Catching up

It's been a wee while since I was last here - 2 months** and a fair bit has happened in that time.  I tried once more and failed once more to complete the WHW race at the end of June.  I had trained hard for this and felt confident that although I'd be one of the last finishers and would be pushing the cutoffs at least in the early stages, I was in the right place physically and mentally to make it to Fort William.  39miles in, the path gave way and I slipped - feet first towards the loch!  It all happened really quickly and I instinctively turned my body towards the wall of rock and grabbed for a handhold!  Luckily I got one so didn't end up making a big splash!  I climbed back up onto the path, a bit shaken but determined to keep going, I felt like I had a dead leg and it slowed me down more than I wanted which meant that I didn't make the cutoff at Beinglas Farm :-(  I was absolutely devastated and sore, I still feel badly about my selfless and amazing support crew and everyone else who was wishing me well and wanting to see me make it...
sorry xx
I was lucky that the weather was kind to me and the biblical rain and gales didn't come in until about an hour after I'd stopped.  Then boy did it come in!  I will confess to lying in bed at 0230 listening to the storms raging and offering up a wee prayer of thanks that I wasn't out in it!  Utmost respect to those who were and ultimately yes, I would rather have been there too.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me with their best wishes since then too, you know who you are and it means a lot.
My next goal is Loch Ness marathon at the end of September so it's been right back into training and was really enjoying it and ticking of the workouts until Friday morning when I was almost finished my hill-reps and 'ouch' it felt like someone had stabbed me in the back of my right ankle!  A very painful and numb ankle for the rest of the day gradually easing off over the weekend.  I tried to run a little on Sunday but only got 1.2miles done before it was really aching again, then last night I set off to run home from work and 1.8 miles in I got stabbed again :-(
We had massage sessions booked for last night so I got plenty of work done on my legs and specifically my ankle, ouchy but helped with the movement so hoping after another couple of rest days I will be back on the trails at the weekend.
Since WHW, we have marshalled at the Great Glen Ultra and the Clyde Stride, in between we have been exploring the Southern Upland Way, St Cuthbert's Way and a little of the Borders Abbey Way, all good fun.  This weekend we are off on a Mystery Tour, then it's the Devil of the Higlands a weekend off Speyside Way, then off to Chamonix for another adventure.
** UPDATE - it's now mid September!!
I had saved this as a draft at the end of July and never got back to it...it's probably not worth publishing it but hey ho I'll stick it on the list and think about the next one :)
Our Mystery Tour was fun, as was the Devil, Speyside and our trip to Chamonix.  I am going to try to write a little about that while it's still fresh in my mind and before we head off on the next Grand Adventure!
I am currently on the injury bench though not technically injured, just enforced rest to try to let me body recover from the after effects of a particularly nasty virus which floored me for the month of August and won't be running at Loch Ness - so I will be climbing the walls shortly!

Forward progress & Fun with Friends

This weekend was the annual West Highland Way training weekend and it also marked the end of the second month of my training programme, both events worthy of recording.
As always the WHW weekend was based in The Oak Tree Inn at Balmaha and a motley crew of regulars and newbies turned up to enjoy the exercise, the company and the hospitality.  Some folk arrived Friday night, some came Saturday morning and stayed overnight and some just rocked up Saturday morning, ran and enjoyed the company and post run soup then headed home.  The full run is out to Inversnaid and back which is 30 miles though there were many variations and distances on the day.  For many people this is their first long run of the year and for some, it's  their first sojourn onto the WHW.
I'd a 10mile run on my programme but went to Rowardennan with Julie where we turned for home. Unfortunately at about 11miles we had to slow to a walk as Julie suffered cramping and we were lucky that Lorna was passing and offered us a lift back just as the watch ticked over the 13mile mark!  I was happy though with a wee bit further than planned, some good climbing and no ill effects.
A long hot shower, then as John had also returned from his run, we headed down to the pub for some food and to catch up with everyone's tales of their adventures and their hopes and plans for the coming year.
Afternoon rolled into evening and then it was dinner time, and proseeco and giggles later we were getting gently ushered out the door - oops! I can't remember the last time we were in a pub til closing time!  Great evening catching up with friends, a good sleep, nice breakfast and after a wee walk to say cheerio to Karen & George and Donald we headed home.  Tired but giggling as we remembered some of the conversations from last night!
This weekend is always special as it reminds me of the fun to be had when spending time in the company of friends, you meet on the trails and then again over a bowl of soup or a drink and for me it marks the start of the year for real.
As I said at the beginning I have now completed the second month of my training programme and am feeling quite proud of that achievement, I've managed all the workouts, some better than others and have been enjoying the discipline and the routine.  I'm also sticking to my healthy eating and this is paying dividends too as my weight is slowly starting to come down,  both of these factors are helping me to stay positive and stick at it.  Here's to February and whatever it brings! (Hopefully some snow!)

