WHW Runner

A weekend of incredible performances

2011-09-26T06:58:00.002+01:00

I haven't blogged for ages but there were a few performances that were just so incredible that I wanted to get back on to the PC and write about them. So, in no particular order, congratulations to

Patrick Makau, who ran a new marathon world record at Berlin of 2 hours 3 minutes and 38 seconds. Yes, 2.03.38. I'm beginning to believe that the sub 2 hour marathon may actually happen within my liefetime.

Debbie Martin Consani, who in her first ever 24 hour race ran an incredible 208.057 kilometres (129.3 miles) at the Commonwealth championships at Llandudno in Wales. On the way Debbie set a new Scottish record for 200km of 22 hours 28 minutes and 47 seconds.

In the same race, and also in her first 24 hour race, Sharon Law covered 204.017 km (126.8 miles). Sharon broke the Scottish 100 mile record during her run, covering the 100 mile distance in 16 hours 51 minutes 56 seconds. The Scottish team of Debbie, Sharon and Pauline Walker won the team bronze medals.

The 24 hour race was won in a new world record distance. Lizzie Hawker, who was first lady in the UTMB a few weeks ago, covered 247.076 km (153.5 miles). She won the overall race (men and women) and led England to the team gold medals.

Equally inspiring was the performance of Hazel Macfarlane of Troon Tortoises at the River Ayr Way race. Hazel is blind, but covered the 40 mile race in just over 9 hours.

And finally, the performance of the European Solheim Cup team needs a mention. The European team was behind with only 3 matches left on the course, but finished really strongly to win by 15-13. Suzann Pettersen finished with 3 birdies to go from one down to win her match by one hole.

Incredible, and inspiring, from them all.

A week to go...

2011-06-10T21:31:00.002+01:00

... until the WHW race and I can't wait. May not be running this year but in many ways that means I can enjoy the build up more, without all the normal taperitis symptoms. This time next week we'll be at Milngavie, registering the first few runners, and feeling the excitement build as we approach the 1 o'clock start. I'll be doing the checkpoint at Balmaha, then going up to Rowardennan to see the last runners through, then heading to Beinglas to see everything is ok there. After that I'll get a wee bit sleep in a wigwam at Auchtertyre, before heading to Fort William in time to welcome the winner in to the leisure centre. I reckon I'll be there doing the times until everyone is finished, and will then go on to do the prizegiving. Throughout the day I'll try and keep in touch with santababy's crew and make sure she's doing ok. I'm sure she'll be great.

It'll be hectic, but brilliant. We're priviliged to be part of such a fantastic event. Good luck to everyone taking part, and to their crews. And a huge thanks to all the officials and helpers, cause it couldn't happen without you. Look forward to seeing you all at some point over the weekend.

May

2011-05-28T11:51:00.002+01:00

I've just read Debs' excellent summary of her May running, and shamelessly have stolen her idea of giving a quick summary as a way of getting round my pathetic lack of blogging. So here goes.

The Fling took place on 30 April and once again I had a bit of a nightmare - in fact even more of a nightmare - than the last few years. Perhaps not surprisingly I suffered a bit of 'Couldn't Be Arsed' syndrom and didn't do much running for the first 2 weeks in May. The big exception to that was a long trip down the coast on the Wednesday after the Fling to my old home town of Troon for the 10k. There were a few reasons for going all that distance for a 10k: it's organised by my old club, it's a brilliant course and route, and all aspects of the organisation are superb, in fact as good as I've seen at any race I've done, anywhere. If you are looking for a fast, high quality 10k and can make it down to Ayrshire, then this is the one to do. I can't recommend it highly enough. Even the wind was the right way round this year, behind us just when we needed it on the last km up the prom.

The main reason for going though was that it was my 100th 10k. I ran a lot better than I expected and finished in 41.41, a time I was more than happy with. Now, I accept it's still quite a bit away from the sub 40s I used to be able to bash out with great regularity, but the fact that I still had the Fling miles in my legs it gave me a lot of hope there are better times to come, especially if I focus a bit more on speed in my training.

Most of my other runners were focused around Sandra's West Highland Way training. Last week we did 2 days on the route itself - on Day 1 Sandra ran from Balmaha to Tyndrum, then from Tyndrum to Fort William on Day 2. I followed the same kind of pattern on both days: dropped her at the start, ran up the route a bit, ran back to meet her and then back to (or a bit beyond) the car, then did it all again. I found it incredibly enjoyable, completely pressure free running, and ended up doing some decent and quality mileage - about 17 on Day 1 and 21 on Day 2, which worked out at half of what Sandra had done. As reported on Sandra's blog the weather was not great, particularly on Day 2, but it didn't really detract at all from what was an excellent 2 days.

Last night we met a group at Balmaha at 10.30pm for our annual 'WHW Headtorch Run' We've done this for a few years now and when Richie e-mailed at the start of the week to see if we were up for it again I was delighted. As well as being an opportunity to do something a bit different with a good group of friends, it was a good chance for Sandra to try out her headtorch on a section of the route where she'll definitely need it on race day.

We left Milngavie just after 11pm and had an enjoyable, although pretty uneventful, run up to Drymen and then on up through the forest. Not long after passing the car park at Garadhban forest I had a call from Richie, who was a bit ahead, saying the route was completely blocked with trees and that it was a nightmare to get through. He recommended giving it a miss and taking the diversion, which unfortunately meant turning back, down a back road into Drymen, the right along the main road to Balmaha. Sandra and I decided to take his advice and headed towards the road. Keith went on but took a wrong turn and finished up on the road, a bit in front of us. The rest made it through but with some impressive cuts, scrapes and bruises. Although it wasn't what we had planned, it didn't detract from the night and we ended up doing around 20 miles, pretty much what we had expected to do. We just hadn't wanted to be on the road that much, but hey ho. There were signs saying the trees should be cleared by 10 June, so here's hoping there are no delays - the race would be a nightmare if that section was still in its current state.

So that's about it for my May running. We had a lovely training run round Glenartney with Phil when we were out there one Sunday. I've run to and from work a couple of times a week, often heading along the canal and River of Leith walkway to make it a decent run. We're doing the Dundlane Hydro 7.5 mile road race tomorrow, a race I've never done before and one that I'm looking forward to. My mileage this month is looking very low after the poor first 2 weeks - only about 120 so far - but I'm not concerned about that at all, and would rather get some more fast(er) work done at the moment than concentrate on mileage. Over the last couple of weeks we've spent a bit of time helping out at races: we were at the Scottish 5K championships at Granton helping Adrian (where it was torrential rain and pretty cold), and then marshalling at last week's Cateran Trail race (where it was torrential rain and pretty cold). There's also been quite a bit of work in pulling everything together for the WHW race, so things haven't been quiet.

Less than 3 weeks to go now to the WHW. Bring it on!

Ding ding the Highland Fling (or 'That was a Helluva Long Way')

2011-05-01T13:00:00.004+01:00

Yesterday was the Highland Fling. 53 miles up the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Tyndrum. I finished in 12 hours 24 minutes. Not a great time, and my worst of all 6 Flings I have done, but I got there. Eventually.

It was a very hot day. I didn't start too fast and rached Drymen in 1.55, which felt sensible. As I made my way down Conic Hill with a few other 7am starters, we were passed by the first 3 runners from the 8am start. I had been running at that stage for 3 hours 10 minutes, so it only took the leaders 2 hours 10 mins to catch me. The 3 of them (Jez plus 2 others who I didn't recognise) came down the hill like it was a hill race. One minute we heard them approach from behind, and the next they were disappearing further and further away down the hill. It was incredible to see.

I descended at a much more sensible (girly) pace and made it into Balmaha at about 3 hours 20 mins. Quick stop, then off again up the loch. Quite a number of the 8am starters passed me at this bit, including Neal who passed not long before Rowardennan. It was starting to get really hot and I wasn't feeling very comfortable, but was pleased to reach the half way point in just over 5 hours. Some of the Harmeny relay runners had a chat with me there as I sorted out my drinks, but I wasn't at my most chatty. Apologies to you all for my grumpiness.

It was a long slog to Inversnaid, getting hotter and hotter, and then I had the usual slog scrambling over the rocks at the top half of Loch Lomond. I felt very emotional when I reached Dario's post - the first time I had seen it - but I was well behind schedule, and even more so as I came down the hill towards Beinglas Farm. As I got nearer the bottom I saw DQ who told me Sandra had fallen and had had to pull out. That was worrying, and more so as she wasn't there when I arrived at the checkpoint. Neil MacR told me that she had had a very heavy fall but seemed ok now; a few minutes later Sandra appeared, bandaged from head to toe, but in reasonably positive spirits considering the fall she had had. At that stage I had serious thoughts of pulling out too but decided to tough it out. Reluctantly I left the checkpoint and headed slowly up the hill towards Derrydarroch.

After a few minutes I met Gavin McK, who seemed to be struggling at that stage too. We ran (or more accurately walked) together for a while before he managed to get himself going again. I kept telling myself to keep moving forward and eventually got to Derrydarroch, then the underpass, then passed the cows, then reached Bogle Glen, and eventually I found myself crossing the A82 again with just over 3 miles to go. The last few miles were no easier than the previous 20, but I kept running when I could and walking when I couldn't. Eventually I reached the wood at Tyndrum and ran slowly to the end, crossing the line in 12.24.

I went right away for a shower, as I was starting to feel a bit cold. The facilities at By The Way were excellent - the shower was superb - and I though it was a much better finishing point, not least because it was about a quarter of a mile before the previous one!

Andy Cole offered us a lift back to Milngavie - thanks Andy, it was greatly appreciated - and we arrived back at the car just before 10. A quick coffee and something to eat at Macdonalds, then the drive back through to Edinburgh. I had to stop at one stage and stretch my legs as cramp was coming on, but we made it home without further mishap.

Sandra's feeling a bit sore today, but hopefully she hasn't done any long term damage and will be running again before too long. From my point of view I'm just glad I won't need to cover that bit of the WHW again for a while. It's a beautiful route, but I'm not sure I was able to fully appreciate it yesterday.

A huge thanks to everyone involved in the organisation of yesterday's event. There is so much work put in by so many people, and it is all appreciated. A special thanks however to the main organisers, Murdo, Ellen and Tim. And finally an apology to anyone who chose yesterday for a quiet walk on the WHW, and found themselves having to step continually to the side of the path to let around 400 runners past. Apart from one walker who greeted me with a 'Oh for God's sake, we're allowed to be on this route too you know', everyone was very pleasant and encouraging.

A few milestones on the horizon

2011-04-16T16:01:00.002+01:00

At the moment I'm faffing around a bit with my own running: no real targets of my own, but quite enjoying going out and doing various events as they appear, without any great pressure about times or (perish the thought) PBs. However a quick look at my spreadsheet of races shows I've a few milestones coming up over the next wee while. I've done 99 10ks to date, so my next 10k will (somewhat obviously) be my 100th. With a bit of luck this will happen on Wednesday 4 May at my old stomping ground of Troon, which seems a very appropriate place for it. I would love to get back below 40 minutes but that looks well out of reach at this stage, and it won't help that I will probably have done the Highland Fling a few days earlier.

I'm also not that far away from my 100th half marathon. I've done 90 so far and am doing between 2 and 6 a year, so will hopefully reach this one in the next couple of years or so. In the mid 1990s the half marathon was definitely my favourite distance, and I managed to knock them out regularly in the low 1.20s or even faster for quite a few years. Changed days indeed - 1.30 now looks an aspirational target for me - although it is still a distance I really enjoy. I've only done the Great North Run once (in 1994, when I didn't have a great run and still finished in 1.21!) but it is definitely a race I would like to go back and do again. I also fancy doing a few more of the Scottish island races. I've done island races on Arran, Coll, Islay and Mull, all great wee events, but there are a lot of others on my 'to do' list such as Stornoway, Harris, Skye (is Skye still an island?), Benbecula and Orkney.

My 100th marathon/ultra will probably take a wee bit longer to get to, but will hopefully happen in the next few years. I've now done 81 marathons and ultras, doing between 4 and 7 a year for the last few years. Like the half marathon, there are lots of marathons and ultras I'd love to do. I think it's about time I went back to do London - the only 'real' marathon in the UK, or so a lot of the newspaper commentators would have us believe - which I have done 7 times before, but not since 2002. I'd also love to do New York again, although the race entry fee of 350 US dollars (ffs!) definitely puts me off. There's no way any standard road marathon is worth that. The Medoc Marathon has always struck me as my perfect event - a marathon with a different wine at every mile - and I am already thinking it would be a great one to do for my 100th. I'm also keen to keep doing Loch Ness - my favourite road marathon anywhere - and to go back again to visit my brother in the south of France for the French Riviera Marathon from Nice along the coast to Cannes. Of the ultras, I fancy doing the Comrades one year but perhaps surprisingly don't have any great notion yet to do the UTMB. I would however love to be around Chamonix when the event was on, and get a proper feel of what it is like.

So much to do....

Two more ultras

2011-03-28T06:27:00.002+01:00

Since last posting a couple of weeks ago, I've moved into full 'ultra racing' mode. Last weekend we travelled up to Aberdeen for the D33, the first race in the SUMS series and a really nice 33 mile out and back route from Duthie Park in Aberdeen to Banchory. It was a perfect spring day, ideal for running, and I finished in 36th place in 4 hours 40 minutes, just 3 minutes slower than last year's time. My stomach wasn't great throughout, due I think to having breakfast too close to the start. Sandra took 8 minutes off her time from last year and came in a couple of minutes under 5 hours.

There were a number of excellent performances but for me the performance of the day came from Marco, who finished 3rd in a superb 3.38. He has moved to a new level this year, which is great to see. Susan's performance was also fantastic - she ran very strongly throughout to finish in 4.56. Anne Noble from Troon just seems to get quicker and quicker, and picked up the prized for the first super-vet in a time well under 5 hours.

My legs were a bit tight for the early part of the week, but greatly eased by a very pleasant run with Adrian on Tuesday evening. The pace was nice and gentle but it was great to be out there for a run and chat on such a nice spring evening.

And then on to this weekend. Sandra and I had decided to do the Perth 50k, which was taking place alongside the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k at the North Inch. I've run there a couple of times in 24 hour races, and always found it to be a good venue - almost completely flat, but very scenic but great to see all the support at the end of each 1.5 mile lap. One of the main reasons for going was to give our support to the Scottish team, particularly to Thomas, Debbie and Sharon, who were making their international debuts. Unfortunately Sharon had problems with her stomach and had to withdraw, but Thomas and Debbie both ran absolute stormers - Thomas finishing in 7 hours 42 minutes, and Debbie in 9 hours 3 minutes. It was great to see. They had both worked incredibly hard for it and fully deserved all the congratulations that came their way. To make things even better Thomas was part of the winning Scotland team - the first time Scotland have ever won the men's event in the Anglo Celtic Cup.

I ran a very sensible and steady race. It was 21 laps of 2.38k each, so in my mind I divided it into 3 sections of 7 laps each. The first 7 laps were probably my worst - I didn't feel very comfortable for the first few laps and needed a couple of toilet stops. After a toilet stop at the end of lap 6 I was about a quarter of a lap behind Sandra, who was running very steadily, and I knew I would have my work cut out to catch her. I managed to pick things up a bit and went through the 7 lap point in 1.31, continued to run better, then passed Sandra about lap 9. The 2nd 7 laps were faster than the first - 1.27 I think - and then I kept the same pace for the last 7, finishing in 4.26.30. Sandra continued to run well throughout and finished in an excellent 4.38.21, a full 9 minutes faster than her time for the same course last year.

So that's us almost reached the end of March. I've always seen the period from January to March as phase 1 of the WHW race training plan, so we (or more specifically Sandra, as I'm not running in this year's race) are now at the end of that. Phase 2 in April and May will include a lot more specific training on the route itself, including the Highland Fling race at the end of April and a 2 day training run in May, before the start of the dreaded taper in early June.

Inverness half marathon

2011-03-13T21:23:00.002Z

Just a very quick post to mention that we made it back safely from the wild Highlands, where I finished the Inverness half marathon in 1.32.40. I worked as hard as I could but there isn't a great deal of speed in the legs at the moment. The conditions were quite tough: very cold and windy, with rain and snow from time to time. Despite the relatively poor time (it is the 17th time I have run this race and my slowest so far) I really enjoyed it, and was even more delighted to see Sandra finish in a massive PB of 1.42.44. I'm sure she'll update her own blog in due course, but in the meantime a very big well done to her. John Kynaston had a superb 1.25 and made page 1 of the results, well inside the top 50, and Robert Kinnaird also showed the great form he is in at the moment with an excellent 1.29. Katrina Kynaston, in what I think was her first half marathon, finished well inside her target time and achieved an excellent 2.01. She'll be well under 2 hours on a better day. As ever, the organisation was great and it was a first class event. I'm sure we'll be back.

It was my 90th half marathon. I'm beginning to think about getting to 100...

Loads of running

2011-02-27T16:59:00.002Z

It's been a busy weekend. 24 miles yesterday along one of the most boring routes we could find - out along the main road past the airport and on to Broxburn, then back in to Edinburgh along the canal - then a much more pleasant 12 mile run in the Pentlands today. The boring run was chosen deliberately, to give us a bit of prep on a very flat route prior to the D33, and the hilly run in the Pentlands was a good training run on tired legs. That gives me 61 miles for the week, which is my highest for ages. I need to get a few more quality sessions in, which I'll aim to do this week, but apart from that I'm really pleased with how this year's training is going.

I also managed a few holes golf yesterday afternoon at Auchterarder with my boy. That's the first time we have been able to get out this year and it was a lovely day, with hardly anyone else on the course. Neither of us had played for 6 months or so and we were both a bit rusty, but it was great to get out there.

As mentioned on my last posting, I ran the National Cross Country at Falkirk last weekend. As always I enjoyed it, even though I seem to be finishing further and further down the field - 290th this year, from around 450 finishers. I've been doing the National for almost 20 years, and looking around the start line it was great to see many of the same faces. It's like a gathering of old friends.

Finally, we had a West Highland Way Race committee meeting this week, and it's good to see that it all seems to be under control: there are less than 4 months to go now, so no doubt it will be with us in no time. It's a bit odd knowing I am not running in it this year, having done it for so long, but I have to say that I'm really enjoying the lack of 'WHW pressure' on me this time round. I'm also enjoying doing the long runs with Sandra, who is doing the race for the first time, and helping her put together her training plan for the race. I think she is exactly where she should be at this stage, and I'm looking forward to seeing her progress as she builds up the long runs over the next few months.

The 3 Hills of Edinburgh

2011-02-17T15:04:00.004Z

I'm on holiday today - my body probably needed to catch up on some sleep as I slept for 13 hours solid - and I managed to persuade (birthday girl) Sandra to come out a run round 'The 3 Hills of Edinburgh'. This is the abridged version of the slightly better known '7 Hills of Edinburgh' route. The route starts from my flat, heads along the back of Craiglockhart Sports Centre and up to the top of Craiglockhart Hill, and then across to Braid Hill. It then crosses the golf course and road, heads up to the top of Blackford Hill, and follows a choice of route back to the flat in Morningside. In total it is between 6 and 7 miles, depending on the exact route chosen. Today we took the longer route back and made it up to a 7.

It is a fantastic run which, despite not leaving the centre of Edinburgh, is almost all off-road. Normally the views from each hill top are fantastic but today there was a thick fog, so no view at all. Despite that it was a thoroughly enjoyable run, and we both feel all the better for having been out there.

What else has been happening on the running front? I did a the Forfar multi-terrain half marathon a couple of weeks ago. It was a great fun event with a bit of everything - trails, roads, hills, paths and even a 200m section through a knee high river - and I felt happy enough with my 1.39 finish, even though it was a half marathon PW (personal worst) by quite some way. This Saturday it is the National Cross Country at Falkirk. I love this event. All the top runners are there, and it is a privilege to be able to take part in the same race, albeit at the other end of the field. It will be my 18th National - the first was way back in 1992, at Irvine - and it is always a great chance to catch up with many old friends, as well as take part in a very tough and testing 12k cross country. I've always thought it is an excellent training session for some of the ultras coming up, even though it may not feel approaching the end of the second lap, knowing I have to do it all again.

March will be busy with the Inverness half marathon on 13 March, followed by the D33 the following weekend. And then it will be time for the clocks to go forward - woo hoo! I've never been the biggest fan of the long dark winter nights, and I'm enjoying seeing the days getting longer and the temperatures getting a bit milder. It was light walking to work at 7.30am the other day, and still light that evening until almost 5.30pm. Before we know out we'll be able to get out on these Edinburgh hills, without a headtorch and in shorts and light top, long in to the evening. Bring it on!

Back

2011-01-23T20:32:00.003Z

It's been a while since I last blogged. In that time my life has changed significantly: I've separated from Alison, I've moved through to Edinburgh, and I'm in a new relationship with Sandra. It's not been an easy period, but I've had a lot of support from a lot of people, and hopefully things are now starting to come together. Thanks to everyone who has given me that support - it has been greatly appreciated.

I've managed to keep my running going through the turmoil and through the awful weather. I joined a few friends in November in doing the 'Keithathon' (running every day for a minimum of 3 miles or 25 minutes) and, having quite enjoyed the discipline of it, decided to keep going for December's 'Marcothon' (the same type of challenge but, as it was in December, lasting a day longer). I completed that, ran for the first 9 days in January to make it 10 consecutive weeks of running, and then had a day off. To be honest I'm not at all convinced running every day is a good thing to do, but it helped get me out there at a time when my motivation might have been otherwise lacking. It also meant I managed to reach the 2,000 miles for 2010 - 2,035 miles to be precise - and so I finally achieved one of the goals I had set myself for the year.

What about 2011? To be honest I haven't really set myself any targets or it given it a huge amount of thought. For the first time for many years I am not doing the WHW race - I'll be much more involved in the organisation this year, as well as trying to help Sandra who is running it for the first time - so that gives me a chance to do a few other things. Having said that I've already entered some familiar races: I'm in the National Cross Country championship (February), the Inverness half marathon (March), the D33 (March), the Cateran Trail (May) and the Devil of the Highlands (August), and although I haven't entered it yet suspect I'll be back at the Highland Fling (April). I'm even thinking about another 24 hour race later in the year, but that depends on how everything else goes.

I'm also thinking about joining an Edinburgh based club. I'd like to get my 10k and half marathon times down a bit, but to do that I know that I'll have to work a bit harder in training. In that respect training with a local club would be ideal, so if anyone has any recommendations then please let me know.

Yesterday, for the first time for ages, I was up on the WHW for a training run. 9 of us ran from Drymen, up and over Conic Hill to Balmaha, before I headed back to Drymen along the road. The rest of the group headed on towards Rowardennan, with a few completing the run back to Balmaha and Drymen. It was great to be back out on the WHW route - although a few sections of Comic Hill were a bit slippy - and really good to meet a couple of people I hadn't met before. I saw the boys in the afternoon then headed back to Balmaha, where we had a fantastic night at the Oak Tree Inn. It was a superb weekend.

My 500th race - Perth 24 hour

2010-09-06T12:32:00.003+01:00

I've been running for a few years now and realised a while back that I was likely to complete my 500th race at some point this year. When I reached number 498 a few weeks ago (I keep a detailed spreadsheet of them all - you can always tell an accountant) I decided I would try and do something 'memorable' for the big one, and the Perth 24 hour race seemed to fit the bill perfectly. So I sent off my entry, did the Kilmarnock trail race a couple of weeks back to get to number 499, and tried to prepare myself for Perth.

I had done two 24 hour races before. At Perth in 2008 I completed 106.74 miles, then did 100k at the Sri Chinmoy track race last October before stopping after 12 and a half hours. As I had failed to finish this year's West Highland Way race, I decided that my main goal would be quite simply to complete the full 24 hours; if I achieved that then I reckoned the distance would take care of itself.

We arrived early at Perth to give us plenty of time to put up my tent and to get things ready. Allybea was involved in a school barbeque so I was not counting on having any support during the race, although I had had a number of offers of help from people who were going to be there. As it turned out George and Karen looked after me for the entire race, and were completely superb, and allybea also came back up to Perth to help out after the barbeque had finished. There were also a lot of excellent support from various friends from the ultra running community - most of whom seemed to be members of Carnegie Harriers!

The race started at exactly 10.00 am on Saturday morning. My tactics for the early part of the race were to run very comfortably, and not bother about anyone else's pace or time. Each lap is almost exactly 1.5 miles, and I knew I could do 8 of these comfortable in the first 2 hours (6 miles an hour pace). If I did that I 'only' needed to average 4 mile an hour pace for the other 22 hours and would cover 100 miles. Probably a bit easier said than done, but that was the plan, and I completed my first 8 laps comfortably within schedule.

At midday the 100k and 50k races started, which meant we had a bit more company. I went through the marathon distance in 4.28.08, the 50k point in 5.21.19, and the 50 mile point in 9.12.55. I was going well and in a very positive frame of mind; my feeding plan (basically Complan, bananas and water with electrolytes) was also working well, and unlike in previous ultras I wasn't having any problems with my stomach. Phil, John and Davie all arrived at various points to watch the race for a while, which gave me another boost. I reckoned if I could get through the 100km point in less than 12 hours I would be in pretty good shape, and was pleased to achieve this target in 11.55.46. It was all going well.

I continued to work away well through the night, covering approximately 5 laps every 2 hours. After 16 hours or so I was a bit sick (the only time I had any problems with my stomach), but felt a lot better afterwards and managed to get going again right away. It started to get light again around 6am, by which time I was mainly walking but still getting through the miles at a reasonable pace. At that stage I knew I should manage 100 miles with time to spare, although it didn't stop it becoming more and more of a slog as I approached the magic figure of 67 and a half laps.

At 8.10 am (after 22 hours 10 minutes and 17 seconds) I passed through the 100 mile point. I was absolutely delighted. For the remaining time my legs became sorer and sorer - particularly after sitting down for some porridge - but I was determined to stay on the course and complete the full 24 hours. I kept going, managed a few more laps and finished up at exactly 10.00 am yesterday with a total mileage of 105.54 (169.838km), in 13th place from 28 finishers.

Although I can hardly walk today, I am really glad I chose this for my 500th race. Running a 24 hour ultra is an incredible experience, and this is an amazing event. A huge thank you to all the organisers, particularly Adrian, and also to everyone who offered so much support to me throughout the race. Someone described it beforehand as "just a very long run with some special people". I think that sums it up rather well.

Update from the WHW Race Committee

2010-07-29T08:50:00.003+01:00

I posted this update earlier this morning on the WHW race forum, but thought it would be useful to post it here as well.

Update from the committee

The committee met recently to review the 2010 race. In general the race was considered to be a great success, with thanks due to the many helpers who played such an important part in helping things go so well. As with any event, there were undoubtedly a few areas where improvements could be made, and these have been considered for future years. The main points discussed at the meeting are outlined below.

1. The 2011 race will take place on Saturday 18 June, which is the week after the Caledonian Challenge. It is planned to open the entries on 1 October with the entry process running through to 31 October. There will be no paper entries - all entries will have to be submitted online with payments being made by credit card. The race limit will remain at 175. The criteria for entry will be the same as this year - details have already been published and appear on the website. The cost will be £80 for member of scottishathletics and £82 for all others, including overseas entrants.

2. If an entrant requires to withdraw from the race, a refund of £55 will be paid as long as the withdrawal is notified on or before 31 May 2011. No refunds will be made for withdrawals notified after this date. It will not be possible to carry forward entries to subsequent years.

3. All entrants will be given the chance at the time of entry to request a specific race number. The committee will endeavour to meet these requests on a 'best endeavours' basis, although obviously there can be no guarantees that everyone will be able to be given their number of choice.

4. The first formal checkpoint will be at Balmaha rather than Rowardennan. This change has been made to help ease some of the congestion at Rowardennan, which has a smaller car park. Other formal checkpoints will remain the same as 2010, i.e. Auchtertyre Farm, Bridge of Orchy, Glencoe Ski Centre and Kinlochleven. The same drop bag arrangements will continue to operate for Inversnaid, Beinglas Farm and Lundavra, and a drop bag option will be introduced for Rowardennan.

5. The parking arrangements at Beinglas Farm appeared to work well, although some concern was expressed about the length of time taken for food to be prepared and served. We plan to discuss this with the owners and see if a better solution can be put in place, such as a buffet type arrangement.

6. There was a bit of confusion over the weighing guidelines. It was confirmed that weight gain or loss is only one factor in assessing the fitness of a runner to continue, albeit an important one. Any runner whose weight is outwith the guidelines will be referred to Dr Chris Ellis or Sean Stone, who will take any necessary decision on whether to withdraw a runner from the race on medical grounds.

7. As in previous years, all runners will be required to have 2 support crew at all stages of the race. The committee are looking at ways of ensuring that all runners comply with this rule, such as insisting that support crew sign in at the checkpoints - further details will be provided in due course. The suggestion of allowing unsupported runners was considered, but it has been decided not to proceed with this due to the additional burden it would pass on to the race organisers in terms of participant safety.

8. No dogs will be permitted to accompany any runner at any stage in future races.

9. There was a bit of concern about the level of noise from spectators at the Beech Tree Inn. The owners of the property are happy for us to use their car park, but have asked us to ensure that there is no noise or other disruption. We will remind everyone of this in next year's instructions,and will look at putting a marshall there on the night.

10. The committee are going to look at the issue of race day and post race communication, with an objective of providing regular updates on the website of the progress of the race.

