Our So Called Blob

Lego Star Wars Advent 2011

2011-11-30T22:05:00.000Z

Gore Tex and Testosterone - OMM 2011

2011-11-02T20:45:00.002Z

Warning: this could be a long one and there are going to be a lot of boring notes for my own benefit, so feel free to get a cup of tea and have a sit down, or just skip to the bottom to see how it all panned out.

Preamble
The title comes from a comment my partner run2thehills (or Ian) made on the Friday night as we had a quiet beer before an early night - never had so much technical clothing been seen in one place before, or so it seemed. I slept OK but the alarm came all too early, and by the time we'd got properly awake and packed away the (wet) tent, we were rushing for the 7:20 bus to the start. Well, actually the 7:20 bus to St Fillans from where there was still a 1.5km hike up a hill to the start, which was not without incident; about half way up the track a look of horror appeared on Ian's face as he realised he'd left the tent poles on the bus. Fortunately, the guys right behind us had picked them up so disaster averted.

We milled around the start in the drizzle for a wee while until our time was called up then proceeded to the gate, dibbed the dibber and were given the maps. Follow the link below to see the map and also our route if you can figure out the complexities of route gadget:

http://www.omm.routegadget.co.uk/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=35&kieli=

Control 1 CH Re-entrant
Of course it was a re-entrant. Where else would it be? Actually this one was easy enough (except for almost being disqualified because our first plan was to follow the track, completely ignoring the huge purple "out-of-bounds" line that we'd have crossed) - the alternative direct approach looked too steep and bouldery for so early in the day.

Control 2 CC Hill top
Route choice here was simple and fairly uneventful, using the rivers as "hand rails" to keep us right - probably got too high too early on the first hill so had to drop down between the hills but not a bad effort and no drama - from what I remember, the weather was light drizzle and nothing to worry about at this point.

Control 3 DI Lochan
The choice of route here was fine, but the longer distance between the points made life a bit more difficult and we thought we'd gone further than we actually had. Hence, following the wrong stream to the wrong lochan and the wrong control point. At least we were able to get a fix on position when we saw the radio marshal's tent and found it relatively easy to then find the right lochan and the right control, despite poor visibility and worsening weather.

Control 4 CS Re-entrant
Looking back now, I think we made the wrong choice by going round the East of the first hill rather than the West, and as we came round the hill, kept going too much North and not enough West (it didn't help that visibility continued to be poor). As a result we ended up East of the hill we wanted to be on and had to backtrack a bit. (Note to self: need to concentrate on looking at the compass a bit more) At least the weather wasn't too bad.

Control 5 DB Re-entrant
The more or less direct route seemed like the best and turned out to be pretty good. Poor judgement of distance led to a bit of doubt but at least we could see the lochan below the point and the top of the hill so were able to use those to check our position and find the control without too much worry. I think it was around here that Ian looked a bit rough for a minute or two - some extra food and energy drink seemed to get him over the worst of it. (note to self and anyone else who's still listening: keep eating and drinking, you need the energy!)

Control 6 AQ Northern Hill
We now had a choice to make - never easy, especially when a bit tired and stuck out on a hill, but we chose our four points and set off for the first one. A few other teams were headed in the same direction, so it can't have been too bad a choice, and it was quite an easy one to find.

Control 7 BP Hill Top
BP! Bloody BP. Still not exactly sure where we went wrong here but this one took a long time to find. I think we followed the wrong stream up from the barely existent path so were too far East of where we should be and spent some time trying different hills (which don't seem to appear on the map for some reason?) before we found the right one. We were not the only team who struggled here which was sort of reassuring. Again, the weather was worsening at this point and my mood darkened a bit at this point. Believe it or not, I'd been having fun up til then.

Control 8 DA Re-entrant (shallow)
Heading North from BP, we crossed an area of "peat hags" where we both sank up to our knees - thighs in Ian's case at which point I feared he wasn't going to get out. We probably hit the worst of the weather as we worked our way round the hill and the boulder field trying to find this one. Very cold rain being driven into our faces by the wind made it all a bit unpleasant. I think it was here I realised we were really doing something crazy. Normal people simply wouldn't be out on the hills on a day like this, and even slightly crazy people would at least be following paths and trying to stay in the more sheltered valleys, so why were we scrambling around on the exposed faces of a bloody big hill? No, I don't really know the answer either. In any case, we realised we'd gone a wee bit too far round, then cut back a bit too quickly and hit the wrong stream and the wrong control point. A couple of other teams were looking a bit lost, but we refocussed and realised we just needed to get a bit further North to find the right point.

Control 9 DG Re-entrant
Oooh, a path - easy to find, fairly easy to follow, and fairly easy to know when to leave the path for the re-entrant. Job done, no problem there.

Control 10 DK Western Stream, Bend
Briefly considered staying high along the ridge before dropping down directly to the control but decided to drop down into the valley early and use the marked path - it was nice to drop below the cloud level (yes, we could see again) but the path was basically a stream. Still, a useful navigation aid which we just followed round until we could see the stream where the control was placed. Nae bother!

Control 11 DJ Stream Junction
An unmarked footbridge allowed us to cut the corner here, but it was wet wet wet as we turned into Glen Almond and followed the river along to the next bridge. At least the control point at the river near the woods was easy to find and we saw a wee bit of blue sky for the first (and last) time that day.

Control 12 BI Stream
The map said "optional taped path through forestry" but in truth it should have been "mandatory taped path around forestry". Not that it mattered. We were now part of a crocodile of teams making for the next control point so just followed on until we got there. Not very exciting, but that was OK.

Control 13 AG Road Bend and Finish
From control 12, it was just a case of drop down to the road, then follow the road past the final control and on to the finish. Easy going, but the rain was back on, the sky was getting gloomy, and I felt thoroughly soaked.

As far as I can figure out, water was seeping in everywhere - somehow bypassing my waterproofs, possibly by means of capillary action. It had been raining most of the day and the ground was absolutely sodden so it wasn't really a surprise. We managed to get the tent up (still a bit damp from the previous night), and get sleeping bags out. My blizzard bag still felt a bit damp on the inside but it did offer a degree of warmth so I stuck my legs inside - probably a mistake since that got the inside of the bag wetter. We needed water to cook dinner so I went off to the river but started shaking so that the kettle lid was clattering as I walked. Not a good sign but the food helped warm me up and it was time for bed. Unfortunately, I didn't really have any dry stuff - my balloon bed was damp which made it difficult to slide the balloons in so I ended up with a really badly prepared bed which was less comfortable and, more importantly, less warm. Basically I spent most of the night shivering and by the time that the piper woke the camp at 6am, I wasn't too happy, especially as my gout was flaring up. Heading back into the hills feeling cold with a sore foot didn't seem like a good idea, but I was getting more reluctant to bail out as time went by. Ian, on the other hand, was reluctant to be up in the hills with a blue-nosed potential hypothermia case so we came to the decision that our race was run. I managed to blag a lift back to camp where I had a long days waiting, first for Ian, then for Jim who was giving us a lift home.

So, disappointed not to finish the event, especially when it came down to poor kit choices and poor kit management, but lots to think about for future events, of which I'm sure there will be many.

New Kit

2011-10-22T23:12:00.001+01:00

So, the next bit of my slightly unorthodox sleeping system for the OMM arrived today from www.balloonbed.com. Initial impressions - it packs very small and lightweight but I need to practise tying knots a bit more. Time will tell if this is crazy or not!

Holiday Runnings

2011-10-16T06:00:00.000+01:00

Whilst planing to visit my sister in law down in Yorkshire we decided to have a look around for any local races to run and plumped for the Spires & Steeples Challenge, a 26 mile run from Lincoln to Sleaford on Sunday. But then, Vikki decided she quite liked the whole parkrun thing, so we pencilled in a visit to Hull on Saturday morning, and then we found out there was an orienteering event on Saturday afternoon which might make for a fun family activity. It was looking like a very busy, active weekend.

As it turned out, Amy and Dave (who had agreed to look after the kids during much of this nonsense) arrived at East Park in Hull, only about a minute before the parkrun was due to start by which time I'd decided I couldn't really be bothered running so I mucked about with the kids and cheered when Vikki went past.

We all went up to the orienteering event in the afternoon which was jolly good fun - we did a couple of the available courses to rack up about 3km of running and about 1km of wondering around undergrowth thanks to a navigation error. Lachlan did one of the courses with us while the others mucked about and then everyone went for ice creams :-)

At some point on Saturday it also occurred to me that I possibly hadn't trained enough to run 26 miles and hadn't actually thought at all about what I might eat/drink during the run. Not exactly ideal preparation.

We had to get up early on Sunday to drive to the end (right past the start) so we could get a bus to the start so that we could then run to the end and then drive back to where we'd come from (right past the start point of the run again) which all seemed terribly complicated but was probably the easiest way of doing things, despite the worry of getting stuck behind a lorry on the way. After the bus ride (on which we chatted to someone who had done even less training than me), we found ourselves at Lincoln Castle, shivering in the cold, although it was fairly obvious it was going to get warmer later, and after some milling around it was time to set off over the cobbles and down the imaginatively entitled "Steep Hill". We set off a bit fast (the "plan" was to run around 10m/m pace to finish under 4:30) but it felt good and we were keeping pace with "100 mara Andy" and his mate, "Salomon Guy", although we did get slowed down slightly by "farty woman" until the path widened and we skipped past her. The route passed through a number of nice little villages, separated mainly by turnip fields, and it was a pleasant run with Vikki and me sticking together, but I started to feel a bit sore in the legs around mile 15 (at which point there also seemed to be an awful lot of stiles to climb) and was obviously slowing a bit by 17 where my pace was in the 10s and 11s. It became a bit of a struggle from then on, and when I realised that 4:30 wasn't on, I slowed to a walk for the last few miles - a part of me felt I should push a bit harder but the rest of me just wanted to enjoy a walk in the sun with the wife, and to make sure I didn't overdo it and hurt anything.

In the end we trotted over the line after about 4:49 which wasn't too bad for 25 and a half miles, all things considered. Yes, 25 and a half miles by my garmin, so not actually a marathon. To be fair, the organisers never referred to it as a marathon and pointed out it was a non-timed event, but someone had entered it on Fetch as a 26.2. In fact, the organisers route notes had it down as 26.75 miles, but I think that just came from totting up each sections mileage which was rounded to the nearest quarter so there was a bit of a discrepancy there. Not a problem as far as I'm concerned but a wee warning to any marathon chasers out there. The "hot and cold snacks, including soup" available for a small charge at the finish turned out to be soup and bread, but it was good soup so I won't complain.

Overall, it was a good day out. Nice weather, good company, nice route, well signposted and marshalled so little danger of getting lost. Slightly disappointed with my fitness but looking forward to the mile this weekend, and then the OMM after that. Hopefully, the DOMS will have passed by then.

Where's Magnus?

2011-10-13T14:20:00.001+01:00

It's been a while since we had one of these....

Bennachie Hill Race 2011

2011-10-10T13:38:00.000+01:00

"Oktoberrunfest" part 2 was the Bennachie Hill Race, 8 tough miles over one of North East Scotland's finest hills.Vikki and I started together but, as expected, I was slightly quicker to the top of the first climb only for her to pass me on the approach to Oxen Craig and then bomb ahead in pursuit of Rebecca (who narrowly beat her in the end). The weather held out and I was able to enjoy the views and spot some of the towns and villages (ok, so maybe that means I wasn't going quickly enough) as I ran across to Craigshannoch and then towards Mither Tap, where I caught up with John just as we began the long descent down the Maiden Causeway. I skipped past him and sped off down the hill, managing to overtake a few other runners including Cosmic Pauline. All too soon though, the course flattens out as it goes back through the forest and it felt like running through treacle. I think I was passed by a couple of people but overtook a couple on this section, so not too bad on balance, and I still had something left to pick up the pace after the final turn and overtake another bloke within sight of the finish. Crossed the line unhurt, with a smile on my face, and beat last years time by a couple of minutes, so very happy with my run. And very happy with the tea and cakes afterwards.Thanks very much to all the marshals and race organisers etc who put on a very enjoyable event.Congratulations to Mike on clinching the SRC Club Championship, and thank you to John and Rebecca for their company on the drive. Also good to see Neil, Gary, and Jim.

Stoney Stomp 2011

2011-10-05T20:43:00.000+01:00

Ah, you can't beat a good stomp. For this year's Stoney Stomp, we agreed that Vikki would take the kids round the 5K route and I'd do the 7 mile run. I was hoping for a decent time - under an hour and preferably a PB - and started at a decent pace with Dod and Rhino powering up the hill ahead of me. Craig soon picked up the pace and went past me before the first corner and it wasn't too long before Rich and then John caught me and zoomed ahead. That left me running pretty much on my own for most of the race, with two younger guys behind who never really looked like catching me, and a lady in red in front who was never in danger of me catching her. I got a lovely surprise at the point where the 5k course rejoins the 7m one as I got there just before the rest of the family who gave me a wee cheer which propelled me up the final hill and towards the finish. The last mile (almost) of this race is downhill and it's always a blast - getting close to 6min/mile pace (hey, that's fast for me, ok?). After the finish Rich and I headed back up the course to walk in with your respective families, then hung about for a bit to see Rhino get her prize.The ceilidh in the evening was very much a family affair with lots of kids running around and having a great laugh. I don't think Magnus really got the proper steps but with a smile like this, it didn't really matter......

What a fun day!

Trains and Training in Sunny Staffs.

2011-07-30T22:04:00.002+01:00

I'm not sure quite how it happened, but our holiday somehow became dominated by trains...

I may blog in more detail (or not, who knows?) but basically our holiday went something like:
Saturday - travelling in car, no trains involved.
Sunday - Great Hucklow Fell Race followed by a trip on the Churnet Valley Railway RailAleTrail
Monday - Went to visit Buxton and Poole's Cavern, lovely wee town with a nice park which had a miniature railway (on which we had a wee ride)
Tuesday - great fun at Alton Towers on all the big rides. Let's face it though, a rollercoaster is basically a variety of train (especially the Runaway Mine Train), as is the monorail that takes you to and from the car park.
Wednesday - visited Dovedale and went for a wee run. No trains involved.
Thursday - Alton Towers water park. Good but overcrowded and overpriced, I felt. Train count - nil.
Friday - Lovely visit to Rudyard Lake, complete with trip on a mini steam train. Followed by a jolly wee run down the Staffordshire Way.
Saturday - Back home, no trains.

OK, so maybe not that many trains, but it seemed like a lot to me. In any case, it was much fun and we had great weather, lots of decent food and far too much to drink. I'll maybe post some of the better pictures if I get round to it.

In other blob news, in order to try and attract a younger readership I've added Lachlan and Calum as authors of this blog so there might be some more regular posts. I plan to check everything they add before it gets published but don't want to censor them too much so no idea how it'll work out.

LAMM 2011 - Beinn Dearg

2011-06-14T22:46:00.000+01:00

Thursday lunchtime last week, and the old F5 key took a bit of a bashing as I kept refreshing the LAMM web page to find out where I was going for the weekend. I'd more or less worked out that it had to be out near Ullapool or Gairloch based on the travel times, but it was great to get that confirmed and spend some time checking out maps and photos of the Beinn Dearg area - very excited by that point.

And it was a great weekend. I managed not to be too traumatised by the inevitable childbirth stories on the car trips and the girls were great travelling companions - thanks so much to Fiona for doing all the driving. Still, it's a long and winding road and I was glad when we reached the campsite and even happier to find M1nty who already had the tent up meaning that there wasn't much for me to do except register, buy a spork (I'd managed to forget mine) from the shop that sold everything you could need, and go for food and beer before bed.

We were woken by the sound of a piper in the morning and after breakfast, it was off to the bus to be taken to our starting point. I'm planning a longer blog post with more analysis, route details, lessons learned etc (as much for my future reference as for anyone else to read, but some might find it interesting) so for now, I'll just say that we set off for what turned out to be a tough, demanding, but highly rewarding day in the hills. There seemed like a lot of steep climbs, difficult terrain, river crossings etc., but the pay off was some fabulous views, a Munro (Seana Bhraigh) to be bagged, the company of a good friend and brief chats with many nice people. Throughout the day, I took on the role of navigator and marched off through the heather with map in hand and M1nty following a few steps behind. I think he was suffering more than I realised at the time, but kept pushing himself on - a great effort. By the time we were heading for the last couple of checkpoints - with mid-camp in sight - the weather turned against us and I made a couple of navigational errors, so we were delighted to get to the finish and get the tent up. My feet were cold and wet so I got into my sleeping bag as quickly as possible to warm up and then didn't get up until the next morning (cooking was done in the porch of the tent, greetings to Rhino and Fiona were done by shouting through the tent wall, and thankfully I didn't need to go to the loo so was able to stay cozy).

My bladder finally needed some attention at about 4am on Sunday so I was up early and got the water for cooking breakfast while the sun was still low in the sky but it was a beautiful dawn. At 5am, Martin (event organiser) started telling everyone about the sunrise (through a megaphone) and soon heads were popping out of tents and massive queues were forming for the toilets. Breakfast was cooked, the tent was struck, bags were repacked and we were away soon after 6:30, ready for another long day of scouring hill tops for orange flags - or so it seemed. After the first wee (relatively) climb, M1nty admitted that he was struggling with the terrain and wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to continue. We had a short break to talk it over and decided to continue, taking advantage of a path round the hill which was slightly longer but still got us to the first cp in good time. That was followed by a couple of km on a good track (we actually ran a bit here) before another steep climb and then I made a mistake which meant we overshot the cp. At this point, M1nty decided he really wasn't going to manage to complete the day - from a guy who has completed two 50+ mile races this year and who has shown his strength and determination many times, I knew it must have been a hard decision for him, but it was the sensible option so we plotted a route that would take us down a track to the road and back to the event centre - it continued to be a pleasant trip with chat and some lovely views of An Teallach. We were passed by a few pairs from the score class, including two lovely old ladies who I think had a combined age of 133!

Back at base, we did what we do best and tucked into some food and a couple of pints of beer until the prize giving - something I often don't get to see in races! As the prizes were being handed out, Liz and Jo finished strongly - they'd made up a few places from their position on Saturday and did brilliantly for a couple who claimed to have almost no idea how to use a compass. M1nty decided to go and thumb a lift to Inverness so we said our farewells, he set off, and the three of us who were left had some more beer, took down the tents and waited for Rhino and Fi to finish. They managed to stay out in the hills just long enough to get us worried, but just in time to get photos taken before the flags were removed. They'd had a tough time looking for one of the controls and were tired and a bit emotional but soon, we were on our way home.

