April and the Fling

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

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....

...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

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

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

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

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....