Silke's Running Zone

2011/2012

2011-12-26T14:06:00.001-08:00

So with 2012 approaching very fast, a quick recap of 2011 before my full attention is needed for the New Year.

I had a great year running wise, with new PBs in 5M, 10K, HM and Marathon, but what was more important was getting under sub 1:50 for the HM and sub 4:00 for the Marathon for the first time. I had worked hard for this in the past couple of years and finally achieved it and it felt great!

Thomas also had a great year so on the supporting side it was a good year too, really. Well, if I leave aside his dramatic delayed finish at the Fling and his knee operation! But running for Scotland in the 100K, a new sub-18 WHW PB and a fantastic 2^nd place in the Devil were brilliant highlights for me too. And worth all the hard support work.

There were a few club races, club outings to Glen Massan and to the Bute Highland Games, lots of long runs at the weekend with the girls and more recently the XC relays and individual races with a Bronze medal in the West District for the Glenpark Lady Vets.

On a more personal level, we had lots of visitors and it was nice to welcome friends and family into our home and spend a wee while together. This was one reason I did not even think of running any ultra race this year as I knew I would not have the time or wish to put in enough training. Family occasions in Germany including my parents Golden Wedding and my nephew’s 1^st day at school were memorable occasions. Back here there were more memorable occasions to attend, including Lee and Dave’s engagement and Helen and Richie’s wedding.

There was not much inline skating this year as once I knew we were not going to the Berlin Marathon there was not much point putting skating before running. This will be tackled again next year though as my eyes are set on a new PB with my new racing skates!

Finished the year off with an ultra in fact, the Yamaa Trust Winter Ultra, 28M to set myself up for 2012! The Marcothon was also taken up to get my mind focussed on one thing and one thing only! RUNNING! :-)

Why? Because in 2012 I will attempt the West-Highland-Way Race, 154Km or 95M from Milngavie to Fort William, a route that took us 6 days when we walked it nearly 7 years ago for our honeymoon. I am slowly getting excited though most days I try to push it out of my head that my name is on the start list. But I know once 2012 has begun, I will become focussed – and scared …! Of course I have a great source of advice available 24/7. There is just the small matter of adjusting the pace and weekly miles to my level in order not to freak me out completely!

I will also do the Fling and the Devil and hope to complete the Triple Crown. In fact I am really looking forward to the Devil’s as my brother and his family will be here and will be supporting me. For the WHW Race I have a superb support team in place with Katrina and Nancy doing the 1^st night shift and Yvonne and Heather from Glenpark doing the 2^nd one. I will do the Fling with drop bags, looking forward to it already as there are also 2 Glenpark relay teams and Katrina running her 1^st ultra!

So, once I have finished this week’s work, we will see the New Year in with a run on the Gleniffer Braes in great company. I will then head off to Germany for a week for my niece’s 18^th.When I am back the Ultra-year will begin in earnest! Bring it on!

I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year, may you take on your dreams, and may some of them come true!

How did that happen?!

2011-11-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Did I not see it coming? Where were the signs to warn me?

But it is true. I must admit it. I have indeed applied for a place in next year’s WHW Race!

All I know is that I already had a very experienced support team in place before I even knew if I was going to enter. And there it starts, I can’t possibly disappoint them already, can I?

Well, I think I saw it coming though. The signs were there at this year’s race. Maybe even at last year’s. Having supported Thomas together with Nancy for the past 4 years I was very certain in the first 2 years that I was never going to try myself. Having done the Devil and then the Fling, by the time his 3rd attempt was near (and he was injured pre-race and all the drama around that), I was ready to just “take his place” and finally get that goblet, but luckily he did that himself. Not that I would have been allowed into the race at that stage but the first temptation was there. Then when everyone was getting ready to start at midnight in Milngavie this year, and I saw the first-timers, this thought crept into my head: I just wonder if I could do it too?! And throughout the weekend when you support and talk to others while waiting, I noticed that I did not categorically deny any comments that saw me running the following year. Big mistake!

So a few weeks after the race (with a 2nd goblet in the cabinet) at a post-race get-together Nancy and Katrina decided they were going to be my support team for next year’s WHWR. Being super experienced, they were ready to go! Oh, wait, I don’t even know if I am going to enter!

A few months down the line, I decided I was definitely going to do the Fling and the Devils in 2012. So if I was training for the Fling anyway, why not try and give the WHWR a go? And that is where I am at. I will be giving it a go. If I get a place, I will have a great support team and all I have to do is get the training done.

And that is where my 2 questionmarks are: I know how much time on feet it takes to train for the WHW Race. I always think I am not that kind of runner who has to go out running all the time. I can easily go without it. I am more a “runner by default”. If I was in Germany I would probably be part of an inline skating club and skate throughout the year with a bit of running as cross training. But that’s not possible here so I took up running. I am not addicted or hooked though and especially after work I find it difficult to motivate myself. I do enjoy reaching certain running goals though such as my PBs this year (having reached my target times I can lay those to rest now) and I really love being out on the trails, walking or running. So I know that if I get a place, I will have a training plan that I will follow and I will get ready for the challenge. And that will hopefully give us 2 new goblets making it 4 in total, enough for a small dinner party! J

My 2nd questionmark is Thomas. How will he get on without Nancy and myself? I have “offered” him Nancy so he would have at least 1 support crew member who he is used to (and who knows his “race behaviour”), but Nancy and Katrina are all set to support me together. I don’t want to leave him without his usual support crew and decrease his chances on a great race. But then again, a change in support crew might just be what he needs for a really great race! Who knows?!

And yes, there is a 3rd one. It is literally my Achilles. I have had an ongoing niggle for over 1 year now. I have seen the physio, the podiatrist etc and it does not seem to be too bad. “Mild tendinopathy” is the verdict. But I need to wait and see how it reacts to the increased mileage. It hasn’t stopped me from running a marathon so why not do nearly 4 marathons in a row then?!

So, now all I need is an actual place in the race. Let’s wait and see.

My PB season

2011-09-18T03:29:00.000-07:00

This year was all about getting new PBs for my HM and Marathon. Not only PBs but in fact breaking through "the wall" of 1:50 and 4:00 respectively.

This has been a goal for a couple of years but until this season I had never managed. So I set my goal to finally get my 1st sub 1:50 HM and 1st sub 4:00 Marathon. I did not plan to run any ultras as I knew I did not have the time to train enough and previously failed in getting PBs "alongside". So I focussed on my training plans for the desired times and mainly trained with the girls from the club who do their long runs very early at the weekend. So early that when I come back Thomas is still asleep!

I ran the Balloch to Clydebank HM at the beginning of the season and managed a PB of 1:51:18, still not under 1:50 though it was just the start of the season and not my "target" race. My first target was the Edinburgh Marathon and on the way I did the Women's 10K and got a new PB (by 15sec) of 48:40. Since last year I have had a few 10K races under 50min so that is well within my ability now and previously was a big goal. When the Edinburgh Marathon came the conditions on the last miles were really difficult against the wind but I somehow managed to finally get under 4:00 and clocked a time of 3:55:33. I am still very proud of this everytime I look at my medal where I of course had my time put on!
Then came a lazy time before picking up the training again for my next target race, the HM at the Great Scottish Run.

I was getting a bit worried that I had picked this one as my target race as the route has a few inclines but at the time of entering as an "early bird" together with the Women's 10K it seemed like a good idea.

The day was perfect for running if not a bit on the warm side. The hoses were very welcome at the later stages. I started off with Andreas, a friend from Kenilworth runners who previously ran a sub 1:50. We went off fast up the hill and in fact I lost sight of him early on as he is strong on inclines. My target was to run sub 5:10min/Km which would get me to 1:49. But as it turned out the first few km were all under 5:00 min, some even under 4:45 up the incline. By KM 4 I had stitches on both sides. I managed to catch up with Andreas coming off the Kingston Bridge but I felt I had gone off too fast. In fact I thought I had blown it because of this. But I kept running alongside Andreas and we were still around 5min/km. When we reached Bellahouston Park he announced he was now dropping back to 6min/km and good luck! No time to be annoyed though and I thought at least I had "time to spare" for the next inclines to come in Pollok park. And there were quite a few I must have erased from my memory before the race.
I set my target at keeping my steady pace in the knowledge that even if I was slower up the inclines (which I was a couple of times) I would still get my sub 1:50. As long as I could keep my pace. It was getting tough as it was getting warmer. I was overtaken by a much faster clubmate who cheered me on and when I realized there were only 3K to go I knew my sub 1:50 was well possible. That kept my momentum going. I had visualized crossing the line with a 1:48 on the official time clock and as I approached the finish I saw exactly that (as I had started later). Only my own chip time would record 1:47:20! I could not believe it and was very happy! I guess if I had not pushed it at the beginning I might have missed my goal. So thank you Andreas!

So what next? I should be on my inline skates as I type to try and break my Inline Marathon PB in Berlin next week. My target was sub 1:40 on my new racing skates! But the trip got cancelled as Thomas will have a knee operation instead on his torn left cartiledge. So my running and skating season has come to an end early and I can relax and be lazy for a while. Not for too long though as the preparation for 2012 will start. But that will be another post!

I am very happy with this season and have reached important milestones for me. I don't feel I have to "hunt" these target times any longer and can relax in the knowledge that I managed to achieve my goals this year.

DOTH 2011

2011-08-08T04:38:00.001-07:00

I was not going to blog about this one but when Tim asked me at the prize-giving if another report can be expected of how difficult it is to support Thomas, I thought I’d better set the record straight!

I had set him the “small task” of getting a “podium spot” considering in what great shape he was up to 2 weeks before the race. Then we went to Germany for one week for my parents’ Golden Wedding which turned out to be a physically and emotionally draining trip due to other family issues. The Golden Wedding itself went well though! So by the time we were back home Thomas had 1 week to recover and get ready for the Devil’s.

I had not mentioned a “podium spot” again and was just hoping he could get to his target of sub 6 hours, whatever the position. We drove up to Tyndrum on Friday after work, got into our B&B and met up with Marco & Debbie and Team Kynaston. We were hoping John would have an enjoyable race but it was not to be. When John asked Thomas what his goal was, a few Hmms and Ahas were heard when he said he was going for a sub 6 schedule. Well, he not only proved that that was realistic but in fact exceeded his own best expectations in the end! And that is amazing in itself as he usually knows very well what he can do and what his best result might be. He also had told me that Matt was the favourite and the one to beat.

After a fairly good night’s sleep we headed over to the start and before I knew it the race was on its way. Waiting in Bridge of Orchy did not take too long as Thomas arrived in the lead bang on his schedule. So I knew he must be feeling good and was excited seeing him in the lead closely followed by Paul Hart. I heard other people saying, bloody hell there is the first runner already, and felt quite proud that I was supporting him! (photo above by Suse Hutch)

I had to dash off quickly to Inverornan where he was storming down the hill. I had a brief chat with Bill, who had been airlifted out of Rowardennan during the Fling and is now back running up to 10M again and planning his next season of ultras already! Great recovery! Then I really had to speed to Victoria Bridge, jump out of the car, get the refill ready. I had to enrol a few innocent bystanders, Muriel on this occasion, as I was lacking 2 more hands to offer him a bit of solid food. Paul Hart overtook him here but further along on Rannoch Moor he was back in the lead.

On to Glencoe where Peter was joining me as 2nd support crew member. He had told him to be there for 8:15am. At 8:05 he was storming down the hill, 10min ahead of schedule with Peter arriving just in time to refill his bottle. Again 2 innocent bystanders were helping out (Thanks again! Also for the photos Suse.) Before we knew it he was through and we were running up to the car park to get to the bottom of the staircase in time. A speedy refill and refuel, no time for talking and on to Kinlochleven. It was getting rather warm, great for us but maybe not so great for the runners. We met Matt’s partner again who was fighting her own battle looking after his leaking water bladder (which we tried to repair with all sorts incl tape and Compeed) and driving a car that was slowly but surely overheating itself!

Before long Thomas came into sight, still leading though saying that Matt was closing in. It’s your day! Go for it! I shouted and off he went. But sure enough Matt was not far behind now and Paul seemed to stop for a bit longer at the car. We found out later that he dropped out here. On to Lundavra and Peter and I were keeping our hopes up that Thomas would still be going through first though we also thought it would be difficult.

We had just arrived at Lundavra when we spotted the first runner. But it was not Thomas. It was Matt. We cheered him on (“You are going fast!”) and whispered “Too fast”! and offered him water as his support was not there. But he was fine and looked strong. Thomas arrived only 3-4min after him. He was asking if anyone was behind him but we really did not know. So off he went after Matt. When we walked down to the car we saw Matt’s support running up and we told her she had missed him. She tried to speed after him and was out of sight, her car literally abandoned at the bottom of the hill, doors wide open, bonnet open, steam coming out … We had visions of her trying to catch Matt until Fort William, but luckily he spotted her and told her he did not need anything.

Then we arrived at the finish and waited for the winner! Could it be Thomas?

Then we saw Matt coming towards the finish crossing the line only 10min out of record pace. Well done! He is such a nice guy and great runner that our very slight disappointment could not last long. Congratulations to him!

Thomas followed only 3min later and was very happy crossing the finish line. The time is fantastic, much faster than he would have guessed himself and a fantastic 2nd place. I was very excited for him and very proud of him for such a great performance!

So how to sum up what might have been my last official WHW support duty for a while?

It was a delight to support him! He was on his best behaviour. In fact he had his best run ever and his best result ever. He was flying through the support “stops”. He took on his task of a podium spot and delivered! So no complaints from my side, apart from the small issue of 3 minutes … :-)

Team Tam’s WHW 2011

2011-06-20T03:27:00.000-07:00

“We” came 4^th in 17h:54min, a new PB by nearly an hour! Very happy at the finish, not so happy for nearly 18 long hours!

Before I go on I want to say that I am so proud of Thomas’ performance. Absolutely fantastic and I am so pleased that he got to his “sub 18-hour” target on legs that were not on their best behaviour from early on and in weather that caused 3 stops of 5-8min each, 2 for shoe changes and 1 for a clothes change.

And he was not on his best behaviour either, let me tell you! In fact it was very difficult to support him this year. I will spare you the details, but Nancy and I were seriously discussing that maybe it was time he found himself a new support team for future races as this was no fun for us and we were dreading each support stop, not knowing what he would come up with! At one point he accused Nancy of spraying the Midge Repellant right into his mouth! When all she did was spray it onto his legs and he happened to bend down a bit. Maybe she did just to shut him up?! As soon as he was out of sight we burst into hysterical laughter. Nancy was more forgiving though and once again I have to thank her for keeping everything calm and on the move.

People asked me at the prizegiving if I “enjoyed supporting him” as he did so well etc. And how do you explain that even though the result is amazing, he was not cruising to the finish but his run was a difficult battle and I have no clue out of what depth he pulled out the strength to keep going and finish within his target despite all the difficulties.

We watched Kate (the lady’s winner by only a few minutes) battling through her run from early on as she and Thomas stayed close to each other until the bottom of the Devil’s staircase. And you would not think that with her winning she could have had a “bad run”. But she did and at some point she asked her support team “How do you pull nothing out of nowhere?!” And that sums it up! She did and others will have done the same to get to the finish. And I am in awe and unless I had watched it with my own eyes I would not believe it. Into what energy do they tap in? Physically and mentally? I have no idea how it works but it does!

Back to Thomas’ run and he had complained that his legs weren’t having a good day after Balmaha. And that’s what I call the ultra-running lottery! You train and train and everything is going well with no injuries, you did not pick up any last-minute virus and you are ready to start. And you start, but what’s that? It does not seem to be your best day. And it is not like you could say, o there is another race in a few months I’ll have another go then. No, this is the day you have waited for for 1 year, the day you have prepared yourself for physically and emotionally. And I must admit I was frustrated myself when he told me in Balmaha that his legs were not in as good a shape as he had hoped. How he still got “his time” I really don’t know.

He arrived in Tyndrum 15min behind his schedule, but by Bridge of Orchy he was back on schedule and looking suddenly strong coming into Victoria Bridge and off onto Rannoch Moor. At the ski centre he was still on schedule for his 17:50 time but his legs were feeling worse again. He left in 6^th position but on his way to the bottom of the Devil’s staircase he lost 20min. Surely that was not a good sign. The weather was terrible by now and he put gloves on. We drove round to Kinlochleven and waited for him. I was outside the Community Centre looking up onto the road as the minutes ticked by. The American Mark in 3^rd position had left 25 min ago and no one else had turned up yet. Suddenly I saw Thomas red jacket and there he was in 4^th position, only 5min behind his schedule! I was suddenly so excited. He came inside, got weighed, changed all of his top clothing, had soup and a coffee and left 10min later when Craig Cunningham (in 4^th up to then) had just come in. Go Thomas go we shouted and left for our last stop in Lundavra. We saw the American come through and his team inquiring if we were with runner Nr 4 and where he was. We really did not know but they seemed quite confident that their runner would “cruise it home” in 3^rd anyway. Thomas only arrived 12min behind him at Lundavra right on his schedule and must have gained quite a bit of time on Mark. We did not know where No 5 and 6 were, if they were closing in or not so told Thomas to not slow down and go for his sub-18! As it turned out there was nobody else behind Thomas for over an hour as both of them had got into difficulties. So onto the finish. We had just missed the exciting battle between Richie and the Flying Dutchman but to all our excitement Richie won in 16:24 for the 2^ndtime in a row! Fantastic!

Everyone was waiting for the 3^rd runner home. Apart from Mark’s team, people were still hoping Thomas might have caught the American. But right enough Mark had maintained his pace and arrived 12 min in front of Thomas. The clock was then ticking and 17:50 passed and I was getting nervous. Would he make his sub-18? But sure enough he did and arrived in 17:54. What a performance! One that makes the hell called support worth going through! :-)

I think the only way I can get out of supporting him next year is by entering the race myself! Surely that is taking it a bit too far, isn’t it?!

Less than 1 week to go ...

2011-06-12T02:13:00.000-07:00

... until this year’s WHW Race! This is going to be my 4^th year supporting Thomas and for the first time in 4 years I am still pretty calm. For the 1^st time in 4 years we have not had any injury scares in the last month before the race or any forced rest periods and desperate visits to the physio. I know though that Marco is going through this just now so I really hope that he will be ok on race day.

There was a short episode of PRT – Pre-Race-Tension as Thomas has named it :-), but it seems to have passed again as I decided to take a step back from any questions that were deemed too inquisitive. Innocent ones such as how many kcal are in your new gels? What kind of electrolyte mix is in there etc? But I know my role, follow the given schedule exactly, it is “easy” as “everything will be on there” – and then of course still be prepared for all the things he wants that he has not put on his schedule! Or any other surprises that he might throw at us!

This year for the 1^st time I am much more relaxed when I look at the Goblet that he won last year. All the pressure from the previous 3 years is away, he finished once before and we know he can do it. I also know that there are so many factors that will influence his race on the day. And a lot of things can still go wrong before he hopefully reaches the Leisure Centre and brings home his 2^nd goblet.

And over the next few days my excitement will no doubt grow until everyone is gathered in Milngavie. There are quite a few friends running, hoping for a great race, a new PB, that first goblet, or a new addition to a goblet collection. I can’t wait to see how you are all getting on and hope that you will have a good race. And I really want to wish Caroline good luck! I am so excited for her and can’t wait to see her finishing.

Best of luck to all of you running, supporting, marshalling and of course organizing!

Edinburgh Marathon 2011

2011-05-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

I got on the club bus at 7am and we drove through to Edinburgh. I got a lot of stick for the tattoo that I had put onto my arm with my target time of 3:55 and the mile splits! (You can take it off again!) Would they be laughing on our return journey?

But to be honest I did not look at it too often, in fact I only saw a few mile marker along the route and I did not really pace myself consistently. The race started off very well by being stung by a wasp on my shoulder just 4 minutes before we set off! It had got into my bin bag and I was frantically trying to get it off. I got very strange looks. A girl next to me asked me if I was allergic and I should go and see a First Aider! As if I would waste months of training now! I did chuckle to myself over the first mile though thinking about the misfortunes that could lead to someone being stopped right at the start.

So off we went and I knew I was setting off a bit faster than my splits but it was downhill for a bit and Thomas had left clear instructions to use these to go faster! So when I finally saw a marker at mile 5 I was 2min ahead of schedule. Not to worry I told myself just keep going for now. By mile 8 I noticed it was getting a bit more difficult though and other instructions came into my head. “You need to feel fresh at half way point”. Now that sounded a bit unrealistic already. By mile 11 I thought I had blown it and gone off too fast but told myself to keep going for now until half way. That would maybe give me the best chance of a sub 4 knowing that there would be strong winds on my way back to the finish . And I thought I would have at least tried to give it my best shot. So I crossed the half way at 1:54, 3min ahead of schedule.

Just how do you know you are giving your best, everything you have without blowing it by going off too fast?

I had started to feel a bit sick and my breathing was a bit too laboured for it to be sustainable for the rest of the distance. I had taken one gel after 1 hour and had 2 more for later. But every time I took on water and later Lucozade my stomach did not feel right. I had started pouring water over my arms and head as I was quite hot. I was now running along the long road out to the stately home and I could see the fast guys coming back looking exhausted battling with the wind, some were walking.

And I was getting increasingly pessimistic. I knew I was slowing, I felt sick and the wind would surely stop me from getting my PB and sub-4. It is here where I started to push myself along by setting small goals. Don’t walk until you are on your return leg. Don’t take the next gel until mile 17. Keep it up until the turning point that seemed so far away. I could have cried but knew it would not help and I still had to get back to the finish. I was going to give up road races and turn to the trails where times don’t matter (for me). But on I ran. Do not use the Portaloo. You do not need to use the toilet. Then finally I was on my return leg. Look forward to the inclines, you can walk then. But they then did not seem steep enough to walk so I kept running. Picking off a few people at times who were walking. Shouting a few hellos to clubmates running in the other direction or the relay.

Then I was near mile 20 and the countdown began. This is where the wind really hit but I knew I had a few minutes to spare and still get under 4 hours. So on I went, telling myself my legs were still ok, nausea is only temporary and not serious, keep running, you have done double that distance in the past, another mile to the last gel, no more fluids not to upset my stomach further, just water over my head and arms. The last miles passed somehow, I was still not walking and by now was not going to! Only a cramp could have stopped me now but luckily the left calf just sent warning signs. I was in my zone with no energy left to high5 anyone or look anywhere apart from straight ahead. Luckily the finish came earlier this year, the crowds were great, the club’s supporters in place and I ran to the finish. And cried! Of course. I was so exhausted and so happy that I had done it.

It has been 2 years in the making and I finally ran my “sub-4” marathon. I finished the Edinburgh Marathon in 3:55:33, my new PB! But boy did I have to work for it. I think it has been the toughest race so far for me, it felt even harder than the Fling last year.

My next marathon is Berlin. I will try to get a new PB! Sub 1:40! Yes, correct, sub 1:40 but back on my inline skates!

Surprise 10K-PB

2011-05-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I ran the Women's 10K in Glasgow - along with thousands of others. I did not expect too much as my training for the Edinburgh Marathon had been somewhat interrupted and I had only been kind of back on track for the last 2-3 weeks. My legs had been heavy a lot of the times I tried to run at Marathon pace never mind 10K pace!
Once across the start line I tried to keep up with a clubmate who had been runnig well in Troon just a few days ago but she went off into the distance fairly quickly. When the 1K mark arrived I was gasping for breath and realized I had gone off far too fast. A glance at the watch confirmed it. Someone caught up with me, she recognized me but I was not sure where to place her. I am sure she is an ultra-runner but I could not remember her name. It was just when I had realized my fast start and was only able to hiss "can't talk". Sorry! She soon went on ahead. Then not too far into the 2nd K Debbie overtook me! Only now?! I really went off too fast I thought and feared I had blown it. Debbie went on to run a PB of 45min something only one week after the Fling - how amazing is this?!
So my pace slowed down considerably and I just tried to keep it steady until half way. I had not wanted to look at my watch but could not help it. I think I was at 24:something with the hills in the park to come. I started to count the Km down. A glance at my watch at 8K confirmed I could stay under 50min, another at 9k, a shout from Marco and Cairn and I increased the pace. When I saw the finish with the clock ticking towards my previous PB I sprinted to the finish and crossed the line in 48:40, a 10sec PB from last year! So I think it was the 1st and last K that gave me my PB - well pleased! By the way 281st position from 10100 finishers! I have never been so far in front! :-) Mind you a lot of the 10100 women walked it but never mind!

Supporting – always full of surprises

2011-05-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

Once you have been in the supporting role for a few years you could be mistaken for thinking you had seen it all. DNS, DNF’s, great races, not so great ones, temper tantrums, food tantrums etc. This year’s FLING added another experience to the list!

