Just a training run!

When Alistair Macpherson said he was going to do one last big fundraising event Pauline and I were on board for support.  We’ve been there for his previous big challenges and we weren’t going to let him do the final one without us! This one is huge and a lot further than he has ever gone before,180 miles in 70 hours for Highland Hospice, going from Glasgow to Inverness on the West Highland Way, the Great Glen Way then onto the road at Fort Augustus using the Loch Ness Marathon route to finish at the Highland Hospice which is situated on the final stretch of the Loch Ness Marathon. 

There would be a wee change of tactics for this one, with it being so long Ally is going to factor in a few short sleeping breaks so I suggested we practice that in training and came up with the idea of splitting a 40 mile run into two. The South Loch Ness Trail is on his doorstep and we’ve never been on it so I thought it would be good to go somewhere new. Ally agreed it was a good plan and since we’d be running through the night during the event we should do that in training too.  I suggested we drive to Dores, park up, run the 10-ish miles back to his house in Inverness, have 40 winks then take another car to Fort Augustus and run the 30-ish miles to the car parked in Dores where we would leave some warm dry clothes and a wee snack then head back round the Loch and pick up the vehicle parked in Fort Augustus then back home.  

So with a plan in place Pauline and I drove up to Inverness on Friday afternoon. Now, Ally is well known for getting weather during his challenges and it looked like we would get some in training too, Storm Dennis was on his way and a yellow weather warning was in place for the weekend but if you’re Scottish that just means you wear yer big coat and mine is exactly that, one size bigger than my usual so there’s plenty room for layers, my arse is well covered and I can pull the sleeves down over my hands for extra cover, so let’s just get on with it.  

We chilled out for a few hours, discussing the logistics for Ally K’s Long Run, eating huge bowls of Macaroni Cheese before getting geared up and heading off. It was around a 15 minute drive to Dores, I only had to brake sharply once to avoid a deer!

We started our run around 10.15pm, Pauline had printed out the route info and it was well marked but with it being new to us and dark we were careful not to miss any marker posts.  At times it was heavy going under foot, wading through mud and flood, I’m sure it will be a pretty route in daylight. The rain had eased off and eventually stopped, the sky cleared and was full of stars, this was a surprise, we had expected to get drookit! So it was a pleasant 11 mile run back to Ally’s house, fairly dry (from the shins up) with no problems, part one done! 

Back at the house I had a cup of tea, a pot of instant porridge, a change of running gear then a lie down on the bed for around 40 minutes, another pot of porridge and cup of tea before Ally drove to Fort Augustus, which took just under an hour, so we eventually set off on part two of our run at 4.50am. 

The wind had picked up and was bitterly cold, at least with running north/east it would be behind us most of the time and in a few hours we’ll have daylight.

The path out of Fort Augustus seemed fairly new and flat, a nice gentle start but that didn’t last long, we were soon climbing and quite steeply, looking back down over the twinkling lights of the town was a pretty view, I don’t suppose many are daft enough to come up in the dark to see it!

Although we were attentive looking out for route markers we missed one going by Glendoe Hydro works, we were watching our feet on the steep icy road but it was no big blunder, we just came out on the B862 sooner than expected, we decided to stay on the road for a short stretch rather than go back up and retrace our steps, it wasn’t long until we were back on route and climbing up onto open moorland.

The higher we climbed the wind gathered strength buffeting us about, bringing a mix of rain,snow and hail to sting our cheeks. With the snow lying in thick patches it was tricky finding the path, and difficult placing our feet, sometimes the snow held firm and other times I sank deep up to my knees, as we reached the top of the “big white mountain” (that’s what we called it anyway), it was really more of a hill marked on the map as Suidhe viewpoint, it was still quite dark so there was not much of a view for us, we weren’t going to hang around waiting for one either!

