Going solo

With 35 days to go till Ultra Race Romania, this was an important weeks training.  I'd checked the weather forecast and took the Friday off work to spend 3 days running in the Cairngorm mountains - the weather was meant to get worse on Sunday so I had my fingers crossed.
Once again my pal Michael planned 3 days for me based on his extensive knowledge of the Cairngorms and managed to join me on the Friday.  I got up at 3.15am and met him at the start just outside of Aviemore at 6.45.  I was wearing my new (investment!!) watch, a Garmin Fenix 6 Solar Pro and loaded onto it was the route for the day - 43km with 1,897m of climbing.  I was able to follow our journey on my watch which will give me great confidence when out on my own.  The route starts along a very long valley and massive boulder fields so was slow going.  Then we climb into the mountains and WOW!  Three out of four of the summits were over 4,000 ft with the small one being a mere 3,300 ft.  The views were spectacular.  At one stage we were passed but ultra running legend Donnie Munro who was flying - glad to see he thought this was a worthwhile route.  We were out for 7 hours 40 minutes so were refilling our bottles from the fresh flowing streams.  On the finishing run out along a track I felt strong.  Michael headed home and there I was, solo for the next two days.  What could possibly go wrong?
Well for a start the maps weren't downloaded to my watch because I hadn't managed to do it before I left and I didn't bring my lap top so in short, no maps on watch. Day 2 I headed off following Google maps to the start.  It took me 3 attempts to find the start point having been driving through a private estate at one stage - stress city.  Eventually I get to the correct starting point and then lose my car keys and can't leave till I find them - in the car FFS!  200m in I get a missed call the 5 text from home.  So walking up the start I'm on the phone sorting something out - more stress!  But I settled down as not even I could get lost on this path.  Kept up a good pace and had a lot more running than the day before because the terrain was better/safer under foot.  Unbelievable views at the top with a shear drop from the edge of the path to the bottom and looking over to the mountains we'd been on yesterday.  On the way down I lost the path and had to improvise - for that read going straight down till I found the path again.  It was a fast descent of 1 hour and I felt the 17.61km with 1,004m of ascent was a good effort. Today Michael had gone to an extra effort with his instructions to make sure there would be no hic-ups.  Good try!  I left the car park via the wrong trail (my fault) but within 0.4KM realised it and reversed my path.  My OS Maps were worse than useless and I really need to get a grip with that app.  I asked a few people if I was going in the right direction and surprisingly I was.  It was a good path and I ran a lot of it.  When it started climbing I started power walking.  1hr 45 mins later I was at the top and the storm clouds were building as forecast so I did my "Deek TV live", took some pictures and got the hell off the summit.  Again a fabulous descent and I even overtook two cyclists who had to stop for the high edged drains across the path.  I'd set myself a target for the descent and was well on it when I got to 300m from the carpark, and got lost!  I knew it was close and even waded across a river twice but to know avail so I ran the long way round having wasted over 15 minutes fannying around.  Had my watch been loaded with the map it would have been stress free - every day's a learning day but 25km with 856m of climbing so not to be sniffed at considering it was day 3.  The good news is my body held up and that gives me confidence for URR.
My Garmin told me after day 1 I needed 4 days recovery!!  It probably wasn't wrong but sometimes you have to over ride the heath and safety aspect as I am pushing the boundaries.
Going solo isn't easy but I'm getting there.  Just got to sort the technology and the technology operator and I'll be fine.  I know my friends are "willing me on" and hoping I'll return safely and I appreciate everyone's concern.  At my age I really should be able to go out without getting lost but at least I make it back without falling.  In some ways getting lost is quite liberating as it's down to you, no one else.  When I get to Romania there will be regular markings on the trail but I'll have the back up of my watch if, and I'm sure it will, those markers disappear!  I've rediscovered my love of the Cairngorm mountains.  They are totally awesome and a great escape from this crazy pandemic we are all living through.  Get into the mountains (with a map!).  They will remind you about what's important!  Breath in that fresh air and relax.