It's been a while

I haven't been on here since September last year, I've thought about popping back but then I've thought "what's the point?"  I've not had much to write about... In retrospect that's a bit harsh on myself and on the folks who have been there in the past 9 months to listen when I've  moaned or to stay quiet when it was best to say nothing.  Who have been there with a reassuring word or a hug.  It's been a funny old time with a couple of fairly significant health issues to deal with and regular periods of self doubt...

I am sitting here full of pizza and wine (not really full of wine, just 1 glass) and recovering from the weekend.  It was WHW weekend this weekend past, John was running and he did brilliantly!  He was crewed by me, Amanda & Clark and between us we did a damn fine job finishing with a 2 hour  10min PB for John and a healthy, unbroken runner 😊 Result! 

I'm sure in due course he will write it up himself so I will say no more other than it was a blast!

It was a fantastic weekend, wonderful weather and surrounded by friends old and new.  Many of whom achieved their dreams, some like me last year, who didn't but who will hopefully recover over the next few months.

I was in a wee bit of a 'post race blues slump' last night when Cat (or Mike) posted the marshall's brief for the Great Glen race in 10 days time and the buzz was back!

In the past 3 weeks I've had good news on the health front which means I have no more excuses ;-) So now, I'm sitting here with goals in place and plans afoot, who knows I might even post some more ramblings on here...

Thank you to the wonderful ultra family for helping me get my head back on

Life is for Living!

It's been a long time since I have been here - I've not been back since my failed attempt at the WHW race in June...
There has been lots of stuff to deal with, not just that I wasn't able to finish the race, and it's way too much to go into in detail.  However, hopefully things are on the up again and although I'm still banned from lifting any heavy weights or circuit training, I am allowed to run 'gently' I guess lumbering slowly along counts as gently!  I've had setbacks and injuries before and come back from them, stronger and wiser.  It's a wee bit different this time around as nothing hurts I don't have an 'injury' per se... just some bloody inconvenient blood clots in my Retinal vein :-(
However, I was back at the hospital on Monday for a checkup and there's a treatment plan in place so here's to moving forward and taking each day as it comes.  I was browsing earlier and came across a Huffington Post blog from a young woman who died this morning of bowel cancer at the age of 36!  Things like that make you stop a minute, take stock and give thanks for you what you have, even though it's maybe not all that you would like to have.  She wrote a final post to be published after her death and these words touched me.  I'm sorry if you find them a bit cheesy, but I thought they were worthy of note...

"Embrace your loved one and if they cannot embrace you back, find someone who will. Everyone deserves to love and be loved in return. Don't settle for less. Find a job you enjoy, but don't become a slave to it. You will not have 'I wish I'd worked more' on your headstone. Dance, laugh and eat with your friends. True, honest, strong friendships are an utter blessing and a choice we get to make, rather than have to share a loyalty with because there happens to be link through blood. Choose wisely then treasure them with all the love you can muster. Surround yourself with beautiful things. Life has a lot of grey and sadness - look for that rainbow and frame it. There is beauty in everything, sometimes you just have to look a little harder to see it."
Charley Kittley 16:09:15

50 weeks ago...

