Perfect weather to fly.....

Carnethy 5 - 6 miles, 2500 ft
Fabienne recommended I do this race. She suggested it would be ideal training for the Fling. So I joined the online queue and got my entry in asap, confident that this was exactly the kind of run that would make my fling training. I bragged about my entry amid stifled sniggers and felt smug that I'd secured an entry while others were on the lengthy waiting list.

I had a conversation with Scott shortly thereafter and he, having done both races last year, laughed that hill running wasn't strictly necessary for the fling and that even he found Carnethy brutal. Oh....

At the start line I was across between hyper and nauseous. I 'joked' to spectators that they could have my number and soon we were off. I was suitably dosed up with paracetamol to assist both my lingering cold and calf pull, both of which have hampered my training all week, but not terribly optimistic about the outcome.

Be under no illusion, this is a tough race. The first climb is hard going while the vicious climb up Carnethy tests even the hardiest fell runners. I managed both successfully, albeit slowly, feeling strong in the sections inbetween. And just when I thought my legs couldn't take any more, along came the final sharp descent down. I bounded down the heather, hopped aboard my imaginery snowboard and glided down the scree, and sat on my backside and slid down the snow. The end in sight, I wasn't about to give up the places I had pulled back on the downhill and belted along the boggy grass to the finish line lungs bursting but full of joy.

It was a glorious day for running in the hills which perhaps helped my enjoyment and I'm told the scenery was good too. That I wouldn't know, I was too busy looking at my feet. But as I sit here some 30 hours later with every ounce of my body aching, I ask myself would I do it again? As soon as my legs recover, just try and stop me.....