Getting to the start line

I've often commented that getting to the start line is possibly the biggest achievement, bigger than completing the race.  I can take months or even years to prepare for an event and so much can happen during that time.  As you know my last few months have involved a few injuries which have meant my training plan has had to be adapted.  Not being able to work on my core due to the injuries meant I didn't complete a 50 mile race, but I did 35 miles and was happy with the result.  But what I wasn't expecting was for one of the kids to come home with Covid and having to self isolate for 10 days!  
This "delta variant" spreads like wild fire and within a day we had 3 people living with us who had tested positive for covid.  My wife and I had fortunately both been double jabbed and so far we remain negative, but 10 days of isolation - where was that in the training plan!  Fortunately the 3 young adults in our house are almost back to normal although two of them have lost their ability to taste and their sense of smell.
I am very fortunate though in that I've just had an out door gym build and had a treat mill (my wife's) sitting in a box as it had done for the last three years.  Quick call to my pal Stuart and he popped round, socially distanced, and assembled the tread mill.  It's been a tough week of adapted training but it's good to be back working on my core which is so needed for URR in 6 weeks time.
But like the injuries and the set backs, covid suddenly made me think what a struggle it is to get to the start line.  Your first priority is to get there.  The second is to hope you are fit enough and not injured and the third is to achieve your objective in the race.  At this stage I still don't know if I can travel to Romania but I have to keep training as though the event is taking place.  I know the race organisers are doing everything possible at their end to make the event safe for competitors and the organisers/volunteers so here's hoping we'll be able to enjoy everything Romania has to offer.  In the meantime, stay safe out there and get your jabs!

Replicating race conditions

A break of 3 days after my race last weekend let my body recover and I prepared for a weekend in the mountains.  If Ultra Race Romania is on, and I think that will be a late decision, then I have to prepare for 36,000 ft of climbing in 6 days while completing 250km.  Sadly there is no way to replicate the URR conditions in the UK but we need to make a good go of it.
On Saturday I was with my running buddie Michael who is great at mapping out days in the mountains and we headed to Glenshee to complete 3 Munro's which would take Michael's total to 100 - 10 that week!  As so often is the case with me on the mountains, the conditions were sub-optimal which meant the summits were all in cloud base.  1 hour in 1 didn't feel great and my heart rate reached 186 bpm, normally when pushing it, my HR would reach 168 bpm so this was either a blip or I should have been lying on my back.  We had some food, rehydrated and dropped the pace which solved the problem.  The conditions meant we didn't hang around and we completed the 33km  with 1,546m of elevation in 5hrs 41 mins.  It was a good day out.
Today I was back in the mountains but on my own.  As you know I can get lost in a car park so I was slightly nervous.  The plan was about the elevation, not the distance so the mountain selected, Ben More, has possible the steepest climb out of all the Munro's.  My coach wanted me to climb up once then go half way up and back down.  I made sure I had plenty of food and headed off trying to get my map on my phone so I didn't get lost - but I did.  Fortunately I picked it up early on and reversed my steps.  The cloud base was about a third of the way up the hill so I had little visual queues to go on.  Once you find the path it's very straight forward, except it's vertical and the stones you are stepping on all present a risk.  It got a bit "spooky" at the top as you are surrounded by clouds with some sheer drops but not being able to see the drops was a good thing.
When you reach the top you can go down the other side which is a much easier descent but my instructions were to go back the way I'd come up.  It was a very difficult descent and the pace was really slow as it was on the way up and I had to concentrate very hard.  I decided on the way down not to repeat the first half again as it really was risky and I was on my own.  Better get to the race slightly under prepared than injured!
Getting back to the car I was delighted that my HR had stayed low and that my legs felt great.  I've four long runs planned for the next 5 days.
Some big weekends lie ahead as I spend as much time as possible in the mountains building up my strength.  Hopefully one of these days I'll reach a summit and have a view!

Build back better!