At 1am on Saturday 5 July I lined up in the dark for my longest race to date, the Great Glen Ultra - 72 (3?) undulating and stunning miles from Fort William to Inverness.  John's parting words were 'be good if you could get home before it gets dark'.
21hours and 51minutes later - before it got dark, I crossed the finish line in the Bught Park to the most amazing welcome from a surprisingly large crowd of fellow runners and supporters.  I will never forget it, not least because I managed to run all the way around the track, but mainly because I didn't expect so many people to be there.  I had been at the back of the pack for most of the duration - criss crossing with the legend that is Ray for a fair bit of the course from Laggan to Drumnadrochit.  Then after a wee strop at the checkpoint, thanks in the main, to the amazing George Reid, I made it up that feckin great hill and then plodded my way home.
When I finished John said to me 'could you do another 20 miles?'  I nodded and said I think so but slowly, 'that's ok' says he 'you'd have another 13 hours'.
I had always thought that the West Highland Way race was beyond the grasp of an ageing and decrepit - ok not quite, but rapidly falling to bits, wummin of a certain age and whilst I loved being part of the crew last year and supporting John the year before, I'd never thought of giving it a go.  Not seriously.
Long story short, I thought about it a lot over the next few months - mainly in the why not vein, and the if you don't do it now, you're not getting any younger vein.. Come November I filled in my details and submitted my application for WHW 2015!
8 December I'd just got into work when my phone buzzed, a very excited David Meldrum "You might want to go check FB" it said, followed shortly thereafter by one from Amanda Hamilton - yep I'd been one of the lucky ones, I'd got a coveted place, as had David and Amanda.
Fast Forward Fifty weeks and I will be on the start line at Milngavie station tomorrow night (another 1am start) There have been a fair few miles, in all sorts of weather - well you have to train for all eventualities and "there will be weather" on all sorts of terrain in some beautiful parts of Scotland, a fair few tears and a couple of health scares along the way, but my stuff is almost packed, my plan is almost complete and I am looking forward to crawling/stumbling that last mile of tarmac from Braveheart carpark to the Leisure Centre sometime on Sunday morning.
Thank you all for the messages of support, encouragement and Good Luck in the past few days and indeed over the course of this year, I hope to see most of you over the weekend. 
To those of you who are also running, Good Luck, have a great race. 
To those who are marshalling - thank you - we couldn't do it without you. 
To those whose journey to the start line was thwarted by illness or injury - commiserations, the trails will be there for you another year. 
To the Committee who gave me this chance by putting my name into the ballot so it could be drawn out - thank you.  Also for the hours of time you put into the organisation of the race each year...
To those who have inspired me and supported me in countless ways - HUGE thanks you really are the best.
God I know, it sounds like an Oscar speech :-)
The inimitable George posted something on facebook which I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing as it sums the whole thing up perfectly:
"Looking forward to seeing the family and biggest support crew I have ever known."

A wee (mis)Adventure :-)

