And Now For Something Completely Different

Tonight I decided to take the Pink Panther for a spin through to Kinross for the 10k. A few squirts of lube juice, pumped up the tyres and we were off. She was loving it, the first time she's been out the garage this year!


The Pink Panther (yeah, yeah I need to tidy the garage...!)

I thought I'd just use the 10k as a tempo session for this week but yep, you guessed it, I couldn't resist racing it! It was pretty painful to start with, going at that pace, and when I glanced at my watch for the first time and there was only 10 minutes gone I had to double check I hadn't pressed stop by mistake. After that I just got my head down and started to feel pretty good about half way, even taking a few places.

I wasn't the only nutter there either, my clubmate and fellow Flinger Sid James also ran and finished just a few steps behind me. We're a hardy bunch us Carnegies!

I finished in 30th place in 38:34 which probably means I've no hope of a pb at Stuc a Chroin on Saturday but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!

A massive spread of cakes awaited us at the end but unfortunately I had no lights on the Pink Panther so I just rammed my mouth full of cake and left... apologies for my terrible manners.

I must also mention all the comments on the Fling report and say thanks to everybody, it's very much appreciated that you take the time to read my nonsense!

Flings Can Only Get Better...

... And they do! In every respect, and even a pb every year for me, what more could you want?!

As I said in my preview post I wasn't sure if I was going to suffer because of all the big mileage I've been putting in and in the end I don't think I did, but I don't think it's improved me much either... yet, it's all miles in the bank for the West Highland Way race in June, that's the plan.

The Highland Fling has got to be the best value race in the calender. It is superbly organised and is run over a course which tests a whole range of skills, with the flat and fast 13 miles to Drymen, the very technical sections up Loch Lomond and the hilly miles at the end. This means that judging your pace is really important and also a bit tricky. Go out too fast and you'll pay dearly later on, as I found out. I think if I'd dropped my pace a fraction up to Drymen I'd have been much stronger on the Loch-side, something to remember for WHW.

The new system of staggered starts was implemented this year with the Ladies and Super-Vets going out an hour earlier which meant we got to hunt down women and old people to get to the beer and stovies first at the finish. This turned out to be really good with loads of encouragement from everyone I passed and seeing friendly faces gave a real boost at some of the low points.

For me, there was a few of those.

My stomach was bad from the start, and just got worse as the race went on, with numerous pit stops in the woods giving temporary respite, but the worst thing was I just couldn't eat. I think I ate about 6 gels and some sweets on the 53 miles along with my energy drinks which sloshed around in my stomach like a washing machine on full spin cycle, all I could think about for most of the race was crossing the finish line and having a real good spew!

That wasn't to be though.

The Crazy German had other ideas as, with about 5 miles to go he overtook looking fresh as a gänseblümchen. I already had swapped places with Iain R about 20 times in the race and he wasn't for letting go so potentially I could drop another place and who knows, were the cavalry fast approaching from behind? So, I decided it was now or never, let go on the descent to the A82, passed the Crazy German, and hoped I could keep the pace going to the finish. I never saw anyone behind me after that, and believe me I had a few glances over my shoulder, and managed to hang on until the river just before the end where I started to cramp up quite badly but the sight of the bouncy castle spurred me on and by the time I realised it wasn't a bouncy castle I was finished. The energetic finish had, ironically, sorted my stomach out so it wasn't long before I was enjoying the complimentary stovies and beer. A pb of 8:18 and 1st team prize rounded off a great day.

Thanks to Murdo, Ellen all involved in the organisation, to Debbie and Silke for the encouragement and to all the other runners and supporters for making it a great day on the trails, also to the club who generously put me up in the bunkhouse and provided a great feed as well!

Report on Scottish Athletics Website

The Highland Fling - Preview

Saturday is the Highland Fling Race, 53 miles on the West Highland Way. This will be the third time I've ran it, in 2007 I ran 8:44, then in 2008 I dropped that to 8:23 in really wet conditions (and also stopped to take my shoe off and patch up a blister) so this year I'm hoping it's going to stay dry with no hitches and I can make it 3 PB's in a row. I've ran a lot of mileage in the last few months so maybe that will catch up on me later in the race, but I think I've got it right with the build-up... I'll soon find out!! I'll update via Twitter when I get finished.

There's going to be a mens team from Carnegie for the first time in the Fling so hopefully we can all do well, so, good luck to everyone taking part and remember to save me a fishcake supper in the chippy.....

