From Balmaha to Inversnaid and beyond....

My "schedule" has decided it's long run time again so it's off to Balmaha to run to Inversnaid and back. I had initially planned Drymen-Rowardenen and back but following snow this week I didn't fancy going up Conic Hill and after reading Debbie's blog I'm glad I changed my plans.

The whiteout from the window at 7am wasn't reassuring. Ah bugger it I thought, worst case scenario I waste a few quid in fuel.

I arrived at Balmaha in perfect conditions. What was all the fuss about?? Snow? Not here! I got myself organised and set off walking, reminding myself that this was an exercise in time rather than distance, but within a few minutes I was trotting along feeling good.

On my last venture on the WHW it was like Princes St on a Saturday afternoon but today it looked like I had the place to myself. I was definitely going to enjoy this.

During the climb up Craigie Fort I was worried how much of my route would be like this but after the climb down running through the woodland was fabulous. I continued on towards Rowardenen then people! Damn, I was enjoying the solitude. Still, they were only walking and I soon lost then. I caught up with some old biddies who were out walking. They were impressed that I had caught them as they had passed me in the car as I ran through Balmaha (they started at Rowardenen). I said I was going to Inversnaid. They thought that was a long walk. I said I was running. When I said I was coming back to Balmaha they said that was a really long walk. I ran away.

Further along and Alan, a fellow first-time flinger who was also doing same section as me today but considerably faster, caught me up. After a brief chat I let him go on ahead. This section was fantastic and I was finding running easy. As I was heading down into Inversnaid, I met Alan again who decided to run on with me another 20mins past Inversnaid (I wasn't shirking on the 8 hours.) We met 3 ladies who had been going to Crainlarich but were advised against it! Good plan!! Last spotted heading for soup.....

After 20minutes of scrambling among the rocks and getting nowhere fast, we headed back but a couple of miles in despite how runable the section was, I was shocked to see we were doing 9min mile pace. Oh no no no . This was too fast for me. I had already missed 2 fuel breaks and while Alan's fuelling consisted of a slurp of water and a piece of malt loaf from his pocket, mine was a more casual rumage through my rucksack to see what looked appealing, a look about for a photo opportunity, an excuse to walk a few minutes, send random text messages. I let him go.....

A few folk, mostly schmoosing couples, the odd dog, were walking but that was it. Still all mine. In the more challenging uphill sections I kept myself entertained by DJing in my head. It's a rare talent and what a soundtrack! It's a mix of the Throwing Muses, Elbow, Bon Iver, Housemartins, Midlake, Miike Snow, Velvet Underground and the Archers and Pink Panther themes. Pah, who needs ipods.

I met a group of 4 guys at Rowardenen who had heard about this "lone female" from the WHW forum. They were just setting out for Crainlarich. I assured them that conditions towards Inversnaid were fine but didn't fancy their chances further north! They looked like they knew what they were doing tho.

I had a wee dip as I approached Cashel (which I always thought was in Ireland.....) and decided it was time for some more paracetamol. My feet were really aching. My trail shoes have never been out this long and because no training run would be complete without me getting lost, I missed a post and ended up doubling back on myself before realising I was heading north. Once I figured this out and get back on track I start storming along. Oh yes, the painkillers have taken effect.

I stayed on the road too long and had to climb the gate at Milarrochy Bay. Cross training? Balmaha though seems to be a lot further away on the way back and the climb up Craigie Fort takes the life out of me. The Archers/Bon Iver remix provided a welcome distraction and before long Balmaha was in sight. The sun over the Loch Lomond was low and breaking through the clouds between the trees providing another photo opportunity but before I became too complacent I broke into a run along the road then up the hill to the car park to see that I was 20 minutes ahead of schedule. I momentarily contemplated running on then thought that perhaps 33 miles was enough for one day!!

Notes:

• I am pleased to report that my imaginary running stalker(s) have made a reappearance (oxymoron??) They tend to follow me on training runs making sure I keep moving and giving me a kick up the backside when I start flagging.
  

• Today I consumed 1 double decker, half a boost bar, 1 raisin tracker bar (boak....), 1 banana, 1 pkt mini cheddars, 1.5l watery juice and 4 caffeine enriched paracetamol.

• Running on hardcore sucks.

• My sense of direction also sucks.

• I'm far too entertained in my own company. I should get out more :o)
  

I only want to be left to my own ways

*WARNING* THIS BLOG ENTRY CONTAINS EXTREME WHINGEING. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!

Phew, what a week! Some things that I have learned or become aware of this week are as follows:

1. I don't take kindly to criticism. Okay so I didn't win Carnethy. I wasn't last either. Does that make me a bad person? Does that give anyone the right to criticise my efforts? I'm out there giving it a go and enjoying myself which is a damn sight more than a lot of people. So when somone had a go through the week about how crap I ran, how slow I was and told everyone I was a crap runner, I didn't take it very well. In fact, the following day I was very very annoyed. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a bit of playful banter; what I draw the line at is personal attacks, regardless of how innocent their intention may be. This incident later led to a serious falling out at training on Thursday and frankly at the moment if we didn't cross paths again I'd be happy. I'll get over it though.....
   