 I’ve been up the Pentlands and the Lomonds when it’s been blowing a hoolie, even a bunch of us were out running during Hurricane Bawbag in 2011 (which killed my shed), this is the strongest wind I have ever attempted to run in, (there was very little running going on) Storm Dennis was giving us his best shot! I struggled to keep my feet, trying to stay sideways to the wind for the least resistance as possible, the peak on my Buff was flattened against the side of my face, the good news, at least it stopped the hail from stinging so much, the bad news, it also covered my right eye! I had the vision of a pirate and very little control of where I was going, so there was no surprise I got blown onto my backside, I wasn’t dismissing or underestimating the conditions, this could be serious if we weren’t careful but I laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it. I heard Pauline laughing too! It took a fair bit of time (just checking Strava), just under an hour to cover the highest and exposed two miles of the route! It was a relief when we headed down towards the relatively sheltered forest track where we could gather ourselves, get some food in and recover from the energy sapping battle we’ve just had. 

The weather never abated but least now in daylight and mostly at a lower level it didn’t seem too bad compared to what we had for the first third of the second part of our run, the rest of the route was a nice mix of forest track, woodland, minor road and farm land, a few wee water crossings which in better weather would be pretty insignificant.

We just kept a steady effort, letting the terrain dictate the pace, running where it was easy going and walking up the hills, one monster hill known locally as the Corkscrew road, a narrow track with a million hairpin bends that I imagine would fit well into a mountain stage of the Tour de France with close ups of grimacing, suffering cyclists. 

At around 30 miles at a junction on a minor road, there was a marker for the Trail of the Seven Lochs which shares some of the South Loch Ness Trail but no marker for our route, we had a wee dither deciding which way to take when we heard a shout!  Up the hill about a hundred yards away was a lone cottage and an old boy stood at the door waving to us. Pauline and I walked up to speak to him, before we could ask if he could confirm our direction, he shouted “ Come in, come in, I’m not coming out in this weather in my slippers, don’t mind the sheep, he thinks he’s a dog, and I have used him to herd cattle!” 

We protested saying “Oh no, we’re wet and muddy!” 

Again, he insisted we come in, “Don’t worry, I don’t do housework!” A wee shuffle of our feet on a doormat and into what must have started life as a kitchen, it had a sink, kettle and microwave, but now was a proper indoor man-shed, with a log pile that would see him into the summer, the table had a vice attached and covered in tools and stuff, so was every other surface.  He offered us tea, we politely refused, saying if we stopped we wouldn’t get going again, he went into great detail describing our route and where all the other paths go, I was getting a bit bamboozled with all the information but managed to retain the “Straight on here, then second left, there is a marker but it quite often gets knocked down!” I don’t suppose he gets many visitors and eventually I think we chatted long enough that it wouldn’t seem rude if we left. Heading out, he said “Wait a minute while I get my wellies on.” he walked us to his gate, feeding his sheep a bread roll as he went, stood and waved until we were out of sight. I gave him a final cheery wave and hoped we brightened up his day as he did mine.   

We were climbing once more and hopefully for the last time up the Fair Haired Lads Pass (a wee bit of Googling led me to a newspaper article that suggests it was named after an old man that had died crossing the hill on a stormy night) and at 333m above sea level, the second highest point on the South Loch Ness Trail. There would’ve been fine views over to Urquhart Castle and along the loch if the weather was better, we dropped down to the where the trail ran parallel to the road back to Dores. 

Those final miles were quite a slog but at no time did any of us feel like we were carcass hauling, we still bantered along.  Reflecting on the races I’ve done so far this year, covering 40 miles during the Falkirk 8 hour ultra with challenging underfoot conditions and 50 miles during the Tyndrum 12 hour in January never made me feeling as weary as I did heading towards Dores, testament to effort needed for what was “just a training run”  41 miles with over 4500 feet of climbing along with the lack of sleep, battling the conditions and the terrain all added up to a epic day and perfect practice for Ally going into his challenge in April. 

Looking back over my 34 years of running I can safely say this is one of the most challenging training runs I've ever had!

If you want to follow his progress during the challenge Ally will have a tracker, the link will be available from the event facebook page and if you'd like to support the charity here’s his Just Giving link. 

Falkirk 8 hour Trail Race

It was just at the beginning of the year I realised that the Falkirk 8 hour Trail Race would be two weeks after the Tyndrum 12 hour. Oh well, never mind, it will be good training remembering how to run tired and being on a loop there was no pressure to hit cut-offs and the plan was at least 30 miles (8 laps),  and a good target would be 35 miles (9 laps). 

