Bridge of Orchy to Fort William

It is only 2 weeks until 'The Highland Fling' (a 53 mile race along the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Tyndrum) and 10 weeks until the full WHW race. That means I need to get some decent long runs in, so yesterday I decided to do the 35 miles from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William. Much to my delight my wife allybea very kindly offered to come along to provide support and backup. As we set off for Bridge of O conditions for running looked quite good, although there was a chill in the air for most of the day and the hills were covered in snow.

At Bridge of Orchy I was getting ready in the car park and spotted WHW legend and ex record holder Kate Jenkins heading through Bridge of Orchy and up the hill towards Inveroran. It turned out Kate had started at Tyndrum and was running to FW with her dog Ben. We must have been running at fairly similar paces throughout - allybea saw her at most of the stopping points and reckoned she was between 5 and 10 minutes in front. I finally caught up with her at the Braveheart carpark, just before FW.

In general my run went very well. I reached Kingshouse in 2 hours 3 minutes, despite a lot of faffing about in the first few miles when I changed out of my tracksters and into my shorts, put my jacket on then took it off again, put on my buff then took it off again, and so on. The only other problem in this section was a bout of sickness immediately after taking a salt capsule. This has happened a few times now, so I think I'm going to ditch the capsules and try something like salty crisps instead.

At Kingshouse I stopped for 9 minutes for a quick cup of allybea's excellent home-made soup, then headed off to Kinlochleven. I arrived at Kinlochleven in 3 hours 59 mins, had a 10 minute break for some more soup and a Muller rice, then left for Lundavra. I made good time on this section - I think I arrived at Lundavra after about 5 hours 36 mins then stopped for a drink of chocolate milk, before setting off for the final 7 miles. I covered this last bit in 1 hour 12 minutes (what would I give to run at that pace in the race?) and arrived at FW leisure centre after a total of 6 hours 51 mins. I was quite pleased with that, particularly as I felt quite comfortable throughout and didn't ever feel I was pushing too hard. And my legs feel ok today, another positive sign.

We gave Kate a lift back to Tyndrum and had the usual superb fish supper from the Good Food Stop. All in all it was a first class day's running, with a few useful lessons/reminders:

1. It is a lot easier doing these long runs when someone is there to support you. Not only does it save you carrying all your food and spare kit, but it is great to have the company.
2. I need to ditch the Succeed capsules. There is no point in taking something that makes me sick. I'll just need to make sure I get enough salt from my food and drink.
3. Chocolate milk is really good. I'm going to use it in the Fling and the WHW race.
4. Although it can be a pain stopping to put on a jacket or take it off, it is worthwhile taking the time to do it - it means my body temperature stays at the right level, so I don't get too hot or too cold. However I need to take a bit more effort atthe beginning to set off wearing appropriate clothing.
5. Although it is nice to have company, there are definitely benefits to running alone rather than part of a group. When you are running on your own you can do your own thing: if you think the pace is too fast then you slow down; if you think it is too slow then you speed up; if you need to stop to go to the toilet then you just stop.

Well done to all those who did the London Marathon today. Hayley Haining from Kilbarchan had a great run, setting a new PB of 2 hours 29 minutes. Unfortunately she finished about 40 seconds behind Liz Yelling, so will probably miss out on Olympic selection. It would all be different of course if there was a Scottish team in the Olympics. Of the WHW family (or those who aspire to be in the family), I've noticed from the early results that Marco did 2.48, Neal did 3.10 and Debs 3.31. Brilliant performances from all 3, and many congratulations to them all. I almost wish I had been doing it myself...

Heaven & Hell half marathon

Wow!!! What a fantastic race! As the name suggests this one isn't easy - in fact it is probably one of the toughest half marathons I have ever run. But what a brilliant course, particularly the steep climb up to the half way point, from where you can see Dundee and the full Tay estuary, and then the 2 mile long, continuous climb between 8 and 10 miles. Just as I thought I had done the hard bit in getting to the top of the hill (without walking or crying), I had to battle into a strong wind for the last 3 miles down the other side. As Frank Sinatra would no doubt have sung - my kind of course - one where there was absolutely no chance for the fast guys to use their sprinting prowess, but instead were expected to battle away like the rest of us.

So, the stats. I finished 16th in 1 hour 33 minutes and 25 seconds. Quite a bit slower than normal, but times weren't hugely relevant on a course like this. Having said that Paul Arcari from Kilbarchan won in an incredible 1 hour 13 minutes, taking 6 minutes off the previous course record. Second was Alastair Morrison from Garscube in about 1.18 - not a bad performance from someone who had finished 2nd in the Dunbar 10k yesterday, then jumped into his car and headed to Livingston where he ran the last 10k leg for Garscube in the National Road relays. 3 races in 2 days - nutter. He'll be doing the WHW next. And a note to all those who have accused me of being a dour b*gg*r - and there are many - I was having such great fun today that I actually smiled every time someone took a photo of me. I'm just hoping no-one snapped me when I wasn't looking :)

Finally, there has been some interesting banter on John K's blog between my wife allybea and Thomas, who is running the WHW race this year for the first time. I've stayed out of the discussion so far, but just wanted to say that I completely agree with allybea, particularly about the WHW race being a personal challenge for each and every participant. I know John and Thomas will agree with me in hoping everyone performs to the best of their ability on 21 June and achieves their personal goal, whatever that may be: whether it is to finish before the 35 hour cut-off, or to finish in a particular time. John and I have had a great and friendly rivalry over the last year, and I am sure this has helped me record times I did not think possible a few years ago. I hope it has helped John too, and that by sharing our experiences we are helping Thomas, Marco, Debs, Davie, Tim, Neal and everyone else whose company I have enjoyed on the various training runs. If I had a choice of recording a time of 20.59 in this year's race but finishing behind John, or recording 21.15 and being in front of John, I would take the 20.59 every time.

Feeling poor, but hopefully better now

I've not felt great this week. I've been very tired and lethargic, so much so that I set out on Tuesday night for a 6 mile run and abandoned it after 2. Because of that I decided to have a couple of running-free days, and went to see my physio on Thursday for a leg massage. Last night (Friday) I did an easy 5 miles over some forest trails near Crieff with Lucy, my younger dog, and was pleased to feel reasonably good again. So hopefully I'm back to normal, and ready to begin the serious phase of training for the WHW race. To test this out I plan to do the Heaven and Hell half marathon at Perth tomorrow, a race which has been described as "one of Scotland's hardest half marathons". The previous year's results certainly suggest it is tough - I reckon most of the people I know were about 10 minutes slower than they would be on a 'normal' course. Still, I'm looking forward to it, and plan to treat it as a good hard training run.

Last Saturday I did part of the WHW run with the gang. I couldn't do the full 42 miles from Tyndrum to Fort William because I had a dinner in Edinburgh at night - not sure I would have wanted to do 42 miles at this stage of my training, to be honest - so I ran with the group for 12 miles, then turned round and came back on my own the same way. When I reached Bridge of Orchy on the way back and was waiting to cross the road, I was surprised that all the traffic seemed to be slowing down before it reached me - until I realised that my bright yellow luminous jacket probably made me look like a policeman from a distance. It kept me amused for a few miles :)

When I heard how quickly the gang had run the 42 miles, I was even more pleased I had not done the full thing. The times were between 7.20 and 7.35, which is incredibly fast for that section. Around this time last year I ran the Bridge of Orchy to FW section in about 7 and a half hours, and it takes around an hour to run from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy. The pace last week would have killed me.

Review of the first quarter - a mixed bag

Today is 31 March, the end of the first quarter of 2008. In the 13 weeks of the year I've run 523 miles, an average of just over 40 miles a week, compared with my 519 miles for the same period last year. I'm sure the purists/pedants would point out that this is a leap year, so there was actually one day less in 2007, but the main point is that I've run very similar mileage. I've completed 7 races: some good (the Inverness half marathon, the Nigel Barge 10k and the national vets cross country), some average (the Lairig Mor and the national cross country) and some not so good (the Dumfries marathon and our club's new year handicap). I dropped out of the Livingston cross country.

So it's been a bit of a mixed bag so far, with my running lacking any real consistency. I suppose that was inevitable: I have been really busy at work since starting a new job at the end of November, and have been even busier since taking on the interim chair of sportscotland role in February. On the positive side, work and the sportscotland role have been great, and I'm hanging on in there with my training for another West Highland Way race - even if I am struggling to keep up with some of the 'young turks' (and some not quite so young turks) who are going to the regular training runs.

As ever, the next couple of months are going to be crucial in the WHW build up. At the end of April there is the Highland Fling, a 53 mile race from Milngavie to Fort William. In May I'm planning on doing a 2 day run from Balmaha to Fort William with a few of the guys, then do the Stornoway marathon the following week. Before that it is the Troon 10k, probably my best chance this year of getting that sub 38 minute time.

I was through in Edinburgh yesterday for the World Cross Country championships. It was a great event, a fantastic showcase of distance running, and quite incredible to see the speed some of these guys (and girls) can run. The conditions - wet, windy and muddy - should have suited athletes from the northern hemisphere, but the African countries dominated all 4 races. The best British finisher, Liz Yelling, was 15th in the Senior Women's race. With the noteable exception of Paula Radcliffe, it is obvious that a huge amount of work is required if British (and European) endurance runners are to compete again successfully at the very top level.

Dumfries marathon

Today I ran the Dumfries marathon in 3 hours 19 minutes and 5 seconds, finishing 19th. I've run faster (not least my 2.59 this time last year at Zurich) but at the end of the day I can't really complain about my time - I've also run slower marathons on more than a few occasions. My legs were really sore after about 10 miles today. Don't know what the problem was, but I couldn't get in to a fluent stride pattern at all - so I was quite pleased at being able to dig in and still get below 3.20, especially as I have been busy at work and with sportscotland stuff over the last couple of months. But that sounds a bit like making excuses, and as I said on an earlier post (and which David Waterman reiterated on his excellent blog http://www.subversive-running.blogspot.com/ ) there is no point in making excuses when it comes to our running. I did the best I could, and felt really strong at the end, passing the first lady with about half a mile to go. Hopefully that augers well for the West Highland Way.

That's me up to 61 marathons and ultras (45 marathons, 16 ultras), although that pales into insignficance compared to Steve Edwards, who passed me today around the 11 mile mark on his way to completing his 450th marathon. He finished today's race in 3.10 and I think his average time for all his marathons is 3.18. An incredible athlete. More details about Steve are here: http://www.ebrington.com/blog/tag/marathon (or else put Steve Edwards into Google and see what comes up).