Thomas started well, great weather and in fairly good shape he was aiming for a new PB. He had given me splits that were slightly faster than last year. Unfortunately for him he got carried away a bit at the start and arrived in Drymen and Balmaha 5min ahead of his faster schedule. And even he said to me then, oh, that’s very fast! By Bein Glass where I was waiting with friends from Germany who were spending their holiday with us he was back right on track of his faster schedule but a bit grumpy. By Carmyle Cottage he admitted he was rather tired but Marco managed to kick him into motion again. Just before the A82 crossing he looked better and was close to last year’s time and would be able to finish only a few minutes behind his PB. So good news given his too ambitious start and a lesson learned about pacing for the WHW Race. So off I went to park the car at the Green Welly and carried his rather heavy post race bag through to the finish. There I met 2 other friends of ours, both retired doctors who would come in handy later! Colette herself just recovering from a hip replacement and out without her crutches for the 1^st time.

So there we were waiting for him to appear at the finish in around 8:11. But the minutes ticked by and he did not appear. And sometimes it is a bit strange, you hear snippets of conversations of others but don’t pay attention. And I had just heard a guy saying, someone had collapsed near the finish. So I just passed this on to Colette who said, oh no, that won’t be Thomas. I heard it was at Rowardennan earlier this morning. So I forgot about it. But the minutes kept ticking until Athol came running towards me. He was waving. And I don’t really like the sight of this. It has happened twice before and it wasn’t good news then. So he said Thomas had fallen only 2-300 yards from the finish and needed my help. What could he have done that he was not able to limp across the finish line himself?! So I sprinted off fully expecting to see blood gushing out from somewhere or a broken bone. The 200 yds seemed rather long but eventually I saw him on the ground by the path with someone watching him. (Thank you by the way. I don’t know your name.) Marco had also arrived. I approached but could not see any obvious injury. It then turned out that he had to jump out of the way of 2 mountainbikers, fell, hit his chest and that triggered off an irregular heart beat! So there he was in the grass with a pulse of up to 240/min and feeling unwell. This is “SVT”, supraventricular tachycardia, which can decrease cardiac output and blood pressure leading to dizziness and numbness of hands and feet. There are a few manoeuvres you can try to stop it or in prolonged cases an injection in a hospital setting might be required. It is something that can last only for seconds and it can come and go like an on/off switch. Or it can be prolonged.

Luckily this was not the 1^st time this has happened so I knew what I was dealing with. Normally it does only last for seconds, in fact it happens very rarely and never when running or exercising. But it was the blow to the chest when falling that triggered it off and it didn’t stop. We poured water over him to cool him down but then he started to shiver and we had to put a fleece on! In that heat! Eventually we decided he should walk slowly to the finish where we could lie him down hoping it would stop. So we made our way to the finish, his time was taken and he had lost 20min so close to the finish. Now this was in fact what bugged him most! He had lost not only 20min but 3 places when he was passed by people while he was on the ground. This meant he had lost his 2^nd Scottish Vet place and 3^rd Scot overall. I was just glad he was still walking! We used the massage table to lie him down but later had to find a new place as people were queuing up for massages. My 2 medical friends and I debated what else we could do as this SVT was not stopping and had lasted for over 45min now. When we were about to get the car he sat up and as quickly as it had started it was gone. His heart was beating in sinus rhythm again and we were all rather relieved! He felt fine then and of course we stayed on until the prize giving. He managed to get a medal for 3^rd Scottish Vet as his time of 8:31 was still pretty good and put him into 12^th place overall.

No running

2011-04-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

... for over 10 days now due to a bad cold I caught while in Germany! I blame my mum who had exactly the same symptoms when I met her last week. 2 days later the virus had struck but due to her 70th birthday party and other family visits there was no time to rest. We got back last Sunday and it was time to go back to work on Monday after a 2-week-break so not the best time to phone in sick! I got through Monday but then had to give in with no voice and coughing fits that would have scared every patient away. With the trip to Germany, my wee nephew visiting and this cold I have now missed at least 2 long runs for my Edinburgh Marathon training not to mention the shorter runs! Not good! I probably have to adjust and maybe accept that I might not break the 4 hours this time. Well I knew I would be busy, but did not allow for any illnesses to get in the way too. I am better now though and managed to go for a 5M slow run this morning - not the 20M I should be doing but at least I am running again. I do have a supportive husband though who told me last night I was lacking total sharpness anyway and I should stick to what he thinks I am good at - endurance! Well, he wishes! By that he means of course I should just train long and slow to do ultras where I don't need any speed for the times I would be doing, i.e. finishing, rather than getting hung up on beating times such as a 4-hour Marathon. Well he can talk. He does well in ultras AND gets fast times in a HM or Marathon. I do really want to improve my Marathon time and would love to have a sub 4-hour one though. My last longer run was after the MacPirates Engagement Party from BoO to Kingshouse with Katrina and Maya. I enjoyed it despite the hail and constant rain until we were half way across Rannoch and the sun came out! My wee nephew did well on his visit and was introduced to trail running and supporting on the WHW! Much to my family's dislike he had opted last year to join the Athletics division of "Schalke 04" (watch out, now in the Champions League semifinal against Manchester and my home town club!) rather than the local football club. He loves running and is hoping to beat his uncle one day!

Anglo-Celtic Plate 2011

2011-04-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blog to put all my thoughts and experiences from the 100K Race in Perth to paper/memory before they fade.

I have never been that nervous before a race, not even before Tam's(:-)) 3rd WHW attempt! I did not sleep at all the previous night and was very glad that the night was 1 hour shorter. And I wasn't even running! But I knew how much this race meant to Thomas,not only having a serious go at this "classic distance" but having been picked for the Scottish Team and wanting to do his best. He of course had put himself out there with a dream goal of 7:30 and I so wished that on the day he would be able to show that his selection into the team was a good one!

But again 1-2 weeks before a few worrying issues crept up with the shoe problem being the major one. He only bought his shoes 1 week before the race trying out various ones before. Then the spreadsheets appeared and I got a lecture every night after work how to use them and what to put on the board for every lap. I could not take it much longer...

Then at last the race started! A great day for supporting, a great atmosphere in the whole team and we were both made really welcome. I set up my wee table with everything I needed. And faithfully changed the board every single lap with infos about laps done, Km done, average pace etc. Needless to say he did not look at it once! He also early on demanded other items than were listed on his plan and as I only had 2 hands for the handover with one holding an already opened gel I was kind of limited to what I could offer him as alternatives! It also did not help that I had to run to the toilet twice myself in the first 10 laps confusing him further. But Marco was a great help. He was my backup and calmed me down a bit. Thanks a lot for that. He also brought me coffees but I hardly drank or ate anything throughout the race myself. I relaxed a bit later and it was great to chat to a few people for a few min at a time until Thomas came by again. I also enlisted the help of Katrina, John, Caroline and Neal so we had between 4-6 hands to have gels,bars or drinks ready. But of course in these laps he did not want anything.

When he started to slow I was getting worried but Marco told me he would hopefully pick up again in the last bit as he can do and did do. I just loved the sound of the hoot indicating his last lap. He finished in a fantastic time of 7h:42min. What a great result. I am so proud of him. He came home with 3 medals and a race momento, 9th place overall, 2nd Scottish Vet and the Anglo Celtic Plate for Team Scotland.

Check out the race pictures:

And it was fantastic to be there and see how well Debbie did. Absolutely amazing. It was great to get to know the other Scottish team members, see Craig win and watch everyone's race and battle unfold. Congratulations to everyone for finishing, for PBs, for winning the Men's Team Plate and for putting the race together!

COUNTDOWN

2011-03-20T01:19:00.000-07:00

Various countdowns have commenced.

My 10-week-training plan for the Edinburgh Marathon (and hopefully a sub 4:00) begun last week. In fact I turned the plan upside down by doing my longest run of 22M yesterday with the girls from the club training for London and Lochaber. This was 6 days after I run the Balloch to Clydebank HM in a new PB (by 16sec) of 1:51:18 (not chipped). So in the last 7 days I had my highest "mileage" for ages, 81km! Crazy I know but I thought it might be a good base as I am not sure if I will get all the required longer runs in over the next few weeks as it will be very busy. I am also still chasing my first sub 1:50 in a HM and had hoped I would do it last week. But it turns out I was not in the best shape and the route was not really flat flat but had a few inclines I think!

Anyway, on to the much more important countdown! 7 days to the 100K Championships in Perth where Thomas will be wearing a Scotland vest for the 1st time! I am so proud of him for being selected into the team and hope he can show in what good a shape he is in. This is a big deal, in fact the biggest for this year I think and he has put so much dedication and effort into his preparation that I just hope everything will come together next Sunday.

Supporting wise I thought this might be an easy one but to the contrary! After being handed a laminated "Perth 100k split calculator" (Yes. Laminated! This is how serious it is!) and a lecture as to its exact use, my head started to spin - and I am not even running. The laminated table will tell me after every lap what pace, distance etc he has done and I have to then write it on a board so he can see it when he passes. So I got myself a board, proper round-the-neck stop watch and hope I won't loose track of the laps! Only problem is that he will hopefully come round every 10-11 min or so. When I will be able to go for a coffee or a toilet break I don't know. To me the WHW support sounds much easier - at least you have a few HOURS in between some stops.

Good luck to the Scotland team on Sunday. It will be an honour for both of us to be part of it. Good luck for everyone else running the 50K or 100K. If I could only wrap my runner in cotton wool until then so no last-minute injury or infection can strike ...

K2 Radicals 100

2011-03-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Meet my brand new skates! K2 radical 100 speedskates!

They are a late birthday present from Thomas as it took me a while to find the right size even though I had my eyes on them since Berlin last year. In fact I have been toying with the idea of speedskates for 2 years now.

For the 1st time I am the proud owner of speedskates. I will happily swap my fitness skates and put on these. They have 4 100mm wheels (compared to 90mm before) and should make me (even! :-) ) faster.

They arrived from Germany at my work and I quickly tried them out before we opened our doors. They seem great. The problem is that you actually have to go slightly smaller than your usual size as they need to fit tight enough to allow a good connection between your feet and the actual skate to transfer the energy so slipping or double socks etc is no use. So size wise the contrary to your running shoe sizing.

Anyway I can't wait to take them out for a spin!

And as we have also just entered the Berlin Marathon again (Thomas just about managed to get a charity place as all other 40.000 places were taken!) I will be trying for a new PB, definitely sub 1:40, maybe even towards 1:35. IF it is dry on the day unlike on previous 3 occasions!

Back on track

2011-01-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

…or rather trail I should say. Today saw me running one of my hard and long Fling training runs from last year, up to Loch Tom and back, 25K with quite a hill to climb in the middle of it. I was supposed to run 18M yesterday with the girls from the club but when I saw the horizontal rain I bailed out. I had done 14M the weekend before and was keen to get another long run in. So I postponed it until today when it was dry but still very windy. Thomas had a date at lunchtime (yes a date! A female colleague wanted to meet him for coffee!). So rather than spying on them I decided to go for a run (you have to get your priorities right.) I packed my backpack and went out to see if I still had it in me. I pushed myself up the hill without walking and though it was a battle at times I finished the run sore but happy.

So the weekends have been quite good training wise but it is the sporadic running during the week which is my down fall at the moment. I have been really tired from work and it does not help if you have a medical student shadowing you for 4 weeks. And I mean SHADOWing. How young are they nowadays?! It is quite funny though to get little snippets of her life and besides passing on a bit of medical experience I can’t help myself but dishing out a bit of advice on life in general. She is from Orkney and when I asked if she knew Graham Harcus (who has ran with T a few times) I was informed that Orkney has 25.000 inhabitants on 92 islands. I guess not then. But I’m getting side-tracked.

I hope to run a few club races and keep the long runs up with the girls who will also do Edinburgh. Closer to the time I will link into my trusted 10-week Marathon plan for a time between 3:45 and 3:59. Though a few distractions might change that. We have already had a few “bookings” for our “guestroom with a view” and I guess family and friends will have to get used to being dragged along to races. My nephew and his girl-friend are the next guests at the weekend of the Nationals. Then there are friends at the time of the Fling and 2 visits to Germany at the beginning of April.

In 2 weeks time though I will be back on the WHW for a WAG-run (Wives and girlfriends for those who don’t know). While the fast ones will run from Drymen to Beinglass Katrina (JK’s wife) and I will be running from Beinglass towards Carmyle Cottage to give us around 2 hours on the WHW. HABs welcome too by the way (Husbands and boyfriends). If anyone is interested in joining leave a message so specific times can be arranged.

2010-2011

2010-12-26T02:58:00.000-08:00

I hope you’ve all had a nice Xmas. We’ve had a quiet and cosy time spending our first Christmas in our new home.
Time to look back now to see what happened to my running goals of 2010. Well on paper it looks like that: Fling, Devil DNS, CCC DNF. Well, it could be seen as a failure but I am actually very pleased with last year. :-)

The Fling was only my 2nd ultra after the Devil and I was scared of it. I was running it unsupported with drop bags and had no idea of how it would go. But on the day I really enjoyed it. I loved seeing everyone pass due to the staggered start (and I do mean nearly everyone!) and was very happy to reach the finish in my target time of sub 13.5 hrs just in time to see Thomas getting his prize for 2nd overall!
As a Fling bonus I achieved one of my major running goals after trying for the past year or so of getting under 50min in a 10K. I just ran the Women’s 10K out of fun a couple of weeks after the Fling and got in even under 49min! I did another 2 10Ks and managed to stay under 50min both times even though I did not beat my new PB of 48:55.

Then out of nowhere our dream house appeared and we weren’t even actively searching and before we knew it we had bought it with an entry date of 1/7/10 (strategically placed after the WHW Race). So suddenly I was busy with trying to get people organised for July for some major changes before we would move in early August just 5 days before the Devil and after a 2-week long planned holiday with 10 relatives in Glen Affric! You get the drift but running took a back stage from July onwards and when I did run my Achilles was playing up. So I decided not to even start the Devil. Thomas did though as he needed the points for his SUMS and he put in a decent run not being in the best shape and very exhausted from the recent move.

Before we knew it we were in Chamonix for the UTMB/CCC and even though I had started to run again my training had been pathetic compared to what it should have been for the CCC. But I got sucked into the whole atmosphere there and was all up for it to see how far I could get when the heavens opened and the dream of running over mountains in sunshine got washed away. After his inaugural Courmayeur 5K (or was it 6?!), Thomas phoned me and thankfully decided for both of us to stop. We were the first to “DNF” and should have got a medal for it as later on the whole race was stopped and only a few had made it to the finish. As everyone knows the rest of the races were also stopped, cancelled and then changed the next day. But we had a great week with everyone else who was there and were not too disappointed.
Once back I concentrated on skating to get in shape for the Berlin Marathon. I was not as fit as last year but still thought I had a chance to get a new PB and finish under 1:40. For Thomas the weekend was hard as he had been all set for a new PB when a chest infection struck and he was unable to run for a couple of weeks so he was sidelined to spectating. But what else should happen then the heavens opened shortly before the start and turned the roads into rivers?! Where had I seen that before? For skaters this is even worse so the PB was not on but I still managed to enjoy myself and ruin all my bearings in the wheels! So that’s 2 races spoiled by torrential rain and none of them was in Scotland! In fact all the races here had been fantastic weather wise.

After Berlin I think I just went into hibernation running wise. I just thought I deserved a rest and did not do anything for weeks with the odd run in between. Well that went on into November and by the end I had to do something and decided to become a “Marcothoni”. So for the past 25 days I have been running every day covering the minimum most times, sending swear words towards Marco when I had to get up at 5:30 am to do my run before work but otherwise in fact loving running on the ice and snow with my Kahtoola Microspikes! I now even own a pair myself, having ordered a pair via Amazon on 20/12/10 they arrived on 23/12/10! How is that for a Xmas miracle?!

The highlight of the year though was Thomas finishing the WHW Race. And finishing it well! Despite injury worries before, during and after the race. I am really proud of him and still have tears in my eyes when I think of the moment he ran into the car park at the Leisure Centre. I am so glad he had a very good year running wise and now not only has a WHW Goblet but also a rather nice decanter for his 2nd veteran place overall in the Scottish Ultra Marathon Series!

So into 2011! I have no big plans and will not do any ultra race next year. Instead I will be concentrating on “shorter” distances, i.e. Marathon and HM. :-) Now I hear some saying that this is not very ambitious. I know. But after last year I have learned that there is no point planning ultras when I already know that I will be struggling with getting all the required miles in, the long training runs etc. If I have a training plan I like to stick to it and get a bit nervous if things get in the way. And as there are a few important non-running events next year that will take up my time, I decided not to put me under this pressure. I was thinking though despite better judgement of entering the CCC as I really want this finisher’s gillet. :-) But it turns out my Fling points will count for 2012 so that’s been postponed until then for now. Unfortunately the Devil is only one week after my parents’ Golden Wedding so again not the best timing for me as I will be involved quite a bit in the planning before and after. I also want to be around for a few other family events in Germany that will take up weekends as well as having friends and family over here for their holidays. So ultra-wise I will be back in support for all that Thomas wants to achieve next year.

For myself I have planned the Edinburgh Marathon and I hope to get under 4 hours this time. This is my main goal. I hope to do some of my longer training runs on the WHW. I will do a HM somewhere, probably the Women’s 10K and a couple of other ones, maybe the Glasgow HM later on in the year. I still have to get a sub 1:50 HM time so that’s another goal for 2011. At the moment we are undecided if we will go to Berlin again. If we do I will be back on my inline skates, and maybe even get a new pair of racing skates that will help me to be even faster!

So bring on 2011. It will be an exciting year for us, welcoming friends and family in our new home, celebrating various special birthdays, weddings and of course continuing to be part of this special WHW-Family and enjoying everything (ultra-)running has to offer – both for the runner and the supporter!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year 2011.

Day 9 of Marcothon

2010-12-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am still in it! Not doing much more than the required minimum but it is a first for me to be out running for 9 consecutive days. And in THESE conditions! In fact the snow and ice probably helped me as I was just loving the running with Kahtoolas, and on Monday I managed to run in the freshly falling snow - like a soft carpet! Great.
Well yesterday saw me retreating into the gym for the first time in years though - and probably the last for another few years. I left work early in the afternoon to get home safely while I could still see the ice and snow on the motorway in daylight and headed into the Gourock gym onto the treadmill for 30min - £4.90! Got 1000m of rowing in as well, I guess it is still cheaper than hiring a boat... Well, Thomas had "booked" the Kahtoolas for his afternoon run so I guess it is really time to buy a second pair so I won't have to retreat into the gym if our running times clash.
On my way back I also went into Tesco. Big mistake as the whole of Greenock was in there buying supplies. No fresh milk left and the sliced loafs of bread were rationed! One per customer. Luckily I was after the German Rye bread - no rationing there. :-) So Glenpark girls I guess it will be German bread, sausages and Sauerkraut for our weekend brunch! :-) Just kidding ...

Marcothon

2010-12-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

I have joined the Marcothon today, literally at the last minute. I had immediately declined the invitation on facebook a few weeks ago as I don't do daily running. In fact I always look forward to my days with no running. But towards the end of November my thoughts were going back to the Marcothon. I averaged one run per week in November - not because of injury, but purely because I have been lazy. A few other things got in the way and to be honest I did not really miss it. That's my problem, I don't need my daily dosage of running so I'm quite comfortable just chilling out at home. But the threat of loosing my fitness got me thinking how I could get back into more regular running. So that's where the Marcothon popped up again. But I had more excuses not to join in! My parents were due to arrive today for a few days and surely I could not leave them alone on their first evening to go running. Then Edinburgh airport got closed and their flight cancelled and I had spare time at my hand. So I thought, maybe it's time to take the challenge. Will I be up for it? Especially in this weather? (By the way, does a treadmill run count - just in case it gets even worse! Or a brisk 30min walk in the snow at lunch time? - I guess it's a no for the walk?) So I got home, quickly checked the rules on the internet, put my Trabuccos on and ventured out for 30min, a few extra minutes to allow for stoppage time to let cars pass as I was running on the road. I enjoyed it! Bring on day 2!

A new Rain-PB

2010-09-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

It took me 1:58:22 to complete the Berlin Marathon this year, nowhere near my goal of sub 1:40 due to pouring rain. You have to add about 10-15min to your time if you are lucky not to fall and all attempts at PBs can be forgotten right at the start. Some say this makes for a more relaxed race as people take it easier as the main goal is to get round in one piece. So when the rain started 2 hours before the race I was deliberating if I should start at all. I had said before I would not skate in the rain as it ruins all your bearings, wheels etc and is potentially dangerous as falls are likely. In the end I started anyway and I was glad I did even though my wheels/bearings are ruined once again and have to be replaced. But I was lucky enough to skate in a group that was guided by a very cheerful "Marathon-Guide" who kept working the crowds at the roadside so we got lots of cheers and really had fun.

When we met up for our practice sessions in the morning before the race though I was nearly thrown out of the 1:40 group by him. When you join this paceline project you have to turn up for the practice session and they try to get the group working together etc. Germans are not known to be very polite but rather direct so one was thrown out of the group straight away as he could not brake or turn. One girl was told to skate at the back as she was a liability and likely to fall and take the group with her if she was in the middle or the front. Somebody was sent down from a faster group as he did not make that cut. So there were 12 in our group and 3 guides. There were 5 girls in total with my usual problem that they were much smaller. It was difficult for our group to find a good rhythm so the "fun-guide" had the brilliant idea that the girls could skate together as they usually have a "similar rhythm". This is not true as it really depends on your stride. I objected as it would not give me any advantage having the wind right in my face as I was the tallest. I went for a short practice with them anyway and then he picked on me for moving my upper body too much. Yes, because I constantly had to adjust my rhythm. The next test was a 1km stretch at race pace, this time behind the guys. And I dropped off. Turned out he had gone at a slightly faster pace than race pace. Only: race pace for a 1:40 was my limit. So a few hours before the actual race I went back to the hotel for a rest rather deflated. Then the rain started. And it did not stop. I went to the start with Don who was in a different group. When I found my group I refused to get in-line with the girls and stayed with the guys in 3rd position, then in 4th as one wanted to be in front probably thinking I would keep him back. Ha! Then we started and shortly after the big group fell apart and there were only 6 left at the front including myself. Turned out that the guy in front was actually flagging a few times and a gap kept opening. Eventually we changed positions and found a good rhythm. And right from the start it was clear that we would be nowhere near our target time and we were told to just "enjoy the ride"! And I must admit the guide really made sure we did. We also had a motorbike with us filming our group for Skate-TV (DVD available later in the year!). Eventually we lost a few and there were only 4 left. After 30km the guy in front started to get tired and eventually was dropped even though we slowed down a few times for him and I tried to push him up a small incline once! Another one fell but due to the weather and no PBs we slowed down and let him catch up. We crossed the finish line together and were really happy as we actually had a fun race despite the weather and the time. At least it was still a sub-2hours!

Here are the stats:

There were 2974 male finishers and 1324 female finishers. I was in position 372 from 1324 girls with a time of 1:58:22. Last time I did a marathon in the rain I was over 2 hours so a new rain record for me.

You can watch my finish here. I am in the middle of the line of 5.

SUMS 2010

2010-09-19T14:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was not only the final race of the Scottish Ultra Marathon Series but also the Ball with the prize giving ceremony of this first SUMS-Championship. The venue in Ayr Townhall was very nice and the evening was a great success. As was the whole SUMS! So a big thank you to all those who made its first year possible!

And Thomas did very well in his ultra races this year. Not only did he finish his 1st WHWR but he came 5th overall in the SUMS Championship (having done the required 4 races with the Double Marathon, the Fling, the WHWR and the Devil) after Grant Jeans, Jack Brown, Marco Consani (superb!) and George Cairns. And he brought home a very nice price indeed for coming 2nd in the Vet category! So great achievement and well done!!

What next?

Well, we are off to Berlin next weekend for the Berlin Marathon. I will be doing the Inline Marathon on Saturday afternoon and Thomas is on the start list for Sunday's run. Up to last week he was on target to attempt another PB. Unforunately this has been halted by a bad chest infection that is not shifting. So at the moment he cannot run (or speak for that matter as his voice has also disappeared) and we will have to wait and see how he is in a few days. But a PB in Berlin is far away just now.

Myself I am also targetting a new PB - if I manage not to catch whatever he has got! Last year I had a great race coming in after only 1:41 when I was trying to get under 1:50. So this year I have signed up for the 1:39 paceline! Though I am not as fit as last year and have not done as much skating as last year I will see if I can keep up with that pace group. It would just be fantastic to do it, but it is very optimistic. But on a dry day with no wind - who knows what is possible ... My 2 Scottish fellow skaters will go for 1:49 and 1:29 respectively so here is hoping we all have a great time! It is a bit late for me to invest in bigger wheels at the Expo as I will not have enough time to get used to them but that would certainly help me with my target as most of the others in my group will probably skate with 100mm wheels. I only have 90mm ones. But no excuses! I managed 1:41 last year so bring on Berlin!

