Training Log Archive: SarahD

With J and E. Nice recovery out the DW to Cambus for ice-cream then home the same way. Not quite as much of a potter as I had envisaged.

Recovery trot round Dess woods with J and E. Let E choose the route; he took us straight up the ski slope and on to the top of the ride... think it was pay back time for yesterday :-(
Feeling shafted.

Short one this morning. Didn't feel too bad.

The Lochinver Lochathlon....
As an insanely daft climax to our holiday J and I decided to see how many lochs we could visit and swim in a run off the road between Lochinver and Clachtoll. It was impossible to plan as we had no idea how cold we would get, what the terrain was like, what the lochs would be like etc. E was cynical from the outset but we thought we had him roped in as land support and to carry a bit of spare kit / map / food.
Climbed the deer fence 100m from the car to enter the world of regenerating, community owned Assynt. It's fantastic, it's full of biodiversity, it's full of bog and heather and rocks and bog myrtle and bracken... but you really don't want to try and run through it. Ah well at least we didn't need to worry about wet feet.
Loch no 1. Loch a Phollain - a bit shallow and weedy. Go further round and do a wee crossing with E bringing bag round on land
On to loch no 2 and it can't get worse, or can it? Second full body disappearance into a hole in the ground and E's not getting any happier either. Starting to realise that the challenge of the day is not about whether we can stay warm, but whether we can negotiate the terrain.
Loch no 2. Loch a Phollain Drisich - send E round on the high ground to the re-entrant towards the next loch and cross to the boulders with J, except we still have the map. Time to test the waterproof case out!
On to loch no 3 and now we're scrambling through rocky heather and E has disappeared. Totally. Lots of shouting, climb high ground re-tracing steps until we finally spot him. Spare kit thrown at us and he disappears in a huff (and I really can't say I blame him for once!).
Loch no 3. Lochan Caorainn - a bit weedy but ok for a short out and back.
On to loch no. 4 and as we get onto higher ground the going improves, although it's still an awful lot of up and down.
Loch no. 4 Loch Glac na Goibhre - all good. Out and back to some rocks.
Almost running a few sections now and lochs 5 and 6 are right next to each other.
Loch no. 5 Loch Meall a Chuna Beag - a bit shallow and weedy
Loch no. 6 Loch Meall a Chuna - much nicer so do a wider crossing to a big rock and back
Then a short jog across to loch no 7 which isn't even shown on the Strava map...
Loch no. 7 Lochan Mhudbhalobh - for a good reason as it's not much more than a bog. Bog snorkelling springs to mind as we squelch across and back a short muddy section
Loch no. 8 Lochan Uhnaimed - gorgeous deep water off craggy sides. Across to a rowan on the far side and back
Loch no. 9 Lochan Meall a Chuna Beager - find a deeper bit after wading round the edge for a way
Loch no. 10 Lochan Fhinalich - quite nice once we got away from the edge.
Definitely starting to feel a bit on edge with the wind blowing, so made the effort to keep up a run on the squelch back to Pollan cottage and thence by track to the car.

Crazy plan, but it was a bit of fun. Thinking of commercialising the concept into an event, but we might need to do a bit more careful planning before it will take off - not sure how many orienteers would appreciate some of that terrain, never mind the general running / outdoor community!

10 x Lochinver lochs

Skipped the pre breakfast run in favour of something a bit longer today. Dropped by J at Inchnadamph to run by the path over the shoulder of Glas Bheinn past the Lochan a Choire Ghuirm to descend to the Kylesku road just north of the Quinag cp. J ran this during the DR big relay and recommended it. It was indeed a lovely route and legs didn't feel too bad on the steady climb. Since I'm never going to catch a fish in the Loch of the Green Corrie I decided in the spirit of the holiday that I should swim in it instead. Job duly done and selfie evidence obtained. From there it was cross-country back to the path and a rough descent towards Loch na Gainmhich. Last 1.5km back along the road to meet J and E at Quinag cp. Great!

In the Loch of the Green Corrie of Norman McCaig / Andrew Greig fame.

In Maiden Loch. A bit wet and cold by the time we got to our proper swim of the day, so kept it fairly short.

Pre breakfast over to Badnaban road end again. Tried to run it harder and was a fair bit quicker, but it didn't feel much better.

Sea kayaking from Old Dornie round the Summer Isles. In a double with J and didn't seem to need to put much effort in to find ourselves leaving others behind, so a nice easy morning. Gorgeous day and flat calm sea. Out for a couple of hours.

In Loch Druim Suardalain. Suilven and Canisp as the backdrop today. Shallower and felt quite warm - could have stayed in longer.

Walk back out from bivvy. First midgey encounter of the hols!

Walk up Cul Beag by the path from Linneraineach. Somewhat unorthodox and interesting descent back to the road... Out for 2:50, just over 2h moving.

In Loch Assynt. Cooold, even with good strong sun overhead..

Back to normal this morning... out and back on track behind the house then down to bay and river.

In the sea at Achmelvich. Cold.

From Achmelvich beach to the tea room at the far end of Lochinver. Gorgeous track past Loch Dubh and over the top to Baddidarach. Not feeling great running but beautiful day and couldn't not enjoy it.

In Loch Bad na Muirichinn. Short walk through a rocky cut to get to the loch, tucked away in a stunning setting with Suilven as a backdrop. Felt quite warm, probably as there was some heat in the sun today. Great.

Short walk in to bivvy on a hilltop overlooking the sea, above Poll Loisgan