So, strictly speaking, another dnf, but the way I see it, it was a fine weekend out in the hills, surrounded by stunning scenery, and in the company of good friends, and it just doesn't get much better than that!

(Pictures on this page courtesy of M1nty - my pictures here)

Cateran Trail Ultra 2011

2011-05-22T22:07:00.011+01:00

http://cateran55ultra.webnode.com/

After a DNF at the Highland Fling a few weeks back, I was looking forward to this weekend with the usual mixture of excitement and nerves, but raised to the power of e. However, I knew the cut-off times were more generous for this one and when Karen told me "Just finish - don't worry how long it takes", I was determined to do just that, even if it meant walking most of the course.

mrs s had said she would run with me, at least for the first bit, so we set off together and soon found ourselves in a sort of spread out group with Jonathan, Minty and Karin, who was joined by hubby Bill at Glenisla. Soph, Jon and Adrian were never too far away either but Dave K seemed in a bit more of a hurry and pushed ahead.

Glenisla also marked our venture into the unknown as we'd never been on any of the course after that before - it was quite fun not knowing what was coming round the next corner, although it was mainly cows, sheep, cow poo or sheep poo. Somewhere around here we also caught up with Neil and had a good blether with him.

The run down to Alyth was fairly uneventful except for starting to feel a bit tired, and hearing much shouting up ahead as Soph caught up with flip. Jonathan and Minty reached the check point at Alyth and shot through quite quickly, whereas I wanted to take a bit of time to slurp down a Muller Rice, so I suppose this was the point where I knew mrs s was going to stick with me as she waited also when she could easily have gone on. We also got an update on Mike and Andy who were in 4th and 5th at the time.

When George and the legend that is "Razor" McCurdy arrived at the check point I knew it was time to get going and we set off with flip for company - sadly, he was struggling a bit and we pushed on ahead towards Blairgowrie. Not very far ahead it turned out as he caught us up again when we stopped for a couple of minutes to take photos at the wooden spider web in the woods. At the other side of the woods, we started the long tarred descent into Blairgowrie - fun and fast on fresh legs, but not so easy on my tired pins so it was a relief to get down to the bottom and escorted across the road to "Happy Checkpoint". Another shortish break there and we were off again, back on the Cateran trail proper and starting to head North, towards the finish.

For most of the section to Bridge of Cally, we could see George and Ray, Soph and the McKendricks somewhere ahead of us so we were in lukewarm pursuit mode. We took a slight wrong route past a farm where the correct path was between two fields but we went down the edge and had to climb over a barbed wire fence. I didn't notice at the time, but I now have a nasty cut across the back of my calf. We caught up with Soph and jogged along with her, chatting away so much that I didn't see a stone sticking out of the path - before I knew it I was falling but pulled off a neat forward roll and sat up thinking "Game Over". A few seconds later, I was back on my feet and we were running down the track - it turned out that the pain wasn't anywhere near as bad as I had thought it was going to be, and the adrenalin kick was brilliant.

At BofC, I had to laugh when Jane offered us some flapjacks - they were made following the brilliant recipe that Vikki uses but unfortunately I'd already had my fill of them for the day so had to refuse. Carolyn was there as well with the news that Dave had lost some time due to a wee detour but was still going strong about 10 minutes ahead, Minty and Jonathan were still together a bit further ahead and that Mike and Andy had been 3rd and 4th. I had a Muller Rice to eat, but mrs s didn't want to waste too much time, so I decided to eat it on the move since there was a bit of uphill coming anyway.

The weather was starting to turn a bit nasty (down to the fact that flip had pulled out of the race) but we walked and jogged on through the drizzle, looking out for the point where Mike had gone wrong last year. We were generally trailing Jon Cornall at this point but went past him on a sharp little incline and realised we could now see the McKendricks and George and Ray up ahead and we slowly overhauled them which felt like we were making good progress. George told us that he'd got a text from Mike who had finished in 3rd place which was great news. The weather continued to worsen as we reached Kirkmichael where we passed Dave having a short stop under an umbrella with Carolyn. No such luxury for us so onward, ever onward on the short trip to Enochdhu with only a brief stop to put on waterproofs since it was chucking it down now.

Enochdhu was the last checkpoint - we'd been looking forward to it because mrs s had a can of gin and tonic in it, kindly donated by George who had a few of his own in different drop bags. It tasted great and knowing we only had sixish miles left, we set off up into the woods, and up towards the pass at An Lairig. We had George's company for much of this section which he told us was one of the most scenic parts of the course - not that we could see very much as we were up into the clag and if it hadn't been for the thought of finishing, it could have been pretty miserable. Dave passed us again, looking strong, mrs s was detailed to check the bothy for dead bodies but found none, and eventually the path levelled out and then started to go down. The steep path down was wet and treacherously muddy - it could have been great fun on a clear day with fresher legs but I took it fairly cautiously to avoid any mishaps. Once under the cloud level, we could see the roof of the hotel (a truly heart warming site) and knew the finish was close. mrs s was running ahead a bit - I came round a corner to see her waving at me to hurry up and shouting "They're all waiting at the hotel". Sure enough, I could make out people and hear a few shouts of encouragement so I picked up the pace a bit (the increased arm action caused drops of water to fly off my gloves, it was so damned wet) and we held hands down to the final gate and through the finish line in front of the hotel, straight into the arms of Karen.

It was such a good feeling to finish and to see so many friends. There were congratulations and handshakes and hugs and people taking photos, and then we were ushered into the bar so that we could start the recovery process....where there was another huge round of applause, and many more congratulations, not only from friends and other people involved in the race, but also from complete strangers who happened to be in the hotel that evening. I don't think I'm the only one who felt slightly overwhelmed by it all - it really was quite touching.

After a hot shower, it was time for a few drinks and the presentations - every finisher got a fantastic engraved quaich to go with the high quality goody bags that were handed out at registration - then food and more drinks and chat until tiredness finally got the better of us and we headed for bed.

What a great weekend! Huge thanks to Karen for putting on a fabulous wee race, and thanks to all the marshals and support crew for helping with drop bags, dispensing hugs, offering advice and encouragement, stopping traffic, and generally looking after all us runners. You guys were all brilliant. I also want to say thanks to the owners and staff at the Spittal hotel who were so accommodating to a huge bunch of smelly, wet, tired runners. But most of all, thanks to mrs s for running with me and keeping me going whenever I got a bit low - I'm not sure I could have done it without you, babe.

April and the Fling

2011-05-10T12:13:00.004+01:00

Overall, April was a pretty good month for running and running related activities - the Dunnottar Composter Challenge was hard work but a lot of fun and Balmoral was a good day out with a decent enough 5K time for me :)

But really, April was always going to be about the 53 mile Highland Fling and unfortunately it didn't exactly go to plan. I felt pretty good at the start and trotted along chatting to Mark and enjoying the scenery (I hadn't been on this bit of the WHW for twenty+ years so it was sort of new) which was good except that I totally forgot M1nty's advice and was running a wee bit quicker than I'd planned. Approaching the checkpoint at Drymen, I started to feel a bit uncomfortable in the stomach region so I stopped in the woods to try and clear things out a bit - it helped a bit but I still felt a bit iffy as I headed towards Conic hill and Mark went off ahead of me. The trek up the hill was pleasant enough but I still didn't feel great at Balmaha where I picked up food and headed for the loo again. For the next section, eating was a bit of a struggle, guts felt sore, legs felt tired, and the heat was increasing. As a result, my pace was decreasing steadily - running slower and less often. When I finally reached the "2km to Rowardennan" sign (which always feels like 5km to Rowardennan) and checked my watch it was getting near 2pm which meant it was going to be tough to reach Bein Glas before the 6pm gate (and very tough to reach the finish any time close to the cut off at 9pm). I decided to have a short break at the checkpoint to see how I felt, chatted to mates, then went off to the loo before making a decision. When I realised it felt sore to jog back across the car park from the toilets, I knew I'd had enough for the day, handed my chip to the marshal and pulled out of the race for my first ever DNF :(

hp gave me a lift round to the finish at By The Way in Tyndrum where we checked in to our respective living quarters and watched the finishers coming in. It was strange, feeling genuinely delighted for everyone else who did brilliantly to complete the course on a hot, hot day (many in fantastic times) but at the same time so disappointed that I wasn't still out running and crossing that line myself.

Lessons learned?

Train harder. Eat/drink safer (i.e. nothing different) in the run up (I had to visit the toilet 3 times before the race even started which was a bad sign). Slow down at the start, even if it feels easier to run with someone else. Take ginger? MTFU? Hopefully, the Cateran next weekend will be a better run.

Despite the race not going as planned, I did have a good weekend so here are some good things:

nice meal on Friday with old and new friends - good to meet Fenland Runner and Lapsed Athlete
great to see mr and mrs M1nty and chill with them before the race
running and chatting with Mark over the very pleasant first section
enjoyed seeing some of the relay runners go past and watching them bound down Conic Hill - watching good hill runners going down hill fast is always a pleasure
finding out Top Dogs got a prize in the relay
seeing everybody finishing - so pleased for you all
getting my bum pinched by a cheeky wee lady
fish and chips and beer at the Real Food Cafe
beer and crisps at Paddys - great company, lots of laughs and sitting in the "king's chair"

The plan for May is somewhat similar to April - a bit of training, a couple of short races, and an attempt at the longest race of my life. But this time, I'm even more determined to finish - and I've got 2 hours longer. It should be a snip ;)

The Short And The Long Of It

2011-04-23T20:00:00.001+01:00

The short was this weekend's 5K at Balmoral, a race I only decided to do because we persuaded the kids to do the 1.5K and I thought I'd do a race I hadn't done before. Unfortunately we cocked up our timing slightly, and thanks to having to follow a snake of cars into the car park, I ended up more or less throwing the boys over a barrier into the start area as the gun went to signify the start of their race. They both got going and soon reappeared, a bit more red in the face, and doing OK - new PBs for them both so they ought to be pleased.

Then we met up with the rest of the crew, got out the blanket, chairs, tent, food etc and went into full blether and faff mode. I almost forgot that I was there to run, but soon enough the girls race was out of the way and it was time to get warmed up for the 5K. The plan was to run fast but try and stay relaxed and controlled to reduce the risk of injury or strain and I hoped to get round in about 23min (or closer to 22 and beat the mrs if at all possible). I felt it went OK, reasonably steady pace for the first mile or so (slight slow down at the wee hill) and still felt pretty good as I went past all the supporters at about half way, but couldn't find enough extra pace for the last mile or so and finished in 23:26. Slightly slower than I'd have liked but not too bad really.

After the 5K, there was plenty of time for more chat, yelling at kids, and general tomfoolery before the 10K and a bit of supporting. Some great running, great to see so many Stonehaven runners doing well and top performances from Fetchies. Well done to all.

Overall it was a good day out - a good run and great to see so many friends and so many of them beating PBs and having great runs. Unfortunately, the trip home was tedious in the extreme. After the walk to the car park (which took a long time thanks to three pairs of tired wee legs), I was hoping to scoot out through Easter Balmoral and take the hopefully quieter South Deeside Rd, at least as far as Ballater, but for some reason, we were instructed to turn the other way out of the car park and sit in the queue of traffic heading back towards the castle and then out via the main exit and onto the North Deeside Rd which was a solid queue of traffic. Not happy about that at all, but I'm guessing the organisers have some reason for doing it that way.

In any case it was a relief to get home and head out to get some take away beer and curry.

So, the 5K was the short. The long comes next week at the Highland Fling, which will be a completely different kettle of fish. Wish me luck. I think I'll need it.

Some pictures from Balmoral here

Another year older....

2011-03-21T20:21:00.003Z

...but still no wiser, it seems.

Yes, it was my birthday last week and as a special present, my pal Dod held a wee race at the weekend. He called it the D33 aka The Jam Sandwich Race, but we all know that really it was the Shanksi Birthday Bash. He even managed to get heaps of wonderful people to come along: club mates, Fetchies, and all sorts of top quality distance runners.

He was even good enough to give me a nice simple job to do - get a photo of all the Stonehaven runners, preferably in club tops, before the start. Of course, I failed miserably with that one - there was far too much hand-shaking, hugging, and general faffing to be done, and it would have been like herding cats anyway. In any case there are some great photos in the collections here, here and here, and in several other places if you look hard enough.

The first half of the race went well: I ran with Dave_K for most of it and it went pretty much to plan, a very enjoyable just under 10:00/mile which was about the same pace as last year and felt good. It was nice to catch up with mrs s at the half way point - we'd had her in our sights a few times but despite me waving, she hadn't looked back. Refuelling was a tub of Muller Rice (which went down well) and some cold pizza (which I took one bite of and ditched the rest), and then Dave and I set off again at a very slightly reduced pace.

A couple of miles in we hit the wee climb up to the main road at Crathes and Dave pulled ahead as I slowed to a walk. Soon after, it was like the wheels fell off my running and I was finding it difficult to keep a half-decent pace going. Like last year, the 3 miles between Crathes and Drumoak seemed to go on and on for ever - it was nice to see Angus who did his best to raise my spirits but I was starting to feel tired and sore and having difficulty keeping any food or drink down (I think I might have neglected to eat for too long after the turn, but can't remember for sure) so it was tough going. A few folks passed me as I headed for home; very pleased to see Pdoll going strong but disappointed at that point to realise my chances of getting in in under 6 hours had completely disappeared. Still, I was on for a PB so kept going with a run/walk (too much walking). It was good to see Craig and Alex and to have a quick chat with them, but largely wanted to focus, keep my own company and just get to the finish. Which I did, eventually, and was delighted to see mrs s and the kids waiting for me, and to get beer and a medal from Dod. Once again, we had personalised beer from Brewdog, but this year, the medals were hand crafted by our friend Annette at craftrocks.co.uk Best race medals ever!

I wasn't exactly sure of my time, mainly because I'd been relying on my phone for timing and pace information which was a bit stupid since I have difficulty reading the screen in daylight, but I was confident I'd beaten last years time, and thus made lots of betting Fetchies happy :)

Once I was able to walk again, we drove round to the Inn at the Park for a quick drink and a catch up before heading for home, food, a shower, and then back out to the pub for drinks.

Looking back, it was a top weekend and fantastic to see so many friends out enjoying themselves in the Aberdeen sunshine (and the Stonehaven pub light). I'm slightly disappointed with my time and the way my running fell to pieces a bit on the second half. I think I can do better so it's time for some quality training in the lead up to the Fling. I also need to have a rethink about eating and drinking - I've been using nuun tablets in my water but really wasn't enjoying the taste and might go for straight water plus electrolyte tablets that can just be necked rather than having them dissolved in the water.

Thanks again to Dod for putting on another great race and to all the marshalls and other helpers who made the race possible, and to everyone who ran and made it a grand day out, and also to everyone who came along to the pub and had a drink and a laugh and made it such a nice weekend. Cheers guys, you're all very special people. In more than one sense of the word.

Pi(e)s

2011-03-13T21:06:00.002Z

Two things are upsetting me about British Pie Week:

1) I only heard about it today, at the very end of the week, and have been unable to participate fully in any extra pastry encased food consumption.

2) It really should have been organised to coincide with Pi Day. I know that this year's arrangements could have potentially led to 8 full days of pi(e) related gluttony, but I just feel that Pie Week should include Pi Day.

In any case, I shall have to remember to buy a circular pie for my afternoon snack tomorrow.

Christmas Is Coming

2010-12-12T20:33:00.002Z

With a work night out on Friday, some people weren't thinking I had much chance of getting up on Saturday morning to help at the Scouts Christmas tree sale; and anyone seeing me later on that evening would probably have revised those chances to somewhat nil. However, I didn't want to let anyone down and I dragged myself out of bed at about 7:15 in order to get along the road in time to help unload the lorry - I had even had the forethought to save time in the morning by sleeping in my clothes, but that's another story.

By about 10:30, we had sold every one of the 75 trees we had along with a whole heap more raffle tickets, and made a decent little bundle of cash to help keep the roof over the heads of the Scout Group and all that remained was to help out with a few deliveries and get back to home for lunch.

Of course, one of the trees delivered was our one so the afternoon was spent getting the decorations down from the loft and decorating the tree; with "help" from the boys of course. It's always good fun, and nice to see all the home-made stuff get another airing - a good way to spend a cold afternoon.

Magnus had a great time, although I'm sure he knocked more baubles off than he actually got to stay attached to a branch.

Today was another early start; 7:30 for a 3 hour run with Dave and Mike - slippy on the ice but a good wee jaunt covering 17 miles. Vikki went out for a yearly-target-completing run in the afternoon, so the kids and I made mince pies and jammy tarts (because Calum doesn't like mince pies).

Yep, Christmas is just around the corner.

A Walk In The Park - Part 2

2010-11-17T21:20:00.005Z

Mid Camp
Mid-camp included the lodge (with log fire), portaloos, a cooking tent and the marquee which was heated by a gas burner which apparently had two settings, blast furnace and off, which led to an afternoon of jackets, hats and gloves being repeatedly put on and taken off. As more people arrived, there was much talk and eating of snack food going on and quite a few folk went off to nap until the food was served. I got chatting to a few different people, including Gary who seems to be doing a few of the same races as me next year. The supplied food was plentiful and tasted great, washed down with a cup of wine (great thinking from Bruce), and then it was time for some music and a couple of beers before heading back to Big Agnes and sleep. I managed not to die of hypothermia overnight but woke up early, went to the loo, then headed to the marquee for bacon rolls. Probably not ideal food to get ready for a day of fast-moving in the hills, but great-tasting all the same. Then it was time to strike the tent, pack up and get ready to go.

Day 2, Part 1 - 1:40000
Some fresh snow overnight and low cloud made for a tricky start to day 2 but we managed to pick up the first two controls without too much drama - we missed the next one by a good margin and lost some time having to double back to find it :( the next two were easy enough to find but involved a very steep descent and ascent (we could and possibly should have used less direct routes but where's the fun in that?) and then a nice wee run/walk back to the transition point to pick up the final map.