Yesterday was the Moray Coastal Trail 80km ultra and I was so excited to be racing for the first time since September 2019 with competitors around me ie not a virtual race.  I had decided I was going to race the race rather than just complete the race.  With my coach we designed an ambitious race plan where we agreed the pace for every section and whether or not I stopped at an aid station and if so, for how long - the stops ranged from 90 secs to 2 minutes!
My wife was my crew although officially a supporter as it was an "unsupported race" so she couldn't hand me food or drinks.  Her main job was to tell me when I arrived at a check point if I was on target, how long I had to stop for and how far to the next check point.  I had all this information written down and had studied it but your mind plays tricks on you in these races so it's good to have someone to remind you and it's always amazing how you feel better and pick up your pace when you can see your supporter cheering you on.  As the race went on I lost track of this information so it was a great help.
The race started in Forres and the first 11.2km are on tarmac and a bit boring.  Then you get to the coast and wow what a beautiful run it becomes.  It's more or less flat and as I have found out before in my first Ironman, flat is very tough.  You're running across stunning beaches, miles wide, and I was one of the few wearing short gaiters so had no issues with sand in my shoes like some did.  The organiser said you could wear road or trail shoes so I found a shoe that did both and am glad I did because there were plenty of stones to kick along the way and the "trail sole" did it's best to protect me from the unforgiving large pebble we spent many KMs running over.
There were cliff top trails and stunning forests to run through and I was grateful for the steady tail wind which did it's best to keep the temperature down, but it was warm.
Fiona was reporting to me that I was ahead of schedule despite me trying to keep to the agreed pace.  But once I hit the beaches and the trails the pace slowed significantly.  Running in sand saps your strength but running on sandy trails with big pebbles is really tough and twisting an ankle was a real concern.  However when I did fall, I always fall, it was on a dirt trail and fortunately it was soft earth however try telling that to my shoulder (38km into the race).
To this day I haven't found a food strategy that works as you get sick of gels and bars quite quickly but know you need to keep eating.  In hindsight I carried too much with me and when I got to my drop bag at half way I only ate my custard and drank half a bottle of coke, took a handful of gels and left - in under 3 mins.
My pace was getting slower and slower and my right ankle was sore as was my lower back.  It didn't help that I, along with others, got lost 3 times due to poor signage (it was the first time this race has been run and I'm sure they will attend to this next year) - I heard the leader got lost and was a mile and a half off track (he found his way back and was still in the lead!)
In all my endurance events I've had highs and lows and in the lows the possibility of pulling out the race comes into my head.  But after 45 kms I was starting to walk and walk run and the pain in my ankle and back was getting worse.  There was a 7km section to Kingston that really finished me off and that was along the sandy track with big pebbles next to the beach - it was brutal, the hardest section of the race so I was told.  Eventually it ended and I came to the decision I'd pull out at the next check point as I was concerned that I would really hurt myself and not be able to train as normal and as my "A race" is 8 weeks away, I couldn't afford time out.  I text my wife who was at the check point at Kingston 56km (my garmin said 53km) and she walked out to meet me.  On the way in we talked about the fact there was only 24km to go and I was only 3 minutes behind target despite all my walking in this section (total time 5hrs 29mins).  I could have walked to the finish line in 3.5 hours and got my medal but it was never about just finishing the race, it was about racing the race.  I informed the officials I was pulling out and got in the car and was driven home.
I've only experienced a DNF once before and it made me change my training so I didn't suffer with a hamstring problem again.  As you'd expect I've been given my decision a lot of thought.  Should I just have applied rule 5 (Man The F@@k Up)?  I'm 100% certain I made the right decision as I feel after a couple of days rest and a sports massage, I'll be back running.  But I'll also be back in the gym working on my core because this in my opinion was the main problem.  I hadn't been able to work on my core since I injured my ribs 6 weeks ago followed by my back and my core wasn't strong enough to finish the 80kms properly.
Nobody likes failing but as a friend pointed out, DNF means did nothing fatal!  There's lost of lessons learned but I mustn't forget the positives such as a 4 hr 12 min marathon on a trail which is slower than on tarmac - it also includes all the time I was lost which could take another 10 mins off.  My pace of 53.2km was 6:23 per km but I'm not sure if that's entirely accurate as the organisers have it down as 56km to that point so it was possibly faster - who knows?
We should learn from every race and when you have a set back then "build back better" - where have I heard that phrase before?  The building back starts on Tuesday and the Moray Coastal Ultra did exactly what I needed it to do.  It pushed me hard and I think staying on an ambitious pace target for 56km is a good training run.  
I'll leave you with one last thought.  What makes you have a sleepless night before an event and your stomach churn on a start line is knowing that the result is not guaranteed otherwise it wouldn't be worthwhile.  Growth only occurs outside your comfort zone and it's fair to say that certainly was the case yesterday.  I live to fight another day.  No damage done and 8 weeks till my "A race" - assuming Romania is on the green list but there's nothing I can do about that, other than continue with my training.  Thank you all for your words of support yesterday, they mean a lot.  Thanks to my wife for her "crew" responsibilities which she did so well and to my coach for designing a great training plan around my injuries and always helping me push the limits.