This is a little bit out of order but as I watch the Fling hysteria building on facebook, I thought I'd write about my last long run on the 'Way'.
Saturday 21 March, John dropped me at Balmaha, my goal? To make it to Tyndrum in one piece.  It was a cracking morning, probably the first of the warm, sunny days , we've been blessed with this Spring.  I trotted along quite happily and surprised myself by climbing strongly up the hill away from the road and before long was plodding along comfortably enjoying the morning.  I had a goal time in mind to get to Rowardennan, and I beat it by about 10minutes so was quite chuffed with that, I stopped to use the loo and then ate a sandwich and topped up my water before heading off again.  The next 20 mins or so were awful and it was only when I realised that I was overheating and stopped to take my long sleeve shirt off that I settled again.  This was a march up the hills run down them section, the shade and cool of this forested bits was very welcome and the downhills even more so.  I tootled along only meeting a couple of runners coming in the opposite direction to Inversnaid where I had another sandwich and some water.  A bloke came into the carpark shortly after me asking 'which way to the West Highland Way?'  I didn't ask if he was serious but instead, politely directed him out the other side of the car park - he was going as far as The Drovers.  I had texted John to let him know how I was doing, and he rang me as I was leaving and I walked along enjoying the sunshine and the views, discussing with him whether he should keep running out to meet me or turn back and get the car (he'd driven up to Tyndrum) and meet me at Drovers, but I really didn't want to cut my run short as I was enjoying my own company, the weather, the challenge and feeling ok.  The next section is as most of you know, the 'technical bit' I've not been here since 2013 so I hadn't seen the fallen trees/collapsed path - they certainly added a new dimension, but I managed not to get lost or hurt and before long was back on the path proper and on my way towards Beinglas.  Here is where I made MY only navigational error, as I approached Doune Bothy, I followed a walked path to go above the bog - I should have just gone through it and ended up, a little bit further up the hill than the field the bothy is in.  John had reached the bothy and was tracking me so he knew I wasn't far away and when he rang me - after I'd realised my error and waded down the burn! he could actually see me a couple of hundred yards away so I was quickly downhill, over the wall and met up.  We then headed off to Beinglas and onwards.
Although my times were still within the limits he'd set for me (I wasn't aware of this) it was still the weekend before the clocks changed so we were aware that it would perhaps be dark before we got back and neither of us had a headtorch! (yes stupid error we know)
On we continued and long story short we got to 'The Big Gate' without mishap.  A quick comfort break and jackets on as it was starting to get cool and off we headed up onto the 'rollercoaster' I love this part of the course, it is so pretty and although it wasn't dark, the big trees cut out what light there was however we made it safely if slowly down to the road at Ewich and across to Auchtertyre.  By now it was properly dark and the sky was ablaze with stars - they looked as if you could reach up and touch them - spectacular!  This is where we had our second navigational mishap but this time it wasn't ME!  I am lucky that I have a pretty good visual memory and when we left St Fillan's ruins on our left I wanted to go straight on on the black tar but was convinced to bear right, however John did concede at this point that perhaps he was wrong so we went back to the gate and then along the black tar :-)
(it only added an extra half mile or so)
Past the wigwams at Auchtertyre where we did get some odd looks from folk damping down their BBQs under the road and then it was the last 2 miles to Tyndrum.  There's a wee stream about half a mile down the track that you have to ford, and as I went through the water and John went straight on face first into a tree, I turned right on the 'right' path and WHACK! tripped over a BIG rock! Down I went with a thump, it was a bit sore but nothing broken so up on my feet and off we trotted again - it would have been awesome if there'd been a full moon but unfortunately it was only a sliver but you could actually see quite well as there was no light pollution.  On the last climb before the last gate another boulder jumped out and tripped me up :( worst injury was that the landing paused my Garmin - I restarted it and carried on - my right hand felt a bit sticky and when I licked my thumb I tasted blood :-( never mind, nearly there... We made it safely to Tyndrum, we didn't fall out and the bleeding hand wasn't so bad once wiped with a babywipe.  Quick clean-down in the car park, dry clothes on and up to the pub for some coke and salt and vinegar crisps.  Mission accomplished, I made it in one piece (the bruising appeared over the next 3 days and took a fortnight to disappear!)
OK so it took a bit longer to do the last section as it was dark, however the rest of the sections were all within John's limits - I didn't know this until the next day and although the last section was much slower,as John said, it was good practice for being out at night, (particularly the second night) head down and just keep slogging it out - and to be honest, I REALLY, REALLY enjoyed the adventure! :)
No pictures in this entry - well it was dark remember?

ps 34.75miles!

Love a Long Weekend!

3 Training Runs
3 Great Days Out
31.5 Miles covered
2134 Metres of Climbing!
We are heading off to Rotterdam this weekend for the marathon, another training run(!)  As I said before Berlin and Rotterdam were entered before I was one of the lucky few who got a place in the WHW Race.  Subsequently my training focus has definitely not been on road racing but this mileage is double that of 2 weeks ago in Berlin and half the distance I need to complete the Fling 2 weeks later... so in theory it's a good training run and in 'just the right place'...
Bearing all of the above in mind, John decided that I should 'take it a little bit easier' and do 30miles but over 3 days - as he said to someone the other night 'talk about altered reality'  I had had a really sore leg since Berlin, it's an ongoing issue with my hamstring but dry-needling seems to ease it and I was really lucky to get a last minute appointment at Life Fit on Thursday at lunchtime and the needles started to work their magic while I was still on the treatment table!
We were off for the Easter weekend which gave us plenty of scope and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

Friday: alarm off at 6am, porridge eaten, bag packed and off to Milngavie - I was running Milngavie to Drymen and I had a time target - I had done this section a month ago and it was awful, freezing cold, crampy legs, and lots of ice!  This time it was damp and dull but still and not too cold, with no ice!  However i was ready to chuck it after 2km as I got horrendous cramp again in my calves :-(  I don't know if I was starting off 'too fast' it didn't feel fast to me, but it's all relative I guess and although I felt I was going really slowly, maybe I wasn't - hence the excruciating pain!  I walked for a full 5 minutes til I left Mugdock and once I got onto the trail proper, things started to thankfully ease off.  In the end, I did ok, I got to Drymen 40 minutes quicker than last time and a full 15minutes under my target!  #jobdone Day1
Nice lunch at the Drymen Inn, a wee afternoon nap and kit washed and sorted for tomorrow.