The race that never was ...

2010-08-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

I was well geared up for it after a few days in Chamonix, all the gear shops and of course its stunning mountain scenery. We had a few brilliant days with blue skies and sunshine, I had picked up my race number and was going to start the CCC. I could not wait to see all those fantastic views along the route.
But it was all over after only an hour or so. Even before we set off from our appartment we had received a text from the organizers warning us about bad weather. So I packed another layer and changed my rain trousers to better ones. We were bussed to the start in Italy, Courmayeur and the little town was buzzing with hundreds of runners. The atmosphere was electric and I was getting rather nervous. It was still dry and we were hanging about. At one point I said to Thomas maybe I'll just go back to Chamonix and support you instead as I was feeling so inadequate amongst these super fit people who had trained for months for this event. But he said I should just start running and my nerves would calm down. So we said our good-byes as he wanted to be near the front runners to escape the pole swinging majority and to avoid any early queues. I settled into the middle and everyone gathered 30min before the start. But by then the heavens had opened and it was pouring down. Goretex out already but the majority were soaking wet even before the start. Then the music and the countdown and off we were. I had planned to walk all the inclines but found myself perched into the middle and everyone was running uphill through the little streets. Eventually the road narrowed and everyone had to walk and even wait to pass the narrower parts. Thunder and pouring rain, the streets turned into streams. I was getting into the swing of using my poles when I received my first text from Thomas. Where was I and should he wait? I said no and he texted again that this was not what we came for and he was already completely wet and cold and thought it would in fact be rather risky to continue as this was just the valley and higher up at 2500m there would be snow and no visibility. He would wait for me. When I reached him he suggested we should stop and go back to Courmayeur while it was still easy to get transport back. I was happy to agree as we had always said we wanted to do the CCC to get to know the route and enjoy the stunning scenery. This would not happen today. So we told one of the marhals and waited for the official guy to cut off our timing chips and talk to someone on his walkie talkie to announce the "first quitters"! It felt strange but right at the time and we were given a lift back to the village where we would wait for the bus bringing us back to Chamonix. After 90min and a few coffees we had warmed up and suddenly the sun came out again. We did feel a bit awkward then but were still in good spirits.
As the day went on we were getting excited for the start of the UTMB. We would watch everyone coming through Les Houches. But again the heavens opened this time after the start. We felt sorry for them all and once everyone was through had dinner with Sharon and the Consani-Clan. When we got back we heard the news that the race had been called off and the TDS had not been started at all. We also learned this morning that the CCC was stopped at Vallorcine in the early morning hours due to ongoing terrible weather conditions for all those that had not passed through. I would certainly not have passed by that time so am rather glad that Thomas decided for both of us shortly after the start. We felt terribly sorry for all those that had come here for the UTMB and TDS and had trained hard. They must have been so disappointed. The decision was taken out of their hands by the organizers who had to consider the well being of all these hundreds of runners. We had taken the decision to stop ourselves so did not feel too bad about it - just disappointed that we would not see the route in all its glory.

Will we be back? Certainly to explore the route maybe over a few days. For the race I'm not sure right now. Though when I was walking through Chamonix today and saw those few CCC finishers (500 from 1800 starters) walking about in their nice finisher windstopper gillets I said to Debs I think I would like one of those ...

DOTH 2010

2010-08-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Devil 2010 has passed and I did not run it myself as planned. Instead I was enjoying the supporter's role again. The past 5 weeks have been rather stressful and I really had not ran much at all. I still thought I might just be able to finish it though. Then my achilles tendon played up and I had to withdraw from the start. I have done a few shorter runs since (really short i.e. 5-6K) and it is better.
Moving house just 5 days before an ultra is not the best idea but we had not much choice. We got the keys to our new home on the 1st of July (so arranged that it would not collide with the WHWR!), 14 days of coordinating joiners, workmen, painters etc and we had new windows, a fireplace, new bedroom, (nearly) finished new floor and a couple of new carpets. With all the cleaning and packing we were already exhausted.Then a long planned holiday in Glen Affric with nieces, nephews etc took us away from it all, only to come back and have 2 days left to pack everything for the removal van.
Needless to say not much running for Thomas either, instead some pulled rib cage muscle from moving furniture. 3 days before the race he was unsure if he should in fact run. By then I was looking forward to supporting him and catching up with everyone else running and supporting. It would do us good to get out there and fight with the midges! So off we went and had a fabulous day! Well I did while Thomas was struggling a bit but kept going. He had given me a rough time guide and was falling behind it for a 6:30 time. At the bottom of the staircase he squirted an already opened gel that was supposed to go straight into his mouth into his bumbag. And blamed me for it of course! The joys! When he looked very tired in Lundavra he mumbled something about hoping to keep his position, I looked back and saw No 7 right behind him. You better get a move on then as No 7 is already here - so off he went with 2 more gels. I did not really expect him to arrive in 6:30 but in fact he arrived after 6:22 and still in 6th position! So really well done! We decided to stay for the prizegiving as a few friends had done great and would be receiving prizes. So we spent the time waiting (that's the problem if you are too fast! You have about 3 hours to wait...) and catching up with the pacepushers' adventures (Caroline's trip to Nepal and India and Neal's Navy stories). At last Neal had been out on the trail again (where he belongs!). We saw Sharon and Debbie finish 2nd and 3rd, Marco 4th and Graham Harcus 5th and 1st supervet. Suddenly at the prizegiving Thomas' name was called up and to our surprise he had won the 1st vet prize. George Cairns the only other vet in front of him had received the 3rd overall prize! Great! And for the 1st time he has brought home prize money!! £40 in vouchers for the Sweat Shop. Not bad!

What next? Well the CCC on paper, but I am not sure if this is still realistic. I know I have not done my homework due to a lack of running. I won't be able to sqeeze it in either. I am looking forward to the great scenery and hopefully sunshine though. We have long given up on the idea of running together as we have obviously a completely different pace. I am just a bit scared to run through the night on my own over high mountains that I don't even know. So at the moment I am thinking of starting the CCC, aiming to keep going throughout daylight, taking it easy and enjoying it without getting timed out too early. And then wait and see. Maybe it is possible, maybe it is not. But if it is not then I will have hopefully enjoyed a great day out and soaked in the atmosphere. By the way No 7 (Richard Galbraith) is also running the CCC.
The house move has come in the way, but when we booked all these trips and races last year we did not even think about moving. When the house came up though we could not let it pass by. And with the big one done and dusted in June, and the move last week everything else took 2nd place. So bring on Chamonix. I can't wait to see it all for myself even if I have a DNS or a DNF.

WHW Race 2010

2010-06-23T01:20:00.000-07:00

Photo by Davie Hall

What can I say?! Thomas finally achieved his dream and conquered the WHW Race – a dream that started over 3 years ago and got him into ultra-running. A dream that had turned into a nightmare in the past 2 years with his 2 DNFs. I am so happy for him to have finally done it and I am so proud of him.

It was a very emotional weekend for me. He started well running his pace and none of the injuries he had dealt with over the past 4 weeks seemed to cause any problems until Rowardennan. So we left for our journey round the loch to Beinglas. I was on tender hooks the whole night and day as I knew anything could happen anytime and threaten his run. When we were waiting for him at Beinglas Marco’s support team called over that they had got a message that Thomas had hurt his shin again and he would be arriving a bit later! I could not believe it! I ran to the car to get the 1st Aid Box and when he arrived we iced his leg, gave him some painkillers and he ran on. 4 weeks ago this shin problem had halted our run and I knew it was very sore on the downhills. I felt completely deflated after he had left and did not think he would be able to finish this race. From then on Nancy had to support the runner and the other half of the support team! I was tense the whole time waiting for his call to be picked up somewhere along the route.

At Auchtertyre he arrived but did not mention pulling out and we did not ask! After being weighed he just kept running on. At Tyndrum he looked very sore going up the hill and again I was getting even more concerned. He ran into Bridge of Orchy and the plan was for me to meet him at the support stop, change his bottle, gels and find out if he needed anything else. But I felt I did not make a good job out of it and we changed tactics after that. Nancy would meet him, do all the talking and supply him with what he needed – and she did great. She cheered him up, he even joked and carried on without questioning anything. I think in my mind I was getting more worked up and was already thinking about Glencoe where he dropped out twice before and I so wanted him to get past there. So when we left the Bridge of Orchy car park I drove along the A82 until Nancy said, are we not supposed to turn left here towards Victoria Bridge? In my mind I was already heading to Glencoe! So I turned the car and Nancy waited for Thomas at Inverornan and I kept in the background.

Change of socks and shoes at Victoria Bridge and a backpack with a bladder to get him across Rannoch. The fact that he decided to cross Rannoch was a good sign for me as I knew then that he felt he had a chance to keep going. So now we were ready to head to the Ski Centre. The weather was fantastic (for supporters as the wind kept the midges away and the sun was shining), the views absolutely amazing. So we sat at the ski centre car park waiting for him. Marco’s support team was there again and once again they sent me into a panic. Nancy was looking out for Thomas on the path while I was in the car park. Suddenly Marco’ supporter shouted and waved at me to come down – and I thought, OMG what’s wrong now? Nancy is already there so why do they need me? But he hadn’t realized that Nancy was there for Thomas and just let me know he was in sight! Pheww! Not again at exactly the same spot 3 years in a row!
I had just had a phone call from Jens Lukas (winner in 2008). He and Maya kept phoning and texting during the day to support Thomas and wish him well. Thanks guys. That was great. He had just said to me, you have to get him past Kingshouse. He cannot stop there. Yes, that was our mission. He actually was not too bad and ran on. When he had left the car park Nancy and I cheered and hugged as we felt one mission was accomplished! Off to Altnafeadh – new territory for us!

When we sent him on his way up the Devil’s staircase to Kinlochleven I was still scared that his injury could get worse on the steep downhill into KLL. I was relieved he was running towards KLL though but I still did not think about a finish. I was looking forward to KLL where I knew Caroline, her dad and Neal would be waiting (and marshalling). They would help us to spur him on if there was any problem. He arrived about 30min later than expected, it didn’t help to calm my nerves but again I tried to stay in the background until he freely shared his anxieties about a possible fractured leg with Caroline, Neal and the race doctor! It did not help that Nancy handed him his painkiller (Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory at the recommended daily dose!) right under the eyes of the race doctor (to her defence she did not know who he was). From his medical briefings I know that he is not keen on the use of these anti-inflammatories in ultra races. And I guess people do abuse them and take a dose that is too high and are not aware of the risks. But both Nancy and I knew very well what we were doing and kept a record of times and doses given to not exceed the daily dose. So I quickly tried to guide him away from the scales and the doctor to the car to get him sorted for his final leg into FW.

He left and I decided that NOW a finish seemed possible even to me and we stopped at the co-op to buy some sparkling wine for the finish! I sent a few texts to people who had been sending messages of support, especially the club was keen to find out how he got on. They were all at Glen Massan for the annual BBQ. Off to Lundavra to see him for the final time, last remote chance for dropping out though that was now highly unlikely! But no! we arrived with 5 min to spare to the earliest expected time of arrival, thinking he will have slowed down by now. Before we were able to unload, a guy came up and said, I would not carry all this up to the checkpoint. You have missed your runner! What? Yes he ran through 6 min ago, looking strong and running fast. What? I asked him twice if he did not mix us up and made Nancy go up the hill (sorry!) to check with the marshals as I did not believe him. But it was true. How can that happen? Well, now it was sure that he would finish. No doubt left even in me! So we better get a move on so we won’t miss his finish!

We arrived at the finish and I realized that only 3 people had arrived. (My race favourite had won! Richie Cunningham in 16h 36min – what an excellent performance! I was so pleased for him.) I had not paid much attention to positions at all and thought at KLL that a sub 20 finish was not possible for Thomas, but what was going on now? Again Marco’s supporters told me that he was running fast, maybe even catching Marco on the final stretch. I could hardly believe it. But I knew he would not overtake Marco on the final stretch if he did catch him. If that happened he would run in with him together. As it turned out Marco too had more in his legs at the end and sprinted to the finish in 5th place! Superb!
Then we waited for Thomas to appear. Finally the moment we had waited for for 3 years. I was in tears before he was even in sight. And that was not the first and last time of the day.

Watch the video of his finish for yourself. He ran up to me first to hug me and people shouted at him to run to the doors, the official finish. And there he was, a WHW Race Finisher! In 18H 49min and 6th place! Absolutely fantastic!

The prize giving the next day was again an emotional affair for me. Thomas was just so happy to be finally called forward to collect his goblet. And everyone involved in the race who knew him, from runner and marshal to supporter, was so happy for him. They clapped and cheered and hugged him – it was fantastic to see. Thank you all.

I know Dario would have been so happy for him. He kept encouraging him and knew that one day he would be there at the finish and one day he would collect his goblet. It is so sad though that he could not receive it from Dario himself.
I would really like to thank Gilian at this point. I think she has shown tremendous courage and strength to be there at the start, the finish and the prize giving. She knew about Thomas too and was so happy for him to finish. I personally felt it was very important to have her there, to share this moment.

And I think everyone in the committee has done a great job to continue the legacy of this race. Thank you!

Good luck

2010-06-18T00:50:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to wish everyone involved in this year's WHW Race good luck! I hope for the runners that they'll achieve their dreams. If you were lucky enough not to have had any problems in your preparation, go for it, whatever your goal is. If you've had a few hickups, I hope that everything can come together and you will still have a good race. And if it comes to the worst and for some (unforeseen) circumstances you can't finish the race, don't despair. It's not the end of the world but only the end of your run. And there will be other runs. (I know people don't like to hear this, but given our experiences I thought I should mention it :-))
For those involved in planning, organising, marshalling, supporting. Good luck to you as well. I hope there won't be any big problems along the route. And I'm sure the commitee has been working hard to ensure that the race will start and finish in the unique spirit that Dario created. Thank you for that in advance!

See you all in Milngavie.

Polaroid 10K Series

2010-06-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

To my own surprise I put in late entries to 2 of the 10K races of the Polaroid Series. A few girls of the club were doing them so I tagged along. Secretly hoping to better my Women’s 10K PB of 48:55. It did not happen. I am very pleased with my runs though. The Dumbarton 10K was very hard, it was hot, an evening race and my legs felt very heavy. I think I did not eat right during the day and lacked energy and had done a rollerblading session the night before. I still got a 49:06 so that was good.
Today was the Vale of Leven 10K. Apparently the hardest of them all and rather hilly. The weather was much better with a light drizzle all the time and my legs felt good. I had done a speed session in preparation this time. I actually enjoyed the race and was surprised to get 49:49. I did not think I could get under 50 due to the hills. So I am pleased to have 3 recent 10Ks all in sub-50.

I met Davie Hall out to take pictures and one of Debbie’s support runners, Jill (I think, sorry, I’m not good with names).

But don’t get me started on this year’s WHW Race preparations! The past 3 weeks have been a rollercoaster of injuries, improvements, new injuries and a “nearly-call” to withdraw from the race. I wish he just had taperitis, but there was not much to taper from as instead he had picked up tendinitis and muscle strains. After deciding it was probably not meant to be this year we emptied a bottle of the Fling’s Finest to celebrate his great performance at the Fling and toast to other challenges to come. As he could not bring himself to call it off officially he kept a glimmer of hope “just in case”. As his sport masseur is now back from his 2-week-sick leave that coincided with Tom’s injuries, he has already had a few sessions. And he has been able to run uphill. If only all the 95M were uphill! Anyway, to cut a long story short and not put you through what I had to endure, he is much better now. His “test run” yesterday went o.k., he has got some miles to taper from and the race is on again! Don’t blame me if I only believe this was a good idea when he has reached FW’s Leisure Centre on foot! How I am looking forward to a one week spell of taperitis now! At least it is only one week!

Flashback and Flashforward

2010-05-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

We had a perfect plan for our 3-day-tour of the WHW. It just did not work out.

2 days before we were setting off Thomas did not feel too great, probably some viral illness and we were not sure if he could run. But of course he did, he set off for his 1st leg from Milngavie to Beinglas with Marco keeping him company until Drymen. I realized he was struggling already in Balmaha as he was rather slow but he carried on. Then I suggested to drive round with me from Anchorage Cottage to Ardlui and take the ferry and have a good rest before the next day. But no, he wanted to “get the miles in” and off he went, well shuffled as far as I could see it. Anyway, I took the ferry across from Ardlui, a wonderful ferry ride in beautiful sunshine. When I had phoned to see where he was he hadn’t even reached Inversnaid! So when I got across rather than walking straight to Beinglas and enjoy a glass of wine in the sunshine I started to walk towards him, and walked and walked. I must have been half way to Inversnaid when he finally came into view. He was walking at snail pace. Well what can I say?! It took us a few hours to get to Beinglas, being overtaken by walkers (!) with heavy backpacks. Where have I experienced that before?! Flashback! WHW Race 2009! Well the path was empty and quiet by the time we approached Beinglas. It took him 10 hours! My Fling time incidentally! The only reason I had taken the car up was because he was supposed to run at his own pace and as I would be hours behind I decided to skip the 1st leg. I need not have worried!

We had a nice meal, met Lorna and her friend from the club who was walking the WHW and then had an early night. The next day we were going over our options. But he felt “fine” again and the weather was superb and he wanted to run. So we set off together and stayed together until just above Crianlarich forest where he was itching to get away.

Then on a downhill section injury struck! I was running downhill towards the bridge trying to take a few photos but he didn’t follow me. I thought he must have fallen and was just about going back when he came. He felt a sudden pain on his right shin and could hardly walk downhill or lift up his foot! I could not believe it. As we were close to the road and the cottage turnoff I said that’s it, we are getting the car and calling it a day. But no! He wanted to put his feet into the stream first to see if it got better. Well. It didn’t and he reluctantly followed me to the roadside. We got a lift back to Ardlui, into the car and drove up to Kingshouse. You can imagine the mood! The injury was iced and rested.

I was itching to do some exercise myself and was looking up our favourite munro, the Buchaille Etive Mor.

Then at 15.30 I decided I would go up to the top. Thomas thought I could get there in maybe 2-2 ½ hours and would make it back in time for a bar meal. So off I went and had a great climb. The views were absolutely stunning, I was the only one on the summit and got there in 1h:27min!! I was rather pleased with myself. I got back down and arrived 2h:30min after setting off from the car, I think this was my quickest ascent/decent yet. Back to KH where Thomas was enjoying the sunshine too and a few beers!

The next day I then ran from the Staircase to Fort William on my own with Thomas supporting me in the car. I met him at the Ice Factor where he had met up with Peter who was trying to cheer him up! Again I had a great run but in the back of my mind I was worrying about Thomas and really thought that he had ruined his chances for this year’s WHW. I just could not face to wait another year for his finish!

We settled into our B&B which is right at the end of the WHW (and actually ran by Craig Mitchell’s parents, winner of the Lhairig Mor race). We could see walkers coming past and even saw the few runners who were out training on the route. As this is the B&B we have booked for the race I felt like I had a flashforward. Looking out the window seeing everyone else running towards the finish and Thomas injured next to me! Not a nice feeling! And I knew then that I could not face coming up to see the finish if he indeed could not start the race. Sorry to all my friends but at that moment I felt like I could not do it again. Thomas on the other hand was already planning to come up and stay in the B&B himself. (Maybe I would come along as well in the end …)

Anyway, I had a closer look again at the injury myself and it looked like a muscular problem in the Anterior Tibilias muscle. I applied some massage, Ibuprofen and by the next morning it felt slightly better. We had also arranged an emergency appointment with his sports masseur that evening who diagnosed a grade 1 muscle injury. He advised to give it a few more days and then start back running mid week. GOOD NEWS at last!

So we are still on for the race and there is hope yet that this year he will deliver what I know he is capable of. But if there is any injury doubt at all he will certainly not start.

48:55

2010-05-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

This is my new 10K PB!!
I can’t quite believe it. I have been trying to get a sub-50min for a while. Last year I was chasing faster times in my 10K, HM and Marathon and had my training geared up to it, but it never happened. So this year with all the ultras I didn’t even bother trying. I nearly did not enter the Women’s 10K race, but as so many girls from the club were doing it, I decided 2 weeks ago that I would go along for the fun!
With hardly any speed training at all apart from one single session 1 week ago with 3 fast 1K intervals I went along to yesterday’s race. My plan was to try and stick with Yvonne for as long as I could as she had just got a sub-50min on Wednesday in Troon. So we all lined up and I found myself near the front of the field next to Sharon and Debbie! What was I doing there? Off we went and I kept up with Yvonne, I even saw Debbie just in front of me during the first 1K and thought this was way too fast. And it was! 4:42. We settled into a more relaxed pace and I did not look at the watch again until halfway, 24:55. So just under 50min pace. I felt really good and relaxed but I could see that Yvonne was working hard. When we turned into the park and the inclines started she told me to go on. My legs felt great, I felt relaxed and knew I could go a bit faster. So that’s what I did.
And as the inclines started I went past runner after runner and kept overtaking them even on the steep incline just before km 8. Me overtaking people?! So when I reached Km 8 in just under 40min I knew I could get a sub 50. Saw Marco and Cairn again near Km 9, a quick wave and onto the last Km. When I got closer to the finish and saw the clock it was still showing 48 something. So I gave all I had and sprinted to the finish line and managed to stay under 49min! I crossed the line, threw my arms into the air and ran up to the first Glenpark girl I saw (Fiona) and screamed my time into her ear while she was trying to get her chip off. She got quite a fright. My next victims were Sharon and Debbie who had crossed the line a few min earlier of course. I was very happy!

"Done and dusted" - What next?

2010-05-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

Now that the dust has settled on my Fling-finish and the bottle of sparkling has been emptied, how do I feel one week after?

First of all a big thank you again to Ellen & Murdo and all the other organizers, marshals and supporters. It was a great race and I need not have worried about my drop bags as everything was where it should be and I was given my bags without delay every time. (Not that I need to have worried about any "delay" given my time!) I thought the timing chip was brilliant, so small, comfortable around your wrist and no need to attach a number to your shirt.
I am still proud of myself that I have actually finished the Fling and in a good time for me. I'm not into statistics really, but I was quite happy to see that my best placing for each section was in fact the last one with my worst being the first. So I guess I was pacing myself well given my "limited ability" ;-) .
But my sense of achievement is even bigger because I managed to do it just with my drop bags, carrying a far too heavy bag pack (weighing between 1.5-2kg) and without anyone particular waiting for me on the route (apart from Caroline who was marshalling at Drymen). My total stoppage time was 45-50min taking 15min at Balmaha getting a bit quicker with sorting myself out and only needing 10min at the other stops and a bit longer again at Beinglas. For me it was a bit of a self-experience adventure and it went well! I ran most of it on my own apart from some miles towards Drymen where I was chatting to a few people. And I really enjoyed the experience. It was great to be part of the race and seeing the other runners, getting from checkpoint to checkpoint, hearing encouragement on the way and then being on my own again, enjoying the great scenery, the weather, the fact that I was actually running this race. Don't get me wrong I would have enjoyed company as well, but as it happened noone else was moving at my pace.
I was doing it to prove to myself that I could, Thomas always believed I could and kept saying I was "made for endurance events"! There was one point after Balmaha when I thought why again are you doing this? You can enjoy a great day out running in the hills even if you "only" cover 30M, why do you have to cover 53m?! My achilles was beginning to hurt and I was worried about the damage it might do. But I blocked these thoughts out and just kept moving forward and soon forgot all about it while I enjoyed being part of the race as a runner.

Talking about it to your family and colleagues though brings you quickly down to earth as they just can't get how you would ever do anything like it. At work some girls are just getting themselves fit enough to walk the 5K Race for Life so 53M is just far too crazy. My sister's comment was: "So you took 5 hours longer than Thomas for the SAME distance?!" I guess that sums it up! :-)

I had a great run with 2 girls from the club yesterday, 7.5M around the Greenock Cut, and they wanted to know everything as Yvonne had been to the finish and saw Thomas coming in. That was great and I could relive all the excitement again. And Thomas is working hard to get them to enter for next year!
And yes, by the way, I am running again, my legs feel fine and they have been since Thursday. So that's good news! But I will also be back on my rollerblades next week for the 1st time this year. The Lochwinnoch Loops have started again so I will use it as cross-training.

