Highland Cross 2012: Broken records and 'broken' ankles.....

Well we've done it! Another Highland Cross completed and a fantastic result all around. The provisional results are up on the Highland Cross website and there are plenty of fast times & good results for everyone who took part to be proud of.

 The day started off pretty grey and cloudy in the square at Beauly for the running contingent of the team. The forecast had been quite clear that there would be torrential rain at some point in the day. I received a text from Martin suggesting it was sunnier on route to the start but Friday had seen Glasgow experiencing thunder, lightening and power cuts which were then due to start heading North towards where we'd be competing. 

It was very difficult to stay positive with news like that even if Martin was seeing blue skies. So we boarded the bus and wondered at what point this dreadful weather would hit us, and started to try and mentally prepare for the day ahead. The drive to the start passes through some fantastic scenery, and the air was so still that we started to fear the day may start with 'midges' to add to the torture. However along with the slowly appearing blue skies that Martin had promised us it gave us some wonderful views to keep us distracted until we reached the start line.

The marshals at the start line were as organised as usual and we had registered, picked up our safety wrist bands, and were warming up by jogging around the start line before we knew it. The weather was still dry, the ground was fairly dry underfoot, and Callum, one of the main organisers, announced that the conditions were likely to be fairly similar throughout. Never the less the threat of rain was ever ominous in the grey clouds in the distance and we remained sure of wet weather as we kept long sleeved tops with us for the run and handed in the 'start bag'. Handing in your 'start bag' is one of those defining moments of the start of the Highland Cross, it feels like one of those 'no turning back now' occasions: in the single movement of handing in a bag you've declared you now have everything you need to run, you don't need anything else out of your bag, they can take it back to Beauly and you'll pick it up there. Gulp! 

 

Colin and I had a plan this year in hope of getting in better times, it consisted largely of keeping to the front of the field as much as possible for the few miles until the hill climb at Allt Grannda so that we didn't get stuck behind too many walking up the hill in single track. Our hope was we could do this without tiring ourselves out and give ourselves a bit of a headstart on our times from last year.  Despite the poor forecast we decided we would stick to the plan and lined ourselves up at the start. 


Colin has always been much better at ascents than me and I much prefer to warm up slowly but when the starting gun went off I kept the plan in mind and we kept up a slightly faster pace than usual, trying to keep in with the front runners for the first few miles. As far as plans go it was a tough one to stick to as we did the first 3.5-4 miles to Glen Licht House in under 30 minutes, a much faster pace than either of us were used to

However it did make the hill ascent easier for both of us in that there was a much better pace for the ascent. In fact as far as tactics for the event go, it was definitely a good one. Unfortunately for Colin he wasn't feeling as strong as usual, and possibly because of the fast start, though we will never know, he didn't make quite the advantage on the hill as he would normally do and got a bit of a stitch as he topped out - so he didn't get quite as far in front of me as he would have liked. I would be lying if I said I found the fast pace at the start easy but I was lucky in that I had less expectation of myself on the hill climb. Maybe we need more sprint training next year!


Never the less despite the fast start, I was feeling good and as the ground levelled out I started to pick up some speed again. It was around this point that I went over my ankle. I was leaping down a single track section and landed peculiarly on the slightly slippy ground. There was a short sharp pain and I let out a rather large yelp, resulting in several people checking I was ok. I tenderly tried to walk on it and decided it definitely hurt but it wasn't broken as I could stand on it! I then discovered it was easier to run on it as I didn't step so heavily on it. Having completed the route several times before, I knew I was probably under a mile from Camban Bothy, and I made the decision to keep going until Camban and see how it went. As I turned the corner to Camban there were two of radio team helping out someone with some sun cream (yes I did say sun cream!) and they turned round, saw me and yelled out asking after my ankle. The efficiency of the radio team never ceases to amaze me. Colin told me later that he had found out a girl with long hair had gone over her ankle behind him because the word was coming down the field so it could be passed to the next check point. 


