Hills, Trees and Running into them!

5.30am and the alarm sounds for me to get out of bed and don my gear.

Its my first hill training run today, an adapted mountain biking route of circa 16km in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh.

The last 2 days have seen torrential rain so I expected to be wet and dressed accordingly with waterproofs, gloves, long tights and several layers.

Because it's so early, I dont feel much like eating so instead have a Herbalife 24 F1 shake en route.  When I get to the Ranger Station at Harlaw Reservoir, the start point, Im keen to get going.

The sky is grey, the air heavy with drizzle and the hill tops are obscured from view.



Bottom of Maiden's Cleugh - slippy descent

Once off the tarmac track, the water logged tracks soon soak my feet.  I stop after about 12mins to check the map and check my Nikeplus is working on my IPhone..........and I drop my phone in a puddle WITHOUT a waterproof case!  Fortunately its still working so I continue up to the top of Maidens Cleugh - watching a male barn owl hunt over the hillside in front of me.

At the top, I get a great view down the glen at Glencorse Reservoir and its downhill, on a mix of mud, gravel and water!

The amount of rainfall has made the track like a stream and every step kicks up more water.  All I can think of is the tales of 'crazy descents' described in the book 'Feet In The Clouds' by Richard Askwith - a story about Fell Running that I'm currently reading.


At the bottom I stop to remove my rain jacket, take on some isotonic (Herbalife Prolong 7:1 carb/protein) and check the map.  It's starting to dry out a little and my hopes are getting high for the sun to come out.......mainly because of the Scottish Midge eating me alive in the still, damp air!

Im at 4.5k now and have about 3k to go along a tarmac road alongside the reservoirs until I return back to trails.

Its a steady incline and I'm going steady,  My IPhone is working, but I have no music!  This turns out to be a godsend as I get to listen to my surroundings...lambs and sheep bleating, birds singing, fish splashing and the water running down the hillsides.  I'm really enjoying myself now and don't care if my phone is damaged or not - this is too much fun and its not even 7.30am!  Most people are still in bed and I have this wonderful place to myself!

The path is here somewhere....

As the tarmac comes to an end, I study the map quickly and find my trail between two hills - at least I know where it should be but the torrent of water has almost obscured it completely!  Seeing as my feet are already wet and my phone damaged - nothing to lose so off I go!

Its a steady run through the hills on a mix of gravel and grass track for about another 4km.  No-one around, just me and the sheep!

Its at this point I start to test myself mentally - getting ready for the coast to coast challenge in September and talking to myself about pace, fuelling, how I'm feeling, what I'd do differently etc. 

Physically I feel ready for the challenge.  These sessions are to maintain physical condition AND prepare myself mentally.

I'm just 5k or so from the end now and I get a 1km downhill section on tarmac before turning off to run through woodland at the side of Harlaw Reservoir.

The downhill sections are actually more hard work than the uphills, taking much more effort to retain control and causing much more pressure on knees and ankles.

Thankfully I'm 2stone lighter than when I started this blog and by the time of the Coast to Coast I should be a further stone lighter.

After crossing the reservoir via a foot bridge, its a sharp right turn through the woods and back to the car.  There are some parts where woodland trail runs parallel to gravel or tarmac track.  I decide to take the woodland trails whereever possible to improve my conditioning and skills on difficult terrain.

Its at this point I trip on a tree root, stumble forward and slide in mud and then smack my face into a tree trunk!  My first trail running injury and I'm not even descending or in the hills!

Cursing myself and laughing at the same time, I return up to the tarmac track and plod steadily on to the finish - my right eyebrow starting to throb a little.

It's about half 8 now and there are dog walkers, mountain bikers, fishermen and other runners out.  After about an hours solitude and knowing I'm close to my finish, I actually enjoy greeting each with a smile and a 'Good Morning'.

The best part was knowing that some of them will be thinking 'He's soaking wet, covered in mud, got a bloody eye and he's happy - must be on drugs or drunk!'

