Training Log Archive: Big Jon

Hill session with Sarah - started at base of Morven (nothing like a challenge - last year this took 27x1 minutes). Within 3 intervals realised things were not working as normal. Decided to go to plateau and bailed out from there. 16x1+1. Legs not working at top end - no "top gear".

jog to start and jog down steep route off plateau - legs feeling a bit wobbly at bottom, so must have done something with session!

Coylumbridge car park round Loch an Eilean. Part in terrain, part tracks (prob 40/46). Feeling better than yesterday but struggled on uphills in terrain, legs holding no endurance.

With Sarah from Victory Hall to golf course, round Aboyne Loch and back, had half thought of doing longer loop, but felt enough and didn't fancy any hills.

Rest day. Utterly drained from lack of sleep, day passed in a haze of fatigue and broken sentences and thoughts.
What an experience! When can we do it again? Will anything else ever be as much fun and pain and so draining?
Time to recharge batteries for Jukola, but for once it will seem tame... maybe!

C • amazing! 9

Leg 74 with Alan S. Steady start (big hill) feeling OK. Past Lochan A Choire Ghuirm and wonderful fast descent down moor and stony track. Job done, over to the last 8 legs.
Met the base at Kinlochewe and caught up with things then headed off with Sarah to Lochinver (first time together over whole weekend!). Back to Garve then over to Braemore Junction and Ullapool, finally the drive past Inchnadamph and down to Lochinver (and the rain!!). Ended up staying on base till 2am and decide to do a leg swap to allow Dave H to run last leg. 2 hours sleep then up to the rain for my last leg.
Long time at changeover again (rain mercifully having cleared by now) then off up hill - long climb (120m - 630m). Start just up stream from Inchnadamph Hotel, footpath up to Loch Flendach Coire and to bealach north. Took a short cut here so instead of following track towards top of Eas a Chual Aluinn we cut half left past Lochan a Choire Ghuirm (Loch of the Green Corrie) [check out Andrew Greig's book of the same name] and diagonally towards Loch Bealach a Bhuirich and down the track to changeover at road near Loch na Gainmhich. Best part of whole weekend, racing flat out down the rocky, narrow track with Alan close behind, knowing that a fall would be disasterous but feeling invincible, immortal and totally in control. Dave and Miles claimed I was raving at them to run like hell and other such nonsense - but they did just that and flew down the road to Kylestome.
http://www.deesiderunners.com/?page_id=311

Leg 60 with Alan S. Tired at start and struggled on climbs, dropped on climb and savage descent.
Right from 2 minutes into the run I felt wasted and pushed harder than ever to try to save some face and stick with Alan on the flat. At the break of slope we passed a wee bothy - no sign of life (overlooking Loch an Laoigh) We agreed he would push up hill and down descent to try to gain some time. He gradually pulled away up the hill - a lovely little track on a spur and I finally reached to top - boosted by seeing him walk on one occasion! Views were staggering to the north - to Torridon hills, vast walls of black rock and acres of scree. Stopped to take a few pics then headed down the old stalkers path...... Savage switchback through the cliffs at the top of the slope then a fast whiz down zig-zgs, unfortunately it was about 5km from here and it felt a looooooong, loooooong way. Finally reached edge of forest and reaching a forest road checked on map, cut over fence, stream and second fence to get back on the same forest road I had been on - I'd cut off about 100m distance.... Along this track and across the River Carron (very low) then fought through gorse patch to road at Lair. No sign of others so assumed Alan had changed over already... then he appeared from my right pelting along the road... he had gone the wrong way on forest road and added about 1.5 km on to run! Sarah and Clare appeared at this point and we handed kit over. What an amazing area - must return to check out the bothy and hills to south and north of Strath Carron.

To start with AS. steep hilly track, walked large sections. Felt desperate at the start - like my last nights sleep on 7 hours hadn't happened! Gradually warmed up into cycling when it was flat, but off the bike at any hill nad walked up pushing bike. Alan meanwhile was cruising up the hills on a worse bike than mine! We passed the 300 col (Bealach Alltan Ruairidh) and had a great descent to the river Uisge Dhubh and Bendronaig Lodge. A long wait here (we had left deliberately early) for Dave and Ruth, but the familiar adrenaline rush as they ran towards us and off....

Leg 31 with Donald K Tough climb brutal descent then fast track - added 2.5km due to late next runners.
Up after 2 hours sleep to shovel in some porridge, toast and tea, then into the car to drive to Glen Lednock. Frosty dawn light and sun not yet over hills when we arrived (having passed Marie and Greg en-route). Tough start up the hill and very quickly became apparent that Donald was stronger on the uphills than me. I struggled on as best I could and he held back to avoid dropping me by too much. Near the top of the climb we reached sunlight and I felt a surge of optimism and new strength. A peaty-hag ridden traverse then an incredibly steep land-rover track descent did further damage to my legs.... Onto the main track in Glen Almond and fast running to the changeover point, only to find the next pair missing. Nothing for it but to carry on (albeit at a slightly slower pace!). We eventually met them 2.5km down the Glen - they had got lost on drive to the area! Handed on to them and mounted bikes for 10km ride down to the car at Newtown Bridge, then home to Strathyre in time to pack up and head up to Pitlochry through the tourist traffic.

