Training Log Archive: BrandNewMe

Googling how to improve running downhill. Flexibility, core strength, bounding. Hmm.

C • "Find a gentle slope with a good surface" 1

Jura hill race

The short version:

Horrendous, and not in a good way. I think I have bankrupted myself to the swear box.


The long version:

Jura fell race. Ray always says how terrible Jura is (sipr experience, blundering around near vertical scree slopes in the pitch black at 2am trying to find a f-ing control. Not much fun). The rule of thumb with us usually is if Ray loves it I will hate it and vice versa so I knew I had to give it a go.

On the little passenger ferry to Jura the paps were resplendent on the horizon. A little too resplendent. They were big, and rock covered, and how on earth were you supposed to get up and down them. I woke in a panic at 1am, and had to look again at the map. The last pap didn't seem to have any way down which was not horrid. There was a route on the map though, and a description (I paraphrase from memory "there is no easy way down this hill. Just do three or four really big screen skids and you'll have dropped 1,000ft to a path"). Thisdescription was not reassuring.

Anyway, next morning came, and it was hot and very muggy indeed. The plan was to take a 250ml bottle of water and refill where poss. And a big bag of jelly babies and last night's pizza.
I drank a lot before I set off as it was muggy. Really muggy. Thunder was forecast, and we were told if lightning started, the mountain Rescue would force everyone off the tops to slow level route. Bit of a shame as the whole point of the race is to scare you shitless with the paps.

So we set off and it was very very muggy. Same thing happens in all hill races I do. Everyone canes it off then as soon as they have come into a path they stop and walk. WTF is that about??? Drives me nuts. My god. It was 2 miles and the first hill before I eased through all of the wreckage blocking my path. I'd overtaken Lucy haines near the top of the first hill. A lead which she instantly took back on the first (slight descent). Same thing happened to 2, and 3, and 4. Basically, I was strong on the ascent, overtaking lots of people, who would all come by me descent, leaving me to start again at the start of the next hill. The first three descents were nice. Hill 4 was a humongous climb up the first pap, perilously steep, the top of which just seemed to be football sized boulders. And then there was the descent. Which was scree slides of various sized stones, but all horrifyingly steep. So I was skidding down a screeslope at one point, fell and ended up sitting on a scree slope with my shins covered in boulders. I was hot, had a headache, and wasgetting pissed off with the same20 people overtaking me on every hill. This is where the swearing started.

Up the climb to checkpoint 5, pap 2 and it was so steep i wasn't looking down.clambering up loose scree with avast drop below - no way I was looking. Again, passed the same 20 people. This is where I first got really giddy. Struggling with lightheadedness and a crushing headache I was not feeling good. The next descent was partly fine with a few major scree piles but there were boulders to pick your way over so not so bad, and were not quite as steep or loose. Quite a few hairy falls though, so more bruises and cuts, so again, lots of swearing. The 3rd and last pap loomed, and again I had such a dehydration headache that I just wanted to get up the pap so I could get off. So again caught loads of people going up another crazily dangerous slope. I was chatting to some of the people when going upand one of them knew where a grassier descent of the last scree slope was, so I eased off the gas so I could follow her. This was a relief, almost such a relief that I forgave her having her bloke on the last pap there and ready handing her a litre bottle of water. On a day when everyone is suffering in the heat, this really was not on.

I was really very pissed off going up the last hill, and couldn't even make my legs descend the 2 mile grassy boggy descent to the road. I just spent the whole time falling over. Lying in a bog, picking myself up, falling over again, as more and more people skipped by. I didn't cry, but I was swearing - a lot!!! So frustrating. On to the 5k road run to the finish and the only vaugly pleasant part of the whole ludicrous farce. This was fun, jogging along at 8min/milling overtaking lots of people to the finish - TFFT!

So the people that say Jura is a great experience I disagree. It's shit. It flatters those of average fitness that can descend well, so I can see how some may love it. If I come back it will only be to prove that itdifn't get the better of me.

C • Thanks Claire! 1

Lunchtime ride from work. My infected blister is too sore to walk properly so no running. Hoping it will be better for Jura on Saturday.

Haymarket, Roseburn Cycle path, Water of Leith, Porti, Innocent Railway and back to work. feeling not at all fresh, but it did me good to get out.

After insomnia all last week, I seem to be getting some sleep now, which is a relief as I think I was starting to lose the plot.