Saturday: alarm off at 6am, just some toast and coffee this time as a second breakfast was planned.  We picked Amanda up in Bridge of Allan at 0720 and headed off to Glencoe where she was meeting up with some others for a Glee Club run.  There were runners doing various distances, Minty, Sean, James and Spiderman (AKA Ross) were heading down from Tyndrum & Bridge of Orchy and Amanda was joining them to run to Fort William.  After our second breakfast at the ski centre, John and I headed to Kinlochleven where I got changed, bade him farewell and headed off on my own, he was going to run back to meet me from Braveheart car park.  It's a long climb up from Kinlochleven but I enjoyed it this time, I am feeling much stronger than ever before and although I'll never be an uphill runner like John, I climbed up 'strong and steady'.  Once I got to the top, I really enjoyed the trip across the Lairig Mhor, I ran much more of it than ever before, even managing to run some of the Ups!  There weren't many folk out on the Lairig but the few walkers I passed all said hello and then I had a wee blether with Derek Cassels (superspeedy) who passed me on his way out and then slowed down to chat with me for a few minutes on his way back. 
This picture of my favourite place on the Lairig is included because I love it so much. 
I was super chuffed to get to Lundavra and John wasn't there - not because I didn't want to see him, but because I'd beaten him there - he was surprised to meet me a little bit further towards him than he'd expected and silly though it might seem it's a wee lift that he's pleasantly surprised :)  heading back to Braveheart I had a real slump on the 'elephant's graveyard' I don't know what it's really called but it's a pretty desolate de-forested uphill slog before you get to the fire road and it's one of those places that gets me every time.  Once on the fire road however I picked up again and really enjoyed the 2mile downhill run that comes next.  By this time, he'd flown off ahead of me and I concentrated on running properly not just letting myself go and losing control and trashing my quads.  Back safely to Braveheart - 5minutes under my target time this time :-) and we waited for Amanda and Minty who we were taking back with us.
Great runs had by all and chips and cheese at the Real Food Cafe to top off another grand day out on the hills. #jobdone Day2

Sunday: alarm off at 6am, scrambled eggs for breakfast.  Today is John's long run as to hit my 30miles I only needed to do 4.3 miles :)  He wanted to recce a bit of the Cateran that he will be running in the dark come race day, so I dropped him off at Glen Isla.  Sunday was a beautiful day once the fog burned off, so we took the wee car and it was great to drive around with the roof down getting the sun on my face :-)
I drove to Spittal of Glenshee, where he'd finish, parked the car and headed up the hill for my 'run'.  It's a steep climb and for the first time ever I climbed all the way to the Lairig Gate without stopping - yeehah!  I love the run back down and was looking forward to it, but it was really really muddy and quite slippy for the first third, however I did enjoy the next 2/3rds and the sun was roasting on my shoulders and legs and it was just fine :-)  I was only 3.5miles at the bottom so tootled about a wee bit on the other side of the main road on the start of the race route until i had 5.5miles in the end - a mile more than I needed but who's counting ;-)
John finished his run (grumbling) and we had a wee paddle in the river to clean off our mucky shoes before heading to Blairgowrie for something to eat.  #jobdone Day3.

Monday:  alarm off at 7.30am (rest day and still a holiday!) Trip to Edinburgh to Run & Become, John wanted to change his recently purchased shoes for a bigger size, and I bought a new pair too.  Lovely lunch and wander in the sunshine then home. #jobdone Day4.


I do Love a Long Weekend!

So Far So Good!

Read and Repeat...
My year is shaping up into quite a busy one with a few big goals so I am going to keep reminding myself about this for the next 8 months!

