

I've been threatening to write this blog post for about a week now, so some of the memories are fading, and my bravado about revealing both leaky bladder stories has faded....(Fiona 'Chief Grumpy' MacDonald you get a reprieve......what happens on tour, stays on tour....)...

Ready for "the off"

Anyway, what a great weekend we all had at 'Highland Fling "Training Camp"' last weekend...there was fun, laughter, old friends, new friends, fear, frights, food, drink....oh, and a good dose of running too!  

Arriving on the Friday straight from work I dumped my bags in the cabin I was to share with Johnny Fling, Lorna and Carol and headed across to the hostel for a coffee with the ever chirpy Fiona (who'd "just come down fae the Isle of Skye" (she's not very big....but she ain't very shy....;-))) and then off for a wee 4 mile warm up with Dawn, Frank and the 2 dogs, just as the sun was setting.  Great start to the weekend to clear the head after another busy week at work! And then followed later with a few drinks, and some lovely dinner cooked by Mr Fling himself (he obviously know's I'm used to being catered for (before Clark makes any smart comments!!)), which we shared with Vic O'Reilly who'd arrived late from Bute and missed the other's trip to the Real Food Cafe (cue the funniest story I've heard for a long time from Fiona.....(leaky bladder part 1....) which had tears rolling down our faces!

A few more drinks and introductions in the hostel......lots of chat about who was running where, with who, how far and how long....and then off to bed!

Saturday dawned fairly clear...a wee flurry of drizzle and a wee bit cold...but turned into another beautiful day to be running on WHW.  I had my heart set on a 30 miler, so headed north with a big group, who, after a short interlude to ensure Ian Minty picked himself out of the icy stream, spread out pretty quickly.

I love this part of the WHW - the views are stunning and the terrain is pretty runnable (except the power march up Murdo's Mount, which called for a snack stop and photo opportunity at the top!)

Admiring the view from Murdo's Mount (photo by Dave Hetherington)

The only downside of the day was my leaky bladder...and if I'd had a fiver for everyone who mentioned I had orange squash running down my legs for the first 2 hours, I'd be rich by now!  And it wasn't very pleasant as it froze in the cold!  Wrapping it in a poly bag didn't make any difference either!  On the plus side, once the fluid higher than wherever the mystery holes is had leaked out, I still had enough to keep me going for the rest of the day!  So now it's time to re-evaluate hydration packs and work out which to go for next!  I have about 6 Camelbaks already, but am tempted by one with bottles instead of a bladder next....

The 30 miles seemed to pass in a flash with time to chat with loads of different folk, stops to take pictures and have a bite to eat, as the pace and hills affected everyone differently...and we were 'soon' back at the By The Way accommodation for food, showers, a trip to the shop for some soup...and a wee disco nap before the communal (and delicious) chilli and sticky toffee pudding scoff later that night.  I was surprised how well I felt I had run, and that I didn't feel too 'burst'...and that I managed to stay up eating, drinking and chatting til past midnight (almost unheard of these days!!)

There was much chat of a run the following morning at 9....but as it transpired, there was just me (I know Dawn went earlier with the dogs and Fiona, Vic and Dave were going cycling)....so I managed to hijack John and Katrina Kynaston's (and Caroline) first couple of miles south (I think they were off for a 32 miler having not been with us the day before), before turning back, just to get a few extra wee miles in.   And then back to the cabin to deal with clearing the devastation....you'd think the 4 of us were planning a month's survival/feeding of the 5,000 the amount of kit and food we'd all taken!

After many sad goodbyes, had to head back home to see how much mess I could make before Clark got home, in the house which he'd tidied before he went on his wee jolly to Aviemore.....it's fair to say I succeeded, before lighting the fire, wrapping myself in a blanket and falling sound asleep in front of the rugby.....

Happy running, good times....and still feeling the effects a week later....!  But there's still training to be done.....as always!  Here's hoping this good weather is here to stay!

In The Zone

I was on a training course a couple of weeks ago about 'Constructive (Non-Violent) Communication'.  After the week I've just had, this sub-title of non-violent makes me laugh (well, sometimes you just have to....either that, or drink a lot of red wine, which is what happened first...).  I was reflecting on this a lot today, as Bob, Mossy Dog and I trotted along the WHW from Rowardennan to Doune Bothy and back (more of this later)!

One of the themes on the course was about how you approach your day/life/communications, and the impact that can have on those around you, and how they respond to you.  There were 4 (maybe 5 but I can only remember 4) levels:  Over the Top; In the Zone; Bad Day; Bad Life.  I like to try and adopt an 'in the zone' approach to most things, and think that most runners, especially those of the trail/ultra persuasion tend to be the same.  This really is the optimum place to be to get the best from yourself and those around you.  This week, I've been challenged (and on one occasion by what would verge on the more violent side of communication!), by others who are most definitely in the 'Bad Life' phase of the model.  What is it with some people not accepting responsibility for choices they themselves have taken, and apportioning blame and resentment on those around them?!

Anyway, I'm not going to dwell on the in's and out's of that, suffice to say, there's just no need! And that I'm happy that I'm an 'in the zone' runner, and surrounded by a lot of other like-minded friends!

Today was a run designed to over-come my wondering about the 'tricky' and much talked about section of the (WHW) Highland Fling route past Inversnaid, and get a 20+ miler in the bag.  So off we set, me, Bob and Moss in the dreich foggy damp, nil visibility through the forest and off towards Inversnaid.

The first 7 miles were fine (cheeky 'wee' hill not far out of Rowardennan made us adopt the 'ultra runners can walk the hills' mantra), and we hardly saw a sole (1 walker just out of the car park, and one runner (Neil Gibson I think) just before Inversnaid).  Eating and drinking to more of a plan, was the order of the day, and I think we both did ok on that front...albeit desperate for a vat of diet coke when we were done!  And luckily we'd both prepared so had plenty waiting for us!

The next section...the 'tricky bit' wasn't actually as bad as anticipated....I actually quite like that kind of stuff (when awake enough and paying attention!) and there were only a couple of bits I thought could be problematic on race day.  We'd planned to do 20 miles, but went on a wee bit further to ensure I'd seen all of the bad bit (thanks Bob!)).  A wee snack, change of gloves/buff and headed back to Inversnaid, passing a few more runners on the way (including 4 boys who appeared to be having a 'who can wear the most fluro clothing' competition!)

Inversnaid Waterfalls

Noticed a missed call from Clark when I stopper to take the photo....(a) wondering what was taking me so long and (b) to tell me he'd bought me a jam donut and it might not survive if I didn't run fast enough to get home before he ate it!  So that was cause to scoff my 'emergency' Mrs Tilly's (only 2 squares!!)

After the big climb about 3 miles from home, we managed to push the last couple of miles (downhill, LOL), thinking the car park must be closer than it really was, and I even managed an extra lap of the carpark to tip the Garmin over 21 miles!

A great day's running, no falling, and I think I've easily replaced the calories burnt off!  Quads a wee bit achy from all the extra big steps and clambering....here's hoping all's good tomorrow as I think I've a 6 to do!