Therefore by the time I got to Camban they were expecting me, I suspect there were not many girls with long hair between them finding out and my arriving so I must have been distinctive! I decided that if I'd managed to run that mile ok I would be fine to keep going so I thanked them, said I would try carrying on and passed on my picking up some water from the kind team at the bothy. Boosted by adrenaline, some sugary gel, and some water I thus kept going and concentrated on trying to maintain a good pace. I was aware of my ankle but was starting to forget about it when I past Colin heading down towards the Youth Hostel. He was still suffering from a stitch so I tried to shout some encouragement and then carried on. You have to run your own race or you tire yourself out running at an uncomfortable pace. I then promptly ran through a puddle and slightly went over my ankle a second time, resulting in another involuntary yelp. At this point I decided that I really needed to stick to the flatter/drier ground where possible and walked through all future puddles. In general the ground was very dry and fast going, however where water had fallen it had pooled in puddles rather than soaking in which made the next few miles quite an obstacle course... Needless to say the river crossing was forded with extreme care!


I had no idea where Colin was but he kept me in his sights until nearly the Athnamulloch bridge and was incredibly close behind me, despite him saying he was having a tough run he was keeping up a cracking pace. I reached the bridge in under 2hrs 20 minutes which is averaging under 10 minute miles so I was very pleased. Up until this point there had been a few drizzly showers but nothing like the rain we had expected and I was really enjoying the run. I ran the yellow brick road leap frogging a guy who had been right behind me when I went over my ankle the first time. He said he'd seen me slip and my ankle go, and couldn't believe I'd managed to keep running. Thus encouraged and with someone to help keep pace we both kept each other motivated to complete the final 6 miles to the change over without slowing. Thanking him I rushed off to pick up my bike. 


I quickly checked my time and realised that if I could get in a time of under 2 hours on the bike I could beat Mum's personal best. I still had no idea how close behind me Colin was but all thoughts of beating him went out of my head with the possibility of beating my Mum's best time a real possibility this year. Helped by an incredibly efficient guy at change over I was out on the bike in no time and spent the duration of the cycle shouting at myself to keep a high average speed and to ignore the impending cramp in my right leg, and the nagging ankle on my left foot! Again we were lucky with the weather and though there was some rain and the roads were clearly very wet and slippery but it seemed we had a tail wind and it wasn't too cold so the cycling was considerably easier than usual..... and that's how I somehow or another completed the bike section in around 1 hour 45 giving a total time of 5 hours 4 minutes 36 seconds, giving myself a new PB and finally beating my Mum's personal best. 



Unfortunately the clock at the finish line had given up, the bad weather had it seemed hit Beauly rather than the rest of the race, and thankfully early enough that the majority of the competitors didn't get caught in it. It had been so bad that Beauly had flash flooded and they had some real safety fears. It had subsided, however we suspect that this is what finished off the overhead clock. So I crossed the line not totally sure how well I'd done, saw Mum and nearly crashed into Callum asking the poor bemused guy: "Have I beaten her this year?" I do hope he forgives me!
I then needed to find someone to help me get off the bike because I had a sinking feeling that my ankle would balloon up just as soon as it realised it didn't need to work any more. (Needless to say this was a fairly accurate assessment!)

Colin crossed the line 6 minutes behind me in 5 hours 10 minutes 25 seconds also beating Mum's personal best, he too had suffered cramp on the bike but I suspect he had it much worse than me as he hadn't managed to catch me despite completing the run in an absolutely fantastic time only 15 minutes or so behind me. If he'd had a better day on the bike he would definitely have caught me! All in all though, we did fantastic times, were much further up the field than last year, and the whole team got Personal Bests which is a great achievement all round. (You can get Martin's story on here too)

I have no doubt that the bad weather forecast and the dread of the weather which never came helped to make the event so enjoyable this year. We had big grins on our faces at the end of the day, and yet again huge thanks are due to the amazing efforts of all the marshals, stewards, volunteers, and organisers who donate their time every year to making the event such a fantastic success.