   
2. Hill running takes more out of me than I ever thought it would. I have really struggled this week. Sunday was bad, Monday worse although I did manage a painfully slow 5 miles. Tuesday I was able to run a decent-ish tempo run but Wednesday was a non starter. Thursday wasn't too bad but it was only about 4 miles, while Friday's planned 15-20 miler turned into a pitiful 9 and every one of those was hard going. I struggled out of bed at 7am on Saturday morning in an attempt to redeem myself and although it was marginally better, it was still a hard going 10 miles. Still, I'm hoping that running on trashed tired legs is good Fling training??
   
   
3. Some of the kids at Boys Brigade are seriously unfit and overweight!! I took a group of BBs out on Thursday after training. Oh dear.... These are kids aged 11-16 and some of them could hardly do a brisk walk let alone a slow jog. I certainly had my work cut out!! Interestingly, I haven't been invited back....
   
   
4. Lack of sleep is not good for your general well-being. Aren't the winter olympics useful in the wee small hours though?! Next week I'm going to attempt to chill out and sleep more. Yeah, easy peasy....
   
   
5. I have some very good friends.... ...who looked after me after Thursday's meltdown and joined me in a breakaway training run.
   
   
6. I need new jeans - these ones are hinging off me! Who needs weight watchers eh?!

In retrospect, after a good deal of soul searching, a lot of blethering and a bit of screaming, the week has ended relatively calmly. Fingers crossed the running picks up this week after 2 weeks of considerably lower mileage than the previous few weeks. This should hopefully culminate in an 8 hour run on the WHW at the weekend.

So there we go, not even a race to report.....

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.....

I haven't been myself of late....

Scottish Vets Road Relays Strathclyde Park

Forgive my crudeness, but I've had a bastard of a week. High mileage and the ever-increasing stress in my personal life probably contributed to the total meltdown I suffered on Thursday. This in turn almost led to a massive pile-up which was, thankfully, narrowly averted. *WARNING* too much time on your own thinking can seriously affect your health....

So when the desperate plea for a stand-in runner came through for the Scottish Vets Road Relays I responded with a resounding YES!!! Why? Well a variety of reasons really. Firstly, I could use the excuse of running on Sunday to not run on Saturday. I'm pretty whacked truth be told although the suitcases under my eyes are handy for carrying the shopping home. Secondly, while creating more and more elaborate reasons to avoid people, maybe company is what I need? Thirdly, it's been a while since I did a proper speed session and I could probably use one.

...... I haven't slept for several days
Actually weeks. I just can't switch off. My heid's buzzing 24 hours a day just now. I wake up at inconvenient times and that's me. Last night was no different. Struggling out of bed at 8am I knew today would be hard work. I wasn't wrong. Listening to Guy Garvey singing "in despair or incoherent nothing inbetween" was perhaps not the best pre-race music but when I arrived and saw an array of smiling familiar faces my mood soon changed.

We congregated in the cafe, distributed race numbers and before long 11am arrived. Luckily I was on leg 2. After a brief warmup I spied Gail in the distance and then I was off. As usual I set off too quickly, my first mile being around 7.20 followed by an 8! I found it hard going but after spending weeks running on snow, sand, trails and mud I found the road to my liking, passing over to Maryann running leg 3 having run the 3.8miles in 28:43. Aye, that'll do.

An Idiot's Guide to Ultra Training........Part 1

I'm training for an ultra, my first. The ultra in question is the Highland Fling. Being the dedicated athlete that I am (choke, cough....) in true "top athlete" style, I devised myself a training programme. You could argue that any well-intended top athlete get themselves a coach but nah, not me I'm a dedicated self-motivated individual who doesn't like to follow the conventional rules. However, in typical idiot style, I've done nothing more with the schedule than ignore the reminders it keeps emailing me. It's a trick I learned while marathon training last year, eventually giving my schedule the dubious title of "make it up as you go along". Genius eh? It was a tactic similarly adopted at pre-marathon races. Never mind sensible pacing, the idot's guide schedule said just leg it and try and keep it going. See? Who needs a coach?

So the schedule is in the virtual bin and yet again I've opted for the make-it-up-as-you-go-along version. Thus far it entails missing out on WHW training days, pulling out of the Devil's Burden and indulging in stress by the bucket load. There are elements of sensibleness pencilled in for purely entertainment value, however, namely Carnethy 5 (yes, I'm deluded) and for the sake of tradition, good cakes and Smokies fishcakes it's back to Arbroath for the Smokies 10.

Currently then, weather permitting (I'm joking...) it's a case of run what you can, when you can and at no particular speed. It's run when you don't want to but know you should and run twice a day whenever possible, which isn't often I have to admit.

Budding coaches beware, this is the DIY schedule of the future.

And finally.....

