The Fling...

 

Saturday 27 April 2013 6am

This date has been indelibly stamped on my brain since one evening last September, the eve of the Toronto waterfront marathon to be exact.  I was sitting in our rented apartment in Toronto, idly browsing facebook and keeping up with friends back here at home when up popped the notification that "The Fling" was open...
The Fling or to give it it's Sunday name, the Hoka Highland Fling 53 Mile Ultra Race is a well respected ultra race held on the last Saturday in April, following the first 'half' of the West Highland Way.  John was meant to run this in 2011 but got injured and so we were asked to help out marshalling at one of the checkpoints, we had a great day and I got the ultra bug that day.  Even though I never really believed that I was capable of running those sorts of distances on that kind of terrain, a wee fire had been kindled deep down inside.
2012 John entered again and had a great race finishing in just over 12hrs, I took part in the relay race with my fellow Runtime Error friends and then spent the next few months wondering if, just if, just maybe, I could do it.  I hadn't actually got round to thinking about it seriously until that night in Toronto and then it was all done in seconds.  Went something like this:  Me - "John do you think I could do The Fling?"
John - "Yes"

Me - "are you sure"

John - "Yes don't see why not"

then the curse that is Entry Central - akin to Amazon one-click shopping, the deed was done, the entry is processed before you have time to change your mind!

The rest as they say is history - most of you will know of the runs we did in training some good, some not so good, some awesome, but all completed, good hard, tough training miles into our legs, our lungs, and most importantly for me, our heads.
By the time we left for Boston 2 weeks ago, I was ready for my biggest challenge to date, I was confident I could do the miles, my only concern was that I might not be fast enough to make the cutoff at Beinglas Farm in time to be allowed to continue.  However I was determined I was going to give it my all and I was going to get to that gate on time.

It was unfortunately not to be :-(

John has blogged about his race in Boston and how he didn't get the time he was after and indeed didn't feel 100%, it now seems that he was brewing the lurgy, some kind soul passed on their bugs to us and by the Wednesday after Boston he had a horrid cough which then developed into a full blown sinus/chest thing :-(  I started feeling grotty on the Friday we got home but put it down to jetlag and travelling and getting over the trauma of the bombings, however by Tuesday afternoon I knew it was the same thing and subsequently have been off work since Wednesday.
Ever hopeful John kept trying to hold on to the tenuous hope that he might be better by Saturday, by Thursday evening I knew that my race was scuppered and yes I was devastated, I went to bed feeling very sorry for myself and just wanting to cry and moan that it was SO UNFAIR!!  The biggest race of my life to date, all the hard work I'd put in to get fit for it and now it wasn't going to happen!  All because somebody gave us a bug :-(   As I said in a recent post - I know that in the light of the atrocities we witnessed in Boston, this is not really a big deal, but yes at that moment in time and to me it was the biggest deal and it hurt like hell!
Friday morning John conceded that nope he wasn't well enough either and so the decision was made we would both be a DNS.
I really wanted to go through to registration on Friday evening to say hi to friends and to pick up my car pass which you pay for over and above your entry and which allows entry to the Beinglas checkpoint.  I wanted to go out on Saturday and support our friends and it's a good place to see people, so we went through to Milngavie on Friday evening, caught up with some friends, got some much appreciated hugs and words of sympathy then came home to get ready for an early start.

