Training Log Archive: SarahD

Beinn Dorain and Beinn na Dothaide from Bridge of Orchy. Slighty sluggish start after sitting in the van for 4 hrs, but felt surprisingly good once I got going and decided to work it, at least up onto Beinn Dorain. Told myself to chill out after that, but still kept a reasonable pace going and ended up chasing 3hrs total on the way back (made it in 2.51). Cleared out nicely to give plenty of good views. 2 new Munro ticks - the first in a while!
Sat in the river after. This felt like one of the easiest 1200m climbs I’ve ever done :-)

Dess skyline by mtb minus Mortlich. Nice ride on varied terrain but including a few sections of easy single track. Push up onto Craiglich summit, but proud of myself for braving the descent back down - it was fine! Changed plans as I got to the junction onto the top of Mortlich as I figured I’d spend more time off the bike than on and didn’t fancy the bracken on the other side either. Dropped to the farm then road back to Boddomend instead.

Carnferg with RB, JJ, JS&N. Up the Fungle, round the back then back via mtb trails and Birsemore hill. Lovely run. Worked hard on last climb up the back of Carnferg to try and chase after JS and with JJ hot on my heels. Legs feeling fine tonight. All good stuff :-)

Caught a gap in the weather to stretch the legs out. Legs tired and sore after last night's minimal effort..... maybe wasn't too smart. Feeling better for a trot though. Throwing in some kms on hard surfaces to try and get the feet a bit more used to them.

DR @ GT . Headed along early for an extended w-u. Wasn’t sure how much of the proper session I’d do, but went better than anticipated.
20’ w-u
15’ chat
8’ w-u
2 x long hilly loops with corner cutting
2 x short flatter loops with short cut
5’ jog back
Legs ok until I hit the steepest bit of climb!

Reccie of Balmedie for SHI relays. Legs felt like they didn’t belong to me. Seemed to be in a parallel universe to the new map too. Hmmm.

inc foot / toe mobility stuff

Sacked the bike ride and went for another swim in QL instead. Back to running in the next day or two.

Frog CP73 Overlook Loch. Brown, shallow and too many biting ants to make this rate very highly!

Off road route to Queens Loch with a wee lap of the woods first. Legs recovering well. Feet still a bit tender.

Lovely swim in QL with J :-)

Glorious swim (and wash) in a favourite loch above Balmacara :-)

Glen Shiel Round with JS. Five Sisters, Three Brothers, S Glenshiel ridge, Sgurr na Sgine and the Saddle. Epic.

We set off from Invershiel on a c-w round shortly before 5:30. The mist had descended overnight, but the sun was almost breaking through even at that stage and we knew this was going to be a hot one. Fuelled by pastries, Jim bounced off along the road faster than my body was capable of, but I let him drift ahead while I woke up and slowly got going. We were soon onto the path up the valley towards Sgurr na Moraich and climbing through the cloud to give stunning views out to the isles over the inversion. Once we left the path to climb the hill it was easier to match Jim’s pace and I relaxed my fear about holding him back the whole day. The first few peaks passed by in a joy of running the ridge line with views of mountains poking out through the cloud in every direction.
By the time we were through the Five Sisters our initial 1.5l of liquid was all but drunk and we had started scanning the slopes for any possibilities to pick up water. After a dry spring, options were even more limited than normal and in the baking sun it was clear this was going to be one of the biggest challenges of the day. Jim attempted to scratch around in some peat below the Bealach an Lapain, before resigning ourselves to negotiating Saileag before we would find anything. Our joy at seeing a muddy puddle was to become a theme for the day. By the third of the Brothers it’s fair to say we were both feeling pretty weary and doubts about the reality of completing our objective on such a hot day were lurking in the back of my head. But Cluanie beckoned and the thought of an ice cold coke was a good motivator whilst running off the north ridge.
Rehydrated and fuelled we crossed the road to head for the south Glenshiel ridge. Jim was in shock from having to take out a new mortgage to pay for the cokes, whilst the sugar high had briefly put me in denial of the rest of the day to come. The track running was a pleasant relief initially, but before long I could feel the soles of my feet burning and I couldn’t wait to get off it. With water bottles filled we headed up the stalker’s path onto Creag a Mhaim. There was some relief for the feet, though clegs came in to take their place as the annoying distraction. But it was a stunning day and awesome to be out in the mountains on a great challenge.
It was a long slog up CaM and recovery time at the top gave a chance to investigate my feet. They weren’t looking great and I was pretty sure that doing nothing was going to lead to an early exit for me, so I strapped them up with tape and crossed fingers it would reduce the friction. They did feel better and we got going again well, until my energy flagged after a couple more tops - the coke effect had clearly now worn off and not been adequately replaced in the interim. We were well in the heat of the day, there was a long long way to go and I hit a serious low. We had some debate, as J was keen to push on ahead, but I wasn’t quite for throwing in the towel yet. We agreed to continue together for now and soon enough new fuel kicked in and I was back in the game.
It was, however, still a very long way to go. Much further even than we realised, as our distance estimates based on FWs route turned out to be rather minimalist. We plugged on steadily, regularly refilling water bottles from muddy puddles that I normally wouldn’t even look at. Finally we had reached the end of the S Glenshiel ridge. Just Sgurr na Sgine and the Saddle to go - how hard could it be?
Very as it turned out. There were several big drops and climbs and SnaS has major cliffs on the side that we were approaching from. Time was ticking on, but I was still comfortable that we could hit the top of the Saddle with enough daylight to get quite well down off the tops. And sure enough we arrived in time to catch the sun setting over the isles. What a special place to be on a day like this.
We had long since sacked the concept of adding in Biod an Fhithich, intending to drop into the valley after descending the side of Forcan ridge. However, looking at the ground and map from the top we realised we could lose a lot of height quite quickly if we dropped towards Loch a Choire Uaine and head out the adjacent glen. Heading down into unknown steep craggy ground was a bit of a risk, but we took it and successfully managed to weave our way down through rock bands to the loch and safer ground for negotiation with mini head torches.
From there it was just a long trudge back in the dark and though I was exhausted the grin was already starting to spread across my face. We were finally back to the vans at 11:45, some 18h 20m, 64.5km, 5070m of climb, and umpteen litres of muddy water after we set off. What a day!
There’s no doubt it’s harder in many ways to complete a round like this as a pair and would almost always be faster going solo, but the shared experience can more than make up for that and I seriously doubt I would have ground this one out on my own. Awesome and memorable!