Finally congratulations to Troon's Charlie Martin (one of my ex clubmates), who passed me today at the 17 mile marker as though he was out for a 2 mile sprint. Charlie took 5 minutes out me in the last 9 miles, and finished in an impressive 3.14. I tried to stay with him, but he was motoring and just pulled away. It's looking good for his Zurich Ironman in July.

My recent medical

Before I start this post, I just wanted to highlight an anonymous comment on my posting of Wednesday 5th March, where I was bemoaning the fact that I never appear in myRace magazine. According to the man (or perhaps woman) who didn't even have the b*lls to leave his (or her) name, "the truest characters of ignorance are vanity, and pride and arrogance.” I'm not 100% sure what this actually means, or how it relates to my posting, but as I am just about to write something that will inevitably sound arrogant I just thought I would mention it upfront. And if I could take this chance to pass on my own words of wisdom to the anonymous poster: "to leave abusive anonymous comments on someone's blog is the act of an ignorant tosser".

Anyway, to my story. I'm trying to take out an insurance policy at the moment, and the insurers insisted that I go for a medical before they were prepared to take me on to their books. After arriving at the hospital I had to have the few hairs on my chest shaved (and it is still itchy - glad I don't need to shave my legs on a regular basis), and various devices stuck to my chest. I then had to walk at what was described as a brisk pace on the treadmill for 9 minutes while my heart rate and various other things were recorded.

It wasn't particularly difficult. After 9 minutes the lady doing the test looked at her readings and asked me if I would mind doing a further 3 minutes at a much higher setting. That was no great problem, although I did sweat a bit more at the higher tempo. I then had to lie still for a few minutes while various other readings were taken.

After about 10 minutes I was called through to see the consultant to discuss the results. My resting pulse had been measured at 40, which he described as 'remarkable'. He also told me that one of their standard tests was to measure the time it took for the heart rate to return to 100 after the initial 9 minutes of walking. In my case my heart rate hadn't ever reached 100 - the maximum it had reached was 92 - which was why I had been asked to do the extra 3 minutes at the higher setting. Even then it returned to 100 within 50 seconds, a result that the consultant described as 'amazing'.

My point here is not to highlight how wonderful I am - which I am sure you all know anyway, including Mr (or Mrs) Anonymous - but to point out what a difference running makes to our level of fitness. We all know this intuitively, but it is very reassuring to have it confirmed by an objective fitness test. So the message is clear. Keep running - it's good for you. And if you take out an insurance policy, ask for a discount in the premium to reflect your considerably higher level of fitness (and consequently lower level of risk to the insurance company) than Mr and Mrs Average. They will almost certainly refuse, but it will give you a great chance to brag to someone else about how fit you are :)

Lairig Mor race

Yesterday was the annual Lairig Mor race, a low key event organised by Lochaber Athletic Club. The route starts at Mamore Lodge above Kinlochleven, joins the West Highland Way path after about a mile, then follows the WHW route all the way into Fort William Leisure Centre. The total distance is 14 miles.

I did this race last year for the first time and really enjoyed it. It's a good chance to have a fast run on the last section of the WHW - by the time I get to this bit during the race I've already run 80 miles or so, and am normally starting to feel a bit tired. To add to the excitement John K was running as well, so it was a 'counter' in our own race series. The pressure was on - although before giving you the result I should point out a few small things. I had run a hard half marathon at Inverness last week. I have a full marathon next week. I was suffering from a stinking cold. I had been away on business for a few nights during the week. I had also been out at a number of dinners. I had eaten a bacon roll just 3 hours before the race. The weather was too sunny and made it hard to see. I didn't do a proper warm up. The path was too stony. I was wearing new shorts which I wasn't used to. I hadn't drunk enough water before the race. Apart from that I felt fine, and wouldn't want anyone to think I was making excuses.

As you may have guessed already, John hammered me. To be honest I was pleased enough with my time of 1 hour 49 minutes and 8 seconds, which was about half a minute faster than last year and included a 2 minute stop in the middle of nowhere to deal with an urgent 'call of nature'. (Incidentally I just hope it rains heavily in the next few days and washes it all away. I wouldn't want any WHW walker to come across it by mistake). I ran with John for the first mile before watching him pull off into the distance. No problem, I thought: plenty of time to pick things up in the middle and later sections of the race. The gap between us got wider and wider, and after 4 miles or so he was completely out of sight, never to be seen again. At the finish I discovered he had finished in the superb time of 1 hour 43 minutes and 7 seconds, a full 6 minutes in front of me. The man is on fire at the moment. Thomas was even quicker, finishing very high up the field in 1 hour 38 minutes. So now it's back to 2-1 in my series with John, with the next event being the Highland Fling on 26th April.

Inverness half marathon

I don't have a lot of time to blog tonight, but just a quick note to say that I ran today's Inverness half marathon in 1 hour 24 minutes and 30 seconds, finishing in 59th place out of 1,053 finishers. I ran very well and was delighted with my time, which was 15 seconds faster than last year. Kim ran 1.25, Simon 1.27, Tim 1.33, Anne 1.45, and Kate 2.01. Full results can be found here at the race website:
www.invernesshalfmarathon.co.uk

Congratulations to a number of friends who had PBs at the Balloch to Clydebank half marathon - Marco (1.16), John M (1.24) and Debbie (1.42). Well done to you all.

Finally well done to Scotland on their superb 15-9 win agaist Engalnd yesterday in the RBS 6 Nations. We were there, and while it may not have been the bet game of rugby ever played, it was hugely exciting and great to see a Scotland win. All in all it's been a good weekend.

A new myRace - will I be in this time?

A new myRace magazine is out - will I be in this time? I very much doubt it. Bookies were offering better odds on Celtic beating Barcelona in the Champions League. Still, I'll trudge up to my local running shop tomorrow to buy the March/April edition, more in hope than expectation. No doubt I'll look through all the pages carefully, only to be disappointed once again and feel I've wasted another £3.50. I've heard that I'll be quoted in Debbie's bugbears article, but it's just not the same as being in a picture. I'll let you know if I'm wrong, but suffice to say I'm not holding my breath.

I had to laugh

I entered 'London Marathon' on Youtube to see what came up. The very first entry was called 'Flora London Marathon 2007' and had been described by the person posting as
"A hopefully inspirational video about the 2007 Flora London Marathon and a recognition of what makes it great".
All very serious and worthy stuff, until someone left the following comment. I've quoted it word for word, so apologies for the poor spelling:
"pease of piss try ultramarathons hard as hell ".
Although I appreciate that it isn't clever to leave comments like that, it did make me laugh :)

Are we obsessed with targets?

Are we, the running community, obsessed with targets? Surely not! But....

My mileage wasn't great in January - new job, rubbish weather, various other excuses - so at the start of February I decided I would like to run 200 miles in the month. The month started off very well: I managed to get quite a lot of running done in the first 3 weeks, including a couple of long WHW runs, so it looked as though 200 miles would be no problem at all. Last week's National XC champs reduced my mileage a bit, but hey, it was a good quality workout and well worth doing, so it shouldn't have given me any problems.

Anyway, by last Sunday I had run 180 miles. There were still 5 days to go. Reaching 200 miles should have been "shootie-in", to use the old Scottish expression. However, there were a few potential pitfalls on the horizon. Wednesday - a board meeting; likely to last all day. I'm always tired after these board meetings and don't particularly feel like going out for a run. Thursday - a dinner at night at Celtic Park, and a lunchtime meeting. Getting a run in might be tricky. Friday - an awards lunch. I would have liked to be able to have a few glasses of wine, wind down towards the weekend, and not have to worry about running at all.

Well, the week started badly and I didn't run at all on Monday. I can't really remember why- think I had a lunchtime meeting and at night I was working until late, so I just ran out of time. 20 more miles were still required. Tuesday was better - despite the 70 mile per hour winds I forced myself out a run after work, up and round Arthur's Seat. At one stage I had to look at the wall to make sure I was actually moving forward, so strong was the wind. Despite that I did 10 miles, so only 10 to go. Wednesday - as predicted, too tired after the board meeting. No run. Mileage - 0; 10 still needed. On Thursday I only had three quarters of an hour to do anything at lunchtime, but forced myself out for a 3 mile blast round the Meadows. Although I would have prefrred to do more, I quite enjoyed it, and felt it was a hard and worthwhile session (miles 2 and 3 around 6.30 pace, if anyone is interested). But still 7 miles to go, and only a day to do it. My plans for the relaxed lunch were not looking good.

And so to Friday. I went to the Finance Director of the Year Awards Lunch, but nursed a single glass of wine for the entire meal. Admirable self control, if I may say so. In case anyone is wondering, I didn't win the FD of the Year award, but in my defence I should point out I am no longer a Finance Director, and haven't been one since November. I wouldn't have wanted the publicity anyway. But I digress. After work, while others were heading out to Edinburgh's pubs, clubs and restaurants, I stuck on my running stuff, headed through Bruntsfield, Morningside, past the Kings Building at Edinburgh Uni, back down through the Grange, round the Meadows, and back to the office. No prizes for guessing the mileage - 7. So I reached my target of 200.

In many ways I think this is quite sad. Would it really have made any difference if I had only done 193, or even 199? When I got home last night I was greatly amused to read Tim's blog and find an article called 'Stupid Bl*&dy Targets'. It's at http://whw08.blogspot.com/ Have a read - it gives details of Tim's attempts to reach his 200 mile target in February. It shows that I'm not alone in setting targets, and there are probably more target obsessed nutters out there than we care to admit.

I should finish by mentioning my run today, as it was superb. I did a 9 mile loop which starts and finishes at the house, but incorporates a good number of the local hills, including a 2 mile climb to the finish. Despite my usual steady start, I did the full run in under 7 minute mile pace, and felt really good. It was the first time this year I have run in shorts, apart from races. Am I coming in to a bit of form, just in time for next week's Inverness half marathon?

2-0

For a bit of fun John K and I are having a wee competition this year over a number of races. Yesterday was the second race in our series, the National Cross Country championship at Falkirk. I had won the first event (the Nigel Barge 10k at the start of January), but John has been training well since then and probably went into yesterday's race as the slight favourite. However favourites don't always win (just ask Chelsea, ha ha), and although I didn't mention it to John beforehand, I was hoping my national cross country experience might work in my favour: yesterday was my 15th National XC, while John had not run one before.