This year we proudly took the family tradition to the next level but I fear we have created a new challenge and a new milestone. We are now taking the family team forwards and I have a sneaking suspicion our story isn't over yet.....

The finishing team, proud of a great result

Highland Crossing the Finish Line

A bowl of porridge, and a pleasant bus journey from Beauly to Kintail started the day, with poor weather forecast for the whole day making me nervous. As the bus reached Loch Cluanie though I could see blue skies, and texted the rest of the team with encouragement, only to receive a text back saying "Thunderstorms and Lightening forecast for the day!".

We pulled in to the start and I got my safety bands attached, then made a beeline for the bacon rolls!

We started 4 minutes late, due to two people thinking they had the same number, causing much confusion, however I managed to find myself a spot near the front of the crowd.

It was a pleasant walk towards Glenlicht house and the first watering station, and I enjoyed the first real climb of the day shortly afterwards.

I got it wrong at the waterfall watering station, mistaking a bin full of water for a rubbish bin, and put the cup in there, oops! The kind helper said she would get it though so I pressed onwards.

Reaching the summit of the pass I felt great and prepared to pose for the photo, but the photographer who is normally there had been scared away by the poor forecast!

It was an enjoyable stroll now to Camban and the next water station, and I took the chance to ease on the pace enough to catch my breath. I felt I was doing fairly well, and enjoyed a chat with some other walkers.

As we approached Alltbeithe youth hostel, the person I was walking with told me that her best walking time was 6 hours 25 and I was on pace for that, which gave me heart, as I did want to take some time off my previous attempts.

As I was approaching the last slope over towards Athnamulloch and the sandwich station, I was expecting to hear the race marshal motorbike behind me to alert us to the first runners, but I was surprised to make it over the bridge before a glimpse of them.

I decided to put my "Don't Stop!" plan in to action, and grabbed some sandiwches (Thanks ladies, they were well delicious and just what I needed!), and kept going on towards the yellow brick road.

Normally by this point I would be feeling quite stiff and achey from the effort of the climbs and descents, but this year I felt quite fresh, and also encouraged by the fact that no runners had caught up.

The first runner caught me up around half way to Affric Lodge, and I checked my clock, seeing I should be able to get to the change over around half past 1 ... this meant I was on for a cracking walk time of 4 hours 30 mins ... I had been worried about being able to manage it in the 5 hours I needed to beat my old time!

Thus inspired I kept on, and the yellow brick road seemed to just flow past, with the odd shower to keep me cool, making it to the change over at 1333h!

I took care to stretch at the change over, and almost cramped up trying to change my socks, but through will power managed to get ready in just 10 minutes (including a much needed nature break!). I soon got in to a rhythm on the bike and with my computer to guide me on distance, started to real in some of the walkers ahead of me.

Quite a few runners overtook me on the cycle, but I wasn't too bothered, as I could tell from their hi-vis vests that they were runners, so were far fitter than any normal human being should be ;-)

The Braes Of Liath had a lot of surface water, and the sharp corners made me quite nervous so I made sure to get round the corners safely rather than silly speeds, then suddenly I was at the junction where the road was open to traffic. I had more confidence this time that the marshalls were stopping the traffic, so I managed to keep good momentum heading in towards Cannich.

The ride seemed shorter, though that could have been helped by the fact I had my bike computer this time so could judge how far I had gone and how much distance was left. Aigas brae was much further on than I remembered, but knowing that from the mileage on my clock, allowed me to put in the extra effort needed to keep going at a higher average speed afterwards.

As ever, the bridge towards Beauly almost broke me, and two cyclists over took me as I reached that, but once I hit the summit I dug in and headed for the (new) finish line. I took care to not slide off the kerb, and looked up at the clock above the finish line to see "4:27:30" as I went the last few meters.

The clock is for the runners, which meant I had to add 2 hours to the time, and since we started 4 minutes late I could take 4 minutes off too .. my best before had been 6:57:58, which means I took 34 minutes off my old time!

Epic win! Mum and Dad both met me at the finish line which was a nice surprise, and I was overcome with joy about how well I had done.