11. It has been decided to make a small donation to the WHW ranger service as a contribution to the ongoing maintenance of the West Highland Way. It has also been suggested that we could hold a 'WHW volunteer day', which would allow people associated with the race to get involved in the ongoing upkeep and maintenance of the route. More details will be provided in due course.

WHW 2010 - a tale of failure, and of success

2010-07-19T08:03:00.005+01:00

The 2010 WHW race was ages ago - more than 4 weeks now - and I'm only just getting round to writing a few words about it. Sorry for the delay - work and holidays have got in the way, as well as a lack of motivation to sit down and put together a few words.

First, my result. I didn't finish the race, pulling out after 62 miles at the Inveroran Hotel. So another DNF. That's 8 goblets and 3 DNFs in my 11 attempts.

I knew things weren't right when I arrived at registration. I wandered around a bit getting various cheques signed, and was one of the last to register. I listened to the briefing, and when I went back to the car told Alison that I wasn't up for it. She gave me one of those looks - I'm sure she knew then that it was going to be a long day.

The first section to Drymen was ok. I managed to avoid falling - one of my main objectives on this section after a heavy fall a few weeks before - and my body felt fine as I arrived at Drymen after just over 2 hours. Despite that, I was already having thoughts of pulling out. As I told George, my legs were fine but my head wasn't in it. The backup team told me I'd be fine, I felt a bit better, and I headed off towards Balmaha having had my first Complan.

The next bit was ok too. The sun rose really early, and the views from the top of Conic Hill were wonderful. A quick stop at Balmaha and I was on my way. I met Andy Cole and chatted for a while, but I was finding it tough as we approached Rowardennan. By the time I arrived there I was feeling really low. I didn't feel like going on, but the backup team didn't give me any choice and had me back out on the course before I could think too much about it. I then struggled all the way to Inversnaid, being passed by around 20 runners. If I could have pulled out at Inversnaid I would have done so, but the only option seemed to be to head to Beinglas farm. Ellen came in to Inversnaid just as I was leaving and said she would run with me for a while; that seemed to give me a boost and I head along the tricky section feeling a lot better, expecting her to catch up with me. Around Doune Bothy she still hadn't caught me and I was surprised to see George. He had heard from a number of runners that i was struggling, and realising I was so late thought he should run in to check I wasn't injured. I was actually in good spirits then, and feeling much more positive, so had decided to keep going beyond Beinglas.

Beinglas to Auchtertyre wasn't too bad, and even though I was a lot slower than previous years I felt happy enough to be plodding on. I met George and Phil at Bogle Glen, where I was in reasonable spirits, then met them all again at the Auchtertyre checkpoint. My weight was fine and on I ran, meeting the backup team briefly again at Tyndrum. At that stage I was still doing ok. Shortly afterwards, however, the wheels feel off completely, on what is normally one of the easiest bits of the trail. I just couldn't get moving at all, and took an eternity to reach Bridge of Orchy. By the time I arrived at the checkpoint my mind had pretty much given up, although George and Alison persuaded me to try going over the hill to Inveroran and see how things were after that. It was no better. By the time I saw Murdo at the top of the hill I had decided to call it a day, and no amount of persuasion could convince me otherwise. I walked down to the Inveroran Hotel, jumped in the car, and we headed to Fort William. Race over.

So, with the benefit of hindsight, what went wrong? I don't want this to sound like a series of excuses, but I think there were a few things that affected me. It was difficult to combine being part of the organisation with running in the race. I think I was more focused on the race as a whole than I was on my own race. That doesn't really work - when things get tough during the race (as they always do) you have to have the desire to get that goblet. I was more concerned about the race as a whole being a success than I was about getting that 9th goblet. I don't think I had the necessary hunger and desire this year to complete it. A few months earlier, after my poor Fling run, I had been having serious doubts about whether I should take part. Geraldine made a very apt comment - she said that she could understand why I was struggling, as I was "covering old ground more slowly than I had covered it before". On the day it turned out she was right.

Perhaps Dario's death had more impact on my run that I thought it would. I found it very difficult at the start when Adrian gave the tribute to Dario and Davie, both of whom were very good friends. I know others were affected in a similar way.

So from a personal running perspective, it was a failure. From an organisational perspective, it was a big success. I was delighted with the way it all went, and believe we managed to put on a race of which Dario would have been proud. Certainly the feedback so far has been very positive; most importantly, the camaraderie that makes this race so special has continued and I'm sure will continue in future years.

What now for my running? I'm going to have a break from running ultras for a while and try and get a bit faster over some of the shorter distances, such as 10k, half marathon and even the marathon. I've done a lot of ultra running over the last few years and suspect that my body is crying out for a bit of a rest. It has been very frustrating to see my times get slower and slower, despite doing the same or similar training. It would be nice to get back below 40 minutes for a 10k and 1 hour 30 for a half marathon - these were times I achieved with relative ease up to 3 years ago, but I haven't been able to get near them recently. I am not going to enter next year's WHW race but will get more involved in the organisation side of things (assuming the rest of the committee will let me!)

Congratulations to all of those who completed this year's race - there were some fantastic performances, too many to mention individually - and better luck next time to those who didn't make it. Finally, a huge thank you to my back-up team of Alison, George and Phil. As ever, you looked after me superbly well and could have done no more. From a running perspective, it just wasn't my year.

Bad cold and sore ribs - must be WHW race week....

2010-06-15T12:25:00.003+01:00

3 sleeps to go to the biggest race of the year, and I'm sitting here with my nose dripping onto my keyboard. And for the last couple of weeks my ribs have been getting sorer and sorer - not only when I'm lying in bed, but also when I'm swinging a golf club.

But in case you think I'm in a right panic, please be assured that I am not. I am completely convinced that it is a good thing to have a cold now, as it means it will be gone by Friday night. I'm actually feeling a lot better today than I was yesterday - yesterday the snot wasn't running out of my nose but I had a blocked head and sore throat. There's no doubt that snot is better out than in. I'm on the mend.

As for my ribs: well, they shouldn't be a problem as I don't plan on lying down during the WHW race, nor do I plan to swing a golf club. In any case I don't feel them (much) when I'm running. If they get sore it will only take the pain away from other, more traditional parts of my body, such as my feet or legs.

So I'm full of positive vibes today. As this might be my last blog post before the race, I thought I would take the chance to pass on some of my top tips to the many newbies taking part. Here they are, in no particular order (and based on my experience of 8 previous finishes and 2 failed attemps):

1. At Milngavie Station you will probably be shitt*ng yourself. That is a perfectly normal reaction and everyone will be feeling the same. Don't follow the example of the guy a few years ago who was shitt*ng himself so much that he went home. It was only discovered when the Mountain Rescue people were about to start looking for him after he failed to turn up at Balmaha. He's never been allowed back.

2. Don't give blood before the race. We aren't being asked to do so this year, but last year I gave blood and my arm came up in a lump the size of a football. "Don't worry, it will be fine", said allybea. She later told me (post race) that she had been lying through her teeth and was really worried about me. Just as well I didn't know that at the time.

3. In the early stages keep an eye on the path. Last year I fell after 2 miles or so. I didn't do any serious damage but it was bloody sore, and looked quite dramatic when I arrived at Drymen covered in blood (I had wiped it on my face, which made it look even worse). On a similar theme don't follow the runners in front if they are going the wrong way. Instead shout at them and tell them to come back. In 2001 30 of us ended up on some golf course in Milngavie, rather than staying on the proper path through Mugdock Woods. I believe that Mike Mason has also gone off course in previous races, as has past record holder Kate Jenkins.

4. Carry the right batteries for your headtorch. If the torch takes AA batteries, there isn't much point in carrying AAAs as spares, as I learned in 2003. Luckily I was fast enough that year I didn't need to use them. And make sure your torch works. A few weeks we went a night run with someone whose headtorch was as useless as a one legged man at an arse kicking competition. He shall remain nameless to save his embarrassment, but you would think a doctor from Comrie, ex president of Strathearn Harriers and member of my 2010 backup team would know better, eh Phil?

5. Try not to fall out with your backup team. Yes, at various points in time they might be acting like the most stupid people on the planet - for example, why on earth have they given you a tea when you said you wanted a coffee? - but they are giving up their entire weekend to help you achieve your dream. At least make an effort to be civil to them. Like I always am.

6. Bring a pair of sandals or loose fitting shoes for the prizegiving. To be honest I've never had any issue at all getting my shoes on the next day, and I've never brought a pair of sandals for the prizegiving. However Murdo the Magnificant has posted this tip on the forum for the last 5 years (at least), so it would be remiss of me not to include it.

7. Avoid hooking up with anyone who can talk non stop for the full 95 miles to Fort William. In other words if you happen to come across Jim Drummond, it may be an idea either to speed up or to go into the bushes and pretend you need the toilet. At first that might seem a bit rude; in the long term your ears will thank you for it.

8. Don't park your campervan on the lawn at the Kingshouse Hotel. Hard to believe, but it happened a couple of years ago. Even better, don't bring a campervan at all. They are too big for the narrow roads.

9. The prizegiving is a great event and well worth attending. It is a chance to catch up with all of the runners, most of whom you'll not have seen at any point during the race. As allybea said on the forum, it does take a bit of time to hand out all the goblets to all the finishers, so please be patient and stay for the whole show to recognise everyone's fantastic achievement.

10. Finally, at some point on the route, take a few seconds to pause, look around, and think of Dario. It will be strange this year without him, and it will be a difficult year for many of us who knew him well. I'm sure he'll be watching us. One of Dario's greatest achievements was generating a unique cameraderie amongst everyone involved in the race. Being a member of the 'WHW Family' remains a special thing to so many people and it is up to us all to build on this legacy in the years ahead.

Good luck to all running, supporting, helping, or involved in any other way. I look forward to seeing you at Fort William on Sunday.

(And I could run) 1,000 miles

2010-06-06T17:24:00.004+01:00

I reached my 1,000 miles for the year today. I reached it 6 days earlier than last year. I've now moved into my taper phase for the WHW race, so my longest run this week was a 10 mile trot with the dog today round the trails above Comrie. It was a superb run; I enjoyed every minute of it. I also ran a 10k in Auchterarder on Wednesday night. It is quite a tough, hilly course (although perhaps a couple of hundred metres short) and I was pleased enough to get round in 41.49. Other runs this week included a good blast along the canal/River of Leith with Adrian on Tuesday night, a similar run on my own on Monday, and a steady run in the centre of Edinburgh on Friday.

I'm pleased with the way I've been feeling - I've enjoyed just about every run recently and I'm starting to get excited about the WHW race, which is now less than 2 weeks away. The WHW related blogs are full of nervous adrenaline with various people worrying about whether they haven't done enough long runs, whether they have done too many long runs, and so on. Race plans are beginning to appear, setting out in great detail the tactics for taking on the race. I've decided that I'm not going to do a race plan this year - my strategy will be to go out and run as I feel, smell the flowers, and (with any luck) enjoy it. Bring it on.. :-)

Nutrition

2010-05-23T10:14:00.003+01:00

On Friday afternoon I had a meeting with one of the country's top sports nutritionists, in an attempt to improve my eating for the WHW race. I have always had problems with my food strategy: I find it difficult to stomach anything when running, and I have had a lot of problems with cramp over the years. I was sure there must be things I could be doing better, and I was keen to get an expert's opinion.

In a nutshell, there are so many things I could be doing better. It was a fascinating discussion. I am sure this is an area where a lot of us could learn - while the advice given was specific to my issues, a lot of the principles are applicable to anyone taking part in an extreme endurance event such as the WHWR.

I've noted the main points below.

* As I find it very hard to stomach solid foods, I shouldn't even bother trying. For the race we have put in place a 'no dry food' rule; instead my main meals should be liquid foods, such as Complan or Build-up. These are specifically designed for people who have small appetities or find it difficult to digest solid food - in other words me when I'm running an ultra! They contain all the things that I need, so there is no need for anything else that will be more difficult to digest and is likely to lead to nausea and sickness. I should try and have one of these Complan meals every 3 to 4 hours.

* We have also put in place a 'no milk based products' rule. Milk is a great food, but not a great food for extreme endurance events as it will upset the stomach and cause nausea.

* One of the main reasons I have been getting cramp is because I am drinking plain water, which is flushing the electolytes out of my system. If cramp is to be avoided I need to ensure these electrolytes are replaced. So I should not drink water on its own, but ensure electrolytes and glucose are added to it. A good way of replacing electrolytes is by adding a rehydration treatment powder to the water (the same products used if you have had diarrhea on holiday). I should also add glucose polymers to the water - around 40 to 60 ml per litre of water. Both the glucose polymers and electrolyte replacement can be added to the same drink.

* Fructose is a good thing to take - it was suggested that I might want to have a couple of spoonfuls of honey in the later stages of the race.

* For optimal performance I should be trying not to lose much weight during the run but should be replacing the lost fluids and maintaining my weight at a similar level. To achieve this I need to know how much fluid I am losing during the event - it is known as my 'sweat loss' calculation, and can be worked out by comparing my weight at the beginning and end of the activity with the amount of fluid I have taken on.

* Iron is also very important for extreme endurance, but building up iron levels will take a a number of months and require me to focus on my longer term diet, There is not much I can do now in respect of the 2010 race.

* I drink quite a lot of coffee, and I was surprised to hear that this was not really a concern. On race day caffeine can be useful - it helps alertness and it provides a slight cushion against pain. However these benefits will only be achieved if the body is getting something it is not used to - therefore it probably makes sense for me to cut down a bit on my coffee prior to the race.

Yesterday was the ideal opportunity for me to test out the things I have outlined above, and see if it made a difference. I followed the advice very closely: I had no dry or solid foods, my eating was restricted to 2 Complan meals (one after 3 hours and one after 7 hours), I added glucose and electrolytes to my water, and didn't drink any water on its own at any time. It was probably the hottest day of the year, with temperatures for the most part in the low to mid 20s. We were out for just under 10 and a half hours, covering 41 miles.

Despite the intense heat, I had no problems with cramp at all, which I found incredible. Had I not changed my nutrition strategy there is no way I would have been able to cover yesterday's run without serious problems. Also I had very few problems with nausea or sickness, apart from one small period just after I had taken my second Complan meal. I am sure the reason for that was the fact it was one of the strawberry Complans, with a higher milk content than the more savoury ones. For race day I plan to stick to the savoury ones.

Despite following the advice I still lost a significant amount of weight, so perhaps I was not taking enough on board (I will follow up with the sports nutritionist on this and find out). I monitored all my food and drink intake very closely, as well as my weight. At the start of the run (just before leaving Balmaha) I weighed 87 kgs (13 stone 11). When I arrived at Bridge of Orchy my weight had fallen to 82 kgs (13 stone 0). So I lost 5 kgs (11 pounds) throughout the run - a significant weight loss. My food and liquid intake was as follows:

2 Complan meals
3.6 litres of water/electrolyte/glucose drink;
2 small coffees (about 0.4 litres in total);
2 and a half cups of tea (about 0.5 litres in total).

I am seeing the sports nutritionist again this week, so I'll have a chance to talk through yesterday's run in more detail.

Although my original plan was to do another 35 mile run today from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William, I have decided to give that a miss. Yesterday was very hot and the forecast is for another hot day today. I think I'll benefit more from an easy recovery day today than I will from depleting my body further.

Baby Cateran

2010-05-08T18:43:00.002+01:00

At the moment I can't face a 55 mile race so soon after the traumas of the Fling, so I've pulled out of next week's Cateran Trail Ultra. However I really enjoy the route and the area, so decided to do the 'baby' 23 mile version which took place today. And what a cracking run it was. There were about 30 of us at the start, including Scott, Lucy and Richie, 3 of Scotland's top ultra runners, so a more quality field would be hard to find anywhere. The weather was ideal for running; sunny, but not too warm. There was also a 3 leg relay which started half an hour later. Although the race was only 23 miles (how ridiculous does that sound - 'only' 23 miles) it was a tough old day out, especially the 5 mile climb just before the finish. I finally made it to the top - an ascent that my calves certainly felt, particularly when I tried to run hard again down the last steep hill to the Spittal of Glenshee Hotel - but I was delighted to cross the line a few minutes quicker than 4 hours, in 3.57.10. I think I ended up in 7th place, but a couple of people who were in front of me went off route at one point (including Bobby) which definitely made my finishing position a bit more flattering.

All in all a great day out. Well done to the organisers and to the Spittal of Glenshee Hotel, who put on a barbeque and generally made us all feel very welcome.

13 good years

2010-05-06T18:59:00.004+01:00

On Tuesday we said good-bye to our old dog for the last time. Isla was 13, not a bad age for a labrador, but she had slowed down a lot over the last couple of years and was almost blind. All so different from her first 10 years or so, when she would walk miles and miles with me along the Ayrshire coast, day after day, and we thought she would never calm down. When we moved to our current house she loved walking on the moor, sniffing the smells of the wildlife, and eating the horse and rabbit poo. Her love of food stayed with her to the very end - she never lost that.

We often said she was the friendliest dog in the world. It took her years to learn how to bark, and throughout her life she didn't once show any signs of aggression towards anyone or anything.

Ali took her to the vet on Tuesday afternoon - she was strong, it was the right thing to do - and when I came home from work there was a dog missing. The house feels strange without her.

Last night I was in Troon and ran along many of the streets and pavements where we used to walk. It just seemed like an appropriate thing to do.

I want to be an ultra runner, so I need to run ultras...

2010-04-28T20:04:00.004+01:00

I had a crap run on Saturday at the Highland Fling. I finished in 11 hours 47 minutes, my worst time out of the 5 races. I didn't feel good for most of the race, being sick a lot in the early stages, but I managed to keep it together reasonably well until the top of Loch Lomond. Then the wheels fell off. I had cramp, was sick, bored, scunnered, fed up, and wanted to pack it in. It was a horribly long last 15 miles. But I got there in the end - although I don't think I looked at my best when I came over the line or for the rest of the evening.

On Saturday afternoon and night I had more or less resigned myself to withdrawing from this year's WHW race. I've found every long run a struggle this year and it hasn't been enjoyable. "Covering old ground slower than before" was a perfect description from Geraldine. It's not a great place to be; I think the volume of ultras over the last couple of years has probably taken its toll on my body. So what should I do? I resolved to make no firm decision before Wednesday, but to think things through in some detail before deciding.

In the few days since Saturday I've spoken to a few people about it and have now reached my decision: I'm going to do the WHW race. I think I have to accept it won't be my fastest time, but I'm sure that I'm still capable of getting to FW in 24 hours or so, which would be fine. The decision was helped by the reaction of some of the guys at the sportscotland board meeting earlier today. They were hugely complementary about the fact I had just run 53 miles, and the time was pretty irrelevant from their point of view. I suspect we all get a bit caught up in all the great times from others in the race and it diminishes the sense of achievement in finishing - but at the end of the day we all have to set our own targets and goals. As I said last year before the WHW race - it's my race, no-one elses.

There is also the Dario factor. Dario's death continues to cast a long shadow for many of us who knew him well, and has certainly made it harder for me to find the motivation to push myself through tough events like this. Last year, and the year before, and the year before that, I would have been on the phone to Dario after my Fling run, talking it through in detail, analysing the various stages, and looking for things I could have done differently. By the end of the call everything would have been sorted out and I would have been back on track, keen and ready to take on the WHW challenge. I miss these chats, and know others do too. But I think Dario would have wanted me to run this year's race, and would have encouraged me to do so.

So, assuming my body doesn't give up on me, I'll be lining up again at the underpass at Milngavie Station just before 1.00 am on 19 June. And hopefully I'll be bringing home my 9th goblet on the Sunday afternoon.

Another poo story

2010-04-22T16:57:00.002+01:00

I've been inundated with requests to tell another story about jobbies. So here goes.

I was out running the other night with the dog on the on the King's and Queen's Courses at Gleneagles. It was superb. Not a golfer around - it was after 7 pm and everyone at Gleneagles would have been in one of the expensive bars (£14.50 for a G&T, would you believe). It was a pleasant, sunny evening, albeit a bit cold. I had beautiful lush, well manicured fairways to run on (I tried to stay off the greens and tees); and I was running with a dog who was completely in her element as she ran up, down and across the various holes. A better run it is hard to imagine.

After a while the dog needed a poo, so she stopped beside one of the tees to do her stuff. I'm a good dog owner and always carry poo bags to lift her poo. I absolutely detest dog owners who leave it lying. There is no excuse. These people should have their dogs taken off them, given to a better owner, then forced to clean dog poo from pavements every day until they have understood the error of their ways. I'm no lily-livered liberal when it comes to dog poo, am I Mr Subversive Runner?

Anyway I lifted the poo and, not wanting to leave it in one of Gleneagles' posh bins, decided to carry it back to the car to dispose of it elsewhere. So I'm running along quite happily, loving my run, poo bag in hand and not a care in the world. Then I realised the poo bag didn't feel quite right. I looked down and saw that the bag had burst. A significant amount of poo was now spread all over my shorts, top and bumbag, and there was also some on my hand. Fortunately the remainder was still in the bag - another few minutes and it would all have been on me. So in that respect I was quite lucky.

I took immediate action. I ran into the rough, found some large tufts of grass, and wiped as much as I could off my shorts, top, bumbag and hand. That got rid of a lot of it. Then I put the remainder in to another poo bag and, just to be safe, into a third. You may think that was shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted, but I thought it was a sensible precaution. Then I continued my run, thankfully with no further leakages.

When I reached the car (Alison's car, fortunately, rather than mine) it was difficult to put on my seatbelt without it touching the poo on my shorts and top. But at least I tried. When I got home, all my clothes went straight in the wash. Normally I would wear my shorts for at least a couple of runs, but on this occasion that didn't seem appropriate.

There is a lesson to be learned from this story. Don't try and save money buying cheap poo bags. It's a false economy.

"Take after each loose bowel movement"

2010-04-18T18:19:00.004+01:00

My stats for the week read as follows:

Number of runs - 1 (10k);
Number of visits to the toilet - thousands;
Number of solid jobbies produced on visits to the toilet - nil.

You can probably guess what kind of week I've had. It's been a week where I've had a horrible bug, making me feel sick most of the time, making me need to rush to the toilet on frequent occasions, and where I've been unable to face any food. Brilliant; just what an ultra marathon runner needs, especially when there is a 53 mile race in less than a week. Had I drunk from any of the streams during my WHW run last weekend I would have blamed that, but it seems quite a few people have been suffering from similar symptons this week (including a few people in the office, my mum, and from the sounds of it mrs pacepusher, who was trying to walk the Great Glen Way).

Anyway it seems to have gone now and I was able to run today for the first time this week. I took part in the 'Bridge of Allan Toughest 10k'. I have to say that I don't like events billing themselves as 'the toughest' anything. How do they know? Have they run every other event on the calendar to make that judgement? I would rather call it 'Bridge of Allan Quite Tough Slightly Less Than 10k' - there was a general consensus amongst the GPS owners that the course was not quite the full length. Despite that it was a really enjoyable event - there were a few 'interesting' hills, it was well organised, and the facilties at the start and finish at Bridge of Allan Sports Club were excellent. We got a huge goody bag, a burger and a carton of milk. Great value. Dr Phil finished 5th and first vet, so well done to him, and he took away a very nice Saucony running top. I finished in a time of 44.28; not great, but not bad considering it was my first run of the week. Most importantly I enjoyed it and feel like a runner again, rather than someone who won't go more than 100 metres away from a toilet.

Time to change the subject. Most of my readers will be aware that this was a historic week in British politics - the first time there had been a live debate between the leaders of the 3 main parties. It took place on Thursday night. I thought the 3 leaders were distinctly unimpressive. I like politics, but I'm finding myself increasingly disillusioned with all of the main parties at the moment. I think the system in Scotland is much better, where no single party holds a majority so the parties have to reach some kind of consensus to get things done. The SNP have worked out what they need to do to get things like budgets approved, and I think the country is being governed better for having input from parties across the political spectrum.

Anyway, in case you are remotely interested, here are my main beefs with the current lot:

1. Don't promise in your manifesto that you aren't going to do something (like raise tax rates) and then do it anyway, a few years down the line when you think people have forgotten about the manifesto. That's breaking a promise, and means that I can't believe a word you say this time around.

2. Don't say that your plan is "to offer every citizen in this country the chance to make decisions in their local community". What a load of pish. How is that going to work? Let's think of an example. Cameron says he wants to give parents the chance to sack teachers. So wee Jimmy gets a row from his teacher, and his parent takes the huff and decides he or she wants to have the teacher sacked. So no teacher will risk giving any child a row in case their parents object and try to get them sacked. I can see that will improve the standard of education in this country - NOT. I wonder if the Subversive Runner would like us all to have the right to sack him because we weren't happy with the way he was putting out a fire? Of course not. We don't know enough about it to make decisions like that. What a stupid idea, Davey C. Is it beyond your intellectual abilities to think things through a bit further?

3. I'm getting bored by the bankers being blamed for everything under the sun. Ok, they messed up. But it's time to get over it. Bankers get bonuses. It may not be fair but who said life was fair? Public sector workers get great pensions, unlike anyone else, and I don't see people moaning about that (although I think they should, and the government should be looking at the whole issue of the public sector pay as an area to reduce cost).

4. I'm also completely bored by the response of the 3 leaders to the expenses scandal. Each one of them knows that MPs have historically used their expenses to make up for the fact that they will not get paid as much as they do in the jobs they did before they were MPs. But not one of the leaders has come out and said that - instead they feign anger and disgust, despite being been part of the same corrupt process for the last 10 or 20 years. In my view the problem is that MPs are not paid enough to attract enough people of genuine talent. I'd get rid of half of them and pay the remaining ones more. That way we might get a bit more quality.

There, rant over. I'll be glad when the election is decided.

D33

2010-04-04T20:46:00.003+01:00

Just a quick post to say I ran the Deeside Way 33 mile ultra yesterday and finished in 4 hours 37 minutes, in 21st place from 89 finishers. It was a really good event; a nice course, good weather, and the usual friendly atmosphere before, during and after the race. Well done to George Reid and everyone else involved in the organisation.

I was quite pleased with my run. The toughest bit was probably the 3 miles before the halfway turning point, when my hamstring felt a bit tight, but after turning I seemed to get a second lease of life and pushed on well. As usual the last 6 miles or so felt quite hard, but I didn't slow down and felt reasonably strong as I crossed the finish line in Duthie Park. Perhaps surprisingly it's the first time I've ever done a race in Aberdeen.

There were 2 other runners from Strathearn Harriers, Graham and Kenny, who were both doing their first ever ultra. It was good to see them both finish, particularly as they had smiles on their faces and within minutes of finishing were talking about "the next time". That's always a positive sign.

I managed a steady run this morning with the dog, so hopefully haven't done too much damage to my legs from yesterday's efforts. After all it's only 3 weeks until the next one, the Highland Fling on 24 April...

Running for 20 years

2010-04-02T17:30:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow is the Deeside Way 33 mile ultra. It will be a big day for me: the 20th anniversary of the day I realised I had turned into an unfit, overweight 24 year old slob, and started running in an attempt to do something about it. That was on the 3rd of April 1990, just a few days after we had moved to Troon. Prior to that I had run a couple of marathons in the mid 1980s (Glasgow in 1984 and 1985), but hadn't done anything in the intervening years, a fact you could tell very easily by looking at me. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I enjoyed getting back in to the running and feeling fitter, lost 3 stone in 2 months, did a half marathon in June of that year, joined Troon Tortoises in the October, and have never really looked back since. I'm now approaching my 500th race (488 completed so far); I've run well over 30,000 miles, with every one of them recorded in my training diary; I've been a member of 5 different running clubs in the 20 year period; and assuming I finish tomorrow it will be my 75th completed marathon/ultramarathon. I've also met a huge number of great people, many of whom I consider to be very close friends. A lot of them will be running tomorrow so it will be a great chance to catch up, even if a 0530 departure time on Easter Saturday morning may not be everyone's idea of the perfect way to spend a holiday weekend.

Despite the fact we are now into April and the clocks have gone forward, we had another heavy snowfall this week. I'm hoping that's the last of the year's snow as I'm completely fed up with it now. I was out a run on Tuesday lunchtime and it's a long time since I've been as cold as I was that day. It was absolutely freezing with horizontal rain and a biting wind, all very unpleasant. To add to my misery I couldn't get the car out the drive (again) and needed to get a lift to and from the station. Bring on the better weather.

On the whole March was a good month in terms of my running. I managed a total of 213 miles (making it 573 for the year), including 2 half marathons in successive weeks and a 38 mile run on the WHW. I also succeeded in my 'more non alcohol days than alcohol days' challenge for the 3rd successive month, yet again by a 16-15 margin. Although that may sound close it wasn't really - I was 15-10 ahead after 25 days, so was able to have a few more 'relaxed' days as I approached the end of the month. To be honest 16-15 is ideal - what would the point be in achieving it by a bigger margin?

Good luck to everyone running tomorrow, especially Graham and Kenny from Strathearn Harriers who (I think) are taking part in their first ever ultra. I'll try and post some thoughts about the race over the weekend.

Quite a weekend

2010-03-22T21:35:00.004Z

It was quite a weekend. On Saturday I was dragged from Balmaha all the way up Loch Lomondside to Doune Bothy by the gang - Keith, Norman, Ian, Jon, John and Jaimie - before we turned around and did it all again in reverse. In total that was almost 38 miles and 9 hours of running on the WHW, including the section from Inversnaid to the top of the loch twice. What a slog. These training runs aren't getting any easier. For a lot of the day I had no idea how I was going to make it back but just dug in, gritted my teeth, and told myself to TTFU - as I'm sure Keith would have told me if he hadn't been so far ahead. The way back was a bit better than the way out, although I was very glad to reach the finish at Balmaha just before 6 o'clock and be able to stop. I had a few twinges of cramp during the drive home, but after the pain I had been through for most of the day it didn't seem that significant. I was just pleased to be finished. It had been a lovely day - almost perfect running conditions - which was probably just as well, as I found it a difficult enough run without the added difficulty of poor weather.