(The Morning After) The First Big Weekend of the Summer

4 Days, 180 miles, approx 26 000' ascent/descent and a few calories consumed

Bleary-eyed I looked out from under the bedcovers. Clothes lay in a heap where they'd fallen as I'd chucked them off and staggered into bed. A top with jam stains and chocolate milk spilt all down the front, snot stains on the sleeves. Trousers too with chocolate milk dribbled down a leg. A long dead camel-bak with all the life sooked out of it peaking out from under cover of a rucksack. A pair of tatty looking shoes betraying my route home. I staggered out of bed, still feeling the effects in my legs and the memories of what I'd been doing slowly started to come back to me. I'd sunk a whole lot of miles far too quickly and on an empty stomach, but no it wasn't that... it was that last mile that did it... it was a bad one, I'm sure of it.

This is what a Big Weekend is, no peering out to look at an old pizza box and inspecting my muddy shoes to try and work out how I got home... oh no! A Big Weekend is something completely different now. The morning after is now about mouldy camel-baks and congealed fruit pastilles in a stinky bum-bag. About being woken up not by a thumping head but a rumbling tummy and running, not to the bathroom to puke, but to the kitchen to get some food in before I start to feel rough.

Milngavie's got a lot to answer for I thought as I jogged through the pedestrian shopping area at about 10.30am on a Saturday morning. I looked pretty mad, like some sort of MDS reject who got lost on the way, but I'm used to it so I barely noticed the stares and the old wifies running for cover. I had a plan. Problem was I hadn't stuck to it. I was about 2 1/2 hours late in leaving the car but I just put that to the back of my mind and adopted my usual attitude of "it'll all work out in the end" anyway I'm sure I'd packed my torch.

My legs were stiff and sore because I'd had a hard session the day before, so it was all pain and rubbish running all the way to the top of Loch Lomond. I had arranged to meet Lucy in Tyndrum at about 6pm because she was also up training in the area, and there was no way I was going to make it so I thought I'd better phone and let her know. The conversation went roughly as follows...

"I'm at the top of the Loch and its going to be about 2 1/2 hours before I make Tyndrum"

"Oh, ok. I could come and give you a lift if you like?"

" No, I couldn't do that... I have to do the whole thing"

"Ok, so you think about 2 1/2 hours?"

"Yes"

"Are you sure you don't want a lift?"

"Ok, when can you get here??"

Yes, Mr Weakwilled bailed out 10 miles short! Ah well, the guy at the bothy cheered me up as I passed when he asked me if I could spare him a cigarette!! I know I wasn't looking too healthy at the time but what the...!

Day 2 was going to be different though because I was meeting up with the WHW training group to run up to Fort William. This meant I'd have some company and they would also pull me a long a bit. It didn't really work out that way because I was just too slow, they were looking for a good fast training run and I had the next two days on my mind so it was a bit of a mis-match. It was good to chat with the guys for the first few miles and also to meet some of them for the first time, but for most of the run I was chasing dots in the distance. It was great to finally get into Fort Bill though, I'd had a list of things I was going to eat lined up so I made my way straight to Tesco on the High Street... and you guessed it, they closed 5 minutes before I got there along with just about everywhere else. I was saved by the Chinese though, where I unwrapped my curried chips as soon as I was outside and ate them walking along the road to the B&B. Once I was in and showered I then ordered a delivery, a 12" pizza, chips and pakora, inhaled the lot and was soon off to sleep... only to wake up in the night and eat all the biscuits I had left. What a night of debauchery!

So Day 3, and with a belly full of porridge, toast and tea I walked into town to meet Victor who was going to run to Tyndrum with me. We got to Morrisons and surprise surprise, I was starving so I nipped in and bought four cakes, a bar of chocolate, some chocolate milk and one of these canned latte drinks. I had scoffed the lot by the time Victor had parked the car and so fuelled up again we headed to the start of the way. We soon got going at a good pace and in no time we were in Kinlochleven and down to the Co-Op for supplies. A couple of bags of crisps, chocolate bar, chocolate milk and 2 bottles of Coke later (Victor had some food too!) we were off again on the big climb out. I felt great at this point and ran the whole climb, getting to the top and keeping the pace going but it wasn't to last, by the time I reached Kingshouse the wheels were off and I had to go into the hotel for some more crisps and coke. The weather had turned a bit crappy by the time I left and it was a drizzly mist blowing in my face all the way over Rannoch Moor that really got me down. With about 36 miles down I plodded into Bridge of Orchy station and sheltered in the underpass guzzling the last of the biscuits, Victor appeared having come back to look for me and we set off again. I was determined to keep a meaningful pace going because this was the whole point of the run, to train myself to really keep it going when my body was in bits. So I was quite pleased to maintain the pace all the way to Tyndrum being mindful that I still had 53 miles to go the next day so I had to keep something in reserve. So, like all true Scottish athletes the only thing left to do was get to the chippy before it shut, and we only just made it, getting a fishcake supper to go and then it was off to the bunkhouse for food and sleep.

