I haven't written anything for a while so here’s a wee catch up.
Devilla
Forest 15km on the 8th February had perfect conditions for running. It
was dry, bright but a wee bit too cold for my liking but I have clothes and the
race plan was – Go hard and hang on!
At the start
I stood fairly well up, last year I started well back the field and I got a bit
held up by the white shoe runners on the technical bits, I wasn’t going to let
that happen this year, even though it wasn’t going to be a mud-fest, the paths
and tracks were reported dry, frozen, maybe a bit rutted but nothing I couldn’t
handle. After about a mile or so we turned on to the narrow path and it was all
very civilised, the pace eased slightly because of the rough terrain but we all
stayed in the trail conga with nobody fighting past anyone-else, once back on
to wider track, positions changed a fair bit, I’d go past someone then they’d
go by me, not something I’m used to in a race, I tend to have a blether until
someone stops for a comfort break or to take out a sandwich! I felt as if I might’ve over cooked the pace,
but then thought to myself, what was the worst that could happen? My legs would
get heavy and I’d go slower! Ok, I can
live with that, just hang with it; it’s only six miles to go! I had a wee
glance at my time at half way, if I maintained the pace, a PB was on.
We were back
onto a narrow track and again the pace eased slightly, but I didn’t stress it,
just stayed in the conga, no point wasting energy trying to get round someone,
the course was well marked with plenty marshals, (no chance of last year’s
shenanigans whether it was nasty sabotage or delinquent neds having a laugh)
the marshals were encouraging everyone, I was happy to comply to Kevin’s
instructions and walk the skitey plank bridge, yay, a wee breather! But not for
long, once off the steep narrow path I pushed as hard as I could go. The final
mile I was running like my arse was on fire, once back on the tarmac two or three
runners went past me, I consoled myself that they obviously couldn’t have worked
as hard as I did for the whole way if they had a sprint finish!
It felt like
my lungs were back to front or inside out and took a few minutes to get my breathing
back to normal but it was brilliant! I
knocked 2.46 minutes off from 2012, with the conditions being perfect I think
there were a few PB’s to be had that day but I’m glad to see my strength has
returned and a great confidence boost.
Smokies 10 1st
March
After such a
great run at Devilla I was chomping at the bit for another blast at Go hard and
hang on. I doubted a PB would happen, I set a Smokies PB in 2013, I was on a
mission that day to prove I was fit for the fight ahead; the race was days
before I went into hospital for surgery at the start of my cancer treatment.
I was aiming
at finishing in around the same time as Devilla, I thought that the easier
going tarmac would equal-out the extra half mile of the ten miler but the hill
would make it a quality challenge. I
wasn’t taking into account that it was blowin’ a hoolie in the moosh for the
first half which is up-hill to boot! On the way out I tried to find an odd bit
of shelter behind other runners but it wasn’t happening. I worked hard to try and hang on to those that
were a bit faster than me, but I wasn’t prepared to use someone at a slightly
slower pace to get a breather from the wind. I sneaked a peek at my watch at
half way. Ooft! I felt I was working harder than that! But I’d be guaranteed
negative splits with the downhill and the wind now working with me. I spread my
shoulder blades as wide as they would go and imagined they were kites. I didn’t
let the effort go and still worked as hard as I could, pushing all the way. I
finished around a minute slower than Devilla but very happy with that
considering how hard the wind was blowing. I was well outside my PB, but five
minutes faster than last year where I felt I was at the start of rebuilding my
strength and on the grand scale of twenty-two Smokies races it was in the top
third of my times. Another confirmation that
I’m back.
 |
| Photo from Duncan McGougan - definitely not my ultra-shuffle stride! |
That’s the
speed work done and onto the next phase of training, getting in some long
comfortable cruise miles. Driving home
from Smokies Sue mentioned that she was running the Borders Marathon the
following weekend and there were still places available. I’ve never entered a
marathon six days before the event before but it sounded loads more fun than
the Billy-no-mates twenty miler I had planned, so on Monday I entered it. I
wasn’t going to race it, just use it as a training run but with sticking on a
race number I’d give it a bit of welly at the end and hopefully pick up the
pace for the last six miles.
Borders Marathon
8th March
Sue and I
travelled down to Kelso in good timing for the 9.00am start, the course was
twenty-three and a half laps on the safety track at Kelso Racecourse. I quite enjoy running round and round, my
introduction to laps was at Glenrothes 50km in 2001 with a mere fourteen to
count, and since 2008 all my races that have had laps have been a minimum of
twenty-four hours so it was a novelty to run a “wee” race on laps! From the start I clicked into my ultra-cruise
mode and keep a fine steady pace, it was lovely to have snippets of
conversation with everyone, I probably had more blether with the fast guys and
gals since they lapped me loads!
Although
there was a table stocked with drinks and sweeties available every lap with
great marshals handing them out I wore my bottle belt and carried a couple of
gels I only had to stop once to swap my water bottle (technically I stopped
twice, more about that in a minute) the loop looked flat but there was a bit of
a slope to it that wasn’t very noticeable at the start but as the miles clocked
up the wind picked up too, and flaming typical, the wind was in our faces on
the up side of the loop! My slowest mile
was the twentieth one where I had a struggle getting my second gel in, it was
an awfy thick one and needed a lot of water to sloosh it round my mouth but
once it was down I did manage to pick up the pace and push on to the finish. I’d gone round the final bend and was winding
up for a strong finish with about fifty yards to go… SPLAT! My nose was an inch
from the ground! How did that happen? I
was back up as quick as I went down. When
saving myself from a fall I’m an aficionado of the starfish technique, landing
evenly on all points of contact, no serious damage done, apart from being a bit
dusty and feeling like a proper muppet! I don’t think anyone saw me, well,
maybe the girl sitting right where I hit the deck and all the lap counters! (At bath time just found some wee bumps and
scuffs on both my knees, elbows and hands, also my left hip and thigh.) Sue
finished not long after me, a quality training run for her too, pleased with
her pacing and reassuring herself of making the cut off for the Two Oceans, her
first big race since ankle surgery.