Not surprisingly I travelled to Alloa for the half marathon on Sunday morning without any great hope of a fast time. I was keen to do it for 2 reasons, however: it was a good chance to do 2 hard back-to-back runs, which would be good training for the forthcoming ultras, and it was a race that the club had targeted and was encouraging as many members as possible to take part. My warm up felt ok, the weather was just about perfect, and I set off at a fairly steady 7.25 pace feeling reasonably good. I managed to keep that pace going for most of the run and was pleased to finish in a time of 1 hour 36 minutes and 25 seconds, only 5 minutes slower than Inverness last week. It was probably a much better performance than Inverness, given the efforts of the previous day, and proved once again that it is speed rather than stamina which is my issue at the moment. It was also good to see 9 club members taking part, some of them doing a half marathon for the first time.

I was completely shattered last night, but with the benefit of hindsight I'm pleased at getting the 2 runs done - I'm sure I'll look back on the weekend as an important stepping stone in my preparation for the WHW race. And, on another positive note, at least I didn't have to face the wild and wet conditions at the Hardmoors 55. The weather there sounded appalling so well done to all who took part, whatever you finished or not. Let's hope there's no repeat of these conditions on the 19th June...

March - it must be Inverness

2010-03-14T20:48:00.004Z

I've been doing the Inverness Half Marathon every year (with one exception) since 1994. Today was the day for the 2010 edition of the event. My thoughts on it are set out below.

I knew this was going to be a busy weekend. Sportsman's dinner on Friday night; Scotland v England rugby yesterday, with full hospitality; followed by the Inverness half marathon today. I decided to forego alcohol both at the dinner and at the rugby to give myself a fighting chance of surviving it all, although it was incredibly difficult to sit through a lunch at Murrayfield with the wine/beer/champagne flowing and restrict myself to a few glasses of still water. I managed, and at least it was a decent game - although it would have been even more decent if Scotland had won rather than hold on for a 15-15 draw.

Anyway, back to the half marathon. I just wasn't up for it at all, either when I woke up this morning with a nose that refused to stop running or when I arrived at the sports centre. I registered, collected my chip and number and went out a warm up - and still felt no better. To be honest I felt crap. My legs were heavy and I didn't want to run the race. I went back to the car and tears ran down my face. Should I go home? I just wasn't up for this at all. Fortunately at that moment I saw Adrian Stott walking towards his car and gave him a shout (having wiped my tears away first). He came over and we had a decent chat. After that I felt a bit better, got changed, and felt more ready for the race having changed into my shorts and club vest. Adrian, you have no idea how much I appreciated seeing you. It made a big difference.

Even when the race started, however, I wasn't sure I wanted to be doing it. I saw a lady with 2 black labradors near the start and felt hugely jealous: I wanted to be the person at the side with the dogs, rather than the one taking part in this shitty race. But I settled down, found myself going through 3 miles in slightly better than 7 minute mile pace, and felt ok. I was around the same pace at 6 miles, the same at 9 miles, and pretty much the same to the end. I finished in a time of 1 hour 31 minutes and 28 seconds - my worst time at Inverness by almost 2 minutes, but not too bad a performance considering the way I felt before the race. On the whole I ran quite well and kept going at a steady pace, but had no speed at all and could not pick it up. Note to self: that's what happens when you bash out mileage as part of your training, but don't really hurt yourself by running fast for long periods. If I want to get back below 1.30 I need to address this and do some harder training. The problem is I'm not really sure I want to.

So, what else has been happening in the months since I last blogged? I was planning to do a review of February but never quite managed it, so here is an abridged version:

* February was a weird month: 13 miles one week, 70 the next, the 50 something the next then 20 something in the last week. Very up and down. In effect I ended up with 2 good weeks running and 2 bad weeks, and a total of 159 miles (360 for the first 2 months for those who are interested in that sort of thing). I suppose it wasn't too bad a total for February considering the crap weather - for those that don't know we had more than 2 feet of snow around our area, as allybea explained on her blog, along with posting a few photos: http://whwracebackup.blogspot.com/2010/03/snow-joke.html

* I did one race (the National Cross Country, which I have already mentioned on my blog) and a great 36 mile run on the West Highland Way. The 36 mile was a struggle but I managed to hold on, got there, and made it in time for the 17.35 train from Fort William back to Bridge of Orchy.

* For the second month in a row I succeeded in my 'alcohol challenge' (which is to have more non-alcohol days each month than alcohol days). I think it was 15-13 but will need to check - it might have been 16-12... Who cares? A pass is a pass...
(Ps - At the moment I am 8-6 ahead in the March alcohol challenge so looking good :) )

And that's it. Next weekend is a biggie - a 42 mile run on the WHW with the Glee Club on Saturday, followed by the Alloa half marathon on Sunday. If I am not too tired to climb the stairs to my computer I'll try and write an update of how it all went.

National XC

2010-02-20T20:15:00.003Z

Well, another National Cross Country championship completed. That's my 17th in total; since 1992 I've done them all except 2 (1995 and 2000). It is a classic race, one that in my opinion should be included on every endurance runner's schedule for the year. More about that below.

First the facts. I finished 284th (from 447) in a time of 51.57. I was delighted to hear that the winner was Ali Hay from Central, particularly given the tragic death of his dad, Big Davie, at the beginning of the year. I wasn't so delighted to finish in 3rd place from the club, 29 seconds behind Phil M and 21 seconds behind Phil T. I was further behind than that at the end of the first lap and was making back some ground, and by the start of the 3rd lap was confident I would catch them both. Unfortunately they got into a race of their own, and I couldn't close it any more.

All in all I ran about as well as I expected. I haven't been doing much fast stuff, and it was my first race since the Strathaven 10k on 1 November last year. However, the facts don't lie. My position meant I was at 63.5% in the field; last year I was at 57.4%. My actual time was 5.1% worse than last year; the winner was 1.2% worse, the 100th person was 2.9% worse and the 200th person was 1.3% worse. So my relative performance was a lot worse than last year.

Having said all that, I don't really care. C'est la vie. I thoroughly enjoyed it today and would hope to be taking part in this race for years and years to come. As I ran down the home straight at the end of my 2nd lap (with 1 lap to go), I tried to remember the thoughts that were going through my mind so I could record them later. They were along the following lines: I'm 44, I'm running as hard as I can through a muddy field on a Saturday afternoon, what the f*ck am I doing here? But you know what? I'm loving it... I'm really lucky to be able to take part in a great event like this...even if I'm a bit slower than a few years ago..now I'm closing on the Phils... I'm going to get them this lap... bugger... they've seen each other and are starting to pick up the pace as they race each other.. I'm closing again... shit no I'm not, it's just because we were going up the hill.. they've pulled away down the other side..I'll keep digging in...still half a lap to go...need to watch I don't slip in the mud at this bend...I've a chance here, they look a bit tired, might get them over the last section...oh no, they've pulled away again...no way back now. Finished. Cough, cough, cough, splutter, cough. I forgot my new inhaler which would have made a huge difference to my time... probably 30 seconds...:)

In the first paragraph I mentioned that the National is a race I think all endurance runners should do. I have to say I was disappointed how few from our club (4 from a membership of around 50) and how few members of the WHW family took part. Don't get me wrong, there were some: I saw Kate Jenkins and Gail Murdoch in the women's race; Mags Turnbull was there supporting; the men's race had the 2 Phils, Marco Consani, Iain Rae, Hugh Kerr, Jim Drummond and I'm sure many others. However a lot of runners think that the National is too elitist and not for them, whereas nothing could be further from the truth. What other sport gives you the chance to actually participate in its 'Blue Riband' event? I don't see me ever getting the chance to take part in the Scottish Cup final at football, the final of the Scottish Swimming championships, the Camanachd Cup final at shinty, or the Open Golf championship at golf, so it is a real privilege to be able to run in the top Scottish endurance event of the year. Come on guys, let's see a bigger turnout next year - we probably aren't going to win it (I have even dropped my target of getting into the top half - top two thirds is now a satisfactory performance), but it is a fantastic experience just to be part of it. If you don't you're missing out - you can do a long slow run on the WHW any weekend, but you can only do the National once a year.

Another 4 years

2010-02-15T16:59:00.003Z

This was announced today on the Scottish government website...

sportscotland
15/02/2010

Minister for Public Health and Sport Shona Robison today announced the re-appointment of 3 non-executive members to sportscotland.

The New members are:

Mr Ian Beattie is a Chartered Accountant and Chief Operating Officer of Lindsays, a firm of solicitors. Prior to this he was Finance Director of another Scottish legal firm, and has held a number of senior financial roles in the financial services sector. He is currently Vice Chair of sportscotland, acting as interim chair from February to June 2008, and chairs the Audit Committee. His skills in these areas highlight his importance as a Board member, particularly his finance acumen. He is an experienced long distance runner, having completed more than 70 marathons and ultramarathons, and is treasurer of Strathearn Harriers and of the West Highland Way Race Association. Mr Beattie does not hold any other Ministerial Appointments.

This re-appointment will be for a period of 4 years from February 13, 2010 to February 12, 2014.

Kim McAully is an Accountant with Angus Council's Education Department. With over 25 years experience in finance in both the private and public sector, Kim brings a wealth of knowledge to the Board, especially from a financial and governance perspective. A member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants(CIMA), she is also Secretary for the Dundee branch of CIMA. Kim has been heavily involved in local community groups and enjoys walking in the Angus glens in her spare time. Ms McAully does not hold any other Ministerial Appointments.

This re-appointment will be for a period of 1 year from February 13, 2010 to February 12, 2011.

Carolan Dobson is a Competition Commissioner and Deputy Chairman of the Finance and Regulation Group as well as a Chairman and trustee of a number of private and public sector pension schemes. She is a Non-Executive Director of Shires Smaller Companies plc an investment trust and Chairman of Lomond School. Past achievements include being Head of Abbey Asset Managers' Investment Floor in Glasgow with funds under management of £30billion and a Director of Murray Johnstone. She has also worked for British Waterways as Non-Executive Director where she worked closely with local authorities and helped to establish private public partnerships. Through these appointments she has had extensive experience of working effectively as a non-executive board member with particular expertise in setting strategy and finance. She competed internationally for Scotland in three day eventing and downhill ski racing and has been involved for many years in performance sailing so is experienced in grass roots and performance sport. Ms Dobson does not hold any other Ministerial Appointments.

This re-appointment will be for a period of 4 years from February 13, 2010 to February 12, 2014.

These posts are part-time and Members receive a daily fee of £158 per day for a time commitment of approximately 6 days per year.

Sportscotland is the national agency for developing sport in Scotland, dedicated to helping increase participation and improve performance in sport. The organisation work with and bring together key organisations in Scottish sport, such as Governing Bodies and Local Authorities, supporting them in delivering their single plan for sport and investing National Lottery and Scottish Government funding in the shared outcomes which contribute to the National Strategy for Sport - Reaching Higher.

These Ministerial re-appointments were made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland's Code of Practice.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity within the last 5 years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. None of the above re-appointees have been involved in any political activity within the last five years.

Doesn't time fly?

2010-01-31T20:38:00.004Z

It's hard to believe it's the end of January already. I was about to sit down and do a review of the month, thinking that would be an original and interesting post, when I noticed John K had already done exactly the same thing. Shit. I can't have anyone think I'm just copying John K, so here are a few random thoughts and reflections from January.

There was a hell of a lot of snow and ice, at least for the first few weeks. My car couldn't move for 4 and a half weeks, and when it did it had a sort of damp smell every time I opened the door. Despite that I managed to keep my running going reasonably well, and actually got over 200 miles for the month - 201 to be exact - despite a very poor first week when I was just back at work after the holidays and only managed a pathetic 18 miles. I managed 2 decent runs on the WHW, both hugely enjoyable, especially the run from Kinlochleven to the Lairig Mor and back with Keith and the gang. That was a top day out.

I'm still on course for my 2010 alcohol challenge. I had 16 days where I didn't drink alcohol and 15 where I did. That sounds close, but it wasn't really - I reached 16 non alcohol days last Thursday and have been able to enjoy myself ever since.

I was 44 on 24 January. Spent my birthday at a cousin's baby's christening party. I hadn't seen my cousin (or my aunt and other cousins) for 20 years. For the first time in my life I feel quite old. I was at a Burns Supper in the office on Friday night and was sitting beside 2 of our trainees. It turns out they are both younger than my oldest son. Bloody hell.

No races this month. Anything I was hoping to do was cancelled becasue of the snow and ice. Probably just as well as I don't have any speed at all at the moment and no doubt I would have been hugely disappointed with my times.

The WHW Training and Inspiration evening took place on Wednesday night. Around 150 people attended and from the feedback I think it was a great success. I chaired it and was pleased to see we got through all the business on time.

A group of us have started doing Tuesday night runs in Edinburgh (Keith, Norman, Adrian and me). These are great fun - we normally set off around 6.30 from Run and Become and do 8 miles or so. It's a steady pace and the chat is good. if anyone fancies joining us you are more than welcome - the more the merrier - just drop me an email first to make sure there have been no changes in the plans.

Allybea and I went to London to see Billy Connolly. It was a brilliant concert and a great weekend.

And that's it. Now on to February....

Lesson of the week - how to deal with difficult cattle

2010-01-24T21:04:00.005Z

There are a few sections on the West Highland Way where cows regularly block the route, such as the section above Crianlarich before Bogle Glen. Up until a few years ago I wasn't sure how to deal with this, but I was taught one day when out running with my WHW backup man, George McGregor. It was an invaluable lesson which I have put to good use on many occasions since then. George is the perfect man for advice of this nature - as a McGregor he is a distant relative of the famous cattle thief, Rob Roy McGregor, and moving cattle is clearly an old skill which has been passed down through the generations of McGregors.

I have many friends who find these cows frightening, and are not sure what to do when faced with this situation. If you are in this category I suggest you read the following carefully, and hopefully you will never have problems with cattle again. Ellen and Fiona, take note, and remember the advice comes from the master himself, George. Good luck...

Moving cows out of your way - George's top tips

1. Approach the cows in a confident manner. Do not stop running - the cows will sense you are frightened, which is not good. They need to understand who is in charge, and it's not them.

2. Do not deviate from your route. Run directly along the path, whether the cows are in your way or not. Just keep going.

3. As you get close to the cows move your arms to either side and shout 'Shoo, shoo'. Keep running towards them. If necessary, shout 'Shoo, shoo' again and keep waving your arms.

4. The cows will move to the side and let you past. Run past, maintaining a confident appearance at all times. If they are a bit slow, tell them to 'get a f*cking move-on' and wave your arms some more. That should do the trick.

5. Once successfully past the cows, pass on your knowledge of moving cows to any frightened walkers you happen to meet. It will save them taking a massive detour back the way they have come, down to Crianlarich, then along the busy A82 road.

There are only 2 occasions where I have found these tactics to be unsuccessful. The first is when one of the cows turns out to be a bull. Bulls are not as receptive to cries of 'Shoo, shoo' as cows. Instead of moving out the way they tend to stand there looking aggressive and hard. At that stage a decision needs to be made and taking a detour may be the best option, depending on the hardness of the bull. The second difficult situation is when you are out running with a dog. Cows like to chase dogs and can run surprisingly fast, considering their size. In these situations I have found that the best answer is to run like hell towards the nearest wall or gate, lift your dog and throw it over the wall or gate, then make sure you get yourself over before the cows arrive. Following this course of action may be embarrassing, but you are much less likely to be trampled to death by a herd of rampaging beasts if you are in a different field. For that reason I have never taken my dog on the Crianlarich section of the WHW, and have no plans to do so.

At last - a decent ice and snow free run

2010-01-17T19:58:00.003Z

I wanted a long run this weekend but a Friday night of beer, red wine, white wine and whisky* put paid to any realistic chance of that happening on Saturday. Instead I tried to plan a Sunday run on the WHW but feedback from Marco, Thomas and John was not good - texts from them reported difficult, icy conditions and strong recommendations to stick to the roads. It was only when I received an update text from John last night, telling me he was up at the Rowardennan Hotel for a pint and the paths looked fine, that I decided to go for it.

I'm so glad I did. I drove to Balmaha and ran north for 12 and a half miles (to a few miles before Inversnaid) before turning round and coming back. Conditions were pretty much perfect. No snow, no ice, and a very pleasant temperature to run in. A lot of it was a struggle of course - the first long run of the year on the WHW always is - but I finished quite strongly and was well under 5 hours for the trip, despite a 15 minute stop in the Rowardennan Hotel on the way back for a coffee and a scone. A quick change and then I warmed up nicely with some excellent soup and coffee in the bar at the Oak Tree Inn in Balmaha. I would recommend this place. Today it was absolutely jumping with people who had headed out for a drive and some Sunday lunch.

It's been a decent week for my running. I've managed to get 60 miles done, despite the poor conditions earlier in the week. In case anyone new to ultra running is reading this and starting to panic at this level of mileage, I should quickly add that 60 miles is higher than normal for me. However I'm keen to build a good January base, so will try and keep my mileage high for the couple of weeks if possible. I plan to do the new ultra that George Reid is organising on 3 April along the Deeside Way (for more details see www.deesidewayultra.webnode.com ) and would like to be in decent shape for that, as well as the 2 half marathons in March at Inverness and Alloa. George's race will be a special one for me - it will be my 75th marathon and ultra, and it takes place exactly 20 years to do the day that I took up running.

* despite Friday's excesses, I'm currently sitting 9-8 ahead in the no alcohol challenge... and there are a few work days coming up, so I should have an even better lead by next weekend. Will update in due course...

A flying start to 2010

2010-01-02T17:58:00.002Z

Wow! That's more like it! Not even 2 days of 2010 gone, and already I've done a decent 9 mile tempo run on New Year's Day and a hill session today (yes, you heard correctly - a hill session) with the 2 Phils. 8 x 2 minutes up a snow covered hill, with a jog back down to the bottom as a recovery. It means I've now done more hill sessions in 2010 than I did in the whole of 2009. I'm sure I need to do more sessions like this if I'm going to start improving my times - even though it just about killed me, leaving me coughing and spluttering for what seemed like hours afterwards. However, with the benefit of a few hours recovery, I think I might actually have enjoyed it - the memory does play funny tricks sometimes, however...

We had even more snow here today. I'm starting to get fed up with it now. A couple of weeks ago when the snow first arrived it was very nice to see and good fun to play in or go walking in with the dogs. That was in spite of the fact it created havoc on the roads: it took us almost 6 hours to travel from Kilmarnock to Perthshire on the Sunday before Christmas (normally a 1 hour 15 minute journey), due to a lorry jack-knifing and leaving the A80 (the main road north out of Glasgow) shut for 4 hours with us stuck in the queue. The A9, which is just beside us, was also closed on a couple of occasions last week, again due to lorries jack-knifing in the snow and ice. Just a thought to all lorry drivers out there: why don't you go a bit slower in these tricky conditions, like everyone else does, rather than continuing to drive like total ars*holes? Maybe then you wouldn't jack-knife and cause chaos for others... grrr....

Anyway, we had a further foot of snow fall on the Sunday after Christmas, making it impossible to travel anywhere and leaving my car completely stuck in the drive. (It's still sitting there now - there is no chance of it moving anywhere until some of the snow melts). As I've been on holiday for the last couple of weeks it hasn't mattered too much, but I'll soon be back at work and will need it to get to the station. I also want to get running properly again. The conditions make that very difficult to do - we still have about a foot of snow on the moor, so it's impossible to run there, and a lot of the back roads have turned icy which is no good for running either. That only leaves the main roads, which are generally clear but have too many cars on them or are dark. So to sum up, and in case you hadn't guessed, I've had enough of the snow. Let's hope it goes away soon.

What are the plans for 2010?

2009-12-31T20:49:00.001Z

There are just a few hours to go in 2009 and I've been looking ahead to next year, trying to work out what I'm going to do with my running. I think I'll keep my targets quite simple:

1. To enjoy my running (most important).
2. To beat 1 hour 30 minutes for a half marathon.
3. To beat 40 minutes for a 10k.
4. To finish the West Highland Way race...
5. ... in a time under 22 hours if at all possible.
6. And to run 2,000 miles.

That's it. I'm also going to try and cut down on my coffee consumption, and to have more days every month where I don't drink any alcohol than those I do. I'm also going to try and fit in a regular sports massage, and eat more fruit and vegetables.

I've had a look at various websites aover the holiday period and I've decided that my plan is to run in the following races in 2010:

January:
16th - Jack Crawford 10k, Bishopbriggs.
17th - Scottish Vets Relay at Strathclyde Park, 3.8 miles per leg (assuming we can get a team together from the club).

February:
20th - National Cross Country at Falkirk, 7.5 miles (a classic - wouldn't miss it - if you get the chance this is well worth doing for the experience).

March:
14th - Inverness half marathon. I've done it every year since 1994 with only one exception, so it would be a shame to miss it - in fact I entered it earlier today.

April:
24th - The Highland Fling, 53 miles. A race I've never missed - I filled out my form today and wrote the cheque which is just waiting to be posted.

May:
1st - Kintyre Relay - I'm hoping to get a team together from the club; how many we can round up will determine how far we all have to run. If there are 6 of us it will work out at a reasonable 11 miles each; if there are only 2 of us it might be a more difficult session..
5th (?) - Troon 10k - my old club and a brilliant 10k. It's a bit of a trek from Edinburgh but well worth the effort.
15th - Cateran Trail, 55 miles - another one I enjoyed last year and I've entered the 2010 race today.
30th - Mull of Kintyre half marathon. This race was number 2 in the 'Runner's World' top races of 2009, so it seemed like a must do event. Guess what? I entered it today. It's been an expensive day.

June:
19th - West Highland Way Race, 95 miles. The biggie. Looking forward to it already. Wearing my organisers' hat, just hope everything goes ok.

July:
Recovery month (although I have to admit that I'm eyeing up I'm the Harris half marathon on the 10th...)

August:
21st - Coll half marathon. Phil and I did this a couple of years ago and it was a great weekend. This time I'm planning on going with allybea, but I think it might be a B&B this time rather than wild camping...

September:
4th - Dingle Ultramarathon, 50 miles. This looks like a good one - a lovely part of Ireland, and there is also a marathon and half marathon the same day. Hoping to head over there with allybea and the doctors.

October:
3rd - Loch Ness Marathon - I've only missed one since it started in 2002 so need to do it in 2010. Definitely my favourite marathon.

November:
7th (?) - Strathaven 10k - a classic. And Lee would not be happy of it wasn't in my plans, so I better make sure it is included.

That's all for the moment. I'm looking forward to it already. In addition to the above I'll need to fit in a few training runs for the West Highland Way, a few speedy races (5ks and 10ks) and a few other bits and pieces, such as island half marathons. Looks like it will be an interesting year.

Before signing off, I would like to wish all my readers (!) the very best wishes for 2010. I hope you all have a great year, and achieve all of your goals.

My review of 2009

2009-12-27T17:49:00.002Z

Since I've started writing this blog, I've written a 'Review of the Year' post which has looked back at my running year. I've been planning to do the 2009 review for a few weeks, but every time I've sat down to do it I've not been able to find the appropriate words, and have put it off till later. This time I'll try and make a better attempt... here goes...

2009 will be remembered by me, and by many of the readers of this blog, as the year we lost a very close friend as a result of Dario's tragic death on 12 July. There were many lovely tributes to Dario at the time, not least the very moving and appropriate tribute at the end of the Adventure Show. The love, support and kindness shown at that time was a great comfort and strength to us all, demonstrating what a fantastic group of people make up the West Highland Way 'family'; I feel privileged to be a part of that group.

Nearly 6 months on, I still feel a huge sense of loss. I feel it every time I come out of my drive and look across the fields to Blackford where Dario and Gilian lived; I feel it when I am sitting on the train in the morning on my way to work, which was a time Dario often phoned; I feel it on days like today when I am out a long run: and I feel it when I think of some of the races and runs we used to do, such as the 24 hour race at Perth. I even feel it when I pour myself a whisky, particularly a Glengoyne. At the moment I am writing these words with tears streaming down my face but the pain I feel must be nothing compared to Gilian, especially at times like Christmas. My thoughts are with her. I hope she is able to take some comfort from the love and support of the WHW family.

But life goes on. Dario would have wanted that. Karen D has taken over the organisation of the Cateran Trail, and I'm sure she will make an excellent job of it. The WHW race committee will ensure that the 2010 race goes ahead, hopefully to the same high standard as the races that preceeded it. And we will all continue to run, to set our various targets, and to try and run further, faster, and in more obscure places.

So what happened in terms of my running in 2009? At the start of the year I set a few targets, which are shown below (in italics), along with a comment on whether I achieved it or not:

1. To finish the WHW race;
ACHIEVED. I finished in 23 hours 11 minutes. Not my fastest time by 2 hours, but given last year's DNF I ran more conservatively and was delighted to finish. One of the highlights was finishing and seeing Keith Hughes at FW Leisure Centre, wondering why he looked so cheery, then finding out that he was about to keep running a further 73 miles up the Great Glen Way to Inverness! Nutter.

2. To finish the 'Big 3' WHW races (the Highland Fling, the WHW race, the Devil O' The Highlands);
ACHIEVED. I had a very poor run in the Fling (loads of cramp) and suffered a bit over the latter stages of the Devil, but at least I finished all 3 races. I suppose that in itself is an achievement, although I wasn't overly happy with my performance in any of the races.

3. To complete 5 ultras (including a 24 hour race);
ACHIEVED. I did 7 ultras: the 3 WHW races (WHW, Fling and Devil), the Glasgow to Edinburgh race along the canal (54 miles), the Cateran Trail (55 miles - brilliant event - highly recommended), the River Ayr Way (40 miles - a bit boring and hard to follow the route at some bits), and the Tooting 24 hour race (which I ran 100km and then stopped after 12 hours 28 minutes - don't think I'll be back in a hurry). I was really pleased to do 7 ultras, which a few years ago I would have considered impossible. Howwever there is no doubt that my times suffered from doing so many. It was a year of quantity rather than quality.

4. To run at least 25 races;
NOT ACHIEVED. I only ran 20 races this year: 7 ultras, 1 marathon (Loch Ness), 3 half marathons (Inverness, Edinburgh and Kilmacolm), 4 10ks (Nigel Barge, Troon, Milngavie and Strathaven) plus 5 other races (Glen Lednock 8.5 miles, Brig Bash 5 miles, 2 cross countries and the Morrisons Academy 5k). That means I've now done 485 races in total,including 74 marathons / ultras, 86 half marathons and 94 10ks. With a bit of luck I should run my 500th race in 2010, and might even run my 100th 10k.

5. To run 5 new races;
ACHIEVED. I did 7 new races: the Glasgow to Edinburgh, Cateran Trail, River Ayr, Tooting 24 hour, Kilmacolm half marathon, Run With The Wind 10k at Strathaven, and the Glen Lednock road race.

6. To run a race on a Scottish island I haven't visited before;
NOT ACHIEVED. I didn't really plan this very well - doing so many ultras meant there was not much time left to visit a new Scottish island. Maybe next year.

7. To beat 40 minutes for a 10k;
ACHIEVED (just...). On 1 November I headed south to Strathaven, having failed to beat 40 minutes in my previous 3 10ks, and knowing this was the last chance I would have in 2009. I had also heard that the course was a bit downhill but I didn't care about that - a sub 40 would be a sub 40. Well, I pushed my body to the limit and was overjoyed to cross the line with a comfortable 6 seconds to spare. Definitely one of the highs of the year.

8. To beat 1 hour 30 minutes for a half marathon;
ACHIEVED. I ran 1.29 on an icy cold March day in Inverness - and then had a 6 hour drive home via Aberdeen as I thought (wrongly) that the A9 was closed. I also beat 1.30 at Kilmacolm, but I have to be honest and point out that my sub 1.30 there was more to do with a short course than my performance.

9. To finish in the top half of the field in the National XC;
NOT ACHIEVED. I missed this by miles; well, by at least a minute, which in cross country terms is a lot. It is a tough target - I have to be running really well to make the top half of the National XC, and haven't achieved it for a few years - so this target may be dropped going forward.

10. To run 2,000 miles.
ACHIEVED. Today I did a 13 mile run in the snow and ice, which took me to 2,001 miles for the year with 4 days to spare. Although I am the first to admit that this is a pretty meaningless target, it does have the positive effect of forcing me out the door in the cold December days and nights, when I might be tempted not to bother. For that reason alone it is worthwhile.

So in summary, 7 targets were achieved and 3 were not achieved. At the end of the day, however, it doesn't really matter. 2009 has been a tragic year, but I want to finish on a positive note, with a reflection on Dario. Dario loved running; running in general and the West Highland Way Race in particular. At Dario's funeral Eilish said we should all remember one positive memory of Dario. More than any other memory, I remember the way that Dario had time for everyone who took part, whether they were at the front, the middle or the back of the field, and made everyone feel part of the family. To me, that is what makes the WHW race special and unique. Like any family there are many differences betweem its members, but everyone is linked by their involvement in this special event. It would be a fitting legacy to Dario if this continues to develop in the years ahead.