Day 2, Part 2 - 1:10000
Another short orienteering course which I think we handled reasonably well - the last control point was a little elusive at first, but we found it without losing too much time and set off for the finish. It was great to see the finish barrier, even better to hear a big shout from Polly who claims we looked like we'd just finished a "walk in the park" (which was sort of accurate since Bruce and I hadn't done a lot of actual running), and better yet to find out there was hot soup, rowies, and hot dogs available. Finding that I still had some dry clothes in my kit bag was another great bonus.

Summary
What a fun event. Well organised, fantastic location, friendly people, overall a great adventure. I really liked the feeling of choosing your own route, and loved the way that the different courses and start times meant that one minute you could feel completely alone, the next there could be any number of other competitors in sight heading in the same or completely different directions. From a personal performance point of view, I felt I was struggling for fitness which surprised me a bit. Navigation and route choices were OK but, with hindsight, could have been better so there's room for improvement.

Kit
If anyone's interested in kit, Big Agnes did a fine job but might be just too heavy if she had had to be carried. The Thermarest mat did its job and I slept comfortably enough - my old sleeping bag did OK but would be far too bulky and heavy to carry in a pack; possible replacements are being looked at - birthday present, anyone?. I spent the whole weekend (yes, the whole weekend) in tracksters (with shorts underneath in case the temperature improved - ever hopeful), a HH base layer top and my new favourite thing: a Rab Shadow Hoodie which I can see getting a lot of use until the sun returns in spring! Extra layers were piled on top for warmth or better waterproofing and it all worked pretty well at keeping me warm.

Thanks
A huge thanks to Sean, Ali, and everybody else involved in organising the event - you all did a great job. Thanks also to Ian for the loan of his stuff - it was greatly appreciated. And thanks to Bruce for teaming up with this rookie, for his encouragement, his advice and help, for the lift to the event, and most of all for his company over the weekend.

What's next?
Well, a MM type event next year is still on the cards - favourite at the moment is the LAMM but that would be after a series of 3 ultras in 3 months! Ulp! I think I need to stop blogging and get back to training!

Please check the event web site for results, times, a link to some photos (much better than the ones I took), and the routegadget thing that I will update with our route as soon as I can!

A Walk In The Park - Part 1

2010-11-16T22:20:00.005Z

My plan had been to take part in a Mountain Marathon next year, but then I found out about the Grampian Mountain Challenge and wondered if it might be fun. And then I saw these photos and had a good look at the map and decided it could be a lot of fun - it would mean chickening out from the "battles of the shanksis" at the Aberdeen Fetch Mile, but that was OK. So all I had to do was find a partner (or at least someone I knew to chat to at the camp), a tent that would withstand some dodgy weather and a sleeping system that would stop me freezing to death overnight. Unfortunately, the likely candidates were all busy that weekend (or so they tell me!) so it wasn't looking good, then with a couple of days to spare, Bruce mentioned that he'd been talking with the organiser about it, and he agreed to team up with me. Suddenly, it was all back on, and instead of looking at a bumbling jog across the hills, I was teamed up
with a speedy hill runner and experienced Mountain Marathoner. Gulp! On the plus side, Ian the pimp agreed to let Big Agnes come with me, and Thelma help to keep me warm. Those girls plus my old sleeping bag, liner, and extra clothes would hopefully be enough to prevent hypothermia despite Ian's grave predictions!

After a week of constantly changing weather forecasts (snow, rain, sun and high wind with 90mph gusts had all been predicted for the area), it turned out to be relatively benign on the day which was good. Bruce had a dodgy calf and I had a sore toe which was not so good but we registered and headed for the start in good spirits, looking forward to whatever the day would bring.

Day One, Part One - 1:10000

At the start we were given an orienteering map, and a sheet of paper to explain what the heck all the colours on the map meant, and so we set off into the forest with the simple task of trying to follow a path to near the first control - within five minutes we were on the wrong path (the right path took a left without letting us know) but a quick adjustment took us back in the right direction and the orange and white flag was soon spotted. Checkpoint 1 successfully dibbed (is that the correct word?), a look at the map says we need to go thattaway! Up that ludicrously steep looking hill? Errr, yes. Eeek. Not for the last time, we set off up a steep slope with Bruce easily pushing ahead and me scrambling to catch up - I'm really not sure how this partnership would have worked if he'd been fully fit. Anyway, we found the next couple of controls easily enough and were soon down at the transition point without much further incident.

Day One, Part Two - 1:40000

New map, different scale, different symbols and longer distances between control points. I had to laugh as I marked up the map - we'd given Ali (GMC planner) a lift to the event, and I'd asked him about how high the course would take us. "Fairly high up" he'd said, not giving away that we'd have to get to the top of Culardoch at 900m, the highest point in the whole area. But that was three control points away so off we went into the mountains. Along the tar road! Which may sound a bit like cheating, but one thing I learned over the weekend is that roads and tracks are quicker to move along than knee-deep, snow-covered heather (who'd have thought it?). So, we made our way up to the control which turned out to be in the middle of a muddy bog which I managed to step into, up to my knee. Bugger! This let water get inside my SealSkinz socks which was a bad thing and contributed to me feeling like I was going to get frostbitten toes. I hit a real low on the way up Culardoch - the cloud had come down a bit, my feet were cold, and energy levels were low. Bruce made sure I was still eating and drinking and helped by rubbing some warmth into my foot which helped a lot, but not as much as finally getting to the trig point, dibbing the control, and seeing the visibility improve. Then it was a fun but tiring charge down the hill through knee deep snow to the gate in the fence and on to find the last control point of the day - I think we missed it by a small margin but didn't lose too much time curving back round for it before heading for the path down to the camp. It was great to see the marquee and a few wee tents springing up as we jogged down towards the wee rickety bridge and across to the finish. It was even better when we were told to go and upload the times in the lodge where they had a log fire going.

To be continued....

A Devilishly Good Day Out

2010-10-24T15:36:00.003+01:00

With Vikki running the Fling and the Devil O The Highlands next year and me also giving the Fling a go as a solo runner, it was high time to get some West Highland Way training under our belts - well, any excuse for a day away from the kids amongst some great scenery!

We decided to run from Kings House up the Devil's Staircase and over to Kinlochleven, then back by the same route to Kings House but keep on going to Ba Bridge, then back to Kings House again. Vikki, Annie, Laurie, Jonathan, Matt "Tutters" Tutt and I set off in the car with the plan to meet Minty (if his tent hadn't been washed away by the rain) and Mike at KH. After the usual faffing around - arguing with hotel staff who were a bit reluctant to let us use the toilet (even when we promised we would be back for food and beer) and taking the mick out of Tutters for his matching clothes and very white shoes - we set off in the sunshine towards the magnificent sight of Glencoe.

The run to Kinlochleven was great fun, nice and easy paced to take in the scenery and chat to everyone, with a quicker charge down the track near the water pipes. We passed a few walkers including an elderly German who was becoming angry because he couldn't find the right path to Loch Eilde Mor - I hope he found his way although I don't think we were much use! I think it took us 2 hours overall which seemed fairly reasonable. We stopped for a while to get a cup of tea at Ice Factor and checked out their shop for lots of nice jackets I can't afford, before we set off again on the return - a long steady climb back up into the hills. Mike suggested a race down the Devil's Staircase but nobody took him up on the offer - as it happened he flew down with Vikki close behind him, I jogged down on tired legs but got overtaken by Minty and Tutters; J had a wee fall but we all made it safely to the bottom. Back along the track towards the hotel, I felt a wee pain in my hip again (getting slightly worried about this now) and despite some Ibuprofen, the last couple of miles were pretty slow and I decided at that point not to keep going, so waved off the other runners and went to the bar with Tutters to meet Annette (who had been out taking photos) and Annie and Laurie (who had had a nice gentle walk while we'd been running) and drink some beer while waiting for the others to return. Matt had actually been thinking about continuing the run, but considering that he'd never run more than about 7 miles or been on any trails before, he probably made the right decision.

By the time the other runners got back to the hotel, it was time to pile back in the car and head for home so we said our good-byes to Minty and to Mike and Annette, took some photos of deer grazing near the hotel (not sure if they were the same ones we saw on the ridge earlier but they might have been), and headed off into the sunset (actually the sunset was in the other direction, but let's not let reality get in the way of a decent cliché).

Overall, it was a lovely day out in some great scenery with near perfect weather (despite a week of unpromising forecasts) and great company - a lot of nice blethering with many a laugh...

Click on the picture above to see more pictures.

A Run of Two Halves

2010-09-28T23:23:00.003+01:00

2010-09-25 Lairig Ghru

When Craig suggested a club run over the Lairig Ghru, I was well up for it - here was a route I’d wanted to walk for many years without ever quite getting round to it, and a chance to spend a weekend away with some pals. The original plan had been to get a lift to Linn of Dee, run to Aviemore and get a train home the next day, but the train option got dumped in favour of just running back the next day. Yes, George got involved.

The rest of the group comprised Conor, Andrinne and Mags, so we all set off in the wee shanksi bus to Linn of Dee, faffed around a bit, and on the trail before 9. Not that we got very far before I realised I hadn’t locked the car and had to double back. We got some good running in as we made our way up the valley, despite the wind in our faces and the cloud that seemed to be just above our heads - we got a good view of the Devil’s Point (and a few laughs when we talked about the literal meaning of the Gaelic name) but the rest of the peaks were shrouded in mist. It got much colder as we approached the boulder field around the Pools of Dee - extra clothes were deployed (including the gimp suit which did the trick for me). This bit was slow going, picking our way across the damp rocks past the pools - Craig described it as like a scene from Lord of the Rings, and we joked about monsters in the pools waiting to grab unsuspecting hikers - and it was a great moment to reach the other side where we could see Aviemore in the distance up ahead and know it was downhill from there on, and there might even be a runnable path before long. My hands and feet got badly cold on the descent, but it wasn’t too long before the temperature rose a wee bit and we found ourselves coming down into the forest at Rothiemurchus with just a few miles of easy running to take us into the town.

The hotel was nice enough, once they’d figured out how to turn the fire alarm off, and we had a fine meal at Roo’s Leap (served by Wednesday Addams). There was a band on in the hotel so no point in going to bed early and we all sat up drinking and chatting for a while. I think I had 7 pints of Guinness but somehow felt better at breakfast than I had any right to after that amount of drink. In any case, breakfast was eaten, bags were packed, Tesco was visited, and we were off on our merry way, pretty much on schedule.

The weather on Sunday was much better than Saturday, and we were soon sweating out the alcohol as we headed back through the forest. My hip had been a bit sore by the end of Saturday’s run, and it started hurting again so I took some Ibuprofen which kept me going up into the pass. Someone had removed about half the boulders at the top - or so it seemed, we possibly followed a better route through, but definitely crossed more quickly thanks to dry rocks underfoot and generally feeling more positive because the sun was shining. Back on Deeside we made good progress down the path with great views of Cairn Toul, Devil’s Point, and Cairn a Mhaim beckoning us on until we turned the corner and could look across to Lochnagar. On the outward journey, we had taken the bridge across the Luibeg Burn; on Sunday we waded across which was much more fun. Before long, we were back at Derry Lodge, enjoying the last stop on our 44 mile picnic. There was a bit of a feeling that noone really wanted it to end, but it was time to get going on the last few miles back to the car. Sunday had felt like a much quicker run than Saturday, but it still took as long; probably because we took longer over each stop since we didn’t have to worry so much about the chill.

All in all, a really fantastic weekend - good running in wonderful scenery, just about perfect weather on the Sunday and the company of a great bunch of buddies. When’s the next one?

Nathan Michael Bedford

2010-08-11T20:41:00.001+01:00

The wee fella in the picture is our new nephew, Nathan Michael Bedford, with his proud parents. We spent most of the week down in Beverley so we could say hello.

We also found some time to visit the York Maze where we had great fun running around the maze and playing in the park.

And of course, Vikki and I managed a couple of runs, on the Beaver Trail and the Hudson Way respectively.

Don't Trust Trusta

2010-08-01T13:46:00.005+01:00

This morning's run was a bit of an adventure. I had decided to have a shorter weekend run this week (the next two will be ramping up miles in preparation for the Speyside Way Race) but thought it would be good fun to cycle out to the woods, run around for a bit, and then cycle home. And it was good fun, despite almost getting lost thanks to the map being wrong (I think - if anyone knows better then I hold up my hands and apologise, but I'm pretty damn sure about this).

If anyone is interested - you can follow this on multimap here.

I started out from the red circle with the intention of taking the fairly direct track up Hill of Trusta, and then seeing if I could do a bit of total off-road heading East. However, I soon hit the junction that is marked Foggy Moss on the map and thought I must have missed the track so I kept going thinking I would take the next left and cut back towards the hill that way. Except that when I did turn left, I knew I'd gone too far so I decided to get the map out again, and cross-reference it with my phone's GPS to find that I'd arrived in the area of Hurlie Bog. Oh well, I thought, just keep going, left at the next junction and that'll take me back in the right direction. So I plodded on for a bit before I once again got the feeling that the track was not going the way the map said it would, so I checked the GPS and it told me I was just to the West of the track to Hill of Trusta marked on the map. Clearly I was on a track that despite being a proper forest road wasn't on the map but I decided to follow it a wee bit further until I could see that it was following the contours round the hill to "Moss of Anaholans" and points beyond - completely the wrong direction for me.

Thankfully, I noticed a muddy looking track down the divide between some older trees and newly planted ones which was heading South, back down towards the track I wanted, so I ran down that way and back to the car park where I'd left the bike, and headed for home.

In some ways it was quite good fun, but a little disconcerting thinking that I might have been lost and might have had to retrace my steps, just as the rain was coming on. Be careful if you're running, walking, or cycling around that bit of the woods - it looks like the maps are wrong.

Center Parcs 2010

2010-07-26T21:20:00.002+01:00

Well, it seems like a wee while ago now, but we had another holiday at Center Parcs Whinfell Forest, near Penrith.

As usual, it was good fun - the weather was somewhat changeable; generally warm but with a rain shower never far away. The boys had a lot of fun, with swimming, tree-trekking, canoeing, bowling, and messing around on pedalos. I also tried to teach them to play pool but even the short cue was too long for Calum and it didn't help that the table was too close to a wall.

Calum had a nice morning fishing with his grandad - not as successful as last time but they caught a couple of tiddlers anyway.

Vikki and I went out for a couple of runs - the first was supposed to be a trip round Skiddaw, Great Calva, and Blencathra but we turned back before the summit of Skiddaw as it was so cold, wet, and generally horrible. For our next expedition, we drove to Caldbeck and followed the Cumbria Way South for 9 miles into the valley between Great Calva, and Blencathra before coming back the same way - http://www.multimap.com/s/uYlNjOdc. All jolly good fun!

Thanks as ever to my lovely in-laws for a superb holiday and for their company and their babysitting skills.

Lots more pictures here:

2010-07 Center Parcs 2010

Just Swimming In The Rain

2010-07-06T22:09:00.005+01:00

(What a Glorious Feeling, I'm Happy Again)

My main target for the Stonehaven Half Marathon was to get round in a decent time, quicker than last year, hopefully quicker than my 2008 Clova time, and definitely ahead of any really old blokes. And I almost succeeded!

In fact, I felt like I had a really good run and paced it well. I ran quite a bit with Jonathan whose company helped eat up the miles. Like with Finlay from Livingstone on the club run on Thursday, it was good to be reminded by someone from further afield how nice the countryside around Stonehaven is to run in - even in the dismal weather.

Nice to see Fiona and Annie at the Fetchpoint and to be able to ditch hat and gloves (I want them back at some point, though).

We hit the 8 mile marker (just as the long downhill starts) at about 1h15 which meant roughly 9mm to the finish would do for a sub 2 hour. The previous mile had been 9:20 ish but that felt distinctly doable so we pushed on. The next couple of miles went well, but I felt I was slowing slightly so urged J to push on himself and gradually watched him pass other runners and disappear into the distance (great run by him, especially when he'd done 11 miles the day before). I felt that I was still going at a decent enough pace and passed a few groups of runners myself (not generally something I'm used to at the end of a race). I was raging at the wind a bit, worried that it was slowing me down so I was going to miss the 2 hour mark, and it sapped my strength a bit.

The last mile back through the town felt tough but it was good to see some familiar faces, marshalling or out spectating in the rain. As I swung into the park, someone confirmed that I was just about 2 hours so I gave it a last push to get over the line and into the welcome seats to get my chip sorted out. Just over 2 hours by my watch but I hadn't stopped it immediately so I wasn't sure but the timing screen was showing 2:00:18 against my name. Damn. Still, not a bad time and better than I'd dared hope so I was actually quite chuffed.

Regrouped with mrs s who'd smashed her PB, then spent a little time catching up with a few other runners - great PBs from Conor, Mike, Jo and Jonathan, club standard for Jane (who also won her age group), and probably others but my memory isn't great - before heading home through the increasingly heavy drizzle.

Later on we took L and C for a swim in the outdoor pool - we could hear thunder and the rain was stotting off the surface of the water but it was fun and not too cold as long as you kept moving.

The day ended with the traditional trip to the Marine for drinks and a blether. Good times were had by all, despite the spilling of drinks and mrs s almost coming to blows with our youngest drinking companion :)

I also found out that my chip time was 1:59:56, so I had sneaked under 2 hours :) although not quite good enough for a PB (not that I really care that much about such things). Sadly I think that I was again beaten by the oldest man in the race - I might be wrong but we think the oldest runner finished in 1:27:58 taking the 60+ prize and ahead of most of the field!

Stonehaven Half Marathon 2010

2010-07-06T21:53:00.004+01:00

Sunday was the Stonehaven Half Marathon. It is our local race, run by our club and marshalled by lots of folk I know. I really look forward to it as I feel like I'm saying hya all the way through and waving all the time! I spent an hour the day before helping to make up the goody bags. My job was to put a banana in each bag - 400 odd in total.

Last year's race was run in extreme heat, probably the hottest day of the year and I wilted. Ran it in 1:58. So this year my targets were to beat that time and enjoy the race. And get some points in the club championship. The weather had been hot leading up to the day but as Sunday dawned we had a storm brewing. It was raining, muggy, and very windy. Not good conditions for spectating. Or for meeting up with Fetchies unfortunately. Sorry glypta, RedSquirrel, and sheri3004. Everyone was queuing for their numbers then sheltering in the pavillion. We did see Ultracat before the race and Bousn Tony in the distance.