Going by the photo from the race facebook page of the start line and where the tented village would be on Friday night it was going to be a bit damp and muddy underfoot but ultras rarely get cancelled, just adapted, a lot of time and effort put in by race crew and after a wee adjustment of the route and moving the start over a bit, we were good to go. 

photo from Falkirk 8 hour Trail Race

Pauline picked me up just before 6.00am and around half an hour later we found a spot to set up camp, Neil was bringing the club tent and Andy brought his gazebo, we joined forces with the Glenrothes Tri club with Pauline and  AJ supporting. I would be easy to look after this time, no hot food, drinks or Diva tendencies, I just wanted Pauline to note my lap times and I’d swap my water bottle when needed and pick up a custard or milkshake and carry it round the 3.80 mile lap. 

I’d registered with no problem when I arrived but I think with the majority of runners trying to sign in at the same time caused a bit of delay, no worries, just an 8.15am kick off instead of 8.00am and problem solved.  

Surprisingly it wasn’t raining when we arrived but it started not long after we were set up, I’d start in my big rain jacket and hopefully ditch it as the day progressed. A team photo (sorry Sarah, I think you were in the loo queue when we took it)  

First giggle of the day standing on the start line, Paul Kelly said that the shorts over tights combo is called shites, hope I can run better than my apparel then! 

I scampered round the first three laps, running more or less all of it, it was a good runnable course on fresh legs before it got churned up. Giggling with Karl as we were sliding about at the side of the pond. Then I caught my toe on a boulder hiding in the mud at the top of the hill in the woods, and did my fastest two yards in the race, luckily my legs caught up with my face and I didn’t have to eat mud. My legs reminding me they covered fifty miles a fortnight ago and weren’t as spritely as I thought. Time to work on energy management, concentrate on picking the best line through the mud, try to avoid any camber that will send my skiting sideways, I was giggling again at the length of skid marks on the slopes, a few were perfecting their best mud surfing techniques. I laughed out loud as Adrian Dingwall careened past me on the down hill like an out of control juggernaut on ice. I used the old ultra adage:  If you’re not sure whether to take one or two steps, take three! Fairying about with lots of little steps and no fighting the terrain seemed to work well for me. I was glad I was wearing gaiters and using the bunny lugs method for tying my laces, my shoes stayed secure even though the mud was trying to steal them.  

photo from Sandra Hunter 

I steadily plodded away, the rain also stayed steady, a persistent heavy drizzle but it never damped the spirits of the fantastic marshals on the route, every lap enthusiastically cheering everyone,on, and brilliant to see loads of pals turn up even just for a short time just to support, and a looped course is brilliant to see my speedy pals, every time I was lapped there was always a few words of encouragement or tap on the shoulder, just after negotiating the steep dip and climb back out of it, I had another laugh out loud moment, there was a huge groan from behind me, I’m sure Andy Jannetta was enjoying his day too… just the ditch bit... not so much! 

The beauty of a timed event on a loop is that if you’re recovering from illness, injury or daft enough to run another ultra a fortnight after a 24 hour race, you can call a halt any time it feels right. I had a few pals do just that! (Yeah, I know, ultra runners being sensible, this breed of athlete is evolving!)  After my seventh lap I paused to hug Martin when I saw him wearing a warm coat in the race village and forgot to pick up my custard but not to worry, you know that boggin’ emergency gel that’s about ten years out of date and has lived in a pocket of your backpack for around the same length of time! That did the trick!   

photo from James Day

I looked at my watch after eight laps, 6.02 hours, I should have time to get two more laps as long as I don’t ease off the pace, I really didn’t want to do a full hour on the wee laps (around 600 meters with a steep wee hill) I was pushing the effort a bit just to maintain the pace, keeping a close eye where I was putting my feet, I’ve managed to stay upright so far and wasn’t going to jinx it now by throwing caution to the wind, ninth lap steadily done and off for my final lap, I never noticed the rain stopping but it had eased away to nothing. I thanked all the marshals on the route, they stayed cheery throughout, a tough task in dreary conditions.  Another bonus of a lapped race I got to run with Andy Johns for the last bit of the big lap, that wouldn’t happen on a point to point.

