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!
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