Training Log Archive: Magic

IW. Shorts and cycle top but a bit nippy as well. Sunny and dry though.

HFW via P2C. Again a bit of a nip going on but a lovely evening aside from all the flies.

Scottish relay Championships, Balmoral. Open, Leg 2.

Quite possibly my best chance to ever be in a winning team for this. Almost was, but not quite.

Jamie ran well on first leg to set me off in second behind Clyde (never saw them) and with about 45 seconds on Harrison and Will Rigg. Needed this to get up the big hill to #1 as my body was tired from yesterday. Running better after that but three small mistakes in a row (10 seconds each) was enough for Harrison to pass me and for Will to catch up.

Had fun running will Will for a few legs and managed to keep just ahead ahead of him after a slightly longer gaffle. Also ran the hill quite strongly to the spectator but was then a bit cautious descending and got caught. Going the wrong side of a fallen tree to the penultimate control meant Will got ahead for the finish.

Pleased enough with my performance, especially as I was the only one in the first two teams who'd done a full length race yesterday. Also much better planning than yesterday but a shame that so much of the forest was familiar.

Mark and Sasha had a good duel on the last leg, but identical forking for them left little opportunity for Mark to try and make a break, so we finished in second just a couple of seconds down.
http://www.marocscotland.org.uk/documents/results/...

Event: Summer Park Series 1
 

Event: Scottish Championships Individual / Relays
 

Daniel Hubmann unable to retain his Scottish championship title today...

Scottish Championships, M21E, 12.2km, 610m, 34 controls.

Somewhat of a mixed bag this, the area was really nice, actually much cleaner than I was expecting although quite stony, but the planning was poor (34 controls in a 12km long race???) and I found the rock and vegetation mapping quite inconsistent.

Issues at #1 and #3 due to significant but unmapped boulders (my compass also wasn't working properly so couldn't rely on it), about a minute on each. Got better after that, wasn't running very quickly but it felt effortless, which was very nice and I was enjoying the terrain.

Lost time due to unmapped stones and veg at #10 (0.30) and again had issues with boulders at #13 (1min +) - lovely forest for that section. Several brutal legs followed, either pretty much straight up or down without being difficult. Kept running but only just.

Quite a nasty loop from #22-24 (did we have to go in here?) and then a struggle back up the hill again at the end. Was pretty hungry by this stage as had had an early breakfast and not much to eat thereafter.

Not a spectacular run by any means and not worthy of a Scottish Championship win, but I'll take it as none of the others seemed to want it (and it will be amusing to see my name on the trophy after GG and Mr Hubmann!).
http://www.soa.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#51&course=1&...
http://www.marocscotland.org.uk/documents/results/...

C • A sweep of the Celtic nations' long distance champs? 3

Up Ben Vorlich from Loch Earn with Mark and Alice. A few wee showers on the way up but otherwise a respectable day. Steady pace all the way up with a 15 min stop for lunch, walking about 3 hours all in (which included a detour around the rhododendron garden on the way down). Munro #5 I think...

IW. Turns out it was my front brake that was causing the friction. How I didn't notice this and why it was fine when freewheeling and not while peddling I don't understand. Anyway, flying this morning.

HFW. In a bit of a rush to be able to get going on the drive up to Scotland. Moving so much today (apart from the uncooperative traffic lights).

IW. Felt like cycling through glue, made more enjoyable by some added rain. A numpty on a moped have driven into the back of a van in Tong holding everything up - not sure why as both the numpty and the can were grand.

HFW> Rain gone, but replaced by wind = even more of a struggle. Hard on the quads as it's like cycling up an Alp for half an hour.

IW. Another two cyclist passing by. The second being Nick D on his fold up commuter bike... Worked out the problem: something not working in the rear hub so it feels like I'm cycling with the brakes rubbing = very hard work for little return, especially when I'm in such a big gear anyway.

HFW. And another two... Also not helped at all by the wind. Had to work really hard to go slow. Took nearly 4 minutes longer than it should have.

MDC run up Sugarloaf from the south-west. Massive group so lots of stopping to regroup, until we split into two on the way down. Unfortunately Alan failed to mention that he changed his mind about running with the faster group so after waiting for him for several minutes, we retraced our steps for 2.5km to see if he was lying in a pool of blood somewhere... He was in the pub by the time we got back. Really fast terrain and the climb quite easy from this side, the race will be swift.