Running without a purpose

2009-12-05T21:05:00.002Z

Unfortunately I seem to have lost my running mojo. Up until the end of November things were ok, but as soon as we moved into the darkest month I have had no enthusiasm for running at all. My training diary for December reads as follows:

1st - no run.
2nd - no run.
3rd - no run.
4th - a very poor quality 4 mile jog round Glasgow first thing in the morning (after attending the Sunday Mail Sports Awards the night before).
5th - an even worse 3 mile run in Crieff with the dog (with a break for a rest at the half way point).

There seems to be nothing in the tank at the moment. I pack my running stuff each day and carry it in to work, then carry it home at the end of the day, unused. On Wednesday I had planned to run after work. I even made it to the changing area and had started getting changed before a voice in my head said "Fuck this, you don't really want to go out there in the cold and the pissing rain, do you?". I agreed with the voice, put my shirt back on, and headed home. Not good.

So what is going on? I am not the biggest fan of the winter, but I can usually force myself out the door for a run, regardless of the weather. I've been busy at work and busy with various sportscotland events, but I am normally able to organise my days in such a way that I can fit a run in at some point. Not at the moment, it would seem. And the less I run, the more fed up I become, and the less I feel like running. It's a vicious circle.

So far this year I have run a total of 1,879 miles, so have only 121 to go to reach my normal target of 2,000 miles. Not that it matters a jot, of course, but it would be nice to get there. I have done 20 races, a few less than normal, but that total includes 7 ultras and a marathon which is quite a few more than I have done in a single year before.

I think I need to work out a more structured plan for next year. My next marathon will be my 75th marathon/ultra, and my 50th actual marathon, so I'd like to do a good one, possibly around the end of March. That means a) finding the right event and b) starting to train a lot harder than I have been training recently, including sessions like fartlek, intervals and other forms of speedwork. The thought of it at the moment is horrible, but hopefully my enthusiasm will return at some stage. I also need to think about my club. Strathearn Harriers is a small club, and I find it almost impossible to get there during the week. Not many of the members have the same running ambitions as I have. Should I look for a club in Edinburgh, which I can go to more regularly after finishing work? Would that help? It would certainly be good to be part of a club who were keen on taking part in the various cross country events, for example.

And of course there are the big events next year like the Highland Fling, the Cateran Trail and the West Highland Way race. The only one I have entered so far is the WHW and I'm not sure about the others yet - I am trying to work out a sensible running plan for 2010 before committing to any other long races. The only certainty at the moment is that I will not be back in Tooting for the 24 hour track race.

Maybe I'll go out for a run tomorrow and the magic will have returned. But at the moment I doubt it.

I went a run today

2009-11-10T17:51:00.003Z

I went a run today. I ran for 4 miles round Edinburgh. It took me around 31 minutes. I wore a blue helly hansen top, a blue pair of tracksters and a pair of Saucony road shoes which I bought a few months ago from Adrian at Run and Become. After my run I had a shower and went back to work.

Everyone happy with this post?

There's quite a few numpties out there

2009-11-08T19:24:00.003Z

I spent a bit of time yesterday going through the entries for the 2010 West Highland Way race. Now I would have thought that the instructions were quite clear: you fill in the form, then send it to me with a cheque for the right amount and a stamped addressed envelope. Simples, yes?

Unfortunately, no. Quite a few people were unable to get this rather basic part of the WHW race administration right. If they can't even do this bit, what chance have they got of making it to Fort William on 19 June 2010? Somewhere between nil and f*ck all, I would have thought.

A few examples:

One potential entrant sent me an envelope containing a cheque and a SAE, but no entry form. And, to add to her embarrassment, she's a race organiser in her own right! And what does 'SAE' mean anyway? I thought it was 'Stamped Addressed Envelope'. So why did at least half a dozen people send me an envelope with a stamp but no address on it? No problem - I've plenty of spare time to write your name and address on the envelope. Grrr. But I suppose that was better than the 10 people who didn't send any sort of envelope at all.

I also received a cheque for £98 from someone who was not a scottish athletics member, so they had underpaid by £2. Perhaps more surprisingly I received a cheque for £100 from someone who was a scottishathletics member, so they had overpaid by £2. I'll just set one off against the other. And one person (another race organiser) sent a cheque made payable to me personally, rather than to the WHW Race.

There were also the usual predictable admin errors: someone forgot to fill in their first name on the form, so they will be known as 'J'; quite a few people forgot / didn't bother to sign it; and there were the inevitable few who said they were scottishathletics members (and paid the reduced rate) but didn't know their membership number.

I look forward with some trepidation to the next delivery of entries tomorrow....

Under 40 minutes!!!!

2009-11-01T19:30:00.004Z

One of my targets for the year was to get under 40 minutes for a 10k. I've managed it every year up to now but hey I'm not getting any faster in my old age, so it was never going to be an easy target to achieve. Well, the good (in fact better than that - the great) news is that I did it today!!!! I finished the 'Run With The Wind' 10k at Strathaven in 39.54. It may have taken me 305 days of the year to get there, but I made it at last, in what was almost certainly my last realistic attempt of the year.

It wasn't easy. The first half is mainly downhill, and I was well ahead of 4 minute per km schedule as I passed the 4k mark. However as we turned the corner there was a strong wind right into our faces, as well as a long climb back up the hill, and suddenly sub 40 didn't look in the bag at all - it was clearly going to be bloody hard work to achieve it. I passed through the 8km mark in something like 32.06, which was just outside 40 minute pace, and knew I was going to have to push myself to the limit over the last 2k. So push myself to the limit I did. I was still slightly outside schedule at 9km, but thought that the last km was mainly downhill and ran as fast as I could go towards the school. I knew it would be close and indeed it was, particularly with the small uphill just before the finish, but I was thrilled to bits to come over the line with 4 seconds to spare. 39.57 gun time and 39.54 chip time - woo hoo!!! I did my usual coughing and spluttering - DQ just ignored me, as he's seen it all before, but some of the other marshalls looked a bit concerned - and then headed to the school for a lovely cup of soup and sandwich.

I thought it was a very enjoyable, friendly event, which was very well organised by Strathaven Striders. Well done to Lee and everyone else involved. I'll definitely be back :)

What a contrast...

2009-10-25T14:23:00.003Z

Last weekend I was in south London, going round and round a 400 metre track with the constant background noise of people, traffic and fireworks. Today I headed up into the Ochils with my dog Lucy, and it couldn't have been more of a contrast. The scenery was wonderful, it was peaceful and quiet, and I hardly saw another soul for the 2 hours or so that I was out there. It was fantastic. I ran from Blackford, up the old drovers' route towards Tillicoutry then took a left when I came to Upper Glendevon reservoir, before heading all the way round in a clockwise direction. I lost the path a couple of times but came across it again quite easily; I even stumbled across a 'Public Right of Way' signpost, pointing to Blackford, which confirmed I was heading in the right direction. At one stage I took a step forward and found myself knee deep in water; a couple of times I fell as I was running through the thick grass - all of which added to the fun. The last 2 miles back to Blackford were almost the best of the day, thanks to the downhill path and the strong wind pushing me from behind. I'll definitely be back up there soon - there is something wonderful about being out on the hills on a winter's day with your dog, the wind blowing hard into your face, without a care in the world.

Look what I found!

2009-10-21T08:52:00.005+01:00

I was rummaging through my drawer last night and guess what I found? My blister from last year's 24 hour race at Perth! It's a bit harder than it used to be - a bit like a poppadom in fact - but considering it is now more than 13 months old it is in excellent condition.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any of my toe nails from the same event, but I'll keep looking :)

Reflections from Tooting

2009-10-19T19:10:00.004+01:00

It's time for me to stop posting on my 'event specific' 24 hour blog www.ians24.blogspot.com and to move back to this mainstream site, where I plan to share some of my thoughts from the weekend. First, the facts: I completed 250 laps of the 400m track (exactly 100km) at Tooting Bec in 12 hours 28 minutes. I had real problems from about 8 hours onwards keeping any food down, starting getting really cold, and hit a complete low after about 10 and a half hours when I could see no way of carrying on. It was a great surprise that I managed to get going again and for a while was running reasonably well, but within an hour I was heading for yet another low. I decided to cut my losses and stop when I reached the 100 km mark, and this time no-one was able to persuade me otherwise. A day or so further on I am disappointed that I didn't run for the full 24 hours but still don't think there was any way I could have continued: I just couldn't get my head round the thought I would be out there, in the close to freezing temperatures, for another 11 and a half hours, and my body was not prepared to push through the barrier, perhaps because of the lack of food.

Despite the disappointing outcome of the run there were many positives from the weekend. It was great to spend a bit of time with Dave and Lee. The level of support they gave me the whole time I was in London was incredible. Nothing was too much trouble for them, even down to making me my pre-ordered Friday night dinner of pasta and chicken, and my pre-race breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast. Guys, you were just brilliant - you couldn't have made me feel more welcome. I was also really touched by the number of people who sent text messages of encouragement and posted comments on the blog. A particular mention is due to Brian, who travelled down from Milton Keynes with his daughter, and watched the first few hours of the race. Dave has already said it on his blog but I want to say it again here: the WHW family is a very special and close group of people, and I feel privileged to be a part of it.

A couple of members of that family produced outstanding results. Paul Hart ran more than 140 miles to finish in 2nd place, and Aileen Scott ran more than 117 miles to finish 1st lady. Wonderful performances from them both. Congratulations also to Rachel McCuaig, who reached her target of 100 miles - I thought she had dropped out at one stage when I thought I saw her in non-running clothes, but quickly realised I was looking at her identical twin sister who was providing support - and to Ian McCuaig and Ray McCurdy, who both put in their usual gutsy performances.

So what now? I maybe need to have a bit of a rethink, and take on board 'John's' comments which were left on my other blog (Incidentally if John is reading this can you let me know who you are? The comment was valid but I would rather know who had made it. Thanks.)

I think the time has come to rethink what you want to achieve as a runner. In the last 2 years all you have achieved is a giant step backards. ultras, marathons, half marathons, 10k and cross country you are now just average. You are better than this Ian.

There is no doubt in my mind that I have done a lot, probably too much, this year: 7 ultras and a marathon is definitely not a recipe for achieving PBs (unless your name is Richie Cunningham or George Reid...) However there are other factors that affect my ability to achieve faster times, particularly how busy I am at work. I have been running consistently now for almost 20 years, and when I look back at my best spells they have always coincided with periods when I have not been as busy or under the same pressure. I have also felt that my running has not been as good since I left Troon in 2003. Prior to that, I would be down at the club twice a week, bashing out high quality sessions with 5 or 6 people of a similar standard; I don't get the chance to do that now. Also, George and I used to meet up almost every Sunday morning for a long run of between 15 and 25 miles at a decent pace, and we would often go out on a Wednesday night for a tough tempo run of up to 10 miles - some nights we could hardly move because of the gale force wind, but it certainly helped improve both our times.

I plan to have a week or so without running to let my body recover, then have a fairly easy period throughout November. That will give me the chance to have a serious think about my plans and targets for next year.

Loch Ness

2009-10-05T13:30:00.003+01:00

Yesterday allybea and I were up at Loch Ness forthe 5k and marathon respectively. I don't have a lot of time to blog at the moment so I've jotted down the main points:

1. Allybea achieved her target by finishing the 5k without walking. More details are here http://whwracebackup.blogspot.com/2009/10/inverness-5k.html

2. I had the perfect pre race marathon breakfast: sausages, bacon, egg, haggis, mushrooms and potato scone, with some toast and coffee. Allybea went for the more conventional option of porridge and toast.

3. The marathon race start was delayed for almost an hour because of problems with the buses. Given my breakfast (see 2 above) I was quite pleased by the delay as it gave me an hour longer to digest it. I suspect I was in a very small minority, however - it is normally a complete pain if you have planned to start running at 10 but don't actually start till 11, and I felt sorry for those whose plans were thrown into disarray. I also felt sorry for the guy who was panicking because he had a flight to catch mid afternoon, and thought he might be struggling to make it. He will just have had to run a bit faster than he originally planned...

4. As I am doing the 24 hour race in 2 weeks, I had decided to treat this as a long training run and not worry about my time or pace. It worked very well. I reached the half way point in 1.42.17, feeling comfortable, and then ran an almost identical time for the second half (1.42.04) to finish in 3.24.21. I reckon I passed about 100 people over the last 10 miles, most of them going up the hill after Dores.

5. As I was feeling good I had time to look around and just enjoy the whole event. We were really fortunate to have almost perfect running weather, particularly after the rain and wind the day before. Once again I was left with the view that Loch Ness is a fantastic marathon. It is well organised (apart from the blip with the buses), has a great atmosphere, and the scenery is brilliant. It is definitely my favourite road marathon, and one I would highly recommend.

6. I felt pretty good at the end of the race and my legs feel fine today, so hopefully I haven't done myself any damage before the 24 hour. I suppose I'll find out soon enough.

SAMH

2009-10-01T13:40:00.002+01:00

Many of the readers of this blog will know I am doing the Sri Chinmoy 24 hour race in a couple of weeks. I don't normally try and raise sponsorship from my running (I think the last time might have been the New York Marathon in 2002) but given the slightly unusual nature of this event I have decided that this would be an appropriate time to do so. The charity I have chosen is called SAMH, the Scottish Association for Mental Health. I have posted below a copy of the email I sent to a number of contacts and workmates earlier today, which provides more details. If anyone reading this feels able to help with a small donation, I would be most grateful.

On Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October I am taking part in a 24 hour race in London. The objective is simple - to run as many laps of the 400 metre track as possible during the 24 hours, from noon on the Saturday until noon on the Sunday. It will be my second 24 hour race. Last year at Perth I covered a distance of 106.74 miles, and for weeks later I had some of the most impressive blisters you could ever hope to see!

I have decided to use this event as a chance to raise funds for a mental health charity, SAMH. SAMH is Scotland's leading mental health charity and has been promoting mental health for 80 years. It works to combat stigma and discrimination on mental health grounds and to promote the importance of mental health and wellbeing both for individuals and for society as a whole.
I would be really grateful if you would consider supporting my fundraising attempts by making a donation. You can do this by visiting my justgiving page which can be found at the following link: http://www.justgiving.com/ians24/

For a bit of fun (and to help generate more interest) I am also arranging a 'Guess My Distance' competition (with a small prize!). To enter is simple - all you need to do is email me with your assessment of how many laps of the 400 metre track I will complete during the race. Please note your guess should be in laps, not in miles. You might get a bit of help by looking at my targets: these can be found at the blog http://www.ians24.blogspot.com/, which I have set up to provide details of my progress during the race. I should make it clear that everyone is welcome to enter this competition, whether they make a donation or not - although obviously donations would be very welcome! This means that Gift Aid can be recovered on the donations, increasing the benefit to the charity.

Finally, if anyone is interested in what it is like to run in an endurance event like this, The Adventure Show this Sunday (BBC2 Scotland, 7.00pm) features this year's West Highland Way race. I took part in the race, and finished in just over 23 hours, although do not feature at all in the programme.

Many thanks for your support.

Ian

A wee run home from work

2009-09-27T17:25:00.002+01:00

On Friday I decided to run back from my work in Edinburgh to my car at Bridge of Allan station, a distance (it turned out) of 41 miles. The route is relatively flat, with a lot of it on the canal, so I reckoned it would be a good training run for the 24 hour race in 3 weeks time.

The reaction of people in the office was quite amusing.

"Are you running tonight?"
"Yes, plan to."
"Where will you run?"
"Home."
"Home? Don't you live in Perth or somewhere?"
"Perthshire, but not quite as far north as Perth. I'm going to run to my car at Bridge of Allan"
"How far's that?"
"About 40 miles."
"When will you get home?"
"Oh, about 2 in the morning."
"Bloody hell. You're off your head."

Surprisingly I wasn't the only person who fancied running on a Friday night. Davie had seen my plans on my blog, and had arranged to meet up with me at Broxburn, about 10 miles in to my run. We met as planned and he stayed with me for the next 20 miles or so to Larbert, which was brilliant; we just chatted all the way along and the time passed a lot more quickly than it would have had I been on my own. By the time he left (his son was picking him up) I was into the final quarter of the run, a lot of which is downhill, with the hardest bits already done. Thanks a lot Davie; I really appreciated and enjoyed your company. A couple of Davie's mates phoned him during the run to see if he fancied going for a pint. Their reaction when they heard he was out running along a windy, dark canal path on a Friday night was similar to my workmates, although perhaps more to the point.

It took me 7 hours and 42 minutes to reach the car, so I must have arrived in Bridge of Allan about 1.30 am. I felt really good for most of the way, which was hugely encouraging so close to the big race (and only 2 weeks after the 40 mile River Ayr Way race); no problems at all with my legs, despite the constant pounding on the flat canal path. The only downside came after I arrived home and found I couldn't sleep, and had to get back up for an hour to try and let my body unwind. I found that really odd. I never have any problems sleeping and am usually out like a light about 30 seconds after hitting the pillow. But when I've just run 41 miles, and am feeling shattered, I can't sleep at all. It's the same after the West Highland Way race - I don't seem to be able to sleep properly for a few days. Weird.

I was up quite early on the Saturday morning (because I couldn't sleep very well) and felt pretty good, so took Lucydog for a longish walk in the hills behind Comrie. It is fantastic up there. It's only about a half hour away but could be in the middle of nowhere, - just so quiet and peaceful. I'm sure the steady walk did my legs a lot of good, and I was able to go out for an easy 6 mile run today without any problems.

Last night I spent a bit of time trying to get information from the Hardmoors 110 mile race. Communications were not great, but I managed to speak to JK around 10 pm. He had been out for about 27 hours, was lost, was tired and was struggling, but had only about 12 miles to go. Fortunately he managed to get back on the right path, got himself going again, and finished in a time around 32 hours. Very well done John (and also well done to Neal and Caroline, who did John's backup) - it sounded like a right hard struggle, but you kept going and finished. Finishing is always the most important thing, and is a great achievement. I'm looking forward to reading the full report over the next few days.

At last - a post on my blog!

2009-09-20T19:42:00.003+01:00

My blog has not exactly been overwhelmed with posts in recent weeks; in fact I haven't posted anything at all since my epic 60 laps round the track at Stirling Uni a couple of weeks ago. That is more a result of an inabilty to find the time to sit in front of my computer rather than a lack of things to write about, so I thought I would try to address that by giving a quick update here.

Last Saturday was the River Ayr Way Challenge, advertised as a 66k/44m race along, not surprisingly, the River Ayr Way. In actual fact it was 40 miles, not counting the bit where I got lost around the half way point. I thought it was a pretty good event, but after a few hours I was getting a bit fed up of seeing the River Ayr, and could have done with a bit of a change. At no time did I have any real idea where I was was, and I am sure that contributed to my struggles between 20 and 30 miles. All came good in the end, however, and I finished like a train (ok, quite a slow train) as I stormed through Ayr Town Centre (incidentally one of 3 racing drivers named after a Scottish town, the others being Stirling Moss and Johnnie Dumfries - Ayr-ton Senna, gettit?) and along to the Citadel, where I crossed the line in 7 hours 12 minutes. I was a bit surprised to see DQ already there and lying on the grass drinking beer, as I thought he was behind me, but he must have passed when I took my little detour. Either that or he got a lift :)

Although the RAW was a good event, I have to question the arithmetical abilities of the East Ayrshire Council organising team. By my understanding 1 kilometre equates to 0.6214 of a mile (that is why a 10k is 6.214 miles). If you do the calculations, you will see that 66k equates to 41.0124 miles, and 44 miles equates to 70.8078 kms. So the race cannot be both 66k and 44 miles. I have to say how pleased I was to find that it was a lot closer to 66k.

On Tuesday it was the screening of the Adventure Show programme about this year's WHW race, at the Behind the Wall pub in Falkirk. The screening has been widely reviewed elsewhere and I would echo the general theme of the comments - I thought it was a superb programme which really captures the true spirit of the race. Well done to all the production people. It was very moving seeing Dario looking very calm and peaceful, as the Subversive Runner said on his excellent (and I'm glad to say no longer vomit inducing) blog. Dave, thank goodness you have restored it to its previous version. The new colour scheme was giving me a headache.

On Thursday I attend the Law Awards where my firm picked up one award and one second place. Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary was there, and I was pleased to get the opportunity to congratulate him on his excellent decision to free the 'Lockerbie bomber', Al Megrahi. I know this is not a universally accepted view (and I enjoy an argument as much as the next man, so don't worry at all if you are in a different camp - life would be dull if we all thought the same way), but I do not really like when American politicians try and tell us how we should run our criminal justice system. I am sure they would not listen to us telling them how to run theirs; for example they didn't listen much to our appeals against the decision to extradite Gary McKinnon, did they? In any case it was becoming clearer and clearer that the conviction would not stand up to the scrutiny of an appeal, with the new evidence that was now available - which is why I have placed, somewhat provocatively, punctuation marks around the words 'Lockerbie bomber' in my comments above. So I think the decision was not only correct, but politically expedient (both here and in the US - a fact I am sure has not escaped the Scottish, UK or US governments). Can you imagine the outcry in the Arab world if the conviction was overturned on appeal, not to mention the commpensation that would have been payable from the Scottish Government? I'd rather have trams in Edinburgh than pay out that sort of cash - and as you may have guessed I am not a fan of the Edinburgh trams project. A comedian at the fringe summarised it well: a hell of a lot of money to replace the Number 22 bus.

But I have digressed into one of my favourite after dinner discussion topics, politics, and should return to the less contentious issue of sport. Yesterday allybea the runner (superb run today by allybea - more details on her blog), son no 3 and I travelled to Oban for the final of the Camanachd Cup, the main event in the shinty season. Fort William beat Kyles Athletic 4-3 in a thriller of a match: FW were 3-0 up and coasting but Kyles pulled it back to 3-3, before FW scored their winner with a couple of minutes left. It was live on BBC2 and BBC Alba, so some of you may have seen it, and may even have seen me standing on the touchline - I was wearing my fluorescent WHW top to make it easier for the cameras to pick me out. Shinty is a wild game and thoroughly enjoyable; I'm sure we'll be back for more.

Today I headed back to my old stomping ground of Kilmacolm for the half marathon. I actually managed to get under the hour and a half barrier for the first time for a while - my finishing time was 1.29.45 - but I have to be honest and say that I thought the course was about 300 yards too short. The first and last miles (which were the same bit of the course) were suspiciously fast, a fact confirmed by my GPS which showed a final reading for the route of 12.81 miles. I hate short courses. There is no excuse for them at all, particularly in an event where you head down a cycle path to a marker, turn round, and then come back up the same way. Apart from that the event was well organised, but they need to get the distance sorted out for next year. I ran pretty well for the first 8 miles, but then the wheels fell off and I shuffled slowly towards the finish line for the last 5 or so. Was last week's 40 miles still in my legs? Perhaps, but I wouldn't want anyone to think I am making excuses. It is more likely that I am just crap.

I am planning a big week's training this week before starting to wind down for the 24 hour race on 17 October. I even sense a run home from work on Friday night coming on: I would aim to leave Edinburgh after work (about 5 pm)and head along the canal to Linlithgow and Falkirk, over to Larbert and possibly on to Stirling. If anyone wants to join me for some or all of it please let me know - the company would be greatly appreciated.

Running in circles

2009-09-06T16:42:00.002+01:00

Running in circles, Comin' in tails
Heads on a science apart.
Nobody said it was easy,
It's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be this hard.
Oh take me back to the start.

Today was the Glasgow half marathon, but I didn't feel I was in half marathon shape at the moment so didn't enter - the first time I haven't entered since 1989. Instead I headed along to the local track at Stirling University, to do a few laps as preparation for the 24 hour race at Tooting.

The woman at reception was quite happy for me to use the track, so I stuck my wee radio on and got running. I found Radio Clyde, which was covering the half marathon, interviewing various 10k and half marathon finishers, and that helped pass the time. I ran round, and round, and round again, occasionally seeing people who were out to run a few laps, but mostly on my own. It wasn't the most interesting run, but it wasn't as bad as you might think - I would actually recommend it if you fancy running somewhere a bit different, particularly if you are looking for a circular route with no hills whatsoever :)

I had planned to do 20km (50 laps) but managed an extra 10 laps to take me up to 15 miles, covering the total distance in 2 hours 17 minutes. So only another 21 hours and 43 minutes more on 17th/18th October and I'll be home and dry. Nae bother.

You can't do too many ultras, can you?

2009-09-02T17:25:00.002+01:00

I've decided to do the River Ayr Way (RAW) a week on Saturday - if nothing else it should be good training for the 24 hour race. And at least it won't involve running / climbing / scrambling up hills, unlike my session on Monday after work when I joined a few guys for a 'run' to the top of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh. I have no head for heights at all, and therefore find hill running a bit of a struggle, even on 'easy' hills like Arthur's Seat. I would love to be able to do it, because I miss out on a lot of excellent races, but just can't. I'm too scared. So until I conquer this fear (and stop being such a big girl's blouse, as I'm sure the mad Aussie will say) I'll have to restrict my running to the trails, roads and (very occasionally) the track.

High quality sport

2009-08-30T20:10:00.002+01:00

On Friday night I had the pleasure of attending the UEFA Super Cup, an annual match played between the winners of the 2 UEFA trophies, the Champions League (Barcelona) and the UEFA Cup (Shakthar Donetsk). My brother stays in Antibes in the south of France and the game is played just along the coast from him in in Monaco, so it seemed like a good chance to go out and see him for a few days.

The standard was quite a bit different from anything I am used to seeing in the Scottish Premier League. Barcelona in particular were superb; the way their players controlled and passed the ball was just incredible to watch. Despite their superiority, there was no scoring until late on in extra time, with the Barcelona substitute scoring the winner with only a few minutes left to play. We were very pleased it did not have to go to penalties, as the last train to Antibes was at 11.50 and we wouldn't have been able to stay for them. I had been in the stadium once before, when I finished the Monaco marathon there in November 2004, but even I have to admit that the atmoshere at a top football game was somewhat more impressive than the atmosphere at the end of the marathon.

I was in France for 3 days (Thursday to Saturday) and am pleased to say that I managed to do the following:
a) ask for a train ticket from the the man at the station ('un billet a Antibes, s'il vous plait'),
b) order a coffee in a town square cafe ('un expresso, s'il vous plait'), and
c) go out a 5 mile run each day.

c) was actually the hardest, because of the intense heat - somewhere around 30 degrees C every time I was out running. It was so hot that I had no choice but to go into the sea for a swim when I finished my run, then treat myself to a cold beer to help me cool down ('un bier froid, s'il vous plait'). Unfortunately it was about 15 degrees colder when I stepped off the plane at Edinburgh last night, and I must have looked like an idiot waiting for the car park bus in my shorts, t-shirt and sunglasses.

Today No 3 son and I wrapped up warm and went along to Gleneagles to watch the last day of the Johnnie Walker Championship. It was a good day out. We followed a Swede, Erlandsson, for a while, and saw him shoot a 62 - a quite incredible round, and one which could have been even lower had he sunk a couple of putts on the 16th and 18th. He eventually finished 2nd, one shot behind the winner. I'll settle for a performance like that at the Arthur Andersen reunion golf day this Friday.

Since arriving home I've spent large amounts of time in front of my computer screen watching to see how the guys were doing in the Ultra Tour of Mont Blanc. I'm pleased to say that most of the WHW squad managed to finish - hugely impressive performances on what must be one of the toughest races on the planet. A big well done to those who made it; I can only imagine how difficult it must be to keep going for that long on such difficult terrain. The climbs look never-ending, and the descents don't look much better. Bad luck to those who didn't finish - I'm sure you will be back in future years, learning from this year's experience. I would love to give this race a go at some point in the future, but at the moment I don't have anywhere like the climbing/hillwalking experience that is needed. Until that changes I don't think any attempt would be realistic, and it will be a few years before I consider it.

Four runs in four days - maybe I'm back as well???

2009-08-21T17:18:00.002+01:00

Woo hoo! After struggling for the last couple of months (pretty much since the WHW race), I've finally managed to put together 4 decent runs in the last 4 days. Not the faffing about, stopping for a snack, and walking up the hills type of run, but 4 proper runs - runs where I can feel my heart pounding throughout, where my top is drenched with sweat after a couple of miles, and where I have to spend around 5 minutes barfing at the end (or occasionally during) the run because I have worked so hard. And it feels great, I can tell you. The niggle at the bottom of my hamstring even seems to have cleared up all by itself - although taking allybea's advice I still went along to my appointment at the physio in Stirling this morning, a decision that cost me a whopping £58. That was a lot more painful than the injury.

This weekend I have a couple more runs planned. I'm taking part in a relay race tomorrow round the Tour of Strathearn route, which is part of our club's 25th anniversary celebrations. I have the pleasure of being selected for the 'challenging' leg 3, which goes from the park in Comrie up to the dam at Loch Turret. Should be fun; probably a lot more fun than the tug o'war competition or the rounders at night, which are also included in the celebrations. On Sunday morning I'm meeting a few guys from Kirkintilloch Olympians for a 20 miler on the roads around Kirkintilloch. I expect this to be a good test of whether I really am starting to run better.

Good luck to those doing the John Lucas Memorial Race at Strathaven on Sunday. It's 50 miles, all on road, and would have been a great training run for the 24 hour race. Unfortunately it's a couple of weeks too early for me, particularly after the Devil O, so I'll just have to make do with the reports from El Presidente Mrs Mac and the Subversive Pirate. Good luck guys.

