Cinderella Mountain

What a week of training. Keeping up the mantras of "less is more" and "quality not quantity" I had a mix of daily yoga (only 25 mins per session), gym sessions (one with my PT that is always a challenge, some short 8 km runs leaving the best for the weekend.
I got good news from my physio on Tuesday which means I can now squat again as long as the weights aren't too heavy and my knee bend doesn't go beyond 90 degrees.  This is fantastic news as I need to build my leg muscles back up and especially the VMO in my left leg.  It will continue to "niggle" until it gets stronger.  So under Bartek's careful supervision on Thursday, the work began.
Saturday was a chance to put my body to the test as I headed back into the mountains with my pal (and chaperone!) Michael Martin.  We headed off to Ben Vorlich at Loch Earn.  It's been a long time since I was in the mountains in winter conditions and the first mistake was the wrong gloves.  Fortunately I had the right footwear with titanium studs in the soles and had a back up plan of mini spikes if required.  Ben Vorlich has a path more or less to the top but when the path is covered in ice and snow it makes for tricky walking.  I didn't have my poles with me as I am trying to train without them which is a requirement for the WHW race - I regretted that decision.
Michael was carrying an ice axe which I thought was a bit unnecessary, but again was wrong there.  We summitted Ben Vorlich, which was clagged in of course, then headed to Stuc a Chroin.  For safety reasons we had to take a detour off the track that we couldn't see so lots of ankle twisting going through snow, never knowing what the depth would be - oh for a set of poles.  Michael and I have "history" on this mountain.  It's when he discovered I don't like heights or edges as we had to scramble over rocks to the summit last time.  We seemed to be heading in the same direction but there was no path to follow, just a set of foot and paw prints.  Michael's view was, "well this climber seems to be going in the right direction".  Maybe the right direction but not the right route.  We caught up with Abby and her beautiful golden retriever Oban (who has bagged 28 Munros) sitting on a ledge trying to work out if this was the route - it wasn't.  Brave lady out on her own in those conditions, especially as she wasn't wearing spikes.  She had tried to put them on earlier but had failed.  Michael obliged and once he had one on her left foot he "invited her to a ball"!  Abby then became Cinderella which we found amusing but I was more concerned with the bloody scramble over the rocks as my hands were going numb in the snow.  Michael lent me his ice axe and I felt much better getting some grip.  At one stage Michael was trying to help Abby and me up and if he's slipped or we'd pulled him too hard then.........anyway, we made it and I have told Michael under no circumstances am I doing that again.  At the top my hands were numb and my gloves wet so Michael to the rescue, he lent me a pair of heated gloves! Absolute life saver and the rest of the adventure my hands were toasty. 
We parted company with Abby & Oban and headed over the back.  A tough ankle and knee twisting decent as we weren't always on the trail.  When we got back to the car we took a dip in Loch Earn - just about the coldest water I have ever been in and we waded up to our "rab haws" and within a few minutes our legs were numb - good recovery.  Michael did stumble and , said rab haws got a shock!  I almost fell in while laughing.  It was a fantastic day out and great to be back with Michael in the mountains.  Many more adventure to follow and great training with 5 hours on our feet.
Today Beth and I headed out for a 16km run, after her HIIT class and my cross trainer warm up.  I wanted to see how my body had recovered.  It was a good training run and my heart rate averaged 130 which is amazing.  My foot, ankle and knee on the other hand were complaining so I just need to be careful.  Stretched afterwards followed by a sauna then soup, toastie, cake and coffee - the perfect way to recover.  Tomorrow, other than yoga, is definitely a rest day.
I love our adventures and the people, and dogs, we meet along the way.  As the weather improves try and get on the mountains but a word of warning; pack for the worst weather you can imagine and I'd recommend you don't go solo.  It's too easy for something to go wrong.  Take care out there.