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!