Saturday dawned bright and fair, yet again it was perfect Fling weather, bright and sunny, not too warm, and not too windy.  A quick coffee and pack some stuff and we were ready to head out, first stop Balmaha.  We got to Balmaha just as the first runners were passing through, as always, the checkpoints run like clockwork, runners arrive, get their drop bags, get their water topped up if required, some stop for a chat with their support crews, others just fly on through.  Our friend Sarah was in full flow calling out the runner's numbers to the bag crew, so much so that she didn't even see us there :-)  We waited for our friends to all get through then headed to the Oak Tree inn for breakfast.  After our own refuelling stop it was on up the road to Rowardennan, this is the end of the road and also the busiest checkpoint in terms of traffic as it's a relay changeover point as well.  Another friend Alan was working the bag crew here under the experienced and watchful eye of Mrs Mac :-)
Caught up with 'our team' again, saw them all through, and then we drove up to Beinglas.  This is a really interesting place to see the runners as it's after the most technical and demanding stage of the course, it's 40miles in and it's the toughest clamberiest (I know I made it up) part of the route, but what a sense of achievement when you do it!  Listening to the comments of runners coming in was at times highly amusing as there are many who run this race who have no idea of the route, and there were a lot of folk who seemed to be at the end of their reserves and were mentally fatigued by what they'd just been through.  Again there's an opportunity for runners to rest, feed, or pick up and go whatever suits them, the team who mans this checkpoint is great, they are all very experienced and they know to watch for wobbly runners or those who are a bit green around the edges, making sure they sit down, get a drink, food etc.  Here too the guys from the Wilderness Response Team offer their assistance.

Next stop for John and I was Tyndrum - the end of the line, we knew when we were at Beinglas that the leaders had finished and that new course records had been set - perhaps in some part due to the new paths that have been laid this Spring, perhaps just due to faster runners...
We got the last parking spot in the carpark at the Real Food Cafe, wandered down to the finish line - it wasn't there??? Spotted a sign and followed it round and there was a fantastic finish chute and marquees for runners to get massages, hot soup, shelter, warm showers - Wow!  The old finish was ace but this was Awesome!  It was busy and we caught up with Sarah and David Ross who had been bag man at Inversnaid and was now at finish helping out.  More welcome hugs :-)  All of 'our team' finished with spectacular times, all smiling and it was great to be there to cheer them in.  

There is no denying that it was the absolute pits not being able to run yesterday but being there and seeing our friends achieve the dream we had all shared and trained hard for over the winter helped to ease the pain a little.  I'm not going to list them all here, they  know who they are, and if you follow us on facebook there's a fair chance you know who they are too - suffice to say they are all Awesome!! Absolutely amazing and each with their own stories to tell.  There will be other Flings and we will run them, but 2013 wasn't to be for us but I am so happy for those it happened for.

Lastly, events like this don't happen by magic, Johnny Fling puts in a power of work organising this event every year, ably assisted by a great team of 80 volunteers.  To all of them thank you xxx

Boston 2013

 A full frontage of a pub 100m from the finish line, decorated to celebrate the arrival of thousands of runners to takepart in the 117th Boston marathon.

You will I am sure be aware that there was a lot of excitement in the Munro household, and in our wider circle of friends about our trip to Boston.  John has worked so hard for the last 6 years to earn his place on the start line, and on 9 April, we set off on what was to become a far more epic adventure than we could ever have imagined... 
Before we left, John blogged about his journey to the start line, it's well worth a read!
We flew to Iceland on 9 April with Icelandair and enjoyed a stopover in Keflavik - not the most exciting place we've ever visited, but ideal for spending the day at the Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa.  We had a lovely day there, sun was shining, air temperatures were freezing, but the water was extremely warm and pleasant.  The silica and algae skin treatments were lovely and John enjoyed the dried fish crisps - I didn't!
After a very relaxing day, onwards to Logan International Airport where we met James and Sheela who had flown in from Heathrow. 
We did lots of touristy things and I could write them all down in order, but they pale into insignificance in the light of the tragic events which since unfolded.  Suffice to say that we loved our time in Boston, it's a nice city, it has friendly people, lovely places to eat, plenty to keep the tourists busy, and if you're a shopper, plenty of opportunity for that too.  (oh and fabulous salads in the Cheesecake Factory)
I posted many photographs on facebook showing what we were up to, so I'm sure you've seen them all already :-) However the main reason for the trip was The Marathon, the city was building up nicely with banners and bunting and windows decorated like the one above.  The runners coming is a huge event each April for Boston and all the Towns on the 26.2 mile route in from Hopkinton.