At 12k the National is the longest cross country race of the year. Each 4k lap is a challenge in its own right, but seems to get more difficult as the race goes on. I started well and felt good throughout the first lap, and was not concerned at all to be a few places behind John as the first lap ended. I passed him not long into the 2nd lap, just at the muddiest part of the course, and by the end of that lap I was still feeling good and had opened up a lead of around 20 seconds. Unfortunately the 3rd lap was horrible. I had a bit of a stitch, really struggled on the tough windy section over the golf course, and was passed by quite a few people who I had hoped to beat. I had very little left in my legs as I crossed the finish line in a time of 48.31. Despite my last lap woes John wasn't able to close the gap, and finished about 25 seconds behind. 2-0.

The results came out today and show that I finished 213th from 398 finishers. For the second year in a row I have failed to achieve my goal of a top half finish in the National XC. Disappointing, but no great surprise. It just means I'll have to keep it as one of my targets for 2009.

Training or racing?

Back on my soapbox again. This week's blogs (Marco, pacepusher, Thomas, John) have been full of comments about the 'race' last week from the Drovers Inn to Kingshouse - loads of comments about beating so and so, finishing in x position, and so on. I raised this before in a previous posting, but I'm not sure anyone paid the slightest bit of notice. So I'll raise it again and see if I get a reaction this time:

1. We are still in February.
2. The race does not take place until 21 June, almost 4 months away.
3. IMHO one of the benefits of the long training runs are to get replicate race conditions. I did Saturday's run in 5 hours 36 minutes. In last year's race I was 6 hours 50 minutes for the same section, and finished in 21 hours 11 minutes. So last Saturday I was not replicating race conditions.
4. I've checked back at the 2000 race results (it's the only one I have to hand). Wim Eskamp ran a new record that year of 16 hours 26 minutes. He covered the section from Inverarnan to Kingshouse in 5 hours 15 minutes - slower than quite a few people ran the same section on Saturday.
5. Which means a few people were running faster than 16.26 race pace. Did they appreciate they were running that quickly?
6. Running 95 miles is quite different from running 31 miles. We are training for a 95 mile race, not running a series of WHW races over shorter distances.
7. Over the years I've seen many runners who were in great shape in March but then picked up injuries. Many didn't make it to the start line; others did but underperformed.

Of course, everyone has their own training plans which need to take account of their personal circumstances. There are many different ways to run this race successfully, and I would never presume to tell people that one way was better than another way. There are almost as many training theories as there are runners. Some of the group will have realistic expectations of a 20 hour performances, and will find Saturday's training pace very easy. Others will find the pace comfortable for 30 miles, but may struggle as the distances increase.

So in summary, I'm not trying to tell anyone how to train, but I just think we all need to be quite careful about how we approach these long training runs. I'll certainly be having a good think about it, and suspect I'll give the 29 March long run a miss. I have a marathon the week before, and in any event I feel that March is a bit early in my training programme to be doing 42 miles. I'll also be treating the Highland Fling Race on 26 April with a bit of caution - a 53 mile race is a tough undertaking in its own right, and it only leaves 8 weeks recovery time until the full race.

Having said all that, I'll be giving it everything tomorrow at the National XC. Particularly if I see John K just in front with a lap to go :)

Falling

Anyone remember 'The Bluebells'? They had a few hits, including one called 'I'm Falling', which went like this:

I'm falling down again
I been falling on down again
I been falling on down again
Falling on down
I been falling on down again
I been falling on down again
Falling on down

Why am I telling you this, I hear you ask? Unfortunately it sums up yesterday's run only too well. We ran from Beinglas Farm to Kingshouse, a total of 31 miles. After 19 miles, as we approached Bridge of Orchy station, I hit a stone and as Debbie so eloquently describes on her blog, went "ar*e over elbow". John's description is a bit more pastor-like: "Ian had a nasty fall along this bit". They were both right. It was bl**dy sore. I scraped both elbows, both knees, underneath my eye, and was covered in muck. Fortunately there was no lasting damage, unlike my last serious fall in 2002 when I fractured and dislocated my shoulder. On the negative side I'm going to look some state when I go into work tomorrow with a black eye.

Anyway, I picked myself up, gave myself a bit of a clean, and ran the remaining 12 miles to the finish. It wasn't my best run ever, and I felt the pace was a bit fast for most of it. I did the route in 5 hours 36 minutes - in last year's race it took me about 6 hours 50 minutes, so it shows how hard we were pushing. Maybe that's why I tripped.

Other blogs describe yesterday's run a lot more positively than I have. Lesson to self: you can't run brilliantly every week. I'm just hoping this was my bad week, and it all comes right at next week's National Cross Country.

National Old Gits Cross Country Championship

Yesterday was the National Masters and Mistresses XC championship. To take part you needed to be an old git (over 35) and be a member of scottishathletics. As I am both I thought I would give it a go. No-one else from Strathearn Harriers fancied the long journey to Irvine Moor, so I was the club's sole representative. That took the pressure off a bit, and meant I could just run round and enjoy it.

Of course, it didn't work out like that. I started off at a sensible pace, but half way round the first lap I began to get a bit twitchy about a few of the people who were in front of me. That kept me working, and I'm pleased to say I caught all of them on the 3rd and final lap. To Erwin, Connell, Robert and Hugh: many thanks - you dragged me round. And I loved passing you all, even though I didn't mention it at the time :) My times for each lap were quite consistent, and my strength from some of the recent endurance work meant that I passed a lot of people on Lap 3. I finished in 99th place out of 198 finshers, scraping into the top half of the field by the skin of my teeth, in a time of 39 minutes and 53 seconds. It was a good performance. My only regret was that John K had not entered, as I think that I was running well enough to have beaten him and go further ahead in our series. Never mind - roll on the National XC at Falkirk in 2 weeks time. John, I'm ready for you :)

This afternoon I went out on my own and did the 'Tour of Strathearn'. It's supposed to be a 20 mile run from Crieff, up and along the hills to Comrie on the south side of the main road, then up and over the northern hills back to Loch Turret, and back down the hill to Crieff for the last 5 miles. I got a bit lost early on so added an extra mile, which meant I did 21 miles in total. I could have done without that extra mile with a few to go, I can assure you. Anyway it's a cracking run, and I wonder if we should do it as a WHW training run in a couple of months? Perhaps we could do it twice, making it a tough 40 miler? Guys, you would all be very welcome and I'm sure allybea would provide us all with coffee at the end (as well as a pair of stripy socks for Debbie). Just accept that you might have a bit of a wait for the shower :)

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.

Lucy is 3 today

Lucy, my younger labrador, is 3 today, so happy birthday Lucy. Before anyone asks we didn't name her after Lucy Colquhoun, the WHW ladies record holder - we didn't know Lucy Colquhoun then and I just liked the name.

After a few days of moaning about sore quads, and trying to work out if walking in high heels really did make them feel better (I'm kidding, honest, but it was a good tip Debs), I managed to get out a couple of runs yesterday and today. Last night was windy, with a capital 'W' (which means it was Windy I suppose, rather than windy :). A few times I thought I was going to get blown over, or hit by an escaped wheelie bin, but I made it back safely having done a 6 mile loop round Edinburgh's south side. Today I did a more gentle 4 mile run along the Union canal. I'm beginning to feel like a runner again.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, it's a 20 mile on the WHW with some of the guys from Central (Milngavie to Balmaha is planned), hopefully followed by a run with the club early on Sunday morning. Then it's off to Murrayfield on Sunday for the Scotland v France match. Should be a good weekend.

More publicity for everyone - except me

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was never in myRace magazine. Well, it's getting worse. I opened my new edition of Runner's World to see a big photo of Debbie in an advert for some adventure race. And then, to add insult to injury, it turns out Tim is featuring on the new Loch Ness Marathon application form. I've done every one of the 6 Loch Ness marathons, but no photo of me. Ridiculous.

My quads are really sore after Saturday's long run and I've been having trouble walking down the stairs. I did a 3 mile jog after work tonight, in an attempt to loosen them off. Not sure it worked, but at least I managed to do it without too much pain - although the downhill sections did hurt a bit. I think it might be time to give Trevor, my physio, a call, and get a decent massage.

30 miles on the WHW

T'was the last Saturday
Of the month of January
That meant it was time to play
Once again on the West Highland Way.
(Anon - but a tribute to Robert Burns, given the date of the run)

Yes, another WHW training run. Another cold, miserable day. At least the rain, which had fallen constantly for the previous 48 hours, finally stopped a few hours before we were due to start running, and stayed away for most of the day. 13 brave WHWers (plus 2 even braver people who were prepared to provide support) set out from Drymen for the 30 mile jaunt over one of the most difficult sections of the route, aiming to reach Beinglas Farm and the Drovers Inn before darkness fell.

To cut a long story short, we made it. I would even suggest that we all enjoyed it. It took us around 6 and a half hours. Highlights included seeing some baby goats, the coffee at Rowardennan (which Mags provided - fantastic - many thanks), seeing an incredibly impressive waterfall at Inversnaid, the soup at the Drovers, but most of all the chance to enjoy some great chat and companionship with a truly superb bunch of people. There were also some lows - I tripped and fell at a section between Rowardennan and Inversnaid (but didn't damage my new top, thank goodness), Neal injured his knee and had to turn back, and we had to wade through some puddles where the water was about a foot deep (although that was quite good fun to be honest). The wonders of modern technology mean that the day is recorded in glorious technicolour on John K's blog http://www.west-highland-way-race07-training.blogspot.com/

I have to admit to one big mistake, however. I thought that I was taking part in a training run, and that the actual race was taking place on 21st June. From the various comments that have appeared subsequently I now appreciate that this was an error. It was actually a race and everyone wanted to beat me. If only I had known :)

I'm getting old

I'm 42 today. I'm getting old. For my birthday I received a pair of angling socks. I've never been angling before, but I plan to go now and will wear my new socks. Thanks allybea x

For the first time in ages, I went out a run and - wait for this - actually enjoyed it!!!! I only did 4 miles round the centre of Edinburgh after work, but felt really good. It was blowing a gale and was a horrible night, but that didn't matter - I felt great and ran at a good pace. Hopefully whatever bug I had in my system has now left, and I can get on with some proper running again.

