Catching up

It's 4 weeks since I last wrote anything here... where has March gone?  I cannot believe how quickly the days have passed!  Last time I wrote an update, we'd been at By The Way for a Fling training weekend, there's another one this weekend, but we're not participating as tomorrow morning we're off to Berlin for the Half Marathon on Sunday. 
To backtrack a little, after the horrendous weather at Tyndrum, we had a nice day in Glasgow and then on the Monday we had a fine run on the canal.  Falkirk Wheel to Linlithgow, 14miles including a wee detour as the hated 'darkie tunnel' was closed for repair (phew...) lunch in Linlithgow then the train back to Falkirk with a 2 mile jog back to the car, arriving just as the snow started - and kept falling!  It snowed heavily overnight and again the next day then fortunately the weather broke and the sun started shining. Before we knew it, it was the weekend and the Saturday was back to the usual horrendous weather, heavy rain, grey skies and high winds.  John braved the elements and ran 9 miles in it, I didn't.  However we woke on the Sunday  morning to bright sunshine and blue skies and headed up to do some recceing on the Cateran Trail. 
I dropped John at Glen Isla, and drove to Blairgowrie, he was going to run across the hills and meet me there.  Just as I parked up, the heavens opened but undaunted, I put on my jacket and headed off onto the trail that leads to Bridge of Cally.  I like this part of the trail, it's well marked and easy to find your way, it's party tarmac and partly fields, and a few hills for good measure. 

sunshine after the rain

For 20minutes the rain and wind was horrid, then it stopped and the skies were blue as far as the eye could see!  I went 5miles and turned back, getting caught a second time in a short sharp downpour - if you can call horizontal rain a downpour!  I got back to the car only a minute or so after John so that worked out well, with neither of us having to hang about waiting for the other.
Another week of circuit training and short runs, then it was D33 Weekend.  We had the Friday off work and I had a hospital appointment before we headed up to Aberdeen and we had agreed to be part of the marquee building team, so after lunch we met up in Duthie park with our fellow erectors and got to work.  Johnny Fling has a huge marquee which we helped to erect and dismantle last year and mostly the same folk turned up again this year so we had it up in no time! 
(it helped we didn't have to battle gale force winds!)
Friday evening was spent catching up with friends in the Station Hotel in 'Stoney' then it was Saturday and an early breakfast before heading back from Stonehaven to Duthie Park.  For a number of reasons, I was unsure right up until the start whether or not I was going to run the full distance and in the end, I didn't.  I did however have a really good run with Bill to Milltimber and feel I made the right decision.  We were back in the park in time to get warm clothes on and a coffee inside us before the winner Ross Houston came flying home shattering the course record!  I was delighted to watch many friends finish the race smiling, many of whom got PBs and some of whom were finishing their first ultra.  The post race party in the Station later that evening allowed us to catch up with others and hear their tales.  Sunday morning we had a fab run through Dunnottar woods to the castle with Karen, Mike and Graeme then John and I went to Auntie Betty's for ice-cream before popping in to see George and Karen before we headed home.
A good week followed, the Inspiration Evening in Stirling on Tuesday, preceded by nice burgers with Amanda and Clark.  Bright sunny early morning runs, circuit sessions and then it was the weekend again... Up on Saturday morning and off to train on the West Highland Way.  I'll write about this wee (mis)adventure in a separate post :-)