This year Neil Easton from our club did the pre-race chat and was very good at it. I lined up with Jo, Nicola, and Nina from my club. Iain, Jonathan, and Richard were behind us. The first 4 miles of the race have some brutal hills and the first climb is up Belmont Brae, just round the corner from the start. George was there with words of encouragement, which was great. On Evan Street the hill is known as Beefy Brae and I was already feeling puffed out and hot so I followed Nicola's example and stripped off my helly hansen layer and flashed my bra at everyone. Ran with it tied round my waist for the rest of the race. Pretty soon Jo and Nicola left me behind but I stayed with Nina. I expected to be beaten by all three of them so I wasn't concerned.

Here are my splits:

8.14 7.47 8.28 9.49 7.41 7.39 8.43 8.09 7.37 7.45 8.25 7.30 7.45 1.22

I was very pleased with my pace for the first three miles despite the braes I was going quite fast for me! The 4th mile you will notice is a lot slower but that involves the steepest hill which I had already decided to walk up. So Nina overtook me as I walked up the hill. In the club championship that meant I was looking at 17 points which is one more that I got last year for this race so :-)

Got to the top of the Swanley Hill and heard the piper. Great feeling at that point as I knew that was the worst of it over and it was mostly downhill for the next 9 miles. I speeded up and overtook Nina on the downhill. I was feeling really good now with the wind helping me on. 5th mile was 7.41! Shocker! I was looking forward to seeing Annie's Fetchpoint by now at mile 7. She had promised jelly babies and balloons with Laurie's face on them. Big cheer from Annie and a couple of jelly babies, but the Laurie balloons had all burst :-(
Another good moment was turning on to the Slug Road for the last few miles back in to town. I always get a boost when we turn and head for home and it's also downhill which suits me. Mile 9 came and I saw Jo in the distance. I must admit I was spurred on with the thought of perhaps overtaking Jo. I managed to catch up with her just before the last big hill. So of course I walked again and she ran past me! We had a wee chat and both said we were knackered. At the top of the hill I picked up the pace and managed to catch Jo up again and ran for a bit using her as a wind-break. I felt I had a bit left in me and at the next downhill I decided to go for it and put on a burst of speed to overtake Jo and try and go for the finish. Of course I felt totally sick and had to keep saying to myself "just keep the legs moving". The wind was very strong in my face and at times I felt like it was going to blow me over. I managed to keep it up and did the last two miles in 7.30 and 7.45 which is totally unheard of for me! I thought I might get a PB which was so unexpected. Was great to be shouted over the line by George and Annie among others and I didn't even collapse at the end or throw up. Finish time was 1:46:58 a PB by 3 minutes!!! The chairs were a nice touch and I sat down to take my chip off. My parents had come to see me finish which is unusual for them. I congratulated Nicola on an excellent time of 1:44:06. Next cheered Jo over the line in 1:48:34 which was a PB too. Many folk from our club PBd including Conor and Mike who took quarter of an hour off or something! I was looking out for Iain and watching the clock. He really wanted to beat the 2 hour mark, and the clock went past it :-(. But then I saw him come storming in, no octogenarians in sight and he finished strongly. Later on we found out his chip time was 1:59:56 so he beat the 2 hours! Saw Jonathan and Jane too, both ran great races. It turned out that Jane had won the prize for her age cat but left before the presentation. Also Nicola won first local female prize (I think I was 2nd local female) and Iain Steel from our club won his age catagory and came 21st overall.

We walked home in the torrential rain to relieve Iain's Auntie from babysitting duties. Then we dropped the youngest off at my folks so we could take the older two swimming in the outdoor pool as we got free entry with our race numbers. There was a thunderstorm while we were in the pool and the wind was a bit cold but still good fun.

Lovely take-away pizza for tea then we were off out to the Marine for a few drinkies. Met up with lots of club folk and drank far too much gin and wine. Made it home by 11:20pm as ordered by the babysitters. All in all a very good day.

Thanks to all the organisers and marshals and I can't wait til next year! And Dave, Maz, and Laurie book your hols for a different time next year!

Click here for photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=185821&id=716929703&l=eab4bd17e4

Water Way To Go....

2010-06-29T22:07:00.003+01:00

No pictures sadly, but last night was the annual Beaver's end of term water fight at which everyone got well and truly soaked. As ever, it was great fun but sadly it was Emma's last night in charge after being involved for about 10 years. A collection had been made for a wee gift and flowers, and we got all the boys (including some of the Scouts who were there who had been Beavers) to raise a great big cheer. It was hard to tell with all the water everywhere, but I think she shed a tear or two.

So, pending official appointment, I'm the leader. Worried? You should be. I am!

On the March

2010-06-26T20:59:00.003+01:00

There are some pictures on facebook here.

The views from the ski centre were amazing with Rannoch Moor in one direction and Glencoe in the other, and we met up again with team Lintie and team Remoh. Remoh had been tiring so was sleeping in the car to recharge the batteries, and Lintie arrived in need of cold drink and a sandwich. Llama called on the mobile to see how things were going and when he told Dod that Lintie was there, he wanted to speak to her so I trotted across the car park with my phone, leaving V at the food counter with no money!

After food and an attempt at sleep, we got ready for George and the guys to appear as the midges began to swarm. Slight panic when we decided that it would be best for V to go in support for the next bit instead of starting at Kinlochleven, but George and Keith were taking a wee break so she had plenty of time to get back into running mode, not that much running was going to be required. So, as the sun went down, they were off again towards Kings House with the plan to rendezvous with the cars at the bottom of the Devil's Staircase - where Llama told me that he'd broken his windscreen trying to get the rear view mirror back on because it had fallen off when they tried to adjust it. He was a bit worried about getting picked up by the police so we decided that the best plan was for me to drive Andy back to Bridge of Orchy. Strangley enough, we did see a police car on that drive, as well as a deer at the side of the road which we complimented for not jumping out in front of the car. Of course, that meant that on the way back, a couple of deer ran right across in front of me, forcing me to brake. I couldn't help but laugh to myself when I saw this about a minute later:

I got back to the Devil's Staircase and Steve was still there - the guys were taking a bit longer than we expected for this section, but it gave us time to admire the moon and the way that Buachaille Etive Mòr was somehow catching the very last of the light, and to chat to some of the other racers and supporters. After a while, our wee posse appeared, trooped off up into the gloom, and we were back in the cars heading for Kinlochleven. The absurdity of following a guy driving a mirror-less car around the Scottish highlands after midnight while our friends were running/and walking somewhere in the hills around us really struck me at this point. Thankfully I had Mark E Smith to keep me sane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxcr8kSGbcs

Tried to get some sleep at Kinlochleven and dozed on a couch for a bit but felt my gout flaring up and started really hoping that the current team of Mike and Vikki were good to see George all the way to the finish. Walking around helped a bit so when Llama woke up we went out to see if we could spot any lights on the hillside. It didn't seem long before we spotted them coming, and then realised that Mike had come down quicker with instructions about food and drink and the information that V would be very happy if I could take over for a bit. My foot still felt a wee bit sore, but it would be OK, so I changed into my cushioned running shoes and started sorting out my pack while George sat down and had a can of Guinness!

But soon we were off, and walking up the hill out of the village in the dark, looking forward to the sun rise as we headed through the Lairig Mor, with me thinking there was no way out at the far end until we finally rounded the corner and the landscape opened up a bit again. George and Keith were obviously very tired by now, and George's feet were hurting badly, but we were still moving at a decent pace and I knew these guys would see it through. I'd thought Mike was going to make it to the finish, but he hadn't had enough sleep or food (too busy worrying about George to think of his own needs) and said he'd want to stop at Lundavra. I tried to call ahead to get V ready to be on the move again but there was no reception, so it came as a bit of a shock when we arrived at the check-point and we said we could do with a swap. To make things worse, George decided to head straight through without stopping. Llama soon caught us up - fittingly he was going to be with us to the finish now, after being there with George and Keith at the start of their adventure.

As we made our way through Nevis Forest, a glint seemed to return to Keith's eye, George perked up a bit, and we all picked up the pace a wee bit as we admired the views of the Ben. Before we knew it, we were out of the woods (literally, and we hoped figuratively) and descending towards Braveheart car park where Merv was waiting to say hello. Not far to go now and we walked in formation into Fort William. There was a touching moment when K and G shook hands before breaking into a trot across the car park and up the steps of the Leisure Centre. 163 miles in 56 hours (or something like that). Pretty bloody amazing, and I'm pleased to have played a small part in that.

The next few hours were all about catching up with everyone else and getting breakfast before the prize giving where every finisher was cheered as they collected their crystal goblet. A huge well done to every one of them - I hope to perhaps join that illustrious band. Maybe. Some time. Perhaps.

Tyndrum to Glencoe

2010-06-24T12:50:00.005+01:00

So, to Tyndrum, the village in the middle of nowhere (or in the middle of everywhere as they like to call it) and a pleasant surprise in meeting Dave K and Carolyn who were out for a wee walk, a pick-nick, and to watch the runners on their merry way. They were able to give us a quick run-down so we knew the other Fetchies were doing well and pushing on ahead of us up the trail (being near the back is something I'm well used to, but it must have seemed a bit strange to Dod at times, I think). The guys came through with a quick stop for a chat, then off to Bridge of Orchy where Mike was going to take a break and Llama and his imaginary friend Andy were going to run for a bit. We also decided that V was going to run for a bit as well.
While waiting at BoO, we also met JammyLu and HappyG(rrr), got our first sight of Soph's "sunshine bus", and saw Lintie come through with RFSQL and Jules - all looking strong and running well despite the crazy heat. Not for the last time, it felt like one big alcohol-free (almost) party, slowly moving up the country with already familiar faces, and getting familiar faces appearing at each stop. The scenery around BoO was great (don't think I've ever been there in the sunshine before) but it seemed even nicer at our next stop, Victoria Bridge. There must have been a dozen tents around there and quite a few people milling about, but it still felt extremely tranquil and isolated. Just fab, really. Mike and I had some time to burst blisters and take photos of a totally unperturbed stag before we spotted our runners on the zig-zag slope down the hill and I went out to chat to them all and see if they needed anything while Mike got ready at the car to dole out the supplies. For two guys that had now covered well over a hundred miles, George and Keith were still going strong, keeping to a good steady walking pace. V decided to take a break in order to be fresh for later on, so we picked her up at the Forest Lodge (where the "No Stopping" sign seemed just right for race day) and headed for Glen Coe and the prospect of some cooked food at the ski centre, despite the best efforts of an idiot driver who couldn't make up his mind which side of the road he should have been on. Eejit!

(TBC)

It's All George's Fault...

2010-06-21T21:56:00.005+01:00

...although it's also Keith's fault, and Balmedie Beach's fault, and a bottle of wine's fault, and facebook's fault, and Mike's, and Llama's, and V's, and I suppose I have to take some of the blame for the rather bizarre weekend we've just had.
In case anyone doesn't know, George and Keith had decided to warm up for the gruelling 95 mile West Highland Way Race by running a gruelling 95 miles in the opposite direction in less than 24 hours giving themselves roughly an hour to freshen up between (generally, the word "nutters" should be springing to mind at this point). To assist them in this, Keith had Merv and Gary and Kirsten (apologies if any names are wrong but the old memory's not what it used to be) and George had Mike and Llama.
Meanwhile, I was looking forward to a nice quiet weekend with the kids, right up to Thursday night when the lovely mrs s got back from the Balmedie Beach Bash and decided she needed some wine to get over the horrors of running on sand. At this point, Mike seized his opportunity, and using the power of facebook, he pointed out that he and Llama felt that it would be nice to have another runner around on Saturday evening and night, just in case. Of course, the idea that Vikki could be that runner was ridiculous - she didn't want to go on her own, we have children to look after, and the idea of taking the children with us was unthinkable. So, obviously by Saturday lunchtime George and Keith (and a hundred and sixty or so other runners) were making their way Northwards (having not quite done the whole 95 miles Southwards but not too bothered), the children were with their grandparents and Vikki and I were driving Westwards with a pile of clothes, sleeping bags, food, and drink in the back of the car. So much for my nice quiet weekend!
After almost running Mike over as he came out of Ewich forest, we rolled up to Auchtertyre Farm
to see everyone and generally find out what was going on. George decided to strip off - if only I had that effect on women - and wanted to show Llama his chafed bits as he chomped his way through a pot noodle. Thankfully he got into some fresh clothes before he and Keith set off towards Tyndrum with Kirsten and Mike in support while we piled back into the car and almost ran Mike over for the second time that day.

(TBC)

Lochnagar

2010-06-13T16:30:00.005+01:00

Had a great day out in the hills yesterday - a bit of running, a bit of walking, and plenty of chat with a good group of friends. Got a lift to Glen Muick with Dod and Lintie where we met up with Mike and Jonathan. The plan was to head up to Cac Carn Beag (the main peak above Lochnagar) then decide on the route depending on how everyone was feeling. The weather was kind and legs were coping well with the easy pace so we decided to take the longer way back via Carn an t-Sagairt Mòr, Cairn Bannoch, and Broad Cairn (we missed out Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach from the recognised round for some reason I can't quite remember). The weather was kind - strong wind at times, but not too cold and with a bit of sunshine - and I had a lovely day out.

Great company, great mountains and great views. Big thanks to Jonathan for organising it.

I've put the best of my photos on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=240898&id=826853218&l=467cdcf57a which should be accessible, even if you don't have a facebook account. Please let me know if it doesn't work.

Well Done Lachlan

2010-05-21T21:16:00.002+01:00

Well done to Lachlan today. He was taking part in the K'Nex Challenge which he and a classmate qualified for by winning a heat at the school. Today they came 5th out of over 90 teams competing and will go on to the Grampian Area Final.

What makes me most proud of Lachlan is that he is working in a team, not something that comes naturally to him at all. I hope it's a good sign for the future.

Highland Fling 3 - finishing up

2010-05-04T21:56:00.000+01:00

I quite fancied a beer and stovies but the signs made it clear they were for the ultra runners only (and even they didn't all get stovies) so I settled for coke and crisps from the shop and waited to see who would appear. I was delighted to see santababy finishing in a fantastic time, crying with the emotion of it all, then finding her composure, discovering her son had come to see her, and losing it all again. Great to see Robbo come home and a smiling supernormal and bouncytime.

The finish area was starting to get busy and I can't really remember who I saw when, but there was a really good feeling in the air. I got a text from Ann to say mrs s had been spotted crossing the road, then a text from mrs s reading "Wigwams " so I knew she was just about there and then she called to see if I would keep her company for a bit, so I jogged back down the track against the trickle of tired runners heading the other way. I passed a confused Dod and Lintie, Sophster (missed her flare at the finish unfortunately) and GraemeC, then met mrs s and headed back to the finish where she helped herself to a well-deserved sit down and gave me her free beer (thanks ). I remember seeing MikeR, _andy, Rob MacSunday all finish (I like the flag Rob - nice touch) and pestomum completing her team's race before I went back down the route again to see who else was on the way. Really pleased to see M1nty heading towards the finish and looking strong and determined - I hope the high-five made up for not seeing him cross the line. I met Andrinne soon after so turned and headed for the finish line again where we could finally collect our team goody bag. We stayed to see flip and Dave K finish, then mrs s was going white so we decided to get some food from the Real Food Cafe which was excellent as usual.

We ate, we showered, then off to Paddy's for drinks followed by a stroll up to the ceilidh where we drank and chatted (I seem to remember laughing a lot) and danced a bit until it was time to hobble back to the hotel.

Strangely enough, enthusiasm for Devil reps with Dod and Lintie had waned over night (I think I'd have been up for it but we needed to get home ) but everyone enjoyed a hearty breakfast as more chat was chatted before multiple good-byes were said, and everyone went their separate ways.

It was a splendid weekend spent in the company of a very special group of friends. I'll be looking forward to the next time we all get together, whenever that might be. A few people have asked if I'll run the whole Fling next year. I have other ideas about what I really want to do next year, but they don't preclude running in the Fling and I'm pretty sure I'll be involved one way or another. I'm still concerned about the cut-off time so feel that waiting another year (and getting another hour if the current system continues) might be the best option, so I may well be looking for a relay team again next year (there was a drunken discussion about a 4 Ia(i)ns team) but who knows?

So, I'm off to sign up for a "how to write less and say more" course. Well done to everybody involved - the ultra runners, the relay runners, the marshalls, the supporters, the organisers - you're all brilliant.

Highland Fling 2 - the actual running bit

2010-05-04T21:55:00.000+01:00

Yes, there was running involved, lots of it, although more by some than by others.

There was a good atmosphere at Milngavie as 6am approached with everyone arriving and getting ready to set off. mrs s managed to miss the Fetch photo call and Murdo's briefing while in the loo, but other than that, everything was fine and we headed towards the tunnel. Almost before I knew what was going on, the whistle went and all the runners streamed up the steps and away.

I was planning to go back to the hotel to finish packing but ended up blethering to M1nty and Mrs Minty, Llamadance, flip, and Dave K so before I knew it, it was approaching 7, Murdo was giving another briefing and we were heading for the underpass again. I went up the steps to get a couple of photos and then saw MikeR and _andy so said hello to them as the whistle went and the next lot of runners set off. I was determined to get back to the hotel this time, but stopped to wish Simon good luck and then met Dogtanian before I got away. It was great to see everyone, but I really wanted to get the hotel sorted out and get up to Drymen to see how things were going up there.

At Drymen, we found the first problem with the new chip timing system. Basically, you can't look over the marshalls' shoulders to figure out who has been and gone and who is still coming, but I was fairly sure nobody I knew would have been there before me, so I took a stroll down across the field, and saw Robbo7777 (joking about his best side as usual) and then santababy who gave me a great big hug. It was great to see Sophster, supernormal, and bouncytime all looking happy and running well. I got all the way across the field and then spotted Dod and Lintie coming down the road which got me slightly worried as I expected mrs s to be with them. But she wasn't far behind and had made two new friends (what are the chances?), so I ran back over the field with mrs s, Anna, and Denise, stepped right in the muddy bit, then waved them off at the checkpoint and jumped back in the car, so I could get down to Milngavie for the 9am relay start. Yes, my morning was all a bit mad and involved far too much rushing around.

