June - woeful...

It's not been the best of months. Not just for running but for life too. What can possibly be worse than your ex being in a smug new relationship while living under the same roof as you? Then again, it's a situation of my own making so just desserts I guess.

Running? Aye running's fecking great eh? Run run and run some more that way you have less time to dwell on everything else. So, other than mope and indulge in self-pity I have done.....

Strathallan 5 Road Race - disaster, couldn't pace myself at all and struggled round most of it!
Beveridge Park 5k - disaster, couldn't pace myself at all and struggled round most of it!!
7 Hills of Edinburgh - disaster, had just arrived back from doing WHW support and was barely conscious...
Dundee Half Marathon - disaster, couldn't pace myself at all and struggled round most of it. Actually gave up and walked half of it as I couldn't be arsed.....

All coming together nicely then eh? Clyde Stride is gonna be a breeze, or maybe that's a weather prediction...

Picky Bugger - Reinventing the wheel...

What started out as a blog about food, has turned into something rather more contemplative. To be perfectly frank I've lost focus and it's taken a while for me to reach that conclusion.

I began 2010 with one goal and one race entry - the Highland Fling. Following the failure of that I randomly entered every race available in a misguided attempt to redeem myself. What has followed has been a serious of disasters and training runs that would make even Scott Jurek weep (well maybe not...). Having discussed my recent lack of success with other far more experienced runners, it's clear what's happening.

1. I'm not an experienced runner. I've been in this game about 4 years and I'm trying to tackle much too soon. There's an assumption that by ultra training I've completed countless half and full marathons. Wrong. I've done 3 halfs and 1 marathon. As I say, not very experienced.
2. I'm expecting too much of myself. I'm expecting to run well at shorter races just because I've done a lot of miles. Nope! I have to decide what my main goal is and concentrate on that. I can't expect to perform well at everything, particularly when a 5 mile road race comes 2 days after a 28mile training run!
3. I don't have much reserve. At under 7 stone there's not much of me. I really need to sort out eating in both long training runs and races.

This morning I've been poring over the races I had planned for this year and decided to focus primarily on 2; the Clyde Stride and Loch Ness Marathon.  Difficult tough it is, it's goodbye to the Speyside Ultra and the River Ayr Challenge and the Fling 2 Backwards with my fellow DNF buddy and hello to sensible training and a few targeted races thrown in for purely training purposes and "fun".

Moving on to the issue of nutrition, there lies a problem.  I'm notoriously fussy.  Planning what to eat on an ultra is therefore as much a challenge as the race itself.  I've listened to and read shedloads of advice but I'm not really much further forward. I can't stomach gels, I hate ginger, I detest milkshake type stuff, I dislike honey and complan etc. makes me boak. I have just 6 weeks to fix this...

dying a death at the Strathallan 5 Road Race