After the exciting and terrifying news at the start of December that I had been one of the lucky ones drawn in the WHW ballot for 2015 I decided that I had to knuckle down and get on with things.  To that end I have got back onto the healthy eating and exercising train, and so far so good.  John and I had an amazing Christmas and New Year break in Toronto and I managed to come back 1kg lighter than I went away so that was a good start to my year.  11 days later I had managed to shift another 2kg so already I am half a stone in old money, lighter than I was at Christmas and I am happy with that.  I have also attained new personal records with my weights at both deadlift and bench press - this is a relatively new-found love and I really enjoy it as a form of training so to see improvement always makes me feel good!  So far so good...
I am enjoying the cleaner eating again and the fresh juice everyday - although I have broken my juicer and will need to get a new one - oh dear, another parcel for poor long suffering John to bring home :-)
Last Sunday was my birthday and I was a little bit down about how incredibly old I was going to be, but in the end it wasn't so bad.  We headed up to Bridge of Orchy on Friday evening and had an enjoyable evening in the bar, people watching before a reasonably early and not too disturbed night - it was still very stormy but a good old stone building keeps you feeling remarkably safe.  Saturday morning we had a leisurely and very tasty breakfast before donning our foul weather gear and heading to the hills.  We ran/tramped our way up and over Jelly Baby Hill where we were able to lean back into the ferocious gales which held us up then on to Ba Bridge.  We met Norry McNeill along the way, similarly attired and equally enjoying the exhilaration you get from being out in 'mental' weather.  We turned at Ba Bridge and headed back to Bridge of Orchy in occasional glimpses of sunshine rapidly followed by whiteout conditions, arriving safely back at the hotel to the astonishment of the young man on reception who offered to take our boots to the drying room only to discover we didn't have boots on but running shoes lol!  The bar beckoned and a revivifying coffee and Laphroaig was most welcome.  A long soak in a nice deep bath prepared us for a delicious dinner with a celebratory bottle of Malbec then another hour or so in the bar to round of the evening.  Sunday was another tasty breakfast then a short trip down the road to Tyndrum where the snow was lying thick and white and we had another wee hour's run on the track back to BofO and back.  Hot chocolate at the Real Food Cafe and then we headed home.  It was a great weekend and the most miles I've covered for a few months.  It really set my head in the right place and reminded me how much I love that part of the world, particularly in Winter, and also how much I love 'being able to get out there and do it!'
Today brought another exciting ballot result, John got a place in the UTMB and I was lucky enough to get another bash at the OCC, so our flights to Chamonix are booked and I am ridiculously excited at the prospect of being out there again for a week with a bunch of incredible people!
So as we approach the middle of the first month of the craziness that 2015 is shaping up to be I am going to keep on eating lots of green stuff, lifting heavy weights, running and hopefully sleeping well.  In turn I hope this helps me to lose some more weight, keep as brimful of energy and loving life!  I am sure there will be some down times too but I will try not to let them get to me... So Far So Good!

Yessir!!

New Year - New Me?

Erm nope, don't think so - I will always be who I am, I am too old to change now!

However as we start a fresh new chapter in the Big Book of Life, it is good to have goals and aspirations to look forward to.
2015 is a big year for me in lots of ways, not least a birthday which takes me into a 'really really old' age group and as you do when you get old and addled, I am setting out on the journey to achieving my biggest goal to date - I hope to be the recipient of a coveted WHW Goblet on 22/06/15.
I have tackled many BIG things in the past few years, things that I would never have thought achievable a few years ago, but this is definitely the biggest so far!
I haven't blogged much in the past 12 months - for various reasons, however it is my intention to get back to recording my training and progress if only for my own reference and to provide me with a record to look back on.  Along the way to Milngavie I have a few other goals to be ticked off, and I'll write about those as I go.  So, fingers crossed, with a lot of hard work and determination along with the help and support of some pretty awesome people I will get there.
Thanks in advance for the encouragement and support and occasional gentle abuse that I hope I can count on along the way.

We had a fantastic holiday to Canada to end 2014 and bring in 2015 so "Here's tae us, wha's like us?"

I Told You So!

and so he did.... at least 7 times before bedtime last night!