Finally, a few words from me on the 'Great Blog Debate' which has been raging on various blogs about approaches to training and motivation for running. First point: I am as competitive a person as anyone I know. Running (or more specifically racing) helps satisfy my need to be competitive. Whatever condition or state of fitness I am in, I am always keen to beat whatever target I have set, and is the main reason I race so much - I've averaged around 25 races a year for the last 20 years, covering a range of distances from 2 miles (which hurt like hell because it was so short and fast) to 106 miles in the 24 hour race (which hurt like hell because it was so long).

However I also enjoy a lot more about running than just getting the chance to be competitive. I love going out with some great friends and enjoying their chat and company. I love going away to places like Islay, Stornoway, Coll, Inverness, the WHW, and so on, just so I can run. I can think of many fantastic days where I have left the house at some ridiculous time on a Saturday or Sunday morning, with friends like George or Phil, so that we can take part in some obscure race that we have seen in the fixture list. To me that is what it is all about: travelling away to Arran, Islay or Coll on the first ferry; going up to Inverness and back in a day for the half marathon; driving up towards Fort William to do the 10.8 mile Two Ferries race, simply because we had been told about the quality of hospitality and friendly welcome given by the race organiser; or going away for a day in Stonehaven to see how hard the half marathon could actually be (quite hard we discovered but not impossible, and yet another first class day out).

When we started arranging group runs on the WHW a number of years ago, the purpose was not to get from A to B in a certain time, but to go out as a group, enjoy the day, and almost as a side benefit get some quality training on the WHW course. We carried our own kit and didn't ever think about having support - why bother when it wasn't really necessary and it would just make things more complicated? For the same reason the runs were almost always out-and-back, as that was a lot less hassle than doing a point to point. We often stopped at the half way point for a coffee, had something to eat, and for a chance for everyone to regroup. Those taking part were of differing standards but I think we all took a lot from the runs.

One good example of those runs was the first time I met Ellen, Mags, and Russell. The four of us had arranged through the WHW forum to meet at Tyndrum and run to Fort William. None of us had ever met before but that didn't matter - we stayed closely together all the way to Kinlochleven, stopped for a bowl of soup in the pub, then ran together up the Lairig Mor. The chat was great throughout. It was only over the last 6 miles or so that we split into 2 groups and finished in FW a few minutes apart. Then we travelled back down together by train and shared our stories of the day. It was a great day out and I know that we all took a lot from it, as well as becoming good friends.

Over the years I have been on many other brilliant runs like the one I've just described, and I have no doubt that there will be many others in the years ahead. I'm already looking forward to running with many old and familar faces, as well as meeting new people who have heard all about ultra running and want to experience the fantastic camaraderie.

So when are we all meeting for the next run?

Devil O

2009-08-09T13:02:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I ran the Devil O'The Highlands Footrace, a 43* mile race from Tyndrum to Fort William along the northern half of the West Highland Way. * Note: the WHW map suggests it is actually 42 miles rather than 43, a fact confirmed by my GPS. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was trying to claim an extra mile. Also, as the WHW race is 95 miles and the Highland Fling is 53, it would seem to make sense for the Devil O to be 42 rather than 43. For the record I'm putting it in my training diary and race spreadsheet as a 42.

However I don't suppose the actual distance really matters that much. It is still a long way on challenging terrain. I finished in a time of 8 hours and 2 minutes - my slowest time for this event (I have done it 3 times previously, with a best of 7.28), but all in all a reasonable result given the way I have been feeling for the last few weeks. I probably went off a bit too fast, reaching the first checkpoint at Glencoe in 2.47, and paid for that on the next bit to Kinlochleven. The section to Lundavra was long and difficult, but from there I ran quite strongly and still had an outside chance of getting under the 8 hour mark as I came out of the forest at the top of Glen Nevis. I need to do the last downhill stretch in 31 minutes to make it - not impossible, but not easy either. I gave it my best shot, but had a few twinges of cramp which forced me to walk for a couple of minutes, and meant that I was just passing the 30 mile an hour sign at Fort William as the clock turned to 8 hours.

There were a few fantastic performances. Debbie finished 2nd lady in a time not much over 7 hours, a performance which moves her up to the 'elite' level of woman's ultra running. John ran to his usual high standard and finished in 6.55, 2nd vet 50. I ran with both John and Debbie in the very early stages and was really impressed with both of their running techniques. Debbie has one of the most efficient ultra running styles of anyone I know - she looks effortless and seems able to continue for ever at the same steady pace. It is the first time I have run with John for a while and I was impressed by how much his downhill running technique had improved - he now looks like a hill runner on the stony descents. Silke completed her first ultra in not much over 9 hours, which was a brilliant time for someone who only took up ultra running a short time ago. And Richie continues to impress with a 4th place finish in a time just over 6 hours - yet another quality run. Another noteworthy performance came from Andy Cole, who I ran with into Kinlochleven, but stormed away from me after that to finish in around 7.40.

Yesterday was my 5th ultra of the year, inluding the 'Triple Crown' of the Highland Fling, West Highland Way Race, and Devil O'The Highlands Footrace. While I am delighted to have finished them all, I am a bit disappointed with my times in these races this year, all of which have been a bit slower than previous years. That may be a result of doing so many long races, but it doesn't seem to have affected Richie Cunningham, George Cairns or George Reid, so it may not be the only reason or indeed a valid reason at all. That said, I am still enjoying doing these events, which is really the main thing. It's just I would enjoy it even more if my times were a bit better :)

Finally, a big thank you to Phil and Alison for providing my backup. I am sure that the heavy rain towards the finish was much more welcome to me than it was to you.

43 miles? You're having a laugh...

2009-07-31T19:24:00.002+01:00

It is just over a week until the next ultra on the circuit, the 43 mile 'Devil O'The Highlands' footrace. At this stage I should be in the middle of a relaxing taper, looking forward to a 'short' run less than half the length of the WHW, and generally feeling great. I should be planning my splits with great enthusiasm, and working out how I am going to come storming home over the last few miles, leaving others such as JK in my wake.

But I'm not. I'm sitting here wondering what on earth has happened to my body, and why it has chosen this moment to rebel against my perfectly reasonable demand to complete another ultra race. A visit to my massage lady Amanda on Wednesday evening confirmed what I already suspected: my legs are not in their best shape. In fact they are very close to their worst shape. The general condition of my body has not been helped by yet another heavy fall when I was out training on the WHW last Sunday, something that is starting to occur with depressing regularity. It was an almost identical fall to the one during the WHW race, with me landing once again on my left knee and elbow, resulting in a gaping hole in my knee which has throbbed for much of the week. To compound my embarrassment 4 lady walkers witnessed it, or at least witnessed my expletive loaded cry for help and turned around to find me lying face down in the long grass, just off the main WHW path.

In case anyone is wondering, however, I am not considering withdrawing from the Devil O. No chance. I will be there and intend to finish. I'm going to have a few days off running, and expect to feel considerably refreshed after that. It is the first ultra since Dario's death, which will make it an emotional, unmissable event; all the more so as allybea and I backed up Dario in last year's race.

In the meantime I am off to have my last gin and tonic before beginning a self imposed alcohol ban for most of the month of August. Something tells me that is going to be a more difficult challenge than the Devil O... :)

Farewell Dario

2009-07-23T22:19:00.001+01:00

Today was Dario's funeral. It was a lovely service; a fitting send off to a great friend and an inspiration to all of us. It was moving to see the huge turnout, including many who had travelled a long distance to be there. Among the people I spoke to were Jez Bragg, Mike Mason, Dave Waterman and Ian and Rachel McCuig, all of whom had travelled up from England to pay tribute to a man who clearly had such an impact on so many people's lives.

One of the WHW family, Jody Young, brought his bagpipes and played one of my favourite tunes, Highland Cathedral, as we left the service. I found it incredibly moving. I've put a link to a YouTube version of the tune below.

As I type this post I am sitting here drinking a Rosebank malt whisky and thinking of Dario. Rosebank Distillery is now closed, but it was located in Falkirk, a few hundred yards from where Dario's funeral was held earlier today and close to where Dario was brought up. Given Dario's love of malt whisky, I can think of nothing more appropriate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1VDC7d4Mts

My friend Dario - some memories

2009-07-15T12:25:00.004+01:00

I have been in a state of shock this week since receiving news on Sunday evening of Dario's death. I have known Dario since I first showed an interest in the West Highland Way race in 1998. I was given his name and telephone number by Jim Stewart, who was the race organiser at that time, and encouraged to call him if I had any questions or was looking for any advice. I spoke to Dario a number of times before the race, most of the calls lasting well over an hour, and even though I did not complete the race that year I valued greatly his help and support. More importantly I had made a very good friend - someone who would remain a close friend for the rest of his life.

In 2000 Dario 'moved upstairs' to become race director, or 'race co-ordinator' as he described himself in the 2005 WHW film Closing Distance. (That makes me laugh every time I see it - he did so much more than co-ordinate.) 2000 was also the year that I finished the race for the first time, and received my first goblet from him. Our friendship grew over the years - I remember him telling me after the 2001 race how glad he was to see me back again, and how much it meant to him that people came back year after year to run what he always regarded as(and always has been) the best event on the calendar.

The race developed significantly over the next few years, with numbers increasing along with the demands on the race organiser around safety issues. I think it was 2005 that 4 runners ended up in hospital, with 2 in a very serious condition. Fortunately all survived, but Dario was determined to make sure similar problems would not arise in future if at all possible, and arranged for a group of around 10 of us to meet in Edinburgh and discuss areas where improvements could be made. I've always thought that meeting said a lot about Dario - the race was a huge part of his life, and he wanted to make sure that it was as good as it possibly could be, with as little risk to the runners as possible. The involvement of Chris Ellis and his team is one of his many legacies. It has ensured that the level of medical support and knowledge is now much greater than it was back then, and everyone is much safer as a result, but the risks will never go away entirely - how can they when people are pushing themselves to the absolute limit? On a few occasions we discussed the view that a fatality during an extreme race like the WHW was almost inevitable at some point. Although Dario agreed with this, he was determined to do everything possible to minimise the risks of such a tragedy occurring and leave nothing to chance - in particular by the diligent way in which he vetted each potential entrant's application form and running experience. He would often phone the individual concerned for further information, or would even send them out on a trial run with more experienced runners, or ask other runners for informal references, before allowing them to apply for an entry form. Once accepted, you were welcomed with open arms by Dario as part of the very special WHW family.

In 2006 I moved to Perthshire and Dario became one of my near neighbours, living no more than 5 miles away. One of my pre WHW race routines was to go round to Dario's house on the Thursday before the race, and spend an hour or so chatting about likely race winners, who was in good form, whether there were any problems with the route, and so on. I really enjoyed these chats which set me up nicely for the race. The fact Dario lived so close also meant that we were able to arrange a few whisky nights, where Dario, Phil and I would put the world to right and sample whiskies from all over Scotland - always malts and inevitably finishing with one from Islay. I will always remember Dario arriving a bit early for a whisky night at our house, when I was just finishing clearing out the garage and putting a lot of rubbish in a skip (a most unusual event, I have to say). I was hot, sweaty and enjoying a cold beer, and of course offered one to Dario. I'll never forget his response. "No thanks - I don't want to spoil my palate for the whisky tasting". I wondered if he was having a laugh, but realised quickly that he was completely serious. Among his many talents there is no question that Dario was a whisky connoisseur :)

This year we have been for a couple of runs together. The first was in early May on the section of the Cateran Trail between Alyth and Blairgowrie. This section of the route is not marked and Dario had offered to show me the route prior to the race. We had a really enjoyable run that day, and it is a tribute to Dario's navigational skills that I managed to find my way along that section on the day of the race without getting lost. The other run was on the WHW, not long before this year's race, when a group of us were doing a night run from Milngavie to Balmaha. We dropped Dario off at the Beech Tree Inn and then met up with him at the finish at Balmaha. I know that he really enjoyed it, although on more than one occasion asked us why on earth he had decided to take part in a night run, when he wasn't even running in the race.

That was followed by a great day out at this year's Scottish Cup final along with Alison (allybea) and Gordon (No 3 son). Dario and I are both Falkirk supporters, and Falkirk don't get to cup finals very often, so it was a 'must do' event. We had cracking seats in the south stand, the weather was brilliant, and Falkirk played really well, although were somewhat unfortunate to lose 1-0. Despite the defeat we all enjoyed a great day out, and after the game had the usual light-hearted chat about whether either of us would ever be alive to see Falkirk in a cup final again. Little did we know that Dario wouldn't live to see another Falkirk game, let alone another cup final. With the benefit of hindsight I'm so pleased that I was at that game with Dario. Alison and I will remember it as a very special day.

Dario had bought tickets for us to go tomorrow night to Falkirk's first ever European game, a Europa League tie against FC Vaduz. He had queued last week for an hour and a half for the tickets, and was really looking forward to it. I'm just so sad that we won't be there.

There are a few other things about Dario that many of the more recent members of the WHW family may not know. Firstly, he was a quality runner himself, with a PB for the marathon of 2.52. He told me the story of the day he turned up at a Glasgow marathon to try and pace a friend to get under 3 hours, planning to drop out about the 16 mile point. By the 16 mile point it was clear that his friend could not make 3 hours, so Dario pushed on himself to record another time in the low 2.50s. Incredible. I remember Doug Gillon (the Herald's athletics correspondent) telling me about a track and field meeting he was covering, when Dario took part for his club Harlequins. Dario was the only member of the club and did every event on the programme that day: 100m, 200m, 400m 800m, 1,500m, high jump, long jump, and everything else in between. By all accounts he was very annoyed by the official ruling that he could not take part in the 4 x 100m or 4 x 400m relays!

I am still finding it really difficult to accept Dario is no longer here. He was a great friend. I have shed many tears this week, as has Alison, but our pain must be small compared with that of his wife and close family. I hope they take some comfort from all of the great memories of Dario, and from the outpouring of love and affection that has been so apparent on the WHW forum.

Dario, thank you so much for your friendship for the last 11 years. I miss you. RIP.

Ian

Half term report

2009-07-07T13:30:00.003+01:00

We are now into July, so it seems like a good time for me to have a quick look back at the first half of the year, at least from a running perspective.

In the 6 months to the end of June I completed 13 races. Although I enjoyed most of them, none was in a particularly great time, so it is probably fair to describe it as a year so far of quantity rather than quality. 4 of the 13 races were ultras (Glasgow to Edinburgh, Highland Fling, Cateran Trail and West Highland Way); 2 were half marathons (including a sub 1.30 - just - at Inverness); 3 were 10ks (all over 40 minutes); and the other 4 included a new 8 mile race at Glen Lednock and the National Cross Country, where I didn't get near to the top half of the field.

I was really pleased to finish the West Highland Way race this year, although felt I ran quite cautiously and would hope to push it a bit harder next year. The WHW is definitely the "biggie" in my running year and, despite my best attempts to stay calm, found it remains the only race where I get really nervous beforehand. It may be a bit of a surprise, but I would nominate the Cateran Trail as my favourite race of the first 6 months - perhaps because it was good to run something new which, unlike the G to E, was run over an enjoyable and scenic route in a lovely part of the country.

My mileage for the 6 months totalled 1,120. That is quite a bit less than a lot of the other guys, but given everything else that I have going on is perfectly adequate for me, and leaves me well placed to reach my target of 2,000 miles for the year.

So, what about the rest of the year? I'm planning to have an easy July before taking part in and hopefully enjoying the Devil O'The Highlands in early August. Other probable races include the Glasgow half marathon (although I haven't entered yet); the River Ayr Way (I quite fancy it but am a bit worried about getting lost, as it is not well signposted); the Loch Ness Marathon (already entered - it's my favourite road marathon); and then the 24 hour track race in Tooting. If I do all of these it will probably be time to have a bit of a rest, as that would be 7 ultras and a marathon in the space of 8 months - probably not what any of the coaching manuals would recommend.

Next year I need to focus more on quality....

My race report

2009-06-22T18:27:00.004+01:00

I thought I would write all of this down when it is still fresh in my mind. By later on this week, the whole experience will have been "wonderful", "trouble-free", and "thoroughly enjoyable" - it is quite amazing how the memory can play tricks, and how quickly the pain fades. So here is the real version, while the pain is still here, and I am able to remember the bad bits as well as the good.

I felt very nervous this year when I arrived at Milngavie. It didn't help that I had agreed to give blood (it is to be analysed on a pre race and post race basis, which will be interesting) but it left me with a big lump and bruising on my right arm. I tried not to worry too much about it, and it turned out to be insignificant compared to the mess of my left knee and elbow when I fell just 2 and a half miles into the route, having tripped over a stone. Not a great start. I brushed myself down and carried on, but it definitely nipped for a while, and was still bleeding when I met up with Allybea and George for the first time at Drymen. Still, I wasn't going to let it spoil my race, and fortunately there was no serious damage done.

I arrived at Drymen in exactly 2 hours, which was fine. I wasn't really worrying too much about the clock this year, and was determined to run my own race and not concern myself about anyone else. I still felt good as I came over Conic Hill and into Balmaha car park, although even after all these years there is still something a bit surreal about arriving in a car park in the middle of nowhere at 4.30 am on a Saturday morning, and finding it full of people, cars and vans. On to Rowardennan, still feeling good and quite relieved to pass the point where I dropped out last year, and then onto Inversnaid. So far so good - my time looked ok and I felt positive. The midges were out in their thousands and even Allybea was bitten, which is most unusual, but they weren't causing me too much distress, apart from a few of the wee buggers that found their way in my eyes.

But my positive feelings soon disappeared when I hit the northern part of Loch Lomond. This part of the course is hell on earth, particularly when it has been wet and the rocks are slippy - as it was on Saturday. It seemed to take me an age to negotiate my way along the track, and it was a great relief when I started heading up and over the hill at the head of the loch, and down towards Beinglas Farm. I had lost a lot of time but, as mentioned already, that wasn't my main concern - it was more important to be moving forward. The checkpoint had been moved this year to Carmyle Cottage, which was not very pleasant because of the huge number of cars and limited space. I was a bit grumpy here (probably for the first time in the race, but certainly not the last), and was glad to get going again, having taken onboard some soup.

It took me a while to get running again, and I needed to make an emergency pit stop in the field -never a pleasant experience, even though I was carrying toilet paper and hand gel -but once the food kicked in I felt a bit better and started to run more strongly. I arrived at the Auchtertyre checkpoint in a bit over 11 hours, and was pleased to see that my weight was fine. I had lost 2kgs by this stage which was within the acceptable range. I got another mental boost by passing through Tyndrum just a shade under 12 hours - I knew that meant I should be able to do sub 24 relatively comfortably (or as relatively comfortably as you can be while running 95 miles). I am usually strong on the next section, but wasn't as good this year, and gave another very good impression of Mr Grumpy when I arrived at the checkpoint at Bridge of Orchy. My legs were hurting, I was on a bit of a downer, I had been on the go for 13 and a half hours and I knew that I still had another 10 hours or so to go. As Allybea and George admitted afterwards, they were a bit concerned about me at that point, but they have both been doing this long enough to know that a) I go through various highs and lows throughout the race, and b) it is really crucial on these downers that they remain positive and help lift me through it. As ever, they did it superbly, and I was in a slightly happier frame of mind as I left Bridge of Orchy and headed up the hill.

That positive frame of mind saw me right onto Rannoch Moor, but before too long I hit my biggest downer of the day (and probably one of the biggest lows I have ever hit in this race). For 20 minutes or so I just couldn't run at all. My legs wouldn't move. Before it hit me I had been doing quite well, even running some of the uphill parts, and keeping close to a few other runners who were round about. Now all I could do was watch them disappear into the distance, with my body completely incapable of responding or doing anything about it. I convinced myself that I would have to walk all the way in to Fort William, as there was no way I would be able to run. I went through all my pre race motivational thoughts: 'would Ellen MacArthur keep going?', 'this is my race - don't worry about anyone else', 'we are privileged to be able to do this, so lets enjoy it'. And not one of of them made the slightest difference to the way I was feeling. I was struggling to move forward, and I was hating it.

And then, as if by magic, it lifted. I tried running again and, to my great suprise, I was able to do so. I was too scared to stop, in case I couldn't get going again, so I just kept running - down towards Ba Bridge, across the bridge and all the way along to the climb off Rannoch Moor. I must have run for close to half an hour without a stop. It was such a relief. Suddenly I was positive again - I was going to finish this, and I was going to finish it in a bloody good time. I headed towards Kingshouse with a spring in my step, the only disappointment being where I passed a clearly injured Thomas hobbling slowly down the path. It was obvious that he would not be going much further, despite the great encouragement he was getting from Silke, and I was gutted for him. That's 2 years in a row he has had to drop out at Kingshouse. Hopefully next year will be 3rd time lucky. He is an incredibly talented athlete, and it would be great to see him collect his long awaited goblet at next year's prizegiving.

George - who with Allybea, was doing my support - ran with me from Kingshouse. I had been running more or less on my own for the last 50 miles or so, and was really needing the company. It was therefore a great relief to find that I was a lot more than 4 hours behind the race leader and was allowed a support runner at that stage. I ran well along to the Devil's Staircase, but the climb up was the usual torture. Whose idea was it to put in a 1,000 foot climb, 75 miles into a race? And if I thought the assent was bad, the descent was 10 times worse, with my quads screaming all the way down the steep path.

I arrived in Kinlochleven after exactly 19 hours' running. I was weighed - my weight seemed to be fine, although I can't remember what it was at that stage - and had a quick word with Karen and Al from our club, who had travelled all the way to offer some support and see what the race was all about. (Incidentally Karen did the Highland Fling this year and I will be amazed if she does not enter next year's WHW race. There was even a rumour she was taking some notes!). After some more soup - to be honest I was getting a bit fed up with soup, but couldn't face anything else - George and I headed off up the next 1,000 foot climb onto the Lairig Mor. The Lairig Mor was the usual long hard slog, but eventually we turned the corner and I knew we were getting closer to the end. I stopped briefly at the checkpoint at Lundavra and tried to eat a banana, but only succeeded in bringing up everything I had eaten over the last few hours. Not very pleasant. I quickly headed on my way before Uncle Dunc, the checkpoint marshall, had time to question whether or not I was in a fit state to continue. I was definitely finishing now and nobody was going to stop me.

It was starting to get dark. This slowed me down, as there were sections where it was just not sensible to run, but I was quite happy to power walk at a good pace across the stones. About 4 miles from the end we passed Marco and Debbie. Marco was going slowly and was clearly dead on his feet, but there was no way he was stopping. He eventually managed to keep going all the way to the end to come in well under 24 hours, which was a great effort and must have taken some amount of willpower. Or perhaps he was just too scared of Debbie's reaction if he stopped. She can be a fierce woman when she puts her mind to it and according to reports from the Lundavra checkpoint, she appears to know an impressively large number of expletives, many of which were used to 'motivate' Marco.

The last section down the forest track to Fort William seemed to last for ever, and I was getting quite cold - I should have changed out of my shorts a bit earlier on - but eventually George and I passed the Braveheart car park and hit the road for the final mile. I ran the bits I could run, walked hard when I couldn't, and after 23 hours 11 minutes arrived at the finish at Fort William Leisure Centre. I was 33rd from 122 finishers. I had expected it to be a hugely emotional moment, especially after last year's failure, but it wasn't at all. I just felt completely relieved it was all over and glad I could stop.

As soon as I finished I was weighed and found I had lost a total of 5.5 kgs over the course of the day, 12 lbs in old money. As I felt a bit light headed I didn't give blood at that stage, although came back and gave it the following morning when I felt a lot better. I had a quick massage and headed back to the Premier Inn. As usual after this race my body was just too sore to sleep comfortably, so I ended up getting up at 6 am, having a bath, then going back up to the Leisure Centre to watch some of the finishers come in.

So, mission accomplished. I have now completed 8 WHW races, and have moved up to 5th pace on the all time list for the number of completions. It is still far too early to say that I am looking forward to next year, but I'm suspect that by Thursday I'll be phoning the Premier Inn to confirm our annual booking...

There were some great performances from many people. As this is my race report I am not going to comment specifically on these, but well done to everyone who finished - it is a great achievement. Finally, a huge thanks to my support crew Allybea and George, who, as ever, were quite superb. They have been my support crew since my first WHW race finish in 2000, and I couldn't ask for anything more from them. I am incredibly lucky to have 2 people who are so committed to helping me do this race as well as I can. They put up with my highs and lows, and keep smiling throughout. I couldn't do it without them, and am hugely appreciative of all their efforts. And a huge thanks as well to Dario, the race organiser, who puts in so much work to ensure that this remains far and away Scotland's top running event.

West Highland Way race

2009-06-21T23:08:00.002+01:00

Just a very quick post to say that I completed this year's WHW race in 23 hours and 11 minutes, finishing in 33rd place from just over 120 finishers (and 147 starters). I would describe my run as "satisfactory" - I've been faster, but the whole objective this year was to finish and put last year's DNF to the sword. As you would expect it was hard, really hard at times, but I'm delighted to say I came through these difficult stretches to record my 8th finish.

I'll post a more detailed report when I am not so tired.

Diary of the week before the race: Saturday to Wednesday

2009-06-18T17:07:00.009+01:00

Saturday 13 June

I had decided that today would be my last hard run before the WHW race. There was a 10k on in Milngavie, organised by Marco’s club, Garscube Harriers, so I decided to go for it and use it as my last hard run. There were 2 main reasons for this: to sample the atmosphere of Milngavie one week before the WHW race, and to repeat my preparation from 2003, which was the year that I finished under 22 hours for the first time.

Allybea was driving down to Kilmarnock to see her mum and dad, so rather than take 2 cars all the way to Ayrshire I decided that I would just get the train to Milngavie, and then take the train down to Kilmarnock after the race. The first sign that this might be a problem came at Dunblane station. I explained to the Scotrail ticket man that I wanted to travel from Dunblane to Glasgow Queen Street, then on to Milngavie, then back to Queen Street, then walk to Glasgow Central, then finally get a train to Kilmarnock. I would not be coming back by train, as I would get a lift from Allybea. What was the best ticket I could buy? Oh, and before he answered, he might want to take account of the fact that I had a half price voucher that I wanted to use.

It was not a surprise to find out he had no idea of the best ticket. He eventually sold me a return from Dunblane to Kilmarnock, with my half price discount, but forgot to give me a ticket for Queen Street to Milngavie and back. As the queue was getting longer and longer, and a train was about to arrive, I settled for this and got my Milngavie ticket from the guard on the train.

I had more hassle when I arrived and registered for the race. Having paid my £8, I asked the girl at registration if there was somewhere I could leave my bag. “No, I don’t think so” I was told. “Can you not leave it in your car?” “No, I don’t have my car with me - I came in the train”, I said. “Do you not have any mates you could leave it with?” “No, I don’t have any mates”. She shrugged her shoulders and gave me a look which left me in no doubt it was my problem, not hers. Fortunately at that moment JB appeared,with whom I used to run at lunchtime when I worked in Glasgow. He was going to be doing the results and suggested I leave my bag in the results room, beside him. So, problem solved. I still needed to get changed behind an ice cream van as there didn’t seem to be anywhere else.

The race began at 11.30am from the centre of the Highland Games field. I started off at a steady pace and worked away solidly in the heat. At about the half way point I passed Graeme Reid, and managed to stay in front of him for the rest of the route. The last few kilometres up the hills were hard work, but I finished in a time of 41.39, which I was perfectly happy with. It had not been easy, but was exactly the session I had hoped for. Now on to my taper!

The journey from Milngavie to Kilmarnock was a nightmare. When I reached Central Station I realised that there were no trains to Kilmarnock, due to engineering works. It would have been nice to have been told that earlier on when I bought my ticket. Instead I had to get a train to Barrhead then change to a rail replacement bus – the only problem was that these buses were only running every hour, so I had to sit on a wall outside Barrhead station for about 45 minutes before the bus was ready to leave. It was roasting and I had no sun cream on. I finally arrived in Kilmarnock at 5.40pm, a full 4 hours after setting out for the train in Milngavie. What a nightmare. Next time I’ll be ignoring the green agenda and taking my car.

Sunday 14 June

I had a quiet and relaxing day today. I slept until 10 am, clearly needing the extra sleep after my busy week at work. After a leisurely breakfast, I took Lucy (Dog No 3) for an hour’s walk in the grounds around Braco castle, including a swim in the river. She loved it. Then in the early evening I went to Amanda for my pre race massage. My quads and calves were a bit tight and it was sore when she got right into them, but generally I think my body is in reasonably good shape,and I am feeling relaxed. Both Allybea and I are determined to enjoy the whole experience of this year’s race, trying hard to remain calm and not get too worked up about things. Hopefully that will continue throughout the week.

Monday 15 June

Back at work today. Things were going fine until I had a meeting with someone at 10.00. Imagine my horror when, after making the introductions, he said "Sorry, I've been feeling completely lousy all weekend (cough), think I'm getting back to normal (cough cough), feeling at least 80% which is 75% than I was feeling yesterday (splutter splutter cough spit)". A look of horror crossed my face and I spent the entire meeting trying to stay out of his line of breathing. I almost fell out of the meeting room door at one stage, so far away from him I had moved. I can't remember much about the meeting at all, but I do remember that as soon as it was finished I rushed to the toilet, washed my hands at least 3 times, and put on some of that disinfectant gel intended to prevent the spread of swine flu.

For the next hour or so I was convinced I was coming down with the mother and father of all colds, probably a virus, and that there was no way I would be fit for Saturday. At lunchtime I went out for an easy run (my second last before the race), and I was relieved to feel, er, normal. In fact I would almost say I felt good. I had an easy 4 mile trot through the streets of Edinburgh, and that helped to calm me down.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I arrived home from work at about half 7, had some tea, took the dogs for a short walk, then relaxed in the bath for half an hour. I made it to bed by 10.30, and slept like a log.

