Tempus Fugit - again!

"again" as I'm sure I've used this title before but I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last posted on here.  And a busy 3 weeks it's been!
After I last posted on 24 Feb we had 3 days off work which was bliss, on the Monday it was a 'jammie' day in so much as I stayed home and did some chores and tidied up the garden and stuff, we were really fortunate to get 3 days of glorious Spring sunshine if a little cold.
Tuesday we headed off to Tyndrum so that I could recce the last leg of the Fling course, we ran 22 miles - 11 from Tyndrum to Beinglas Farm and back again and boy was it hilly!  John told me after about an hour that 'those in the know call this the rollercoaster'  I understand why!  We had a fantastic day out in the most amazing scenery and another bright, cold, sunny day.  To see some photos of the day, look at the slideshow on John's blog the rest of his blog's good too :-)  The following day we had a day in Glasgow as John had an appointment to get his VO2 max and other stuff tested, again if you want to know the detail I'm sure he's blogged about it, it's all a bit geeky but basically just means for an old guy he's mega fit and healthy!  While he was away doing that, I treated myself to a manicure and a wee wander round the shops.  We'd a really nice lunch and then home in time for me to get organised and back out to fitcamp.  Then it was back to work for a nice short 2 day week :-)  Saturday 2 March, John was heading off for a long run and I went to Strathclyde parkrun, they do a pacer day on the first Saturday of the month, and although my legs felt kind of heavy and tired I wanted to go and see if I could get a sub29min time, the decider was that it was my friend Mike who was the 29min pacer and having run on his shoulder in a 10k at the tail end of last year I was hopeful I'd be able to stick with him and maybe make it over the line under the 29.  He did an awesome job of pacing me but I think he got a slap from another runner as he went off a bit fast and kept me steady until with about 1km to go he said he'd best hold back and I should keep on going, I'd no idea how fast I'd run as I'd mucked up  my watch at the start, so I was delighted to cross the line in 28:28 :-)  A quick coffee with some refugees from Falkirk parkrun (it's suspended as path upgrading underway) then home to hear about John's long run.  The next day - Sunday - we headed through to Mugdock to meet up with some friends of the 2 and 4 legged variety for a sociable run to the Beech Tree Inn and back followed by coffee and hilarity in Costa Milngavie.
I then had a really lazy week, I did my fitcamp sessions but didn't get any running done, until the Saturday when we headed to Dunfermline to do an out and back on the old railway - it was freezing, windy, sleet, snow and rain probably the worst weather of all winter, yet ironically it was my most consistent 10miler ever, I had a good run on all sorts of levels...
It turns out that the bad weather was fortuitous as this Saturday past 16th March, I completed the D33 ultra - in brutal weather! Freezing cold, headwind out and headwind back, sleet, hail and rain... all good fun :-)
What a FANTASTIC event!  Loon Dod and his amazing PA the lovely Karen and their team of willing volunteers put on a day to remember!  A unique medal - see pic above, a specially labelled finisher's beer, a D33 goody bag with beer, crisps & caramac in!!!  We travelled up to Aberdeen on the Friday afternoon after work and stayed overnight, which gave us the chance to meet up with some of the  folks we'd met through the Facebook group setup for the race, and then drove straight back down Saturday afternoon as we had the Alloa Half marathon on Sunday 17th.  I had entered the Alloa Half months ago when it first opened for entries, then on a whim on Hogmanay entered the D33 not realising it was the day before.  When I did realise I thought oh well it won't matter I can do the Half any year, it's our local race, then as my Fling training went well I decided to try to complete both, everybody - except for John - said I was mad and I decided I wouldn't commit until I saw how I felt after finishing the D33 but I felt great and as I could still walk when I got up yesterday morning decided to get ready and see how I felt after a wee warmup.  Mentally I was up for it, physically, my knee was a bit sore and big muscles were tired, but I didn't feel like anything was 'broken' just tired so I lined up at the start - still being told by friends that I was nuts :-)
I took it really slowly and easily, I was quite comfortable to be near the back and would have been happy being last as long as I finished.  The first 2 miles were really tough, legs were really tired and slow to respond, then about mile 3, the 'muscle memory' kicked in and the brain got kicked out :-) I just kept ticking over, and before I knew it was at the half way point and as well as never having being in last place I was now passing people!  Between miles 5 and 12 I managed to pass 8 or 9 others which gave me a huge boost and as it's a local route I train on I was able to keep ticking off the landmarks, though I have to admit seeing John in the distance as I passed the 12mile marker was a Huge lift of my spirits :-)  He told me how well I'd done then ran off to be at the finish, then there was Alan waiting for me and ran a wee bit with me telling me how he couldn't believe I'd done it, then on the last corner was James smiling, and shouting encouragement and as I turned the final corner and passed Janette, the announcer gave me the most amazing welcome!  It was a tad embarrassing as he proceeded to tell the cheering, if smaller by now, crowd that I had completed a 33 mile ultra the day before - it really was a very special finish line build up and for that I have to thank Murdoch who does a great job every year.
So there you go 3 weeks in a 10minute read - hope you're still awake!!!  My two medals signify something very special for me, 46.1miles in 2 days, or 73.76kms and still physically and mentally in one piece!  I was all set to go to fitcamp tonight til it started snowing this afternoon and hasn't let up since...
Next stop Boston :-)

And so it's begun...