Our next adventure is a 3-day WHW tour in 3 weeks. Given our time difference though (thanks sis for pointing it out!) I have decided to skip the first leg to Beinglas and take the little ferry from Ardlui, walk into Beinglas and spend a leisurely afternoon until Thomas arrives. After all I'm not training for the WHWR!
And at the moment I think I won't be in the near future either. Walking/running along the loch side and then through Crianlarich forest later when everything was hurting I was in total awe of all those who carry on after Tyndrum in the WHWR with another 42M in front! Incredible! Mind you it is just 2 years nearly to the day
that I ran my first marathon and thought that was incredible! So don't quote me on this.

I'm looking forward to the Devil though. I love the route and I now know I can do it, it is "only" 42M after all! :-)

Then comes our biggest adventure yet, the CCC! And it is really more a "holiday madness" thing, while we are there, why not give this a go?! I knew if I could not finish the Fling then I could forget the CCC, but given that I have - well, we'll see what happens. I have one big advantage over Thomas (yes I have!), I know I can carry a heavy bagpack over at least 53M, his featherlite hipbelt won't do for that race! :-)

My Highland Fling

2010-04-25T03:08:00.000-07:00

The short version: I finished! And I finished with my silver goal of “sub 13:30” in 13:23 with 7min to spare until the prize-giving to see Thomas winning his 1st vet prize and 2nd overall in a new PB of 8:09!! What a star!

The long version: I was very nervous before the race. I knew I would be “on my own” with my drop bags as Nancy had got caught up in the volcanic ash chaos and could not make it to Rowardennan. Would the bags be there, what if not? What if I struggled? What if I got stuck on the Lochside? But I also pictured myself approaching that finish line in Tyndrum, determined not to be as emotional as after the Devil, my 1st ultra, but to just enjoy it when I got there. But there were still 53 miles to cover! It would be my longest distance ever – how would I cope?!

Once we started I was actually o.k. My legs felt good and I just settled into my easy pace. Up to Drymen I chatted with a few people, Tim, Jim Drummond and a few girls, Liz from Chester (23 years with already a number of ultras under her belt) and Jill from London on her ultra-debut a few days before her 40th birthday. There was a group of girls in front who were just slightly too fast and Liz and Jill were going slightly slower so I decided to just go at my own pace. What is the etiquette of ultra-running? Do you drop your pace to chat a bit or do you try and stay with a group? I decided to be “antisocial” and run on my own. And funnily enough for most of the time this is what I literally did. For long distances I did not see anyone close by apart from when the faster guys approached from behind to disappear into the distance. Until Beinglas that was, when I kept seeing a few of the 7 o’clock runners struggling with cramps, walking, taking breaks and we kept bumping into each other. I enjoy running on my own taking in the scenery and luckily the day was nice and I kept looking at the loch, the mountains, some of which were still snow capped. Beautiful. But I also enjoyed being overtaken by the faster guys, meeting lots of familiar faces and getting encouragement on the way. I think that really helped as I was working out who I still had to see. Most of the ones I knew had overtaken me before Inversnaid.

I reached Drymen a bit quicker than during my training run and saw Caroline who was marshalling there. She actually had a Lucozade ready for me and 2 gels I had given her before. I also met Jude who together with his wife and dog were out on their support debut for Thomas. It was good to see them and off I went after refilling my water bladder. My hands were rather cold and I decided to keep my gloves on as I found it difficult to even tie up my laces. Which I had to do about 3 times at least. For whatever reason they kept getting loose even with a double knot. After Drymen I kept looking back to see if any of the vet runners who had started one hour after us was approaching. And I was waiting for Thomas to catch me. Then just before the gate leading onto the path to Conic Hill I heard someone whistling. There was Thomas on his own leading the vet race. Where is Richie was my first question as I was so surprised to see Thomas running on his own in the lead! Off he went into the distance but it was not too long until Richie came. A few minutes further behind was someone wearing a German triathlon shirt but I did not know him. Then there was quite a gap.

In Balmaha (3:55 for me) I was told Richie was a min ahead of Thomas and he was going well. That’s great I thought and got my own drop bag and had a much needed toilet break and reorganized my food which took me about 15min in fact. Readjusting of laces, round of Vaseline and off I went.

Got to Rowardennan in just under 6:00, a nose bleed on the way (what was that? I never get nose bleeds and I thought that would be an unusual show stopper!), further toilet stop, organizing of drop bag, handed my rubbish to Janet who was supporting her husband Jon, quick chat, newsflash that Thomas was now a few min ahead of Richie again and onto the lochside. This is where I missed Marco going past but I found out later from Ian that he had already come through as I was getting worried. He had started 2 hours behind me (being so young :-)) and had a great race finishing 3rd overall! On the steep climbs towards Inversnaid I met Ian who had a tough race with stomach problems as I found out later.

Got into Inversnaid, straight into the hotel toilet again (last toilet stop though as I think I was getting the hydration right in the end), drop bag organization. My bag had got rather heavy as I really just stuck to gels and stuffed a lot of the food into the bag. I left most of it at Inversnaid realizing that I would not eat it anyway, just took a few nuts, jelly babies and crisps. Quickly saw Mags Turnbull coming in but then lost sight of her. And onwards towards Beinglas.
I was quite happy by then realizing that I would make it at least to Beinglas, would not get stuck at Inversnaid and could be rescued much easier if I had to. That lifted my spirit as I was picturing achieving at least a 42M distance. But the lochside dragged on, so many tree roots, so many boulders. In fact I walked most of it as I felt it was not worth getting into a running mode only to stumble across a tree root or slip on a rock. The view back to Loch Lomond was fantastic. It was about there that I got a text from Thomas telling me he had won the vet race!! I was so happy for him and got a bit emotional then, luckily all on my own. Well, I thought I better try and get there for the prize giving! The pressure was on! I thought if I could reach Beinglas in 10hrs I had a chance. And I was caught by a couple of runners, one of them told me I wasn’t far off pace. And I told him very proudly that my husband had just won the vet race and I had to get to the prize giving.

Well, I reached Beinglas in just over 10:00 and sat down for the 1st time. Again to refill my bladder with 1.5L (!) as I thought it was getting hot and I might need it! I did not and ended up with sore shoulders due to all the weight I was carrying the whole way. Never mind. Trying to get up though I ended up with a cramp in my thigh and I was getting worried as from there on I saw so many struggling with cramps. In fact one of the runners walked onto a bridge and suddenly was making the weirdest movements as he had a terrible cramp. I had to lean on his foot until the cramp eased! Later on I saw others using salt sachets and I decided to also use my emergency supply of salt. I had little restaurant style salt sachets and poured one right into my mouth. Disgusting! Quickly washed down with water and onwards. Derrydaroch farm, Carmyle Cottage, important milestones and on to the farm track. I handed one salt sachet to another runner struggling with cramps getting up the steps. Then another nose bleed! (WTF?) The cows were waiting right on the path and a female releigh runner was waiting for someone else to go first! We took a slight detour instead! Into the forest and again never-ending ups and downs, but with the end in sight it was bearable. I knew I could finish it but was just a bit concerned about possible cramps. My muscles felt tight and seconds away from cramping but never actually did. So that was lucky.

As I was getting closer to 13:00 I tried to keep a running motion going whenever I could as I so wanted to get there for the prize giving. Crossing the road, on to Auchtertyre, flat bits, try to keep running, you want to be there at 7.30pm, don’t walk too much when you can still run a bit. That was my mantra. I had dreaded the flat bit to Auchtertyre and then the finish before the race as I knew it would be tough to run then, but trying to beat that 7.30pm deadline gave me a good focus.

Getting on to the path along the river into Tyndrum and up the hill to the station I heard someone shouting my name from the path below leading towards the finish. It was Thomas waving his arms like mad, the pipers were playing and I could not help it and the tears were coming. Quick composure by the time I reached Thomas who filled me in with his 2nd overall position as well as 1st vet prize and the brilliant news that Marco had come 3rd, that Lucy had won with Sharon 2nd and Debbie 3rd! Wow! Apart from the overall winner Craig Stewart who I don't know personally all podium positions were occupied by people I know and love. Well, one more than the rest, but you know what I mean! Could it get any better? I ran up to the finish line and the crowd was cheering and I was waving. I felt like a star! I crossed the finish line and John handed me my medal. Lots of hugs from everyone. Thanks to all for cheering me on and believing I could do it.

The countdown has begun ...

2010-04-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

... 10 days to go! Until the "Highland Fling" race, my 2nd ultra race, but my 1st over a distance of 52 miles. I will have 15 hours to complete it and completion is my main goal! Time does not really matter as long as it is within the 15hrs, but I do have a "silver" and a "golden" goal! A finish in time for the prize giving would be absolutely fantastic, i.e. within 13.5 hrs. Anything less is at present unimaginable!
I don't have any predicted times for the checkpoints, just what I can expect to do from my training runs. I reckon 2:30 to Drymen, maybe 2:20, then 4:00 to Balmaha and 6:00 to Rowardennan. After that it will be a blur. I will try my best to get to Beinglas even if I am in trouble as I do not want to get stranded in Inversnaid. And I have previously covered the distance to Beinglas in the Devil, so I should be able to get there. After Beinglas will be "unknown territory" for me. I will be on my own with my drop bags until Rowardennan (half way point) where our friend Nancy will meet me for moral support and any first aid I might need (new socks,T-shirt,Compeed etc). After that my drop bags will be waiting for me again and get me to the end (hopefully).
Today saw me doing another double session with my last long run at lunchtime and an easy 5M with the club tonight. In the last 8 days, i.e. from last Thursday when I also did the same double session, I have done my highest mileage ever. On Saturday I ran from Milngavie to Balmaha and on Sunday I ran for about 2 hrs, 1 hour out of Balmaha towards Rowardennan and back. A few easier and shorter runs in between and then today's last long run. I actually felt better on my long run this week then last week. And I think I have finally decided what I will take food/energy wise.

Now it is taper time! The best time!! I don't need to worry about getting a long run in and can relax! I am off next Thursday and Friday so I will get plenty of rest and time to carboload. And strangely enough I am starting to look forward to this race. For me it is a big adventure, to see if I can do it. I entered (or rather was entered) and did not know if I would be up to the miles. But I decided to see where I was in April and decide then if I would give it a go. I have certainly not done as many miles as most other runners, in fact I have probably done not more than 35-40M per week on average with some weeks even less than that, but I have done as much as I could and as much as I wanted to do given the time constrains, laziness etc. I really enjoyed my long runs out on the trails and I hope that this will keep me going on the day. What I did not like was the fact that I have missed a few club runs that I had wanted to do, because they were on days when a long run was planned or the day before. And that is the downside, it is quite a commitment and shorter races are not really part of the preparation. Well especially with my Achilles tendon problem as well.

That Achilles tendon problem will remain for now. I have had a number of sessions and even dropped my mileage a lot for 10 days to give it a chance to get better with physio etc., but after a long run it would just flare up and the physio would start from square one again. So I decided to ignore it just now if I wanted to have a go at my planned runs this summer. As long as I don't press on my Achilles tendons they are fine! They have to wait until autumn to get seen to again. I just hope they can wait that long!

So bring on Saturday, the 24th of April 2010! I am as ready as I will ever be!

Well Well ...

2010-03-24T01:48:00.000-07:00

... it is never a good idea to be too smug so after my good run on Sunday I have landed back on my feet. The physio had been working hard on both of my Achilles tendons and reckoned that with about 4 intensive sessions just for the Achilles tendons (involving rather painful massage to break up any tissue etc)we should see an improvement. When I started my run on Sunday the left one was a bit sore at the beginning but that soon disappeared. And apart from when you apply pressure I don't really get much pain from the Achilles. But the discomfort on pressure is obviously a sign that something is not quite right. That's why I decided to get it treated.

So yesterday (my 3rd session) the area in question was very tender, in fact worse than at the first session. So he reckoned I should really take it easy for 2 weeks, not run more than 5M every 2nd day to give it a chance to improve. Or else I might not be able to start the Fling! NOT what I wanted to hear! He has also given me some mild orthotics in case the overpronation support that I already have in my Asics is just not enough. And even though the Trabuccos have some support, I guess it is not as much as the running shoes. That would make sense as the problem is rather symmetrical, slightly worse on the left but in the same area. On a good note, he was quite impressed about the state of my muscles after this long run. He reckoned that "biomechanically" my body seems to be able to take the "pounding" and it is the Achilles area that is the problem but it could be sorted if I gave it TIME! Time I do not have if I want to have a go at the Fling. He thinks it is the downhill running that puts the most strain onto the Achilles area.

Anyway, I think I will take it easy for at least 1 week until the next appointment, then maybe another. And then I still have nearly 3 weeks to get a few longer runs in. Just when the season has started! :-(

32 Miles on the Way

2010-03-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I ran from BoO to KHH (and a bit further) and back to Tyndrum, making it my 2nd longest run ever (the Devil being the longest). I ran it completely self-sufficient with a new larger backpack that not only had all my food but also some spare clothes in there. I refilled my water once at KHH. All in all I was on my feet for 7h:13min. Needless to say I felt very pleased with myself!

The plan was for Thomas, Marco, Debbie and me to meet up for this long training run 5 weeks before the Fling. Before you think, how is that going to work out time-wise with the Sonics, Thomas and then me thrown in, we had a plan!

Debbie would run the Devil, Thomas and Marco would run it backwards leaving the car in FW. I was supposed to start in BoO and run to FW, but decided to make my own plan as I was fearing Debbie would have to wait for me in FW for hours and I did not want the pressure in case I could not go on etc. Running back to Tyndrum would give me my miles and leave me lots of time for unforeseen circumstances.

Well, well. It turned out that I was the only one actually finishing the planned run with everyone else bailing out at various points for various reasons. :-)

I was completely oblivious to all this as Thomas kept phoning my old mobile and then complained I had not switched the phone on! While I was happily running my last few miles down into Tyndrum, I was doing a few calculations and worked out that I could have actually run to FW and would have probably arrived only a short time after Debbie, which made me feel even better. I was starting to plan what I could eat at the Green Wellie and how I would spend the time until everyone else arrived. I stopped the watch (sorry, The Garmin Thomas had given me to ensure the mileage was all recorded) and stretched my sore legs and back. While I was leisurely looking up I saw a car pulling into the car park and 3 familiar faces! Debbie, Marco and Thomas! My face must have had a rather stupid look as I tried to figure out how they all got into that car and arrived just as I finished my run? Well, check out their blogs, you might find out. Nothing serious just a combination of viral illnesses and tiredness. I in fact had a rather good day, enjoying the run on my own, the stunning scenery with sunny spells, showers, rainbows thrown in, wind and then dry weather again. I tested a few food options, even Ginger Crystals at the end, new socks, new backpack (GoLite Rush for Women) - all to get ready for the BIG ONE, the Fling.

Marathon on the WHW

2010-03-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

While a few friends were running the Barcelona Marathon yesterday, I decided to do my own marathon distance on the WHW.
Thomas was going to support me as he was in no state to run or walk very fast for that matter! When he asked me how he would get from Milngavie to the Beechtree in the car, it dawned on me that he had actually never driven along this part of the route before! He managed to find all the places though and did a good job.
I started in Milngavie at 11am and had planned to run to Rowardennan. On the route there were lots of walkers, runners and cyclists all enjoying the nice weather and sunshine. Just after Milngavie I met 3 girls running back to Drymen all training for the Fling as well. They went straight back chatting among themselves after a quick hello and a short exchange with one of them so that I decided to head off. That cost me a bit more energy than planned right at the start as they were actually going at about my pace. Anyway, after the Beechtree Inn I met another girl training for the Fling, Rosie Kerr. She was really nice, we introduced ourselves and chatted along. She was on her way back to Drymen but wanted to go slower and after a round of Vaseline at the next support stop we said our good-byes. I arrived in Drymen after 2h:25min (looking at the Fling results I might get a medal for the slowest time on that leg!). On the path up into the forest from Drymen there was a lot of slushy snow. You could not run and I was sliding a lot even walking. I knew it would probably be similar on the path towards Conic Hill even though the actual forest road was clear so I decided that I would get a lift from Thomas to Balmaha and continue running along the lochside and make up for the miles by running towards Inversnaid at the end. So that's what I did, a quick pit stop in Balmaha, some crisps, a new top and I started my second part of the run. The weather was glorious and the path in very good condition. I arrived in Rowardennan after 1h:45min and had to do another 5miles. That's what I did and got back to the car park at 5pm. I had a great day!

GEDM 2010

2010-03-06T23:24:00.001-08:00

Thomas at the finish of the Glasgow-Edinburgh-Double-Marathon (56M or 90K)

He ran a brilliant time of 6:55 and came 4th. Well done!

It was an exciting race with a lot of fast runners on the starter's list and I did not expect him to get into the top 5 this year. When the race started in Ruchill Park Glasgow there was one guy literally sprinting out of the park and everyone was smiling and thinking, yeah, how far will he get? Well, he built up a lead of 10min at one point and kept running like this. His running style looked so not distance- running-style that everywhere he passed people commented, oh, he will surely slow down soon, he will not get to the end like this.
But I learned 1 very important lesson yesterday, never to judge anyone by his running style!
He sure finished and he finished 2nd after Marcus Scotney who overtook him at half-way. Marcus looked comfortable the whole way and his winning time was 6:22. The 2nd one turned out to be no-one less than Grant Jeans, a fairly recent discovery as we were told who was picked to run the 100K in Keswick at the Commonwealth last year (running under 7:30 I think)! He finished maybe 10min behind Marcus though I am not sure.
Thomas worked his way up, initially running with George Cairns in 11th position and was 5th after the Falkirk Wheel. At my next stop at 59K he was 4th and the 3rd guy was only 3min ahead. So I thought, that's not too much and he will be able to catch him.
Last year he was only a few minutes behind Kenny Valentine but at a much later point and could not get to him. So I was getting really excited and rushed to my next stop at 71K. Again he was a few min behind the 3rd who still looked very comfortable, I had to admit. Thomas in fact had him in his sight as the canal was stretching out a bit. Again encouragement to "get him".
But at 81K it was the same picture and when Thomas approached and I said you can do it, he said, no way, he had actually overtaken him at a checkpoint and pulled away. But it only lasted a few min when the other guy came "jogging" past (as Thomas said) in a pace that I could not run a 10K in. So I knew he would not get into 3rd.
I must admit I was slightly disappointed at that point, just because he was so close again like last year - even though I never expected him to be that far up this year. But your expectations go wild when you are following a race unfolding.
Anyway, who was the 3rd guy? Someone called Ian Sharman from Serpentine RC London. A Marathon de Sables Finisher and numerous marathon runs with PBs around 2:32!
So very well done to Thomas to come so close to him. By the time I reached the finish (and parked the car in a very dark and forsaken underground car park, I emerged and was right next to the finish at the canal! Well done Silke!) I realized what a brilliant (and much faster than last year's) finish time Thomas would have, I was cheering him on to the finish line. Together with Murdo, his daughter and Ellen who were there watching as well.

6:55 - superb! Well done!

Running & Supporting

2010-03-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the GLA-EDI-Double-Marathon (GEDM) and I will be back in my supporting role for Thomas. I am actually getting quite excited as the weather looks good, the path seems to be in good condition and Thomas is certainly up for it. His training has been going well, no serious injuries just now (usual hamstring niggles and the occasional “scare” of aches and pains here and there) and no recent race. There will be a lot of fast runners including Lucy (who will want to defend her title, “Go Lucy Go!” I will have a spare bottle for you this year in case you need it towards the end!) and Marcus Scotney, George Cairns, some (to me) unknown “sprinters” and Thomas of course! :-)
He is under instructions though to go easy as this is part of his training for bigger things to come – but when did he ever listen to me?!

Well, how has my own training been over the past few weeks? Last week saw me doing my highest “mileage” yet – 70K. I know it is not much compared to what others do regularly, but for me it is a step up. Largely due to 2 longer runs at the weekend. Initially planned to be run on the WHW, but when our club race got cancelled due to high snow on the hills above Greenock, it was obvious that that was not a good idea. So I ran with some girls from the club who did their last long run before the Barcelona Marathon. On Sunday I ran with them again, only they did a shorter route and I ran to the club from the house and back with a few loops around Greenock. That gave me nearly 30M already for the week. They do start rather early in the morning when I usually still enjoy my warm bed, but hey – the things you do to get some running in!

I then had my 1st sports massage on Tuesday. Thomas had been on to me for a while to get one, but I did not really feel I needed it with my low mileage etc. But after the weekend I felt I had “earned” it. So I went and came back with a huge list of “problem areas”: bilateral Achilles tendinopathy (no tendinitis yet), tight calves, tight quads and tight right hamstring. Well, at least my right ITB is better! I sort of knew about the Achilles problem, but have opted to ignore it for the last 12 months and just tried not to run fast (well what I would call fast). It only is a problem when my husband tries to apply friction massage (which he insists on doing, with good intent I know) or when he makes me endure an ice-cold foot bath after a run! But the sports massage felt really good after the initial pain subsided! The passive stretches that came at the end made the massage seem rather relaxing! All this despite the fact that I am actually one of those people who do a little stretching routine after each run – obviously not enough. So I might go back to get the Achilles problem sorted a bit more.

Valentine's Weekend

2010-02-15T00:34:00.000-08:00

At the finish on a hill above the hotel

We finally got to use a Christmas present from 2008 (!), a DB&B voucher for the Holly Tree Hotel in Kentallen near Ballachulish. And what a nice place it is!
Our plan was to do a circular run from Kentallen along the new cycle path towards South Ballachulish, then on to Ballachulish and up into Glen Duror, to Duror village and back to the hotel. It was fantastic. We took about 3.5hrs with a lot of photo stops. It was 25.5KM and quite a bit up and down. Thomas had done this run years ago when I wasn't running at all so I was really keen to do it myself. And the new cycle path is great. To my surprise it is in fact tarmaced so it will be worth taking my rollerblades next time for a wee run along there.
We then relaxed in the hotel pool and sauna and then had the most delicious dinner.

Next morning after a good breakfast we set out to meet up with Sharon and John at Kingshouse. Thomas was going to run with them from there. I would join them at the bottom of the staircase. That would give me a chance to keep up with them I figured! It is amazing how fast Sharon is even on the uphills, my longer legs not giving me a big advantage. On the downhill she was just storming down. I kept up with Tim though and his dog who tried to trip us by running between our legs all the time. I was giving my new Roclites their first run and they felt quite good. Thomas stopped just before the very steep downhill into KLL started and we returned up the staircase. He waited for me at the top and took a few photos. That was my chance. I ran ahead and opened a slight gap. We then stormed down the staircase and he did not catch me! Luckily he did not fall then but later when he was running back on his own to the ski centre. Off to the Green Welly afterwards for some soup.

So this was my first "back to back", well sort of though the distances were not that long. But I was very pleased with my running over the weekend and really enjoyed it. It will bring my weekly mileage up nicely.

Half a glee outing

2010-02-07T02:27:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-24T08:44:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T12:04:00.000-08:00

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.

I am back ...

2009-11-15T05:49:00.000-08:00

... in my running shoes! After many weeks (I think in fact it might be a couple of months now) of not running (skating instead and then "recovering" or being lazy, holidays) I went out with the club today for an "easy" run in the hills above the Greenock cut. I had been out twice at the waterfront for very short runs lately, just to get myself into the running motion again. Then I had planned to do the Diet Coke version of the Glee Club run yesterday, but as Thomas has been (and still is!) working we had to cancel. So off I went on my own to join the Sunday stroll. Well, there probably is no "stroll" when a club goes for a run, so off we went into the hills and onto a course that will be the Xmas race course. I had thought of putting my new Trabuccos on, but then decided against it and used my old black running shoes. Good choice as we went through numerous bogs. Then suddenly I heard, we'll do a time trial for the 2nd loop of the course! Time trial?! It is a Sunday stroll! Luckily someone had a hangover and I managed not to come in last, sneeking in just before her. At the end of the 5-6M I was knackered, feeling sick, covered in mud and some scratches after a fall, but I felt like a cross-country runner and was very happy!

NEPAL 2009

2009-11-04T01:04:00.000-08:00

We have returned from our trip to Nepal where we joined a trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary.
The trip was organized by Mountain Kingdoms UK (formerly known as Himalayan Kingdoms), there were 12 people in our group led by KC, a Sherpa by profession who had won the international Sherpa of the Year Award a few years ago. He was indeed a great leader assisted by 3 other local guides and 10 porters.

The trek as such was superb. The scenery is difficult to put into words, the size of the mountains, the vastness and the beauty of it. I am hoping to put a little film clip together and will post it here to give you an impression. For now there will be a link to some photos on facebook at the end.

Our highest overnight point was 4130m, the Annapurna Base Camp or “ABC”. The trek started at around 1000m, but instead of gradually going higher, the trek leads through lots of small villages that are reached by going up and down all the time. There are a lot of “staircases”, built into the mountainside, that let the Devil’s staircase look like a walk in the park.
On one morning alone we climbed 2500 steps up to reach a village, not to mention 2500 down in the afternoon and – yes!, up again the next day! It was harder than I thought though I did not have any big problems with the altitude.