Tuesday 16 June

A rest day today (at least in terms of running) although very busy at work. That was undoubtedly a good thing, as I had no time at all to worry about getting / being ill or having sore legs, feet, knees or other parts of my body. My stomach was a bit sore, but that was because I had drunk too much coffee today at all my meetings. As I write this it is 6.50 and I am about to leave the office for the long journey back to Perthshire. Allybea is going out at the school show and has left a voicemail on my phone, telling me that I'll need to pick up some tea from Sainsburys on the way back home. I better choose something easy and quick to cook, high in carbohydrates: perhaps a pizza or a couple of scotch eggs?

Update: just as I left the office Mr Race Director phoned, so it was good to have a quick chat with him. And I went for the sensible option for tea – ravioli with smoked salmon. Yum.

Wednesday 17 June

At a sportscotland meeting in the morning, then back to the office for a quick check of my emails before heading across Edinburgh to meet a number of the WHW runners for some lunch. It was great to catch up with everyone – the excitement is certainly starting to build. This was my last day in the office, so I finished quite late then headed out for my last pre race run, a 4 mile jog round the centre of Edinburgh. To be honest it was a bit of a waste of time, and I might have been better not bothering at all. I felt like I was going through the motions and my legs felt a bit heavy after a few really busy days. Still, I followed my plan and did it, with no ill effects. The next time I run will be from Milngavie station, early on Saturday morning. Can’t wait!

Problems in the country

2009-06-14T19:39:00.003+01:00

I've been meaning to do this post for a few weeks, ever since some idiot thought it was a good idea to scatter carpet tacks around the halfway point of the Etape Caledonia cycle, somewhere near Kinloch Rannoch. A 62 year old man (solicitor, church elder and leader of the local community council, if you believe the local press) has been charged with a number of offences relating to that incident, so in the interests of justice it is probably best that I don't comment directly on him or on his alleged acts. It does however highlight a more general point that has been concerning me recently - why do people who live in the country have a problem sharing the countryside with others?

As well as the Etape incident, there were problems in last year's WHW race and in this year's Highland Fling. Both arose from the fact that a lot of people were wanting to support the runners but there were inadequate facilities for parking, particularly around Beinglas Farm and the Kingshouse Hotel. At Kingshouse someone contrived to park their camper van on the hotel's front lawn, which quite understandably did not go down well at all with the owner. However I have sensed a general antagonism from many land owners to runners which is not at all healthy, and seems to me to be based on a selfish desire to keep the countryside to themselves: "this is my countryside and I don't want you anywhere near it, you smelly runner". Surely the countryside is big enough for all of us to enjoy? And I am surprised that the owners of local businesses, such as Beinglas Farm campsite and Kingshouse Hotel, are not able to see the opportunities of attracting the running fratenity - if each support person bought something from the Kingshouse hotel, for example, their day's takings would probably be up by more than £1,000. For a small business that seems worthwhile.

I should say quickly that not all businesses on the WHW are the same. The Real Food Cafe and the Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum are very welcoming, and have both been involved as sponsors of the WHW race, the Highland Fling or the Devil O. And guess what - these are places we (and many friends) make a point of visiting when we are on our way through Tyndrum. It is no surprise to me at all they are both successful, thriving businesses - they know the importance of looking after their customer base, and the need to make their customers feel welcome. Auchtertyre Farm is another good example of a business that puts its customers first, and Tony Waterhouse, the manager there and a past president of Central AC, has been a great help in allowing the Farm to be used as a WHW checkpoint.

However if we are going to be welcomed in the countryside, then we need to respect it. I have to say that I was really disappointed by the amount of rubbish that was left on the route during the Fling - things like gel packets, sports drink bottles and so on which had clearly been dropped by runners. That is just unacceptable. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code is a fantastic piece of legislation that gives us the right to run just about anywhere in Scotland, but with that comes responsibilities, one of which is 'care for your environment'. That includes taking your litter with you, so here is my plea to all runners and support taking part in the WHW race next week: DO NOT DROP RUBBISH ANYWHERE ON THE WHW ROUTE. Put it in your bag and take it to the next checkpoint. If everyone does that there will be far fewer problems, and we can all enjoy the countryside in our different ways.

What a great weekend

2009-05-31T19:46:00.003+01:00

It has been a brilliant weekend. The sun has been shining - how unusual is that - and I've been for a couple of runs on the West Highland Way, sandwiched by a trip to Hampden on Saturday for the Scottish Cup final.

On Friday night a crowd of us met for a night run along the WHW from Milngavie to Balmaha. We met up at the car park in Balmaha where John left his minibus, then I drove us all back down the road. We dropped Dario and Sue at the Beech Tree Inn - they were doing a shorter run - then started running from Milngavie about quarter to 11, just as it was getting dark.

I'm not sure there is any real benefit to be gained for the race from running in the dark, but that didn't matter at all. It was something different and great fun; and a really good chance to catch up again with a few of the guys. We didn't push particularly hard and arrived in Balmaha at around 2.30 am, having been running for 3 hours 42 minutes. My headtorch worked very well and I had no problems following the path at any stage. By the time we arrived back at Milngavie around 3 am it was starting to get light, and when I finally made it to bed just before 5 am it was broad daylight.

So on to Saturday. I got up about 11 am having had a few hours sleep and started to get ready for the Homecoming Scottish Cup final. My team, Falkirk, were playing Rangers, and as Falkirk don't get to too many finals it was a game we could not miss. Allybea, son No 3, WHW Race Director Dario and I arrived at Hampden more in hope than expectation. Unfortunately the result didn't go our way - Falkirk played really well but were a bit unlucky to lose 1-0. The atmosphere at Hampden was fantastic, and the fact Falkirk were far and away the better team made it an excellent day out, despite the result.

As today was the last day of May, and as it is now less than 3 weeks until the WHW race, I was keen to get another decent run in on the WHW route. It was yet another glorious day and the hour drive to Tyndrum - with the car roof down and the Pogues' album Rum, Sodomy & the Lash playing - was an absolute pleasure. My car is made for days like today. It is not so good when it is icy, but that is long forgotten when summer finally arrives and the sun comes out. Anyway, just before I started running from Tyndrum I noticed that the temperature was 24 degrees. That is hotter than I am comfortable with, and I knew it would make it a hard run, but at least I would be running at a relaxed pace, unlike those poor souls doing the Edinburgh Marathon.

I reached Bridge of Orchy in exactly an hour, stopped for a couple of minutes at the hotel, then ran back in almost the same time (well okay, I was a couple of minutes slower, but on a day like this the 2 minutes didn't really matter). I felt good and enjoyed the run. I got a bit hot towards the end, not helped by the fact that my water had heated up inside the bottle and was almost impossible to drink. However I made it in one piece, and after a quick stop to try out my Magic Mug at the Good Food Stop (it worked - I got my free coffee) I put the roof down and headed back down the road.

All in all, a great weekend.

Cateran Trail

2009-05-17T11:42:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I took part in the Cateran Trail race, a 55 mile run starting and finishing at Spittal of Glenshee. I finished in 11 hours 34 minutes, right in the middle of the field in 10th position. The weather was awful for most of the day, but despite that it was a first class event, in some lovely countryside (when we were able to see it), and very well organised by Dario and his team.

I set out at a very cautious pace, aware that I had gone off too fast in the recent Highland Fling and that it was only 5 weeks until the WHW race. This proved to be a sensible strategy, as I felt really good for most of the run and seemed to get stronger as the race went on. The last couple of sections were without doubt the hardest of the whole course. It was quite tricky coming across the hill into Kirkmichael, partly because it was so muddy and slippy, and then the last section from Enockdhu to Spittal of Glenshee was a killer, incorporating a climb of around 1,400 feet to the highest point before dropping steeply down to the finish at the Spittal of Glenshee hotel. The weather on that section was terrible: a strong wind and really heavy rain, turning into sleet near the high point of the route. I was glad I had made the decision early on to put on my tracksters - my legs would have been absolutely frozen if I had been running in shorts.

Another difficulty was the number of stiles which needed to be climbed throughout the route. Some of these were huge, and although they did not present much of a problem in the early stages (apart from the fact they were very slippy), they were much more difficult to negotiate later on with my legs starting to tire and my muscles showing some signs of cramp. There was even a stile about half a mile from the finish. I was cursing race organiser Dario at that point, I have to admit.

So, another ultra completed - my 3rd of the year so far - and a very enjoyable one at that. Many thanks to Esther, who not only did my backup throughout the race but also provided me with accommodation in Alyth on Friday night. It was greatly appreciated.

Racing

2009-05-10T16:16:00.003+01:00

I like racing. It doesn't matter how far up or down the field I am, I always enjoy the whole racing experience and find that I push myself a lot harder in a race than I would if I just went out to do a training run. This week I have done 2 races, the Troon 10k on Wednesday night (organised by one of my previous clubs, Troon Tortoises), then the Glen Lednock 8.5 mile road race earlier today. That makes it a total of 9 races so far this year.

Wednesday in Troon was a wild night. When we turned right towards the sea at the 8km point, the rain was so torrential and right into our faces that it was a struggle to see where we were going. Then the last km up the prom was a case of splashing through the puddles and trying to avoid the deepest ones. Despite the foul weather I thoroughly enjoyed the race and was really glad I made the long trip through from my work in Edinburgh. I was even happy enough with my finishing time of 40.38 - my days of being upset at being over 40 minutes for a 10k are long gone, I think :) Well done to all the guys from Troon Tortoises: as usual, the organisation was excellent, and I would make special mention of the on-course marshalling, which was as good as I have seen in any race. It was my 91st completed 10k, so I'm into the home straight as I head towards the magic 100.

Today was the Glen Lednock 8.5 mile road race, a new event which starts in Comrie (which is only 12 miles from my house, so this is one of my local races). The route heads right up Glen Lednock to the Ben Chonzie car park, then turns round and comes back the same way. The first half is almost all uphill, but as it is an out and back route we had the benefit of the hills all the way back. It was quite a small field - only 39 took part - and I finished 6th overall in a time of 57.22, having been almost 4 minutes faster for the 2nd half. Like Troon it was a really enjoyable, well organised event, and I'm sure the numbers will grow in future years as more people get to hear about it.

I'm now intending to have an easy week (at least in terms of my running) before the 55 mile Cateran Trail race next Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing the Cateran Trail route, most of which I have not been on before, although my plan is to run at a sensible pace throughout, not push things too hard, and to use it as a long training run for the WHW race in June.

Doing the Highland Fling

2009-04-26T18:47:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I ran the 'Montane' Highland Fling, finishing in 11 hours 24 minutes. That means I have finished all 4 Highland Fling races and I think I am one of only 4 people to do so, along with Jez Bragg, Ellen McVey and Rob Reid - not a bad group of which to be a member :)

To be frank, however, I did not have a good run, and the fact I finished it is one of the few positives. With the benefit of hindsight (which I know is a wonderful thing) I probably went off a bit too quickly, going through Drymen in 1.45 and then Balmaha in 3.04. I felt fine at that stage, but had a tumble on the path after Balmaha and didn't feel quite so good afterwards. Liz (Phil T's wife) was providing both Phil and me with backup during the first half of the race and had arranged to meet us at Sallochy car park, about 3 miles before Rowardennan. I was really relieved to meet her - by the time I got there my legs had been showing the first signs of cramp, and I wolfed down 2 cups of chicken soup, followed by a Muller rice. It was a bit of worry to have cramp so early, and I was also concerned about how hungry I felt. Something clearly wasn't right.

The next section proved that I was right to be worried. About an hour after I had eaten, I started to get cramp again. This was to be the pattern for the rest of the run: eat, run for an hour, get cramp and have to walk, eat, then repeat the whole cycle again. I ate some beans at Inversnaid which saw me through the tough section along Loch Lomondside, but the cramp came on again about a mile before Ben Glas farm and I could hardly get down the hill to the checkpoint. By that stage I wasn't bothered about my time at all but just had to finish - 2 DNFs in a row in WHW races was not an option at all. I had arranged to meet Allybea and Liz at Ben Glas Farm and was desperate for some food, but as I staggered towards the checkpoint and looked around I realised they were not about. When WHW Race Control Geraldine told me that there had been problems with the parking and most backup crews were not able to get parked I thought I was going to burst into tears - how was I going to get rid of the cramp with no food?

Thankfully Geraldine and Hugh came to my rescue, giving me some of the surplus food from the faster runners who had already passed through. The food was enough to get me going again, and I actually felt quite good as I came into Derrydarroch farm where Allybea and Liz were waiting with the long-awaited soup. After that, though, it was just more of the same. The cramp returned about a mile before I crossed the A82 north of Crianlarich, and I had to walk up and down all of the hills from then on: flat bits were ok, but unfortunately there are not many flat bits on that section. Allybea met me at the A82 crossing with yet more soup, and once that had been digested I managed to run more strongly over the last section past Auchtertyre and up to the finish. As is often the case I finished strongly, getting in under 11 and a half hours, but it could have been so much better if it hadn't been for all the problems with cramp.

We stayed overnight in Tyndrum and went to the ceilidh for an hour or so. It was good to catch up with everyone, although we were all a bit tired after the run and headed back to the cottage for a early night. I didn't really get a chance to speak to Ellen and Murdo and pass on my thanks for, once again, organising such a fantastic event. To see so many people taking part was incredible. I remember when Murdo first came up with the idea for the race, but I doubt if even he would have imagined it would grow to such a size in 4 years. Thanks also to Liz and Allybea for all their support during the race, and to Liz for the excellent breakfast!

I have spent some time today on the internet researching cramp in endurance events. The general consensus seems to be that it is caused by a lack of magnesium, which can be aggrevated amongst other things by too much caffeine. I know that I drink far too much coffee, especially when I am at work, so I am going to try and cut down and see if that makes a difference. I will also plan to increase my fruit intake and pay more attention in general to my food strategy. Having said that, I'm sitting writing this with a large glass of wine beside me - not sure I see that changing :)

The Cateran Trail

2009-04-19T19:38:00.002+01:00

I thought I would post to let everyone know that I've decided to do the Cateran Trail race on 16 May, a 55 mile circular jaunt starting and finishing at Spittal of Glenshee. I'm very aware that this is only 5 weeks before the WHW race, but I'm hoping 5 weeks will be enough time to recover fully, particularly if I take the Cateran race at a steady pace and don't do anything daft. I'll know whether or not it was a good idea on 20 June :)

Yesterday Phil, Dario (who is organising the race) and I went up to recce the section from Alyth to Blairgowrie. This section isn't part of the official, main route and therefore isn't signposted, so I wanted to make sure I could find my way. The thought of getting lost 25 miles into a 55 mile race isn't hugely appealing.

It's a nice route, not too difficult to follow the course, and I think I'll be fine with the navigation. I was on holiday the week before last and used the chance to do a recce of another section, from Blairgowrie to Bridge of Cally. That bit was very well signposted, as is the rest of the trail, so I'm hoping that I won't have any problems finding my way round. On both occasions I hardly saw another soul. It is a lot quieter than the WHW, which in many ways adds to its appeal, although I suspect it will become more popular in the years ahead as more people hear about it.

Before the Cateran Trail I have another ultra: the Montane Highland Fling, which takes place this coming Saturday. This is a 53 mile race over the first section of the WHW, from Milngavie to Tyndrum. It's the 4th year of the race and I've done them all so far. In 2006, the first year, there were only 17 of us, but it has grown dramatically and there are more than 300 entries for this year's race. I would be interested to know how many people have done all of the races - there must only be a handful of us. The event is superbly organised by Murdo and Ellen but it will be interesting to see how it copes with a field of this size, particularly the associated traffic and parking on some of the narrow roads. I'm really looking forward to it and also to the post race ceilidh in Tyndrum - although whether I'll feel like dancing after running 53 miles remains to be seen.

See you all on Saturday.

The perils of ultra running

2009-03-17T21:05:00.002Z

Saturday's run reminded me of some of the things that make ultra running so unique and enjoyable. The joy of stopping for a number 2 in the fresh air, miles from anywhere, and then witnessing the shock on the faces of the two old ramblers who had just come round the corner to find a runner in mid squat. Or stopping for a quick streamie, only for one of the women in the race to choose that very moment to catch up - thanks Aileen. Or the odd sensation of running a bit too soon after eating a pot of Muller rice (with apple), not entirely sure whether it would stay down or not. Or watching my chicken and rice soup blow away towards the Falkirk Wheel. Or finding that both my legs had decided to cramp at the same time, with my arms joining them seconds later in a painful spasm. And finally, the serious embarrassment of trying to spit into the canal but making such a hash of it that most ended up in my hair and on my backpack.

So, dear reader, ultra running is not all glamorous, at least not where I am in the middle of the field. I am sure it is much more attractive at the front end, where Lucy, Jack, Thomas et al run with great style and panache - no jobbies in the trees for them, I suspect: I doubt they could afford to stop for that long and still get as good a time.

I am of course aware that I do all this for fun, and of my own free will, and that no-one forces me to take part. I paid the princely sum of £52 to experience those pleasures on Saturday and, even worse, had to decline a full hospitality invitation for the two of us to attend the Scotland v Ireland rugby match at Murrayfield. Allybea was not best pleased. Standing in a 40 mile an hour cold wind beside a smelly canal at Falkirk, Linlithgow and Ratho does not compare favourably with a free piss up at the rugby. This is a point she has made, and continues to make, very clear to me.

However the oddest thing of all is the fact that I am unable to sleep well after an ultra race. Does anyone else experience this? There is no doubt that I should be tired - on Saturday I was up at 5.15am and then I ran 54 miles, after a hectic week at work. I normally sleep like a log. But not on Saturday, nor after the last West Highland Way race. I lay awake for ages, then gave up around 1.30am and headed down the stairs to watch some football highlights. I returned to bed about an hour later but slept in fits and starts, and was first up the next morning. Even on Monday morning I was not tired - I normally sleep on the train into work, but instead I gazed out of the window, occasionally noticing the canal along which I had run just 2 days earlier.

I can only conclude that the body is a funny thing. Particularly mine.

Running across Scotland - the Glasgow to Edinburgh canal race

2009-03-15T12:11:00.003Z

When I wrote my report of the 24 hour race last September, I said something like "Went round the 1.5 mile circuit. Then did it again. Continued to do this for 24 hours". Well, yesterday's race almost matched the 24 hour race in terms of excitement. I would describe it as follows:

'Ran from Ruchill Park in Glasgow down to the Forth and Clyde canal. Continued to run alongside this canal for 22 mile or so until the Falkirk Wheel. Crossed the Forth and Clyde canal and joined the Union Canal. Continued to run alongside this canal (which looked very like the last canal) for 32 miles or so, until the finish at Harrison Park in Edinburgh. Then stopped and went home'.

It is strange running along a canal towpath. It is completely flat - no hills at all - which is actually more difficult than running an undulating route, as it is constantly sore on your muscles. For most of the route there isn't much to see at all. The canals were built for commercial purposes rather than recreation, and pass through Scotland's industrial heartland, with only the occasional town or village on route. The Falkirk Wheel is quite interesting, and it was good to see a group of youngsters out canoeing at Linlithgow. There is a nice marina at Auchinstarry, and a traditional looking pub at Ratho. And that's about it - the only other highlights along the way were passing the Young Offenders Institution at Polmont, going under the M8 just after Broxburn, and going through a tunnel that is more than half a mile long just after Falkirk. Keith Hughes was just in front of me going through the aforementioned tunnel, so we amused ourselves by making loud noises (such as 'oooooooo') and listening to it echo. What a laugh. I spent most of the rest of the run listening to my radio.

Anyway back to the race itself. I finished in 11th place from 19 finishers in a time of 9 hours 39 minutes. I was quite pleased with that. My stomach was not good for the first few hours, necessitating a couple of emergency pitstops. Thankfully that improved as the run went on, and I finished quite strongly. Allybea and Liz T, despite being frozen, provided excellent backup at various points on route - their support was gratefully appreciated, as was the high quality chicken soup allybea had made. At one point the wind was so strong it actually blew the soup away. We were really lucky, however, that it was behind us for almost all of the race - it would have been a lot harder if we had been running from Edinburgh to Glasgow.

Inverness half marathon

2009-03-10T19:47:00.002Z

Sunday was the Inverness half marathon. It was the 15th time I had done it in the last 16 years, and probably the worst in terms of the weather. It was definitely the worst in terms of my time. I crossed the line in a chip time of 1.29.38, a full 2 minutes slower than my previous worst for the course. Still, at least I scraped under the hour and a half, which I think was one of my targets for the year. Phil T was 3 minutes ahead in 1.26; Thomas set a new PB of 1.18; and Silke also set a PB of 1.51. Well done to them all. It's just a bit depressing when I look back on some of my previous Inverness times and see two 1.19s, two 1.21s, a 1.22, a 1.23 and five 1.24s.

Despite the weather I really enjoyed the run. We set off in a blizzard, but as the wind was behind for the first mile it didn't have much effect. I was a bit disappointed to look at my watch at the 1 mile marker and see I was around 6.30 - I had thought I was running a bit faster than that. The wind hit us full on when we turned at the bridge over the River Ness, and it was hard work for the next 4 miles or so. Just after the 5 mile mark I had to empty my bladder - the last coffee was definitely a poor idea - and I realised then I would have to work to stay under the hour and a half.

So work hard I did. Despite my hamstring tightening over the last few miles, I took advantage of the wind being behind for most of the way in, and crossed the line with 20 seconds or so in hand. My coughing at the end was a phenominal, record breaking performance, even by more own high standards, and attracted the attention of most of the first aid people who had been milling around in the hope of finding someone like me who needed their services. They were quite disappointed when I told them (cough) that I (cough) was always like that (cough) (cough) at the end of (cough) a race and (cough) there was really nothing (cough) to worry (cough) (cough) about. Then I topped it all by being sick.

As we were leaving Inverness we received news that the A9 was closed at Dalwhinnie. A choice had to be made: chance it and hope it wil have opened by the time we get to there, or go the long route along the A96 to Aberdeen, then down the A90 to Perth. Overruling allybea, we went for the long route which, with the benefit of hindsight, was the wrong decision. It added at least 2 hours and 100 extra miles to our journey, but at least we got home and weren't stuck in a car for the night in one of the most remote parts of Scotland.

I now need to recover in time for the Glasgow to Edinburgh 54 mile race along the canal on Saturday. My legs were quite stiff this morning, but I went out a very easy run at lunchtime and they felt a bit better after that. I'll do another easy run tomorrow, then rest on Thursday and Friday.

A great WHW run

2009-03-01T20:55:00.003Z

As you may have guessed from the title, I really enjoyed today's WHW run. We ran the 31 miles or so from Inverarnan Hotel to Kingshouse Hotel, neither of which is recognised for the quality of its bedrooms, but both of which offer very good quality food. I started near the back of the pack and, after stopping to take off my tracksters, ended up right at the back with only a mile or so of the run gone. But that meant I had plenty time to chat, and spent a bit of time talking to Neal, Karen, Alasdair and Thomas. Thomas had made a particularly conservative start, but was to pick up the pace later. I pushed on a bit at Tyndrum, just as the weather deteriorated, then ran from the start of Rannoch Moor to Kingshouse with Davie. I felt good at the end, always a positive sign, and enjoyed a bowl of soup in the Kingshouse Hotel before we headed home. All in all a quality day's running. Many thanks to John for organising and best wishes to Sharon, who had to stop after a particularly heavy fall just before Bridge of Orchy.

National XC - so much to say

2009-02-21T20:32:00.002Z

It was the National Cross Country Championships today at Callendar Park, Falkirk. It was my 16th national, as shown below (extract from my race spreadsheet):

Feb-1992 Irvine 45.51
Feb-1993 Falkirk 46.32
Feb-1994 Irvine 42.51
Feb-1996 Irvine 45.16
Feb-1997 Perth 46.49
Feb-1998 Irvine 44.41
Feb-1999 Cupar 48.07
Feb-2001 Irvine 49.10
Feb-2002 Falkirk 50.05
Feb-2003 Linwood 49.00
Feb-2004 Perth 44.17
Feb-2005 Irvine 50.09
Feb-2006 Falkirk 51.06
Feb-2007 Falkirk 49.58
Feb-2008 Falkirk 48.31
Feb-2009 Falkirk 49.27

So where do I start my report? Probably with today's winner. What a pleasure it was to finish the race and hear that Ali Hay from Central had won his first national cross country championship (he has won the short course title before, but it isn't really the same as the big one). I was absolutely delighted, not just for Ali but for his mum and dad David and Julie, who are members of Central and two of the nicest people you could hope to meet. There was a tear in my eye when I congratulated David at the presentation - what a fantastic achievement for 'their boy'. David is a member of the WHW family and is doing the WHW race again this year. By an incredible coincidence, he was just coming down the home straight at the end of his 2nd lap when Ali passed on his way to win the race, so Dad managed to see him win. Absolutely brilliant. I'm delighted for all of them.

Congratulations as well to Freya Murray, who won the women's race by almost 2 minutes. She is a class act and hopefully will gain selection for the UK team for the world cross country. Also a big well done to Toni McIntosh, who is in fantastic form at the moment and proved it by finishing second in a high quality field.

I was also really impressed to see that Thomas Loehndorf made it into the top 100, finishing in 98th place. This is a quality race with all of the best runners in Scotland, so to finish in the top 100 is no mean feat. Will Manners from our club is running out of his skin at the moment and finsihed 127th, so it shows what a good run Thomas must have had.

And what about me? I was pleased with my run. I had a steady first lap, then picked things up over laps 2 and 3, passing a lot of people along the way. Amongst those I passed (and managed to stay in front of) were Phil T from my club (although to be fair Phil had been out last night, and a few late night 18 yo Springbank whiskies may not have been the best preparation for him); Neal Gibson (aka pacepusher), who I passed near the start of the second lap, and WHW regulars Davie Bell and Ian Rae. I finished in 237th place from 413 finishers in a time of 49.27 - about a minute away from the top half of the field, but overall I was delighted with my run and performance.

A pleasant meander along the canal

2009-02-16T23:27:00.002Z

On Sunday I decided to run along the Forth and Clyde Canal from Glasgow to Falkirk, a distance of 26 miles or so. While there was a very good chance it would be the most boring run I had ever done, it was also likely to be good training for the Glasgow to Edinburgh canal race, an event which I have entered and is now less than 4 weeks away on Saturday 14 March. So I got up a bit earlier than normal for a Sunday and drove to Falkirk High Station, parked the car there and jumped on a train into the centre of Glasgow. Just after 10am I left George Square at an easy pace and headed north, through Possilpark, and eventually found my way onto the canal.

It would be exaggerating if I said it was an exciting run, but it was nothing like as bad as I had feared. I listened to my radio for most of the way, which probably helped, and I played a game called 'Count the Supermarket Trolleys in the Canal' that helped keep me entertained for the first hour or so. Before too long I passed through Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch, then arrived at Auchinstarry after about 2 hours and had a quick stop for some of allybea's home-made carrot cake. The Old Firm game started - it sounded like a shocker - and in no time at all I was going past Banknock, under the A80, through Bonnybridge, and then along to the Falkirk Wheel, where I had a quick stop to refill my water bottle. We used to stay in Falkirk, so I know that area pretty well, and I was soon onto the last short section along the Union Canal. I hammered along there at a fine pace (well, I jogged a bit quicker than I had been going earlier) and arrived at Falkirk station after 3 hours 51 minutes. It was a faster time than I had expected, with the added bonus that I had felt really good for most of the way.

So that was encouraging. A good couple of week's training and who knows? I might even begin to record some half decent times again. I improved a bit in our club's 5 mile time trial on Saturday, but my time of 33.47 was still a bit embarrassing (John - note the spelling) and doesn't suggest I'll come close to a place in the top half of next week's National Cross Country champs. Still, I'll give it my best shot and see what happens.

Run and Become Training and Inspiration Night - My Talk

2009-02-11T08:42:00.003Z

Last night I was talking at the Run and Become Training and Inspiration Night in Edinburgh. A full version of my talk is attached below for anyone who couldn't make it, or for anyone who is interested in reading it again.

THE 2008 WHW RACE: LESSONS LEARNT FROM A YEAR OF FAILURE

The title of my talk tonight is ‘Lessons Learnt From A Year of Failure’. I’m sure the more perceptive of you will already have worked it out from the title, but I didn’t finish the 2008 WHW race. In fact I didn’t even come close to finishing it – I dropped out at Rowardennan, a mere 27 miles into the route. The day had hardly started when I dropped out – it was just after 6 am, before most people had woken up. I didn’t even get the chance to find out what it was like to be weighed during the race, as I didn’t get far enough.

I’m sure some of you are sitting there thinking – that guy spoke at last year’s Run and Become Evening and told us what to do – didn’t work for him, did it? That is very true, and indeed I may have a bit of a cheek standing up here again this year and offering advice to you all. However I am a great believer in the old saying that you learn every bit as much from ‘bad’ experiences as you do from ‘good’ ones – in fact I think that you possibly learn even more from the bad ones. So hopefully I will be able to pass on a few useful pointers to you all as you set about your preparation for this year.

If I can maybe give you a bit of background about my involvement in the WHW race. I first heard about it at the Inverness Half Marathon in 1997, when I saw an old looking guy sitting in a corner, flask in hand, wearing a WHW t-shirt. The WHW t-shirt caught my attention and I went over to ask him about it. He turned out to be race legend Alan Kay. After chatting to him for 10 minutes or so, and hearing all about it, I thought it sounded like the type of challenge I would quite fancy. I had no idea how I would manage it, or whether it was possible, but the seed was planted. A few days later I entered the 1998 race.