10 laps done, 38 miles, I was really pleased with that especially with the conditions and a big race still in my legs from a fortnight ago, but I finished my last big lap with 24 minutes left to go... Can I make the 40 miles? The wee lap has a steep, muddy, hands on thighs climb which gradually levels out, followed by a steep grassy descent onto the flat, turn right and along towards Callendar House, back through the tented village and repeat. Right! I’m going for it! After finishing my first wee lap, I took off my jacket and backpack and hand them to Pauline saying “Haud ma coat, I’m away fur a fight!”  I would have laughed if I had breathe to spare, hands on thighs and stomp up the muddy hill, now it’s time to throw caution to the wind and I push the downhill as hard as I can, lengthening my ultra shuffle of a stride, let gravity pull me down and try to keep up!

photo from Barry Davie

Back round to the tents, I can hear the encouragement and my name being called, my apologies for not acknowledging you, my eyes are focused in front, arms pumping hard, weary legs following. My Garmin showed 40 miles but these doofers are always a bit rule of thumb and I wouldn’t trust one on a loop, they get dizzy and confused, also you have to take into account that the lap would have been measured to the racing line and not the wide arc I was taking to avoid most of the mud on the bends and deviations going to the loo etc. adds to the discrepancy.  Keep pushing, one more lap, keep pushing, one more lap, what time is left? Keep pushing, one more lap, we must be nearly finished, ...once more, hands on thighs and push up the hill...let me get to the bottom of the hill... mild panic...the way I’m pushing down, there’s no way I’d be able stop if the hooter blows! Made it! Can we stop yet? The countdown and hooter! Finally! Yaaay! I poke the wee wooden stake with my number on it into the ground so my partial lap can be measured and added. 

I took a short-cut across the grass towards our tent and Ken walked towards me with my jacket, my battle done, no blood was spilled and hoping I was successful. I had to wait until Monday for the official results. Yaaaay, I made it by a slide, finishing with 40.14 miles! 

Falkirk 8 hour Ultra Trail Race, I do love a loopy race and this is a cracker, thank you so much, and thank you to all your wonderful volunteers, I can’t have all this fun without you all putting in the hard work. I think I’m due Pauline a favour or two for looking after me again.

Lastly you cannae beat a goody bag with a quality beer in it, (BrewDog), a bespoke medal, long-sleeved-hoody t-shirt, buff scarf and I had to fight my family off when I was home. “This is my Tunnock’s Teacake, I ran 40 miles to get it and I’m no’ sharing!”   Value for money or what! (I’m presuming you got the mud and rain for free)

When do entries open for next year? 

Tyndrum 12

When I first heard there was going to be a 24 hour race in January in Tyndrum my interest was piqued, then a quick Google of darkness hours for that location and time of year (not far off 17 hours!) made me realise that the novelty of running with a head torch wore off ages ago… hmmm... there was also a 6 hour and a 12 hour race to choose from.  During Glenmore 24 at midnight, I jokingly shout at anyone finishing the 12 hour “Bastard!” and I mutter it again as I go through the night seeing them all cosy, snug as a bug, dozing away wrapped up in blankets and sleeping bags so I thought that it would be lovely to stop at midnight for a change; I’ve never done a 12 hour race before so that was my choice. I asked Pauline if she fancied it too, her reply was a very decisive “No!”  She claims to be a fair weather runner these days and it even took a fair bit of persuasion for her to agree to do my support! 

So Saturday morning saw us trundling from race parking up at the back of the Green Welly with a ton of gear, luckily Pauline had pimped a Granny trolley with Saltires and Rampant Lions for lugging stuff to 24 hour races from her days as an International athlete. After registering we asked Stacey (race director) where we could set up and right beside the timing tent was fine, it didn’t take long to put up our wee shelter and it’s paraphernalia, just the job for one runner and one supporter.