Thankfully, Ann had registered for the team and was ready with timing chip and sash, and as a bonus I was able to hang out with the Twa Drams & A Piece of Cake team after our first leg runners set off. We went to Costa No-Coffee-For-Another-Ten-Minutes, drank tea, ate croissants, and had a nice wee blether. A little bit of me was starting to worry because their whole team was there and mine wasn't, but I knew I could rely on Andrinne to get run2thehills from Stonehaven to Rowardennan in time. So then back to Drymen, parked in the car park (without sliding around like a mad thing this time), changed into running gear, and up to the check point. Ann arrived just after 11 as expected, and I finally had to do some running. Yep, a page and a half of nonsense bloggage, and I've finally started to run.

As I ran along the road and turned onto the trail, I could just make out a couple of runners up ahead, but no sign of anyone behind. I wondered if I might catch up, but was well prepared for a steady solo run with just nature and my own thoughts for company. As it happened, there were quite a few walkers on the route who were friendly and wished me luck. The last time I'd been on that path, it was covered in snow - not as scenic this time, but much easier going and I was able to follow the proper path so no dodgy river crossings this time. As I reached the bridge that marks the start of Conic Hill, I heard my phone and smiled, knowing that would be mrs s at Rowardennan. I checked while I walked and sure enough, Rowardennan and a smiley face. I sent a quick text to my team to let them know I was on the hill, then got down to the serious business of marching up the hill and enjoying the views When I reached the top of the path, I could see that I'd gained on the runners in front (still no sign of anyone behind) and that they were very tentatively making their way down and I decided to go for a fairly quick descent. The spirit of Dod reminded me that the grassy surface to the right of the path would be my friend here, and so it was, up to the point where my foot slid in the mud and I had to put my hand down to avert disaster. I passed the two other runners (and a dozen or so walkers) with a cheery smile - I was really enjoying myself and in what felt like no time at all, I was passing another runner and heading in to the car park at Balmaha to see Ann with her camera and the Donoghues having a picnic.

At this point, I was feeling pretty good and felt my pace had been OK so I was happy just to keep on plodding away on my own, past the beach etc. Then when I reached Cashel, a woman in a Harmeny vest passed me - I've no idea how long she'd been tailing me, but it was the first sign that my pace was probably slipping. Just before I hit the next hill, my phone went again and I thought "that'll be mrs s at Inversnaid. Good stuff" but then it went again which confused me. Turned out the first one was a message of support from josieT which was nice to receive. I looked back along the path, I noticed that the two ladies I'd passed on Conic Hill were not far behind. I had slowed down a fair bit, so tried to push on a bit for a couple of miles. The two women caught me up and spoke for a wee bit and then IanS joined us and we exchanged a few words before he moved on ahead. My legs were hurting by this point so it was with relief that I saw the 2km to Rowardennan sign. It felt like a long 2km but it wasn't too long before I was past the hotel (the beer and food being consumed in the beer garden looked great) and heading towards the changeover at the entrance to the car park (and realising I was a little outside my hoped for 3 hours). Except it wasn't there. It was at the far end of the car park this year, but run2thehills was there and ready to go. I passed over the sash and the chip and wished him luck.
"2 hours 15? 2 and a half?" he said.
"I had you down for about 3", I replied.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. But go prove me wrong!"
I'd warned him about how difficult that section gets, but at that point, I don't think he'd fully appreciated what he was facing.

Andrinne drove me back to Drymen to pick up my car (I felt like being sick but managed to keep it together), then we headed in convoy up the other side of the Loch. I was really pleased that I saw Johnny "Sticky" Budden (Link (roll over me to see where I go)), but I'm not sure if he appreciated a strange bloke yelling encouragement out of a car, and I think Andrinne must have wondered what the hell was going on. It was decided that Andrinne was going to go to Bein Glas and see halfpint and get ready for her final leg while I went on to the finish to see what was happening there. Meanwhile Ann was getting mobile on her bike and checking out where people were on the course.

There's more drama and high emotion to come, but I'll leave that for another post because I've rambled on longer than intended again. Succinctness is not my forte, it would seem. Running's not really my forte either, but I'm reasonably pleased with my efforts on Saturday and I enjoyed it, especially the descent of Conic Hill (even though I probably should have taken it a bit easier).

Highland Fling 1 - not the ideal preparation

2010-05-04T21:53:00.001+01:00

(Another copy of a Fetch blog post)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I often get nervous before races - not about the running, but more about getting to the start, finding a car park, somehwere to stay, etc, etc. So, captaining a relay team for a race on the other side of the country while my mrs was to be running a 53 mile ultra might not have seemed like the best plan. Nevertheless, the organisation went pretty well, and despite having to make a late substitution because of halfpint's injury, we were all ready, everyone knew where they had to be at roughly what time, and had organised transport, accommodation, and (where necessary) child minding.

And then a volcano erupted in Iceland. And our babysitters are stuck in Malta. So I go back to full scale worry mode - plans B, D, E are formulated, evaluated and rejected. Substitute runners, babysitters, and accommodation are tentatively sounded out before plan F is decided on which involved a switch to leg 4 for me, Ian and Andrinne having to get up early, and halfpint having to tie our kids to a tree in Tyndrum while waiting for mrs s to finish. Not ideal, but a plan that would work, and an end to the panic and the worry and the not knowing.

So there we are on Friday morning, getting packed, dividing food into drop-bags for mrs s and generally getting ready for a weekend of running and listening to moaning kids when the call comes in. The in-laws are flying back in the middle of the night. Suddenly, alternatives are available, reality shifts again, and new plans are formed. We take the kids to Milngavie, the in-laws meet us there at stupid o'clock am, after they land in Glasgow, they take the kids away, and everything else reverts to plan A. My brain just about explodes but we have a plan, the school bell is ringing and it's time to rock and roll. Or something like that.

The car journey was great - we had a few phone calls to let us know that the flight would be earlier, then later, then roughly the same time again. Littlest shanksi took a dislike to the fair city of Perth and showed his feelings through the medium of vomit. But, before you could say "are we there yet" 32 times, we were in Milngavie and at the restaurant, and everyone was there and there were hugs and kisses and "Happy St George's Day" wishes and "Shut the Englander up" requests and beer and pasta and olives and the kids were actually quite well behaved and we were having a good time.

We left the party a bit early because we expected to be awakened early and headed to the hotel where the staff were being as friendly and helpful as they were last year and assured us we'd be able to make our breakfasts in the morning etc. And so to bed, not entirely sure if we'd be woken by an alarm clock or a phone call, but knowing it would be early in either case. It turned out to be the alarm - no call from the in-laws, maybe they'd been delayed a wee bit, but sure they'd be in touch soon. In any case, time for mrs s to get up and get her breakfast and any last minute preparations. Still no call, I'm getting a little bit worried again, as I was expecting a text from the airport. And then "We're in the car park". Except they're not. Eek. What's gone wrong. They've ended up at the wrong hotel, but it's OK because it's only 5 minutes away, and the reason they didn't call earlier is that they've been sitting there for an hour and a half so we could get a decent amount of sleep. How brilliant are they?

And finally, the kids are being bundled half-asleep into the in-laws car and they're setting off up the road, mrs s has porridge inside her, her drop bags are looking good, flip and santababy have been spotted getting ready, Dod and Lintie have texted to say they're on their way and did mrs s need a lift (not needed, but thank you), and we've picked up a hitch-hiker in the shape of JenJ and are off to the station. The hotel room still needs to be cleared, but I've plenty of time to do that later. The important thing is that it's race day, mrs s is in plenty time for the 6 o'clock start, the kids are in safe (but other) hands, and I can relax for a bit and enjoy the day.

Sorry, but as ever I've rambled on in my usual way, and haven't even got to the running bit yet. And there are tales of meeting Fetchies and drinking and dancing to come as well, so stay tuned - but don't hold your breath, it takes me ages to get going on these things.

And then I have trouble stopping, obviously!

Thanks for listening.

Assuming you have been.

Half the West Highland Way in a Oner!

2010-05-04T21:46:00.004+01:00

2010-04-24 Highland Fling

Last weekend, Vikki and I took part in the Highland Fling 53 mile ultra race. The following is Vikki's blog as previously posted on Fetch (so you don't need to read it if you've seen it there :).

My 3 blogs will follow here soon....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This race has been a long time coming. A wee bit of background: shanksi found out about this race last year and suggested we form a relay team to run it in 2009. I said yes, as long as I could do the easiest bit (ie first leg). We did the race and really enjoyed it, although shanksi had a bit of a mare on leg 3. We went to the ceilidh early and left as the ultra runners were arriving. Stayed in the Wigwams.

This time I thought I would go for the whole thing . The training runs we did were superb and I kept up my miles and felt ready for it. The D33 was a great training run. I was actually following a training schedule for Edinburgh marathon in May and adding more miles in and doing some back-to-back long runs on Loon Dod's advice.
As the day approached we had a slight hiccup in the plans cos my folks got stuck in Malta due to the volcano. If you want the details on that read shanksi's blog. We had to take the kids to Milngavie with us on the Friday which was alright and they enjoyed the meal at the Italian restaurant. I felt we couldn't get in with the Fetchie chat as we were dealing with them which was a shame. We all went to bed at 10pm and set the alarm for 4:30am
My folks arrived and took the kids home for us and I am so grateful, they are stars!
Met up with all the fetchies at the start and soon we were off. My plan had been to stay in sight of LD and Lintie for at least the 1st leg so I wouldn't get lost but they went too quick for me! I ended up running with lizogical and two non fetch ladies called Anna and Denise. I was telling them both about Fetch and hopefully they will join. The first leg seemed to fly by and we didn't get lost . Met shanksi at Drymen which was nice and then my sister rang me on my mobile; I actually had to say "I'm in the middle of a race!" while running past a marshal laughing at me. So on to Conic Hill. It seemed further away than on our training run. Not sure if that was because I was running slower? It all looked a bit different without the snow. Climbing the hill was so much easier and I caught up with LD and Lintie there. I absolutely loved bombing down the other side and it was just so much better than our dreaded icy training run. Next stop Balmaha. Met bouncytime looking strong and she left not long after I arrived. The marshals were great with the drop bags, I liked that they asked for your number then had them ready to had to you. I stopped for the toilet (so civilised using a proper flushing toilet rather than a bush!). Then on to Rowardennan. I remembered it was still hilly and just walked quickly up the hills. Saw Soph, can't remember exactly where, (my brain has gone). Rowardennan came and I stopped for toilet again and my running mates pushed on instead so I did the next bit on my own. It was much harder on my own and I was very pleased to catch Anna and Denise up. Next stop was Inversnaid. Everything was going well and Anna and I stopped for the loo again (sorry for this!) but Denise was feeling really strong and pushed on without us. Anna and I stuck together and helped each other through the next lochside section which has all the rocks and ladders and bits where you think you might fall in. Some of the fast guys were passing us here and even they were chatting and saying well done. It was such a friendly race
I felt Bein Glas was a long time coming but I was still feeling good. Anna and I got chatting about all sorts, even politics . We were so pleased to see Bein Glas and I was happy to see halfpint with my cuppa tea Also saw Soph again fiddling with her feet. I had a tin of gin n tonic in my drop bag but didn't feel the need so I gave it to halfpint to look after and she was a mate and didn't drink it! I had it on Sunday night.
Last section was in sight, only 12ish miles to Tyndrum but v hilly. I'd done this section a few times in training but never after 40 miles. The hills felt longer than I remembered and I walked quite slowly up them. I was still managing to run the flat bits and downhill. Anna was getting a wee bit weary and said I should go on without her which I relunctantly did. For the first 6 miles of the last leg I was still ok but then starting feeling sick and I ran out of water . One of the worst parts of the course was the bit with the coos. They were totally blocking the path and they had their calves too so I walked very slowly past them on a ledge. How very dare they! Now in to the final 6 miles in the forest bit I couldn't believe how steep both the ups and downs were. I had sore thighs and in the end was only managing to run the downs. Sophster and GraemeC1983 caught me up and were great to chat to for a while til they got ahead. I loved hearing Soph's crazy singing and shouting echoing round the woods. Anna's Mum (who'd been a star supporting her daughter everywhere) appeared and offered me some water which saved me so big thanks to Anna's Mum Eve. I got to the wigwams hurrah! Texted shanksi. Then phoned shanksi cos I thought it would be nice to have him run me in. Spotted him with a mile to go and we jog-walked the rest together. I managed to sprint the very last bit to the line and it was wonderful to hear everyone calling my name and clapping. Finished in 12 hours 45 mins which I am very very pleased with as I had been telling everyone who asked 13 hours. Big hugs from Loon Dod, Lintie, santababy, halfpint, Sophster and loads more

Saw more folk come in, MikeR, DaveK, M1nty, Hendo, flip, Andrinne from shanksi's relay team. Rob MacSunday, Pestomum, Bonsim007, and _andy not in that order! Was lovely to see Robbo7777 waited to give me a hug before dashing off.

Didn't get any stovies as they'd run out . So we went to the Real Food cafe for lovely fish n chips and free tea with Ribenaface, Julesy, Run2theHills, halfpint, LorraineS, IanS and loads more sorry if I miss anyone's name out. Then back to Tyndrum Lodge to finally get a shower and change in to my party dress. Met up with everyone in Paddy's Bar. Had to get a lift out of my seat by shanksi and R2H as my legs had seized up. Went to the ceilidh and immediatley had a second tea of chicken curry . Actually got up to dance at the end and sing along with Flower of Scotland etc which made me lose my voice the next day. Was a great day and fun night and I finally crawled in to bed at 2am Can't wait for next year! Everyone did so well and you should all be proud. What a wonderful race with the friendliest people and the most beautiful scenery And Denise has joined Fetch as UltraDenise

Best ever race goody bag.

2010-04-04T13:42:00.001+01:00

Ultra Runner

2010-04-03T17:01:00.001+01:00

Dirty Weekend Away

2010-03-22T23:25:00.002Z

Sorry this blog is so long but I feel the need to spew it all out and never think of it again

Iain had been wanting to do this race for a couple of years but it always clashed with Calum's birthday. This year we decided to go for it since Calum's birthday is today so we were back to celebrate it.
Things started out well as we were organised enough to drop the boys off at my folks' house at 9:20am just when we said we would. We stopped off at the Tesco in Dundee for all the essentials - wet wipes, antibacterial hand cleaner, the Guardian, hankies, pasta salad, 3 tins of Gin and Tonic, and a box of wine.

The first argument occurred in Edinburgh. There was an accident at Baberton and the bypass was crawling. Iainpoints to a road on the map - we could just take this wee yellow road and avoid the jam he said. So I came off the bypass and end up in a huge jam in Colinton. Wasted loads of time there and ended up back on the bypass. Finally got to Innerleithan at about 1:30pm. Just in time to watch the spouse race. Some folk carrying their partners up a hill and back down. Luckily Iain is too weak to lift me.
Pitched the tent and went for a wander. The weather was fine and all seemed ok. We got changed in to daft costumes. I was pleased to see no one else thought of wearing a tiara, although I saw one other lady with pearls. We watched some of the 5k people finishing. They looked knackered and v wet and muddy. The slowest ones took over 2 hours to complete the 5k . I was starting to get worried. We met Stephen Terwey from our club who'd done it last year. He said he did the 10k in 1:33. But he is v fast. Had to have a g n t to calm my nerves.

Finally we got underway at 5:40pm. The race starts so late so you do half of it in the dark to add to the 'fun'. The first obstacle was hay bales and I managed to fall as I landed on one foot. Luckily I did a roll and nobody stood on me but I heard laughter from the crowd . We ran a tiny distance and were then stuck in the first bottleneck. The path was too narrow for the amount of folk. This happened a few times. Not long in to the race and we had to wade through the pond. Freezing dirty water up to my waist . The tweed skirt did not dry quickly and it was horrible. Iain had to give me a hand to get out. Next we ran to the base of the first hill. It was as steep as the Balmoral hill and everyone around us walked. We reached another bottleneck of folk at some logs we had to balance on. Met a fetchie at least - AnnaP who was very friendly. We had a spooky forest bit which they had livened up with disco balls and lights. I didn't enjoy the descent as it was v steep and dark. I kept worrying that I would fall. I was getting a bit miserable by now as I mistakenly thought that we had to do two 5 k loops that were the same. WRONG! It was two different loops! Before I realised that I was going to DNF after the first 5k. The next awful thing was a 200m wade through the river against the flow. shanksi practically dragged me and we were arguing again. Our next challenge was another steep hill but this time it was scree. People in front of us were moving so slowly which meant we got cold and frustrated. I think it was because there were more log balance things at the top. On the way back down it was steep again but thankfully I didn't injure myself. It was pitch black by then. Finally there was a bit running along the river bank which was alright cos I knew we were nearly finished. More stinky river nonsense but not as bad as before.
The last obstacles were a tunnel and a cargo net. Iain was ahead of me and got stuck! He had a bottle in his back pack and it got caught in the net. I was stuck behind him. Luckily he got through and we crossed the finish line hand in hand . It took us 3:00:06 according to the provisional results but I think it was actually less than 3. Still, it had been agony for me and I was close to tears at times and arguing which is not what you want. Poor Iain, I feel I spoiled it for him.
The medal was quite nice

The bad stuff continued afterwards when we had to queue for an hour for some food. There were only two wee stalls selling food to a 1000 folk!!! At least the other participants were friendly and I met a friend of Jane Tulloch's from Orkney. She was called Rachel from Gala Harriers. And she had been sick poor thing. So we finally got to the party and saw a bit of one band by 10:30pm. Iain had a pint but I didn't bother. Ended up going to bed fully-clothed as it was so freezing. The only good bit was snuggling while listening to the bands up to midnight. Then we tried to sleep. Got rudely awakened by some aresholes playing Arctic Monkeys at full blast from their car. Shoved Iain out the tent to confront them but someone else got there first and they shut up. Yes I am an old fogey! Hardly slept a wink (like normal in the tent) and got up when Iain said it was 8am. Turns out his watch was 2 hours fast. Never mind, I was desperate to get home. We went home still wearing the same clothes (not the wet muddy ones I must add) and had our breakfast in the Little Chef at Dreghorn. Maple syrup pancakes and tea . Cheered up when I saw my boys and had a shower. Then we both went to give blood. Had the last night and feel back to normal now.

I will not do this race again. Don't let me sign up!!! I have too much fear according to Iain. Walking waist deep in muddy freezing water just is not fun imho! Next race - D33

PS Stephen from our club came 5th! He had an amazing time of 1:22.