Sara and Colin came in while I was taking a nice cold shower and changing in to some dry/comfortable clothes, and I discovered that the finish line clock (just the display to give an indication to the contestants) had broken and was now showing "0:_ :  ". I couldn't find them so went to the information board where I saw who beat who between Sara and Colin ... though I didn't find out till today that it was only by 6 minutes!

I don't think I can do much better than my new time, and I've been threatened with Team Abandonment if I don't run it next year, so I have to carefully consider my options! I definitely want to take part ... we'll see how I feel closer to application time!

I'll leave the running blog part for Sara and Colin to update (Both got personal bests!), but overall it's been a great Crossing, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself :-)

Over the hill - and through the forest marsh

Well, my last hill day of the training has been achieved, with a fantastic trip up Ben Venue. The day started late, as my friend (with the essential car!) was late. We made good time on the drive up there though, as the roads were deserted ... I suspect everyone and my sister were heading to Dunblane to see the torch?

We stopped off for a wake-up coffee in Aberfoyle, and then headed over Duke's Pass to Achray hotel, and had a look at the Ben Venue Car Park .. it was £3 for a day's parking. As it hadn't been my planned car park, we went on to the car park at the foot of Loch Katrine (where the Sir Walter Scott steam boat can be boarded), and saw that it was £5 to park there. We headed back down the road to where the path was and found a free parking space to fit one car ... success!


It was a pleasant forest walk through, er, the forest, though as with all forest walks, navigation even with map and compass was a challenge. Lack of visibility of the hills makes taking bearings quite hard!
We made the right choices though, and then were diverted due to major tree felling.

We reached a clearing soon though and I decided that since I could see a great line up the hill from where we were, we would go that way. It made for an enjoyable climb up the slopes, with a sighting of some feral goats near the summit!

We took in the views of pretty much the entire country from what I could tell. Well, I may be exaggerating slightly, but visibility was certainly well in excess of what I normally get on the tops. I suspect if there hadn't been hills in the way, it would be over 40km!

After enjoying some sandwiches and coffee at the top, we headed back down the official path, untill we made it to the other end of the forestry commission diversion.

Things got interesting after this point. While there was a nice set of blue electrical tape marked posts to follow for a while, we made it to an inviting looking fire break area and started along that, completely missing the guide post that would have led us to the left (north). This resulted in a swamp run, where both Marthos and I ended up half way up to our knees in thick mossy mud. Having made it across two of these our only option was to press on and hope we could find the way.

I carefully made sure to keep the hill in sight and used that to make sure we got back to the road (only about 20 meters from where we would have arrived, go me!).

After changing out of our boots at the car, (I had a paddle in the river when we got to a bridge to clear out the worst of the muck), and in to some more comfortable stuff, we went on to Callander where we enjoyed a well earned chippy by the riverside with a nice view of Ben Ledi.

Well ... if I'm not hill fit for the cross by now, I never will be, so I have to consider it done and resist temptation to do another hill next week!

Inspiring Flames and Fearful Sprints - it's all in a day's training?!

Today has been an odd day. It started off with the excitement of watching the Olympic Torch Relay passing through Dunblane, and ended with a rather scary experience with a herd of 'killer coos' up on Dumyat... certainly not a normal day of training!

Now before you accuse me of being melodramatic I was with Colin when I was running up Dumyat and even he will admit the cows were scary, but I'll get to that in a moment. First let me briefly share with you a couple of snaps from the Torch Relay at Dunblane today.

I decided to spend this morning in Dunblane so that I could get to see the Olympic Torch. Colin was hugely jealous and I felt a little bit guilty as he couldn't be there. However this once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Olympic Flame, and be part of the crowds welcoming it in Scotland was too good an opportunity to miss and I set out on a mission to at least capture a photo for him. 

When you read about the amazing stories of the torch bearers, and think about how hard the athletes who are competing in the Olympics have trained it puts our small training plan for Highland Cross into perspective. 