 

photo from Karen McIndewar 
Pauline, wearing thermal top, hoodie, one down jacket, one down coat, one wax coat (three hoods, one hat) silk/wool long johns, fleece lined trousers, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of socks (merino and fleece), wellies (nothing else would fit!)

Everything I do between January and June is West Highland Way Race training and I don’t race as such, but sticking a number on does make me work a bit harder, giving me a good quality day out with pals but keeping in mind what’s to come. All roads lead to Milngavie. What was to make this event more exciting was that only full laps counted, there would be no wee laps to move onto in the last hour to keep running to the final moment so pacing was paramount, I wanted to keep a fine strong consistent effort throughout, I didn’t want to ease off near the end because I’d have loads of time left nor did I want to run like my arse was on fire to squeeze in a last lap!  A group of us recced the loop in August it took us around one hour fifteen minutes, so I thought nine laps would be a good target averaging one hour twenty minutes a lap over the twelve hours, knowing it would be a wee bit quicker to start with having fresh legs and daylight but with around eight hours of darkness I would slow and hopefully have a wee cushion to play with. This was all weather dependant and if it was pretty grim at least six laps would give me an ultra and I’d be chuffed to get eight laps. 

The weather was promising to be pretty good for the time of year, dry, bright but chilly. I don’t do cold so was cosied up with two pairs of full length tights, a compression pair with thick winter ones over the top, two long sleeved tops under my club vest, a light-weight thermal and a heavier one, two hats, a peaked Buff topped with a wooly beanie I’d knitted in club colours and lined with fleece especially for T24, my tootsies were kept toasty, again with two layers, a thin pair of socks and knee-length waterproof ones.  During our August recce the water crossing was quite high, fast flowing and reaching just below my knees, so I wanted to be well prepared if it was the same, I was pleased that the water was fairly low but wearing the waterproof socks meant I didn’t have to pussyfoot the boulders too much, and to be on the safe side as well as mandatory kit I also carried my big rain-jacket throughout.

After Stacey gave the briefing the 24 hour race set off at 11.45am and the part-timers at 12.00noon to prevent a bottleneck since the first mile is narrow, technical with water crossings,

narrow paths, muddy bits and loose stones, after looping round to the railway crossing there was a steep long haul up through a forest path then gently dropping down, through a gate onto a wide open track with cracking views, a few long gradual upward undulations,which was followed by a fairly steep descent, under the railway, up a wee climb and past the best upholstered checkpoint I’ve ever seen,

aka the party tent with a homely fire burning, comfy seats, and the smell of burgers and sausages cooking!  The guys were fantastic and shouted support every lap but I was not tempted in, I thought Hansel and Gretel got themselves into a bit of a pickle stopping at something similar! 

Shortly after the enticing camp there was a left turn onto the West Highland Way past the Loch of the Lost Sword, narrow and lumpy until the big gate and back to the By the Way with a wee out and back around a flag, and that’s the five mile loop to be repeated as often as possible in the time allowed. 

Pauline took my camera to the water crossing for the start and I picked it up later, the photos I took don’t do justice to the stunningly beautiful route but I tried to capture a hint of it, the sun on the snow capped hills, the light changing every lap and shadows growing.

As predicted, I scampered round the first three laps in under 1hr 5mins each, I then picked up two head torches, freezing temperatures can do funny things to batteries so I wasn’t taking any chances, I faffed briefly taking off my Carnegie vest and putting a fleecy top underneath, keeping the bright colours on top would make it easier for Pauline to see me coming every lap. Although there were hot drinks and soup available inside for runners I wasn’t deviating from the route to get it, support were not encouraged to go inside but we’d brought a stove so Pauline was totally self sufficient and did a grand job of looking after me. I kept it fairly simple, each lap picking up either a squeezy pouch of custard or a milkshake and swapping my water bottle when necessary and occasionally shovel in a couple of spoonfuls of rice pudding but I do have some Diva tendencies, I’d brought a wide necked thermos flask which Pauline filled with boiling water and placed either my custard or milkshake in it to take the chill off as the temperature dropped.  