Too Much Traffic

2010-03-22T22:08:00.002Z

(Sorry, this is a long one)

For once, we set off when planned and made good time all the way to the Edinburgh City Bypass where we ground to a halt because of the traffic. I decided we might be better off on a different road, so I directed us onto a road through Colinton which was possibly busier and slower. Words were exchanged but we eventually got through it and were back on the road. I didn't know it at the time but this episode was to be echoed a couple of times before the day was out.

In any case, we arrived in plenty of time, and were setting the tent up as the Spouse Racing was going on and the 5K got under way while we had lunch washed down with G&T. Then registration, a tub of fine stew, and a chance to relax and watch some of the 5K runners finish (looking a bit wet but generally unscathed from their adventures) and generally soak up the atmosphere and look at the various outfits.

As the start time for the 10K approached we met Stephen from our club who was running this event for the second year running and ended up coming 5th this year. And then it was off to the start line to be told the start was being delayed for 10 minutes because it was too bright and sunny (the race is timed so that most runners finish in the dark). So a bit more milling around and warming up later and then we were off and heading up to the first obstacle - a wall of hay bales which I clambered over and then turned round to see Vikki picking herself up off the ground looking embarrassed rather than hurt. A tight turn onto a narrow road created a massive bottleneck which we shuffled through and then managed to run for a bit. Until we got to the first water hazard - two muddy pools followed by a muddy squelchy patch. The water was freezing and deep enough to soak my shorts in their entirety and much of the tweed(ish) jacket I was wearing. Vikki needed to be pulled out of the pool before we could head off up the hill - a long slog with only short sections where the gradient and the crowds allowed a bit of a run. Somewhere up there, it started to get dark under the trees, so torches were going on, and there were more bottlenecks at obstacles, and then we reached the top and headed steeply downhill, past the disco lights, over fences and down to the nets at the bottom before a flat run into the town and into the river which was flowing fairly quickly against us. (By the way, it turns out that wading in freezing cold fast flowing water in the dark is not the best idea for marriage relations. Who would have known.)

The next section took us up another steep hill, past some weird stone pillars and then down along a narrow path to the bottom of a very steep scree slope. I found this bit very frustrating because there was basically a single file path up and it turned into a slow walk with a complete standstill every few steps. At least I was able to do a bit of stargazing. Over the top of the hill, it opened out a bit but the descent was steep and Vikki didn't want to risk injury so we reined back a bit and jogged gently down. A bit more running on slippy paths, then back through the town (we got to use the bridge this time) and on to the sump - more waist depth water, this time in a wee tunnel under a bridge. Another couple of water crossings and we were finally at the back of Traquair House where the scent of the brewery gave me fresh impetus and we ran towards the finish. To my great embarrassment, I cocked up the cargo net in sight of the finish (I'd forgotten about the head torch and the backpack which both got caught). I grabbed Vikki's hand and we crossed the finish line together.

After that, it was time to get changed into dry clothes and then wait in a long queue to get something to eat, before finally getting to the after party and enjoying a beer, although we only stopped for one before heading back to the tent to warm up and chat while listening to the music from there. We woke to find frost over everything but managed to pack away the tent despite freezing hands and set off at which point we realised that my watch was a couple of hours fast and it was still only 8am. Still, it meant we got home at a sensible time.

All in all, an interesting experience, some fun bits, some not so fun bits. A little less fun than I'd been hoping for but more enjoyable than you might think if you listen to Vikki ;)

Would I do it again? Maybe, but I'd hope they did something about the bottlenecks and I'd go harder at the start to try and get further up the field.

There are some pictures on our picasa site here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/i.shanks/20100320TheMightyDeerstalker#
Search sleepmonsters and flickr for photos if you want to get a better idea of what the race was like.

Getting excited now

2010-03-20T15:51:00.001Z

Just a wee 54 mile bimble with friends

2010-02-10T22:09:00.002Z

Last weekend Iain and I were lucky enough to go down the the WHW for a weekend of back to back runs and a night in the luxurious *ahem* Tyndrum Lodge Hotel. It meant another 5am alarm call but it was worth it. Made it to Drovers by 9am and met up with Loon Dod, Lintie, Santababy, Simon, MikeR, Joopsy, M1nty, Ribenaface (RFSQL), and Robbo7777. The weather was mild and thankfully there was no ice
We set off for Rowardennan at 9ish am. The first 7 miles to Inversnaid seemed to pass quicker than last time but we were only 6 minutes quicker. Used the posh toilets again at the hotel (how civilised!) and we were off again. Got to the Rowardennan Hotel in time for lunch although Joopsy and I managed to run right past it! Iain had to shout at us to come back. When we got in the fast lot were already having some lovely soup beside the fire. Iain bought me a cup of tea and I rearranged my food for the journey back.
It's quite hard to leave a pub with an open fire to run back but I managed it and really enjoyed the trip. Lots of good chatting and spotting goats and dead sheep along the way. At least we didn't have to wade through the loch this time. We made it back before nightfall (7.5 ish hours) and collapsed in to the Drovers bar. I was willing to drive and let Iain have a pint but he said it was fine so I had a v nice g 'n' t with the gang. Everyone did so well and Iain and Ribenaface popped their ultra cherries
We all went back to Tyndrum and met up with Llamadance in Paddy's Bar. He couldn't make it for the running but managed the fish 'n' chips and a drink with us. We all ate for Scotland in the Real Food Cafe and enjoyed free cuppas in our mugs from the Fling. Back to Paddy's for more drinking and much hilarity abuout Japanese vending machines and the like but shanksi and I were tiring and left them to it at 10:30pm. Next thing was being woken up at ?? o'clock by Santa and Simon laughing their heads off in the corridor... Found out the next day that most of the folk had stayed up drinking shots until chucking out time. Much respect due for their endurance!!
Met the gang for breakfast and Ribenaface was a wee bit worse for wear and said he wouldn't be running that day (he hadn't planned to but I thought we might persuade him). Sophster was on her way so it was one out and another in for round 2 - Tyndrum to Bein Glas and back. Not long after we set off M1nty was feeling a bit sore in the ankles after he'd gone over them the day before. He turned back, but then caught up with us again. Then after 6 miles Iain decided to turn back. He met M1nty and they hitchhiked back to Tyndrum(!) The rest of us carried on and one of the best bits was the downhill in to Bein Glas. I was thinking - now I'll get to the loo, but alas it was locked . So I just kept it in. I'm useless at doing it outside. M1nty peeped us from his parked car to say bye. On the way back we spotted someone on a hill taking pics; it was Iain! He'd driven over to meet us. I wasn't even tempted to get a lift back, I was feeling so good. The run back to Tyndrum was excellent fun listening to the singing (mainly Santababy) and all the chat . Best bit was running up to where the finish line will be on the 24th. Met Iain in the pub and he'd drank 2 pints of guinness so I had to drive home grrr!

Here are some pics

Magnus is Two

2010-02-03T23:14:00.001Z

Where has the time gone? Magnus turned two yesterday so we celebrated in the usual style with presents and cake. The lucky lad got some new lego, some "In The Night Garden" characters who he has really taken to, some Bob the Builder toys, and a very hard (as I discovered) toy camera.

Sledging

2010-01-03T21:13:00.001Z

Despite the snow that has been a constant feature of the last few weeks, we hadn't been out with the sledges, so I was happy to take up Lachlan's suggestion and go out with the boys. Vikki was out running, so Lachlan, Calum and I set off for Mineralwell with Magnus in tow (literally, he sat in the sledge and was happy to be pulled along). When we got there it was icy, so fast and bumpy and good fun. The hard ground had taken its toll on others; a few shattered sledges were lying around.
Magnus and I took one sledge and kept to the lower bit for a few runs - I think he enjoyed his first time.

Meanwhile, the elder two had a couple of runs down the big hill. You can see them near the top in this picture, just a few seconds before they hit a big jump that someone else had built and took a fairly spectacular tumble. I wish I'd managed to capture that particular moment on film as it looked fairly impressive. Calum hurt his arm a bit, but nothing too serious and was about to get going again when Magnus got upset, possibly because he was getting cold.

Time to go home for Hot Chocolate followed by a lunch of Heinz Tomato Soup and a bit of a session on the Wii. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

2009 Review (Running)

2009-12-29T21:17:00.003Z

2009 was another mixed year as far as running goes. Like 2008 it started well with a new PB at the Lumphanan 10K, but then went downhill. A combination of gout and taking a knock at footie was a huge set back but I managed to recover in time to take part in the Highland Fling Relay (just, I think I was about a week away from trying to find a replacement), which was a lot of fun but not a great day for me. The Durris Mast Hill Race and Hairy Haggis Relay in May went well, as did the Ythan challenge, but my run at the Stonehaven Half Marathon was a disappointment on an over-hot day.

After that, the focus was on building stamina for the Loch Ness Marathon. The LNM was great, except for the last 5 miles where my thighs hurt with every step. I also had a good time with the club's Improvers Cup runs, moonlight runs, and the couple of West Highland Way training runs we went on recently, so in general there have been a lot of good times this year.

I set my targets for this year as "a PB or two, some decent times, a 50min 10K, participation in some different events, and keep on smiling" and did OK: a new 10K PB, heaps of new events and distances, and managed to keep a smile most of the time.

Looking forward to next year, the first change is that the Lumphanan 10K will be later in January because of the weather, then I've got The Mighty Deerstalker to look forward to, along with another crack at the Fling relay. There will no doubt be a few other big runs and occasional events in there. It would be nice to get that 50min 10K, but to be honest, I'm not that fussed as long as I get out in the fresh air, do a few new things, see a few different places, meet friends new and old, and generally keep enjoying it.

Hope you all have a great 2010, whatever you get up to.

"A grand way to spend a Sunday afternoon"

2009-12-29T20:48:00.005Z

Just the other week, we were staying at the Crieff Hydro for the in-laws 40th wedding celebrations and had decided to combine our trip with a bit of hill running and Munro bagging, so were going to head up Ben Chonzie (or Ben-y-Hone or whatever you want to call it). Unfortunately, the whole weekend was pretty much a white-out down at the bottom, so venturing up the hill would have been foolhardy, if not actually impossible - we couldn't even get the car out of the car park for much of the weekend. Instead we just had to do a lot of eating, drinking, playing games, and having fun with my in-laws. A very fine way to spend a snowy weekend.

We did run a couple of miles into town and around the estate, and on Sunday afternoon, Vikki and I ventured out into the snow for a quick run up The Knock. It was only a couple of miles but a nice wee gradient, a wander through the woods across the top, and then a speedy descent in the snow which felt great. We passed a woman out walking her dogs who remarked "A grand way to spend a Sunday afternoon". Couldn't agree more, and it was a nice way to build up an appetite for our meal that evening which was lovely, and during which many gifts were exchanged - the girls got lovely new rings, and the boys each got a quaich which were put to good use.

We took a few pictures:

Mum and Dad's Ruby Anniversary

2009 Advent Calendar 03

2009-12-04T06:34:00.002Z

Well, things are really hotting up now. Yesterday's fantastic gift is a parrot. In the meantime, the pirate is having difficulties with a sword-wielding ghost that Calum has contributed to the scene.

2009 Advent Calendar 02

2009-12-03T05:56:00.002Z

I wanted to do something a bit cleverer with this, but don't really have time. Hope you like it anyway!

2009 Advent Calendar

2009-12-02T06:35:00.002Z

It's December. And that means one thing (OK, it means lots of things to lots of different people but don't split hairs). It means it's time for advent calendars. This year's Lego effort (which I will once again attempt to share with you all) is pirate themed (very Christmassy). And here is day 1.....

Tiptoe Through The Tulips

2009-12-01T13:23:00.004Z

A friend reckons that the 3rd leg of the Fling relay "looks like a walk through the Dutch Tulip Fields" so I was looking forward to a nice easy run on Saturday. It turns out that my memory is probably more reliable than his speculation and yesterday's wee adventure featured rock climbing, jaggy bushes, wading in the loch, goats and bears.

We - Vikki, Loon Dod, Lintie, Dave_K, Sophster, supernormal, HappyG(rrr) (as they are popularly known on Fetch) and I - set off from The Drovers at Inverarnan just after 9 and headed South with the morning mist starting to lift and reveal the snow capped mountains. The path was frequently wet and actually disappeared into the loch a few times, so it was all a bit squelchy. Thankfully the sun was out so we all warmed up quickly enough and had a pleasant run (with a lot of walking bits). I never felt like I'd manage 28 miles so turned back at about 9 miles, leaving the ultra athletes to get on with it, and picked my way back up the path - I managed to run more than I had back in April but it was still pretty slow going.

I got back to the car, sent out a text to let people know I'd made it, then got changed and headed to the pub for a pint and to warm up. I got a reply from mrs s to say they were all OK and about 8.5 miles away. After a slow pint and a cup of coffee, I decided to go out and take a walk back along the trail for a bit, but quickly realised this wasn't such a good idea - it was starting to get dark and mrs s had my head torch so I headed back to the car and settled in to read my book for a bit as the moon rose over the hills.

Time ticked by.

I think I'd have been slightly worried but for the fact that I knew mobile phone reception was good and that there was a wealth of experience in the group. As it was I was just a little surprised how long it was before I saw the twinkles of torch light on the hillside and knew that they were getting close. I flashed the car lights a couple of times with the idea that it might be noticed and provide some encouragement. In vain, in turns out but before long, those little lights had gone off in the direction of Bein Glas and then reappeared coming down the road.

After much hugging and clothes changing we stopped for a quick drink (non-alcoholic for me since I unusually volunteered to drive) in the bar and then it was time to go home, weary and happy after another great day out in fantastic company. Thanks to everyone there who helped make it a very enjoyable day.

There are some pictures here on Picasa

As an aside, mrs s and I were getting hungry by the time we neared Perth on the way home so decided to stop and grab some food. McDonalds was convenient and against my better judgement we stopped there. And I have to admit, it was actually not too bad.

Silver Whispers

2009-11-09T21:48:00.002Z

It must be for a few years that I've been aware of the slightly odd pastime of geocaching. When I heard about it, I thought it sounded like it might be a good way to get the kids outdoors and add a bit of fun to walks and extra interest to my running.

My first, failed, attempts taught me some important lessons:

There is more than one way that coordinates can be given and if you write down the wrong one for the type of SatNav you're using, you could end up driving round in circles getting nowhere
There are more than two ways that coordinates can be given and if you write down the wrong one for the different type of SatNav you're now using, you can end up running round in circles getting nowhere
It probably helps if there are some lights if you're going to look for a wee canister in the dark

Then, on Sunday, I was going to give it another go and identified a cache near the route I was going to run anyway, then decided not to bother since the SatNav was in the car. But then, while on the run, I remembered the rough location and the clue so decided to take a quick look and found it quite easily without the SatNav. My first cache. It felt good and I think I'll plan some more long runs near caches. I might even try and get a proper hand-held GPS, but I hope that I will never refer to non geocaching folk as "muggles" - I think that's another reason I've never really got into it.

(p.s. Sorry if this blog post is as boring as Vikki thought it was going to be.)

Weekend in Tyndrum

2009-10-24T21:54:00.010+01:00

Last Saturday, Vikki and I were going on a 25 mile training run on the West Highland Way, the start of our preparation for our attempts at the Highland Fling Race next April. Somehow, this turned into a weekend away for the whole family including the in-laws.

We set off on Friday morning and drove down to "Scotland's Theme Park". Unimaginatively named and, imho, unimaginatively put together, it didn't exactly impress that much, but it was generally good fun and I really liked the Tsunami suspended coaster, despite the somewhat tasteless name. In any case, the boys had a good time which is really what it was all about.

So, then we had to drive through rush-hour Glasgow and then follow various camper vans up the bonnie, bonnie, banks until we reached the Tyndrum Lodge Hotel and rendezvoused with the in-laws, got some food, then met up with legendary jogger ;), George, for a wee drink. George was sleeping in the car park, but joined us again for a pre-run breakfast. The run itself was really good - down the WHW to Beinn Glas for a bowl of soup then back to Tyndrum with great scenery and great company. My foot got sore on the way back so we ended up walking the last four miles but it was still good. We went for dinner at the Real Food Cafe - good food as ever, and the biggest mugs of hot chocolate I'd ever seen.

Andy and Rosemary had decided to go walking on Sunday morning - despite the lashing rain they got on the bus to Bridge of Orchy, leaving us to finish our breakfast and decide what we were to do. In the end, we headed down to the Sea Life Centre in Balloch to see some wee sharks and rays, some excellent looking fish, and some cute otters eating little baby birds. It was nice, and the boys got to touch starfish and sea anenomes which was cool. We returned to Tyndrum in the afternoon, then left the kids with the in-laws again and had a quick walk up the WHW to work up an appetite. Nice views towards Beinn Dorain on that bit, a hill we'll have to return to sometime when and if the Munro bagging gets underway.

So, all in all, it was a very fine weekend with lots of miles covered (in car and on foot), and I think everyone enjoyed at least some of the weekend :) It was also a significant weekend - after the run on Saturday, I decided that I'm going to go into the 2010 Highland Fling as part of relay team. Vikki has already sent off her entry - she's running the Fling solo. All 53 miles of it. We all know she'll be brilliant.

Photos from our run here

Photos of rest of weekend here

I ran my first marathon

2009-10-05T23:18:00.004+01:00

... and I loved it for 22 miles, hated it for the other 4! That sums it up really.