You are all I know, aware of the atrociticies which took place at the finish line on Monday 15 April, we had many friends running in the race, all of whom are thankfully safe and well, only two of them were unable to complete the course, being stopped a mile before the finish and walked to safety by race officials and police.  All the rest were safely through the finish line before the bombs went off. 
There has been 24/7 coverage of the events on Global News networks, much of which I'm sure you've seen/heard/read, and I don't intend to add anything to this other than to say that both John and I were there when the bombs went off, and are extremely fortunate that events transpired in such a way that we were both clear of the blasts and were able to meet up with each other shortly after the explosions.  I have no desire to go into details but will say it was without doubt the scariest half hour of my life until I was able to spot him in the crowd, hug him and shed the first of many tears.  We made our way home, walking the mile back to our apartment amongst crowds of similarly confused runners/supporters who at that time had no clue what had happened.  My phone was going crazy with texts from friends and family asking if we were ok -  these people were of course, following the news and knew what was happening in much greater detail than we did.  Our journey home had the soundtrack of wailing sirens from emergency service vehicles.  Boston Uni Med Centre was at the end of our street, and many of the ambulances were taking the same route as we were.  The rest of the details you know, 3 people were killed and now I think in the region of 180 people seriously injured by the bombs.
There were no post race celebrations on Monday night - we had planned to meet up with our Canadian friends, but it didn't seem appropriate so we stayed close to home, and spent the evening catching up with all the messages from friends and family, reassuring everyone that we were safe and well.
On Tuesday morning we left Boston, James and Sheela headed North to Rockport for a couple of days, and John and I headed South to Cape Cod and a couple of days in Provincetown.  We had a wonderful couple of nights in 8Dyer Hotel Frank is the perfect host, the rooms are fabulous and the lounge/lobby area are comfortable, welcoming and perfect for relaxing in.  Breakfasts are amazing :-)
Provincetown and the beaches are beautiful, we went to Race Point beach yesterday on our way home and spotted the waterspouts of whales!  We then meandered up the road towards Boston, stopping at Chatham for lunch then Plymouth to see 'the rock' glad we didn't spend a day visiting that tourist attraction!  Of course, if you go to Provincetown you'll learn that the Pilgrims actually landed there first and there is a memorial tower here commerating this event.  We arrived at Logan International Airport just before 6pm, plenty of time to check in, get something to eat and board our 9.30pm flight.  There was as you can imagine a vastly increased police presence and extra security checks to be gone through, but apart from some nasty turbulence during the first couple of hours it was a reasonable flight and we got home just before 12 noon.

I'm sorry this isn't the blow by blow account of all the fun times we had, the things we saw, the wonderful and exciting atmosphere at the 5k race on Sunday and the Marathon itself on Monday, but I'm sure you'll understand why...
To all of you who texted or sent facebook messages asking after us, to those of you who followed John and James' wee stick men live online on Monday, to all of you we count as friends, heartfelt thanks for your thoughts and messages of concern.  To all the fellow runners, citizens of Boston, complete strangers, who smiled, spoke a few quiet words or shared a handshake in fellowship, thank you.  Maybe over time, I will write some more about it but until then, if you're a runner keep on running, if your not, then support and encourage those you love who do run xx

 

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

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 :-)

Sometimes it's the little things...