Leg 38 chasing Ewen K up Glen Tilt. Tired & hot

Arrived at Pitlochry in time to grab a bit of water, fresh route map and head off to Blair Atholl to await Jane who was soloing leg 37. Feeling a bit tired so agreed Ewen would just run his own pace up the Tilt with both sat phone and tracker and I would do my best to stay in contact. He gradually pulled away and had nearly caught the next pair (who were cycling up the Tilt) by the changeover (which meant they had no recovery time!). It was a baking hot sunny day and the hill seemed to grind on for ever. Eventually reched the changeover just in time to see Ruth and Staphanie heading off up the glen. Pleased to have held Ewen to 2-3 mins lead.

Leg 44 very tired, with Derek. Decent pace bit not dying! Dusk again
After leg 38 I crawled back to Pitlochry and showered, had a one hour nap, ate more food (a delicious prawn pasta dish) and drank litres of water. All to soon had to leave for next leg, but Derek drove car and I was able to rest a little. Had plenty of time at start and I finally drank enough to re-hydrate. Set off in the dusk again and had a lovely cool run over through Glen Banchor to Laggan. Much of the way was trackless, just trying to pick good lines through the rough grazing and avoiding the worst of the marshes and heather. Good work at end to pick up a better track off than marked line and down almost in darkness to Laggan. Farmer turned up almost immediately to accuse us of leaving gates open and threatened to "track us down" if he found any open and "I've got your number plate" - we didn't tell him it wasn't our car! Late drive to get to Great Glen Hostal nad 2 huge plates of lamb tagine. Finally a whole 7 hours in bed - more than over the previous 4 nights.
Worst over now - 5 legs down, only 2 to go. In the past 25 hours I have run 45 km, 4-40 hours running, 2 hours biking, 5 hours driving and 3 hours sleep. Not good for health!

Cycle out to car down Glen Almond, very scenic, very god quality track, shame about the legs... Managed to keep up with Donald and time passed fairly quickly.

Cycle down Glen Tilt with EK. Horribly tired...
Glen Tilt - the less said the better! Hot, long, slow on bike that was way too small (so all runners could ride we only took medium bikes - none that I rode had high enough saddles.....). Ewen gallantly held back to avoid me more embarrassment by riding away from me. Nearly down he commented that my bike had no suspension - which explained my sore arms, aching shoulders and general beat-up feeling!

Big Relay leg 9 Ran flat out - feeling OK
Route half road and half good track. Before start tried a wee warm-up jog but was too cold so went back into car ! When previous leg runners came into view I had a huge surge of adrenaline and whizzed off, feeling great! Amazing the effect of being in a team effort can have. Stomach was fine - possibly illness was a water borne bug (plenty of sheep at end of Day 3 run - even high up Glen Licht).

Leg 22 Milngavie to Glengoyne. Flat out at dusk, one wobble in Mugdock CP. Dark by end, good hard effort.
Previous leg were a little later than hoped for - I think I mistook timings! Waiting nervously near Milngavie railway station and moved to start arch of West Highland Way for actual change-over, Alan raced in, thrust the GPS tracker and sat phone into my hands shouting "Run like the wind" and I was off. Within 200m a fox ambled onto the track ahead of me, turned on hearing my footsteps and continued to amble across the track - obviously my wind-running wasn't all that impressive!
I started at 2140 and it gradually got darker as I ran north into a glorious sunset behind Ben Lomond. The last 2.5km were along an old railway line and here I stuck the head down and went for it - in an attempt to match the "par-time" for the leg, just managed it - but at a pretty huge cost of effort!
Managed to drop a small head torch at the changeover - probably as I got my phone out to phone in changeover time to base (for updating of schedule page). Drive back to Strathyre was lovely in the dark with a huge yellow moon rising over the Campsie Fells to my right. Back to hostel and 2 huge bowls of curry with nan bread - first proper meal in 48 hours.

Ill last night so missed morning road session, joined for off-road section. A bit weak.

Glen Affric to Morvich. started in wind, met hail and driving rain after 40 mins - continued till YH, really pretty grim. Slackened before lunch at bothy and afternoon was almost dry - great descent down glen to Glen Licht House, then plod out. Lot of fresh snow on hills - above approx 750/800m. Now feeling pretty battered - head-wind all day and cold air. Hope weather gets milder for Friday, but not looking like it! 3C forecast for tonight at Kyle.