Now, things were quite different in 1998 compared to now. There was nothing like the same number of people taking part – only around 50, compared with the 175 or so now along with the many others who would like to enter but can’t get in. There was no internet then: some of the more recent entrants must find it difficult to imagine preparing for the race without access to the hundreds of blogs that are around today! Back then all the advice came from phoning Dario, although he was not the race organiser (sorry – race director) then, but a regular runner in the race. It started at 3 o’clock in the morning, rather than 1am. At the end you were allowed to crash out on Lochaber Leisure Centre floor and many people did – by the Sunday morning it looked like a battlefield with all the injured bodies lying around. There were no organised training runs or Run and Become nights – or, if there were, nobody invited me to them. In short, you were left to work it out for yourself, and to learn from your own mistakes.

Andy, boy, did I make plenty of mistakes in that first year. I’ll not go through them all but having a back-up team who knew what they were doing would have been good. Running up and down a few hills beforehand would also have been a good idea, and might have helped me get down Conic Hill on race day without trashing my quads. I’m not sure I needed to carry a spare pair of shoes in my rucksack all the way from Rowardennan to Beinn Glas Farm. In hindsight it was a miracle I made it as far as Tyndrum before dropping out, but I had learned a lot, and learned even more backing up a friend the following year. By 2000, the year of the Millenium, I was ready to do it properly.

I managed to finish the race successfully in 2000, and then completed it again in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 (when some of you might have seen me on DVD), 2006 and 2007. I missed 2002 because I had dislocated my shoulder. So when I arrived at Milngavie Station for last year’s race, with 7 finishes under my belt, it never crossed my mind for a minute that I wouldn’t finish. But I didn’t finish.

So what went wrong?

I guess it is hard to ever know for sure. By the time I reached Rowardennan I felt completely shattered and knew there was no way I would be able to go on. Those close to me will know that it took a while for the pain of failure to go away – probably about 3 months, if I’m being honest – but once I had started to get over it I was able to look back a bit more rationally, and analyse some of the mistakes I had made.

The first worrying signs were there during the organised training run at the end of February. A large group of us were running the 30 miles or so from Beinn Glas Farm to Kingshouse. Just before we got to Bridge of Orchy station I tripped over a stone and, for want of a better term, went arse over tit. It left me with a painful knee, a sore hand, a ripped pair of tracksters and a severe dose of wounded pride. I think that one of the reasons the fall happened was because I was running at a faster pace than I felt comfortable: I was trying to keep up with the other guys, rather than doing my own thing. I think there is a lesson there for everyone – the organised runs are great fun, you meet some fantastic people (many of them here tonight) and you learn a lot from other people’s experiences; but there is just no point in running at a pace that isn’t suitable for you. Far better to hang back a bit at a pace where you are more comfortable, and make sure you enjoy it. I’ll certainly be taking that approach on the training runs this year.

Another possibly questionable aspect of my training last year was my decision to do back to back marathons, in Stornaway and Edinburgh, 4 weeks before the race. At the time I thought it was a good idea and it was something I had wanted to do for quite a few years. I wonder, however, if this took a bit too much out of me and didn’t leave enough recovery time. Ellen Thomson also did 2 marathons that weekend and felt that it affected her WHW performance – she found the 2008 race the hardest of the 4 she has done. So maybe back to back marathons close to the race are not a good idea. But who knows?

I don’t think I took enough account of the different work situation I found myself in last year. I had started a new demanding job and found myself a lot busier than I had been in previous years. I was also Acting Chairman of SportScotland for the 4 months prior to the race, which took up a lot of my time. I should have taken these 2 things into account, accepted it was a more difficult year workwise, and not been too bothered about my WHW time. Instead I was really focused on beating my best time from the previous years, and beating others in the training group, particularly John. That was not realistic, especially given how well John was running. It was a poor approach for me to take.

However, even after making all of the mistakes I have just mentioned, the situation should have been redeemable if I had done sensible things on my race day itself. Unfortunately I didn’t do sensible things, and paid the price. Phil Mestecky, who runs with my club, Strathearn Harriers, caught up with me around Carbeth Huts. Instead of letting him go I speeded up a bit and and tried to stay with him. What was I thinking? I should just have done my own thing and let him go. Phil ended up finishing in just over 19 hours, which was a fantastic performance, but it just emphasised how ridiculous it was for me to stay with him in the early stages.

I also made a mistake not stopping at Drymen. In each of my successful WHW races I have always stopped at Drymen, had a quick coffee and got on my way. Importantly it gives the back-up team a chance to see that I am alright, or whether I need anything. This year, my wife and backup team supreme Allybea told me on the Friday evening that she always found Drymen a difficult place to stop, because of all the race traffic around that area. And guess what I did? Rather than point out that the Drymen stop was important, I told her that I didn’t plan to stop there anyway - it would just waste time, I said – and told her just to go straight to Balmaha instead. When I arrived at Drymen I could have done with a coffee, but of course my backup team was not around, as they had gone to Balmaha. Lesson from this? Don’t change a successful formula.

I have to say though that the Drymen mistake paled into insignificant compared with the complete cock-up I made at Balmaha. In previous years I had stopped for up to 10 minutes at the big car park, taking on some food and not worrying about the time – after all, it is a long race, and a few minutes here or there is not really going to make much of a difference. This year – the complete opposite. My schedule said I would stop for 5 minutes, so I was determined not to hang about. I came in to the car park, rushed into the toilet (and that used up 3 of my 5 minutes), had a quick mouthful of soup (but not nearly enough) then rushed out again without remembering to full up my water bottle. Instead of having had a proper stop and refuel, I left in a bit of a state, without taking on the carbs I almost certainly needed. Because I had given such strict instructions to my back-up team to get me through the checkpoints quickly, they let me go – no doubt against their better judgement.

Well, the inevitable happened. By the time I reached Sallochy car park I was struggling big style, and a mile or so further on I could hardly run the flat sections, let alone any of the hills. I walked into Rowardennan car park and knew it was not my day. After some discussion with my backup team, I walked back to the checkpoint and told the marshall there that I was pulling out. I was absolutely devastated. I hung around and watched the rest of the race, but it was a bit odd – on the one hand I was desperate for so many close friends to do well, but on the other hand, I was completely gutted that I wasn’t running with them.

So that was it. A year of failure. I’ll never really know the reason - It may just have been “one of these days”, a day where I wasn’t right, a day where it wasn’t meant to be. But it is clear that I made a lot of mistakes. Hopefully I’ll learn from these mistakes this year, and put things right. I would like to think some of you here tonight will learn from my mistakes as well. But if there is one piece of advice I would want you to take away from my talk it is this. Remember that this is your race. It is you against the course and, most of all, you against the distance. Just because something worked for someone else doesn’t meant it will work for you – the ‘someone else’ will have a different running background, and will have followed a different training programme. They will have different family circumstances and will have different work pressures. They will prefer different foods on race day, and will have different backup arrangements. They will have good spells during the race when you are feeling terrible. They might even have bad spells when you are feeling good! But it doesn’t matter, because it is your race. Your race and no-one else’s.

Last year brought home to me in no uncertain terms that the most important target in this race is to finish. If I can leave you with one final thought from my experience, it is this:

The pain of failing to finish is 10 times worse than any disappointment from missing your target time. If you finish you are a winner, regardless of your time. If you don’t finish, you aren’t a winner.

I look forward to meeting up with you all again, at the prize giving in Fort William on Sunday, 21 June. And hopefully we’ll all be there as winners.

Thank you.

Balmaha to Inversnaid to Balmaha

2009-01-26T20:34:00.004Z

Yesterday was cold, wet and miserable. I woke up to around 6 inches of snow in the garden, delighted that Phil was picking me up and I didn't need to get my car out of the drive. According to the various blogs between 15 and 18 of us met at Balmaha car park for the long out and back run to Inversnaid - I thought there were only 15, but I might have missed one or two when I was counting. Maybe I missed myself?

Despite the weather, it was a fantastic run and another great day out. We made good progress through to Rowardennan, then kept a good pace going most of the way to Inversnaid. After a quick coffee in the hotel (although not quick enough - the service was dismal) 5 of us turned round and faced the worst of the weather on the way back. I felt great until about 5 miles to go, then an enforced stop in the bushes disrupted my rhythm (and, I am sure, upset a lot of the local wildlife) and it all became a bit of a struggle for a while. However another piece of fruit loaf helped perk me up, and I finished feeling stronger for the last few miles. All in all a first class day out - hard work, definitely, but I suppose 30 miles in January was never going to be easy.

I have a few races coming up over the next couple of months. Saturday is our club 5 mile time trial - not really a race but a hard session nonetheless. Then it is the National Masters (aka 'Old Gits') cross country at Irvine on 7 February, followed by the National cross country at Falkirk on 21 February. The Inverness half marathon is on the 8 March, followed by the first ultra of the season on 14 March: the Glasgow to Edinburgh race, which is 55 miles along the canal path. Couldn't think of a more exciting route :)

A run with the Glee Club

2009-01-18T18:55:00.003Z

Thanks for all the comments on my slightly negative post yesterday about my completely rubbish start to the year. I'm glad to say things are looking up a bit - I met a great crowd of the WHW Glee Club this morning at Balmaha and ran 15 miles or so to Inversnaid with them. I felt fine, the company was great, and I really enjoyed the run, but as I didn't want to overdo things I took up the offer from Jan of a lift back to Balmaha from Inversnaid. That must be one of the worst roads in the world, so I'm extremely grateful to Jan for getting me back in one piece. 30 miles would probably have been too much given how I have been feeling, so I thought it was far better to leave on a high and bale out after 15. I think it was probably the right decision.

The worst start to a year ever

2009-01-17T18:23:00.003Z

There is a lot of excitement out there in WHW blogland, what with the imminent arrival of Debs' and Marco's baby, the start of the build up to the 2009 race, entries being accepted to the UTMB, and so on. I don't want to put a downer on things and I hope this post does not come across as being unduly negative, but as far as I'm concerned it has been a really crap start to the new year. We are now 17 days into January and I have run the amazing total of 41 miles - an average of less than 3 miles a day - and most of these have been a complete struggle. I ended up being off work for a couple of days last week, but whatever bug I've picked up seems to have stayed with me for a lot longer than I would have liked. Last night I woke up 3 times with cramp in my right calf and the sweat pouring out of me. What the f*ck is that all about?

Anyway I'm hoping there is some light at the end of the tunnel. I took the dog out for a gentle jog over the nearby fields today and felt a bit better than I had for the last few runs. I'm planning to go up to Balmaha tomorrow and meet the Glee Club for a run - not sure that I'll go as far as Inversnaid, but I'll see how I feel and if it is too much of a struggle I can always turn round and come back. At least it is only January, so there is plenty of time to get sorted out for the challenges ahead. In the old days I didn't even think about my WHW training until the end of January, so there is certainly no need to worry at this stage. In fact an easier month might not be the worst thing for me - it will give my body a chance to recover for the months ahead.

Full of the cold

2009-01-07T20:52:00.002Z

I'm full of the cold and feeling miserable. I managed to keep it at bay (just) for the full Christmas holidays, but no sooner had I gone back to work on Monday when it arrived in all its glory. I ran 5 miles or so on Monday lunchtime and couldn't stop coughing - not much different from normal, I hear my regular running partners say - but haven't run again since then.

I'm hoping I've recovered by Saturday morning in time for the Strathearn Harriers 5 mile time trial. This is a new initiative to try and get us all into the way of running a bit faster. The plan is to hold these time trials every second Saturday, and then watch the 10k and half marathon times come tumbling down to levels last seen in the mid 1990s :)

Best wishes to all those who, like me, are suffering with a cold. I share your pain. And tell me this: how do you manage to find a dry bit on your hankie to blow your nose? Mine are absolutely soaking by the end of the day.

Nigel Barge 10k

2009-01-03T20:49:00.004Z

For the last few years I've opened my racing account for the new year with a trip to the west end of Glasgow for the Nigel Barge 10k. I did the same this year, heading along to the excellent changing facilities at the university's Garscube complex with Phil T. It was a cold, crisp day - not bad running conditions at all. I ran ok, but for the 3rd 10k in a row I failed to beat the 40 minute mark, finishing in 40.23. It is clear that a bit more speedwork and hard training is required if I am to get back below the magical 40 minutes. Phil T has had a series of colds over the Christmas period, and in the circumstances was happy enough with his 41.09.

Incidentally today was my 84th 10k, so am edging towards the 100. It was my 80th best time. That sounds slightly better than saying it was my 5th worst.

2009 targets

2008-12-31T22:59:00.002Z

2009 is only an hour away, and as my middle son is in Germany (GMT +1) new year has just arrived. Happy new year to him.

I don't have long to put down my 2009 running target, so here goes:

1. To finish the WHW race;
2. To finish the 'Big 3' WHW races (the Highland Fling, the WHW race, the Devil O' The Highlands);
3. To complete 5 ultras (including a 24 hour race);
4. To run at least 25 races;
5. To run 5 new races;
6. To run a race on a Scottish island I haven't visited before;
7. To beat 40 minutes for a 10k;
8. To beat 1 hour 30 minutes for a half marathon;
9. To finish in the top half of the field in the National XC;
10. To run 2,000 miles.

After my run at Kilbarchan today, where I was more than 2 minutes slower than last year, the 10k, half marathon and national XC targets all look quite challenging. The biggest target of all, however, is to enjoy my running.

Hope you all have a great 2009.

2008 targets - how did I get on?

2008-12-29T18:16:00.004Z

As there are only a couple of days left in 2008 I thought it would be interesting (at least for me) to look back on the targets I set this time last year and see if I actually achieved any. I've shown the original targets in italics below, with my comments in normal text. So let's see how it all went:

1. West Highland Way race - to set a new PB, which means beating my 2007 time of 21 hours 11 minutes.
NOT ACHIEVED. In fact I didn't even finish the bloody thing, dropping out at Rowardennan. Definitely one of the year's low points. I've said enough on the subject already and don't plan to say much more, other than to thank everyone for all their kind comments afterwards - even though hearing all the nice things being said was a bit like attending my own funeral. Keith Hughes kept things in perspective when, in his inimitable Aussie style, he reminded me it was only a bl**dy race. He was right, although I'm not sure it felt like that at the time.

2. Marathon - to beat 3 hours 10 minutes. Last year's 2.59 was great, but it was probably a bit of a "one-off" (he says hoping that it wasn't a 'one-off'). I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself by setting a sub 3 hour target, so anything under 3.10 would be a good result.
NOT ACHIEVED. I did 4 marathons, with a slightly disappointing best for the year of 3.19 at Dumfries in March. On the positive side, I did something new by doing back to back marathons in May, at Stornoway (3.39) then the following day at Edinburgh (3.34).

3. Half marathon - to beat 1 hour 26 minutes. That will be tough, but should give me a focus in the early part of the year leading up to Inverness.
ACHIEVED! I did 1.24 at Inverness in March. It was undoubtedly my best running performance of the year. Looking at the rest of the year, I'm not entirely sure where that bit of form came from.

4. 10k - to beat 38 minutes. I didn't achieve this one in 2007, so it needs to be carried forward to 2008.
NOT ACHIEVED. And not even close. I started the year with a 38.57 at the Nigel Barge, but that was as good as it got. Finished it with a couple of 40 mins+ efforts - maybe old age has finally caught up with me?

5. National XC - to finish in the top half - same reason as 4 above.
NOT ACHIEVED. I didn't have a great run at this year's National XC and missed the top half by 10 places or so.

6. To run 2,000 miles. I accept that this target doesn't mean very much, but it helps me get my running shoes on when it's a cold and dark November evening. For that reason, it stays as a target.
ACHIEVED! So far I've done 2,050, with 2 days still to go.

10 other running related things I'd like to do in 2008 but which aren't formal targets:

1. To beat John K in every race we do.
FAILED DISMALLY. After beating John in the first 2 races he moved up a gear or three, and I never got close to him again. He ran an absolutely phenomenal 19.59 in the WHW race, and his burst through the Fort William Leisure Centre door wins the award for the 'Most Dramatic Entrance of 2008'. By the middle of May I was deeply regretting ever mentioning this as a target. I won't make the same mistake again.

2. To beat Kim T in every race we do.
SORT OF ACHIEVED... I think we only raced twice, at the Inverness and Glasgow half marathons. I won at Inverness, and Glasgow doesn't really count as it was the week before the 24 hour race...

3. To finish in the top 20 in the WHW race - haven't been outside it so far, but it's getting harder and harder as the field gets bigger.
NOT ACHIEVED. See comments above.

4. To win the Strathearn Harriers club championship.
NOT ACHIEVED. My faint hopes disappeared completely when I was held up at work and missed the Comrie Fun Run, an absolute 'must do' event because of the way the points system works. Congratulations to Phil T who won by virtue of his performance at the very last event, the Aviemore half marathon.

5. To run at least 5 marathons and ultras.
ACHIEVED! I actually finished 6: the Highland Fling, the Perth 24 hour race, and the Dumfries, Stornoway, Edinburgh and Nice to Cannes Marathons. On reflection, fair to say it was a year of quantity rather than quality.

6. To run at least 25 races in total.
ACHIEVED (but only just). I've done 25 races so far, but hope to add the Kilbarchan Hogmanay Handicap on the 31 December to bring it up to 26.

7. To run at least 5 'new' races, i.e. races I haven't done before.
ACHIEVED. I think this has been my main achievement of the year, and has meant that I can view 2008 as a successful running year. Of the 25 races completed, 12 have been new ones. I had never done a 24 hour race, so that was new; I did marathons for the first time in Stornoway, Edinburgh and Nice to Cannes; and I did the Heaven and Hell, Stonehaven and Coll half marathons, all for the first time.

8. To persuade enough Strathearn Harriers to enter a team for the Round Arran Relay in July (come on guys, great event, we could make a weekend of it - only needs me plus another 5 - can even be a mixed team).
NOT ACHIEVED. Even if we had been able to get a team together, we wouldn't have been able to get a place in the event due to new restrictions on the numbers.

9. To learn how to navigate properly, so I can do some of the fantastic hill races that are on the fixture list.
NOT ACHIEVED yet, although I did find my way up and down Ben Chonzie with the dog, without getting lost.

10. To try a few new malt whiskies (possibly not running related, but I was struggling for a 10th...)
ACHIEVED! And, even better, I got a couple of great bottles for Christmas - an Ardbeg Uigeadail and a Rosebank 12 yo.

So, that was 2008. The positives were definitely getting over 100 miles in the 24 hour race and taking part in so many new events; another major positive was having the opportunity to chair sportscotand for a 4 month period from February to June, which was a fantastic experience. The big negative was of course the WHW, but I plan to put that right in 2009.

Next post - targets for 2009!

2,000 miles

2008-12-23T21:13:00.002Z

8 miles into today's run, just at the isolated house a few miles before Inversnaid, I reached my 2,000 mile target for the year. I was running with Brian, John, Stan, Sue and Mandy, on the WHW from Sallochy car park to the Inversnaid hotel and back. We covered 20 miles all in and had a great run, with a lot of good chat, finished off with a lovely bowl of soup in the Oak Tree Inn in Balmaha. It was a first class day out. I feel I've earned my glass or two of red wine tonight.

I was also on the WHW on Saturday, running from Milngavie to Drymen and back with a group of 20. John K has written a full report and produced a video for his blog http://west-highland-way-race07-training.blogspot.com/ , so I won't say much more other than it was another great day's running. On Sunday I travelled south to Strathaven for the Striders' 5k Christmas handicap race, following a very kind invite from El Presidente, Mrs Mack. The first mile was all uphill and I struggled badly, but I picked up a bit of pace after that and finished reasonably well. I was 3rd overall and had the 2nd fastest time of the day, despite going slightly off route on a couple of occasions. Unfortunately I was driving and had to miss the post race piss up in the Bucks Head - from the looks of the video clip on Dave's blog http://subversive-running.blogspot.com/ a great time seems to have been had by all who stayed on. I definitely missed out on quite a session - maybe next time, if I am invited back :)

In case I don't get the chance to post again before the 25th, a very Merry Christmas to all.

A quick round up

2008-12-07T16:26:00.003Z

I am very aware that I haven't blogged for ages, so thought I would give a quick round up of what had been happening over the last few weeks. Well, it has been cold. Very cold. When we started last week's West Highland Way run from Inverarnan, the temperature was minus 7, and it didn't get much warmer as the day went on. The path to and from Inversnaid was quite icy in places. I took it very cautiously, didn't fall (although had a few near misses), and really enjoyed the day. I've decided that is going to be my only objective for the 2009 WHW race - to enjoy the whole experience: training runs, the build up, the race itself, and the post race celebrations. So far I feel that I'm very much on course.

I've had a busy week with a dinner almost every night, so I thought I did quite well managing to run on 5 of the last 7 days, including a good 13 miler on the roads round here earlier today. Most of these runs were in freezing, dark conditions - there really isn't much light in Scotland at all at this time of year, which can be quite depressing. The Subversive Runner was up in Scotland this week and I was hoping to meet up with him on Tuesday for a beer, but unfortunately he had to call off - probably a good thing for my liver, I suspect, which is liable to take a bit of a hammering as we get nearer Christmas. Allybea and I had the pleasure of attending the Sunday Mail / sportscotland annual awards dinner in Glasgow on Thursday night. It was a great night, with loads of big names attending, and I was delighted to see Chris Hoy win the main award, the 2008 Sports Personality. I was even more pleased that he couldn't collect it because he was training - I was starting to get a bit concerned that all these award dinners could not be doing his training programme any good at all. Sir Alex Ferguson was presented with a lifetime achievement award by Alex Salmond, the First Minister, with his acceptance speech being described as 'inspirational' in today's Sunday Mail. I would have described it as 'ok', but Sir Alex is probably now operating at a level where anything he says is now considered 'inspirational' - I guess you are entitled to that kind of status when you have won the Champions League twice and the Premier League 10 times or whatever.

Talking of inspiration, mine at the moment is trying to reach my target of running 2,000 miles in the year. I have decided that 2,000 miles is a good target to have - it helps motivate me to get out running on these horrible cold nights, when it would be a lot easier not to bother. I think that my run today means I have now run 1,926 miles, so I have 74 more to do.

Lucy's 1st Munro (and my 3rd)

2008-11-16T19:42:00.004Z

It was a lovely day today, so Lucy and I headed out through Comrie to the car park at Invergeldie which is at the start of the easy way up Ben Chonzie (pronounced Hone-zee). We had an absolutely brilliant walk/run to the top, where I took this photo, then an even better run back down. The whole trip took 1 hour 59 minutes and 54 seconds - as you might have guessed it was a bit of a sprint finish over the last 400 metres or so.

Ben Chonzie is our nearest Munro. I found this description of it on 'Munromagic' (http://www.munromagic.com/):

Ben Chonzie is a solitary Munro at the head of Glen Turret, but is normally ascended from Glen Lednock to the SW as there are tracks leading high on its slopes. Ben Chonzie is a heather clad hill with moderate inclines leading to gentle grass slopes on the crests of the summit ridge. The biggest problem with Ben Chonzie would be finding the summit but for the line of iron fence posts on the crest of the "L" shaped summit ridge which lead you there. There are crags E of the summit.. Ben Chonzie is famous for its many mountain hares.

Well, we found the summit ok by following the iron fence posts, and we saw quite a few of the mountain hares which looked more like small sheep than rabbits. The views at the top were absolutely brilliant, particularly looking back down Loch Turret to Crieff. I'm sure there would be a great run from the car park at Loch Turret, along the east side of the Loch, up the steep slope to the top of Ben Chonzie, down the route described above to Invergeldie, down through the trails to Comrie, then over the hills and back to the starting point at Loch Turret car park. Maybe we could get a WHW training run over that route some time?

The picture below shows me at the top of my 3rd Munro. 3 in 42 years - at this rate I think I am unlikely to complete all 284, at least any time soon. I have previously done Ben Lomond (when I was still at school) and Beinn Ghlas.

Nice to Cannes

2008-11-15T22:01:00.004Z

Last weekend allybea, Phil T, Liz T and I were in the south of France for the first ever Nice to Cannes marathon, staying with my brother in Antibes. What a contrast to the depressing weather here: the daytime temperature was a very pleasant 20 degrees or so, warm enough to walk around in shorts and a t-shirt, but not too hot for running. I could certainly get used to that.

The marathon was a great event, well organised and passing through some beautiful parts of the Cote D'Azur, although I'm sorry to report that I didn't have a very good run. My back had been bothering me a bit in the week prior to the race and after about 7 km it started to hurt quite a lot. I decided to go into 'just finish' mode, and spent the next 35 km shuffling along and feeling generally uncomfortable. The section up to the half way point was a real drag, with loads of runners passing me, but things improved a bit after that and I managed to keep going at more or less the same pace until the finish in Cannes. My time was 3.36 - definitely not one of my better marathons - but at least I managed to scrape into the top 2,000 of the 8,300 finishers. Phil T finished in 3.21, having found the last 10 km a real struggle.

Despite my poor run it was a first class weekend. We spent most of Saturday in Nice, which is a fantastic place, then spent a bit of time in Cannes after the race, enjoying a few leisurely hours in a pavement cafe having a beer and some lunch - a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It was also great to spend a bit of time with my brother.

Since arriving back I haven't done much running at all, due to a combination of a heavy cold, a busy week at work, a sore back and a general lack of motivation. Running wise I've had quite a busy year: I've completed 2 ultras (the 24 hour race and the Highland Fling, as well as my unsuccessful WHW attempt), 4 marathons and 6 half marathons, so I suppose my body is ready for a bit of a break. There is not much coming up in the way of races, although the WHW training runs are due to start at the end of November, so this seems like as good a time as any to take it a bit easier.

myRace

2008-11-06T21:43:00.003Z

There must be a new edition of myRace out soon. I wonder if I will be in it this time?

Simon

2008-11-03T22:36:00.004Z

Last week I was saddened to hear of the untimely death of one of my Strathearn Harriers clubmates, Simon Wake. Simon was one of the club's finest hill runners, regularly competing in various events on the hills and making the occasional appearance on the roads. He was a member of our winning team in the Comrie Hills relay last year, and this year competed in various races such as the Inverness half marathon, the Three Peaks Race and the Highland Cross. Simon was always at the centre of club activities - he was a regular at the club training runs, and served as social secretary until recently - and I will always remember how welcome he made me feel when I first joined the club, as he did with all new members. During the summer we were shocked to hear that he had been diagnosed with cancer, and completely devastated to hear of his death last Thursday. My thoughts are with his wife, Shelagh, and the children, at this very difficult time.

OMM: on my high horse (again)

2008-10-26T20:06:00.009Z

I was out at a dinner last night (the Commonwealth Games Scotland Awards Dinner - Chris Hoy won the main award) and the first I heard about the OMM problems was when I received a text from John K about 10.30pm. When I got home I checked out the BBC website and Sky News, both of whom were covering the story in some detail. I know Brian M was running and there were probably a few others taking part that I know, so it was a great relief today to find out that everyone was alright.

However that is not the main purpose of this post. It is to express my disbelief at some of the comments that appeared on the BBC website forum last night, from people who have probably never set foot anywhere near the countryside. For example: "I hope all these runners apologise to the emergency services". What is that person talking about? Doesn't he or she know that a lot of these runners ARE members of the emergency services, and if they weren't used to being out in treacherous conditions they wouldn't be much use when it came to some of the more difficult search work? I know a few people who do some of the more extreme mountain challenges (such as Brian, Marco and Pete) and these are amongst the most experienced guys on the hills you could find anywhere. If I was to be stuck out there in conditions like yesterday I would certainly feel happier knowing they were looking after my safety. It is no coincidence that there were no serious casualties - the people taking part yesterday were experienced and would not be allowed in to the event if they were not properly equpped and able to cope with the worst of the elements.

And while I am on my high horse, what about these comments:
Organisers of a Lake District fell run abandoned in treacherous weather had been warned about the risks, police say.
I don't know if any of you have had experience of organising a road race. If you have organised one in Scotland, you will know that a condition of getting a permit from the governing body is that you have to notify the police about the event. When you have done so, you receive a standard letter back from the police saying that they do not encourage anyone to hold any event on public roads, and if you do decide to go ahead then it is at your own risk and you may be held liable if anything goes wrong. Honestly, it's true. Just ask any race organiser if you don't believe me. Some encouragement to organise an event which will improve the health of those in the local community, is capable of boosting local tourism, and has been proved to play a role in reducing the level of crime, is it not? I know people who have cancelled races after receiving the police letter, which I think is really sad. However, as the police warn every event organiser about the risks, I am not sure there is really anything different about the warning given in this case - although the media seem to think it is a big deal.

Anyway, back to more mundane things. I went up to the WHW on Friday night and ran from Balmaha to Rowardennan and back. It was dark all the way back and I was completely on my own - I should probably have been "warned about the risks" in case I tripped over some stones or trees, fell into Loch Lomond, met some mad psychopath in the dark on the route, or met some other disaster. Thankfully nothing untoward happened, I really enjoyed the run, and finished off with a coffee and muffin in front of the roaring fire in the Oak Tree Inn. Had I not been driving I would have sampled one of their 39 malt whiskies which were sitting on a shelf at the back of a bar - maybe another time. I think we should organise some more 'Friday night runs' - it is good fun doing these in the dark, and would be even better with some company. Those not driving could finish off with a malt.

