Training Log Archive: Big Jon

Lap of Loch Kinord with Sarah from Burn O'Vat car park. Pleasant and very mild. Left leg still got lots of aches throughout it - need to do some stretching.

Collecting controls from Glen Davan with Sarah. What a glorious little area. Left leg started easing off almost immediately once I was in the terrain.

1 hour - fruit tree hole digging, barrowing manure and knocking in fence posts. Feeling achy all over after!

Needed it after the last 2 days, lots of aches and sore bits - hopefully get over them with more training.

8x2+1 on Deeside way, flat section west of home. Upper front of left thigh felt tweaky - almost like groin, stayed steady throughout session. Left calf felt tight on stretching at end.

Down Deeside way, across Dess Burn and to start on old railway line. Both knees very painful at start - for about 5 minutes, then eased off - maybe a cycling/surveying issue and no running for over a week.
Felt pretty poor at start, sluggish and stiff, going better by end.

5 hours surveying.

4.5 hours surveying - delayed till lunch time to avoid the rain - successful, dry session and glorious sunset.

7.5 hours surveying.

6 hours surveying, Wet spell in middle but mostly OK.

Warkworth to Morpeth. Last leg - started very pleasantly then gradually got more industrial - power station, aluminium smelter and cycle path along sand-dunes and coastal wetlands replaced by pavement alongside busy road.
Morpeth to Berwick - impossible to get a direct train - crazy but true! Had to get train down to Newcastle then another back through Morpeth and on to Berwick....... What an utterly sh1t way to run a railway network. Not to mention the little she-hitler at Newcastle working for east-coast main line.....

Seahouses to Craster via Dunstanburgh Castle, pretty impressive ruins and amazing site. Craster tea shop - very pleasant broccoli & stilton soup and a cheese & onion scone - Yum!

Craster to Warkworth via bike shop in Alnwick - front tire was collapsing so had to replace it before it burst. Its still the original tire so 15 years must be good going! Pushing hard on uphills. Checked out Warkworth Castle, another impressive ruin but more human scale, we stayed inthe Sun Hotel immediately below the keep, good food and real ale, shame their own brew wasn't on tap.

Beal to Seahouses via Holy Island. Lindisfarne & Bamburgh Castles. Very windy at times - worst was crossing causeway back to Beal, we could hardly move! Great teashop at Belford, freshly baked leek tart and then fresh lemon meringue pie.... delicious. Great weather apart from wind, mild, clear and later the sun came out.

Cycling with E & S, Berwick to Beal. Very easy potter along.

6.5 hours surveying.

Easy potter on the bike with Ewan and Sarah to Kinker and Potties - stopped to pick hazelnuts on way out & do some gardening on brambles and tree be=ranches over the Deeside Way. Picked loads of apples at the school garden with Ewan - making crab apple jelly now. Supper salad was carrot - home grown, apple - scrumped from school, hazelnut - picked by cycle track, celery and lime (bought - boo!) and yoghurt - free from village shop as past sell-by date!
Ahh Autumn - season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.....

Jog to and from start - acting as jacket boy today!

Waking SI units at Balmoral. Ran out of food and wobling badly be end - vision getting fuzzy!

Jogging around whilst faffing with taped routes, checking gates etc. Mild and pleasant - hope tomorrow is the same.....

With Ewan on railway line - start of his training for Banchory boxing day fun-run. Out for 1km, turn and back - 4-43/4-30 - good negative splits!

Deeside Way to bridge, then along to gate at old railway line, and back.

Middle distance course at Muir of Dinnet - first time I've "raced" here, tough but very pleasant, had fun watching others missing then crossed road into heather and started tiring and missed 3 of last 4!
Feeling strong and going fairly well, maybe finally over the tiredness from last weeks excesses :-)

Hanging controls at Balmoral, pleasant day - not too hot and fairly bright. 8 different loops. Tired legs by end.

C • terrain 2

Rest day - had nearly 13 hours in bed last night and still feeling tired.....