The truth is I was cold, soaking wet, with a damaged phone because of my clumsiness and with at least an hours drive back home where my two girls will no doubt have a plethora of activity planned for Father's Day.  But I was absolutely thrilled with what I had just done.  I was smiling from ear to ear because I had just run in the beautiful hills close to home for the fun of it.  No time mattered - what mattered was I had enjoyed it!  A lesson from Caballo Blanco and I think I'm really only just starting to understand it fully!

Till next time, keep running and keep smiling as you do it!

Preparing For An Ultra - Lessons my Children Teach Me!

After the Edinburgh Half Marathon, its just 3 months now until my Ultra Distance Adventure Race - Scotland Coast to Coast (105miles in 2 days).

My training is now moving to different levels, including more cycling and hill/fell running for longer distances.

On June 6th, my fellow Deerstalker from the event in March and I completed our first Duathlon.  Located up near Dundee in Scotland, it was considered a 'sprint' distance with a 5k run followed by 20k cycle.

Given the amount of rainfall, we could quite easily have made it a Triathlon and had to swim parts of the course!

Our race line-up arrived via email the day or 2 before and to our horror, it was just 31 competitors long with virtually every other person affiliated to either an athletics, cycle or triathlon club........perhaps we had gone a little bit more ambitious than our capabilities should allow!

A Colleague of Craig's (called SatNav following this event - revealed later) joined us and at the start, we agreed he would set off and Craig and I would keep a steady pace moving together.

Needless to say, by the time we had reached 2.5k, the fog had descended and Craig & I might as well have been on our own for we could not see anyone....

At 400m from the transition, SatNav passed us on his bike, smiling and looking relatively fresh.

 We got onto our bikes and commenced the 20k circuit.  At 7.5k we were feeling good and thought we didn't have far to go.......we forgot it was 20k and not 10k!

A fast downhill section helped, but then a long drawn out steady incline for 5k, with the steepest section at the end had us both 'blowing' hard.

Our morale and spirit was dented further as we had 2k to complete and passing us by were other competitors......who had finished, packed their bikes in their cars and were heading home!

We finally crossed the line, together, 1hr 26mins later and very wet!

At this point, the organisers were brilliant and gave us plenty of support and congratulations.  Then we realised someone was missing!  For a moment we were elated to find out we weren't last......then it became apparent another competitor may be injured or lost.  The missing person was identified as Craig's colleague.

SatNav & Craig

 Search party organised, patterns established we were about to set off in search when through a side entrance to the park cycles the missing person........whom is now referred to as SatNav! 
After much ribbing and hilarity, we packed up and prepared for the 100mile drive home - stopping off to grab a quick drink and agree our next adventure........the Sandy Slither 10k (Coastal/Beach 10k in Fife) on 4th July!


On Saturday 10th June, my Daughter's and I decided to go orienteering as part of their Scout map reading practice.  We spent a good 3 hours wandering around our local country park, following the maps and getting plenty of fresh air.  Both had been at their Zumba class that morning already and we had a family 5k fun run to do the following day.

Team Kelly!

Sunday 10th June and its the Glasgow East End 5k.  Advertised as a family fun run, its all about the participation and not the time completed.

Both girls wanted to set a target of finishing under 40mins so I agreed to pace them accordingly.

The first 1k was hard, navigating through walkers, dogs, pushchairs and the odd pot-hole.

34mins later they crossed the line, holding hands and with a huge sense of achievement.  They had run hard, at one point wanting to give up and not believing they could do it - but they did and did so really well!

Proud Dad Moment

 
Sat rummaging through their 'end of race goody bags', I asked them how they felt.

'Fine' was the reply.
'Really? You said 10minutes ago you were so exhausted you couldn't finish!'
'No, we're fine now'
'That's good.  Remember how you feel just 5mins after finishing so that when it gets tough next time, you can remember this and tell yourself you can do it and will be fine afterwards!'
'Yes Dad......oooooo can we have one of these sweets please?'

Putting aside the fantastic time they ran it in, my pride as their Father was built solely around their effort, determination and spirit to keep going when their mind told them to give up.

That memory is firmly etched in my mind as I now prepare for the hardest physical event I have undertaken since leaving the army many years ago.  If my kids can do it and show true grit and determination, then I have got to do it too otherwise how can I be a role model for them and their future development!

Thank you Lauren & Georgia.........love you loads xxx!  This one's for you!