I've enjoyed following the torch via the BBC site and the really good tweets from Citizen Relay who have been tracking the torch through Scotland, and the crowds at Dunblane didn't disappoint - the kids from the local schools giving out huge cheers to everyone including the police escort. It was lovely to see the officers waving and cheering along with the crowd and it just shows what a huge community spirit we have around here and how supportive everyone is.  There was great atmosphere all morning, and the Beech Cafe and all the local stores seemed to be buzzing with people. A great opportunity for the town all round. 

With all that positivity I set off out on this evening's training run up Dumyat determined to get in a good fast time. Colin and I set off at a slightly faster pace than usual, I think it's fair to say there was a degree of competitiveness in the air. I was slightly ahead as we came over the first little hill when .... yup, we were confronted with a small herd of Highland Cows. Those of you who have followed my training blogs for a number of years, or who have ever been walking around cows with me will know that I am not a huge fan of cows, so immediately I hid behind Colin - all thoughts of beating him vanished! There was a number of baby highland cows around which did indeed look very cute and particularly hairy however their mothers did not look so pleased to see us and were even less impressed when Colin tried to shoo them off the path. In fact they started mooing in a most unimpressed manner and one stared at us in a way that can only be described as "Come and Have a Go if You think You're Hard Enuff!" - we weren't. Even Colin admitted these cows had the potential to be killer cows, and we headed rather quickly into the bracken in search of another route. We picked up a path which was a slight detour and sprinted along it hoping to come out the other side before the, now moving, herd of cows got there so we didn't have to meet them again. I can honestly say that I have never ran that fast up a hill before! The incentive of killer coos behind me was certainly far more effective than the inspiration of the olympic torch! We had just about calmed down and were feeling good as we raced each other down the descent, and by all appearances it looked like the cows had gone elsewhere when we came over a small blind summit and came face to face with the herd of cows again.... I screeched to a halt, slipped over on my behind as my feet disappeared down the scree below, and the two of us immediately bolted for the bracken again. With a stop and a detour on the way up, and a fall and a detour on the way down, it was inevitable that despite feeling like we'd run the fastest we could run we had actually run no faster than any of our times last year! All I can say is that my heart rate was certainly pretty fast whatever speed we were running at.

So there you have it, from olympic torches to killer coos - it was certainly quite enough excitement for one day and I'm hoping the last few days of training are slightly less eventful so we can get in some of that much needed rest and recovery ready for the big day. 10 more sleeps! 

It's all in the preparation

With under 2 weeks to go until Highland Cross we are properly into the final countdown and thinking about those preparations that need to be done for race day:

• stocking up on energy drinks/bars for the day
• what kit are we going to wear
• practice change over
• book in a sports massage with the excellent Angela Mudge at Knead To Relax
• planning spare food/breakfasts for the morning of race day 
• checking over the bikes 
• locating cardboard boxes to safeguard the bikes in transport to the start line.
• labels for bags so we can gather our gear again at the end of the day
• general panicking about whether or not we have enough training miles in on the bike!

We have now done a 'last long' run (15-16 miles on the forest trails at Aberfoyle) and a 'last long' cycle (I did 40 miles taking in the hill climb from Bridge of Allan to Sherrifmuir and circling back via Callendar); and are now considering which runs to do for our taper to ensure we maintain our fitness but don't succumb to injury now we are in the final straight.

It really does seem most surreal to be at this stage of training already, I think that because we had our wedding in early May that we were so focussed on that and the training very much became part of planning for the wedding; therefore with only having done another 3 weeks training since returning from the wedding, the Highland Cross seems to have come around very quickly!

From a fitness perspective both Colin and I were really happy with our run on Saturday, but Colin was shattered on Sunday again and for the first time I've ever known he struggled on the bike ride because he was so tired. I wasn't so bad but am definitely achey today. I am not sure I'm as fast on a bike as last year but I think I can complete it if I can just stay fit, injury free and not put on weight in this last fortnight. The not putting on weight might seem a strange thing to say but it's this fortnight when it is most likely as your body is used to eating the extra carbohydrates it needs to power long runs but you are actually doing less training and so burning fewer calories. It takes tremendous will power to eat what you need and not what you want! (or is that just me???) - anyway it's all part of the preparation and planning is something I thankfully enjoy doing or so I am telling myself anyway. Any tips of helping with this will power and final fortnight taper diet will be gratefully received!