After 6 days into the trek Thomas was known as – yes, “crazy German”! Where have we heard that before? While everyone of the group was glad to have reached the Machapuchare Base Camp at 3700m for an overnight stay for acclimatization purposes, he decided to go for a run! He returned after 1 hour stating that he had actually ran up to ABC at 4130m and back again in 59min! The uphill alone would take us 2 hours of slow walking the following day. Realizing that most people might not believe him, he had scratched our initials into a big boulder up at ABC!

A few days later he and 3 others of the group wanted a “fast day” so we split into 2 groups. The fastest and fittest Sherpa was sent with them (Phuri, he recently summited his 1st 8000m mountain, Manaslu) and only Thomas could keep up with him!
Anyway, not to bore you with any more of the details of our trip, here is a summary:

HIGHLIGHTS
- Spending a whole day and night at ABC amongst some of the highest mountains on earth and watching a magnificent sunrise
- Walking through sub-tropical forest for days in sunshine and bamboo forest until around 3000m.
- Being invited by Phuri Sherpa after the trek to meet his family in Kathmandu. Thomas & I were given typical Sherpa food and saw how he lived.

LOWLIGHTS
- Kathmandu (KTM): a city that seems to have descended into chaos and corruption over the past few years according to the locals. It is unbelievably noisy, dusty and dirty.
- Mt Everest flight: great views over the whole Himalayan range, but unfortunately no close up views of Everest as expected. I did see the cloud shrouded top though!
- I must have brought a bug with me as I have been off work since Monday with N&D. Slowly recovering though.

A trek worth doing and thoroughly recommendable!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45435&id=1245781862&l=605fb8f41a&subject=Nepal 2009

Berlin Marathon rocks!

2009-09-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

What an incredible weekend we had in Berlin with great PBs all around and what a finish to a season that has not gone too well for Thomas. It was just perfect with great weather (too hot for some), blue skies and sunshine all the time.

I am still looking at my watch where I have saved my finish time just to make sure it is actually true! But it is official. My chip time for the Inline Marathon is 1:41:41. Never in my wildest dreams did I think of a time like this. I considered 1:45 well out of my reach. After failing to beat 2 hours three years in a row, mainly due to bad weather, I had joined the 1:50 paceline which I thought ambitious but not impossible in dry weather conditions.

The paceline is organized by Experts-In-Speed and the 130 participants met up 5 hours before the start to be divided into the groups and practise. There was already an electric atmosphere in front of the Brandenburg Gate in glorious sunshine. I met up with my 2 fellow Scottish skaters, Don who would be in my paceline and Marcello who was going for 1:35. Unfortunately our group was very big with 20 people of very different ability. There were 3 "pacers" or guides, but it became clear that it would be very difficult to keep the group together. There were 3 fairly small girls just behind the leading guide as well as others whose technique did not look great and the group kept falling apart. So much for drafting. We changed the order around with Don & I among the first 6 and it worked much better. It is all about keeping the rhythm of the skater in front, keeping only a small distance so you benefit from the drafting and trusting them that they will warn you about obstacles, bends etc. We then had a discussion about the aims of each of us, i.e. just staying together as a group without being too focussed on the time or going for the time no matter what. The guides tried to persuade 2 people to join the slower group but they wanted to stick with us. There were 6 of us who wanted to go for the time and I was certainly up for it and did not want to hang about.

So we left it at that and all met up again 30min before the start at 3.30PM. We got into our starter block and the 3 slower girls were gathering around the leading guide and I was getting concerned that they would just line up behind her and break up the whole paceline again. So I said to Don to stick closely behind me and I would try and get us into a good position. This was the time to throw your towel onto your sun-lounger! I am German after all. The other faster guys were also keen to get organized and as the start approached and we were trying to sort out our formation I actually ended up in 2nd position just behind the leading guide. Perfect! I could even still see some of the road in front of me which helps to reduce the risk of falls. Don was right behind me and off we went. What came were the craziest 5K I have ever skated. Imagine 7000(!) skaters trying to get away and jostling for positions. There was so much pushing and crossing of all the other skaters around us that I just tried to hang on to the leading guide who was trying to get us out of this crowd and into a bit more space. Only 200m after the start the message came "Don fell" which I had not noticed as he had lost contact with me when it all started. He would get up again and try to join the group or get into the next one, I was sure. So on we went at some speed. In the first sharp right bend we lost 2 more people and the group had already divided itself into 6 at the front and the rest had either fallen or split into 2 other groups.
Don managed to get under 1:50 and arrived in 1:48 having been picked up by a different paceline-group. He was delighted. He is in the M70 group by the way!! And one of the few Inline Instructors in Scotland.
I was still in 2nd position where I stayed most of the time able to copy the guide's rhythm perfectly. The rest were happy in their positions so we did not change much until half way point when we noticed we were actually going much faster. We crossed the HM point at 49min! Our guide was getting tired and we took turns at the front and I was still feeling great. When I was at the front I was actually ordered to slow down as we were loosing a couple of people. This kept happening, some getting tired, wanting to slow down a bit, the rest still feeling strong. When I was back in 2nd position the 3rd guy kept loosing contact so I stretched my arm backwards a lot to pull him in again. I was so enjoying the skate that it is very difficult to describe. The speed, the excitement, the concentration, and all that in glorious sunshine feeling the wind in your face.
The decision was made to stay in this smaller group even if we had to slow down a bit but we knew the time would be good anyway. And this is what it is about.
You work together in your group and benefit from each other. The group at the start had been too big and inhomogeneous to get this group feeling but the six of us at the front had now worked together since the start. So we finished it together and I just could not believe my time. It is incredible! Especially knowing I could have gone even faster and probably get under 1:40. It is like trying for a sub 4hour marathon as a runner, knowing on a brilliant day it might be 3:55-3:50 and suddenly finishing in 3:35.
Where did it come from? I really don't know. My endurance must have been really good still from all the running. I only went back to skating 4 weeks ago. And I was going to hang up my skates if I had got to sub 1:50 and concentrate on my running. Now I suddenly see that I can go much faster, maybe I should try for a 1:35 next year? What if I get faster skates with bigger wheels? It is certainly a good time to stop skating for the winter - on an incredible unexpected high!

Ben Nevis Race Pictures

2009-09-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

As promised here is a link to our Ben Nevis Race Pictures
Warning: there is loads of them ;-)

Spectating at the Ben Nevis Race

2009-09-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

Well, at least that was the plan! But for once the weather forecast was right and the rain just kept pouring and pouring. Nevertheless we left early on Saturday morning for Fort William hoping that it might get better.
We set off from the Youth Hostel towards the Green Wall, as advised by Bob Allison, for the best viewpoint just below the small Loch. We arrived a bit early, i.e. 12.45 with the race starting at 13.00 and nearly got blown off the path by the mountain rescue helicopter that was dropping crew members off onto the path for the race. Reaching our "viewpoint" it also became clear that today there was no view. You could hardly make out the contours of the Green Wall, never mind any runners coming down it later on.
And it also turned out that Tom's 10-year-old Goretex jacket had reached the end of its goretex life and had become completely waterlogged causing him to be very cold indeed. So we decided to turn around and see the runners coming through further down the path. We actually picked a good spot where they all had to cross a small stream. Thomas took lots of photos with the camera sticking out from a plastic bag that was over his head! Most of the runners though did not even look up even when we called out their numbers and in some cases even their names! I guess they were just keeping their heads down and trying to get on with their task. It was a very wet one! Well done to everyone who was brave enough to start the race on Saturday.
We saw a few familiar faces, Sarah Ridgway and surprisingly George Cairns only 1 week after the UTMB. Bob Allison, Jim Alexander and Karen from Strathearn Harriers who ran the Fling this year, Jean and Angus Bowman.
We went straight to our B&B to get dried off and later had a very nice meal in the Lime Tree restaurant. The next morning the weather had not changed and we nearly went straight home. Not before checking out Nevis Sport though.
And surprise, surprise the horizontal rain turned into drizzle and Thomas could not resist to run from the Braveheart Car Park to Kinlochleven. I drove round and made my way up to the Lairig Mor from the other side. We then ran down into Kinlochleven together and I enjoyed my 1st run since the Devil very much! The rain had stopped and there were even a few sunny spells at the end!

There will be a link to a lot of photos once they are all uploaded. Those who would like the original size please send us your email. Sorry Bob but yours are all out of focus :-(

What next?

2009-08-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

I am back on my skates - yeah!

Having completed my 1st ultra I have bathed in my glory ever since and not run at all!

This is why I call myself a reluctant runner. I don't "need" to run, I am quite happy if I don't. I recovered fairly quickly, but realized that it was only a few weeks to go until my Berlin Skate Marathon and I had only been on skates 3 times this year due to all the running. So 4 days after the Devil I was back for a short skating session and have been skating ever since as long as I have got time and the weather is good enough. This is the downside of skating, you can't do it in bad weather so not a sport recommended for Scotland.

I was then off to Germany for a week where I had 2 great skates in glorious sunshine with stops at a beer garden! I visited friends and family, followed by a weekend in London for the Christening of my god-daughter. I also met up with one of my friends in Germany who has been bravely battling breast cancer over the past 7 months with chemotherapy, an operation and then radiotherapy. Now there is a "race" for which you need all the physical and mental determination imaginable.

I am hoping to finally get under 2 hours in the Marathon, I have tried 3 times but each time it was raining and you were just glad to arrive at the finish in one piece. So there are 3 other Glasgow skaters going and we have joined a pace-line for a 1:50 finish. Quite ambitious, but if it is dry it might just be possible. Fitness wise I should be o.k. but I still have to train up some of my muscle groups that are needed for the skating.

I have also decided not to run the HM in Glasgow because I realized that there was no way I could fit in enough running at the same time. As I was hoping for a PB (incidentally also sub 1:50 :-) ) I would have had to do some serious sessions. So just now it is all about skating. I hope to reach my dream time so that I can lay the skating to rest a bit and just do it for fun and cross training during the summer and not with a time target in my mind.

Instead of the HM we will go up to Fort William to watch the Ben Nevis Race - something I have wanted to do for the past 2 years but it always clashes with the HM. I just can't imagine how these guys are getting up and down there so fast, so I must see for myself.

After Berlin I will take up running again and hope to get some experience in cross country running later in the year with the club. I am also looking forward to a few trail runs, maybe as part of the training runs. But I won't plan too much ahead and enter races early on in the next year as I get too entangled in training plans etc. I want to just "go with the flow", run and see where it leads me.

In my euphoria after the Devil I was going to go for the "triple crown"! I quickly came back to reality and realized that it involves sooo much training! So I will definitely not even attempt to get into the WHWR next year. Also I guess there will be a very large number of previous runners who want to do it next year in memory of Dario. And so they should. And I would not want to take away a place. And of course I just have to be there when Thomas gets to the finish line. I think I will deserve that moment as much as he does!

But if you look closely you will (soon - hopefully) find my name on the entry list of next year's Devil! The race and route is too nice to be missed! Maybe I can even get under 9 hours?!

My 1st Ultra-Race

2009-08-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

The "Devil o' the Highlands" 2009 - a 43 Mile (68km) footrace

Where do I start? Maybe at the end!

I finished! And Andreas, who I was running with the whole time, finished too!

And we exceeded all our expectations. If you read my pre-race blog, you will know that apart from finishing my target was to get just under 10:00. When we did our training run it was a hot day and Andreas had struggled. But I was not too keen to try for a sub 10 on my own and decided to run at least the 1st half with him and see. But as I somehow suspected, it turned out to be the other way round on the day. The weather conditions were perfect yesterday, dry, overcast and rain only at the end for a short time, and Andreas felt great the whole way. He pulled me along and through my difficult patches and we both finished after 9hours 22min and 59sec. In 78th/79th position from 100 starters. Absolutely b***** brilliant!
(Please note Thomas thought a sub 9:30 might be “in me” at some point, but even he was surprised to see us both do so well.) I think it is only slowly sinking in that I have in fact done this, though every time I try to get up I am reminded of my first ultra marathon yesterday…

Here is the longer version if you are interested.

During the past few days before the race I was convinced I was finally getting the swine flu myself as not only patients but a staff member had been affected as well. Then during my last short run on Wednesday a pain started in the back of my left knee and my right ITB made itself known after many years of silence. “It’s all in your head”, my husband confidently diagnosed and he was right. Yesterday my sore throat was gone and my legs, knees and toes were fine.

We stayed in the Kingshouse Hotel the night before and made our way to the start. Thomas had filled my rucksack with 800ml of electrolyte and we only noticed the night before that it was not our usual flavour (Tropical) but Lemon & Lime. Arrggh. I took a few sips before the start, but must have been drinking too much as it was empty just behind BoO. We had not planned to refill until Victoria Bridge. I had also felt this slightly sick feeling in my stomach the day before and put it down to nervousness, but I think I was starting to develop an acid problem and some inflammation in my stomach probably due to feeling under stress. Anyway I only realized this today when I woke up early and the same sick feeling was there again and intermittently today. (No, I am not pregnant!) If I had clicked yesterday, I could have just taken some antacids, but I blamed it on the gels/electrolyte drink (Lime & Lemon clearly did not help) though previously I have not had problems with gels or other sweets like jelly babies.
But it is good news in a way as I was thinking how could you run further than this if you are unable to take food/drinks on board? Not that I want to run further than this at the moment, but just in case …. :-)

Back to the race. We set off and from the start walked all the uphills, initially looking behind us a few times as the sweeper guy seemed very close! We started to talk to a few people and introduced ourselves which was nice as we kept seeing quite a bit of each other. There was Jon Cornall at the start and I wished him luck. He wanted to stay under 10h but quickly disappeared into the distance. We overtook him on the Devil’s Staircase, which was a big surprise to me. Then we met Karin who was out to do her 1st ultra as well. She was running all the uphills but remained in our proximity as we kept bumping into each other. Her longest run had been 26M and she had never been further than Kinlochleven. We overtook her on the downhill into Kinlochleven and she finished 22min behind us and was delighted. Then we got talking to Fletcher who had done the race a few times and we lost sight of him on Rannoch Moor but must have overtaken him in Kinlochleven as he finished a few minutes behind us. We got talking to Malcolm and Shan when crossing the Rannoch Moor, again both had done the race and were going for a 9-9.30 time. We were concerned then as this was not our plan, but they encouraged us and said, if you just continue to go at the same pace as now and walk all the uphills and can keep it going after Kinlochleven, you will get there in under 9:30. Well we did not quite believe it and lost sight of them on the downhill into Kingshouse, but thanks guys you were spot on! At that time we did not know yet that our strongest sections would indeed be the last two.

Time passed quickly and before we knew it we were at Kingshouse. I did not feel too great with this sick feeling in my stomach and was developing aversions to the gels and jelly babies but just continued to take them anyway. I did swap to plain water though from then on. Probably not the best idea either as towards the end I was feeling cramps coming on but they never developed into anything serious.

I had stopped at the bottom of the staircase to change my T-shirt and Andreas walked on as last time I had to wait for him at the top. Yesterday he had to wait as I could not catch up with him on the uphill. At the top one of the twins (I think Fiona) was there with her Ipod playing bagpipes and I paused and looked back and thought of Dario. The downhill into Kinlochleven passed quickly as we met Karen and George and kept running with them. I chatted to Karen about various things and before I knew it we were in Kinlochleven. Andreas and George had gone ahead slightly and I think Thomas was concerned when he arrived on his own! I had ordered a soup as I thought a change to something salty might be good. It went down well, but the portion was rather small! I asked for more and I think Thomas felt bad when he had to tell me that was it. He also told me off for not drinking enough and not taking enough gels as I had a couple left. To be honest I had been too busy chatting with Karen apart from the fact that I just could not stomach them anymore. And gathering from the numerous toilet stops I had throughout (5) I think I must have been well hydrated.

There was a big crowd of supporters in Kinlochleven and it felt great. Suddenly we felt we were in the middle of the race and not somewhere at the end. Apart from our own support crew we saw Jan waiting for Jon, Mandy’s support crew, and Caroline & Neal & Harvey were there as well greeting us. At this point we were slightly ahead of our 10:00 schedule and we left Kinlochleven feeling great. I felt the soup had done wonders and what followed was my best stretch of the whole race. I did not feel sick and we just kept going at the same pace as before. I eventually met Jeff in the middle of the Lhairig Mor, one of the remote rescue medics with whom I had exchanged emails as he wanted me to help out at some of the recent races as medical back up. Which I had to decline as I was either support crew or running it myself. We caught up with Mandy just before Lundavra and reached Lundavra much earlier than expected on a high. In fact some of the photos show me in a state of madness frantically waving at everyone that I have told Thomas not to put them on the web.

The surprise was to be greeted by Marie and Stevie from our running club (they were supposed to be Thomas support crew but had decided to come up anyway). Andreas changed into dry shoes as I promised him a “forest track” soon, but my memory must have been disturbed as it took a long while to reach the forest and it must have been the muddiest section of the whole race, especially as it started to rain very heavily. Today he threw out both of the pairs he wore yesterday! I briefly thought about changing my shoes/socks as I had noticed a blister but luckily Nancy, my blister expert, advised against it. She was right as I forgot all about it until the end when we continued. Thomas offered me more “homemade soup” and it tasted like a potato based soup that went down well again. He had felt so bad that there was only a small amount of soup in Kinlochleven that he went into Fort William to hunt for soup. (Welcome to the life of the support crew!) He could not get parked at Nevis Sport or the WHW finish to get soup from the café and nearly ran out of time to get to Lundavra and decided to make up his own soup. He crunched up the Pringles (Cheese&Onion) we had in the car, poured warm water over them, dissolved them, mixed some milk into it and presented it to me as “home-made” soup. Well, it tasted good!

Unfortunately I started to feel slightly sick again and we lost contact to Mandy and Karen and George somewhere in the forest. But what became clear was that we were definitely heading towards a sub 10. And it would be even very close to 9:30. I said to Andreas to go ahead and get there under 9:30. But he said he would not without me. At the Braveheart car park Stevie, Marie and Thomas were waiting and Stevie shouted, maybe you can get under 9:30. How far is it? Andreas shouted back. Less than 1 mile. It was 9:15 on my watch and so I tried my best and we were running all the way back to the finish at quite a good pace and crossed the finish line after 9:22. As JK remarked I was rather emotional and again some of the photos should not be published but I blame it on the endorphins!

Lots of hugs and congratulations from everyone waiting for us – it was a great feeling!

Thanks to everyone who came to support me, my crew, Nancy, Thomas of course (though there is room for improvements on the supporting side :-) but I guess there won’t be many opportunities for him to try), our friends John & Colette, Marie & Stevie and everyone of the WHW Family who wished me luck and cheered me on. It was so important and really appreciated! The company of the other runners along the way was great and I must say I don’t know if I could have done it without the company of Andreas.

Some photos follow though they are censored!

Not long now ...

2009-07-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

No, not long, only 8 days and a few hours …

Today was my last long run, up to Loch Thom from our house, 25K and 200m elevation. Thomas had drafted a plan for my final 2 weeks and I have tried to stick with it. At the weekend we will do some walks, we are planning to take the 9-year-old son of friends up Ben Lomond (weather permitting) to bag his first ever Munro (or hill for that matter), followed by 2 or 3 shorter runs until Wednesday.

The last 2 weeks have been a bit like an emotional rollercoaster with Dario’s death and then his funeral. A lot of other things were going on at the same time at work, with family and friends. So I have not had too much time to get nervous yet. I am sure though that this will come. I am usually nervous before any race or more serious training run, so my 1st ultra should not be any different.
I am looking forward to the whole experience though. My main goal is to finish and if nothing untoward happens that should be possible. My next goal then is to get under 10 hours which could just be manageable given the training run recently though 10:30 is more realistic. Thomas thinks I could get to 9:30 or less but I really just want to enjoy the whole experience and find out what it is all about. If I pushed too hard I might end up not finishing at all or very late so I think I will just take it easy. And I think I will run with Andreas and try to stear us both towards a sub 10:00 finish. And I will try and agree with him beforehand that if one of us struggles, the other one should go on.
Thomas is very keen for me to run on my own, but I’d feel a bit mean then. And who knows he might be stronger than me in the end and pass me with a large grin on his face as to my arrogance of thinking I am that much faster. Anyway, we will see on the day.

It will be interesting to see if any special remembrance moment will take place for Dario before, during or after the race. He should have been bib number one. The funeral last week was very emotional but such a tribute to him. So many people had turned up, some from very far. Beforehand I was a bit worried that it might be weird to meet all the WHW runners and supporters at such a sad moment. Usually when we meet it is at the prime of everyone’s physical and mental fitness helping each other to achieve (mostly) something quite extra-ordinary like the WHW Race. It is about breaking the boundaries of your usual limitations.
But it is something else to then be confronted with the ultimate limitation of life itself, death. And such an untimely death it was.
But it did not feel weird at all. In fact I felt such a bond of united grief and sadness that again supported each other through the day and made it possible to share not only the grief but also the celebration of his life. It gave the feeling of “belonging” to this rather special WHW Family.

And I guess this is just another great tribute of what Dario has actually achieved through his WHW Race.

50K Training Run

2009-07-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday saw me completing my first 50K (or 31M) training run. I ran from Tyndrum to Kinlochleven and up onto the Lairig Mor to complete the 50K distance and get the last steep climb in as well to be better prepared for the Devil's race in a few weeks.

Unfortunately when we got home on Sunday evening we got the very sad news that Dario, the WHW Race director, had died near the summit of Lochnagar while out with a group of friends also training for the Devil's. We were both stunned and still are. What a tragic loss. I did not feel like writing up the usual blog. Our thoughts have been with his wife, his immediate family, close friends and especially those who were with him on Sunday. I have been reading all the moving tributes and feel somehow connected through the grief and tears of everyone else.

Though we don't have a goblet to raise in his memory, we have remembered him in our own way. I only got to know him through Thomas 2 years ago when he signed up for his 1st WHWR. At the post-race BBQ only a few weeks ago we briefly talked about the Devil's and he said that he, too, liked the 2nd part of the WHW best. So I thought that I might blog after all since it is this 2nd part of the WHW that I ran on at the weekend. I will just link to our photostream at the end which has a lot of nice photos from this part of the route. It shows the WHW in all its glory, in beautiful sunshine and clear views.

We set off from Gourock by ferry to avoid the Golf traffic. We, that was Andreas, a friend who I will run with in the race and who had never ran on trails before (!) and Thomas as our support. Thomas has a lot to learn as a supporter, he was not the cheerist one you could have, in fact he was the opposite! This did not improve after our first lengthy stop in Bridge of Orchy, 13min! Andreas decided on a full gear change and announcesd later he wanted to change his socks at every meeting point. I quickly put an end to this, but could not avoid another long stop of 17min at Kingshouse. It was very hot crossing the Rannoch Moor, but the views were just fabulous. The same at the Devil's staircase. Thomas came up to meet us at the highest point off Rannoch Moor. He took most of the photos and came up to meet us above Kinlochleven as well. We then decided to walk up to the Lairig Mor to do the climb as well as completing 50K in total. This was quite hard, but we were glad we did it and now know how it will feel in a few weeks time. It took us 6:45 to reach Kinlochleven, including over 36min stoppage time. (1:13 to BoO, 40min to Victoria, 1:54 to Kingshouse, 45min to Altnafeadh, 1:33 to Kinlochleven incl 25min for the staircase)

This was one of those rare days out when the weather and the views were just perfect.

Hard to believe that only 24 hours later the WHW family would loose one of its greatest gems.

Rest in peace Dario!

Here are the photos.

Thomas' WHW Race 2009

2009-06-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

The short version: Thomas had another DNF, this time he got to the Kingshouse Hotel and had to pull out after 115km, i.e. 2 km further than last year! :-) All the drama and tears had been shed during the week before the race when he realized that due to injury problems there was a big chance that he would not even get to the Beechtree Inn.

The long version starts 3 weeks before the race when - despite a plan of running the Edinburgh Marathon at a slower pace – he could not resist the temptation and arrived at the finish after 2:50 claiming he had felt good all the way and his legs were fine. Only afterwards he could not get back into running properly due to very sore quads. Visits to the sport masseur and the physio kept his hopes up for a speedy recovery, but it was just not happening. Then he picked up a calf strain just by getting up from the table one week before the race and in desperation arranged a last minute visit to the physio for Thursday night, i.e. 36hrs before the start of the race.
In hindsight he should have never started, but we both thought, why not trying to see how far he will get. Maybe, just maybe there might be a miracle and after nearly 3 weeks of total rest everything will fall into place if only his calf is holding up. I tried to prepare myself for the high chance of him pulling out, but was still thinking he could do it. I thought there was a 20% chance of finishing and the crucial moments would be the first 2 stops after the Beechtree, Drymen and then Balmaha. As I am the more optimistic person, I tried to encourage him to give it a go even if it meant stopping after 10 or 20km.
I think deep down he knew it was a long shot and was getting more and more frustrated. So much so that he reached a very low point on the Monday before the race and I was getting really worried. Tears were shed there and then, but we also decided that he could not lose anything by trying. It would probably be worse to call it off and then thinking maybe I could have done it and never knowing.