That's my training for the Highland Fling underway!

I kicked it off with a good run last Sunday on the West Highland Way, a couple of decent sessions during the week, and another awesome run on the West Highland Way yesterday then a wee recovery run today to finish the week.
Yesterday I ran 30km from Dumgoyne to the end of the Garadhban forest and back again.  We joined the WHW at the back of the bonded warehouses belonging to Glengoyne Distillery, this meant a lovely wee trudge through a very boggy (boggy in this case means a mix of sheep, cow, and other unidentified muck!!) field of sheep then onto the Way itself about 1km before the Beech Tree Inn.  This is a great spot for spectators watching the race as they open their outside 'hut' early and serve teas/coffees and rolls with sausage etc... Once across the road, off you go along an old railway embankment, towards Drymen.  I counted at least 4 different styles of gate on this section, and John said you should get a certificate in gate-opening just for completing this section :-)  I agree!
The path runs out after about 3miles and there's a couple of miles on a rather 'undulating' road - which is fortunately almost traffic free, through a wee hamlet called Gartness up another great big hill and then back into a field - also very muddy and with the biggest molehills I've ever seen!  It's a fair climb up through the field to the first relay changeover point which is just outside Drymen.  A wee trot up the road and you're back onto the Way again and heading up into the forest on an old brick road.  I don't really like this wee bit as it's one of those deceptive uphills that doesn't look like much of a climb, but saps your legs as you run along it.  It's about 1km and then you're up onto the forest road and that is a climb!  However, compared to last year it's a decent enough surface to run on, especially at the moment as there's been a lot of logging going on which means there's been a lot of heavy traffic on the road which has tamped down the surface (and left a lot of distinctive red mud!)  This time last year, which was the first time I'd ever been here, they had just laid new stones and it was hellish to run on, like really huge gravel!
There's quite a climb on this section but the view as you crest the hill makes it worthwhile, you can see down to Loch Lomond and have a perfect view of the islands in the loch which form part of the Highland Boundary Fault Line.  They reach out from Conic Hill right into the water like a wee 'Nessie'...
As always, what goes up has to come back down (to some extent) so there are some good downhill runs to reward the hard work of climbing.  I was getting a bit tired and a wee bit down at this point til it crossed my mind I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast which had been almost 3 hours ago so I nibbled on a nakd bar and felt much better almost immediately!  I'm not good at eating and drinking on a run even though I carry a drink with me in my backpack, so I do have to remind myself  to fuel, and this is going to be very very important on the Fling proper so I need to practice and get better at it.

Not the prettiest half way point but a significant marker ...

The Gate with Conic Hill in distance

When I reached the gate at the end of the forest -15km, I was quite pleased to note that it had taken 1hr 50 to get there, this time last year I couldn't run 15km on the flat in that time and that was when I was trying hard!  Yesterday I'd been trotting along quite happily just enjoying the day, the views and the lovely weather, no attention whatsoever to the time, and this was the uphill half of the route!
Some friends were also running from Drymen to Balmaha and back, and I had tentatively arranged to meet up, but we were a bit later starting than we'd planned, so we didn't meet up with them until afterwards.  John had run ahead of me on the brick road and just as I had reached the gate, he texted to say he was at the bottom of Conic hill and couldn't see them.  He then proceeded to climb the hill then turn and head back,  I thought he'd have caught up with me on the last section of the route, but he didn't so when I got back to the car I told him to stop at the Beech Tree Inn I changed into clean shoes* and drove along to wait for him.
I was really pleased with how good I felt when I finished yesterday, I am usually absolutely shattered after a long run, but yesterday was different, I don't know why, but I felt strong and quite elated :-)
I got to the pub, got changed into dry, clean clothes, downed a can of full fat coke - I only ever drink this after a long run - then John arrived, he got changed and we ordered lunch.  We both had the daily special which was Bison steak and it was delicious - they say that you should refuel as quickly as you can on completion of a long run, and should have some protein, so this fine slab of bison fitted the bill perfectly :-) 
As we were finishing, our friends turned up at the pub so we swapped tales as they ate their soup.  One of the group Emma, unfortunately went over on her ankle at the top of the hill, but still managed to run back!  She has since been to A&E and is heavily strapped with a query over a break :-(  I hope she's ok as she's a keen athlete and has a snowboard holiday coming up soon...

Today I went out and did a gentle 5mile recovery run - found it really hard not to keep trying to push on and could hear the voice of my mentor reminding me 'when you feel like you're motoring on' pull it back a bit... I didn't do that very well today, but will keep practising!
So, all in all it's been a good first 'proper week's training' and for what it's worth I don't feel any older since my birthday on Friday than I did before it :-)

* shoes after coming back through the field!   

Glaur!