Back out running again

Just a very quick post for 2 reasons: first to thank everyone for their concern following my rotten run on Saturday, and second to say that I had a couple of rest days on Sunday and Monday, then went out for a gentle 5 mile run at lunchtime today. I just took it easy and felt ok - not brilliant, but ok. The first run back after a few days off is always hard, so I'm not that concerned. I'll try and get out again tomorrow.

The next long WHW training run takes place on Saturday. It's a 29 miler, from Drymen to Benglas Farm at the top of Loch Lomond, with around 20 expected to run. I'm looking forward to it.

A big horrible DNF

Yesterday I had a DNF. For those who don't understand the terminology it stands for 'Did Not Finish' - the runner's equivalent of the 'no return' at golf. It happened in Livingston, at the 3rd and final East District Cross Country meeting. I didn't feel too great in the morning, but did a reasonable warm up and felt ok as I lined up on the start line. After about 45 seconds of running down the hill, I knew something wasn't right. I just had no strength in my legs at all, and felt a bit light headed. I persevered for most of the first lap, watching more and more people come past me and not being able to do anything about it, but as we got to yet another hill I realised it just wasn't going to be my day. I stopped and stepped off the course. A DNF. My first for many years, but a DNF nevertheless. All very disappointing.

I came home and felt completely shattered, falling asleep on the chair as I tried to watch the Newcastle v Bolton match. So what was the problem? Probably a combination of quite a few things: I suspect I'm carrying a bit of a bug; I made a complete hash of my pre-race eating (didn't have enough); and I was tired after a very busy week at work. In hindsight I shouldn't have gone to the race at all, but it is always easy to be wise after the event.

I didn't do any running today, taking the dog for a long walk instead, and I'll probably leave it a couple of days before running again. Better to be cautious now than to risk greater problems further down the line, I think.

Racing with a hangover

Thought I better post more frequently, lest I get other critical comments on my blog about the lack of activity :)

Saturday was the Strathearn Harriers new year handicap race, a 4.5 mile slog up and down some of the biggest hills in Crieff. Unfortunately Friday was a big night out in Edinburgh. I started Friday night with good intentions - "I'll just have a few glasses of wine with my meal and take it easy, cos I'm running tomorrow" - but by the time the malt whisky came out those good intentions had long since disappeared. I made the last train by a whisker - funny that, as I thought I had loads of time - then shared a few more whiskies on the train home with a complete stranger. Not good. By 11 o'clock on Saturday morning, just before the start of the race, my ambitions had lowered from winning the race to simply getting round without being sick.

If you look at the results on the Strathearn Harriers forum, you will see that I came towards the back end of the field, 10th from 13 participants, in a none too clever time of 32.31 (or so it says - my watch time was actually 32.13. Maybe the time recorder was as hungover as I was.). I wasn't sick, although it was close at a couple of points. I also had the pleasure of seeing all the fast guys fly past me, uttering their usual sarcastic comments along the lines of "keep going, you're doing well" and "not far to go". Normally I hate that, but on Saturday I really didn't care. I even held a gate open for the club's fastest man, which probably saved him (and cost me) a couple of seconds.

At least I learned something - lay off the drink the night before if you are racing the following day. And to think I had never realised that before :)

Why am I never in myRace magazine?

There is a Scottish running magazine called myRace. In general it is very good, focusing on the Scottish endurance running scene, with lots of race reports and photos. Debs, one of this year's WHW entrants, writes for it. Despite all this, I have a serious complaint to make about it. Why am I never in it? On Wednesday I bought the latest edition, the 13th. I've never been in any of the previous 12 but surely, I thought, I'll be in it this time? I read it from cover to cover on the way home on the train but guess what? Once again, to my great disappointment, I was nowhere to be seen. It's just not fair. Each year I run in something like 25 to 30 races, a lot of them covered by myRace, but I'm never in the magazine. Almost everyone else I know has been in it. There was a photo of Phil running the Stirling 10k in the last edition. Liz was in an earlier version running some obscure multi-terrain race near Forfar. The other Phil was in it doing the Stuc a Chroin hill race. But where am I? Nowhere. Why is this happening? Has the editor taken a specific policy decision that there will never be a photograph of me in it? Debs, I know you read this blog. I would appreciate if would you have a word with the editor about it and ask him to make sure I am in the next edition. Thank you. Rant over.

First race of the year

It's taken me 5 days, but I finally managed to do my first race of 2008 at the Nigel Barge 10k in the west end of Glasgow. Reasonably pleased with my 38.56 over the hilly course, particularly as I finished 40 seconds in front of arch rival and fellow WHWer John K. That's 1-0 in our year long challenge - I'm looking for revenge for my 3-2 defeat last year..

Fun in the snow

Yesterday morning it started snowing in our area, and it has snowed more or less non stop ever since. This means that the snow on the moor is now up to the top of my wellies, and the dog is at serious risk of getting lost in it when we are out a walk. It also means I've not be able to do much running. Fortunately I took the chance on Wednesday, before the snow arrived, to go up to the West Highland Way and do a 20 miler. I ran from Inveroran Hotel (which I noticed is celebrating its 300th anniversary this year - quite a while for a hotel to be around) to just beyond the Kingshouse Hotel, and then back. It was a great run - not surprisingly there were very few people out on the route - and I ran hard, covering the 20 miles in 3 hours 17 minutes, including an 18 minute coffee stop at Kingshouse. I saw a red deer at Kingshouse as well as a few people who were checking out of the hotel after their New Year break. Kingshouse must be a great place to spend the New Year - Highland hospitality at its best, I would imagine. Maybe we should do it some year.

Anyway, back to the snow and the running. If I can get the car out of the drive tomorrow, I'm planning on going to the Nigel Barge 10k at Garscube in Glasgow. John K is doing it as well, so a hard, competitive run is guaranteed. On his blog John reported that there was snow in Paisley - see if you can spot it his photo: http://www.west-highland-way-race07-training.blogspot.com/ John, I have to be honest and say I laughed when I saw the picture, particularly compared to allybea's pictures of the snow here :) http://www.allybea.blogspot.com/ We lived on the south west coast of Scotland for 13 years, and in all that time I think we had snow twice, melting by lunchtime on both occasions. We're making up for it now...

2008 targets

Just a very quick post to document my targets for 2008. I'll need to be quick or the bells will ring before I get there...
1. West Highland Way race - to set a new PB, which means beating my 2007 time of 21 hours 11 minutes.
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.
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.
4. 10k - to beat 38 minutes. I didn't achieve this one in 2007, so it needs to be carried forward to 2008.
5. National XC - to finish in the top half - same reason as 4 above.
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.

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.
2. To beat Kim T in every race we do.
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.
4. To win the Strathearn Harriers club championship.
5. To run at least 5 marathons and ultras.
6. To run at least 25 races in total.
7. To run at least 5 'new' races, i.e. races I haven't done before.
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).
9. To learn how to navigate properly, so I can do some of the fantastic hill races that are on the fixture list.
10. To try a few new malt whiskies (possibly not running related, but I was struggling for a 10th...)

2007 targets - how did I get on?

Last December I set myself 6 running targets for 2007. The idea was that by telling people what my targets were, I would then be more likely to go out and do the training needed to achieve them. So was it a successful strategy? Read on and find out - my original comments from December 2006 are in italics.

Target No 1. West Highland Way: anything under 21 hours 39 mins. While I would love to beat 21 hours, I think that is probably a bit too aspirational to be my target. So I'll settle for beating my pb. Having said that anything under 22 hours would be great and under 23 hours would be pretty good as well.
My time in this year's WHW race was 21 hours 11 minutes, so my most important target for the year was achieved!!!!! Perhaps sub 21 is possible after all? It might have happened this year without the diversion just after Drymen, so who knows...

Target No 2. National XC championship: to make the top half of the field. Although it may not sound it, this will be quite a hard one to do.
Prophetic words indeed. On 10th February I ran as hard as I could round the 3 lap Falkirk course, then was gutted to see the results the following day and find out I had finished 210th from the 413 finishers. If I had been 4 places further up the field I would have made it - 5 seconds was the margin between success and failure. So near and yet so far.

Target No 3. Marathon: under 3 hours 10 mins. Call me a dreamer, but I actually believe that I still have another sub 3 hour marathon in me, although only if I give up all the ultra running and make a sub 3 hour marathon my main goal for the year. Realistically, that isn't going to happen, so I would be delighted with anything under 3.10.
My dream came true, at Zurich on 1 April, and it came true without giving up all the ultra running. I ran a near perfect marathon to finish in 2 hours 59 minutes and 41 seconds. My pacing was perfect, the weather was perfect, the organisation was perfect, the course was perfect - in fact everything about the day was perfect. I thought a sub 3 hour time was slipping away from me at 39k, but I managed to rally over the last 3k and finished with 19 seconds to spare. In my other marathon I also beat my 3.10 target, finishing Loch Ness at the beginning of October in 3 hours 5 minutes. All in all, an excellent year for my marathon performances, and it looks as though I will finish 104th in the Scottish rankings for 2007.

Target No 4. Half marathon: 1.26 or better. My best chance is probably at Inverness in March, as the WHW training tends to take over after that. I achieved this target on 11th March when I ran 1.24.45 at Inverness. I was pleased with all my half marathon perfomances this year - comfortably under the hour and a half in all of them, with 1.28 at Islay in August (and a prize for being 2nd MV40), 1.28 at Glasgow in September (when I was just coming back from an injury), and then 1.27 at Aviemore in October (a week after the Loch Ness marathon).

Target No 5. 10k: sub 38 minutes. A secondary target here is to beat 40 minutes in all races.
Failed this one. I didn't manage to get under 38 minutes, and I finished Irvine in a disappointing 41.40 after picking up a hamstring injury at the 8k mark. Best perfomances were 38.40 at the Nigel Barge in early January, then 38.37 (2nd overall and first vet) on a hilly Auchterarder course in May. I was a bit unfortunate to miss the Troon 10k with an injury and then miss the Strathaven 10k with a heavy cold - both of these courses presented opportunities for fast times.

Target No 6. Overall - to run 2,000 miles in the year.
This is a pretty meaningless target, to be honest, but I'm glad to say I have achieved it - I have already run 2,038 miles with a few days still to go.