...that give you the biggest sense of achievement!  Today was one of those days :-)
Last year we went to watch the Devilla races, a 5k and 15k trail run through Devilla Forest.  A great event put on by Carnegie Harriers, everyone ran out of the forest with muddy legs and mostly smiling, and I said then that I would really like to enter it next year.  Today was next year :-) I signed up at the end of last year, looking forward to it, but I must confess as the day approached my enthusiasm was waning.  I woke this morning with a 'snotty head' and a cough which wasn't the best start to the day, however by the time I'd had breakfast and got dressed, I had more of a 'race head' on.  We aren't far from Tulliallan Police College where the race is hosted, so were there in plenty of time to pick up number, chip and bottle of beer, say hello to lots of folk and then get a decent wee warmup done.  This race starts on a gently climbing uphill after which you get a wee descent and then it just seemed to keep on climbing!  Nothing hugely taxing but consistently climbing.  Now this is where the little things referred to above came into play, I am notoriously not good running uphill, I can fly down them with loads of confidence, but somtimes struggle with the self belief that I can actually get up them as well without needing to walk.  However today I did it!  I climbed all the hills at a nice steady even pace, and I even passed some people on the ups which is definitely a first for me - I usually pass them on the downs then they catch me back up on the next climb.  The other little thing which made a huge difference to my race, and this isn't something I have a problem with :-) is the mud!  At about 4km there was a queue!!! I ask you?  A QUEUE?  Yep a line of people - both ladies and men, lining up to take it in turn to walk in single file around the mud to avoid it wherever possible... Sorry, apologies if anybody thought I was rude, but I jumped the queue, I didn't push past anyone, I was considerate of others, I didn't laugh out loud at the poor girl who lost her bright pink shoe in the mud ;-) or had to hop in her lovely white socks, but I did go past and I DID go right through the middle of the mud.  It was only mid calf deep in the deepest places, and it didn't smell too bad, but it made my heart sing and my  brain buzz, it was a trail race after all!  After that I felt really strong and in control and that stayed with me the whole way today, that's another 'wee thing' that sense of working hard, but knowing that you're in control, never feeling stressed - it's a great place to be...
So yep it's been another learning day today and I'm pleased with the lessons I've learnt, I'm also pleased that I finished in a respectable time, a good few minutes faster than I had hoped for and in front of a few people that I thought I'd have been behind, that will teach them to join the queue ;-)
My fab friend Margaret who is training for her first marathon in 3 weeks time (and has been a star!!) came along with her Dad to take photos today - just before I saw them I had looked at my watch and realised I'd beaten my goals, can you tell from my phot I was happy???  :-)

Tired :-)

And a little bit like the guy in the picture... purely down to tiredness I think, but on the more positive side, I feel ok about being tired as I've just checked my Garmin stats, and in the last 7 days I have clocked up 52.86 miles which takes me to 205.2miles for the year so far :-)

I had two good runs at the start of the week, the River Leith Walkway on Sunday, and the West Highland Way on Monday, both of which I posted about earlier this week.  I didn't run on Tuesday or Wednesday, nor did I get to fitcamp.  On Monday we didn't get back from our run in time for me to go, and then on Wednesday it started to snow just after 7am, and it didn't stop all day!  I don't mind exercising in the snow, but I don't like the drive through to Cumbernauld on the motorway in the snow, there are too many idiot drivers on the roads and they all seem to come out in force when the weather is bad :-(
Thursday evening we went to Run4It in Bridge of Allan to pick up our Trial shoes courtesy of Brooks Running, this was an offer they advertised in January where you could sign up to trial a pair of the new PureProject2 range of shoes for a week and in return you get a whopping £25 off a new pair.  I had fully intended buying the PureGrit2 when it launched, in fact I've been watching for the release, so this was a bonus and the fact that it was on my birthday as well was a nice wee surprise :-)  Anyway, I got the new Grit2 and John went for a pair of PureFlow.  I already own 2 pairs of PureFlow which I have trained for and run my last year's marathons in and I really like them as shoes, John isn't convinced yet, he, I think prefers the PureCadence or his ST5s for racing. 
I took my new shoes for a run in the forest today :-)  Next week I am taking part in the Devilla Forest 15k so I thought I'd go for a recce round the forest and get a feel for the conditions, it would also let me see how the shoes compare to my current ones - the biggest difference is a new improved sole, my current ones are quite slippy on downhills in wet conditions, or as I found out last Monday, slippy on sloping rocks if they are wet...
I was taken by surprise by how hilly it was today, I only hope that it's not that bad next week!  I have looked at the course map and I think I was on the hilliest bit of the forest and the race stays on a bit of a flatter terrain - at least that's what I'm hoping for!  The shoes performed brilliantly, the legs weren't quite so good!  It didn't help that the first 1km was a fairly hefty climb and then when I crested the hill, my legs wanted to run like I'd been running on the treadmill on Thursday night - this was not a good idea!  As soon as I levelled out and then started to climb again, my calves and hamstrings started squealing!  I took a path at a fork in the road which led into a very muddy trail, good for testing the shoes, but again not great for the legs, this path seemed to run out at a field entrance, so I doubled back on myself and then when I got back to the forest road I headed off downhill which was great a really nice long downhill run, however, as we all know, what goes down has to come back up again :-)  So at the end of my hilly tiring run, when I got back to the car, I'd only managed 14km and I was wanting 20km so that I could log my Febulous runs.  Febulous is a motivational personal challenge organised by Marathon Talk, you say how many runs you'll do a week and what your longest run will be each week, folk sign up as individuals or as part of a team, I'm part of the West Highland Way runners team so I couldn't not do the miles :-)
I finished my run by running the last 6km along the cycle path back to Clackmannan where John picked me up.  My legs are tired, and I'm tired, hence why I'm a bit grumpy, but I'm sure I will feel better after a good night's sleep and will do a wee 3-5mile run tomorrow.  Then it will be a new week...
4 weeks today I will have completed the D33, my first ultra of the year, and if I'm able to walk, I might run(?) the Alloa Half Marathon the following day, if I don't run it I will be there cheering on John and James and the rest of our friends who are running it, some for their first Half :-)

