Training Log Archive: bradc

Another gorgeous day on the west side of Shetland - we've been dead lucky this week! Since Jamie managed 10.7km of walking on Papa Stour yesterday, it was a rest day for him today, and I finally got out on the bike, just in time to maintain my appalling record of one exercise session per week in June.
Shetland is great for cycling - excellently surfaced, very quiet roads. OK, so it's a bit breezy, and there are lots of ups and downs, but there are no midges and the coast views are awesome. Feeling very unfit and slow, back and shoulders in a bit of a mess too (must got to chiropractor next week!) but great to get out.

C • vibram 5 finger 3

About as far north as you can get in the UK, so it would be rude not to get at least some sort of run on the map whilst here! Ran from Saxa Vord up out onto the headland to check out some old WWII RAF stuff. Still have a head cold, so just a steady/easy run, mostly on road. HR high for slow pace. Wearing test jacket, v sweaty. Feeling v unfit. Got dive-bombed half a dozen times by one particulaly aggrieved bonxie, who took a dislike to the bright yellow jacket, methinks!

Roger's WEE at Dunblane, using the new map. Long: 6.5km.

Bit of a shock to the system, this. Still not right in the gastro zone, and not over the cold yet either, but I decided to venture out on the long and see how far I got. In the end I got all the way, albeit at a very slow pace - both to keep from exacerbating a grumpy tum, and to try to keep in check my HR, which was way too high for what was really just a gentle jogging pace; clearly, my body is still fighting off a mountain of germs.
Made only tiny faffs, maybe 60-90s, and happy enough with route choices, but then at this pace even I can navigate. Punter mistake in not taping my laces, had to retie them three times. Gippy tum at the end and had to take my excellently BBQ'd burger away with me rather than risk the consequences of eating it at the scene!

Might as well get everything at the same time...

Full of the cold. Gave up trying to sleep at 4am, throat feeling as if I'd been gargling battery acid. Went to bed in the afternoon whilst everyone was having fun in Lossiemouth! Oh well. B ill too, so neither of us would have been able to do 'owt this weekend. Hope we get better before our hols.

C • Have you been to see the doctor? 3

On the mend, nice day - time to nip out for a quick run before giving blood. Felt fine (bit slow) down to the golf course, up the northern edge and then labouring a bit up the road to the Monument, but then I felt that same old churning cramp sensation and had to stop at 28 minutes... after that it was a very slow jog home in Environmental Preservation mode until even that failed and I had to walk most of the last km.
Sod it.

After nearly three weeks, I think that I've finally got over this bug or whatever it was - just in time for my annual motorbike sojourn with my mates. This year, we were heading for Skye, and planning to stay there for two nights rather than spend all the time on two wheels, so when the day dawned bright and the Cuillins looked clear, I took advantage of the rare opportunity to go and grab two new Munros.

M 269 and 270 - Sgurr a' Mhaidaidh and Sgurr a' Greadaidh. Fantastic day for it. On my own, so took the easy/safe route - up to the An Dorus notch and a quick scramble up Mhaidaidh, then back to An Dorus and a short awkward scrabble up onto the ridge to Greadaidh. A fair bit of open slab to walk on (fine on such a dry day) and an easy route to the west of the imposing bastion en route, to arrive at the top, which was an absolutely amazing viewpoint.

Bikes, hills and beer - long weekends don't get much better than this :-).

C • 270 5