Urban Race Stirling, much longer than Edinburgh, feeling crap (after EUOC 50th anniversary dinner the previous night....), started OK in Castle - took things steady and though I missed a couple of best routes I didn't have any major time losses. After this things got fairly grim - plodding along through flat streets and no real route choice, just flogging away going too slowly. A race to forget. Also had been supposed to collect another dibber as mine is an old one with a limit of 30 controls, so had no splits for last 7 controls...... wouldn't have this issue with Emit....... :-)

Urban Race Edinburgh, M40+, 6th - decent performance, got most route choices correct and probably lost 10 secs with wobbles. Took a route through a "non-existant" gate near end (my eye saw a gap in the line and there was an open gate there), didn't realise till after the race, told controller and he has decided not to DQ me. Ahh the joys of urban orienteering!

Rest day - still feeling washed out.

Rest day, but cutting the grass, some barrowing, splitting and stacking logs. More than enough work today

Control hanging - Gl;en Feardar (1-40) and Creag Choinnich (0-45). Felt dire from the start - no power on uphills and really struggling in any off-road stuff. Managing to jog downs and shuffle on flat tracks. Funny thing was my breathing and heart rate were fine, just nothing in the legs.
Absolutely glorious day - complete contrast to last 2 days - sunshire, no wind and fantastic views from the top of Glen Feardar and Creag Choinnich.
People at the training camp will enjoy these areas if the weather is as good as today!
Had a huge lunch after at the Bothy cafe.... waddled home after!

C • Epic 5

Run Up The Highlands, Balmoral to Kerloch car park (Inver to orienteers). Still raining but only steadily and no wind. Easy pace for most of it and plenty of stops to look at views. Green Bridge was fantastic - a monster torrent of water thundering down over the rock steps, no sign of any rock, just brown water. The whole area was shaking with the force. Also Quennies barbecue hut was almost under water - some of the firewood stacked under the steps had been washed down the track!

a quick snack in the Ballater Bothy cafe and then on to Pannanich for first set of controls for training next week. Sarah and I headed different directions to hang controls and a big struggle to get up the hill, then a great whiz down in the beautiful runnable plantation forest.
Breathing was very relaxed, legs had bounce but no fuel and no energy for the uphills.
Good feed needed and then one more day of control hanging - 3 forests between us. Forecast is much better so hopefully some sun tomorrow!

Glen Clova to Balmoral distillery - approx 19 miles 2500 feet of climb. Day 2 of RuTH.
Weather atrocious, wouldn't have started if wind had been against us, as it was it was touch and go in places, runners never take enough kit even when told 100 times! I was cold with tights, wind-proof over trousers, thermal, t-shirt wind proof and waterproof top, hat and gloves... some of teh group were in tights, thermal and waterproof top hat and gloves....
Tracks were streams, streams were torrents and rivers were walls of brown/white water raging down the hills. I have never seen such water coming off the hills (usually I'd go somewhere sheltered and low on day like today!). One dodgy stream that we had to cross involved 4-5 of us hugging each other and crossing like a small crab - shuffling through the knee deep torrent..... not a lot of fun.
Afternoon from Loch Muick car park to Balmoral was a stroll in the park after the morning, only steady winds from behind and light- moderate rain.

A day to remember for all, especially the inexperienced-in-hill-running members of the group!

C • Perfect Job 6

Alyth to Glen Clova. First day of Run Up The Highlands. 24.5 miles 4,500 feet of climb. Lots of off-road and some pretty rough going in places. Weather very kind, rain held off and mostly tail wind. Legs tired by end.

Rest day - coaching cpd so active rest :-)

Wee jog round checking notes on map. Very pleasant - dry and mild unlike the forecast of driving rain and gales.......

2.5 hours surveying - second forest in a day! A bit tired in legs, need to recover by Sunday for Run Up the Highlands day 1 - 25 miles and 4,000 feet of climb..... Alyth to Glen Clova/Doll

4 hours surveying, got hungry, home for lunch.

With Sarah , Feughside over to Mount Battock nad back via easterly route. Monster new track being ripped across hillside on NW slopes of Battock, and loads of electric fences (must remember wire cutters next time.....).
Saw at least 100 hares just to the east of the summit - possibly sheltering from the wind. Amazing to watch the whole hillside moving with hares.
Feeling a bit tired at start and legs definitely feeling it by end, but hopefully not too destructive.
Sat in Water of Feugh for a few mins at end - bloody chilly!

C • Shooting Lodge 2