In January this year I set a mileage total on Fetch of 1000 miles. Easy I thought, 20 miles a week should do it. At the end of January, having done my 40 mile Birthday run, I was already 45miles ahead of target. This was one goal I wouldn't have a problem achieving. I was confident, perhaps overly so. Now I know I'm always harping on about my broken ankle, it was a big deal after all so give me a break right? (perhaps not a literal one......) Well, when that happened I slowly saw the extra miles being eaten away to the point where I was about 120 miles behind. Even after the ankle was all better, the numbers of miles I was running hardly touched the deficit.

As "luck" would have it, I had already entered Loch Ness Marathon in December 2008. This gave me the perfect opportunity to ramp up the miles and claw my way back. By December I was ahead of target again by about 30 miles. When Fiona introduced me to the Marcothon (running every day in December minimum of 3 miles/25mins whichever came first) getting to 1000 was going to be a breeze.

Funny how life has a nasty habit of throwing crap at you just when you least expect it. This time it came in the form of a chest infection which knocked me for six for a week or so and stopped me in my tracks for 12 days. The Marcothon challenge was a gonner and the 1000 mile target was heading in a similar direction. That, coupled with the stupidest weather the Fife Riviera has seen in a long time (snow, ice, snow, ice, ice and more ice....) was making this a challenge to be fought to the bitter end.

So nothing like cutting it fine, after trudging through the snow, squelching through the slush and skating around the ice this last week, it came down to the final run on the final day of the year to put it in the bag. A social run with a few club members initially organised for Dalmeny estate was altered about half a mile in due to more stupid ice, making conditions underfoot treacherous to say the least. We headed instead towards Hopeton House, mainly along the cleared and gritted roads (Fife Council take note.....) and celebrated on the return journey with hugs and congratulations as my watch read 4.4miles, the balance due, with an extra 1.5 at the end for good measure.
Phew!

That was the year that was........

....12 PBs and a broken ankle.....

1 January - Portobello Promathon (4 miles) 31:42 PB
18 January - East District XC Dunfermline (6k?) 37:32
24 January - Devil's Burden Relay (Leg 1) 75ish minutes
24 January - Devil's Burden Relay (Leg 4) 60ish minutes
31 January - 40th Birthday run (40 miles!!) 9ish hours
12 February - BROKEN FECKIN ANKLE FFS!!!
4 April - Scottish Road Relays (3.2miles) 28:31
30 April - Kinross 10k 54:54
9 May - Cateran Trail Relay Race (Leg 1) 77ish minutes
17 May - Strathallan 5 Mile Road Race (5 miles) 43:49
22 May - Black Rock 5 (4.5 miles) 39:58
18 June - Carnegie Harriers Time Trial (3 miles) 23:06 PB
25 June - Milnathort Dash (5.5 miles) 43:31 PB
1 July - Brig Bash (5 miles) 40:07 PB
3 July - Friday Night Series (1 mile) 7:42
17 July - Beveridge Park 5k 25:04 PB
29 July - Tour of Fife Day 1 (Chicken Run 5 miles) 40:23
30 July - Tour of Fife Day 2 (Beach Race 4 miles) 30:20 PB
31 July - Tour of Fife Day 3 (Uphill time trial 2.25km) 17:45 PB
1 August - Tour of Fife Day 4 (Forest Race 5 miles) 40:05 PB
2 August - Tour of Fife Day 5 (Trail Race 3.7m) 33:26
9 August - Forth Road Bridge 10k 49:57 PB
20 August - Graham Clark Memorial Race (3.9m) 29:57 PB
6 September - Great Scottish Run Half Marathon 1:53:21 PB
27 September - East Neuk 10k 49:20 PB
4 October - Loch Ness Marathon 4:02:27
24 October - Scottish XC Relays (4km) 29:20
7 November - Tinto Hill Race (4.4miles) 60:23
14 November - Braid Hills XC (3 miles) 27:53

So for a girl with a broken ankle, I managed to fit in the odd race with a PB or 2 to boot. I also managed a 2nd F placing in one of the Friday Night Series 1 mile races but by default rather than talent. I also managed 2nd F40 at the club's road running Grand Prix, again because I happened to turn up but hey someone's got to......

Highlights for 2009 then:

• The 40 mile birthday run is the achievement I'm most proud of. Going from a maximum training run of 14 miles to 40 was something else but I have a lot to thank the company for.
• Getting under 50mins for a 10k not once but twice!
• Getting under 2 hours at the Glasgow half.
• Loch Ness marathon - the training itself was joyous to do and it makes me think that longer distances are more my thing than shorter ones

Despite the good bits however there were some very low points but I'm not going to dwell on them right now. Overall, I can take a lot of positives from the year and look ahead to 2010 with a fresh enthusiasm.

So what will 2010 bring? Well, having enjoyed the training for Loch Ness so much I'm planning on doing the Highland Fling (53 miles of the West Highland Way). I do like a challenge after all. Training for this will be tough with the complications of life getting in the way of training but at the point where my legs feel like giving up, I'll be relying on my head leading the way.