Perspective, focus and inner strength

It's funny what life throws at you just when you least expect it. It's been a tough year and it's only just May. It can only get better that I know with absolute certainty. Without going into the finer detail of my personal life, circumstances, etc. I've had an unbelieveable amount of shit to deal with recently and that, together with a persistent calf injury, was leading to a downward spiral of despair and negativity on what will be one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced - the West Highland Way race.

Cue life changing decisions made for you but not by you and there you have it, an opportunity to review, reflect and gain some perspective and realign your psychology and focus.

And so I have, and in doing so the niggling injury has miraculously vanished, the training has upped in intensity and life is good.

The training day at Lochnagar kick-started things and gave me the boost I needed. Until that day I hadn't run longer than 16miles in a year and was nervous about even turning up. Yet when I saw the relaxed pace we were running I really had nothing to worry about. It was an amazing day out with friends old and new with 18 miles, 5 Munros and 2 Corbetts how could it not be!

The following weekend I took myself up to the Cateran Trail and knocked out another 22 miles. The weekend after that it was 26. With my new found confidence I considered that doing the Fling was entirely doable, after all it and I have unfinished business, yet after a chat with Fiona (thank you!) I knew that if it went badly wrong, it would mess up my head and set me back. Not one to rest on my laurels, I had plans to do great things that same weekend.

Kinross 10k 26 April 2012 (46.46)
I almost didn't even get out of the car. Even having paid a fiver to enter, it was a horrible evening - wind, rain and a new route on exposed back roads. Nah, no thanks. But I had come this far so what the hell, treat it as a tempo run and take nothing else from it but that. Except it turned out to be a PB by almost 3 minutes. I love it when that happens :o)

Milngavie-Bein Glas Saturday 28 April 2012
I arrived at Milngavie around 9.30am, perfectly timed to miss all the Fling runners and bag a parking space and giving me 11 hours to get to Inverarnan 41 miles away in time for the bus back. What could go wrong? In fact, nothing. C was on standby "just in case" and altough my legs were mince from the 10k 2 days prior, I moved along the route with surprising ease, proud as punch to have caught the sweeper before Inversnaid (okay so he was with an injured runner but hey...) and more delighted for the opportunity to raid the uncollected dropbags as supplies were running low.

I reached Bein Glas in around 10 hours, happy in the knowledge that, had I done the fling, I would have had another 5 hours to get to Tyndrum and when the bus arrived I couldn't have been happier unless I had a fish supper for the journey!