This was the
second running of the Borders Marathon and I think it will grow; it’s a good
accurately measured course with the possibility of a PB if the wind plays the
game. I’ll happily do it again next year.
Loch Katrine
Marathon 22nd March
I was really
looking forward to running this again, the scenery is stunning, the course
challenging and the everyone involved friendly. With it being an out and back
route you get to say hiya to all the runners.
Just before
the start we were honoured with a fly-past from a chevron of geese, I cringed
as I looked up and I was glad not to get hit with “luck”!
After Audrey’s
briefing we were off, I ran quite a few miles with Ellen and Amanda, lovely to
have a catch up with them.
I think I was
around ten or eleven miles when the leaders were on their way back, last year I
ran with my camera and I was doing the same again, I tried to get everyone’s
photos but some were too blurry. (Loch Katrine photos) I was
having a cracking run, really enjoying myself, I think with the memories of how
hard last year was, this year I felt so strong in comparison. Even Graveyard hill which climbs for over a
mile at around the nineteenth mile couldn’t take the smile from my face, once
up and over I did the same as at Kelso and pushed on to finish strong, (also
glad I didn’t stop for a lie-down within spitting distance of finish!) Surprisingly, considering the climbs, I was
four minutes faster than the Borders Marathon two weeks earlier, and sixteen
minutes faster than last year. Again proof that I’m back and my training is
going well.
The following
weekend Pauline and I had a twenty mile jaunt from Derrydarroch down to
Inversnaid and back, it was a bit of a dreich day, we had rain-jackets on the
whole time, there were a few wee blinks of sun and rainbows, the heavy rain had
made the waterfalls thunderous and put some where there usually isn’t any.
The next
weekend had us doing a thirty miler from Bridge of Orchy out and back, I wasn’t
sure where we would turn back but the Garmin clocked fifteen miles at
Altnafeadh, I was prepared to go up the Devil’s Staircase, but Pauline
persuaded me that it wasn’t needed, besides it was in cloud, we’d see nothing
from the top, we would have done a fair bit of climbing by the time we’d get
back to Bridge of Orchy also we’ll have time for fish and chips at the Real
Food Café. Ok, I’m convinced. (photos)
I was happily
weary at the end and according to my Garmin there was over 3000 feet of ascent!
So we fair enjoyed our grub in the Café
and a bonus of getting a blether with Helen, John and Amanda when they called
in for something to eat after their adventures on the Way too.
It’s now
a couple of days until the Highland
Fling, the highlight of my WHW training, and I’m loving the buzz and excitement
on the race facebook page, if the Fling wasn’t there I doubt I’d go this far in
training but this is exactly what
brought it about in the first place! A quality training run for the West
Highland Way race and it’s amazing to see what a fantastic race it has grown into
over the past ten years; it’s just such a brilliant day with the best buddies
you’ll ever come across. I don’t doubt I’ll feel as good as I have on all my
other long runs this year and hopefully I’ll manage to put in a bit of welly at
the end.
On the
medical front my consultant is happy with me and only wants to see me every
three months now instead of two, but I’m a bit disappointed that the nerve
damage from surgery, chemo and radio has not settled down much, my mouth is
still very sensitive and irritated by most foods, eating will always be a chore
and eating out is a bit of an ordeal but I’m thriving fairly well on full fat milk,
salmon, homemade soup, beer and Tiramisu, I think that covers all the main food
groups! On the plus side I can now feel
all of my bottom lip, it is still a bit tingly but feeling is there, nerves
take a very long time to repair and there will always be numbness and “fizzy”
bits but I still live in hope there will be improvement even if it is slow
going. I’m even producing a smidgen of saliva, not enough to make a difference
for eating and I’ll always need a bottle of water to hand but at least I don’t
feel the need to have a sip of water every time I speak a sentence. On the big plus quite a few folk have said
they have noticed my speech is a lot clearer especially those I haven’t seen
for a while, with the progress being slow those close to me probably don’t
noticed it so much, I don’t suppose it will ever sound right to me but I’m glad
that I’m understood.
It’s now over
two years since the surgery and time has been a bit warped, sometimes it feels
like it was only a few months ago but when I look back I have managed to do so
much. 2013 felt like it was a wide eyed
fight, 2014 was a slog, but 2015 has been so good so far, I feel so strong,
training has been perfect and I’m really looking forward to this year’s West
Highland Way Race. There are no guarantees in future plans, I have entered the
race every year since 2003 and I’ve had two DNS’s, in 2005 a brain haemorrhage and
2013 cancer but I have no doubt that I’ll be on the start line on June 20th
and I’ll get to Fort William, I’m not going to predict a PB or any finish time
for that matter, I’ve ran it enough to know Plan A rarely happens. One goal is keeping a smile on my face, being
the first woman in the history of the race to pick up their eleventh goblet.
Now that will be some achievement!
