Half a glee outing

Yesterday I joined the glee club run from Drymen to Rowardennan. I was only going to do the 1st half and the plan was for Thomas to pick me up at Rowardennan. Well, I was a bit nervous as this was going to be my 1st outing with them "on my own", but Thomas reassured me that I would "easily" be able to keep up with their pace! Well, little did he know! So we gathered in Drymen, about 10 or even 12 of us, I only knew Ellen, Pauline and Fiona and Ian King. Thomas was meeting Marco to run to Balmaha and back for a speedier session and a slightly diverted route and then drive the car to Rowardennan. I was a bit concerned about my right knee but that was holding up, but needs a rest today so no Renfrewshire Road Race for me.
After a picture we set off. Well, setting off?! Speeding off into the distance was more like it. There were 2 girls at the front (I had not met either of them before) who were setting a pace that left me gasping for breath. I was talking to Ellen, or rather she was talking to me and asking me about Nepal, but all I could do was give short answers and hiss the question: Is this your usual pace? After the 1st gate I just had to let them go and fell back until I met Fiona who was also finding it a bit too fast. So I settled into a much more relaxed pace and we chatted. In fact our chat would last nearly 4 hours until we got to Rowardennan with photo stops and a toilet break in Balmaha. In Balmaha Ellen, Pauline, Janet and Don were waiting on us, apparently they had also slowed down and had only waited a few minutes? We had met Thomas and Marco coming up Conic Hill again and stopped for a quick photo.

Fiona is obviously a very experienced WHW Runner so I got a few tips and tasted Ginger Crystals and Rice Crispy Squares that I will test out myself next time. I had gels and fruit pastilles but started to eat them a bit late (90min into the run) so I really have to stick to my orders of eating a gel every 30min or so. But I drank regularly.

Thomas met us about 3K out from Rowardennan and ran back with us, telling us that Ellen & Co were only a few min ahead but that the other half of the group had been there for at least 25min! We arrived and the bar was full of runners! To our surprise Karen and George and their running friends were there having run from Beinglas to Rowardennan and stocking up on food and drinks. They are all training for the Fling. I got changed and was pleased with my 4 hour run. We then headed to Glasgow to buy new (old) Trabuccos. I was keen to get my old model (Trabucco 12) but all they had was the new Goretex version in a pink that was too hard to bear. Luckily she offered to order the non Goretex version in purple - Perfect. And we met some more WHW Family members, Tim Downie, Muriel and their daughter were shopping for new running gear. Good luck to Muriel in her 1st HM in Bath!

Beinglas to Tyndrum

While Thomas, Marco and Richie were running from Drymen to Beinglas I parked the car at the Drover's and ran to Tyndrum. I had planned to also run back but decided against it as I was not only feeling completely exhausted when I reached Auchtertyre but felt my right knee getting sorer on the downhills.
In my excuse we had only just returned from our skiing trip the night before and I had noticed my right knee towards the end of the skiing week. There was no particular injury but maybe just too much pressure on the knee from all the skiing. It is my ITB I think.
Anyway, I had a great run in crisp cold sunshine. This was the only part of the Way I had not ran on, and from our walking a few years ago I had forgotten how many uphill sections there are. And how long the path winds through the forest above Crianlarich. I was so glad I had read Ian's blog about how to approach cows as of course they were all waiting for me on the mud-frozen path. I approached giving myself a pep talk on looking confident enough, until a small calf got scared and started to run all over the place. I was expecting the other cows to go mad as well but luckily they just stood still and I quickly disappeared up the path.

I reached Tyndrum after 2:45min. I then joined a long queue at the Green Welly where a bus-load of people had just arrived. The soup was delicious and after getting warmed up I started to eye up potential lifts. I did not have to wait long when 2 girls arrived at the petrol station and agreed to give me a lift to Beinglas. They were on their way back to Manchester from Skye and were planning to stop at the Drover's for lunch. Perfect. So after more chatting in the pub and some coffees it was time to look out for the boys. They arrived at 15.15 and we were back in the pub for more soup and chips.

This was probably our last skiing trip for a few years as downhill skiing and running don't go together so well. I was keeping my fingers crossed the whole week that Thomas would not pick up any injury. He also feels that the skiing does not fit into his training regime at all. So while this has been an annual trip with friends it looks as if we are pulling out. So here are a few pictures from our last trip, snow conditions were perfect by the way!

My first 22 Miler of the year

And a surprise one!
This morning I was planning to join 5 girls from the club on their Barcelona Marathon training run. They had planned to do 2 laps of the Greenock cut and I was going to do one lap with them, maybe a bit more.
My longest run since the Devil last year had been 10miles, not a lot and I was getting a bit worried about all these big races in my year ahead. But I also wanted to be very careful not to increase my weekly mileage too fast. Especially as my Achilles tendons are both slightly tender on pressure, though they have been for over a year, I just decided to ignore it (when you don't press on them they are fine)and it is only now that Thomas found out about it and thinks I need to be more careful. He keeps applying friction massage now.
Anyway, it turned out that the cut was pure ice and they decided to run on the road, an out-and-back route of 11M. There I was in my trail shoes(!) and very ill prepared food/drink/carboloading wise. But what the heck I thought, yes I'll join you. And that's what I did! I relied on their food and we had a few stops at shops to buy further supplies of water, lucozade and sweets. The last 4M were a real struggle, feeling sick. My right ankle was sore and I was worried that I might do some serious damage running in these trail shoes.
But hey, with their encouragement I got to the end and was sooo happy. This was a real confidence booster for me and felt like finishing a marathon. (I could have survived another 4M :-) ) So maybe the Fling is actually a realistic goal. After I finished today I certainly could see myself being at the start with a good chance of getting to the end. But there will be more training runs to get through before this ...