So in summary I achieved 4 of my 6 running targets. As the main 3 targets were the WHW, the marathon and the half marathon, I think it is fair to say that it was a very satisfactory year. In total I have run 27 races: 2 ultras (the West Highland Way and the Highland Fling), 2 marathons (Zurich and Loch Ness), 4 half marathons (Inverness, Islay, Glasgow and Aviemore), 3 10ks (Nigel Barge, Auchterarder, Irvine), 1 5k (Broadwood), 4 other road races (the Brig Bash, the Round Arran Relay first leg north, the Sheriffmuir Challenge, and the Allan Scally) and 11 other 'off road' races (7 cross countries, the Comrie Hills relay, the Comrie fun run, the Knock hill race and the Lairig Mor race). 11 of the 27 have been 'new' races, i.e. races I haven't done before, which is a much higher percentage than normal - definitely one of the advantages of moving house and joining a new running club!

I hope to bring the year's racing to an end with the Kilbarchan Hogmanay handicap on 31 December. Before then, I'll try and set my targets for 2008.

Another great run on the West Highland Way

Today is the 22nd December - less than 6 months to the 2008 West Highland Way race. And today the training for the 2008 race started in earnest. 22 of us met at Milngavie Station earlier this morning for the traditional pre Christmas run to Drymen and back (with of course a stop in Drymen for a coffee and scone). It was a great day out - fantastic to meet up with so many old faces, plus quite a few new ones. On the way out the conditions were really icy, which made running very difficult in quite a few place, and caused quite a few potentially nasty falls -thankfully no-one was badly hurt, apart from a bit of bruised pride.

We reached the cafe in Drymen in a fast 1.59, then came back in an even faster 1.52. 25 and a half miles in total. All in all a great session.

John K has already posted an excellent report and video clips:
http://www.west-highland-way-race07-training.blogspot.com/
and I'm sure Marco and Debbie will have something to say in due course:
http://www.marcoonrunning.blogspot.com/
and
http://www.debsonrunning.blogspot.com/
and maybe even Tim, but he hasn't blogged for ages :)
http://whw08.blogspot.com/

No time to blog

You may have noticed that there hasn't been a lot of action on this blog site. I've just been too busy. I started a new job a few weeks ago and haven't had time. However I didn't want to lose my regular readers, so thought I would give a very quick update:

1. I'm on holiday now for the next 2 weeks, so should have a bit more time to blog, run and generally relax.
2. Tomorrow is the traditional West Highland Way pre Christmas run from Milngavie to Drymen. It's about 25 miles all in, with a stop at Drymen for a coffee and a scone. I'm looking forward to it. I think there will be about 20 people there so should be a good day out. The forecast isn't great, but that doesn't really matter. I'll report later.
3. If all goes well I'll reach 2,000 running miles tomorrow. It should happen in the muddy field just before the road at Drymen. I've done 1,988 miles so far, so 12 to go.
4. I had an interesting run on Wednesday night. Had a dinner in South Queensferry and was staying there overnight, so before the dinner went out a run over the Forth Road Bridge to Fife, under the bridge, back along the other side, round South Quensferry and back to the hotel. I hadn't run over the bridge since the 1999 Edinburgh marathon, so it was a bit different. It was also absolutely freezing.
5. I have a heavy cold (probably as a result of 4 above). Hopefully tomorrow's run will help it go away.
6. I was walking through Edinburgh about 5pm tonight. Think I was the only person in the city who hadn't been out at a Christmas lunch.
7. Last weekend I fixed a fence to stop a horse coming in to our garden. More details on allybea's blog www.allybea.blogspot.com
8. I plan to write a review of 2007 soon, including details of whether I met my targets or not. Look out for it. I'll also have to set my 2008 targets, so that's something to look forward to as well.
9. I've only one more race in 2007, which is the Kilbarchan AC 11 mile Hogmanay handicap. I've been invited along as a guest by John K. I'm hoping to thank him for his kind invitation by beating him convincingly. I used to live in Kilbarchan so it will bring back some memories.

East District Cross Country Championships at Stirling Uni

Yesterday was the East District XC champs at Stirling Uni. After my awful performance at the previous cross country at Kirkcaldy, I was determined to perform a bit better at this one. I tried to do the right things: didn't run on Thursday or Friday to make sure I felt fresh; didn't have alcohol on Friday night (at least didn't have very much alcohol - a small G&T and a glass of wine hardly count, do they?); then did a full and proper warm up before the race started.

It was a cold, wet and windy day. I felt sorry for the spectators and marshalls, but most of them seemed to be very experienced cross country watchers and were well wrapped up. By the time our race was due, at 2.30, the weather had become even worse. I set off at a good pace and managed to keep it going for most of the route, passing one of the Central runners I had been chasing with a couple of hundred metres to go. I finished in just under 40 minutes (official time of 39.53), in 130th position out of 247 finishers - a much improved performance. It was my 27th race of the year. Strathearn Harriers finished 15th team overall and 13th masters team.

By the time I had showered and changed, the rain had turned into snow and I had to drive home in a blizzard. Within an hour there was quite thick snow lying on our driveway. Winter has definitely arrived.

What a poor year for British sport

Sunday night sees this year's showing of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards. I've just had a look at the BBC website and have to say that I'm particularly unimpressed by the shortlist:

Joe Calzaghe Age: 35 Nationality: Welsh Sport: Boxing
2007 highlight: Becoming undisputed world champion
Lewis Hamilton Age: 22 Nationality: English Sport: Formula One
2007 highlight: World titlerunner-up in rookie season
Ricky Hatton Age: 29 Nationality: English Sport: Boxing
2007 highlight: Las Vegas showdown v Floyd Mayweather
Andy Murray Age: 20 Nationality: Scottish Sport: Tennis
2007 highlight: Breaking into the world top 10
Christine Ohuruogu Age: 23 Nationality: English Sport: Athletics
2007 highlight: World 400m champion
Paula Radcliffe Age: 33 Nationality: English Sport: Athletics
2007 highlight: Mother of all wins
Jason Robinson Age: 33 Nationality: English Sport: Rugby union
2007 highlight: Helping England to Rugby World Cup final
Justin Rose Age: 27 Nationality: English Sport: Golf
2007 highlight: European Order of Merit winner
James Toseland Age: 27 Nationality: English Sport: Motorcycling
2007 highlight: Second World Superbikes title
Jonny WilkinsonAge: 27 Nationality: English Sport: Rugby union
2007 highlight: Helping England to Rugby World Cup final.

Now, I don't want to appear critical of any of the individuals on the list, all of whom are outstanding athletes in their own right. My complaint is more about the lack of depth in the nominations. For example, 2 English rugby players, members of a team which finished second in the world cup; a Scottish tennis player who has been injured for a large part of the year (but admittedly does have great potential); a motorcyclist who I have to admit I haven't heard of; a racing driver who finished 2nd in the world championship, despite looking odds on to win with 2 races left; a golfer who shows a lot of promise and won the European Order of Merit, but hasn't really made the big breakthrough yet; and 2 boxers, one of whom is fighting on Saturday night for a world title. And that only leaves the 2 athletes. I think Paula Radcliffe is great. Her New York marathon win was outstanding. I'm sure she would be the first to agree, however, that winning a New York marathon is not nearly the same as winning an Olympic title - with that in mind I really hope Paula wins the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Which leaves Christine Ohuruogu. She won the 400m at the World Championships, only a month after completing a year long suspension for missing 3 drugs tests. She has been given a hammering in the press, who view her with great suspicion. But let look at the facts. The UK triathlete, Tim Don, committed the same offence and was given a 3 month ban. Like Ohuruogu, the BOA decided that on appeal they would not apply their lifetime Olympic ban because of the circumstances. There has been very little in the press about Tim Don, but a hell of a lot about Christine Ohurougu. I am completely against drugs in sport, but Ohurougu has never failed a drugs test - she did not comply with the drug testing procedures, and paid a heavy penalty.

At the end of the day, I think that Christine Ohurougu is the only one of the nominees who deserves to win the 2007 award. It will not happen, however. The British public, fueled by a hostile press, are not convinced by her. Unfortunately it will be awarded to a rookie motor racing driver who is a great prospect, but who couldn't quite hold his nerve to win the world championship when he was in pole position. The fact that his team were fined $100m during the season for cheating will be ignored. Hypocrisy or what?

Bridge of Allan time trial

A new running shop has opened in Bridge of Allan, quite close to where I live, and one of the things they arrange is a Saturday morning time trial. I decided to go along this morning and see what it was like - part of my thinking was that it would get my run over with early in the day, without having to think too much about it. I turned up at the shop just before 9am, jogged the half mile down to the start, and got ready to go. The course is a fairly flat 3 and a half miles (3.54 miles according to my GPS). This morning there was quite a strong wind which was into our faces on the way out and probably behind us on the way back, but as usual I didn't really notice it when it was in my favour.

About 20 runners turned up. After being reminded by the organiser that it was a time trial and not a race (yeah right), we set off. I was in second place in the early stages, but was finding it quite hard and a couple of people came past me after a mile or so. I was through 2 miles in 12.58, just under 6.30 pace, then speeded up a bit as we got the benefit of the wind on the way back in. I caught one of the guys in front with about half a mile to go - he had stopped and was walking - and finished 3rd in 22.43. That worked out at an average pace of 6.25 - not a bad workout for a Saturday morning. I'll try and go back, and would recommend it to others as a worthwhile training session. Maybe we can get a few from the club to go along? After all it is a time trial, not a race :)

East District XC League - Kirkcaldy

The less said about this the better, I think. I ran very poorly - one of my poorest races of the year. My training diaries show that every time I change job I run like a donkey (I had a particularly bad half marathon at Loch Rannoch in 1992), but maybe I'm just making excuses.

My time was 39 minutes 22 seconds for the 8,800 metres (just under 5 and a half miles). My clubmate Phil had been out at a party last night, actually stopped to be sick at one point during the race, and still managed to beat me by around 15 seconds. Not good.

Maybe I just need to have a bit of a rest and let this cold work its way through my system. I reckon I still need to so another 122 miles to get to 2,000 for the year - even with a bit of a break this week I should still be able to do it relatively comfortably, as long as I don't pick up any stupid injuries. So it's a plan - an easy week this week. We'll see....

Tyndrum to Crianlarich and back

I was on holiday today, before starting my new job on Monday. I had planned to run with John K on the Gleniffer Braes in Paisley, but John had a slight niggle on his hamstring so has sensibly decided to rest for a few days. As an alternative I decided to drive up to Tyndrum and do a WHW run, the first for quite some time.

