Monday, 26 July 2010

5x5 relay

On Saturday we had a club relay of the tds and 10K circuit so 25m and 5 legs and 5 teams. I did leg 3 and was happy with my run of 51.32 although sorry I couldnt catch Phil.
I did 10 in total. 6.12 race and 4m jog down to Crieff. A great day.
Yesterday I did 21.75m starting fron Dalchonzie and doing a loop of Loch Earn. I found this v v hard the whole way. My time was 3h 01 and I have done it in 2h 39 before!! However its a tough run done and hopefully I will get the benefit. later. My TAs were v tight after saturday. I was completely knackered at the end of yesterdays run, absolutely on empty.

Sunday, 11 July 2010

Crieff 10K

42.28.
Not my greatest day but I did enjoy most of the run. Felt like I had nothing in the legs for the last 2m.
I will concentrate on training now for the next 3 weeks or so

Saturday, 10 July 2010

Brig bash "5"

Last wednesday I did the above race. It was a flat 5miler and the 1st 5 miler I have ever done.
There were 10 harriers. Will led the way and finished in just over 29min. A great effort.
I found the race quite tough and came 21st in 31.31. I was really quite happy with that.
I have done 25m this week so far with the Crieff 10K to come tomorrow so things are slowly picking up.

Monday, 28 June 2010

Lairig Ghru race

Went up to Braemar for this 28 mile race yesterday. Quite a good turnout including Kate Jenkins fresh from winning the WHW race last week and competing in the Arrochar alps race on Saturday!!!The race takes you out along Deeside. Really nice running and scenery for about 10M. Then it all changes as the path becomes v rough for about the next 9 miles. The Lairig Ghru itself is absolutely stunning but I was too busy looking at the next rock on the path to admire it much.The boulder fields are horrendous broken up by some snowfields which were great as I could actually run on them. After that (2850 feet) you go down on v rough tracks for a few miles. I was passed by quite a few at this stage.About 7m from the end Rothiemurchis forest is entered which is really lovely with the bonus of lovely forest tracks to run on. I did reel a few in but was struggling with cramp which slowed me down quite a bit.The end is in Aviemore high st.I finished in 4h 37m which I was quite happy with overall. Dont know my position yetI'm really glad to have done this race but wont be doing it again as it just doesnt play to my strengths.

Saturday, 26 June 2010

Not sure

I have been planning to do the Lairig ghru race for some time. In fact its a race I've been meaning to do for years but something always happens to prevent it.
Thursday I did my last run and fely a definite tweak in the left calf and yesterday I felt really cr*p. Feel a bit better today but not sure whether to go to Braemar or not. Its a long way to turn round after a few miles.
Last weekend I ran the inaugural Orchill Rd race. It was supposed to be 10M but was 1/4 mile short. I came 8th in 64.45 and won a £50 voucher for an outfit called doitoutdoors!! Sounds dodgy but I will be doing some flyfishing with them at some point.

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

A great week off

Last week I took a week off work. We had some friends to stay for the 1st half of the week and last Monday Aidan and I went off to do the last 2 mamores for me which were binain beag and mor. We had stunning weather and I can honestly say it was one of the best days on the hills I can remember. We had stunning views across to nevis and finished in about 7.5 hrs.
Last wed was the Lang Toun 10K. I think 14 harriers did this. I had been feeling off colour all day so wasnt in a great state of mind for the start. Several Glasgow Uni students turned up and went off at a crazy pace. I decided to take it easy and started passing people by 1K. After about 4K I had finished passing people and despite feeling pretty knackered held my position to finish 1st vet in 40.17. Not a great time but hey.
The day after I was up at 5.45 to head off north for 3 days.
The 1st day I drove to Glen Cannich(4hrs) and parked below Loch Mullardoch dam to do 4 Munros and 20m. It was a superb day again. I headed up to Carn nan Gobhar and was soon sweating heavily. This was a problem because I was soon out of water and getting v thirsty. After Sgurr lapaich I met a walker who gave me a liter of water and I was soon able to fill up from a burn. The 3rd munro an rabaichan like the one before was big (1150m) and a long ridge. Then a craggy descent to the last bealach of the day and up to an socach. I wasnt sure which way to come off and picked the wrong way and ended up amonst peat hags. Finally what I had hoped was a nice run along the loch for 6m was anything but. There was barely a path and it was hard going. I finished at 8.30 tired but happy.
I B&bd in Inverness and abandoned ideas of Ben Wyvis and headed over to Gairloch for the harriers weekend.
Again we were blessed with great weather. Phil and I canoed around an island and saw all sorts including a couple of otters.
On Saturday 8 of us ran/walked slioch in 4.5 hrs. A tremendous day out although the descent was not to my liking. What a great hill though.
Sunday we did a tortoise and hare thing which I had the good fortune to win with Fiona which was nice then I headed back home v tired but happy.
A post script is I woke on Monday with a v sore L hamstring. I've no idea how that happened but it looks like a few days off.

Saturday, 29 May 2010

Night run on the WHW

I wanted to get a longish run in this weekend so when I heard about a group doing Milngavie to Balmaha I thought "why not?". The catch was that We were starting at 10.30pm.
Ian picked me up and we met the others(Peter, Richie and Stan) at 10pm and drove down to the start. The nightlife at Balmaha was evidently interesting. We had a bizarre conversation with an inebriated young lady and were glad when Stan arrived to whisk us off.
It was dark when we started and 10.30. After 2m Peter pulled up short and started berating himself for leaving his car keys in Stans car. This meant someone would have to drive him down and back up again to Balmaha. Richie and Stan kindly did the honours.
The run went as these things tend to, lots of chat and an easy pace. The conditions were cool and ideal. I quickly realised that my headtorch is no longer up to it. I was running in the light of others which is less than ideal. Ironically it was Ian who had a tumble shortly after the Beech Inn. He has a couple of lacerations but otherwise OK fortunately.
About 10m I really started to feel tired. By 13m I was remembering why I find the WHW race so hard. Its really difficult to run at a time you should be tucked up in bed.
I was OK most of the way but just before and coming off Conic Hill was v slow as I needed the light of Ian's torch to progress. Needless to say I will be investing in a new torch soon.
Peter and Richie did head off and the remaining 3 arrived in Balamaha carpark at about 3am.
All in all a good trip but a timely reminder of the work I am going to have to do next year if I am to do the WHW again.