2010 - Explore your limits!

This will be the motto for my New Year. O.k. I have “borrowed” it from the UTMB website, but only because I have in fact applied for a place in the CCC! OMG! I must be as crazy as my husband! But admittedly this was my idea.
We have already booked a week’s holiday near Chamonix for the time of the UTMB to soak in the atmosphere and explore what looks like stunning scenery. And we were talking about walking the Mont Blanc Circuit one day. So I thought, why not entering the CCC and try to walk/run half of it together in the allowed time. We would be part of the race and could make good use of the aid and feeding stations. And if we happen to be timed out (i.e. if I am too slow) we would try and walk the rest together on our own. So it is about a big joint adventure on beautiful mountain trails in hopefully good weather!

If that is not enough to test my limits, I have also entered the Devil O The Highlands again. Rather than trying to improve my time to near 9hours I might just take it easy as the CCC will only be a few weeks later.

Then I also find my name on the Fling’s entry list. I am not sure if I will be ready for it but it gives me something to aim for. I would like to do it “unsupported” with drop bags.

For May 2010 we have planned a 3-day run/walk along the WHW. This will coincide with being the last long training run for Thomas before the WHW Race and it also happens to be the weekend of the Edinburgh Marathon. So he will definitely have no chance to run that one! We have booked 2 overnight stays and will use the drop bag service from AMS. This 3-day run will also be to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. When we walked the WHW in 2005 for our honeymoon, we had said that we should do it every 5 years as we both enjoyed it so much. Little did I know then that only 3 years later I would practically live on the WHW, spending hours on it, day and night, either waiting in some lay-by or even running half of it myself! So the usual 5-7 day walk was no option…

I have not entered any “shorter” races like marathons, HM or 10Ks yet. I do tend to get caught up in training plans for weeks or months and I want to try and avoid it next year. I’d rather see how my running is coming along and maybe enter one or the other race on the way, but I don’t want to focus on these. Although I was quite pleased with my HM and Marathon times for 2009, I did not achieve my targets of getting under 1:50 or under 4:00. I was close and the courses/conditions were difficult so I was happy with what I achieved, but I’d rather not focus so much on these times.

What else will be happening in the crazy German’s house? More crazy Germans are due to arrive in July for 2 weeks! They are Tom’s sisters and cousin and families – 12 altogether! We have booked a nice converted stable near Glen Affric. We are hoping to get enough “free time” away from all the crazy kids to run up and down those Munros!

For now though we are looking forward to a week’s skiing in Austria, in Obergurgl, at the end of January. Let’s hope all bones and joints will be fine afterwards!
I wish you all an exciting New Year and happy & injury-free running!

Merry Christmas

This is how our Christmas Eve looks! We will soon get to open our presents (according to German tradition this happens on Christmas Eve). I am just waiting for Thomas to come home from work.
So have a MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone and a happy & healthy New Year 2010!

Wilson Trophy Race

Today saw me running in the Wilson Trophy Club Race, a 4.5M handicap race above the Greenock Cut, true cross-country style.
To cut a long story short, I just managed not to come last! Well I started 9 min later than the first runner and knew that this was rather optimistic, especially as the girl I started with has brilliant race times that I could just dream of. Anyway, we started with horizontal sleat into our faces - a very painful free facial massage! Up the hill the wind was in our back and we had to watch all those icy bits. Thomas was marshalling and taking photos and by the time I reached him I had already been overtaken by quite a few. There were 2 laps and soon the rest of the field stormed past. Coming to the turning point I thought I was last and the marshal confirmed it and packed up his cone and ran back with me. But then there was someone else appearing, so I knew I was not last after all. I just hoped to keep him off so I would not embarass Thomas too much and have the Loehndorf name on the bottom of a race result list! Well, if I think about it: still better than a DNF! :-)
Anyway, then I saw someone in front at the bottom of a hill just before the steep hill up to the finish. So I closed in on him and managed to overtake him on that last steep bit - et voila: I was only third last!
I did enjoy the race though and loved the route so I did not care that my handicap had not been quite right (my excuse anyway...).

Trabuco Christening

Today I finally christened my new trabucos. Reluctantly I must admit, but I could not postpone it any longer. It had to be done. But I did get a photo with them all clean and shiny before I took them out. I joined the club's "easy" off road run again. 5-6 miles round the reservoirs high above Greenock. It was a great day, dry, you could even call it sunny.
On Thursday I had done the hill reps with the club in pouring rain. So I guess you could call that a bit more regular running again. Last week I had been in London at a conference, but also meeting my sister and visiting friends. It was great. The only downside was that I missed the club's annual prizegiving. Thomas did attend his 1st club prizegiving though. And he came home with 2 prizes! One for the fastest HM and one for the fastest marathon. Maybe next year he will bring home a goblet?! I live in hope.