It was great to meet so many fellow fetchies (too many to name) and everyone was so friendly and lovely. The Pasta Party food was fine, especially the carrot cake. We had a pleasant drinkie in Wetherspoons on the night before the race but I was sober and getting a bit nervous. Ended up leaving quite early and trying to get some sleep. I slept well until 3:15 am then woke up from my pre-marathon dreaming and couldn't get much more sleep. Too excited I think!
Our preparations all went to plan, we walked to the stadium, calling on Richard on the way and arrived on time to join the v long queue for buses. Then all the buses filled up and we were still standing. They said they were three buses short . In the end they managed to find some more buses but we left 45 mins late and some folk had to sit on the stairs on the bus. The journey to the race start was further enlivened by some poor bloke on our bus being desperate for a pee. He tried to get the bus to stop a few times but nobody else said anything. Whe the bus eventually did stop everyone bar 4 folk got off. The road was running with pee! I stayed on the bus, ready to take my chances with the toilets at the start.
They delayed the start of the race to give everyone a chance to go to the loo. Then we were off at last. Richard and I had agreed to run together and we had a strategy of not going faster than 8:40 miles. It was easy to stick to that cos it was crowded and we couldn't get past. I really enjoyed the run and the scenery was lovely. Didn't see Nessie though. The population of Dores turned out to cheer us on which was great.
By the time we got to 22 miles the leggies were getting very sore and I had eaten all my shock blocks. My water had run out too. I was really looking forward to the fetchpoint and they didn't disappoint although I couldn't say anything to them! The last two miles were very hard and I slowed right down. I told Richard to go on without me and he did a bit but I could still see him. At last I saw the stadium but then realised you had to run right round it before going in. I crossed the finish line in 4:06:56 and I was very pleased with that time. Considering I thought we would do it in 4:30 when we started training. I lay down at the end but managed to get up in time to see Iain cross the line at 4:31:04 which was a great time too.
I struggled to eat afterwards as I felt a bit queasy. Staggered back to the hotel to get changed an opened a bottle of fizzy wine with Iain. Tottered back down the road in my 4" heels and aching thighs to Wetherspoons to meet up with the fetchies in our party organised by santababy. She can get a booking in a Spoonies! It was a great night and I had a fun time but got drunk rather quickly (I know I am a lightweight) but I had 5 glasses of wine in all and I needed to go home for some sleep. Needed to get a taxi up the road as my thighs had seized up.
Well done to everyone who took part and to the supporters and halfpint and roobarb on the fetchpoint. Everyone did brill
Dave you are amazingly fast and Mike did great to beat all his PBs in one day. Well done all xx

Click here for pictures

When will the pain go away?

2009-10-05T22:03:00.005+01:00

A few months ago, mrs s decided she was going to run the Loch Ness Marathon and I decided I quite fancied a weekend in Inverness to give her support. After a glass of wine, I thought I might as well do the 10K. Another couple of glasses of wine later and I had somehow decided that I would just run the marathon as well and the entries had been filled in.

And so started several months of long training runs, ending in a week of doing very little except eating before hitting the road with Ritchie C, dave_m and com160, not really sure how I was going to get on.

As it turned out, it was a great weekend and we met a lot of great Fetchies, before, during, and after the race.

The race itself started brilliantly - I felt really comfortable and trotted along at a decent pace, briefly catching up with mrs s and Ritchie C at mile 4 which came as a bit of a surprise to us all. They had pulled away by the time we reached the loch side so I was just concentrating on keeping it steady and enjoying the views. I reached Dores and made my way up the hill, starting to feel a bit tired, but still going and I got a welcome boost when Lintie appeared from the woods and ran with me for a while, chatting away all the time. She was great company but I felt I was slowing her down and encouraged her to go on. And then I hit the final, steep little hill after Scaniport and things took a turn for the worse. The pain in my legs worsened and I walked up the hill for a bit, hoping that the pain would subside. And it did...until I started running again. The next 5 and a half miles or so were pretty bad - my thighs hurt with each and every step. I walked a couple more times before the finish, but was able to run through fetchpoint which was a great boost, and ran across the finish line, which felt fantastic. I had completed my first marathon in 4:31:04 and I was well chuffed.

After soup and a tattie, we headed back to the hotel to get a shower and drink some celebratory fizzy before heading out to the pub for more drink, more food, and more chat with all the fetchies there (too many to name individually but you know who you are and it was wonderful to meet you all).

It was a really great weekend (except for those last miles) which just leaves the question....

What next?

Sometimes I think that happiness can best be achieved through a reasonable level of physical exertion

2009-08-30T19:36:00.006+01:00

So, it's been a while since I blogged, and I know I've used this excuse before but we've been busy running and spending too much time on certain other websites. Last Saturday, Vikki went out running (yeah, really!) so I took the three boys out on adventure. My intrepid explorers and I crossed to the North bank of the Cowie and then struck West upriver, under the viaduct, through the gap in the wall and up the squelchy path to the weir. I can vaguely remember crossing the river at the weir, but either I was a lot crazier, my parents were less responsible than me, or it was after a much drier spell. Anyway, we continued up to almost under the A90 road bridge before the path became too difficult to follow and we had to turn back. It was good fun, nobody got hurt, we only got a bit muddy and Lachlan and Calum both said they really enjoyed it. A great way to spend a couple of hours!

Our garden contains an apple tree, a plum tree, a small cherry tree, some rhubarb, several strawberry plants, and a blackcurrant bush (from Ribena). Sadly, this picture shows pretty much everything we've managed to harvest this year - 7 blackcurrants and a handful of brambles (which come from a number of out of control plants that have sprung up around the place. There are a few plums in the tree but really, it's not very impressive. What's gone wrong?

Yesterday we all went to Hazelhead Park in Aberdeen for a change. As ever it was good fun, with the kids playing in the park, and Vikki and I trying to remember if there used to be trampolines and a wooden fort when we were kids (does anyone else remember the fort or did I make it up?). Magnus wore his special rucksack for the first time, allowing Calum to walk him round like a dog. We bumped into our friends Alex and Lela with their son Ross, which was a pleasant surprise.

And today, we had a thrilling exciting trip to the local garden centre (how middle-aged are we?) to buy some plants and some wood chip so we could redo some of the front garden. Unusually, the weather stayed fine, and we didn't get bored or argue so we actually managed to plant everything as well. It's looking good.

Happy Tent(h) Birthday, Lachlan

2009-08-16T21:44:00.006+01:00

Well, I'm fair shattered after a busy weekend.

For his birthday, Lachlan had asked that he have some friends over for a sleep-over in the tent, and a trip to the pictures to see Ice Age 3 (as expected, very good but probably not quite as good as the first one).

Of course, that means I've been collecting cakes, ferrying kids to and from the cinema, putting up tents, getting pizza, lighting fires for marshmallow cooking (mmmmm), trying to sleep in a tent next to a bunch of noisy kids in a tent, taking down tents, and generally running around after small people.

Also, I managed to run over 15 miles on Saturday morning. I struggled towards the end, but pleased to get the miles under my belt. First time I've run that far, and first time I've run the equivalent of a marathon in a week, which felt like a good threshold to cross.

Vikki was running in the Forfar 10K today. Not a PB, but a good time in tough windy conditions, and 21 points in the Club Championship by being the first Stonehaven RC woman to finish.

Greetings to the Scots bovine

2009-08-11T22:33:00.003+01:00

Whilst on holiday at Center Parcs, much time was spent in the contemplation of nature (as seen through the bottom of a beer glass). On one particular evening, I was sitting outside with the crossword, and I ended up scribbling a couple of haiku in the margin. I'm not saying they're any good (and they're possibly not strictly haiku depending on how you interpret the whole syllable/"on" thing) but Vikki thought I should note them down using my phone and add them to the blob. Of course, I totally forgot about them until now, but for what it's worth, here you go:

clouds drift slowly by
the wind whispers in the birch
as the pigeon calls

dusk falls over all
silence reigns in the twilight
the trees are still now

Clachnaben Trail Run

2009-08-01T21:00:00.004+01:00

The last time I went for a long hill run with the club, we took on Mt Keen, and I turned back before we reached the top in blustery, snowy conditions.

Today's jaunt up Clachnaben with a few of the Cosmic Hillbashers promised to have less snow, but low cloud, wind and rain made for a tough trail run.

The first five miles up Glen Dye to Charr Bothie was a nice paced run, but after a brief comfort break we turned up the hill and the steep path soon reduced me to a walk/run and took us into the cloud where it got colder, wetter and more difficult to see. We were able to all keep in sight of at least one other person, which was reassuring in unfamiliar territory, but meant there were a couple of witnesses to my fall - I caught my trailing foot on a protruding rock and hurtled forward into a puddle. No physical damage, but I'm sure I'll hear about it again ;)

It was a big relief to reach the Hill of Endocher and be able to run down to the saddle and then back up to the Clachnaben summit. A number of our party decided to continue to Mount Shade and Threestane Hill, but I took the more direct option back to the car park.

As ever, I felt shattered at the end, but happy we'd reached the summit and had a good, tiring morning out - just a shame we got no views.

17 miles with Dave Morrow

2009-08-01T20:53:00.002+01:00

** Copied from Vikki's Fetch blog for you non-Fetchies - enjoy! **

My longest run ever! In miles and time.
Alarm clock was set for 5:30am. :-S Not been up at that time since I had to for feeding the baby... But I dragged myself out of bed somehow and got dressed before going downstairs. Two bits of toast and marmalade and no time for a cuppa . Took the camelbak filled with Taut energy drink and water. Finished eating my toast while walking up Arduthie Road. Dave was a keener and met me before I got to the Esso garage. He hadn't read my previous blog entry so I filled him in about my worries re mileage increases. He thought I would be fine with doing 17 but said maybe we could go for 7 miles along the Auchenblae Rd, 7 back then the rest round Stoney. But then we thought it might be too tempting to go home so we decided to go for the 8.5 miles out and back. The weather got rougher - v wet and windy. At first I kept thinking I was holding Dave back as he normally runs by himself and is obviously much quicker, but he reassured me it was an ok pace. He was good to run with as he was telling me all about his marathon experiences and we were discussing food while running. Jelly babies or gels etc. Bit different from my usual topics of finance and novels with Richard. It was a good run and I thank Dave for being so encouraging and informative. Now both guys are away on holiday for two weeks so will probably run with Iain next weekend. We're going to a wedding next Saturday but will have to fit in a quick 13 miles before the ceremony.
My legs feel a bit iffy but I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day and might have a glass of wine tonight

More Unfinished Business

2009-07-25T21:46:00.003+01:00

We've just had a holiday down at Center Parcs in Cumbria, and it was a lot of good fun. There will be photos and possibly blog entries about the rest of the week, but I'm just going to cover Wednesday here.

Wednesday was hill-walking day when Vikki, Amy, Daviator, and I escaped from Center Parcs to climb Helvellyn. The weather looked a bit iffy, but we were hopeful it would improve as the morning wore on. It took an extra 30 minutes to reach Glenridding thanks to an overturned van on the road, and then we had a false start thanks to Dave missing his pocket with his wallet!

Once we got going, the walk wasn't too bad and the rain came and went as the wind blew the clouds around - we kept thinking it was about to get better. By the time we reached the hole in the wall and got a good view of striding edge, I realised my legs were completely soaked and weren't going to dry out (I'd lent Vikki my waterproof trousers in the mistaken belief that as soon as the weather changed, my trousers would dry quickly), Vikki and Amy were indicating that they weren't having much fun, it was apparent that the wind and rain weren't going to let up in a hurry, and Helvellyn itself was still blanketed by low cloud. All in all, it seemed like the best idea would be to head directly for the pub and leave the hill for another day.

The beer was fine and the sticky toffee pudding was not bad either, but I do feel slightly annoyed that I have to add Helvellyn to my list of unfinished hills where it now sits with Ben Lawyers, Ben Ledi, and Mt Keen. I'll be back for these fellows at some point, I'm sure.

On a slightly different note, I picked up two leaflet from the tourist information office in Glenridding - "Beer by Bus" and "Real Ale by Rail". I'm now trying to figure out how I can combine a bit of camping and walking with pub crawls by public transport.

Mud, Glorious Mud

2009-06-29T21:26:00.003+01:00

Last year's Ythan Challenge was probably the most fun race I did last year, so I was really looking forward to going back and doing it again this year - and it didn't disappoint; another great fun trip with the family and our friend Ian.

The course was much the same as last year with the fallen logs, hay bales, scramble nets, slippery slopes, and the near legendary mud pit and river section. Despite slowing a little towards the end, I was feeling pretty good as I came past the Meadows and saw Lachlan and Calum playing around and picked out Vikki's Fetch shirt at the top of the steep bank. The steep bank that the course had been changed to go straight up to some more hay bales to be clambered over. Ah well, you've got to laugh and admire the organisers' ability to throw in another surprise just when you thought you were home. After that, the legs felt like lead for the final run to the finish line.

Not sure about my time because I wasn't paying much attention to the clock but I think I was somewhere between 66 and 70 minutes - definitely faster than last year.

All in all, a nice day out, very friendly atmosphere, plenty of familiar faces, and a really fun race. I'll probably be back next year, although it looks like the question of who will look after the kids is going to raise its ugly head.

Vikki's uploaded some photos here.

He Walks

2009-06-18T22:24:00.003+01:00

Magnus has been walking a bit for a week or so, but this is the first video we've managed to get of him. Hope you enjoy it.

Running News

2009-05-24T22:13:00.004+01:00

Well, there's been a bit of running going on over the last few days.

On Thursday night, I took part in my first proper hill race, which involved running up a couple of hills in fairly wet and slippery conditions, through bogs, over streams, and between trees. It was hard work and I was up to my knees in manky water at one point, but it was good fun - hopefully I can keep working on my fitness and do more of these runs in the future.

Today, I took the boys to run in the highly prestigious Baker Hughes Fun Run. Calum went off like a bullet, but I got stuck in traffic at the start line and so Magnus was only the second buggy driver to cross the line. Lachlan kept pace with me and Magnus, but could probably have gone quicker if he had felt like it. It was a nice day, so we rewarded ourselves with some ice creams and then went off to find Vikki. She'd obviously been feeling a bit lazy, because she didn't run with us. Some excuse about doing a "Tenkay" where she managed a "Pea-Bee", whatever the hell that means. Results and photos.

I Need Help

2009-05-18T21:11:00.003+01:00

Ok, so that's nothing new, and you're probably thinking "I'm not a qualified psychiatrist", but this is another matter entirely.

Some time ago, I used to wear smart shoes in (and to) work. During the winter months, I started wearing my hiking boots to the office and then changing into the smart shoes when I got there. These days I generally wear these
to work, and when I get to the office, I'll sometimes change into the smart shoes, sometimes leave the Merrels on, and sometimes sit around in my socks depending on how I feel.

So, today I was sitting my socks and it occurred to me that what I really wanted were "Office Slippers" - some sort of footwear that looks smart enough to wear in the office, to meetings, in front of clients etc but that are as comfy and warm as a nice cosy pair of slippers. I had a quick search on the internet but never really found anything that fit the bill, so any ideas folks?

Coire Fee

2009-05-04T21:25:00.004+01:00

(or Corrie Fee) can be reached by a fairly gentle two mile (each way) walk from the car park in Glen Doll, and it's well worth it. We took a wee walk up there on Sunday and really enjoyed it, despite a few showers. Even Lachlan didn't complain that much - a packet of fruit pastilles and his own water supply seemed to do the trick. As you can see from the pictures, Magnus travelled in style and had a great time judging by the noises he made.

All in all it was a nice trip and we rounded it off with a pleasant drink at the Clova Hotel.

Click on the picture below to see the album:

2009-05-03 Coire Fee

Taking the High Road (part 2)

2009-04-27T21:56:00.005+01:00

So, our last post left the intrepid "Queens" just outside Drymen where Vikki handed over the coveted green sash to Pete, who set off on the ascent of Conic Hill. We quickly realised that, true to form, Vikki had managed to make some new friends on the way, notably Jim (the dad of our club chairman, Craig) and Tracey and Helen from Falkirk (Tracey was also known as Phillippa from Team Beaver, whose other members were Hairy, Bushy, and Alec - apparently it's all a bit rude, but like Ann from Team Dun & Dusted, I've no idea why). Then, it was back in the car and up the road to Balmaha to play in the kids park and watch some runners.

Despite having just run over this "sharp little rise", most of the runners coming through the car park at Balmaha looked pretty comfortable. The relay teams were catching up with some of the ultra runners so it was quite busy. We hung around to cheer our guys through and then it was once again back in the car for the drive to Rowardennan and the start of my leg. Pete posted a decent time for his leg, despite finding the lochside run pretty tough, the sweaty sash was handed over, and I set off on my stroll (see previous post).

Although I was obviously unaware of it at the time, Vikki also had a little adventure involving crazy farmers, mad publicans, the police, and the consumption of my crisps by another Iain - I'm sure she'll fill in all the details.

I handed over to Eifiona who was probably fed up waiting for me but still managed a very respectable time for the final leg, making sure we didn't come last. Even the fact that she arrived at Tyndrum to find that both of her children had fallen in the river couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

we had our dinner (and free coffee) at The Real Food Cafe (brilliant - really nice fish and chips) then a quick change at the Wigwam and a couple of drinks at the ceilidh. By then we were both feeling tired so headed for bed, although it looked like a crowd were heading up to the village hall. A fine end to a very long and interesting day.

I just want to add a huge well done to everyone who took part. My admiration for the ultra runners went up another notch - these guys are amazing athletes and most still had the time to say a hello and words of encouragement to others. A great bunch of people. Also, well done to all the runners at Balmoral and London. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone else's stories from the weekend.

Bye for now.

P.S. If anyone's interested in the official results, they're on the Fling web site. Stonehaven were represented by George Reid, Angus Reid, Dunnottar Dun and Dusted, Team Donoghue, and us. Details about how to enter next year's event will no doubt appear there as well.

Taking the High Road (part 1)

2009-04-26T22:19:00.005+01:00

NB The twin effects of wine and lack of sleep mean that I'm not going to finish this post, but I'm going to post it anyway, and finish off in another post tomorrow (probably). In the meantime, there are some photos on Vikki's Picasa site, and congratulations to all who ran at the various events around the country this weekend. Anyway, on with the post....

The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond is thought to have been written by a soldier contemplating his death. This was just one of the many things that went through my mind as I ran, walked and limped up the West Highland Way from Rowardennan to Bein Glas on the third leg of the Highland Fling. Basically, I had a disappointing run. The first five or six miles went well and I felt pretty good, but then the legs felt like jelly and I really struggled to get going after that - it didn't help that the path was practically impossible to run on in bits (think rocks, streams, tree roots, and staircases), and it was getting quite warm until the brief hailstorm.

Despite all that, it was a good fun weekend - well, it was away from the kids so it was bound to be good. Vikki and I drove down on Friday, made a trip to central Glasgow to join the Daily Record journalists strike, had a nice meal at Il Pavone which was partly spoiled by poor service, and then spent the night at the Premier Inn at Milngavie who were really good and went out of their way to make sure we could get some breakfast before the race.

Vikki ran the first leg from Milngavie to Drymen in a very respectable time, despite ignoring this advice and going the wrong way. She was the first Stonehaven relay runner to reach the Drymen handover which was a great achievement considering the experience of the others.

I'm so excited

2009-04-21T21:07:00.004+01:00

"Why, why, why are you excited?" I hear you ask. Well, our new running clobber has finally arrived as you can see from the photos below.

