My race report

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

West Highland Way race

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

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

Diary of the week before the race: Saturday to Wednesday

Saturday 13 June

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday 14 June

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

Monday 15 June

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

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

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

Tuesday 16 June

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

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

Wednesday 17 June

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

Problems in the country

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

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

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

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

What a great weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

All in all, a great weekend.

Cateran Trail

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

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

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

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

Racing

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

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

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

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

Doing the Highland Fling

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Cateran Trail

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

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

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

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

See you all on Saturday.

The perils of ultra running

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

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

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

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

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

Running across Scotland - the Glasgow to Edinburgh canal race

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

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

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

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

Inverness half marathon

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

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

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

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

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

A great WHW run

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

National XC - so much to say

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

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

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

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

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

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

A pleasant meander along the canal

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

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

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

Run and Become Training and Inspiration Night - My Talk

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So what went wrong?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you.

Balmaha to Inversnaid to Balmaha

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

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

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

A run with the Glee Club

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

The worst start to a year ever

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

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

Full of the cold

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

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

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