here are my new shoes, before and after...

Just out the box

After a wee run in the forest

different sole designs

The other side of the hill...

Today was a day off for us and the sun was shining this morning, the hills were white with snow, and the thought of housework was just unbearable.  I'd a real notion to be outside and suggested we go and do a bit of a people watching - now this normally entails a visit to a coffee shop or wine bar where you sit, enjoy the wares, and watch your fellow men/women going about their day.  We both enjoy people watching so it seemed like a good use of a nice day off...
What did we do?  We went for a run :-)  We saw next to no-one, in fact I think we saw more wild goats than we did people.  We had no coffee and no wine, (but we did have some electrolyte drink), and I had a blast!  There are many, many reasons why today's run was very important, and why to complete it in a fit and healthy state means such a lot to me, and I won't try too hard to analyse it and write it all down, you'll just have to believe me when I say that it is very important... I mentioned last night that last week I'd had a wee bit of a psychological wobble when I had a recurrence of the leg pain which has plagued me for the last couple of years.  It hasn't stopped me doing the things I've wanted to do, and thanks to a great physio and my strength work at fitcamp, I'm not having the same chronic problems, never the less, last week gave me a fright and kicked off all the 'doubt demons' you know those little buggers that nip at your conscience and ask you if "perhaps you've bitten off more than you can chew", and "do you really think you can do this?"  You know the sort of conversations that go on in your head... anyway, today they have scurried back into the darkest corners, where they will hopefully stay for a very long time :-)
Today we ran 10miles - 10 very slow miles - in 3 and a half hours, but before you raise your eyebrows in horror at the time, you need to appreciate the terrain and that for any other than the racing snakes, this is a pretty normal time to do that distance on that terrain.  We did some more Highland Fling training, we ran North from Inversnaid to Dario's post and then back again, this is the 'scrambly' bit of the West Highland Way, there is little good running trail, and unless you weigh less than 9 stones and can fly through the air with the greatest of ease, you have to scramble up and down the rocks, this is what eats up the time, but what a challenge!  I was worried about this bit of the Way, as everyone talks about how awful it is and goodness only knows how I'll feel about scrambling after 35 miles but at least I know now what to expect.
The other really big thing for me about today's run was that it was tough, and I did it back to back with my 26miles yesterday, so in terms of distance training this was good.  I have run 40miles in the past 3 days and I am feeling great, healthy and happy and looking forward to the next challenge...
p.s. the hill in the title is a reference to the dark place I was but have come to the other side of :-) though there is something really special about being on the other side of a hill that you can't get to unless you work hard, there is no road in and out :-)