And just in time too. I am also just a little bit excited about the prospect of running almost 14 miles over a couple of wee hills which ought to be tremendous fun, especially as there will be a decent turn out from Stonehaven. Stonehaven will also be well represented at Balmoral, and apparently Dave is taking part in some wee charity run down South this weekend. Good luck to all.

Stupid is as stupid does

2009-04-20T21:40:00.003+01:00

Sometimes, it's a good idea to check things out. For example, if, let's say you were a member of a gym and you were in the habit of going there in the morning before work, perhaps it would be a good idea to find out whether or not that gym might not open as early on a public holiday as on other days. And it might also be worth checking out when those public holidays are. Otherwise, you might just arrive at the gym before it opens and not be able to get in. Of course, you could probably go at lunch time, but I reckon you'd feel just a bit silly.

Or, to pick another example, if you were in any way involved with a youth organisation (e.g. the Beaver Scouts) it would normally be considered good form to check the agenda for the term before you set off, just in case there's no meeting on a particular night. Of course, if you were involved in preparing the said agenda, and it's normal policy to never have a meeting on the first Monday after a school holiday, you would very likely feel extremely foolish indeed.

Just sayin'

Just in case you're not a facebook friend...

2009-03-30T22:08:00.001+01:00

Big congratulations to Vikki who set a new PB and smashed 50 minutes for a 10K at the Garioch 10K on Sunday. The boys and I played in the park on what turned out to be a nice warm sunny day in Inverurie while she zoomed round the course. Looks like I'm really going to have to go some if I'm ever going to catch her.

A Tribute to Kate Bush?

2009-03-30T21:44:00.001+01:00

Whatever other people think about it, running is, for me anyway, quite hard. Running in high winds is particularly hard. Running up big hills in high winds is extremely hard work. Running up big hills in high winds in ankle deep snow is really just getting a bit ridiculous. And yet, somehow on Saturday I found myself part way up Mount Keen with some of the running club, running shoes caked in snow, 50mph gusts of wind whipping snow into my face. I reached about 650m altitude before I decided the sensible option was to head down again. Fortunately I had some company on the way down, although some brave souls went on and reached the summit. The run back down was great fun and everyone made it without injury and no reports of frostbite. Well done to everybody who came along.

Se7en

2009-03-24T22:10:00.002Z

Regular blob readers may have realised that it was Calum's 7th birthday on Sunday, and what a busy day it was. I started off with a 9.5 mile run, then Vikki and I went to donate blood (which took ages for various reasons I'm not going to go into). And then we all set off for the Deeside Activity Park with six of Calum's friends - Vikki's folks came along to provide some much needed backup.

It was good fun - the boys did some archery, quad biking, and carting, and despite making a lot of noise they were pretty well behaved. Calum managed to get stuck in a stack of tyres which everyone else found hilarious.

Rob from the Deeside Brewery was doing some free tastings of their latest batch of Lady Macbeth so I had a couple of tastes, thought it was rather nice, and took a 2 pint carton home for later. I also bought a couple of bottles of Broichan which I'm quite looking forward to.

After the activities, it was back to our house for more play, party food and cupcakes, before we finally returned the other kids to their rightful owners (unfortunately, we had to keep all of ours) and I was finally able to relax and enjoy the aforementioned beer.

There are some photos of the day on our picasa web site....

2009-03-22 Calum's 7th Birthday

It never rains....

2009-03-24T21:37:00.004Z

Blimey, Blob fans, it's been far too long since I dazzled you all with my wit and wisdom. So long, in fact that I don't think it has ever happened. However, it has also been a long time since I filled these pages with my usual nonsense. The reason? Well, for starters, the great book of face has turned my head with it's slick interface and silly games. Also, I keep finding that there's not much to blog about, or I'm too busy doing stuff that I would blog about to find time to blog about it - basically, it all seems to happen at once, as I hope to demonstrate with some quick -fire posts.

Enough waffle, shanksi; time to give the people some of what they want, starting with a video of a baby climbing some stairs. Go Magnus!

From 2009-03-20 Magnus climbing the stairs

Mmmmm, Flapjacks

2009-03-07T21:41:00.001Z

Flapjacks are great - they taste good, and they're probably quite good pre-running food, what with the combination of sugary stuff for quick hit energy, and oats for a more slow-release, longer lasting energy. Unfortunately, some of the shop-bought ones aren't that good, and some of the better ones aren't always available at our local supermarket. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and make some using the recipe from the Good Housekeeping Guide cooking book (thoroughly recommended), and our Lego cake tray (which had never been used before). The first batch (pictured above) was pretty successful, and the second lot are just out of the oven, so I'd better go and see how they're doing!

A grand day out

2009-02-28T22:34:00.003Z

OK, this is going to ruin the latest instalment of "Where's Magnus?" for anyone who hasn't already had a guess, but we spent the day at the Lochter Activity Centre near Oldmeldrum, where the RNIB were having a day out for blind and partially sighted children (and their siblings). It was a really good day out with good weather and great views of Bennachie. There were bacon and egg rolls on arrival, a barbecue lunch, and lots of activities including carting, archery, digger driving, inflatables, and fishing. The boys had a great time - Calum even managed to catch two rainbow trout, which totally made his day, and mine since I got to eat them.
Click below for more pictures....

2009-02-28 RNIB Day Out At Lochter Activity Centre

Where's Magnus?

2009-02-28T14:20:00.001Z

Return of the tooth fairy

2009-02-23T22:17:00.001Z

Another milestone in Calum's life was reached this week as he lost his first tooth. In fact, lost is the appropriate word as he was cleaning his teeth at the time and it disappeared down the plug hole. Great, I thought, the tooth fairy can hardly be expected to retrieve it from there. However, apparently yhr tooth fairy sees the gap and doesn't actually need the tooth to turn in to money (I had always thought it was some weird form of alchemy) so Calum found a nice present under his pillow in the morning.

Biding in the East Riding

2009-02-19T21:11:00.005Z

Thanks to those of you who took part in the latest round of Where's Magnus?. He was indeed at the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, where you can experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the ancient Viking city of Jorvik.

It was really good - both Lachlan and Calum also enjoyed the visit; Lachlan did a school project about Vikings last year so it was particularly interesting for him.

Our trip to York, which also took in a look at the Minster and the Shambles, was part of a visit to see Amy and the Daviator in their new house in Beverley. It's was great to see them, and chill a bit, and drink beer and wine, and generally just have a nice time. We also spent too much time playing Wii Fit, had a failed attempt at Geocaching (more about that another time perhaps), and took a trip to Hull, where we went to the Art Gallery and a rather good museum that had, among other things, a fine collection of Roman mosaics and a 4000 year old boat. We finished off our trip with a visit to the cinema to see Bolt which was funny and exciting and made everyone except me cry (and I was close at one point).

You can see the photos here:

2009-02-13 East Riding of Yorkshire

Where's Magnus?

2009-02-16T11:49:00.001Z

Where's the Year Gone?

2009-02-02T21:24:00.007Z

Happy Birthday, Magnus. Yes, he's 1 today, and it hardly seems a blink of the eye that he was merely a glint in that self same eye. I managed to get away from work early so that we would have some time for cake and pressies before Calum and I had to go off to Beavers. Vikki made the cake which was very nice - Magnus would probably still be eating it if he could.

Our present to Magnus is a bit of a sneaky one. It's this really cool little daysack for him to wear when he starts walking around. The sneaky bit is that he'll have to carry his own stuff, and also, it comes with a strap so we can keep him under control. Mwaah-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Magnus's First DIY Projects

2009-02-01T21:20:00.003Z

My brothers are very untidy - they're forever leaving things lying around. Well, I thought we should try and do something about it, so I grabbed my screwdriver and got to work.

Here, I've just about finished putting together a shelf to put up in the play room. The shelf is to hold Wii and PS2 games, and keep them neat. I've been told I have to put it up out of my own reach, which sounds impossible - I might just have to sub-contract that job to dad, although who knows when he'll get that done.

Talking about dad, here he is, helping me attach some castors to a big bit of chip-board. Why, I hear you ask. Well, the idea is that Lachlan and Calum can use the board to build Lego models and that sort of thing on, then, when they reach the end of the day, the whole thing can be rolled under the bed and out of the way - hopefully this'll lead to less stuff being left on the floor of their rooms, but we'll have to see how it works. Bye bye for now, from Magnus.

I'm Still Standing

2009-01-18T22:49:00.002Z

Look at me. I'm standing up, using my very own little legs. OK, I'm using things like the dishwasher, magazine racks, and my toys to help me, but I'm only little and I feel I'm making significant progress. I've also got 11 teeth now, so don't give me any lip, or I'll bite you. And don't think I won't - I've bitten daddy and he wasn't even doing anything to annoy me at the time; I just thought his finger looked quite tasty. Talking about daddy, he apologises that he's not been blogging much but he says he's been busy. Busy doing nothing and playing silly games on the computer, if you ask me.

Bye for now. From Magnus

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T21:47:00.006Z

Happy New Year, Everybody!

OK, it's a bit late but we've not been at home much. We spent most of the last couple of days over at Vikki's folks which was great fun - especially as they agreed to stay in on Hogmanay so Vikki and I went down to watch the fireballs. A number of our friends and family were swinging, so we made our way down to the harbour at the end to wish them well - there was much hugging, hand-shaking, kissing, and handing round of hip-flasks. A great way to start 2009.

We took some photos, but as usual with the fireballs, they were mostly rubbish. Using the video mode seemed to work slightly better, but all the videos were almost ruined by some woman shouting near the camera (I wonder who that might have been).

On New Years Day, we all (despite protests from the kids) went for a walk up to the war memorial and round past the harbour. We also set up Vikki's parents new WiiFit which was pretty good fun, especially as I was given a WiiFit age of 31 and branded a "muscle legend", to great hilarity from all present for some reason.

Today, Vikki and I were running in the Lumphanan Detox 10K which was really good - a friendly event, interesting course with hills, icy farm tracks, and great views of snow covered hills. Even better, both Vikki (52:08) and I (53:20) got PBs.

For what it's worth, the best of the pics and videos are here:

2008-12-31 Hogmanay 2008

Review of the Year (Running)

2008-12-30T21:39:00.003Z

2008 was a bit of a mixed bag for me as far as the old running went. It started well with a good run at Lumphanan (and a new 10K PB) but then went downhill as I was hit by problems with gout, grump1, and panng2. I still managed a decent run at Balmoral, a PB at the Baker Hughes 10K, and an enjoyable run at the Ythan challenge, but I felt I couldn't get my speed up, and was a bit disappointed by my time at the Glen Clova Half Marathon. The year finished well enough with a good run at the Stonehaven 5K.
The other good thing that happened this year was that Vikki and I both joined the Stonehaven Running Club, and so met a whole new bunch of interesting (and fast) people, and started doing moonlit runs once a month.

About this time last year, I set myself some targets for the year. So how did I do:

partial success; new PBs at 10K and at 5K, but missed by a long way at the half marathon
sort of; the Ythan Challenge took me longer than an hour but it's not a straightforward 10K
not really close to 50mins
no hill races but I did do the Ythan which was something a bit different
complete success; I'm still having fun.

So, that just leaves targets for 2009. Basically, the same as 2008: a PB or two, some decent times, a 50min 10K, participation in some different events, and keep on smiling. Vikki and I are already signed up for some interesting events in 2009, so we'll hopefully have some stories to tell.

Sorry if this post is a bit dull and self-indulgent. If I don't post again before them, I hope you all have a great Hogmanay tomorrow and have a fantastic time on 2009.

Chasing Vikki

2008-12-28T21:59:00.004Z

2008-12-28 Splash n Dash Xmas 5k

Despite some cold and wet weather, a decent sized field turned out for the Stonehaven 5k Beach Fun Run (or whatever it's called) with a lot of runners in fancy dress. I really like this event - the handicap system and the course mean you get a chance to say hello to everybody and it's generally a very friendly race which is good fun.

The handicap system is based on estimated finish times and it worked out that Vikki started 30s before me (and Santa), so I spent the whole race just trying to gradually close the gap so we would finish together - I didn't quite make it, finishing roughly 10-15s behind her. Vikki's time was recorded at 22:14, but they didn't manage to get my time recorded properly for some reason, so I didn't get an official time. The first video clip (in album, click on picture above) shows Vikki at about half way, and you can just see me at the end of the clip.

As part of the fun run, you bring a gift and randomly take a different one away. The second video clip in the album shows one of the gifts we took away; a colour change candle. It's ...erm.... interesting. We also got some leaf tea: unfortunately we don't have the necessary devices, but will try to get a hold of them because it smells great.

So, that's it for running this year, at least as far as events go. Time for a break. Until 2nd Januaury when it all kicks off again at Lumphanan. Hurrah!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T23:04:00.002Z

Rather than do a web album, I decided to play around with Picasa's collage function. I probably shouldn't have bothered but the result can be seen in all it's glory by clicking on the image below, and give a little indication of our Christmas day. There are more photos on Vikki's facebook page, so you can see more there if you're that way inclined.

It was a good day. We were first woken at about 4am by Magnus having a wee cry, then at about 6am by the bigger boys wanting to show us what they'd got from Santa and open all their other presents. I decided to escape from the chaos for a bit by going for a 5 mile run with some other club members (followed by mince pies and mulled wine), and then we all decamped to the in-laws for more presents, food, and just a little, tiny, drop of alcohol. Magnus didn't seem to know what was going on most of the time (much like his father) but the older boys had a great time and were just a wee bit over-excited. They seemed to get an awful lot of stuff, far too much to tell you all about, but the surprise hit (as in, I'd never heard of it before and everybody liked playing it) was a game called blokus. After the kids went to bed, the "grown ups" embarked on a game of Trivial Pursuit. Punctuated as it was by tangential conversations, cheese and crackers, and the occasional pouring and consumption of various forms of alcohol, it failed miserably to reach a conclusion and we gave up and went to bed at about 1am.

I just want to add a very big thank you to Rosemary and Andy for hosting Christmas at our old house, to Uncle Andrew for his very enjoyable company, to all the running club members who helped to make it a memorable morning, and to Vikki and the boys for being a great family to spend Christmas with.

Thank You

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T21:57:00.002Z

Merry Christmas to everybody!

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 24

2008-12-24T21:33:00.009Z

Day 24. They said it couldn't be done. Well, they said it could be done, but probably not by that lazy sod shanksi. They also said it would be rubbish and no one would be interested. Well, they were wrong - on at least one of those counts.

Anyway, here's today's wonderful Lego gift. It's a good un, in my opinion so get clicking....

Thanks to everybody who has read the blog, clicked the pics, and commented. It's been fun - hopefully we'll be able to do something similar next year.
In the meantime, here's all the bits of this year's calendar, although somebody or something is missing. Blob points for anyone who can say who or what, and bonus points if you can tell me where he, she, or it is.

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 23

2008-12-23T22:21:00.003Z

Day 23. Almost there. And today's model is possibly the coolest yet. Click below to see what it is...

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 22

2008-12-22T21:28:00.002Z

Fight.....and another new guy - not sure what his intentions are.

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 21

2008-12-21T21:32:00.003Z

Day 21 and still posting. More surprisingly, you guys are still reading and commenting. Really,I can't thank you enough. As for today's little gift, I don't really know what it is - beer bottles maybe, or nuclear warheads? Whatever it is, the bad guys seem chuffed to see it. On the other hand, they might not be so pleased when they see that the diver bloke is back. However, is it just me or does he look a bit familiar?

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 20

2008-12-20T21:38:00.004Z

It looks like the partying bad guys got some new equipment today. Some other sort of devilish ray gun perhaps? Also, an unexpected guest has appeared from somewhere. Click below to see who it is.

Uh-oh. We're in trouble.

2008-12-19T19:11:00.003Z

In the last few days, Magnus has become independently mobile. He has learned to crawl, and nothing is safe - least of all Magnus himself. Looks like we're going to have to a lot of tidying, securing, attaching stair gates etc.

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 19

2008-12-19T19:09:00.004Z

The party continues - but they forgot about the fireman who still had his radio, and has called in reinforcements...

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 18

2008-12-18T21:13:00.002Z

Looks like a party, but only bad guys are invited.

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 17

2008-12-17T23:18:00.004Z

Aaaaarghhhh.....

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 16

2008-12-17T00:04:00.005Z

This is probably the latest of the advent series posts so far. The reason being that Vikki and I have been out at the Marine with the folks from the Stonehaven Running Club. It was good fun, the company was wonderful, the food was very nice indeed, and the beer was excellent.

Meanwhile, in Lego world, the pap have turned up...

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 15

2008-12-15T21:45:00.004Z

Well, looks like the diver/chef team have released the fire dude. Time to get back to base....

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 14

2008-12-14T21:51:00.003Z

Action shot...

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 13

2008-12-13T22:48:00.004Z

Hey, who's this guy? Where did he come from?

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 12

2008-12-12T23:14:00.005Z

So, advent continues as Christmas gets closer and closer and the feeling that I should be getting more ready steadily heightens. Ah well, it's the weekend so a chance to figure out what needs to be done and do some of it.

Of course, what really needs to be done is to continue with the fantastic lego advent blob so click on the pic to see what's been added today. In case you're interested, I've been experimenting with my head torch rather than using the camera's flash so I can get different light, different shadows, and even cast everything in green or red. The kids love the head torch - even Magnus likes to have a shot.

Our So Called Advent Blob - Day 11

2008-12-11T12:47:00.005Z

Well, it ought to have been a recipe for disaster: a three course meal with a couple of glasses of wine in the early evening, followed by a moonlit run in an icy forest. Although it wasn't the best training session ever, it was good fun - everyone who turned up had a laugh, walking, sliding, and running where possible. I think I'm going to prepare for every run with huge amounts of food and wine in the future.

In the world of Lego, I was wondering where my silly little blog would turn up in a google search for "lego advent calendar blog". The answer was nowhere but try "lego advent calendar blob" and we're number 1! woot! As I was conducting this research I came across a couple of other sites that are doing quite interesting things with Lego advent calendars. Unfortunately what they are mainly doing is making me really regret not getting my act together and missing out on the Castle advent calendar. Oh well, maybe next year will have something even better. Anyway, in today's calendar, something else has turned up - I'm not entirely sure what it is yet, but I think the "chef" has some idea what to do with it.