Speaking of gratitude, I'd like to thank those of you who have sponsored us, your support is really very much appreciated. Don't forget you still can by clicking on the Just Giving link on this blog.

By the way did I say - 12 days to go... gulp!

Why do we do it: Can we tempt you with cake and shortbread?

There comes a point in amongst all the training and pain and focussing on the end target where you have to stop  and remind yourself that the Highland Cross is all about raising money for great charities in the Highlands. Over the 29 years it has been running so far Highland Cross has gifted over 3.2 million to charities including Highland Hospice, Inverness Hospital Radio, Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre for the Highlands, Crossroads Schemes Highland, Osteoporosis Service in the Highlands, British Red Cross, Chest Heart and Stoke Highland, Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS), Highland Disability Sport and Highland Dyslexia Association to name but a few.

Martin and I grew up in the Highlands and know how much benefit these services provide the local community, and their help has directly impacted our friends and family. So supporting the Highland Cross is a great way for us to give back to those charities and community services... and the fact that Colin, Martin and I can be a wee bit competitive whilst we are at it just adds to the fun!

This year the projects identified to get help from the money raised are 

• The ARCHIE Foundation
• The Glenurquhart Care Project
• Highland Hospice
• The Mulitple Sclerosis (MS) Centre
• Special Needs Action Project (SNAP)

Interestingly - so far our online fundraising isn't going as well as the offline fundraising. I've no idea why this is as normally I find it the other way around, but if you've not done so yet, and you can't see us in person, then do click on the Just Giving link (also at the top right of our blog) and sponsor our efforts with a wee donation. 

For folk who know Colin and I and have easy access to Stirling we are adding a wee bit of an incentive to our sponsorship this year (taking a tip from last year's team member Jo!) and we are opening up a competition. There are two prizes up for grabs for anyone who sponsors us/donates and lets us know they want to enter. Have fun!

1. What time to cross the line? 

Prize: a tray of homebaked shortbread. A tray of Sara's homemade shortbread will be awarded to the closest time guessed on for Sara and Colin. For those who entered the competition to win Jo's Jam last year I am afraid I can't promise anything that clever, however there is nothing quite like homemade shortbread to give you a wee sugar boost so get your guesses in now.

This is harder than you would think as the race is very dependant on the weather conditions. To give you a hint you can see previous times on the Highland Cross page. Sara and Colin are both listed on 2011 results, Sara entered in 2007 and 2008 too.

2. Who will cross the line first? Colin or Sara

Prize: a mountain slice of cake Right answers will be put into a woolly climbing hat and a winner selected at random. 

Colin and Sara did not have a traditional wedding cake, they had a mountain! The cake really was a work of art, and has just as big a flavour to go with its size.  Not sure who is likely to cross the line first? Then check out our training blogs to research the likely winner! 

Colin and Sara will be bringing sponsor forms along to the Ochils Mountaineering Club meets over the next week to gather any entries if anyone feels like coming along, otherwise feel free to get in touch or use Just Giving. Remember every penny towards the charities counts.

Thankyou all for you your continued support, it really does help keep us motivated.

Training.... Hard!

This time last week I was muttering about upping the training more than I had planned by biking more and trying out some sprint work, and so I did. On that very Tuesday evening Colin and I went out on a bike ride, we went for 23 miles and  I was fairly chuffed to be keeping Colin in my sights if not quite keeping up with him! On Wednesday we ran Dumyat, and were pleasantly surprised to discover we were faster than this time last year, then on Thursday I cycled to Dunblane as well as going for a run. So by Fridays rest day I was feeling much happier with my progress and like I deserved the rest.
In this positive frame of mind we set off for a 14-15 mile training run on Saturday, the plan being to leave Croftamie, run along an old railway track to join the West Highland Way, follow the Way over Conic Hill and then return from Balmaha via Buchanan Castle. The run nearly went awry when we accidentally took a wrong turn coming off the old railway line at the start and didn't join the West Highland Way.... we should have known we were going wrong when we passed so many hikers going the other way!!! After this short detour (1-1.5 miles!!!!) we were nervous that we would struggle later on in the run but we had a great day.