C • Definitely awesome! 1

Trot round Trustach. Legs feeling fine but humid again!

Aboyne - SDee - Potties - home.
Need some quality rapid recovery for later in the week.

Short walk with J from Braemar Castle across to the Invercauld monument to bag J’s last cp. Tired!

Nothing too tight or sore - result :-)

In from LoD to Luibeg

Final DR CP round - 6,4,1,2,3 with J, RC, JS, SS, SR and KH. From Luibeg into Garbh Coire from the LG and steeply up from the bothy to Lochan Uaine. Quick dip with J - wind blowing a hooley and plenty waves on the water, then up to the summit of Angels peak via Angels ridge, which turned out to be a bit disappointing, though perhaps might have been more interesting if we’d stuck more rigorously to the ridge line. Cloud on the tops at this point, but it soon cleared as we headed out to the Wells of Dee. Not much to see there and retraced steps initially before skirting round to Loch nan Stuirteag. Another wee dip and stunning photo shoot before heading on up Monadh Mhor and onwards to my final CP on Beinn Bhrotain. Easy enough line back but is seemed to take an age and the dip in the Luibeg couldn’t come soon enough. Fab route to finish off the challenge and lovely to do so in such great company :-))

And back oot with a brief interruption to fix Sue’s flat.

To far end of Loch Muick and back after

Out the path towards Dubh Loch then up the side of the waterfall to Loch Buidhe. New spot for me. Great views back down the waterfall towards Loch Muick. Surprised to see a wee tent at the other end of LB - great spot to camp!

Another lovely Loch swim and was able to get away with a skinny dip this time :-)

Home to Queens View - uphill only!

Pressendye and the Socach with SS fro.m QV. Glorious day but too hot for running! Nice to take it steady. Foot not very happy on the big track ( in Xtalons) as per usual

Then on to Queens Loch for a gorgeous swim - across and back. Met Sand PP there again - Not bad for a selectively private swimming pool!

Trying to keep at it!

From Balmoral up to the Lochnagar tourist path end

Plan was for a short easy run over to Lochnagar loch for a swim with a short diversion to the top of Meikle Pap. Swim was wonderful- really didn’t feel too cold at all. Then decided to have an explore up Black Spout in search of alpine sow thistle. Didn’t manage to find it, but was a pleasant foray regardless and would have been a shame not to top out on Lochnagar on such a lovely day in any case. Easy running back. Legs feeling ok but definitely still tired. Hard not to play when you’re on holiday with such nice weather :-)

Back oot

Loosening up nicely :-)

From Balfour up the big track towards Carnferg, then onto the gorse trail along the back side - nice bit of singletrack for easy mtb. Back down the main track initially towards gamie's house, then cut onto Oh Deer for another nince bit of singletrack. Legs shot for climbing, but no specific sore bits and calf fine with this. Contemplated doing more but decided this was probably enough for today.