Race to train

Now you might think I've got the title the wrong way round but I'll explain my rationale.  Before doing so this was the first week of tapering and the wonderful thing about ultra running as opposed to triathlon, is all you're doing is running.  In triathlon while tapering you still have the three disciplines to cope with so I'm glad those days are over.....for the meantime!
Letting your body recover is important and I have enjoyed it.  My biggest run last week was 15km although it was pacier than normal and I repeated it the following day.  But the big runs are off the agenda, until Saturday - race day.
I went over the race plan with my coach.  It's always hard to pace a route you've never ran before and when you're getting up to 80kms, you can't tell what shape your body will be in and what pace you be running or crawling at.  But it's good to have a plan as a reference point.  If the "wheels come off the trolley" then I'll go for plan B and then plan C 'cause that's what you've got to do - whatever it takes.
I've also being buying new gear.  The route is part tarmac and part trail so the dilemma is what to wear on my feet.  I ordered a paid of Inov8 Parkclaw 360's and put them through their paces on Saturday on similar terrain - result, they were great.  I ordered a new running vest to carry my water and mandatory kit and it fits like a glove. So all the planning is now done and I just need to rest, eat, hydrate, get a sports massage (tomorrow) and enjoy the reduced training schedule.  We're already planning big miles after the race.
On Sunday two club members took part in races - the first this year.  Mark completed a sprint tri and Michael a 60km ultra including 2 Munro's.  They both smashed them and loved the excitement to be racing again.  I was thinking about them when running and it occurred to me how important having a race to look forward to was.  If you don't have one in your calendar then it makes the training harder.  That's why I've switched the phrase round, we race to train.  Having the goal of that finish line is what makes us put in the hard miles especially when you don't feel like it.  As the race approaches I know how important every session is.
On Sunday I was in Aberdeen and got back home at 3pm and had a 12km run to do, at pace.  I was tired from the drive and it was really hot.  But having a race in 6 days time meant I had no choice.  I completed the training a sweaty mess but felt good knowing this was my last "long" (short really) run.
I know on Saturday there will be the excitement of lining up in a race.  I also know the highs and lows during the 80kms but must keep my focus and remember all the training sessions I've gone through to get there.  Hopefully my second jab I got today won't affect me and I'll have a stress free week. 
The summer's definitely here so get that race booked and focus your training with a picture of you crossing the finishing line in your mind.  It's just the best feeling!

Party like it's 1999

If the last week was to be summed up in one word it would be "speed".  Now don't get ahead of yourselves mixing that with the blog title, it's a different type of speed.
The first type is the speed of fast runs while tapering for my 80 km trail race on 12 June.  The big long slow miles are done, or at least as many done in the circumstances as possible.  Now it's shorter faster runs with a few speedy runs.  It's so good to get my speed per km down below 5km per min but this will bare no relevance on race day.  But it is keeping me fit and giving my legs, lungs, heart and mind some variety.  It's been a good weeks training and my HR is exactly where I want it.
However I've been partying since Friday and today, Monday, will involve some more celebrations.  My daughter finished university on Friday and it was her birthday on Thursday so she came home and it's been party time ever since.  I look at the way those youngsters "go for it" and the next day they are back on it again - true ultra athletes, of a different sort.  And during all of this I still had to train in the heat.
I'm glad to say I was able to pace myself after years of experience but never attained the levels the young ones today seem to reach!
Other than my training the time between now and the race will be preparation.  Checking out the course online, choosing the right shoes as it's a mixture of trail, tarmac and sand, and arranging my food and a drop bag.  Getting a massage to make sure the muscles are ready - went to the chiropractor on Tuesday following my couple of falls.  She sorted me out as always but said that "there was a lot going on" - code for wrecked!
I'm going to watch the videos of the course so I have some idea of what to expect.  Starting to get excited and look forward to "cashing in all those credits built up in the winter months of training in the snow and ice".  After the race I might get my party gear on again but the 1999 dance moves don't go down so well with the young ones!  Back then we certainly didn't call it "dad dancing"!  Enjoy the warmer weather and remember your sun cream....christ I sound like a dad!