 We kept a fairly even pace, keeping each other company until Conic Hill where Colin powered off ahead into the distance. I knew from our run on Wednesday that Colin was much faster on the uphills than me, but I was also aware that his downhill running has improved loads compared to last year, with this in mind I kept myself motivated to push as hard as I could up the hill so that he didn't get too far ahead. The West Highland Way doesn't go all the way to the top of Conic Hill though I did nearly go there by mistake as I took a path heading to the top rather than continuing on the West Highland Way, thankfully I realised my mistake before I'd ran more than around 20 metres too far up and headed on down as fast as I could to try and catch Colin.

 I caught him at the bottom but I suspect he slowed down a little to let me do so. It's a steep descent and it was a wonderful feeling to just let the legs flow as they found their footing along the narrow rocky path. It was a brilliantly exhilarating hill and I loved every minute of it, even the up, and Colin and I were really pleased with ourselves as we headed back along the road towards Buchanan Castle. The last few miles I finally started to pull away from Colin as my long distance stamina kicked in and he started to feel the pace, however by the time we stopped it was a 16 mile run because of the accidental extra bit, and we both felt we could have gone on, so we are really happy with where we are. Now we just need to keep this running level up and not get injured!

What with it being Jubilee weekend we had decided that it would be nice to climb on the Sunday and do the long bike ride on Jubilee Tuesday instead. The reasoning being it would give us extra time to rest from Saturdays exertions and give us a chance to enjoy ourselves whilst stretching out the muscles... only Sunday came and went in a blur of sleepiness and lethargy so we didn't get the stretch we probably needed yesterday. I was a bit cross with myself but I still went out for a good 6ish mile run today and we still plan to do a good long bike ride tomorrow so hopefully I manage to make up for it.
It is fair to say that the run today was hard... but then it would be, we trained hard last week and it makes sense it feels a bit tough. With under 3 weeks to go now training hard is the name of the game for just a wee while longer. After all it seems the competition within the team is hotting up!

A picture of the distinctive Conic Hill above Balamaha

Ben Lawers and Stockiemuir

Well, after the wonderful break from doing not very much exercise that Sara's wedding gave me, I felt I really had to get a move on and do some amount of work. I managed to persuade a friend, Marthos, to drive me to Ben Lawers, where upon we ascended the giddying heights to enjoy the spectacular and breathtaking views from the top.
On our way back, I was sorely tempted to climb back to the summit, because the cloud appeared to be lifting somewhat.

Marthos persuaded me this was a bad idea!
I decided that it would be nice to drop in on the rest of the team on the drive home, so we went to visit Sara and Colin, where we were rewarded with some more mountain ... this time in the form of cake!



The next few days involved many visits from friends local and abroad so I spent more time being a diligent host (tidying the apartment, making sure I had
food etc etc), and totally failed to get out on my bike, so today (Monday), I decided I could procrastinate no more and went for a ride out to Stockiemuir via Blairskaith and Blanefield. It was a nice day, and the view from the top of the hill climb was definitely rewarding!

I was sorely tempted to stop off at the Carbeth Inn, a nice biker pub between Drymen and Glasgow (there were a few bikes outside), but thought better off it and headed back in to the city center. Dinner tonight is Brazilian ... lots of meat, all you can eat buffet!

I am pleasantly surprised by my trip time for the ride ... 44.8km in 1h46m .. an average of 25.2km/h ... it seems that I'm on track to get a good time this year, despite the fact I've fallen behind with the training!

Only 2 more weeks of rides/hills to go ... and I'm feeling confident that I might be first across the line after all!