I arrived at Tyndrum just before 12, had a quick bowl of soup in the Green Welly, then headed south along the WHW towards Crianlarich. It was a good day for a run - the colours were lovely, and the hills around Crianlarich looked fantastic with a light covering of snow from about 2,000 feet. There were very few people about, although I did surprise one elderly walker when I came round the corner to find him doing the toilet at the side of the path :) After a bit more than an hour I reached the deer gate at the Bogle Glen and decided to head right down the hill into Crianlarich, before turning round and coming back the same way. I reached the turning point (exactly 7 miles) in 1 hour 13 minutes, then came back slightly faster. I saw quite a few deer, all of which were considerably larger than the deer that live round about us. Wonder why that is? Are they different types of deer? Please leave a comment if you know the answer.

Anyway, I worked hard all the way back - it's a different type of running on that terrain compared to the roads, and it takes a wee while for your legs to get used to it again. There was even a snow shower at one stage, and it got quite cold at the higher points with the biting wind. I arrived back at Tyndrum just before 3, had a panini for lunch in the Green Welly, had a look in their whisky shop (and noticed they had a 43 year old Bowmore for sale with a price tag of £495 - gosh), then enjoyed the fantastic drive home through Crianlarich, along to Lochearnhead, along the length of the loch to St Fillans, on to Comrie, over the hill and home. It's one of my favourite drives. All in all a cracking day out, which has reminded me once again what a brilliant place Scotland is, and how lucky we are to have such fabulous scenery right on our doorstep.

ps - after finishing this post I've just noticed that my previous one was saying how lousy I felt because of my stinking cold. I'm sure you've probably guessed, but I do feel a lot better. I still have a bit of a cough, and I didn't sound great today when I stopped running (but then again, I never do), but I'm definitely feeling a lot better. Unfortunately I seem to have passed it on to allybea, who isn't particularly pleased to have inherited it :(

Still feeling lousy

Not feeling any better today, in fact feeling even worse, so I didn't go to the Strathaven 10k. A shame, as I was looking forward to it and hoping for a fast time. That probably means I won't now achieve my target of a sub 38 minute 10k this year. Over the next few weeks I'll do a more detailed update of how I performed against the various targets I set at the start of the year.

Exciting news - I've joined Facebook, and been made a 'Father Figure' in the West Highland Way family. I'm very honoured about that, even though I have to admit that I don't have a clue what I am doing. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually. In the meantime if anyone has sent me a Facebook message or has written on my wall (what is that all about?), and I haven't replied, it is simply because I don't know what to do yet.

Incidentally, I've just realised I haven't said anything so far on my blog about Glasgow being awarded the 2014 Commonwealth Games. What a great result - I was absolutely delighted when I heard the news last Friday. It's a fantastic opportunity for Glasgow, and for the whole of Scotland, to leave a sporting legacy for the Scottish people. Hopefully it's an opportunity we'll take.

Full of the cold

Today I have a stinker of a cold and am feeling miserable. I shouldn't really complain, as it's my first cold since January, but I think I am a serious doubt for tomorrow 'Run With The Wind' 10k at Strathaven. That's a shame, as I was looking forward to this race (particularly the fact that the overall course elevation is about 120m downhill).

Good luck to Scotland in the football this afternoon against Italy. If we win we're through to Euro 2008 - what an incredible achievement that would be in a group with France and Italy. If it's a draw we still have a slight chance (but we would be relying on Ukraine to beat France on Wednesday night), and if we lose then we're out. I have to say it is irritating me that both of the hosts, Austria and Switzerland, have been given automatic qualification, leaving only 14 other available places. Both of these countries would be unlikely to qualify from their own efforts, so why should they get an automatic place? I think it is time to scrap that rule, and make the hosts qualify like everybody else.

The 20 most annoying things about running

In no particular order, and with tongue firmly in cheek:
1. Seeing the sub 3 hour runners being called 'fun runners' or 'joggers' by Brendan Foster during his London Marathon commentary. These guys and girls have trained hard - at least Steve Cram recognises that. Why don't you do it yourself one year, Bren?
2. The aggressively feminist atmosphere at 'women only' races - woe betide any man who happens to venture too close to the course.
3. Short courses - if it's advertised as a 10k, make sure it is 10k. That shouldn't be too hard a concept, should it?
4. People shouting 'you're looking good' when you have 5 miles to go in a marathon and hit the wall 3 miles earlier. Let's be honest - I'm not looking good. So don't lie to me.
5. Being overtaken by a woman (full stop). But it's even worse when it is being filmed by a TV camera crew.
6. Old runners moaning about the lack of veterans' prizes - especially when they are the only person in their age category.
7. People who start on the front line of every race, even when they're not that good. It tends to happen in bigger events like the Glagow half marathon, and you spend the first mile weaving your way round them. There are normally signs at the start which indicate your estimated time. So here's a tip: if you think the race will take you 2 hours, why don't you line up beside the sign that says '2 hours'? That way you won't annoy all the faster runners who pass you in the first mile.
8. Daft excuses for poor performances, such as 'my horse wasn't feeling well' or 'I did a long training run yesterday and was still tired'. That's was your own fault, you fool - have an easy day before a race, like the rest of us.
9. Hearing the excuse that 'I don't run because it's boring' - especially when the person telling you this is one of the most boring people on the entire planet.
10. People who write to Runner's World to complain about being unsuccessful in the London Marathon ballot. If you're that keen to run a marathon, why don't you get a charity place or do one of the 30 other marathons in the UK?
11. Spitting into the wind during a race, and watching it come back and land on your face.
12. Someone else spitting into the wind during a race, and watching it come back and land on your face.
13. A half marathon marshall telling you to stop and wait for the traffic to go past. Yeah, that will be right. Did no-one explain that this is a road race? The cars are supposed to stop for the runners, not the other way round.
14. Club committee meetings where the most trivial issues generate 2 hours of debate. I don't care if the coffee at the 10k should cost 75p or £1 - just decide and move on please.
15. Rivals speeding up when you overtake them..
16. ..then slowing down again when they realise you are too strong.
17. People with no knowledge of running saying 'Paula Radcliffe is a quitter'. Come back and give us your opinion when you have run a 2.15 marathon and won a world championship, all right?
18. Portaloos at the East District relays. What's that all about? Way too civilised. What's wrong with the bushes, Alex?
19. Golfers who shout 'Don't you know this is private property?' Yes we do but read the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and see who is entitled to be there, before you start shouting.
20. AGMs of Scottish Athletics Limited. I don't want to give up my Saturday to listen to 2 delegates having a fight about a chair.

Power of 10 rankings

At the moment I'm still clinging on by my fingertips to a top 100 place in the 2007 Scottish male marathon rankings. I'm currently 99th, although I suspect I'll lose my place when the list is updated for Monday's Dublin marathon. I'm also likely to fall even further after New York this weekend.

Still, it was nice when it lasted. Just have to run a bit faster next year :)

http://www1.powerof10.info/default.asp?page=782142342E3F703B7E2F7031&which=44605E64706C964B58282823W82DY2Z25C30402446245C4448168018CE2A

Junk miles

Junk miles (noun) - training runs which add very little long term benefit to one's training programme, other than adding miles in the training diary.

I got up early this morning, having had the benefit of the extra hour due to the clocks changing, and went along to the Strathearn Harriers session at 8.15am in Crieff. There were 10 of us altogether, a record turnout, and we had a very pleasant off road run at a a nice and easy pace. This was just what I needed as I haven't been feeling great for the last few days. Towards the end of the run the conversation turned to the subject of 'junk miles' (see definition above). It got me thinking. As we approach the end of the year I suppose I could be accused of running some 'junk miles', particularly as I try and chase a target such as 2,000 miles for the year. (Incidentally after today I'm sitting at 1,739 miles, with just over 2 months to go). On the other hand an easy session is not necessarily 'junk' and can be worthwhile, particularly when you are feeling tired and your body needs a chance to recover. In these situations I often find it is better to go for a 4 or 5 mile jog with the dog than to do nothing at all - at least it keeps my legs turning over, and I often feel better for having been out. So, having thought about it in detail, I don't think I am generally guilty of running 'junk miles', although I do have some very easy recovery sessions when I feel I need them.

Glad I've got that off my chest. What else has been happening?

I was at the Rangers v Barcelona Champions League match on Tuesday night. Rangers defended well and deserved their point, although I don't think they will win the Champions League. Barcelona looked different class.

After work on Friday I ran round Arthur's Seat, just before it became dark. The views across Edinburgh were superb. It is one of my favourite runs.

This afternoon was the Strathearn Harriers golf day at St Fillans Golf Club. Our team was last in the 'Texas Scramble' competition, but despite that it was a great day out on a very scenic course.

Finally, winter has now arrived here in Scotland. For the next few months it will be dark more often than it is light, it will be a lot colder, and it generally be unpleasant when out running. Hard as it may seem, fellow runners, try not to despair. Remember that all the hard work put in during the winter will produce better performances next spring and summer.

Clocks

Don't forget to turn your clock back an hour on Saturday night. If you forget you'll arrive far too early on Sunday, and wonder why you are first there. One year, in March, I missed the Alloa half marathon because I forgot to put my clock forward. I went out to the car thinking it was half past eight, and that I had plenty of time to get to Alloa for an 11 o'clock start. I had driven about 50 yards when the man on the radio said it was half past nine. I couldn't have got there in time so just turned round, came home, and went out for a run myself. Not one of my better days.

End of season blues

At the moment I don't have any major races planned for the next few months. I'll do some of the cross countries, and I've entered the Strathaven 10k in November, but there's nothing like a marathon or a West Highland Way on the horizon. That isn't good. I tend to run a lot better when I know I'm training for something specific - if I am not then I find it a lot more difficult to stay motivated and train as hard.

I suppose my body probably needs a bit of a rest after quite a long and hard year. So far this year I've done 2 ultras, 2 marathons and 4 half marathons. Once we reach Christmas I'll start thinking more seriously about next year's WHW (and I'll also write my review of the year and announce the winners of my running awards, so keep an eye out for that) but at the moment I feel as though I am just treading water.