So we prepared and left for Milngavie and I nearly crashed my new car when a deer decided to run into it on the way to the start. It did make contact with the side of the car but the impact was not too hard as the deer disappeared into the woods again and I stopped to get over the shock and let the others check out the car for any damage! It was o.k. Someone did not want Thomas to run this race I joked while Nancy was thinking of venison steak …

We were so glad when Thomas ran through our first meeting point just after the Beechtree and then Drymen and then Balmaha. I was getting my hopes up, topping him up with Ibuprofen and Paracetamol at regular intervals without exceeding the allowed dose or causing him stomach problems. We decided not to try any stronger pain killers just those that will reduce some inflammation and pain to keep him going. When he ran into Rowardennan with Marco and Sharon I was getting really excited. He then left Rowardennan with Sharon and I hoped that she would keep his mind of his pain by blethering away – which I know she can do! (She can also run very well and indeed won the lady’s title in this year’s race – amazing!)

Then came the long way to Carmyle Cottage and we saw various runners come through, Marco still looking strong, then Sharon (and I asked her where Thomas was and she said he had struggled a bit but was not too far behind), then John (and he seemed a bit more concerned about Thomas and all the pain he was in, which made me worry as John is usually more optimistic than that). Eventually he arrived and we sent him away with some more pain killers (and he did briefly ask if we were not giving him too much Ibuprofen – ever the doubter!). I reassured him he was in the safe hands of a nurse and a doctor and we were keeping an eye on the Ibuprofen intervals!
We saw him at the A82 crossing just before Auchtertyre when he decided to have a sock and shoe change there and then by the road side when it was the only time we did not get the chair out of the car. Nancy also applied a few small Compeeds to various toes and he only had a very brief stop for weighing at the actual wigwams then.
So before we knew it we were in Tyndrum and it looked as if the race was actually on. Yes he seemed to be in a lot of pain in his quads that decided to make themselves noticed again, his calves were sore but the actual calf strain was not getting worse. I bought a new supply of water as we had thought we would wait with making up more electrolyte solution until Tyndrum. I then briefly met him just behind Tyndrum near the railway underpath to give him his goretex jacket as it started to rain. He of course told me off and asked me how I got there and I should conserve my energy as I might need it for being his support runner for the later stages. It is actually very easy to get there from the layby, but I took it as a good sign and started to get excited. When we reached Bridge of Orchy I asked the marshal if a support runner was allowed for the Rannoch Moore and he said yes so I was getting really excited but also worried now about myself and if I had eaten enough throughout the night etc. I changed into my running gear, prepared my backpack, had soup and custard and a gel and could not wait for Thomas to arrive to tell him the good news. He would only need to go to the Victoria Bridge on his own and then I would join him and we would finish this race together. That was the plan!

We sent him off to the Inveroran Hotel and waited for him to come down and I eventually saw him through the binoculars. But what I saw was shocking and heartbreaking at the same time. Tears came to my eyes when I saw him walking down. He looked as if he was in a lot of pain. And I said to Nancy, just look at him, is this really worth it? When he reached us, we sat him down in the chair and I encouraged him to get to Victoria Bridge where I would wait for him and then we could continue together. And he got back up from the chair and reached Victoria Bridge when we started our adventure across the moor.

I had thought that I would be his support runner, i.e. we would walk the uphills and then run on the flat and the downhills. For Rannoch I thought – as I knew he was in pain- we would walk up to the top of the moor, give him a chance to recover and then run into Kingshouse together. Well, what came was the slowest walk I have ever done in my life. By the time I realized that this was not a walking pace that could bring us to Fort William in time, Nancy had left Victoria Bridge and we decided we might as well walk towards Kingshouse rather than turning back to Victoria.

I literally had to pull Thomas up the inclines by walking in front of him and just keep the motion of walking going. We were surrounded by beautiful scenery and the sun even came out and we tried to stop occasionally to take all this in. At the same time we had to keep moving as Thomas was getting cold (in the afternoon sun) despite wearing gloves, a woollen hat and full raingear to protect him from the light wind. This was worrying.
There was a huge gap in the field behind Thomas and we spent a long time seeing no other runner. But then they all arrived to overtake us, one by one. A lot of familiar faces, most of them tried to encourage Thomas to just keep going, one or two warned him to be sensible though, to listen to his body, not to cause more harm. And whenever they had passed we would continue our discussions about our options and the philosophy of it all. Even Jens (who was waiting for Maya at Blackrock Cottage) made a last attempt to encourage Thomas by advising him not to take a long break at Kingshouse as he might not get going again and to try the running motion against the pain as this might numb it eventually. Thomas tried to explain to me that he had run through his pain for a long time already and that it did not work, but he did give it a last go much to the cheers of Jens and other supporters gathered at the Cottage. We only got to the A82 crossing when the running motion had to stop again.

We had also been overtaken by Kenny Valentine (3rd in the Double Marathon). This was his 1st time but he also had an injury problem just before the race, trying to compensate with cross-training. His quads were giving him huge problems and he had them bandaged up. Passing us he said he was just going to walk it now, his target time long gone. He also said to Thomas they both had to come back next year as they knew they could do better. We wished him good luck and off he went disappearing quickly into the distance as his “shuffling” was much faster than Thomas’. Unfortunately when we reached Kingshouse he was also still there and he had had a terrible time walking the last bit into the KH checkpoint. He also decided that he had to pull out there and then.

It took us 4 hours to walk from the Victoria Bridge into Kingshouse!
After resting in the car and having a coffee the decision to pull out was final and Nancy went to the checkpoint to let the marshals know.

We drove to Fort William and were all feeling o.k. in fact. We checked into the hotel just in time to book the last table in the restaurant, had a shower and then took up Thomas’ offer to have a really nice meal. He did not feel like eating and wanted to rest with his feet up, but he would pay. So needless to say we ordered the most expensive dish on the menu (we did not want to but the fillet beef steak just caught our eye!), had an aperitif, wine and a dessert. We felt we deserved it!

So how do I feel about it all?
When we were walking across the moor a lot of things were going through my head. I started to hate ultra-running before I even have completed my first one. All this training, all the support, all the organization – and then something goes wrong just before the race or in the race and everything falls apart.
You are left so frustrated even as a mere observer or supporter. And I did suggest to Thomas while we were crawling along, maybe he should give the WHWRace a rest for a year, not to try it again next year. But what did he say? “But why not? I enjoy it so much and I know I can do it.” So I had to come out with the truth that I did not think I could go through with it again as part of the support crew. That it is emotionally draining to follow your runner’s progress, never mind the physical tiredness and getting everything ready etc, hoping, getting excited and then having to accept a DNF for whatever reason.
Yesterday afternoon I suggested I was going to follow his progress next year from home via his tracker (Are they going to use them?) and he should find a different crew, maybe his running club mates, maybe the guys would be different. I really could not see myself doing it all over again, but then again: if and when he succeeds I really want to be there. Now that does not sound right either, does it? So the verdict remains open on this one.

And then I had a really crazy idea! Maybe I should get us this goblet! Maybe I should have a go? I should try for myself and see what it is all about! What was wrong in my mind?! And then Thomas said if you want to do it next year I will support you! Ha, then he’ll see what it is like to be on the other side! I did ponder over it, the wine in the evening did not help to bring me back to reality, but it turns out Thomas really wants to do it again next year and does not want to be part of a support crew …

Yesterday I did not want to go to the prize giving or the BBQ, but today I went along with Thomas. For him it was never a question. He wanted to be there to see all his running friends, congratulate them and hear how it all went. And I am glad I did go. I felt much better this morning after a night’s rest and it was great to see so many succeeding in their goals, some exceeding them, and also meet those who were very disappointed. It is a great community and it feels special to be part of it. And yes, I will join Thomas at the BBQ and guess what? I am the driver!

Thomas will now take enough time out to let his body recover. This is the plan. We have learned that there is a point where your body tells you that you have overdone it. And it is important to respect your body, to look after it and not exploit it even if your cardiovascular fitness or endurance would allow you to do more.
He will not start a race again when he is injured or when the training has had major flaws, certainly not an ultra race which deserves all the respect in the world and a body that is 100% fit.
If he is not in top form by 8th of August he will not start the DOTH. But this is o.k. As big as these races are, they should not take over your life. It is about enjoying the journey and sometimes there is a diversion or a detour before you eventually reach your goal – or you might end up in a cul-de-sac (?DNF) for a while.
This year it was all about trying, against all odds, and learning that yes, you can push your body, up to 115km in fact, despite training problems, injury; with determination and a big effort you can make 115km, but there is a point when you have to stop.

Walking this fine line between pushing and stopping is very very difficult, but I am amazed how well Thomas knows his body and how well he copes with his cul-de-sacs, better than I do, it seems!

It was courageous for him to start this year’s race (some would call it plain stupid), but for him this year it was the right decision to try. We have both learned a lot from it.

“Better failing while trying then not trying for fear of failing."

10 days to go to the WHWR 2009!

2009-06-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

We have tried very hard this year to keep it very low key. Last year the build up was crazy (well, what do you expect from a crazy German?). This year we have already had quite a few running highlights and the WHWR was only one of many events on the programme (though admittedly the biggest). Thomas has been in great shape so far. I have tried to blank out the upcoming WHWR and now it is only 10 days to go.
Our support strategy has been simplified this year with gels as the main source of food and a few other options such as soup or the odd sandwich if required. There will only be Nancy and myself as support with me being the runner (or walker) if required at a later stage. We have booked a nice B&B in Fort William (and I am already looking forward to Sunday’s breakfast with pancakes and strawberries – they were delicious when we stayed there before Eddie’s Half). We will only stay for one night and Thomas will be off from the Wednesday before the race to turn around his sleeping rhythm and relax. At least that was the plan…

We had a nice weekend in Edinburgh with great results for both of us in the marathon. And Thomas keeps telling me he felt fine when re ran and was not pushing it. I do believe him. But now his quads are complaining and seize up as soon as he runs more than 3-4K! He is kicking himself telling me he should have run with me. But that did not work either as last year when he ran my 1st marathon with me he was complaining that my slow pace caused his legs to be sore and heavy for quite some time afterwards….

So when I left for Germany last week to spend a long weekend with my family and especially my sister (we were going to an open air concert on Saturday) I thought I left him at home to get on with his planned runs. But when I came back I was greeted by a very long face! He had not run at all due to his quads seizing up.

So 10 days before the run we are at another low. Will he even be ready to start (I think yes!), will his muscles seize up before the Carbeth huts? We will find out, though I don’t think so! His legs need a good rest and they are forcing it on him. Though not planned he is doing a 100% taper, probably not the best idea but there are people who suggest just that…
So between warming his muscles with a microwavable cushion, stretching, then massaging with all sorts of lotions and potions and then icing them, he keeps himself busy. And I am nearly going crazy myself. Where is the icing cushion, where is this cream and that lotion, where is the Ibuprofen? When I get home from work I am not the most patient person, having used all my patience for my patients! :-) But I will need just that if I want to get through the next week!

And it is this time that I hate most about ultra-running. It is bad enough if you train for a marathon and get ill or injured before, but training for months, preparing yourself for an ultra-race and then facing a DNS or DNF is so frustrating. Even just contemplating it is annoying enough and I am getting fed up with this cycle of preparation, training, pre-race taper. I wish it was Sunday 12:00 on 21/6/09 and I knew Thomas had finished and we were waiting for the presentation to begin …

Edinburgh Marathon 2009

2009-06-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

Scorching heat, no wind, no shade, overstretched first aid stations, water stations without water - this sums up some of the drama of yesterday's Edinburgh Marathon.

Amongst all this I somehow managed to finish my 2nd marathon in 4:02:44. It is hard to describe what I felt when I crossed that finish line. I was so exhausted and felt worse than after my 1st marathon and somehow I felt the achievement was bigger - to have finished at all and to be so close to my 4-hour mark. And I wasn't even disappointed that I had not broken the 4 hours, I just could not believe that I was so close at all. In short I was and am very happy with my time and I shed a few tears while I was stretching and trying to recover enough to join the queue for my goodie bag!

Here are the details:
10k: 00:53:21
Half: 01:56:21
30k: 02:48:20
Marathon: 04:02:44

At the start I met quite a few people I knew, Neal & Caroline, Glenparkers - the only person I did not see at the start was Thomas. I had lost him on the way from the hotel to the baggage trucks. And as he wanted to take it "easy" I did not think he was right at the front. But I was wrong. This is exactly where he was!
Anyway, at last the start! The first few miles passed and I kept a steady sub 9min/mile pace going. I overtook a Glenpark lady who was struggling with the heat already but as she is part of the club "AYE" (those who have run Edinburgh every year since its start) she was going to take it very easy to ensure she would finish. (She did.)

I started to feel the heat from mile 5 and was making sure I took water at every station and poured some over my head. At mile 8 the first relay changeover appeared and as the club had 2 teams running there were a lot of supporters. This cheered me on and one of the girls who had started her leg, kept me company for about 2M. Then I had to let her go as I could not keep up the pace. She told me that Thomas was going strong and 1st for the club just now. O no, I thought, he was not supposed to do this. Where is Alan who wanted to get under 3hrs for the 1st time? Near mile 10 there were supporters from the club again giving out ice lollies. What the heck, I thought, I might as well take one even if I have not tested this. I was running with 4 gels and only took water at the stations, no lucozade apart from the very end.

Somehow the HM mark appeared and I was on target with 1:56. But I started to struggle, feeling slightly sick whenever I took some water and slowing down. At the second relay changeover one of the very fit and fast Glenpark ladies had pulled out from the marathon for the first time ever and was now cheering us on.
I remember at some point seeing the road stretch in front of me for miles and found that really disheartening. But Iwas now concentrating to spot the fast runners coming back already and was hoping to see Thomas and a few others. And I actually did, one after the other. Thomas passed first looking good, then Alan (not looking good and far away from his sub3), Neal on his own (where was Lorraine who was going for 3:10?). I did not see anyone else, at least not that I noticed. By then I was concentrating on keeping it going, feeling hot, nauseous and trying to postpone the inevitable of walking. I got to the entry of Gosford park and just had to walk, but o no! That felt so much worse and I tried to keep a slow pace. Then there was a toilet stop, a bit of walking again and the first coffeine gel. I saw a few casualties at the roadside by then and had to resist the urge to offer my help. Fist aiders were already there, the runners were all conscious but totally exhausted needing water and shade and I just concentrated on the run.

The worst stretch was from around mile 18 to 21/22 when I had to take a few walking breaks in between. I really thought I might have to walk the whole way back and thought this was going to take ages. The lack of recent long runs (as expected) and the (unexpected) heat were taking their toll. It was here that the water stations for the runners going out to the park had run out of water and a girl from the club later reported that runners started to pick up water bottles thrown away by others to see if any water was left!
Getting to the relay changeover again near mile 22 I was nudged from behind after walking a bit. It was another runner from the club who just said I should keep on running, I looked o.k., he was "spent". Somehow that led me back into a running motion and I don't know how but I was able to keep this up til the end. now doing sub 10min/mile. Seeing mile 23 was such a relief and I knew then I would make it. Mile 24 took ages to appear and by mile 25 I saw I was not so far away from 4hours. Then I saw Debbie and Marco cheering me on and then Thomas before I entered the racecourse. And there it was: the finish line! What a feeling!

Support Debut

2009-05-25T05:31:00.001-07:00

This is our new support vehicle! My new Mazda 2 TD, 3 weeks old and never been to the Highlands!

Apologies again to John M who got a lift back from FW to Tyndrum and was forced to have his (very muddy :-)) shoes (attached to his feet) placed on newspaper ...

I guess in 4 weeks time at the WHWR this will not be my priority any more! :-)

The trip up to Lundavra was rather exciting, maybe I should have gone for a 4x4?

Anyway, back to the run. I was supporting Thomas on his last long training run, the "Devil". I was able to catch up with quite a few people along the way, runners and supporters, and enjoyed the day. Here are some photos.

My problem was that I did not feel too good throughout the day and I realized that 2 weeks on I am still not 100% recovered. In fact it felt as if I was getting worse again. I tried to run quite a bit last week to have some mileage to taper down from and I ran 12M on Saturday and got soaked. Probably not the best idea ...

So then where does this leave me in 6 days' time? I have no idea really, but I have changed my goal from a sub4 hour marathon to just completing it. This is only my 2nd marathon so I guess getting round the whole distance in one piece is a good goal. Trying to beat my 1st time of 4:23 would also be good. And getting anywhere near to 4hrs would be great. Sub4 hours was possible 2 weeks ago, I doubt I will be able to do this at the moment.

In fact I have missed the 2 long training runs that I am told are important not to hit the wall etc, so I fully expect to struggle towards the end. And to be honest I have to wait and see how the week goes to decide if it is sensible to start at all...

The Edinburgh Marathon is a huge club outing with a full bus going with supporters, runners and 2 relay teams. The evening will be rounded off with a meal at a local Indian. So it would be great to run and have a PB to celebrate ... Still dreaming.

No running and a DNS

2009-05-16T03:05:00.000-07:00

Today is the Cateran Trail Race where Thomas was due to start. This time it is a DNS for him which probably would have been a DNF if we had not cancelled our trip to Glenspittal.
He has not been 100% for the past 10 days with headaches, increased heart rate etc. I was struck by "the virus" 2 days after the Dunfermline HM. Only I have been in bed for the past 3 days and can't remember when I have felt this ill. There was not even any thought of running, but I am now getting concerned as the Edinburgh Marathon is only 2 weeks away!
Anyway, on Friday morning when Thomas woke up yet again with headaches, dizziness and "not feeling right" we decided that it was probably not a good idea to attempt a 55M race, not even as a training run. So we called it off. A shame really as he had spent hours to prepare his route maps the day before and we had been looking forward to exploring an area of Scotland we had not visited before. But a very sensible decision to give us both the chance to fully recover and be ready for the weeks ahead.
My training plan has now fallen to pieces and I am getting worried about EDI. I should be doing my last long run tomorrow, 32K. If I can walk 6K I will be happy! But there is not much I can do just now. If I recover by Monday and get back to work I can maybe start running again. I should be able to finish the marathon even if it is not in my goal time of sub 4H. So I'll just have to wait and see.

Dunfermline City Half Marathon

2009-05-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

To cut a long story short: No PB for me today. I finished in 1:52:07. This is 30sec slower than my PB from Inverness in March and over 2 min out of my goal to get under 1:50.

Thomas ran with me to try and help me get under 1:50. He has not been feeling too well after the Fling and his return from Germany, probably a virus, (Swineflu he thinks, but as we have been briefed in detail I could just stop him from alerting NHS 24 and raising the swine flu alarm! :-) Men ...) so he offered to keep me company.

What on earth made me think that the Dunfermline Half was a good course to pick for an attempt at 1:50?? Maybe because it is called "City" HM and it is the Scottish National HM Championships where I thought you would pick a flat course? But no, wrong and wrong again! If I called Inverness HM "hilly" I do apologize now as this seemed a walk in the park in hindsight! Please see above course profile! Maybe lame excuses, I know, but I did feel I had a sub 1:50 in me before I started the race today!

The course consists of 2 laps starting and finishing in the lovely Pittencrieff Park. We started with a 5min delay as the major had a rather long speech prepared which kept on going and going. After over enthusiastic applause when everyone thought she had finished, she continued and the crowd got rather restless listening to the problems of the economic downturn and the withdrawal of sponsors! Is this what you want to hear just before a race??

Anyway, we got on our way hitting the first steep incline not far from the start. The sun was shining and it was rather hot. After 2-3M it became obvious for me that this was not my PB course. I felt really low at that point, sweating and panting away on the inclines and managing to hiss out a few swear words. Luckily only Thomas could hear them! I was so disappointed that I am sure I would not have tried to continue as strong as I could under these circumstances if Thomas hadn't been there. He kept saying don't worry this is only a training run, and a very good and hard one indeed, that will set you up nicely for Edinburgh etc. When the first water station came I was desperate for water and Thomas poured the good Highland Spring (still water this time!) right over my head! Ah, that felt great.

I kept working away and eventually we approached the park again after yet another even steeper incline. I just thought to myself how will you get up this one at the end of your next lap? I was sure I was going to walk it.

Somehow finishing the 1st lap and knowing what lay ahead helped me to focus (even though I knew it was not getting any flatter). I had also resigned myself to the fact that there was no way I could beat the 1:50 today and I just wondered if I would stay under 1:55. So the 2nd lap felt better psychologically and Thomas was pleased that I kept working at a steady effort even if the pace changed depending on the steepness of the inclines. The downhills were not helping too much as some of them were so steep that my legs just could not turn over any faster to make good use of them. But from mile 10 onwards I started to overtake a few runners on all these inclines. When I approached "Mount Everest" as one runner called it before he changed into walking mode I did think about walking too. But when I mentioned it to Thomas he just gave me a look that made me continue in my running mode. So another club runner left behind and I felt good about it! The last mile was a bit faster again as we came back into the park to the finish. I even highfived 3 kids as by then I was not bothered too much about the time and was so glad that the end was insight!

I am still right on schedule for my sub-4hour marathon which "demanded" a 1:53 HM, but as I was faster in March before I even started my marathon training I had set myself a different target. So considering the course (and the heat) I am actually quite pleased with this as a hard training run. How glad was I that Thomas had decided to coach me along anyway. Though I usually am quite happy running alone and can't chat in races anyway, his comments and support really helped me focusing. I would probably still be walking along the route now!

The race as such was in fact one of the best organized races I have done so far. It was such a friendly event with the park pavilion providing ample changing facilities, a drop bag service, a cafe and friendly marshalls along the way. A nice medal, T-Shirt, Mars bar, wine gums and water at the end were all appreciated. And as it was so warm and sunny we just sat in the park for an hour after the race enjoying a coffee and chatting to other runners. So all in all a great race as long as you know what to expect on the course!

Thomas in 7th Heaven

2009-04-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

The headline is "borrowed" from the Glenpark club website. They were first yesterday to blog about Thomas' amazing run in the Montane Highland Fling 2009 on Saturday, 25th of April where he finished in 7th overall position and won the 2nd male vet prize with a time of 8h:20min:40sec.

If you read his contemplations before the Fling you know that he did not think he would get under the Top 10. His optimistic target was 8h:45min and his suppport schedule was geared to this. While in real life not the most optimistic person, he always seems to know what time he is capable of in races if everything is going to plan and right enough his arrival times in Drymen, Balmaha and Rowardennan were exactly on his 8:45 schedule to the minute! He arrived 8min ahead of schedule in Beinglas, was 17min ahead by the time he reached Carmyle Cottage, 22min ahead at the A82 crossing and 27min at Auchtertyre. He changed into his Glenpark shirt there and I sent him off telling him to try and catch Richie who was 2min ahead for 3rd male vet place. I found out later that Richie is nowhere near the vet category (Sorry!), but George Cairns informed me that he had just turned 40! So when I heard Thomas name being called for 2nd vet prize I was very surprised as I thought he had missed out.
This report really is a bit chaotic as there seems to be so much to write about.
Thomas looked great throughout the race but really got stronger in the 2nd half. It was such a great day for him. For me Beinglas was the most difficult support stop as expected. I carried a very heavy bag and a rucksack to the farm with any possible item he might need including 2 spare pairs of shoes, first aid box,bottles of water, soup etc. He arrived, grabbed 2 gels, a new bottle and was off again. The lady waiting for someone else just said, well it took you longer to lay it all out than his actual stop time. Thank you, at least someone is noticing!

I was busy the whole day switching between supporting and medical roles. But in fact it was very quiet on the medical side. No problems in Drymen or Balmaha, a few smaller ones at the end in Tyndrum. I removed a tick, gave out some Paracetamol, some antacids and looked at a blood blister. And of course I glanced my eye over the one guy who drew a lot of attention to himself with his face being covered in old dried blood. He had banged his head in the A82 underpath and must have had quite a laceration, but by the time he arrived the bleeding had long stopped and he really just needed a shower!
At other times I was helping out with opening beer bottles, giving out champagne, supervising kids at the walkie talkie, finding the right drop bag, ensuring no runner squeezes past without giving his race number etc. I really enjoyed the day and meeting lots of other marshals. And of course I got a brilliant Montane jacket for it!
The only time the 2 roles nearly clashed were at the finish. I had just arrived and expected Thomas to arrive any minute when I was called to see someone in the cottage. Luckily there was another medic, Donald, who was already on his way in so I left him to it. I thought if they needed extra help they would call me, which they didn't. So I was free to see Thomas crossing the finish line. Hurrah!