Drama, drama, drama!

We'll come onto the drama in a minute but this has been a big week for my training with my 80km ultra race looking likely to go ahead in 20 days time.  The build up hasn't been ideal with effectively two weeks off due recently to injuries.  Last weekend I was "bust" on a 42km mountain adventure and that knocked onto this weeks training with me having 2 days off to recover.  I was reminded by my coach Genevieve that sticking to my plan and not exceeding the targets was important - take that as a the nearest I've had to a reprimand over the 10 years we've worked together, but she does know what she's doing.  Nobody knows my limits better than she does so I was back with the plan by Monday.
In the 5 days I ran this week I covered 104kms.  A few smaller runs to get the fatigue out of my system early on followed by 20km Friday, 38km Saturday and 24 km today.  These back to back runs, running on tired legs are crucial.  What was important was the pace and I worked hard at running slowly which will be required to complete 80km in a day.
The drama came on Saturday.  My pal Gav is  running a 70 mile race the week after me so I knew he'd be doing big slow miles so we met up to run a relatively flat 38 km trail along the Clyde Valley.  Gav hadn't been so far along the valley and I was excited to show him the route through the trees.  "Watch out for the dodgy board walks which are covered in mesh" I said.  10 minutes later we crossed a boardwalk where a piece of mesh was raised and caught the aggressive lugs on my shoe - BANG head first down!  I was seeing stars as Gav helped me up and I could feel the blood coming from the wound above my eye and my knee was cut, bruised and bleeding.  It's ridiculous as the previous weekend I was in the Scottish mountains on two technically difficult Munros and came off unscathed but put me on a level trail and I end up cut and bruised. At this point were 16km into a 38km run but this wasn't going to stop me completing the task.  Even if I'd turned back it would still have been 32km but not the target of 38km.  So we pressed on.  Gav got the pace right so while we hardly spoke for the last 10km, we got it done.  It's funny when out on long runs that there comes a point that the chat stops and you retreat inside your own head telling yourself it will be over soon.
I got home and came to the conclusion stiches weren't required but food certainly was.  Fed and cleaned up I started the recovery as I knew I had another important run today - but first some wine to go with a lovely dinner.  Early night and slept like a log.
Today my chaperone was Stuart.  We could get lost in a car park and managed to do it in a route I knew at least 95% of.  Again Stu set a steady pace and in two of the big hills we walked them because we're experience to know how tough the closing kms would be on a 20km run after a heavy weeks training.  I'm glad we did.  We took a diversion from the normal route to add some kms on so we wouldn't be running round the park at the end.  When heading back we took a couple of wrong turns and had to find a new way back to the main trail. The "new route" was amazing and because we had climbed too high, we got the reward of a long downhill through a bluebell forest - it was stunning.
Again the last few Kms required us to dig in deep and I was pleased when it was over.  I was so hungry on the way home I had to stop for a Burger King just to keep me going.
My coach has reported that's epic distances over as we taper for the Moray Coastal Ultra Trail.  I'm waiting to hear from the organisers as last week they were in level 3 and if that remained we wouldn't have been able to travel to Moray.  That's been changed to level 2 so I'm awaiting an email telling me it's now on so fingers crossed.  While it would be disappointing if the race was cancelled, having that focus has got me into great shape for URR which is my "A race" in August.  A lot of hard work to be done between now and then with many epic runs and adventures ahead.  Hopefully they can be carried out without the drama but my pals will be looking out for me!