Day 4 started in the Green Welly stocking up on biscuits and Coke then Victor headed north back to Fort Bill and I started on the 53 mile run south to Milngavie. After about 6 miles or so I reached the hilly section near Crianlarich and the miles really started to take their toll, the climbs seemed to go on forever and the boggy section higher up was a real pain (literally!). As I came past Derrydarroch Farm my thoughts started to drift towards the shop at Beinglas and Snickers bars, coffee, maybe even ice cream... not far now. So as I rounded the building and saw the shop all closed up you can imagine my disappointment! I consoled myself with some now broken and bashed biscuits and some watery coke mixture and started to dream of the Inversnaid Hotel a good 8 or so very rough and rugged miles away. The weather was very nice now with the sunshine quite warm, I passed by the bothy again, had a look inside and who should be sitting there but the cigarette man from the other day! We had a short chat then I carried on dreaming of refreshments at Inversnaid. By the time I got there it was quite busy with a coach load of oldies milling around and the sound of Pandrops being munched was definitely to be heard... I pushed my way into the bar to be kept waiting for ages before getting just as awful service as on the way up (at least they're consistent) but I was happy to be leaving with my supplies. I quickly inhaled a sandwich, then was off down the loch again. It's really surprising how different it all looks going the other way and also with such tired legs, the endless boulders, tree-roots and undulating trail kept me well entertained (!) all the way to my next pit stop at Rowardennon, where I stopped briefly for a fill up of the camel-bak and a couple of bags of crisps then it was off on the final 27 miles. I tried not to think about it but I'd been going for a very long time and 27 miles was still a long way, just keep moving forward and keep the pace "meaningful" that was my mantra. The rugged outcrops just before Balmaha weren't as bad as I'd built them up to be in my mind and I was soon on Conic Hill in the warm evening sun. That was tough. It was a real slog on tired legs all the way up but it was nice to chat to a couple of walkers who cheered me up and had me running down the other side and into the forest with renewed energy, and down to Drymen.

This was where the real training would begin. The road. I'd thought about it all day how I was going to reach this point, the most runnable of the day yet I was going to be knackered... and I was. This was where it counted, the part where I had to show my head that the body could do it, the pain was just something to be overcome not to be given in to. Also I knew it was going to get dark before I finished so I had to get as much ground covered in the light as possible because with my tiny torch held together with elastic bands I wouldn't be moving very fast (it was very lightweight though!) So, I dug into the depths of my reserves and started to run as even a pace as I could. After a few miles some cyclists whizzed past and then turned round and came back. " Are you the guy we saw today near Inversnaid?" they asked. When I told them I was and then after they asked me where I'd come from etc, they shook their heads and spun off down the road again. Strange chaps.

I kept my pace going nice and evenly all the way to Milngavie, except to stop for a few minutes at a bench looking over the park just to have a wee thought to myself about my journey, and at around 9.15pm, 12 1/2 hours after leaving Tyndrum I reached the door of the Milngavie chippy. Single fish, lightly salted and vinegared in hand, I walked back to my car. Mission accomplished.

Postcard From Clachnaben

Hi All

Having a great time, the weather is fantastic, blazing sunshine all the time and it's really quite warm once you get going! The locals are very friendly and a lot like us really, some of them speak quite good English as well! The food is top-class and there's even beer!

Wish you were here!

P.S Clachnaben is a Scottish Championship hill race, 10m 3500'. Photos, results

The First Big Weekend

"went out for the weekend, it lasted for ever, high with our friends, it's officially summer" goes the Arab Strap song, it seems strangely appropriate.

I got home late last night after four days running on the West Highland Way, it was amazing fun, highs and lows all over the place and I'm a bit tired now so this is just a brief summary.

I left Milngavie with a rucksack full of biscuits and coke on Saturday morning, planning to run to Fort William and back in four days. It didn't quite work out but here's how it went.

Saturday - Milngavie to Beinn Glas farm (41 miles)

Sunday - Tyndrum to Fort William (43 miles)

Monday - Fort William to Tyndrum (43 miles)

Tuesday - Tyndrum to Milngavie (53 miles)

180 miles in four days, you wouldn't believe how much I've eaten!!!

Full details coming up..........

Bashing the Bishop, Battling the Bogmonster and other stories

... " a quick 20 miles"? Now there would be a novelty! My running hasn't seen a "quick 20 miles" for many a moon! Probably because most of the miles have their fair share of obstacles in the way like hills, rocky and stoney paths, mud and generally too many miles to make "a quick 20" a foolish thing to do!