I saw lots of other runners finish, some after difficult runs like Marco, John and Ian, others with great times like Neal and Mike T. And also Sharon. She is such an incredible runner, never looks as if she has just run an ultra and so fast! She finished as 3rd female. Congratulations! Some never managed to cross the finish like Jon and I think Davie Bell who I last saw at Balmaha. I hope you can get over this quickly and concentrate on your goals ahead! We were thinking of you. And then we were all waiting for Caroline to finish her 1st ultra race. What a great moment that was when she approached the finish line. I was rather emotional myself, but luckily was called away to look at a very bloody and taped up toe. That certainly stopped me crying even if it brought tears into the eyes of the patient! No, it didn't actually, she was very brave!

We left Tyndrum at around 8.30PM and though I had not run at all I felt exhausted. My legs were burning and my back sore from literally standing on my feet for more than 12 hours. I had entered a 10K race for the next day (Balfron 10K) as part of my marathon preparation but it slowly dawned on me that I'd rather had a VERY long lie in! So the plan was to run a 10K race on my own along the promenade the next day with Thomas as my race official, water station and support! We woke up and watched the London Marathon and I got ready to go for a new 10K PB. I was aiming for under 50min for the 1st time. I was as nervous as in a real race and set off with a Garmin strapped to my wrist into 5k of headwind. I was working really hard and to cut a long story short managed to finish in 49min10sec! So a new "unofficial" 10K PB for me and my first time under 50min. I was very pleased with this and am on target so far for the EDI Marathon.

Round and round Cumbrae (30K)

2009-04-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

I did my long run today instead of Sunday when we will be in Huntly for a Silver Wedding Ceilidh. As I was off and the weather promised to be sunny I headed off to Largs to catch the ferry across to Cumbrae. I had planned to run around Cumbrae twice to give me my scheduled 30K run. Those of you who have cycled around it know that one round is 10Miles. On my second round I headed across the hill from Millport down to the ferry point which is 2K shorter. So this gave me exactly 30K. It took me 3:06 with a pretty steady pace and 1:37 for the first 10M round.

While it was very sunny today the easterly wind was very strong! It pushed me along during my first 9K until I got into Millport and the headwind hit me. It was battling with the elements indeed! Millport itself was very busy with families and groups of kids, but the road around the island was very quiet, a few people pushing their bikes into the headwind as it was so strong! I stopped at the tearoom at Fintry Bay during my 2nd round as I was in desperate need of salty crisps and plain water. I feel so at home on this island not only because we got married there 4 years ago and spent 4 fabulous days on the islands with lots of our guests, but because we have walked, cycled and even skated round the island numerous times. I had never run around it though. There are lots of great memories at every corner and the scenery is just amazing. The yellow broom was out in full bloom and the smell of it is really nice. Anyway, I had a great run despite recent Achilles tendon troubles. During the past 2 weeks I have done no speed or hill sessions and have stayed on the flat. While I was very careful not to increase my weekly mileage too fast, I guess I was less careful about introducing hill runs!

10 days before the Fling peace and calm has been restored in the Loehndorf home! After last weekend's drama with Tom's painting injury we are now looking forward again to the start of the Fling. Besides my support duties for Thomas and the excitement that comes with it (!) I am getting ready for my other role as medical back-up. I have restocked my first-aid box and made sure there are enough butterfly stitches for John K and anyone else who decides to take a tumble down Conic Hill or elsewhere! With my long run done I am looking forward to a nice weekend away, a great Ceilidh and maybe a few shorter runs somewhere in Aberdeenshire. Needless to say Thomas will not do much Ceilidh dancing! I will also have to lie low for the foreseeable future regarding DIY jobs for him! I only waited 3 years for the door to be painted! :-)
(In case you are wondering, yes, I am useless at DIY myself!)

Rowardennan-Inversnaid-Rob Roy’s Cave and back (25KM, 16Miles)

2009-04-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

Today I went for my long run on the WHW. By Friday I was still not able to run properly so I was not sure if I would just walk the 25K or be able to run part of it. Luckily after the weather was so bad on Saturday we decided to postpone our run until today. We had actually walked to the car yesterday but the wind and rain felt so uncomfortable that we went back inside! And luckily for us today the sun was shining and we both had a brilliant day. So had hundreds of other people though – the WHW was as busy as I have never seen it, walkers, a few runners, groups of kids and teenagers, families, day tourists etc.

I had dropped Thomas off in Milngavie as he was going to run from there to Rowardennan. When I got to Rowardennan car park there was no space left! I then spotted a car that had occupied 2 spaces and the driver and his friend were just taking photos by the water. I asked politely if he could move his car so that I could park next to him. But no, this nice gentleman pointed out that there were lots of other spaces where in fact there are bolders and trees that might look like a space from the distance. “I would not say so if it was not true …” he pointed out probably having never been to Rowardennan car park before. I had though and already circled around it at least once today. I squeezed onto a grass verge hoping that the car would not get stuck in the mud afterwards. I then met these 2 gentlemen again just at the start of my run and needless to say I did not return their greeting.

Anyway, the run turned out to be great. My legs were o.k. so I could run on the flat and downhill sections and walked the uphills. The sun was shining and it felt great to be out there. The Loch was magical especially when the path came so close to the water and you could hear the water lapping against the shore. The views across to the hills were fabulous. My right Achilles region gave me some minor problems and I was trying not to walk uphill on my toes but to use my whole foot.

This was my second time on this section. Four years ago I walked it as part of our Honeymoon, then I was on my own as well as Thomas had decided at Rowardennan he could ran up Ben Lomond while I continued on the WHW. So he handed me his backpack ( it was only a daypack admittedly) and off he went. I should have realized then what I got myself into! But by then it was too late anyway!:-)

I passed Inversnaid and ran to Rob Roy’s Cave to get my 25K distance. On my way back I stopped outside Inversnaid, had a Snickers and started my run back. The Snickers was a bit too much and I was not feeling too great initially. Slowly it got better and by then I was looking out for Thomas who was going to run towards me from Rowardennan. I wanted to make sure I was not walking when he saw me! I also ran out of fluids and was really thirsty. This is the first time this happened, before I always had plenty left and got told off for not drinking enough. I reached the main forest track, had eaten both my gels and was hoping Thomas would get to me soon as he would probably have some water. 3km from the car park he appeared just when I was running a downhill part – brilliant timing! I drank some water and felt better. We finished strongly, passing Karen on her last long run before the Fling. She was on her way to Inversnaid. I arrived back at the car park after 3hrs and 50min. The Oak Tree was far too busy so we headed back home to our favourite Chinese.

Fame at last!

2009-04-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Thomas is becoming famous, well at least in Greenock!
(Greenock Telegraph from 30/3/2009)

My legs are still recovering from Sunday’s run – and I only did 23miles! How can you lot run again the next day? My quads are still so sore that I am only walking along the seafront at the moment and just did a 10KM walk/jog for the 1st time since Sunday. I am sure I was in more agony on Monday than a lot of the patients I saw! I should have just gone to my doctor and asked for a sickline!

Anyway, I really enjoyed the run on Sunday, the weather, the scenery, the company. By then I was still on a high and the DOMS hadn’t set in. On our way back Thomas and I had a bit of an argument as I informed him I had decided to do all my long runs for the Edinburgh marathon out on the WHW as I had enjoyed it so much. But what did he say? No, that was not a good idea as the marathon is flat and I have to do some of the long runs on a flatter surface. And I thought he wanted to get me into trail running! So now that I enjoy it I should not do it?:-)

By Monday morning I started to understand his reasons, by Tuesday even more! As I said I am still recovering and my quads have never been so sore in my life. So I guess he was right, because what is the point doing such a run every weekend and then not being able to do the rest of the programme during the week?! So I will keep to the flatter courses during the latter stages of my marathon training as I really hope to get some speed training in during the week and get a good time. For this weekend though we have compromised as he wants to get out for a long run on the WHW in preparation for the Fling. I will attempt to run/walk from Rowardennan to Inversnaid and back, that gives me my planned mileage of about 15M. Apparently even though it is up and down it is nothing compared to Sunday’s downhills. So a good gentle mix is what I should be doing. Thomas will probably run from Balmaha to Inversnaid and back.

Ah, and I have picked up a “peripheral sural neuropathy” – at least that is what my colleague and I have agreed on. BEFORE Sunday’s run (in fact while I was resting on Saturday in preparation of Sunday’s long run) my right heel started to become numb. It is still numb now and I was a bit worried on Sunday if I could run properly, but it didn’t hinder my balance. So on Tuesday when it was still there I got one of my colleagues to check it out. It seems to be only superficial, reflexes etc are all intact so I will live! Terrible hypochondriacs these doctors! I’ll just have to ignore it until it is gone, I guess.

Kingshouse to Fort William (23M, 36Km)

2009-03-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my longest run ever on the WHW. It was a great day, though today I can hardly walk …

I was expecting really bad weather having looked at the forecast all week and was preparing myself for the worst. But when we got up on Sunday morning it actually looked fine and I even packed my sunglasses! We arrived very early at 8am and waited at the small spa market next to the actual route. Nobody arrived. When I went to the toilet eventually I saw 2 people who looked like runners and it turned out they were all gathering in the big car park at the Green Welly Stop. With 3 min to spare I took the car round there for people to leave bags in the boot as I was going to support until Kingshouse.

The main group set off and I took Caroline to Bridge of Orchy where she wanted to start her run. She was joined by Ian and Phil. They set off and Debbie & Cairn arrived to support Marco. Then Lucy Colqhoun appeared with her dog and ran up the hill behind BoO. She soon came back as her dog had gone on strike. She continued on her own after dropping the dog off and was later caught by Marco & Thomas. Yes, she was caught but only because she seemed to be out for an easy long run being unaware that 2 mad men were trying to catch her on their only chance to do so. They arrived together at KH and all looked quite happy. Thomas stopped at KH having ran with Marco most of the time. This was great news as his hamstring strain seems to be settling. Before the run he was not sure if he was going to go across Rannoch but he felt good and had a great run.

I was ready to start my run after Caroline had arrived. The weather was holding nicely. We set off onto the small road behind the hotel and managed to run along the diversion that lead to the main road and onto the other side of the A82. Yes, the other side of the road! There were WHW signs there but there was hardly any path so we ended up running on the main road. We were ridiculed for this later by the WHW veteran runners for wanting to take a shortcut, avoiding the climb etc. I hope this possible confusion will be sorted until race day. Any new path building should be finished by then.

By the time we arrived at the bottom of the staircase Caroline felt really unwell. She had a good run until KH, then ate a joghurt and started to feel bad. It also turned out she had hardly drank anything since she started. That was worrying. We walked up the staircase and took a short break at the top. By that time the Gaviscon had helped the sickness and she managed to sip more water and eat. The views from the top and in fact all along the route were fantastic. On our way downhill Richie overtook us. We chatted a bit, he ran on and we continued into Kinlochleven.

There Caroline took this plastic bag out of the boot with a rather disgusting looking content. It turned out to be power food though, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. We continued up out of Kinlochleven, were overtaken again by Ritchie who had gone into the pub and made our way uphill. The first half to Lundavra was rather a lot uphill. We walked a fair bit and the path kept winding its way up and up, but then had a great 2nd part down into Lundavra. Thomas was again waiting for us. He realized at the end of the day how tiring support can be with all the driving and waiting for people to arrive etc. So well done for giving it a go. He asked me if I was going to continue as my target had been a minimum of 13M. But I was still feeling o.k. and looking forward to finishing with Caroline so off we went.
This section seemed fairly short, the forest was very enjoyable, the path was so soft underfoot compared to all the stones and small rocks before and it was a great feeling to come out at the top above FW. The highway forest track was shocking though. What are they doing up there?

Then we ran the whole way into FW which I found the hardest. I was getting tired and maybe had not eaten enough (just 4 r 5 gels and half a sandwich) and it seemed to take ages until the Brave Heart Car Park appeared. There we were greeted by Thomas, John, Neal and Harvey. Thomas told me they expected us to crawl into the car there and then, but no we ran all the way to the leisure centre. That was a great feeling both to see Caroline doing her longest ran ever, 35M, and doing my longest distance on the WHW, 23M.

So thanks to Caroline for her company and the chat along the way, a lot of talk about Africa and upcoming trips! And thanks to Thomas for swapping roles at KHH!

10 weeks to go...

2009-03-23T03:43:00.000-07:00

10 weeks to go until my first serious race this year, the Edinburgh Marathon!

My 10-week-training-plan is starting now and I will be aiming to get under 4hrs in my 2nd marathon. Compared to last year I am already in much better shape having a lot more miles under my feet with long runs on the WHW, speed work and a couple of smaller races with new PBs. So I think I am on the right track at the moment. My plan has been modified slightly by Thomas to take into account my better fitness and maybe even get closer to 3:50 …. He is a very ambitious coach!

Also I am now an official member of the Highland Fling Crew! I have been asked to be part of the medical back-up team that Murdo hopes to station at all the checkpoints. Thomas was keen for me to do it though he did not really want to lose me as his support either. So we have come to an arrangement that we had discussed earlier. I wasn’t going to be at the Beechtree Inn this year anyway. I was also getting worried about going to Rowardennan and back because of the huge number of runners and support crews that will be out on this tiny road. So now it is final that Thomas will use the drop-bag-service (let’s hope it will work!) for Rowardennan. I will make my way to Drymen as soon as I have dropped off Thomas at the start before 7am. I will then be manning “my station” at Drymen until Thomas has passed through (so I will see a lot of you 6am starters and the faster 7am runners). I will then head to Balmaha, my next and last station where I will stay until the last runner has passed through, i.e. around 10.30/11.00am.Then I will make my way to Beinglas and just be Thomas’ supporter again until the finish unless someone needs assistance when I happen to be around. There will be a different doctor stationed at Beinglas for most of the time as well.
I am really looking forward to being involved in the Fling in a more official role. And I hope all you fit runners out there will still be in excellent shape when you pass through Balmaha.
Well then, now I don’t only have to worry about my number one runner but also about over 300 other runners! And that on my day off! :-)

GLA-EDI-Double Marathon 14/03/08

2009-03-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was back in supporting mode when Dirk (last year’s well trained Devil supporter) and I set out to support Thomas to the finish of the 1st GLA-EDI-Double Marathon. I must admit that for the first time I think I would have preferred to be running! Not necessarily this race but in general. And Thomas only has himself to blame for this as he has infected me with the running bug.

It didn’t help either that he had been a bit tense the days before the race, realizing that the recent races had taken their toll and his legs took their time to recover especially from last week’s HM. He even took 2 whole days off running and immediately showed signs of withdrawal… He was even grumpier than usual when he had to get up early yesterday morning. He got all his gear ready and gave us – again – strict orders not to do anything that could get him disqualified. He was following the race rules by the letter after checking with the organizers in an email, i.e. carrying all your fluid supplies, only refilling at the checkpoints with whatever you leave with the organizers at the start, carrying all your compulsory gear including torch and space blanket. It turned out later that most competitors did the same with bag packs on their shoulders, but there was the odd one who did carry only a rather small bump bag getting his bottle exchanged regularly by his support at various points …

Anyway, at the start we saw Maggs who was first to register. We then saw Lucy Colquhoun and I said to Dirk, this was going to be the winner – unless Jezz Bragg was also turning up. And of course I was right, but I guess that was not hard to predict! She won the race in a great time of 6h: 50min. Though she was followed closely by Kenny V initially and then John B until just after Linlithgow when she managed to shake John off. Well done Lucy! Back to Thomas though…

We saw him for the first time just before Kirkintilloch when we were on a bridge to take photos. He was gesticulating something to us so we headed off to catch him again at Twechar just before the 1st checkpoint (CP), but he just wanted to tell us that his fellow runner was Crazy German No 2, Andre Reibig, incidentally running in long skins as well … (Note to Andre in case he reads this: Thomas is known as "Crazy German")

There we also met Debbie and Cairn, Marco who was running the first 20M of the route on his own and Kenny V’s family. Off we went to Bonnybridge where Thomas kept complaining about his sore legs and how heavy they felt. I actually expected him to stop somewhere behind Falkirk as he had said before that if his legs were not right he would not push it. Though I thought that this might not be good psychologically even if it was only meant to be a “training run”. We rushed off to the Falkirk Wheel and saw him coming up the hill when we pulled into the car park. So we sprinted across to take some photos and were greeted by a much cheerier Thomas, smiling for the first time. The reason was that friends of ours had come to the Wheel to cheer him on; well at least someone can cheer him up even if it is not me! :-)

We then decided to go to CP 3 at Linlithgow. And I am glad we did as it turned out that the energy drinks that the runners had given to the organizers at the start to be handed at the various CPs were stuck in traffic! So we double-checked with the marshals that it was o.k. for us to refill Tom’s bladder (hydration bladder that is) and when Thomas was still reluctant to let me do it after he arrived, I confirmed this with the marshall again. In the end he was in and out of the CP in no time and he was surprised how little time the refill took. By this time Thomas was in 4th place, Crazy German No2 nowhere to be seen. Thomas was about 8min behind Kenny who was in 3rd place.

At a CP:

As he seemed to be running on and did not mention stopping after 30M we decided to see him every 30-40min from now on to cheer him on and give him an update on how far to the next CP, how far in total etc as his watch had stopped working at some point. It was then that we started to tell him how far he was from 3rd place. He gained 2 min on Kenny by our next stop and another 2min by the following one. I really thought he could do it and catch him, but in the end Thomas was unable to close the remaining gap of 4min that separated him from Kenny. But as we later found out Kenny was on a mission himself. Apparently Thomas had overtaken him in the Fling last year after Inversnaid so there was no way he would let that happen again.

Our last stop was 5M from the finish and we shouted out to John who was in 2nd place “only 5M to go” and he shouted “whaat? 5M? Oh no!” We got a similar reaction from Thomas later and it turned out that they must have been given rather positive distances at the last CP so expected to be much closer to the finish … So much for the truth, but we can learn and next time we will say “just over 4M to go” …

Thomas finished in 7h: 22min and was delighted. He did not expect to finish at all and getting such a good time despite his sore legs was great news. He does not mind to be just 4min behind 3rd place and never thought that he might be so close to a “podium finish” anyway on the day. Given another day and better legs I am sure he would have been up there.

At the end of the day Thomas invited us for a meal at our favourite Chinese. It is only a 5min walk from our flat but given the circumstances we had to drive and park in front of it as he was unable to walk properly!

Inverness Video

2009-03-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

Inverness HM – Birthday Run – 2 new PBs

2009-03-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

8th of March is Tom’s birthday and this one was special! He was about to enter the M45 age group.

So we decided to pick a nice race that we could both run on the day and maybe, maybe he could get a good position in his new age group. Well I was hoping for a win to be honest. And to get the only slight disappointment of the weekend out of the way, this was not to be. Instead he came 2nd in his new M45 group as “his” prize was snatched up by someone else. But not to worry, we both came home with new PBs and Thomas also with a few other presents! :-)

We picked Inverness as we quite like it up there and would be able to stay in a friend’s flat until Monday. So after a leisurely drive up north and a stop in the as usual overcrowded Mountain Café in Aviemore, we found out that the race route actually passed the flat we were staying in. So we drove along the route a bit and realized that this was NOT a flat race at all. In fact there were quite a few uphills in admittedly nice surroundings. Well, as this was just a run out of my general training and my actual 10-week EDI Marathon training plan has not even started yet, I was initially just hoping to get under 2hours. My PB was 1:55:29 from Glasgow last year. Seeing the route I thought that might be slightly difficult.

I woke up the next morning to snow showers! Horizontal snow and sleet showers in fact. We set off to the sports centre to register fairly early due to announced road closures. I was getting cold just by waiting in the sports hall and the closer it got to the starting time people put layers upon layers, some even pinned their numbers to their goretex jackets! Nobody really wanted to leave the hall but eventually the organizers threw us out to get the race started. For me leaving that sports hall was probably the toughest bit. I would have never even contemplated going for a run in this weather and here I was just in a thin layer trying to run a HM! “Character building” as the newspaper stated today and I think I have done well just by going to the start.

Thomas had put “no pressure at all” on me by telling me to “get him a PB for his birthday”! And I should take risks and start fast as long as it was flat so I would not lose too much time on the uphills! Well, I set off just being glad to get moving and felt surprisingly fine. I had a few mile splits in my head, under 9min/m to stay under 2hrs, 8:45 to get near to 1:55 and 8:23 to get under 1:50. Arriving at the first mile marker my watch showed 8:00 and I was shocked. That was way too fast. Crossing the bridge and turning against the strong headwind soon sorted this out and the next mile was somewhere near 8:30, much better I thought, just try to keep it up on the flat stretches. I unfortunately don’t have the exact splits as in the end my hands were so cold that I could not operate my watch properly and somehow pressed a few buttons and the data got lost. I just know that when the first uphill stretch started I had a mile with 9:11 that really messed up the time and another one with 9min. I did also have a lot of fast ones between 8:15 and 8:30 and when I reached the point where I knew it was downhill or flat from now on after mile 9 I knew I could beat my PB. I even briefly dreamt of getting under 1:50 reaching mile 12 near 1:42/1:43 but that proved impossible with again strong headwinds on the last mile and by then icy cold hands. I had taken off my gloves after mile2 but by now was unable to get them back on as my fingers were useless. I overtook a few runners/walkers and tried to stick with one guy, but the way to the finish did stretch quite a bit.
In the end I just thought keep running and try not to collapse before the finish and eventually crossed the line in a chip time of 1:51:39! 3min 50sec of my previous time! And 21st in my age group (M40)! Incredible! Thomas took 30sec of his PB finishing in 1:18:31 in 16th position overall and 2nd M45. So well done to him and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We went out for a nice meal in the evening and then drove back via the east side of Loch Ness towards Fort Augustus this morning checking out the Loch Ness Marathon route and onwards to Fort William. Now while this is a spectacularly scenic route, this one is really hilly! I guess compared to this even the Inverness HM route seems “flat” in the end. Not a marathon that I will enter in a hurry!

Tyndrum-Kingshouse Hotel

2009-03-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

What a great run I had today on the WHW - and as a surprise even company!
I had planned to run just from Tyndrum to KHH by myself instead of like the main group from the Drover's. That would give me a distance of 30K, plenty for my training calendar.

So Thomas and I dropped the car off at KHH and thanks to John and him taking care of the important transport issue got a lift down to the start. That way I could access all my dry clothes after my return as I was going to have to wait for a couple of hours until everyone else would arrive. I found out that I would have company in the van as George - Ian's friend and support runner - wanted to do a shorter distance as well. I was a bit worried that I would keep him back or be out of my depth to keep up with him, but it turned out to be a great run in great company and the time flew by.

He started to run up the hill behind Tyndrum and I tried to keep up but then remembered that Thomas had told me to walk it and I just admitted there and then that I would have to walk the uphills. And that was fine. So from then on we walked the uphills and occasionally when it wasn't as steep George would encourage me to run slowly. That way I did run a few bits that I would have walked. We kept quite a good pace going on the straights and downhills, again slightly faster than I would have run, but I felt comfortable with it. As George knows the route very well he kept telling me about the bits that were due to come and how we would run or walk them and that was helpful.

He has so much experience in running and supporting and kept telling me all these interesting stories that before I knew it we had reached Bridge of Orchy in 1h10min, much faster than I had expected. I even forgot to take on my first gel after 30min and took it eventually in BoO after a short toilet stop.
I kept sipping away at my Lucozade and thought that I was drinking quite well, but it turned out later that I had only taken on just over 500mls the whole time! Ups, I need to watch my fluid intake I guess. I had a few jelly babies and "Vital" biscuits going uphill behind BoO and took another gel near the Forrest Lodge and that was me. Probably not quite enough if I had to keep going after KHH, but it was o.k. today. We reached the top of Rannoch Mor and started our downhill. This felt really good and we came to just above Blackrock Cottage at 3h31min and we thought, well can we make it under 3h45min? We then started to charge down the hill but the hotel looked closer than it actually was. But George kept the pace going and I felt good and just kept sprinting along and we arrived at the KHH carpark after 3h42min! Great!

We got ourselves dried off and warmed up in the Lounge looking out for other runners. The first runner home from the main group was Marco. I then met little Cairn for the 1st time who was out for his 1st support drive with Debbie and we all headed into the bar. The pea soup and chips were good!
Thomas had a good run as well so all in all a great day out for both of us.

21st February 2009

2009-02-22T10:57:00.001-08:00

The day of the National XC Race - and also my birthday!

