Training Log Archive: OJ

Whoops, didn't mean to go this far. Ran off memory from a glance at Steve's map and misjudged it a little. Oh well, took it very slow and the legs sort of behaved.

S6D day 6, Glen Feader W. Good to have the reverse order start to give a bit of impetus to weary legs. Started hard up the hill, but was blowing quickly and missed when we dropped into a bit of heathery moraine. I didn't realise I had passed Will here, but knew that the wolves would soon be biting at my heels. Some big climbs and heather bashing ensued with Mark and Will chasing me down and just as I was getting ready to hop on the train I missed on the slope allowing both to slip past above me. Hammered the next leg to try to get back in touch and was lucky that they missed the control. Phew, needed to sit in for a bit to recover and enjoyed letting someone else do the work. Hung on to Mark for all I was worth through the last part, he was running well!

Got to be happy with the week - it's been a pleasure to be back in the forest and running relatively competitively. Great planning every day made the most of the terrain in spite of a few areas that were only OK. Great for the kids too, Alex loved running up the run in on the big screen!

S6D day 6, Glen Feader E. Tired today for the first time, but felt good as soon as I got moving. Another surprisingly good course although pretty fast and straightforward. A couple of wobbles, but generally pretty good. Not much chance on the overall.

S6D day 4: Creag Choinnich. Nice aesthetically, all views over the mountains, rivers and castles, but not nice to run through. Felt strong on the climbs but struggled a bit in the rougher stuff. Silly mistakes on a couple of slope controls, getting carried away with the running. Some work to do to narrow the gap in front and protect my gap behind!

Up to the start running late and a cruise with Will and Dane to warm down, pretending not to be knackered.

Couldn't resist the local hills. Nice and steady.

S6D Day 3: Birsemore. Early start for the WRE but a pretty good run in spite of the long grass and bracken. A few seconds lost here and there, but blew it with a bigger mistake leaving one of the easy last controls in the wrong direction, getting pushed off line by a wall of bracken. Oh well, not too much damage done on the overall.

C • Wall of bracken 6

Loch Kinord and the Vat, including a brief dip.

S6D Day 2. Great new area and a really enjoyable course, especially with a late start. Surprised myself with a technically good run, although started to lose the focus towards the end. Managed to get moving pretty well today and was feeling the orienteering love.