RRR Renfrewshire Road Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!