It was lovely to hear the piper at dusk lamenting the setting sun,

welcoming the dark and the stars. The stars! Wow! I had to pause on the wide track, look up, turn right round to take in every twinkle, a moment to cherish. My first time round the loop after it was dark felt quite different, I had to double check I was on the right path on the stony bit after the water crossing under the railway, I changed tactics a bit, I would walk more of the lumpy bumpy stuff even though it wasn’t uphill, so on the smoother wide track I would run more of the inclines trying to equal out the effort over the whole loop. My fifth lap was a bit slower, Pauline made me a MugShot macaroni cheese in a thermal mug and I walked round the first mile with it, Pauline met me at the railway crossing to take the mug back, I would’ve happily stuck the mug in a pocket but it was good to hand it over when I was finished and it gave Pauline a reason to walk about, she did a fair bit of moving around, going from the gate just before entering the By the Way and the railway crossing to stand and cheer on everyone with a few cheery tunes playing from a wee speaker. 

Around my seventh lap I was now thinking as long as I stayed consistent I might manage ten laps, that’s five miles more than my original plan! Ok, let’s just keep steady and keep going and see what happens, on my eighth lap I took a thermal mug round the first mile, this time it was charged with two sachets of hot chocolate and a spoonful of coffee, that’ll keep me alert and spritely. Yikes! I nearly lost it at the water crossing, it was icy and I had a wee slide, not enough to make me fall but enough to wave my arms about! Easy does it round the open sections, in the trees, it was fine, but I should’ve realised it might be a wee bit dodgy underfoot, there was ice sparkling on our wee shelter, Pauline must’ve been well insulated too, there was ice forming on her hood! 

I was trying to read the time on my watch, my old eyeballs need their reading glasses but I could just about make out the time, was that 2 hours 40 minutes to go? I shouted at Pauline to confirm the time. Forty miles done, can I do another ten? It’s icy, lumpy and dark!  Two more laps, keep it steady, keep it strong, don’t let the effort go and don’t do anything stupid! Ninth lap done with no drama, a big spoonful of rice pudding and swap my water bottle and go. Last lap, push it a smidge but no heroics. I go to drink some water, I can’t get any, I unscrew the lid and sip straight from the bottle, aw...it’s full of ice! Well, that’ll be that then, I’m sure I’ll make it round on what I’ve had already, I hate freezing drinks! I want to check my watch but I want to keep my eyes on path in the torchlight, the time will be what it will be, I should be fine as long as I don’t fall and smash my face in and that won’t happen as long as I watch where I’m going. My last time past the guys at the party tent, I thank them for their support, careful along the narrow lumpy West Highland Way path, along the river, up toward the By the Way, last time round the flag, push it to the timing tent and dib in for the last time! Yay, fifty miles done with seventeen minutes to spare! I catch my breath and Stacey tells me I’m second lady. “Really! Wow, what a bonus!” 

Pauline nipped back to the car for my after bag while I sat in our shelter having another Mugshot then I went for a shower. The hardest thing I tried to do all day was to take two pairs of tights with tight waterproof socks over the top off in a oner! That was a losing battle and a faff, luckily I didn’t fall over in the process! Eventually I was showered and in clean cosy clothes and made it over to the prize-giving at 1.00am in time. It was lovely to be warm, inside on a comfy sofa sipping a cup of tea, as well as picking up my prize. 

Afterwards Pauline and I went back to the car at around 2.00am for a bit of car camping, we had plenty of cosy blankets but a couple of times Pauline switched the engine on to get some heat going, after a bit of dozing, dawn arrived, there was a wintery shower, my thoughts were for those still running, I was glad I was finished. We headed into the Green Welly for Daddy Bear portions of porridge and a big mug of tea, my treat, it was the least I could do for Pauline after her brilliant support - I would not have got that extra lap without her.  

We went back down to watch the end of the 24 hour race. Fantastic efforts from everyone finishing, especially those taking on their first 24 hour race, be proud of what you have achieved, that was a tough gig! Well done! 

Congratulations to Stacey and your team, you’ve put in a lot of hard work, time and commitment into getting this new event going, I loved it and would do it again, I hope you manage to do it again. Thank you!