Outside in the sun. Gave the calf a good roll too.

Easy walk round Lindisfarne with J, K and A. Calf still well knotted up.

Damage assessment - right calf solidly knotted, both quads trashed, few foot niggles but otherwise ok. Didn’t use poles for this one and think I have more muscle soreness as a result.

Pinnacle Ridge Extreme
Tough old day. Easily the most consistently technical race I’ve ever done, but then it is billed as such to be fair.
Damp, muggy dreich start to the day and clear from the get go that it was going to be even more techy (if not to say dodgy) with greasy rock for the scramble sections. First test of that comes after a straight forward 14km - just enough to make sure your legs are already feeling it! Brown Cove Crag (grade II scramble) was very greasy as anticipated, though thankfully the safety team had put in some fixed ropes. Despite that I was feeling less than comfortable by the top, not least in the knowledge that I could expect Pinnacle ridge to be harder. That was praying on my mind all the way from there. Kept going steadily down Swirral edge and up Striding, but all the time going really carefully on the wet rock. By the time I was dropping off Eagles crag it had brightened up and the rock had dried up a lot, giving some relief, though by this stage threatening cramp was causing issues instead. Left foot had also been complaining for some time. The climb up towards Pinnacle Ridge is a brutal crawl on all fours for much of it, but I actually made quite good time on this compared with others around me. Then it was onto the scramble itself. I knew I was unlikely to get up it without some cramp issues, so moving really carefully to try and manage it. It was the quad that went first, but I managed to get onto a nice ledge to stretch it off. Then just below the crux, my calf majorly locked up - there was much accompanying screaming and swearing as I tried to deal with this, but did at least get myself into a safe position. The crux itself has the safety team with a fixed rope, but having just witnessed my cramping screams I was also given the option to rope up, which I gladly accepted without hesitation! In practice I got up without more cramping but was glad of the support. After that there’s the piece de resistance over the pinnacles themselves - not tricky but very exposed, so I was still quite on edge. Breathed a big sigh of relief once I was off the top and the run back down to the finish was almost enjoyable!
Really pleased to have done the race. It certainly took me to the edge of my comfort zone if not beyond. In dry conditions and without cramp I would have been able to enjoy it much more.
1st FV45 of 1. 6th of 7 F starters but just over an hour behind the winner so I’ll take that!

C • Fab!! 3

Easy touristing trot round Brimham rocks and adjacent moorland with J.

Wee leg loosener from Ripon - out along the river towards Studley Roger. Hot and humid but feeling ok.

Couple of laps of Chutney Nudger to get to know the bike a bit better…. starting to feel more confident already :-)

Lap of the woods in the rain

Easy week… can I cope?

C • Easy ... 1

In to Abergeldie Lodge from LoD via Chest of Dee

Decided to save Plan A for a better day when we would be able to appreciate the mountains and get some views. Plan B was a revisit to CPs 12, 5 and 9 for JS and SR, with J also on a revisit. Did the loop up onto Coire na Creige the opposite way round from last time, but failed to find as good ground as we had coming off the hill before. Cloud on tops, nae views, but a bit of compass practice for S and plenty good chat.

Back oot managing to ride all of the river crossings - not often that would be possible on this route.

Major slump after the mornings outing. Decided I must need it, so went with the flow and chilled with a book etc for most of the afternoon. At 4ish realised that I had completely perked up and my legs were feeling fine, so decided I should go and try another run to make up some of the miles I had been planning. GT circuit behind Baudy Meg, Guard, Cragendinnie mast and back to Braeloine by river bank, feeling pretty good for a steady run just tiring towards the end. Still not as many miles as my vague training plan tells me I should be doing, but something salvaged at least.

Getting some easier miles under my belt. From Dinnet over the muir to NW corner, track over the shoulder to Cambus, bit of an extra little loop, then DW and river bank back to Dinnet. Tired at the start but perked up a bit once I got going. Stopped by LK for a longish chat with CS / DT who I hadn’t seen for 7ish years. Long time since I’ve run the river bank section- some lovely remeandering / gravel/ sand deposits etc.
Lovely dip under the bridge at Dinnet - great pools and only 1 family around.

Pretty weary - day off called for

From Cambus bridge along towards Ballater through Torphantrick and river bank path. Back tracks up to Glen Muick old bridge and into Allt Cailleach. Forest tracks up to the edge of the hills then left the bike to take in the top of the Coyles. Back by the green mile - super dry atm and mostly rideable, but plenty practice needed for sure. Dame JD path down to Polhollick and back to Ballater by 7 bridges route. DW back to Cambus for a dip. Cracking day. Loving the new wheels- they certainly open up lots of new possibilities if I’m prepared to put a bit of effort into learning.