Then today I went to Kilmacolm, a small village in Renfrewshire near where I was brought up, and did the 10k. I finished in 40.26 which I thought was ok, given the strong wind and my run on Friday night. It was well organised and a nice route, mostly on quiet roads and the cycle path, which I am sure reduced the risks - except for the cyclists and people walking their dogs..

Aviemore

2008-10-19T20:46:00.002+01:00

Today I ran in one of Scotland's best races, the Aviemore half marathon. The route goes through some of the most scenic trails in Scotland - round the Badaguish Outdoor Centre estate, up to Glenmore, round Loch Morlich, then down the new cycle track to Aviemore before finishing at the Macdonald Hotel in the centre of the town. It is one of my favourite races and I made sure I had plenty of time to enjoy the stunning scenery, finishing in 1 hour 31 minutes and 32 seconds - 4 minutes or so slower than last year. Phil was about 4 minutes ahead of me in a season's best of 1.27.50.

It was my first race since the Perth 24 hour ultra and I ran as hard as I could, but didn't feel I had any speed in my legs at all. Not to worry; it was an excellent day out. It even stayed dry for all of the time we were running, and the strong wind was behind us for most of the route. If you are looking for a half marathon in October next year, I would strongly recommend this one.

Now it is time to start training properly, and to get my half marathon time back down to the low 1.20s :)

Maybe I haven't fully recovered yet

2008-10-11T20:31:00.002+01:00

It's Saturday night and I've nothing better to do than sit in front of a computer and update my blog. I know that is sad, but in my defence I'm hoping to get an early night as I'm going on an 18 km walk tomorrow as part of the Crieff 'Drovers Tryst' festival, from Ardeonaig on Loch Tay to Invergeldie, north of Comrie. I've never been on an organised walk before so it will be something new. I just hope it is dry. Unfortunately dogs are not allowed, so Lucy will have to stay at home - that will not go down well at all when I head off without her.

Today I did my longest run since the 24 hour race - a 13 mile loop mostly on road with Phil. We headed from my house down to Blackford, along the A9 for half a mile or so, through the golf courses at Gleneagles, and back home by the back roads. Although we managed to complete it at about 7 and a half minute mile pace, there were a lot of times it felt like a bit of a struggle, especially the last few miles back up the hill into a strong wind. I'm sure the bottle of wine and two large whiskies last night didn't help, although as is so often the case it felt like a good idea at the time. I felt so tired afterwards that I fell asleep watching the first half of the England game. I suspect I wasn't the only one.

Both Phil and I are doing the Aviemore half marathon next Sunday, so it was good to get a decent run in. Aviemore is a superb half marathon - mostly off-road, through some of the best scenery Scotland has to offer. I don't expect to run a particularly fast time but am really looking forward to getting out there and just enjoying it.

Good luck to Neal and Caroline at the Chicago marathon tomorrow.

Frustrated

2008-10-05T21:16:00.004+01:00

I spent most of the day wishing I had been at the Loch Ness marathon - it's the first one I've missed - and it wasn't made any easier watching most of the UK doing the Great North Run on television this morning. My 'sensible' head tells me that you can't do everything, and that it would have been daft to do a marathon just 3 weeks after the 24 hour race. On the other hand, my instinct tells me that I was an idiot for not entering, and I should just have gone for it - even doing the 10k would have been better than not being there at all. Anyway, by the afternoon I was so frustrated that I jumped in the car with a surprised but delighted dog and headed to Tyndrum. It was sunny, I had the roof down in the car (even though it was freezing), and had an excellent run with Lucy (the dog) down the West Highland Way track to the bridge after St Fillans, then back the same way. It was only 7 miles but it helped blow away some of the frustrations of the day, if only temporarily.

A big well done to everyone who finished one of today's races. A particularly special well done to Thomas for his 2.48 marathon PB at Cologne - that is quality running.

New marathon world record

2008-09-28T14:18:00.004+01:00

Haile Gebrselassie ran 2.03.59 earlier today in Berlin. Incredible. More details on his run here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3rIfRWd4KqpdcbjnCSV0MxQPfLwD93FLKEG0

Incidentally, isn't the technology available today quite amazing? A few years ago you had to wait until your friends got home before you could find out how they got on in a big city marathon. Today I've been able to look up the internet and find out that Robert Russell from Central AC ran 2.27 at Berlin in what was his first marathon - he was hoping for around 2.15 so will probably be a bit disappointed with that. Another of my ex club mates from Central, Phil Williams, was also at Berlin, and ran a very good 2.50. I have a friend Des McKeown who is in Toronto for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. At the moment he race is still going on, but he is through the half marathon point in 1.38.36, so looking on course to be around his PB of 3.17.

Running clubs

2008-09-27T17:59:00.004+01:00

Thomas's wife Silke posted recently on her blog that Thomas had joined a local running club, Greenock Glenpark Harriers. I think that is a great move for Thomas. I've spoken to a lot of people who run on their own and who are apprehensive about joining a club, normally saying things like "Oh no, I just run for fun, these people in clubs are much too serious, I'm not good enough to be in a club" and so on. From my experience nothing could be further from the truth. I have been a member of a number of different clubs over the years and have always found they are made up of great people with a shared love of running. Joining a club adds hugely to the whole running experience - you have people to train with, you can go to races together, there is normally a good social scene, and it adds a bit of friendly competition. Every club I have been in has had a wide variety of runners - some fast and some not so fast - but that doesn't matter at all: everyone is made to feel welcome regardless of where they are in the pack. So if you are reading this and are not currently a member of a club - go and join one soon!

My first club was Troon Tortoises, which I joined in 1990. At the time I joined there were still a fair number of youngsters who came along regularly, but they started drifting away and within a few years it was more or less an adult road and cross country endurance running club. Troon Tortoises has a history of producing some top quality athletes - Brian Whittle and Vikki McPherson both started their running careers at the Tortoises before going on to represent GB at the Olympics; others like Hazel Melville and Marsela Robertson represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. However the vast majority of runners at Troon were non elite plodders like me, but that didn't stop us having some brilliant training runs and races over the years. It was (and is) a great club and I was really sorry to have to leave when we moved away from Troon in 2003. I still try and get back in May each year for the club's 10k race - one of the best 10k races in Scotland and one which manages to attract more than 1,000 runners to the west coast on a Wednesday night. I still see a lot of the Troon guys fairly regularly, particularly George who has done my WHW backup every year and recently helped me out at the 24 hour race. Quite a few of its members have been involved in events like the WHW race, the Devil O, the Highland Fling and the River Ayr Way, to such an extent that the club proudly claims to be 'Ayrshire's premier ultra running club"!

When we were living in Troon we had a holiday place in Arran, so I joined Arran Runners for a couple of years as a 2nd claim member. That is another good wee club that organises a few high quality races, including the Goat Fell hill race (which I have never done - steep hills scare me), the Isle of Arran Half Marathon (which I have done a number of times) and the Arran 10k (ditto).

In 2003 we moved to Falkirk. I tried out the local club, Falkirk Victoria Harriers, but there were not many endurance runners there the night I went along. So instead I joined Stirling based Central AC. (I also joined Carnethy for a year as a 2nd claim member, but didn't get much chance to go along, and didn't renew my membership the following year). Central AC is one of Scotland's top clubs -it has some real quality athletes, both seniors and juniors, and also has a large number of runners like me who would never call themselves 'elite' but just enjoy getting out running on the roads, hills, trails or countryside. There are a lot of fantastic, high quality people who are involved with Central - runners, coaches, officials, and committee members - and like my ex clubmates at Troon, I still see a lot of the Central guys fairly regularly at various events.

We moved further north to Perthshire in 2006. Although I could have stayed with Central - Stirling is only 25 minutes down the road - I thought it made more sense to join the local club, Strathearn Harriers. Strathearn is a much smaller club than Central and is made up of adult runners only. I would describe it as a friendly, non elite club - although in case anyone is insulted by that, I should quickly point out that there are some very good hill runners within the membership, and should also mention that the club's first team won the Comrie Hills relay in 2006 and 2007 and finished a close second this year. The number of members has grown from less than 20 a few years ago to more than 50 now, and it has been especially pleasing to see that a lot of this growth has been due to women who only started running relatively recently. Like all of my previous clubs it is made up of some great (if slightly eccentric) people. In addition to the Comrie Hills relay that I mentioned earlier, the club also organises the hugely popular Crieff 10k in July each year for which my wife allybea is currently the race director.

I suppose I am a bit of a 'running club tart' - if you have been counting you may have noticed that I have been a member of 5 different clubs since I started running way back in 1990. Over the years I have probably come into contact with the vast majority of Scottish clubs, either through taking part in their races, or because I've met people who are members of those clubs at various events, or through my scottishathletics and sportscotland involvement. I wouldn't hear a bad word said about any of them. The CEO of scottishathletics, Geoff Wightman, is currently on a programme to visit every athletics club in Scotland. It would be interesting to know his thoughts on the various clubs, but I would be surprised if he did not echo what I have said here - Scottish clubs come in all shapes and sizes - some elite, some not so elite; some large, some small - but they are all made up of great people who have a genuine love of the sport. If you are reading this and are still not a member of a club, I hope I have managed to persuade you to join one; if you are still not sure give me a shout and I will try and put you in touch with someone from your local club. Come on, you know it makes sense. What are you waiting for? :)

It's not so easy

2008-09-26T23:50:00.003+01:00

I found this on the web:

http://www.dgstandard.co.uk/dumfries-sport/dumfries-scottish-athletics/2008/07/18/dumfries-running-club-s-les-tackles-24-hour-track-race-51311-21360756/

Les Hill is an ultra running legend and a past winner of the WHW race. It was interesting reading this to find out that he had similar problems to the ones I experienced at Perth - bad blisters. Les, if you happen to read this, it is so reassuring to know that the same issues affect elite runner like you as the ones that affected me.

Slaying the dragon

2008-09-21T17:42:00.004+01:00

I have been sore this week. I haven't done any running at all - I don't think I would have been able to because of my badly blistered feet - but it has given me a chance to reflect a little on my summer's ultra running. My main emotion at the moment is probably one of relief: relief at having completed a difficult and new challenge, and relief at proving myself capable of pushing myself through the tough spells without giving up. I wondered if I had lost the ability to do that. I'm sure it will not be a great surprise when I admit that this year's WHW race failure has left a number of scars, despite my attempts over the last few months to forget about it, to get over it, and to take on board the many words of consolation. Given the insignficance of running in the general scheme of things I do feel quite guilty about admitting to these feelings, but the truth is that I have felt like a complete failure since 21 June and last weekend has helped me put it behind me.

So, what next? I might try and get out for a gentle run around the middle of the week, but am not in any desperate rush. I'll just see how things go.

Perth 24 hour race

2008-09-15T11:29:00.003+01:00

I'm sitting here not really knowing how to write this report on Saturday's race. I don't want to go down the route of "and the first lap took me 14 minutes, then the second lap took me 14 and a half minutes, and then I started the third lap..." as that would be really dull, even for me. So I think I'll just try and jot down the main things I remember.

First the stats. I covered a total of 106.74 miles in the 24 hours, finishing in 10th position out of 22. I went though the 100 mile mark in 21 hours 52 minutes. Stephen Mason won the race, covering an incredible 148 miles or so, and Pauline Walker set a new Scottish record of (I think) 130 miles. Absolutely incredible performances from them both.

We didn't arrive at the venue in Perth until about 9.20am, and I was the last to register. Although I hadn't wanted to hang about too long, and there wasn't any real need to do a warm up, I felt I had cut it a bit tight for the 10am start. I was quite unsettled and a bit grumpy with Alison, who was supporting me. I didn't even have time to go to the toilet just before the race started. We started bang on 10am and thankfully I felt a lot more relaxed once I had got going.

Each lap was 2.381 km (1.48 miles), all on tarmac and almost completely flat. We ran in a clockwise direction around the North Inch. I started very easily and was right at the back of the field, which suited me well - there were a lot of people running who had much more experience of these events than I had, and I didn't want to get dragged round too quickly. My times for the first few laps were fine - although I was near the back I felt I was going about the right speed, and this was confirmed by my early lap times. After a few laps George arrived to help out with the back-up. Derek Easton, Central's chief endurance coach, also turned up to watch for a while and I chatted to him at various points.

At 12 noon the 100k race started. This comprised 42 laps of the same route, and it was really interesting to see things unfold in that race. I stuck on my headphones and listened to the football as I was running, which helped the time pass. I was pleased with how the run was going - slow and steady, slow and steady - I was feeling good and very focused on the task in front of me. Just before 4.45pm my spirits were lifted even higher by Falkirk's last minute goal against Hearts - 3 points at last for the Bairns!

Phil T turned up round about 7pm, just as I was about to change out of my shorts and into my tracksters. That was probably my lowest point of the day. I couldn't get my tracksters on without cramping, but knew I needed to put on some warmer clothes as we headed into the night so had to get on with it. The pain was intense as cramp shot through all parts of my body, and a few choice words were uttered in everyone's direction. Thankfully I didn't have any problems at all with cramp after that, which I think was a reflection of the fact I ate well throughout the race.

John and Katrina turned up about 8pm to help with the backup, and Alison went home a short while later. Then Stan arrived about 10pm. Katrina went away to have a sleep at Neal and Caroline's, who had turned up to watch, leaving George, John and Stan to cover the night shift.

I ran really well through the night. I had managed to get into a nice steady pace, and was covering most laps in under 20 minutes, then having a quick stop and something light to eat as I came round to the checkpoint. Every 3rd or 4th lap I would eat something a bit more substantial, depending on how I felt. I went through the 100k point (42 laps) in 12 hours 15 minutes, and knew I was in a good position to achieve my target of 100 miles or more. The radio continued to inspire me, firstly Proms in the Park from Glasgow Green, then the 'Through the Night' programmes from Radio Tay. All of the helpers were hugely supportive as well, giving me and all of the runners a great reception as I finished each lap, and always being very positive and encouraging.

As I got to about 60 laps, the soles of my feet were beginning to get really sore. I was still able to run and walk, but it was getting more difficult because of the pain. I thought about trying to put some blister pads on them, but decided it would be more bother than it was worth and just kept going. By 6 am it was starting to get light, and I was edging closer to my 100 miles. At 7.52am I passed the 100 mile point. By this stage I could not run at all, but just kept walking at as good a pace as I could manage, which had slowed to around 3 to 3.5 mph (or just over 2 laps an hour). I picked up the pace a bit as we moved into the last hour, and just after I finished my 72nd lap the hooter blew to signal the end of the race. I had done it. 106.74 miles.

Today my feet are really sore and I am struggling to walk, but am completely delighted by my performance. My support crew were incredible. Alison, George, John and Stan - thank you for giving up a whole weekend to help me out - I could not have achieved it without you. Thank you to everyone else who turned up to support and offer encouragement - Katrina, Neal, Caroline, Derek, Phil, and Murdo. And to all the organisers who put in so much effort and were so positive and encouraging every time - it is greatly appreciated.

I now plan to take a bit of time off running and let my feet recover.

24 hour nerves

2008-09-10T21:27:00.002+01:00

On Saturday at 10 am the Perth 24 hour race will begin. That is now less than 3 days away and I have to admit that I'm feeling a bit nervous. I don't know what to expect at all. 24 hours is a long time to run round a 2.381 km loop. I don't really have a plan, other than to go out and run as I feel. There are about 22 people taking part in the 24 hour race and 18 in the 100 km. A lot of them are WHW family members, so at least I'll know a few of my fellow runners.

I plan to listen to my radio when I'm running as that should help pass the time. Other than that I'll just see how it goes.

Glasgow half marathon

2008-09-07T17:46:00.003+01:00

That was a strange one today. I set out determined not to do myself any damage for next weekend's 24 hour extravaganza at Perth, and even mentioned to someone at the start that if I finished faster than 1.35 I would be concerned. For the first 4 miles or so it was great. I was running about 7.10 pace (through 3 miles in 21.32) and felt really comfortable, albeit the sweat was pouring off me. Maybe that was due to 2 heavy golf days (aka drinking sessions) in the last 3 days? As I headed up Paisley Road West my hamstrings were a bit tight, and I didn't feel I was running as fluently as I had been before. By the time I reached Pollok Park my hamstrings and legs in general were giving me quite a bit of bother. It was an odd sensation - my legs didn't feel as though they belonged to me, although I wasn't really losing any distance on those round about. By 9 miles or so my legs were completely numb, and I had a very strange feeling of my shorts rubbing against my legs, even though they weren't. Weird. It seemed to loosen off around the 10 mile point and I ran at a reasonable pace for the last few miles, finally finishing in 1.35.13. My 3 mile splits had been fairly even: 21.32, 21.32, 22.19 and 21.55, then 7.56 for the last mile and a bit.

I have to admit that, disappointingly, running at that slower pace was not quite as easy as I had hoped. I had a very deep massage on Wednesay night, then played 2 and a half rounds of golf on Thursday and Friday, so maybe that had some effect. I also went out for a 7 mile run across the hills yesterday, so that might have had an impact too. Excuses, excuses, I know - Michael Johnston would no doubt say I just had a bad run. I'm sure I'll be fine for next weekend - won't I? Reassuring comments are more than welcome :)

I met loads of people I know - far too many to mention - indeed it took me 45 minutes to walk from Queen Street Station to Glasgow Green because I met so many people. A special mention to Thomas and Silke, who both ran PBs of 1.21 and 1.55 respectively; George also ran a stormer, finishing a couple of minutes in front of me; John K had a bit of a problem with his foot but still did a very satisfactory 1.27, and Kim in her first race as an elite woman took advantage of the pre and post race pampering to clock a very good 1.25. Finally well done to Robert Russell, who knocked a minute off his PB and finished 2nd UK man in a superb 1.05.20. He's looking in great shape for Berlin at the end of the month.

I got to hold an Olympic gold medal!!!!

2008-08-27T19:05:00.002+01:00

I was lucky enough to be at the Scottish olympic medal winners' press conference earlier today and met Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar, our 2 medal winning cyclists. I even got to hold one of Chris Hoy's gold medals and Ross Edgar's silver medal! These guys are fantastic - the best performers in the world in their sport, but still so modest, approachable and completely down to earth. They are a huge inspiration to me, and I am sure to everyone else with an interest in sport. Many congratulations to them - they fully deserve the tremendous reception they have had from the Scottish and British public.

A good weekend but a rubbish run

2008-08-26T21:58:00.004+01:00

At the weekend I went to Coll for the half marathon. For those not familiar with the geography of the Scottish islands, Coll is part of the Inner Hebrides, and is about a 3 hour boat journey from Oban. Unfortunately only one boat a day goes there and on a Saturday it leaves Oban at 7am, which meant I had to leave the house at 4.20am. I picked Phil T up on route and we arrived in Oban with plenty of time to spare. At the terminal we met Peter Duggan, his aunt and his cousin, all of whom had family connections with Coll. We ended up spending a lot of time with them over the weekend and very much enjoyed their company.

As Coll has a population of 180 and only one hotel with 6 rooms, we had little choice but to camp in a field behind the church. And it was windy. Very windy. I hadn't felt wind like that since I was on Lewis in May for the Stornoway marathon. It must be an island thing. At least it was dry when we were putting up the tents, although that was to change later.

The half marathon started at 3pm and followed a circular route round the island's only real road. I felt good for the first 6 miles or so and was tucked in just behind Phil, wondering when I was going to make my move. At 7 miles the road disappeared and we ran across a sandy path for a couple of miles, before joining another road back to the village. It was at that point the wheels fell off in terms of my run. Within the space of a few minutes I had to stop to go to the toilet in the sand dunes (never a good experience), the rain had started, and my legs had begun to feel like lead. The rain got heavier and heavier, and was right into my face for the last 4 miles. I just got slower and slower, eventually finishing in my 2nd worst half marathon time ever of 1.35. (The worst was in 1990, just after I had started running, and was also 1.35, so Saturday was very close to a Personal Worst). Phil was stronger and passed a few people to finish in an excellent 3rd place, in just over 1.30.

It was a half mile walk in the pouring rain back to the hotel for a shower, and by the time I got there I was absolutely frozen. The rain continued to get heavier and the wind just got worse and worse. It was a relief to see our tents still standing, although 2 girls beside us were not so fortunate: their tent blew away and they ended up sleeping in the church. At night we got another soaking heading up to the village hall for the ceilidh, then soaked yet again on our way back to the tent. All in all it was pretty miserable.

Eventually the rain stopped and the wind died down allowing me to get some sleep, albeit not of the highest quality. Sunday was a lot better weatherwise and we enjoyed a very pleasant breakfast in the local cafe and a walk along the shore, before heading back on the 2.20pm boat. I finally made it home by about 7.30pm.

On reflection it was a long way to go for a half marathon, particularly as I didn't run well. It was really interesting to see Coll, a place I had not visited before, but we were just unlucky with the weather - definitely not ideal for wild camping, and we would have been much better off staying in the hotel or a B&B. I would certainly go back to Coll again at some point, although perhaps I will leave it for a few years, and I would make sure that I spent more time beforehand checking the forecast :)

Amazing stats

2008-08-18T21:51:00.002+01:00

I'm a boring accountant and therefore I like my stats. Normally I try and keep them to myself for fear of sending my readers to sleep, but I thought it was worth sharing these ones from Saturday's run, courtesy of my GPS:

Miles - 53.4
Calories - 7,110

Wow. That seems like a lot of calories. From looking at the scales before and after Saturday's run, it seems to equate to a weight loss of around half a stone, which I'm pleased to say hasn't reappeared yet. And as an added bonus my trousers now feel a lot more comfortable around the waist, which could save me the hassle and cost of buying a new suit. Isn't ultra running wonderful? I'm surprised more people don't do it :)

Sorting out some unfinished business

2008-08-17T18:20:00.002+01:00

A few weeks ago you may remember I attempted to run home from my office in Edinburgh to my house, on a Friday night after work. I made it to my car at Dunblane - 44 miles all in - but didn't do the last 9 miles or so for a few reasons: my knee was a bit sore, I was cold, I was bored, it was 2.30am, the car was parked at Dunblane, and so on. No-one made any comments about not finishing the full run except my 10 year old son, who said "Dad, why did you not do it all?" That has been echoing round my head for a few weeks, so I decided I needed to "do it all", and set a target of running the full distance from my house to my office. Yesterday was the day to do it.

I left the house at 7.20 am. For the first time in my life I ran with a radio, which was absolutely brilliant and certainly helped pass the long hours listening to the Olympics. I ran down into Braco, along the back road to Dunblane, through Cornton and Stirling, along the back road to Larbert, through Falkirk, along the canal path past Linlithgow and Winchburgh, onto the road past the Glenmorangie factory at Broxburn, over the M9 footbridge, past Edinburgh airport, past RBS's HQ, and then right along the A8 to the centre of Edinburgh. I stopped a few times to get something to eat, and completed the full 53.4 miles in 10 hours 47 minutes, including my breaks. Apart from 2 quite bad spells of cramp the run went very well, although there isn't really anything interesting to report about it. I just did it. I found out that I could walk at a reasonable pace when I had cramp and not lose too much time, a lesson that I'll need to remember in the future.

Another reason for doing the long run yesterday was as a trial to see whether the 24 hour race on 13th/14th September is on. I'm coming to the conclusion that the answer is yes. I'm sure it will hurt, probably a lot more than the WHW race, but I think I can do it. My body feels surprisingly good today, which is very encouraging, and suggests I am getting back into reasonable shape. All being well, I'll enter this week.

Just a few of other things I wanted to comment on. Last week Allybea and I backed up Dario in the Devil O'The Highlands Footrace, a 43 mile race from Tyndrum to Fort William on the WHW. He finished in 10 hours 45 minutes, which was well ahead of his expectations. Well done Dario. Jez Bragg won the race in a phenominal time of 5 hours 22 minutes - that's 3 hours 15 minute marathon pace. Incredible. And finally well done to the British team at the Olympics, who at the time of writing doing are up to 3rd place in the medal table with 11 golds. It would be great to see athletics add to that tally.

A long injury free run at last. Woo hoo!

2008-08-03T19:43:00.002+01:00

I returned to the North Inch at Perth today to the scene of the 24 hour race on 13 September. I wanted to see if I could have a run of at least 2 hours, at 24 hour race pace, and finish because I wanted to rather than my knee was forcing me to. And guess what? It happened just as I had hoped! Allybea came up with my and gave me water after every lap (2.38 km/1.48 m). I covered 4 laps in the first hour, 4 in the second, then an extra 2 in the next half hour for good measure. 10 laps/approx 15 miles in 2 and a half hours. And, even better, no problems with my knee.

So the 24 hour race is still possible. If I can get 2 decent weeks training and have no adverse effects, then I'll do it. Even though I felt I was going really slowly today, I was still averaging 6 miles an hour, a lot faster than the pace I would expect to average over a full day. That is encouraging - it means I would be able to build in a reasonable stop every couple of hours, and still be covering a fair amount of distance.

LEJOG

2008-08-02T18:14:00.002+01:00

Last night I was reading the WHW forum and saw a post from Gaynor Prior, who ran in this year's WHW race, saying that one of her backup team Rob was running from Lands End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) and that he was now into Scotland. I followed the links to his run and found that he had just reached Dunblane. Dunblane is only 10 miles away from where I live, and when I looked at his route plan I saw that today's run would come right past the front of out house! I didn't know when he would leave Dunblane, but figured if I drove left the house at 9 and drove south towards Dunblane I would have a good chance of seeing him. I could then find out if he fancied any company, drive back to the house, and if he wanted company run with him for a bit as he headed north.

Well, almost as soon as I had driven out of the drive I saw a cyclist with a high visibility vest, a runner, and then another cyclist coming along the road. I guessed it was probably Rob, and this was confirmed when I rolled down my window and shouted 'Are you Rob?' I think he was a bit surprised anyone knew him, but was happy for me to join him for a while. He had left Dunblane at 7.30 and was looking really strong. I turned the car round and headed home, quickly threw on my running stuff, jumped in the car and drove a mile or so towards Crieff until I passed the group again. I then dumped my car in a lay-by and joined him on the run.

What an absolutely incredible experience it was. Rob was a first class guy, great company, and I just asked questions about the run for more or less the whole way into Crieff. This was his 13th day, and he hoped to reach John O'Groats in 18 days. He looked great - the pace for the 6 miles I ran with him was between 8 and a half and 9 minute miles, which was quite incredible considering he has been doing around 50 miles a day for the last 12 days. His support was superbly well organised. Every 10 minutes or so Sue, one of the 2 support people on bikes, would cycle a few yards in front, stop, and hand Rob something to eat or a drink. She would then drop back to her position at the rear. About 2 minutes later she would cycle in front again and collect the plastic drink container. Rob didn't need to ask - it just all happened automatically. It was hugely impressive teamwork. The ultra running world in the UK is a small one, so I wasn't surprised to find out that I had seen Rob before, both at the WHW and at this year's Dumfries Marathon, when he finished 2nd in a PB of 2.53 despite being at a wedding the day before and fully partaking in the celebrations. (Sometimes I wonder if we all take our training too seriously - maybe we are better just doing what we fancy, and not bothering about our eating drinking and so on? Just a thought....)

I ran with Rob into the centre of Crieff - 6 miles for me, which was probably enough given the problems I've been having with my knee - and wished him all the best for the rest of his run. He was heading to Pitlochry today, then on to Aviemore tomorrow. I'll be watching with great interest to see how he gets on, but have absolutely no doubts that he'll make it - his physical strength, willpower and organisation are quite incredible. Rob, good luck - I'll be thinking about you.

Details of Rob's progress can be followed here:
http://www.hinckleyrunningclub.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

An update on various things

2008-07-25T22:31:00.002+01:00

Well, I'm finally back on line. We haven't had any internet access for the last week as our neighbours were getting trees felled and one of the contactors cut through our phone line. So if you have been looking in anxiously looking for an update, please accept my apologies - although if you were that concerned you could always have called me on my mobile or sent a text :)

To move on to the serious stuff, I'd like to thank everyone who commented on my last posting about the 24 hour race. There was some really useful advice, and I appreciated everyone's comments. Getting to the point right away, I've decided not to do it. Not because I'm worried about failing, or my lack of motivation, but quite simply because I don't think I'm in good enough shape at the moment to do a run of this length and difficulty. I had 3 easy weeks running before the WHW, and in the 4 weeks since then I haven't done a great deal at all. That's 7 weeks of poor training - not the ideal preparation for a 24 hour race. I realised when I went out last Sunday for a 12 mile run that I wasn't ready for it - the last few miles were a real struggle, especially going up the hill at the end. My struggle was also due to a problem I'm having with my left knee - I can run for quite a few miles and then it gets sore, particularly going up or down hill. From scanning the internet it sounds like classic ITB symptoms, so I suspect a visit to Trevor (my physio) is on the card for early next week. If anyone has any positive stories about ITB or knee injuries in general then please let me know. If they are negative then I'd appreciate if you would keep them to yourself. The last thing I need right now is more doom and gloom.

I've been on holiday the last 2 weeks and it has turned into a bit of a golfing break. I was at Birkdale last Thursday and Saturday for the Open, then golfed with John K at Troon on Monday and with Allybea (her first time) at Muthill on Wednesday. We also managed a couple of visits to driving ranges. I only play between 6 and 10 games of golf a year, but played a lot more when I was in my teens and at one stage had a handicap of 8. I don't think I could ever get back down to that level, but am pretty sure I could get down to 12 or so if I played more regularly. That might have to be my backup plan if my knee doesn't get any better.

I don't really know whether to run over the weekend or not. My knee feels ok at the moment, but it may be better to give it a proper rest, particularly as there are no big races coming up for the next few weeks. I'll just wait and see how I feel.