I didn't run myself but was keen to go along as a spectator and try out my birthday present, a new Canon Ixus 970, a compact camera that has a video option! So in JK fashion I filmed throughout the race, thinking that holding the camera vertical would be a good idea as it gets the runners better into the picture. Not knowing that it seems rather difficult to later rotate the picture and it is also easy to loose all sound when editing it ... Obviously I still have to learn a lot until these videos are presentable!

We met a lot of WHW family members including new addition Harvey. In fact I spotted Harvey first before I recognized Caroline! She was wrapped up in a few layers including full waterproofs.
Thomas wasn't sure until 2 days before the race if he should actually run or if it would interfere with his general training etc. But he felt good and got ready for the race. And he had a brilliant run. He finished in 98th position. And he was first for the club (though that did not help the overall position of Glenpark, i.e. last!)

Anyway, off we went home after the race for some last minute preparations for my birthday party. Jude, his running partner from Inverclyde AC also came and told us that he had lost his shoe in one of the mudholes on the course - maybe some of you spotted him digging it out?! Thomas has been running with Jude twice a week (Tue+Thur) for the past 3-4months. They meet up for "steady 8-10M runs" and this certainly seems to be great for Tom's training. Jude is also quite an experienced coach so he has become a bit like a personal coach for Thomas.

I was out running myself today and thought I better tried these "steady runs" myself. And I had a great 14K steady run along the waterfront, my legs were feeling good and I really enjoyed it. Halfway I met Thomas & Jude and they came flying past me, so much for their "steady pace". As they were discussing their run later in the kitchen over a piece of left over carrot cake, I heard them talking about 8min/M pace being "jogging pace as if you were running on the spot"! Well, so much for my recent fastest pace at the 5M race! But that just shows how different we all are. I know not to run with Thomas nowadays as he keeps getting too cold when he runs with me due to my slow pace! So he says anyway. :-)

I passed Lunderston Bay in Gourock on my run and I could not believe my eyes when I saw people out there with a picnic! And not only was another group out for a picnic but they also got their BBQ ready! What weather forecast had they seen!?

Next weekend will see me running from Tyndrum to KHH, trying to get there before I am caught by the large group of runners doing Drovers to KHH. I am looking forward to it, maybe we should have a BBQ afterwards?

RRR Renfrewshire Road Race

2009-02-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

Today was my 1st race this year, a 5 mile road race just around the corner from us, in the Battery Park in Gourock and along the waterfront, organized by Inverclyde Athletics. Looking at last year's results my goal was not to come last! And maybe holding off at least one of the other Glenpark girls. Well, Thomas had set me a target of under 40:00 which I thought was rather ambitious and I complained that he put too much pressure on me! I don't know what it is about running, but when it comes to running or even running races I turn into a rather pessimistic person and can't really judge my ability. I am usually very nervous before the start and I wonder what I will be like when it comes to the start of the Devil!
Anyway, I managed to achieve all my own goals and even had 2 Glenpark girls behind me and overtook a Bellahouston runner with a sprint finish to get in after 39:31. This makes it my first run with a sub-8min mile (7:55min/mile and 4:55/km). And most importantly :-) my personal trainer was pleased that I had in fact beaten the 40:00min target.

News Update

2009-02-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

We came back from our skiing holiday in Austria last weekend. The snow conditions were excellent, but the weather wasn't. Poor visibility and in fact fresh snowfall during the day made for difficult skiing most days, but we did have 1 sunny day (see photo) when we stayed on the pistes from the first until the last lift! I tried my luck with snowboarding one morning - it was fun - but also rather sore the next day as I had lots of -expected- falls. The little village of Obergurgl looked like a magical winter wonderland and all in all we spent a relaxing week with great food in good company. We will go back to the same resort next year as the skiing area and the scenery is fantastic (when you can actually see it).

Back at work now and also training in earnest for all the upcoming running events. We went to the club's speed session on Wednesday where at the moment we are doing 10 hill reps. After the first of this kind of session a couple of weeks ago I was actually told off by Thomas for not having worked hard enough. Well, I did try to save some energy on each repetition as I thought that was quite sensible given that I had to get through all the 10 reps .... But not on Wednesday! After the second one I felt quite sick and a quick glance at Thomas assured me that this was exactly what it should be like!? I only managed 4 of these though, did 4 easier ones and bailed out on 2. Not to worry I was assured by my "trainer", at least I worked hard enough on 4! Next time I have to record my HR to see if my max HR is higher than what I think it is (180). Tom has been promoted to be my coach, well at least sometimes. I do like to follow the training plans of my German Guru Steffny as they have worked out quite well so far, but as I am doing a few other runs and different speed training with the club and of course the DOTH, his plans do not quite fit in. So this is where Tom's advice will come in handy, I hope!

Anyway, we were off to TISO yesterday to buy new running shoes for me. Who came out with a new pair? Well, not me. My Asics GT 2130 model has been "upgraded" to the 2140 with apparent better heel fit etc. Well, it does not fit my heel any more. But the guy at Run4It is trying to source the old model for me from EDI. I will stockpile a couple of pairs if he can get them.

Today Thomas and I were back on the WHW. He ran from Milngavie to Rowardennan and back to Balmaha. I ran from Balmaha to Rowardennan and back. We met when I was half way back between Rowardennan and Balmaha. It took me 3:35 in total. I was quite exhausted at the end, but it was a good run. Thomas also had a good run and it seems his training is going well.

2009

2009-01-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

We arrived back in Scotland on the 31st of December – just in time to welcome the New Year quietly at home. Thomas wanted to do a long run on the 2nd of January so he ran from Milngavie to Rowardennan with myself and a friend as support crew. I did a slow 14K run along the promenade today to ease myself back into running. The last 2 weeks have taken their toll energy wise as well and we are both pretty tired.

2009 will be my 1st full year as a “runner” so there are a few goals to reach throughout the year. The biggest one for me will hopefully be the completion of my first ultra run in August. I am planning to attend the club’s speed sessions regularly to improve my times on the “shorter distances”, i.e. marathon (Edinburgh Marathon on 31/5 – I would love to get close to, maybe even under 4hrs), half-marathon and 10K (under 50min is my target). I have not picked any specific races for these but I am sure there will be a few opportunities along the way. We are still looking for a good run on the 8/3 (Tom’s birthday and more importantly change of age group – not M50 though!). Any suggestions?

Then there are various races to support, i.e. the Fling and the WHW Race. Thomas is also hooked on Cross Country now and I have not even watched one yet!

We have decided to do the Berlin Marathon again on 20/09/09. After the Devil I will take up inline skating again for a short while until the 20th of September and try to get under the 2hrs for the marathon distance. Thomas of course will try to keep up with Haile.

Holiday wise we are hoping to go to Nepal in October to do the Mini-Annapurna Circuit. Visiting the Himalaya has been a dream for a while so it might come true this year!

First of all though we will be away skiing in Austria in 2 weeks’ time and are really looking forward to the break, especially as the snow reports are great.
So see you all along the Way sometime!

21st December 2008

2008-12-22T01:50:00.000-08:00

I was going to blog about my training run on the WHW with Jon Cornall and Jan. How great it was to run from Drymen to Balmaha and back, i.e. crossing Conic Hill twice! It was hard but very enjoyable despite the terrible weather when I set off with the car. I came home and Thomas was so glad that I had another “moment” out on the hills that would keep me motivated for my challenge next year and give me confidence.

But life can change in a split second and it was a phone call in the afternoon that turned our life upside down. Tom’s father called to tell us that his mum had died unexpectedly. So instead of preparing to celebrate Christmas here in Scotland we are packing our bags to fly to Germany on Christmas Eve to be with his father and sisters and their families. I do hope and pray that Thomas will find strength and motivation during this difficult time through his running.

WHW-training run: Beinglas-Inversnaid and back

2008-11-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

Today was my 2nd run on the WHW within 1 week. This time it was a run organized by John Kynaston with 35(!) runners turning up, including all the fast ones! It was a glorious winter day, very cold, but sunny and lots of snow on the hills. The Loch looked fantastic with the sunshine - though you really had to concentrate on the path in front of you due to the rather icy conditions.

The pace was pretty quick right from the start and people seemed to also run the uphills in the beginning. The group spread out and I dropped back and back and eventually settled into a pace with Sue. I had met her at Eddie's HM and she had joined the run today with her friend Mandy who has entered the Devil for next year as well. Unfortunately we were a bit slow on the icy bits trying to be really careful not to slip. We walked across the bolder parts and lost sight of Mandy & Co quite quickly. But I had a great time chatting with Sue along the way and admiring the views in between. I had hoped though for her sake that maybe Mandy and some of the other runners ahead of us would wait for her at Inversnaid so she could have a faster run back. But they were all on their way back by the time we got there... I kept thinking she did after all join the run to meet people who had actually run the WHW Race and I was obviously not one of them. I tried to pass on some of Tom's insights though and introduced her to "Mud socks". She was great company and said she did not mind! Thanks!
3 miles before Beinglas I insisted Sue should head off as she wanted to run to Derrydaroch which I hadn't planned to do anyway. I actually caught up with someone else on this part, Rab from Dundee. He picked up a few injuries along the route involving his Achilles tendon and hamstring. He was swearing after slipping yet again when I approached from behind and we ran/walked the last half mile together. He headed back straight after arriving at the Drover's Inn and I hope he is all right getting his injuries sorted! He managed to finish this year's WHWRace despite also being injured.

I did really enjoy my run in great weather, scenery and company, but I also realized that this is indeed the faster group. The pace is fast, there is no hanging about and everyone seemed to try and get to Inversnaid as quickly as possible. So, I don't think I will be there next time. I would probably arrive in Drymen by the time they were all back at the Beechtree Inn or somewhere close! We also have our Christmas Night out from work the day before so I'll probably prefer to have a lie in. For next year I might come along to the training runs with Thomas but do my own bit, some out and backs maybe along the same route so I can at least say hi while everyone is flying past me or if there is a support vehicle I might ask for a lift. But well done to all of you ultra-runners today. I am clearly a long way off!

1st Training Run on the WHW

2008-11-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

Today was my 1st training run on the WHW, from Milngavie to Drymen, about 12 miles. The “Glee Club” (organized by Mark Hamilton) was running from Milngavie to Drymen and back. I thought as a starter just out to Drymen would be enough so organized a lift back from Janet, Jon Cornall’s wife who was supporting.
I was slightly nervous before, though I was hoping that I would be able to keep up. I had a bit of a problem with my Achilles tendon the week before, it had come out of the blue with no previous problems. So I did not run for a few days, took a few Ibuprofen, used friction massage and tried to do a short run on Friday before. As this went o.k. I decided to go for the Sunday run.
And I had no problems at all, at least not with my Achilles tendon. My Trabuccos proved to be a great choice, they are really comfortable and together with the debris socks did not give me any blisters. It started to rain when we left the car park but then we had long spells of blue sky and sunshine – and lots of rainbows whenever another shower came our way. I stayed at the end with Mags, Marie (Davie Bell’s sister-in-law and support runner), Jon Cornall and Jim.
Thomas “ran away”, no he didn’t really, he just ran ahead with a few of the others and then kept coming back or wait to “check up on me”. There were about 15 runners altogether. The faster bunch was out of sight most of the time. There were LOTS OF puddles, actually they were like mini-lochs and in the beginning I did try to avoid them, but eventually gave up. These were not only puddles or streams of water but MUD-holes. Luckily I saw Jon’s lower leg disappear in one of them and just managed to jump across, but I could not avoid all of them. I could have done with a pair of these fishing trousers! At one point my feet were freezing, but they actually did warm up again.
I started to struggle a bit just after the Beech Tree Inn (yes, I know it is not that far!), Thomas had come back by that time and thought it was just one of my “mental blocks” where I think I am tired but I am actually not!! Easy for him to say. Anyway I fell back a bit (yes further) until Mags thought that the pace was a bit too fast for her as well. So we ran together and sent Thomas on his way to catch up with some of the others. But then all these lovely inclines appeared where you can walk on the tarmac road towards Drymen. I really like these bits! So the slow bunch (yes, Thomas was part of it) got together again and we arrived at the Pottery Bar after 2h:30min, only 5 or 10min after the rest of the group. So I was actually quite pleased with my run and I did enjoy it. What I even enjoyed more though was my carrot cake, coffee and the lift back to Milngavie in the car!!

Lochaber HM

2008-11-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

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!!

2nd club speed session

2008-10-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight was my 2nd club run - another speed session! It was the same distance and the same intervals as last week. Only tonight it felt easier, maybe because I knew what was coming. And tonight I was not the slowest, so I guess there is hope for me!
And I actually enjoyed the session, have I mentioned that?!
The only downside was that Thomas only did the warm up due to his injury from last week. So he really has to be careful and is now not too keen on these speed sessions.
I might do my 1st club race on Saturday, the Colin Shields Road Race, but only if we are not away for the weekend. If the weather is nice we might head off for a long walk in the autumn gold (there is hoping). The Lochaber HM in Fort William was originally on the programme, but has to be scrapped due to Tom's injury.

My life as a reluctant runner

2008-10-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

There it is. I have said it. I am a runner. Well, maybe if I repeat it a few more times, I will convince myself eventually…
Maybe I should look at the start list of the Devil every day to see my name there – that should get me to believe that I ‘d better consider myself a runner. Why else would I have entered an ultra run?!
And why would I have applied for membership at a running club if it wasn’t for running?
Well, maybe it is because I was threatened with divorce proceedings if I didn’t?
No, no, that is just a joke. Though Thomas seems rather happy that I am on “the” Devil’s list. It would be even better if I wasn’t such a slow runner though, he reckons. No, again not true. Really.
I am still reluctant to give up my “supporting role” though. Is this not what I am supposed to do?!
Yeah, as if!
Seriously, I still see the main objective of next year (as far as running is concerned) to help Thomas achieve his dream and FINISH the WHW Race. But it looks as if along the lines I have turned into a runner myself, setting myself small goals over the years with the occasional 10K, then my 1st HM in 2006, 2nd one in 2007 and then my 1st Marathon earlier this year. And now I actually enjoy running along trails and am looking forward to the 1st training run on the WHW with the “real runners” in November! How did this happen?
I still don’t like running in horizontal rain though and I always look forward to the end of the run when it is time to stretch, but maybe with time this will also change?!
You have probably noticed that my attitude towards my own running abilities is rather negative. It is all in my head, my husband tells me. I am usually quite a positive and optimistic person, but not when it comes to judging my own running capacities. Strange that.
Maybe the speed sessions in the club will help. Apropos speed session. This is where the problem starts. Thomas has picked up yet another injury during the one and only speed session last week. There is a collision of interest now. I think these sessions will be good for me, but it looks as if they are not for him. Looks like a short career in the club for him. The 10K Kilmacolm race did not happen because of this injury. But I hear there is a HM in Lochaber on Sunday?!

My 1st club run ...

2008-10-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight Tom and I went for our 1st club run with Greenock Glenpark Harriers - a speed session! Halfway through I wished I had never encouraged Thomas to go along to the club - or at least not volunteered to tag along myself.

The run was 9.2 miles long - longer than I usually "run" - you probably can't even call it that after what I have seen tonight. And to my excuse I have not been running regularly for a few weeks now.
So the 2M "warmup" was at a faster pace than I usually "run" at. Needless to say I was at the back. But I was in good company - a nurse I had worked with at Inverclyde 9 years ago! This was her 1st speed session also, her HM time being similar to mine. So I tried to stay with her during the speed intervals. We were of course the slowest group. The intervals were long, very long and very very long! (800m, 1200m, 1600m=1mile) 2 of each and then the 2M run back to the club...
I have never done so much speed work in my life. They probably wondered why I was there, but luckily Thomas was in good form and ran with the fast group - that was reason enough to hand me an application form for membership as well at the end of the night!

What next? Well, there is a 10K race in Kilmacolm on Sunday and Thomas wants to enter....

COLOGNE MARATHON – 2:48:15 for Tom and 2:04:17 for me

2008-10-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well, how brilliantly did Thomas run??!! A new PB of 2:48:15, breaking the 2:50 marker and getting not only among the first 100, but into 65th position!
Superb! Even more superb if you consider the weather conditions, a lot of rain (o.k.) and strong winds (not o.k.).
So while I knew he was fit, the weather forecast put doubt onto his target time. We had enrolled the support of my nephew & his girl-friend to hand Thomas the right drinks at the right time – and that also threatened his time at one point! Unfortunately they got lost and missed him at a crucial point between KM24 and KM35. But despite all this he got under 2:50. The evening was spent celebrating in a local brewery …

My own race on Inline-skates did not go according to plan. I was hoping to get under 2:00, in fact I joined a pace-line for 1:50, but because of the bad weather the decision was made by the group before the start to go for safety first and not think about the time. The main aim was to stay together in the group, for everyone to arrive in one piece and still enjoy the race. The slippery roads and obstacles like tram rails, road bends etc would not allow a fast pace.
So we headed off, there were 2 other skaters from Glasgow in my group of 7 and we all did in fact enjoy the thrill of skating in a pace-line, benefitting from the slip stream of the person in front of you, being pulled or even pushed if you were about to lose contact to the person in front, being cheered along by Samba bands, spectators, loud music etc.
We finished in 2:04:17 (386th from 1484 finishers), a PB for me by 4min but still not under 2:00 as hoped. Looks like unfinished business, but with my plan to concentrate on running I am not sure if I will skate another marathon soon – maybe if I can be guaranteed a dry and sunny day in Berlin next year?! Luckily the other 2 Glasgow skaters enjoyed their weekend in Cologne, especially the local beer and food after the race!

Glenpark Harriers – here we come!

2008-09-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

Tom has been headhunted off the esplanade while out on one of his training runs to join the Greenock Glenpark Harriers Running Club! The story behind this is actually a bit more complicated – if you want to find out the details, read on!

For a while now, in fact since the WHW-DNF, I have been trying to encourage Thomas to join a running club. I thought it might be good for his training, especially over the winter, structured speed training and general social aspect etc.
He has been quite reluctant as he does his “own thing” training wise and does not want to be roped into frequent races etc. Even over a year ago I had met a nurse I knew from Inverclyde A&E at Tesco, who had joined Glenpark Harriers and she had tried to get both of us into the club, but apart from looking at the website we did not take it further.
Then on Saturday on the train when I read the Greenock Telegraph on my way to Glasgow, there was an article about the Harriers and how they had done at the Great Scottish Run. It was talking about Alan O’Rourke who “had brought them home” in a time of 1:23 and I was thinking, well Thomas was faster than him, he should really join them and get home “first”.
When I came back Thomas had been out on his long run with a few speed intervals. He had noticed a runner trying to keep up with him but apparently Tom got faster and faster and the guy could not keep up. On his return lap, this guy actually stopped him asking if he had “a few minutes”, was he already in a club, he should join the Glenpark Harriers and there would be a 4K race at the Esplanade the following week. Guess who he was? Alan O’Rourke of course. How many signs do you need?? :-)

I have decided to tag along when (and if!) Tom goes for his first training session with them after the Cologne Marathon. This is actually quite a life changing moment for me. Up to now, even after doing my 1st Marathon and a few HM, I have not really considered myself a “runner”.
In fact I have used running to stay fit, trying my luck at a few longer distances, but in my heart I have always been a “skater”. Unfortunately especially over the past 2 months the weather has been so bad that serious training on skates was impossible. I have had to realize that I will not be able to progress and get faster times on skates while living in Scotland.
After the Cologne Marathon where I will try once more to get under 2:00 (and will in fact very ambitiously join the 1:50 pace line with 2 fellow Scottish Skaters), I will therefore hang up my skates and exchange them for running shoes. I can join my skater friends on dry days during spring and summer as part of the occasional cross training, but I will not try to do any serious training. Instead I will concentrate on running – and so I should with the DOTH coming up next year and my name on the starters’ list!

3 PBs, 2 new DOTH applicants, 1 new dress - a great day!

2008-09-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today I ran a new PB in the Half Marathon at the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow! It was not only a PB, but I managed to get under the (for me) magical 2 hours on a rather hilly course. I finished in 1:55:21 and took 7 min of last year's time. And for the 1st time in my life I ran with mile splits instead of Km splits - what a revelation! Instead of counting to 21 and working out if you will make your target time, you only have to count to 13 and you are there! Psychologically it worked really well for me. Maybe it just means that I have been in Britain too long!

There was a PB for Thomas (1:21) - very well done! He is in great shape and preparing to beat his Marathon PB in Cologne and get under his magical time of 2:50. The 3rd PB came from our friend Andreas who now lives in England and runs with Kennilworth Running Club (1:56). For him it was also the 1st time under 2:00. He is preparing for Chicago and hopes to get under 4:00 there. We run similar times, the only difference is that he is at least 3 stones overweight and used to be a very fit Munro bagger when he was still living in Scotland a few years ago. Thomas keeps pushing him to loose weight and to try and chase him as his fitness is actually quite good (better than mine). But he still manages fairly good times for his weight, I think.

As we were all on a high after the run, Thomas brought up the subject of the DOTH 2009 (Devil o' the Highlands) again. He has been trying to get me to send off my application for at least 2 weeks now. He who never likes to do any admin work, form filling etc actually printed out an application form for me, filled it in as much as he could, put the address and stamp on the envelope and presented it to me. Well after I hadn't done anything with it he finally sent off his application last week. I secretly thought to wait and see what the HM would be like, maybe even wait for the 1st training run on the WHW. I did enjoy my little run from Kingshouse to KLL a few weeks ago and kept thinking about it. As we were relaxing in Starbucks after the HM and celebrating our new PBs I had a brilliant idea. We have now presented Andreas with his 40th birthday present (which we were still looking for until today). It will be a weekend at the Kingshouse Hotel next August and (hopefully) the entry to the DOTH 2009! Before he left up north today to bag 4 Munros tomorrow he was presented with his application form and just had to sign it. The plan is for the two of us to run and finish it together!

On our way back to the car park at Cambridge Street, conveniently at the opposite side of the city, where we wanted to get changed before heading to Starbucks I even managed to drag Thomas into a shop! He normally resists all my attempts of getting him to go shopping unless the shop is a running or an outdoors shop. Well, as we had to walk up Buchanan Street anyway and I had done so well (!!), he did not have the heart to resist a little detour into Karen Millen. I had seen and tried a really nice purple cocktail dress last week that I wanted him to "see". The shop assistant looked a bit worried as we walked in with our foils wrapped around us, but luckily my size was still there and Thomas liked the initial look, so she put it away for me to try it after I got changed and cleaned up. After the coffee we went back and I paraded the dress which Thomas agreed was a perfect fit and looked really nice. So out I came with a new dress, which will have its premiere at my grandmother's 90th birthday party in 3 weeks. I can't wait!

My 1st time!

2008-08-16T03:37:00.000-07:00

1 day after Tom's great run in the DOTH I decided to finally have a go at running on the WHW myself. For my debut I chose the section from the Kingshouse Hotel to Kinlochleven. That would have been my support route if Thomas had not dropped out a Blackrock Cottage in the WHWRace - so a bit of unfinished business ...

I was a bit apprehensive as I did not really want to get my new shiny yellow Trabuccos all muddy but I was reassured by my husband that they would get mainly wet on this part of the route. So I had no further excuse and set off in pouring rain. On the first stretch to the bottom of the staircase I tried to avoid all the puddles but soon the whole trail became a stream and I gave up and ran right through. My socks and shoes were soon completely wet and I found out how useful all these small holes around the shoes are, the water seemed to quickly ran out again and just left me with wet socks. I walked all the uphill bits and ran on the straights/downhills whereever possible.

Despite the rain the sun came through some clouds and Glencoe looked fabulous in the mixture of cloud, rain and sunshine. I overtook a few walkers which felt good and arrived at the bottom of the staircase after 39min. I knew from the training runs that that was an acceptable time and felt quite pleased with myself. Thomas & Dirk were there to check on my progress and then headed off to KLL to the indoor climbing wall.

I walked up the staircase overtaking a few walkers again and had amazing views towards Glencoe. I arrived at the top after 22min. I then started the downhill into KLL and had forgotten that there were still a few uphills on route which again I walked in a brisk strike. The running got easier once I arrived at the track. It was so steep at times that it felt as if I could not have stopped even if I had wanted to! By this time it was pouring down again and I was completely soaked. But I really enjoyed my run and kept smiling until I arrived in KLL.

Thomas could not believe his eyes when I arrived after 2:02 hrs. I was only 5min slower from the bottom of the staircase into KLL than he was the day before in the race. I was well pleased and had a bright grin on my face. He now has great hopes that I might enter the DOTH 2009! But I still maintain that my legs are not made for long distance running ... I have also picked up a terrible cold which I blame on getting soaked at the weekend. I am sure I will find more excuses for not entering the DOTH next year as time goes by .... My debut run was great fun though ...