Running with the fast guys

On Friday I bumped into Liam, who told me that a few of the guys from Central were planning on doing a long run on the WHW on Saturday. Perfect, I thought - I had planned to do a 20 mile run on my own, so to do it with a few others would be so much better.

What I hadn't taken into account was the fact that all the Central guys were quite fast, and it would be a sprint for more or less the full 19 miles. We started out at Milngavie at 10am, and 1 hour 42 minutes later arrived at Drymen. Had it been the race we would probably have been in the lead - my previous fastest to Drymen was about 1.52. We continued at a 'challenging' pace all the way through the forest to Conic Hill. As we got near the top of the hill, the drop in temperature meant that the slush had turned into ice, and the mild rain had turned into a snow blizzard. I put my foot in a deep puddle, and both calves cramped. For a few seconds it was agony before it loosened off. After that it was a really struggle making my way down the steep slope into Balmaha car park, trying to avoid the ice, and I was pretty relieved to get down (slowly) without further mishap.

Although I was a bit stiff last night, I felt good this morning and took the dog for an easy 5 mile run. It was then on to Murrayfield for the rugby. Scotland lost 27-6 to France. Despite the result it was an excellent day, and we enjoyed the hospitality to the full.