Training Log Archive: TimM

Round and about the Seat with Ali and Tam. Feeling tired, sore and stiff - premature old age basically. Whinny was an ideal place to be on an evening like tonight.

Shakeout with Ali. Feeling the 5k.

Bits n Bobs

Stuc a' Chroin hill race.

Left the Edinburgh sun behind and headed to the gloomy Trossachs for what would no doubt be a tough little race. The 5k had given me a little bit of a confidence boost in that it might not be 2 and a half hours of utter hell, but tried to make sure that I didn't regret a fast start. Settled into a nice group of Jonny, Purko, Liam and a couple of others maybe having a bit of a chat whilst Ali had a lonely time 5-10m ahead.

For some reason leaving the main track onto a small rough trail surprised me but was good fun, before turning along the dead deer fence. Found this bit quite frustrating tbh, rythmn kept being broken and had a tendency to fall off the path. Had let the others go a bit to try and just relax. One of the notable things at this point was how thirsty I was; don't tend to have a craving for water but for pretty much 90mins all I wanted was bottle loads of water. Thankfully it was in plentiful supply on the entirety of the route, otherwise the fish and chips may well have ruined my race completely.

The first descent snuck up and was a fun combination of falling, sliding and running down the impressively steep slope. Passed a few people, including Forest Gump and gained on Hamish, Jonny and Ali ahead. If the descent was steep, the ascent that followed was a disgusting wall of heather that basically involved hauling yourself up this rusty fence. Thankfully I was in a bit of a sandwich with Jonny quite close and then Ali, as well as having a couple of people staring up my arse so pace seemed quite constant and easy enough to keep going. Looking back now, I'm glad the mist was down, probably would have been a sickening sight to see on the descent before.

When we hit the ridge I was slightly concerned by my legs feeling a little wobbly and stiff. Tried to settle into it but the rockiness meant it was hard to find a good rythmn. Managed to time a gel poorly so that I'd just opened it when hitting the first top and couldn't really let it go that well but managed to have a few glimpses of Ali along the ridge, although seeing the flags was actually quite challenging at times.

Was hoping that Finlay would pass on the way down soon and once he did it was nice to know the summit of Stuc wasn't too far away. Had banked on there being jelly babies at the top but it was the one place there wasn't, couldn't be sacked to get another gel out though. Came up to Ali on the descent at which point we agreed this was a grim experience. One of the little bumps felt really quite hard and Ali then got a bit of a gap going into the steep bit of a descent. Did the classic thought of 'how on earth has no-one broken their ankle on this race' before proceeding to role the ankle a little. Kind of broke my confidence a bit but was also a bit concerned that I generally felt a bit broken with a horrible climb still to come. Had hopes of closing the gap to Ali on the next climb but actually what happened was a horrific trudge that was probably one of my worst running experiences I've ever had. An Ochils guy was having a lie down and invited me to join which was highly tempting but I don't think I'd have ever got back up again.

Got to the top not too far ahead of Purko and the mini group ahead were a little way off. I was feeling pretty wrecked and so was simultaneously grateful that I wasn't racing anyone whilst also in need of some company to keep working a bit more. From there to the finish was a bit too cruisey in hindsight but at the time I felt done, as shown by any slight incline.

Slightly dissapointing at the fade, but like the 5k I can't really have expected much more given recent training. Most certainly type 2 fun - haven't felt as close to bodily failure in a race since the skyline in first year. Not sure if thats more a reflection of fitness or genuine course difficulty but I'm sure once the memory fades a bit I'll be keen to do this again.

Shakeout on the meadows, feeling pretty bad.

WU, still feeling terrible. The walk from the car park had felt terrible.

Scottish 5k Champs.

Really had no idea of how I'd do - ever since Spain my legs had felt god awful on pretty much every run; probably the least fit I've ever felt. In the sweepstake I put something like 16:45 but I was half expecting something worse and simultaneously hoping to pull out a much better time. Last year was frustrating in that I'm pretty confident sub-16 was very doable so that benchmark is still not ticked off yet.

Decided to just go by feel and see what happens. Got nicely swept along amongst the crowds at the start to go through the first k in 3:02. Although I was conscious that it felt fast it didn't seem too over the top so just tried to plug along. Ended up in nomansland after the turn into the wind which was frustrating but I didn't really want to waste energy trying to latch onto the group ahead. Just stuck it out and although it was obvious the pace was slowing there wasn't too many complaining from the legs yet.

Dan pulled up alongside and asked what pace we were on but didn't want to know so just tried to focus on working through the start / finish area where there was a lot of support right when it was needed.

The last two k were horrendous but somehow managed to pick it up a little towards the finish. Had a slim chance at the turn of being able to close down Eddie but a solid distance off in the end. Still, I can't really complain with the time given the complete lack of both miles and intensity in the past month or so.

And of course, despite how unpleasant it was, it's always enjoyable to do those races when there's so many decent runners and a lot of support to go with it.

Decent fish and chips after too to round off a lovely evening.

Splits: 3:02, 3:12, 3:20, 3:27, 3:15 - textbook stuff.

Also won the sweepstake.

C • Textbook stuff 2

Legs actually feeling quite good afterwards.

Lap of the Seat with Tam, Ali and Felly. Very enjoyable if a little windy. Did one poor stride and that was enough for the legs. Tomorrow will be a horrible experience.

Easy with Tam, Ali, Carcas and briefly Naoya. Very enjoyable loop of the crags, killing fields and seat.

Easy on Matley. Nice for the sun to finally come out whilst at home; going back to Edinburgh later.

Easy on Buskett's, ft. the most enjoyable trail in the Forest and the usual deer spots. I doubt this place has ever not been a bog fest at any point, ever.