Tomich to Glen Affric car park. Short day (only 9 miles). Feeling good, put in 12 minute burst near end to catch leaders - to make sure they turned to car park and not towards Morvich (18 miles away....). Another pleasant running day - cool, light breeze and dry. Plenty of snow patches on north Affric hills. Tomorrow should be spectacular if weather holds and cloud stays high. Impossible 9 days looks possible now ;-)

C • edinburgh 3

Drumnadrochit to Tomich, great day, cool and dry. Took 2nd group till lunch so nice easy pace. 1st group after lunch but all chose to walk in boggy section, so very easy day overall. No ospreys at fishing lochs (too much breeze). Legs holding out well - just a bit achy lower left ham and upper quads. In river after for 10 mins - good cooling of legs/knees (not brave enough to try any deeper!).

Guiding for Running the Highlands, Run across Scotland. Inverness to Drumnadrochit. Decent pace despite cloud and general damp in first 3/4 of run. Legs tired and achey feet by end.

rest day - apart from an hour of gentle weeding before the rain came on at lunchtime.

Checking out tracks in woods aroundf Craigievar Castle - nice woods but not much detail.

C • Castles 3

2.5 hours surveying. Lovely sunny mild day.

Down to village for school meeting and back. Nice evening, bright and mild.

With Sarah from Victory Hall to Bellwood, check out bike park and back via Old Deeside Road. Tripped on track (branch hidden in grass...) no major damage.

From garage in Aboyne (dropped car off for MOT) to Finzean Estate office and home to Dess via Potties. Nice day, a bit breezy but avoided showers.

Glen Tanar with Deeside Runners, 2 bridges loop with 6x2+1. On own but felt I was working and going reasonably well. Back felt fine, hardly aware of any pain or tightness.

Decent overall time for the loop. Legs feeling tired after intervals so probably good not to have completely thrashed them. 5 days till the impossible 9 days running.

Wee run at Hill of Banchory. Lovely sunny morning, though stiff wind and chilly.

Session using big ball. Back was a bit achy at start but improved as session progressed. Optimistic it will be better by Sunday morning - start of 9 days back-to-back running with Run Across Scotland followed by the Deeside Runners Big Relay. Approx 27 hours running in 9 days..... it will be interesting to see how I fare.

Maroc training, Glen O'Dee. 2 short loops with Ewen K - pairs exercise. Feeling OK in terrain - lower right back a bit tight and tweaky but not too bad.

Aboyne to home along railway line. Steady, but think it was a decent pace (given time). Legs felt a bit stiff and back was tight and felt a bit awkward.

Rest day - but 3 hours heavy gardening - breaking up old tree stumps. Lower right back is a bit achy now.....

Dinnet to north edge of moor, up old drove road to Cambus, powerline path and past carpark , crossed A93 and back along railway line. Felt a bit tired when first on railway line, but focussed on picking up knees and finished feeling good and strong - and fairly quick (I think!). Good boost to my confidence esp. when done after yesterdays session.

C • good stuff 1

Dess Wood hills - 4 times up from bridge to above crocodile hut, each one with 4x1+1. Tough on first set, then felt better for next 2 sets and fought on last set. Good session, felt better as session progressed. Maybe over the wobble of the last 2 weeks.

Long warm-up, down to Deesdie Way, up past A P-B's and down to activity park (met Jess and Fran at Schools festival). then along low track to start. After went over hill top and back via normal track.

Rest day

Cycled to meet Ewan from school - except he went to a friends... so cycled hard home - collapsing in a sweaty heap once back. 20C in Deeside today.

Deeside Runners at Glen Tanar. Did long loop and pushed last bit to top of hill.

Pushed hard up last hill.

Dorking Urban race. Took steady as legs stiff and sore from previous 2 days racing and I wasn't really interested. Had a fair few wobbles and little back-tracks as I bumbled round. Still a decent training run on a nice warm day.

Walk to start with Ewan and then a few bits of jogging round.

British Relays, Men's Open with Josh& Callum. 3rd leg 6.3k, 41.17. A few wobbles cost me ca. 1-1.5 mins. 6th overall, really chuffed.

Decent warm-up, legs sore at start and worse by end!

BOC, M50. 6th place (6 mins down on Clive). Ran hard from start but seemed to lack top gear, mever comfortable and very tired by 30 mins..... Several possible causes, need to analyse and think next week.

Good length warm-up and evenmanaged a few minutes shuffle afterwards.

BOC training at The Chantries. Feeling pretty ropey, struggling on hills. Lovely forest and hot, sunny day.

Home to Kinker and back, feeling pretty sluggish.

Aboyne with Sarah - same as last Wednesday. Very pleasant.