Yesterday was the first East League cross country meeting at Broxburn. There were 9 of us in total from Strathearn Harriers, which was a great turn-out. I think I finished about half way up (or down) the field, around 10 seconds behind Phil M. He built up quite a lead on the first leg, and even though I closed quite a lot on the second leg (reducing the gap from about 30 seconds to 12 seconds) I just couldn't catch him. Still, I'm 3 years older, and our winter club championship is based on age adjusted times, so I'm confident I might end up just in front of him on an 'age adjusted' basis. Having said that I'm not sure I'll be ahead of some of our 'older' members (or perhaps 'less youthful' is a more tactful description), such as Gordon - we'll just need to wait and see when the results and age adjusted times are published.

Finally congratulations to Kim who finished today's Amsterdam Marathon in a time of 3 hours 9 minutes. This was only her second marathon, with her previous one being at Loch Ness in 2002 where she finished in 4.01. From looking at the results I think she finished as 28th lady. Given the quality of the field - the first lady was a Kenyan who ran 2.28 - that's an excellent performance.

Were Saturday's cross country times any good?

When running a race over a different surface (i.e. off-road), I sometimes find it quite difficult to work out whether my time was good or not. Take Saturday's cross country, for example. My official time was 15.37 for the 4k route. The fastest time of the day was Robert Russell of Central, who finished in 12.13, and Ali Hay of Central was next with 12.18. The other Strathearn guys ran 14.31 (Digby), 15.08 (Simon) and 14.18 (Colin).

As the course was a distance of 4k, is it reasonable to multiply these times by 2.5 to get a 10k equivalent road time? Looking at the evidence, I think it is. Robert's 'converted' 10k time works out at 30.32, and Ali's works out at 30.45. Robert recently won the Stirling 10k in a time of 30.47 - it's close enough to his time on Saturday to suggest my method works quite well.

That means my '10k equivalent' time on Saturday was 39.02 - probably about right given the way I ran, and the fact it was only 6 days after a marathon. On that basis I can conclude it was a reasonable performance: not fantastic, but ok. As for the other guys, Digby's time works out at a '10k equivalent' of 36.17, Simon's at 37.50, and Colin's at 35.45.

There is another cross country this Saturday, with the first East League meeting taking place at Broxburn. I ran there last year: I'm pleased to say it was a traditional cross country course with mud, steep hills, and a biting cold wind. It looks like there will be a good turnout from Strathearn Harriers. I'm looking forward to it already :)

A double header (and apologies to allybea)

I have an apology to make to my good lady wife allybea. Last week I wrote a detailed report about our Loch Ness marathon weekend and mentioned everyone who was there, plus a few people who were not - but I failed to mention allybea. That did not go down well at all. I've been in the doghouse all week. All I can say is that I'm sorry. For the record I can confirm that allybea was there and, as is so often the case, she was my very best supporter. So thanks allybea.

Talking of allybea, she was so inspired by the marathon last week that she has decided to take the plunge again herself, and has entered the 2008 London marathon! More information on how she came to this monumentous decision is provided on her blog, as well as a great report of her previous marathon in New York:
http://www.allybea.blogspot.com/
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that her entry is accepted. I might even enter it myself, if I can get another entry form before Friday's deadline.

I've had a busy weekend. Yesterday I ran for Strathearn in the East District Cross Country Relay championships at Dunfermline. Each leg was 4,000m over an undulating parkland course, a distance which I find incredibly difficult because of my complete lack of speed. Despite my involvement we did pretty well, finishing in 20th position overall in just under an hour. Not too surprisingly I was the slowest of the 4 with a time of 15.37. Digby did 14.31, Simon did 15.08, and Colin was the fastest with 14.18. Well done guys. Central had an amazing day, winning all 4 relays (men, women, young males and young females), and picking up a few seconds and thirds as well. It just shows what an incredible depth of talent they have within the club.

Today I headed off early for the Aviemore half marathon. I wouldn't normally do a half marathon just one week after a full marathon, but Aviemore is a pretty special event and I didn't think I could miss it. The event website gives an excellent description of the course:
A spectacular, scenic half marathon course on road and excellent forest
tracks starting in the shadow of the Cairngorm Mountains, around
breathtaking Loch Morlich, through stunning Glenmore Forest Park
and Rothiemurchus Estate, crossing the River Spey and finishing
in the new Aviemore Centre.

Sounds great, doesn't it? I can guarantee you it is every bit as good as it sounds. This is, in my humble opinion, the best half marathon in Scotland, and I'd be surprised if there were many better anywhere in the world. It's that good.

We were fortunate that conditions were just about perfect for running, and the views across the loch to the Cairngorms were indeed spectacular. My time was also a pleasant surprise. Despite last week's marathon and yesterday's cross country, I finished high up the field in 1 hour 27 minutes and 31 seconds, almost 2 minutes faster than last year. I think the scenery must have inspired me.

Finally, it's going to be a late night tonight, as Channel 5 are showing their highlights programme of last week's Loch Ness marathon from 12.10am to 1.05am. I just hope it is worth staying up to watch it.

Another great weekend at Loch Ness (and what a breakfast!)

Last night I promised to provide a bit more detail about my run yesterday at the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon. So, in roughly date and time order, here are some of the highlights.

We left home about half 3 on Saturday afternoon and, like most of the popluation of the world, were very surprised that England had beaten Australia in the rugby before we reached Crieff. Picked up Liz and Shelagh, and headed north. Stopped for soup at the House of Bruar (highly recommended), and arrived at registration at the Sports Centre around 6.30. Met up with Phil, Liz, Duncan and Keri, collected number and chip, said hello to Adrian at his Run and Become stall, then headed off to Pizza Express beside Inverness Station. I had a nightmare trying to get parked, but on our 3rd time round the city centre we managed to find a car park. We had a pleasant meal in Pizza Express, the only complaint being that there were too many mushrooms in the mushroom pasta, then headed north to our B&Bs at Muir of Ord. Headed to bed about 11pm. The first time marathons (Liz and Shelagh) were definitely more nervous than the anyone else.

The next morning we got up shortly before 7 am for our pre race breakfast. The textbooks say that, prior to a marathon, you should eat a high carbohydrate breakfast of porridge followed by wholemeal toast with honey. They are wrong. What you should have is this: 2 slices of bacon, a sausage, 2 poached eggs, a tomato, and some haggis, accompanied by a couple of slices of toast and some coffee. It was superb. I have learned my lesson. In future, before a marathon, I will try and make sure I have a full Scottish breakfast.

We were a bit tight for time, and made the bus with only seconds to spare, having met up with John K and John McL. It took about an hour for the bus to get from the Sports Centre in Inverness to the race start just past Whitebridge, then I had 45 minutes or so to go to the toilet, stretch, go to the toilet again, put on some vaseline, go to the toilet again, put my bag in the baggage lorry, go the toilet for a last time, and then head up the road to the start. I didn't bother with the mass warm up. A pipe band came right through the middle of the waiting runners playing some inspiring Scottish music (always a nice touch, I think), and then at 10am exactly we were ready to go.

I set off at a good pace, and noticed I was through 2 miles in a fast 13.11. The first few miles are downhill, and I knew if I was to have any chance at all of beating 3 hours I needed to make a good start. I was pleased that my breakfast seemed to have settled well, and in general I felt good. I was through 5 miles in 33.16 - still a bit fast - and kept going well until about 8 miles. Just before 9 miles I saw Phil M, who had cycled in from Inverness to support his wife Liz. Phil, apologies for my grumpiness, but I was going through a bit of a bad patch - it was nothing personal, honestly. If it is any consolation I was even more grumpy when I saw Gus and Jean a couple of miles further on, and positively rude when I saw Simon about 14 miles. Anyway, I went through 10 miles in 1.07.16, but was starting to find it hard going and slowed a bit before the half way, which I reached in 1.29.10. It wasn't getting any easier, and by the time I reached 15 miles in 1.42.36 I knew I wasn't going to beat 3 hours. A Channel 5 motor bike and camera appeared in front of me. I thought that was great - I do like being on the TV - but then realised it was only because I was running beside the 2nd lady. Much to my annoyance she shot away from me at a great pace, right in front of the camera, but if you see this happening on TV please make a note this: I overtook her again at the big hill outside Dores at 17 miles and never saw her again. So there. Just a pity the cameras didn't capture that. The hill caused me to slow a bit, although not too much, and I went through 20 miles in 2.19.38. I don't think anyone passed me all the way up, which pleased me no end. After that it got even more difficult - I suppose the last 6 miles of a marathon always are - and I was pleased when I finally reached the houses just coming in to Inverness. A couple more painful miles and I was into the city centre, over the bridge, heading up towards the stadium, and through 25 miles in 2.56.50. I worked hard over the last mile and just managed to get over the line under 3.06, recording an actual time of 3.05.54. Of the 44 road marathons I have done it was my 11th fastest. It is also worth noting it was my 60th race of marathon distance or longer.

Other performances were as follows: John McL ran a PB of 3.06; Phil finished in 3.13, John K did 3.15, Bobby M did 3.19, Duncan did 3.26, Tim did 3.41, Ellen did 3.47, Liz (in her first marathon) did 4.24, and Shelagh (also in her first marathon) did 4.29. Keri did the 10k in just under an hour. It was a perfect day for running, but it is definitely one of the tougher marathon courses. So well done to everyone. I'm looking forward to next year already.

Loch Ness Marathon - quick update

Just a very quick update to say that I finished the Loch Ness Marathon earlier today in 3 hours 5 minutes and 53 seconds. I was through the half way in 1.29, but couldn't keep that pace up over the tougher second half. I'll report more fully later in the week, including details of a fantastic pre-race breakfast. Right now I'm away to see the rugby. Come on Scotland!

2.04.26: that's a pretty fast marathon time..

Last Sunday, Haile Gebrselassie broke the world record for the marathon, running a time of 2 hours 4 minutes and 26 seconds in Berlin. Yes, I'll say that time again to make sure it sinks in: 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 26 seconds. I'm a bit surprised it hasn't had more publicity. It's an absolutely incredible time. To put it in a bit of context, it equates to 29.30 pace for the 10k, and Gebrselassie has run 4.2 of these back to back. I've just checked the 'Power of 10' rankings for Scottish performances this year, and so far only 1 Scot has run a 10k faster than 29.30 - Robert Russell, who ran 29.16 at Manchester. The next best time is 30.34.