So, having satisfied my lust for the tarmac loop for a while it was back to the business of the fast up and down type. The Bishop Hill race was next on the agenda. I wasn't really looking to do a long run but had to get a few miles in so I elected to run over Benarty Hill to Scotlandwell to the race start, about 7 miles and the same back. Add that to the 2 and a 1/2 ish and 1000 or so feet of the race and it was a good wee run out. I set off and after some nice easy running I realised I had mis-judged the time and was going to miss the start if I didn't take some short cuts. So, after some eye-balls-oot-running through some mucky fields over some high fences and through some jaggy hedges I made it to pick up my number with about 5 minutes to spare. Off we went and after about 3 steps the course dips down into a nasty "trench" then out again and then another 10 steps, the snotters are flying and you're into the climb. Pete from Carnegie was doing only his 2nd hill race and shot off like a rocket so Tommy and I went with him and stuck together more or less the whole race, just managing to pass him on the last descent and Tommy passing me to finish a couple of seconds ahead in 8th place, me 9th and Pete 11th. It was great to see lots of Carnegie vests too, 18 in all, a fantastic turn-out for a club that only had a few hillrunners until recently. After munching soup and rolls back at the hall I jogged back home at a much more leisurely pace happy with my afternoons Bishop bashing!

The HPM team: Neil, me, Francis and Sam

Next up was the High Peak Marathon. As I mentioned in a previous post the organisers should be sued under the trade descriptions act because there are no high peaks, just huge bogs and rolling hills, and it's 40 miles as opposed to a marathon! The idea is to run in teams of four starting at 1 minute intervals from 11pm carrying the required kit for an emergency overnight stop, if necessary. I ran this last year and swore at the end I would never do it again, it was a nightmare of bogs, rain, darkness and sleep deprivation but here I was again! My team had had to have a few changes due to injuries so Francis and I were the only two from the original entry with Sam stepping in to use the race for MDS training and Neil who saved us at the last minute since Oscar dropped out with an injury. Oscar had generously offered to meet me and Victor (who was running in another team) in Longtown on the way down and do the driving, which was a huge help as we would run all night then have to drive home in the morning. So, we found ourselves in the unusual setting of the Chinese in Longtown ordering a large chips and curry, not my usual pre-race meal but I reckoned it would do the job in terms of carbo loading for the night. Oscar arrived and we drove down to Edale, met the rest of the guys and at 11:38 pm we were off. I must say my curried chips were a treat, they fueled me up a treat and I didn't really eat anything apart from the odd sweet until about 7:30am at Snake Pass where I had a cheese sandwich. Sam commented that he was eating the elite Scottish athletes food of choice, shortbread. But it was fairtrade shortbread. Are there lots of shortbread makers in Scotland sitting in their wee crofts being beaten down in price by the supermarket giants he asked??! I must check that one out.

Welcome to the Moscar buffet

The night-time bogs provided the usual amusement, I laughed heartily at one point when I was suddenly submerged half way up my chest in freezing bog. It wasn't so much a case of being careful not to lose a shoe but more like hold onto your trousers or you might lose them!

Dawn on Bleaklow

It was a relief to see daylight as we reached the flagstones of the Pennine Way, this was where it became runnable again but the problem was convincing your legs of that. It had been a real team effort so far with Francis doing a fantastic job of navigating through the featureless terrain all night, but now Sam and Neil were feeling it so we had to pace it right for the run in to the finish. We all had our ups and downs and kept a good steady pace to finish in 10:56:30 only a minute slower than last year, consistent or what??

Snake Pass at 7.50am

Feeling the pain on Win Hill

Finally, to round off a good 3 weekends of running was the Wuthering Hike race. 33 miles of good trails in North Yorkshire, very runnable and my 3rd time of running it. I travelled down again with Victor, now having built up an immunity to the noxious smells which emit from his backside on a regular basis, but I was glad to hit the fresh air of Haworth with only about 10 minutes to go to the race start. About 250 of us crowded into the cobbled street at the start and we were off, jostling for position and chatting away until we were out onto the open trails and into the strong headwind. I kept with a large group for a bit getting some shelter at the back but slowly we split up until I was running with two guys, a Calder Valley runner and a guy from Stockport. We stayed together for most of the race until the CV guy dropped off before the Horse Bridge checkpoint then I left the Stockport runner as I pushed the pace towards the Lane Head checkpoint and felt strong as I overtook a runner looking pretty wobbly and then a pair before managing to blast the last couple of miles into Haworth finishing in 4:41:09 and 5th place.

That's the adventures up to date for now, February's mileage was 245 miles so keeping it steady. I'll be taking it a bit easier for a week or so before embarking on an adventure of a slightly different kind.... will keep you posted.