Yesterday was the first day of our 4 day Easter weekend, and I decided to do my long run of the weekend rather than put it off until today.  Couldn't do it tomorrow (Sunday) as we are going to go up to Perth to watch the Anglo Celtic Plate 50km and 100km races and to support friends.  If I put it off until Monday then it's into next week's running so doesn't count apparently ;-)
So, up nice and early - who needs an alarm when the daylight is creeping round the edges of the curtains at 5:30am?  Up at about 20 past 6 and downstairs to put the porridge on.  I had sort of planned to run from Milngavie to about the foot of Conic Hill and back as I was looking for 24 miles but John who is now officially tapering for Boston in 2 weeks, decided he'd like to run with me but he wasn't enamoured with Milngavie out and back as he's done it a few times recently... I let him coerce me into running from Balmaha to potentially past Rowardennan and back!  I have done this once before way back at the start of my WHW running adventures in February 2011 and it nearly killed me that day!  I have since run twice from Drymen to Rowardennan on my own, once as a practice and once as the second leg of the Hoka Highland Fling relay last April.  I did much better on those two occasions than the first time I'm glad to report.  So I wasn't too phased about it, other than when we were driving towards Buchlyvie and it started to snow - we left the house in sunshine!  I realised that I hadn't brought any spikes for my shoes so had a wee panic that there might be snow or ice to contend with - I have real issues with icy roads :-(
Fortunately it was but a passing flurry and we arrived at Balmaha in dry if cold conditions.  A quick visit to the facilities at the Oak Tree Inn and we headed off down the path along the lochside.  First set of steps - god how I hate those stone steps that litter this route - and an unscheduled stop as I thought I was suffering from a leaky bladder... quick recycling of a zip bag as a precautionary measure and we were on our way.  The first 3miles were AWFUL!!!! This is where the I told you sos started.... you see I had done my usual 3 fitcamp sessions this week, Mon, Wed, Thurs and they were all tough!  However on Thursday I had a rare chance to get to the treadmill at lunchtime and decided to do a wee interval session which I thorougly enjoyed but which was the fastest running I've ever done... so.... as you can guess my legs were screaming!!!  Hey ho... At mile 3 John suggested that I decide whether I wanted to turn back - how dare he??  I said no I might not do 12 miles out and back but I would definitely go to Rowardennan and probably turn back there.
Now it usually takes 40min to an hour for me to warm up on this sort of terrain at my plodding pace, so things started to get better and even the 'dreaded steps' that I have had nightmares in the past about weren't nearly as bad as I remembered them... I even got a row for running down the path at 9:30 pace!  Though I don't think I was going that fast!
We got to Rowardennan and stopped to use the facilities and I changed my shirt there as I was too warm in 2 long sleeve tops as the sun had come out, so I swapped one for a short sleeve T and then proceeded to be quite cold on the way back when the sun disappeared and the wind blew in off the Loch!  Typical!
I'm still not getting the feeding 100% right, but I am getting better as I did say at the hour and 2 hour mark that I needed to eat something so that's progress :-)
John was running up all the big hills like some sort of Ibex or other fleet footed mountain climber - it was truly a sight to behold and at one point I stopped to watch him and wanted to woop and holler but didn't as I was worried he'd think there was something wrong and think he'd to come back to get me :-)
I much much prefer to run this route in one direction only as I think it's much tougher coming back the way - there are some big climbs on this section - cumulative climbing was 451metres - that's adding up all the Ups - so it's no wonder my poor legs were dead by the last hill... he only told me so another twice on the route, then another time in the pub when our friend Bob had the audacity to agree! Then I think it was another 4 or 5 times before bedtime LOL!
As I came back into Balmaha I met Karl Zeiner and Debbie Brupacher, they are running the full WHW on 3 days and various friends from our facebook community have joined them for part of it - we met some of them at Balmaha as they'd stopped for a break and were heading on to Rowardennan where there was a previously-planted car to drive back to Balmaha for some food at the Oak Tree, then back to Milngavie to pick up various other cars and head home.  Others are meeting them today to run some of the next part and yet more tomorrow I think.  Yes I was pretty gubbed at the end, and I'd only got 15 (tough) miles instead of 24 (gentler) miles, but as my wee mouse at the top of this post reminds me it didn't kill me, or to quote John in a recent post I'm not dead yet!!
So tomorrow will be a day of cheering and flag waving and watch the real big guns fight to keep the AC Plate in Scottish hands, Monday will be our fitcamp anniversary so I'll be heading to the morning camp, and that gives us the rest of our day off to do something - or not as the fancy takes us.  Then it will be one more week at work then we're off :-)

Happy Easter everyone  xxx