It was the 24th time the great man has set a world record, and I was fortunate enough to see one of them. In 2003 I was doing some work for UK Athletics in Birmingham, and I was invited along to the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix meeting that night at the National Indoor Arena. Gebrselassie set a new 2 mile world indoor record of 8 minutes 4.69 seconds. I felt priviliged to have seen it. If I remember correctly there was also a women's pole vault world record that night from Svetlana Feofanova of 4.77m. It was quite an occasion.

(PS Just in case anyone is wondering, I checked both these records on the internet just before typing this. Did you really think I remembered them? How sad do you think I am?)

I think I'll settle for something a bit slower on Sunday.

Countdown to Loch Ness

Well, it's only a few days to go to the Loch Ness marathon on Sunday. Regular readers of my blog will know that this is my favourite marathon. I've done it every year since it started in 2002. The organisation is great, the course is really scenic (although quite hilly in places), the temperature should be ideal for running, and the field is a sensible size of around 2,000 which means there are always people around, although not too many to get in your way. As an added bonus a lot of my running friends are doing it - about 12 or so from the West Highland Way race, 6 from Strathearn Harriers, quite a few from Troon, and various others I know, so all in all it should be a good weekend. As for a time prediction - who knows? My build up to the race has been quite good, but I've never previously managed 2 sub 3 hour marathons in the one year. I've no idea if I'm in shape to do that or not, but I'll certainly give it my best shot.

We should be back in time to see the Scotland v Argentina game in the quarter final of the rugby world cup. I don't fancy Scotland's chances at all, but it would be great to be proved wrong. What price on a 'Super Sunday' double of a sub 3 hour marathon for me and a Scotland victory in the rugby? If that comes off I might even be tempted to open the bottle of champagne that has been chilling in the fridge for the last couple of months :)

A terrible shock

It was a great shock to hear earlier today about the tragic and premature death of one of my old Troon clubmates, Fergie MacDonald. Fergie died following an accident in his hotel during an exchange trip to Troon's twin town of Villneuve-sur-Lot. He was a great club member - a real larger than life individual - and it seems very hard to believe he is no longer with us. He will be sadly missed.

My thoughts are with his wife and family at this very difficult time.

Stewarding

I was stewarding today at the Stirling 10k. It was a good race but the weather was awful for standing about - torrential rain the whole time. I quite like running in these conditions, and was a bit disappointed I hadn't entered. Still, I went out an 8 mile run when I got home and felt great, managing to do it at 6.59 pace, despite the hills. Maybe I'm starting to get the benefit of my long run on Friday.

This looks like being a busy week. I'm going to the rugby on Tuesday night with friends (Scotland v Romania), then it's the Camanachd Cup Final on Saturday (shinty - it's the 100th Cananachd Cup Final - Fort William v Inveraray), then the rugby again on Sunday (Scotland v the All Blacks). All of them are hospitality events, which doesn't auger well for my training. I'll have to be pretty disciplined the rest of the time as I'd like to do another 50 miles this week. That would set me up nicely for the marathon, and would hopefully leave me in shape to give a sub 3 hour attempt my best shot.

A hard week's training and a very hard run

This has been a tough week. The Loch Ness Marathon is just a bit more than 3 weeks away, and at the start of the week I was very aware that I needed to do a lot more training than I had in the previous few weeks. To be frank, the last few weeks have been fairly dismal, due to my hamstring injury and a general lack of motivation. I was keen to sort that out and make sure I did at least 50 miles running this week.

I'm pleased to say that, so far, I have stuck to my plan. I did a hard 8 mile run on Monday, followed by another hard 7 on Tuesday, then two relatively easy 5s on Wednesday and Thursday. However I knew I needed to do a 20 miler at some point if I was to be in good shape for Loch Ness. Today was the day for doing it, as I was on holiday - number 2 son was moving into his halls of residence at Glasgow university in the late afternoon, and I had taken the day off to help him move.

I set out around 1.00pm, and headed along the back roads towards Comrie. I had felt sluggish all morning - getting in from a dinner at 1am last night might not have been the best preparation, although I made sure I stayed away from the drink - but despite that I made a good start. The first few miles were downhill but I knew it wouldn't last and, sure enough, at 5 miles I hit a major climb. It was a real struggle to get up and over the hill, but I made it, then worked well on the descent down to the river. I reached Comrie (10 miles) in just under 1.15, and was going quite well. The next few miles, however, on the road back towards Braco, were an absolute killer. The road just kept going up and up and up. I've driven that section many times and never noticed it being especially hilly, but I learned all about it today - in fact I looked at the map afterwards and reckoned I must have climbed around 160m in a 2 mile stretch.

After what seemed like hours I reached the top of the hill, having run around 16 miles, but I was starting to find it hard going. I was a bit dehydrated, and my water had run out. I stopped to fill up my water bottle at a farm around 18 miles (many thanks to the farmer's wife - she even asked if I would prefer bottled or tap water). I pushed as hard as I could down the hill to 20 miles, then somehow made it up the hill for the last 2 miles back to my house. It was a real struggle. At the end I was completely shattered - it was probably one of the hardest training runs I have ever done. Or maybe they always feel like that when they are still fresh in your memory?

Well, it's now a few hours since I've finished my 22 mile run. Number 2 son is in his new accommodation. I've had a fish supper for my tea, washed down by a very pleasant bottle of Pino Grigio (goes well with fish, I'm told). And you know what? Today's run doesn't seem so bad after all!

Winners

Today was the Comrie Hills relay, a race organised by my club, Strathearn Harriers. Each team requires 5 runners to run the 4 legs - leg 2, the roughest section, has to be run by 2 runners who are required to stay together. Like most hill races the course is not marked and runners are expected either to recce the route beforehand or to use their navigational skills. There are 11 checkpoints in total, all of which the teams are required to pass through and register.

As you may have guessed from the title of this blog, we won. On paper we were by no means the strongest side, but a number of the good teams (including Central, Carnethy and Highland Hillrunners) went seriously off course on Leg 1. This meant we had a lead of almost 20 minutes over these teams at the end of the first stage. Colin, our first leg runner, came in to the first changeover point in the lead, with Fife 2nd and 3rd, then Phil and Simon ran a stormer on Leg 2 and extended our lead to 1 minute and 40 seconds. Fife had a couple of really good runners on leg 3, and by the time I took over from Digby on leg 4 I was in 3rd position, about 5 minutes behind the leader and 3 minutes behind the runner in 2nd place. As well as trying to catch the people in front, I was a bit concerned about some of the faster runners who were coming from behind, such as this year's WHW winner Adrian Davies. Whatever happened I knew I would have to run a good leg if we were to stay in the medal hunt.

I started off at a good pace but felt it hard going up the hills, particularly heading up to the monument. At that stage the route doubles back down the same path and I saw the 2nd Fife runner, who I reckoned was still 3 minutes in front of me. The runner behind was nowhere to be seen. I continued to work away for the rest of the route, made sure I didn't miss any checkpoints, and crossed the line in a time of 51.30 for the leg (total team time 3.43.00), which I assumed had given us 3rd place. I was very surprised when someone told me that we were actually first - it turned out the 2 Fife runners had taken a wrong turning. So we retained our title: 2 Comrie Hills relays and 2 Strathearn Harriers victories. The Strathean team also won the prize for the first mixed team.

It was an excellent event, with a really good barbeque afterwards. Many thanks to everyone involved in the organisation. Hopefully the teams who went off course will come back next year, better prepared - the result certainly highlights the importance of knowing the proper route in hill events such as this.

I'm sure there will be full results and a race report on the Strathearn website in due course:
www.strathearnharriers.org.uk

Glasgow half marathon

Well, it went ok - in fact it went quite well, considering how disrupted my build up was. I finished in 1 hour 28 minutes and 33 seconds. That was more than 2 minutes faster than last year, and comfortably below the one and a half hour psychological barrier. It was a perfect day for distance running - cool and overcast, with only a light wind - and for a change I set off at a sensible pace. I was through 3 miles in just over 20 minutes, then had my only difficult section going along Paisley Road West, just before Bellahouston Park. After that I got stronger as the race went on, and passed a lot of people over the last few miles. It was nice to finish quickly, feeling good.

Phil managed to cross the line just a shade under 1.25, as did Kim, which was a big PB for her. Two really good performances, which suggest they are both in good shape for their forthcoming marathons. George was delighted to get under 1.35, a lot quicker than last year. The other 2 Strathearn Harriers, Liz and Shelagh, finished in 1.46 and 1.54 respectively, which they were both happy with. All in all a good day out.

A painful fall

In 2002 I had quite a bad fall when I was out running, dislocating and fracturing my right shoulder. On Thursday night I was running down the steep track towards Comrie when I tripped over some tree roots. It was a really odd sensation. As soon as I tripped I had an incredible flashback to the fall 5 years ago. I lay on the ground and felt a very familiar pain in my shoulder (although it was my left one this time), and immediately wondered if I had done the same thing again. I got up and moved my arm about a bit. Although sore, it wasn't the excruciating pain I had the last time so it was clear I hadn't done the same damage. It was however quite painful when driving home, and for most of yesterday I found it very hard to move. My left leg was also quite badly bruised at a couple of points.

After work yesterday I went out for an easy run to see how it felt. I didn't really notice the pain in my shoulder and was able to run pretty much as normal. I had another physiotherapy session with Trevor last night, and my hamstring has also improved a lot. I've therefore decided to do the Glasgow half marathon tomorrow. I'm not looking for or expecting a fantastic time, but will be quite happy just to enjoy it and get round at a steady pace. I'm hoping my shoulder is fully recovered for my golf day at Millport next Friday.

There are a few other points worth mentioning. The entries for the 2008 West Highland Way race only opened about 2 weeks ago, and the race is full already. John Kynaston has a posting on his blog which shows all the entrants, along with their 2007 time and their personal best time for the race if they have done it before. http://www.kynaston.co.uk/blog/08race01.htm
From the looks of it there are only 7 of the 150 entrants who have a faster time than my best, although there are a number of very good runners who have not done it before, such as Jens Lukas who finished 2nd in last week's Ultra Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) race. Talking of the TMB, many congratulations to those who completed either the 163km route (Murdo McEwan, Jim Drummond) or the 85km route (Hugh Kerr, Cameron Campbell). Hugh has written a fantastic report on his race experience, which can be found on the Central AC website http://www.centralathletics.co.uk/Forum/index.php?topic=372.0
It sounds an incredible event. Maybe I'll do it one day?