Lochaber HM

Who said that the Lochaber HM was a flat course??!
Well, Thomas did! But I guess only to persuade me to have a go at beating my PB. Once the weather forecast looked really promising, Tom's "injury" was miraculously cured and the HM in Lochaber was on again! I hadn't really trained at all, in fact my last long run was the Glasgow HM 2 months ago (my "cross training" was the roller blading for the Cologne Marathon 4 weeks ago)and then I started back 2-3 weeks ago with no longer than 10K runs and these 2 club speed sessions recently.
Still I thought that out of nowhere a PB might be possible on a flat course - well, it was not. And I think that it was better this way as I might have drawn my wrong conclusions otherwise. First of all the course was anything but flat, in fact it was rather up and down with a (short) killer ascent in the last mile. I went off too fast with an 8:34 mile (my PB in Glasgow of 1:55:29 has an 8:48 average) and I thought to myself, great, you are on course for a PB! :-) next mile was 8:49 and then it got worse from there on with all miles being over 9min and the slowest 10:09. I did the first half in 1:00:29 and my finish time was 2:02:59. There were 2 girls I kept overtaking, then they overtook me and so on, until I eventually stayed with one of them who had also tried to get under 2:00. She was from Lochaber and knew everyone en route. People were handing her jelly babies and I just held my hand open and got some as well! I am sure they helped me to keep going as I was really struggling. I had stitches right and then left, my right calf was tightening and I found it difficult to even lift my legs to get up and down these kerbs (and there were a lot). But after the last steep incline in mile 12 I managed to leave the nice Lochaber runner and push past 2 other runners to arrive at the finish all smiling. I had decided fairly early on that this was not a PB day or course for me but just a long training run amidst the most amazing scenery and in glorious sunshine and autumn gold!



And amazing it was! The weather was so perfect that it was one of those rare beautiful days in Scotland that make up for all the bad weather we get. If you can be out on a day like this, you would not want to be anywhere else! The top of the hills were covered with snow, it was clear and crisp but not too cold, there was no wind, Ben Nevis was without a cloud and the views across the Loch out on the road towards Mallaig were just breathtaking. The spot for the half way turn around point was so beautiful that I could have just said down and watched.

We had driven up the day before and had a nice 3-hour hill walk near Bridge of Orchy, also in great weather. Not something I would normally do before a HM. But it was going to be a relaxed weekend, wasn't it?! So I thought and did all the things you should not do before a race. Carboloading?! Why not eat fish, crepes with cheese and spinach and have a glass of wine? We stayed in a great B&B (Lime Tree just at the roundabout when you enter FW) and had the perfect breakfast though. American pancakes with maple syrup - delicious! I must admit none of the above excuses did Thomas any harm (though he stayed clear of any alcohol and ate all the potatoes). He surprised me with a great time, a new PB by over 2min 22sec in 1:18:56. He came in 4th position and won the 1st male vet prize in his age group (40-49) - so very well done!! I had seen him en route when he was in 7th position and looking strong. So even the fall off the stile on our walk yesterday did him no harm! The most inspirational guy though was Hugh Turner who won his age group in 2:29:41 - his age group being the Male 80 and above!!