West Highland Way Race Training – Weeks 1 & 2

26/01/2016 / Iona / Leave a comment

I’ll be totally honest. I’m exhausted! Battering out high mileage training for the West Highland Way Race and teaching 3-10 year old children to swim for 8 hours a day is pretty hard, both physically and mentally. I knew this would be hard work from the word go, and every single mile I have churned out so far is being ticked off as me being another mile closer to being ready for the hard work I will have to put in come race day. But it’s going to be another gruelling 5 months of hard work before I’m even ready to toe the start line. I’m currently in week 5 of my training plan, but I’ll not bore you with the whole load in one go!

Week 1 (28th Dec – 3rd Jan)

I had a nice rest the week leading up to Christmas after taking a course at work right up until the 23rd of December and not having much time to fit in long runs.
Monday 28th – I had the week between Christmas and New Year off work and decided to make the most of the mild weather and bank some miles on the WHW while I had the free time. I took my dog and ran backwards from the road crossing just before Tyndrum towards Beinglas. My plan was to go all the way to Beinglas Farm and back again, but about 6 miles in I came across a huge heard of cows and had to jump off the path and squelch through a bog to get around them, and then found more blocking the bridge in the direction I was going. So I had to abandon that plan and head back to the car. I’ve had far too many near misses with cows and the dog, so I wasn’t taking any chances! (10.6 miles).
Tuesday 29th – Another day off, another chance to bag some more WHW miles. Minus the dog this time, I drove down to Milngavie to thrash out some flatter fast miles out to the Beech tree and back. Lovely run, so many people out walking and I had great day singing to myself and reminding myself how easy it is to go out way too fast in the first few miles! (14.1 miles).
Wednesday 30th – The weather turned and I was tired, so I went for a short recovery run and then had a good few hours on the couch catching up on American Horror Story! (3.2 miles)
Thursday 31st – Rest and some foam rolling. Quickly abandoned when I re-discovered how painful it was!
Friday 1st – Rest and my first long lie in a long time!
Saturday 2nd – A lovely hill run with some friends from the running club. I haven’t been up the Ochils in months, so it was lovely to get a good leg stretch up Ben Cleuch and Ben Ever in the slush and catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. (7.9 miles).
Sunday 3rd – Another club run with some other WCH friends. Nice steady pace on the flat. (8 miles).

Total – 44 miles

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Week 2 – 4th-10th January

Monday 4th – Rest. A nice long dog walk and some beginners yoga.
Tuesday 5th – I decided to break my daily miles into 2 runs today as I really wanted to make the club speed session in the evening, but knew I would be shattered if I did a few miles before and totally knackered afterwards. I took the dog out for a few miles in the morning then gave it my all at the club sessions in the evenings of 8×3 minute sprints. I haven’t pushed myself that hard in a long time and I was delighted with my splits afterwards! I know speed work isn’t high on the agenda just now and I’m reeling it right in the closer I get to race day, but it was good to see I could still pull it out the bag! (10.7 miles).
Wednesday 6th – My new Brooks Ghost trainers arrived, so of course I had to test them out on my mid week steady run! (8.2 miles)
Thursday 7th – I was late out of work and missed my favourite hill reps session, so I took the dog out and did it myself later that night. Much heaving breathing included… (6.7 miles)
Friday 8th – The day everything froze! It was far too icy to do a proper run, so I cut it short instead of breaking my neck! (4.6 miles).
Saturday 9th – Enjoyed a lovely hill run up and around Dumyat with some friends from running club. It was so cold! (11.2 miles).
Sunday 10th – The run you put off all day and then when you go out the heavens open. I was soaked to the core within 4 miles, but decided to carry on, as you can’t turn off the weather on Lairigmor! (10.3 miles).

Total – 51.9 miles

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I’m finally getting back to my strength and conditioning training as well after a shock to the system at circuits on Sunday and realising my upper body has given up the ghost! Squats – no problem. Press ups and core work – FAIL!

Time for bed…..

And so another year has come to pass…

01/01/2016 / Iona / 1 Comment

It’s the 31st of December 2015. Where has my year gone?! I’m sure I’m not the only one asking this question, but this year has seriously flown by. And like many others, with what seems to have become a bit of a tradition, I like to look back on my year of running and see how much I have learned and achieved in my on going quest and battle with running. Here are some highlights from my year;

JANUARY

Lots of sleeping and relaxing with my pup Skye.

It was a slow start to the year for me, but after plenty of rest being looked after by Skye the wonder pup (and of course my amazing husband, but Skye was pretty much glued to my side from the minute I got home!), I was given the nod to get back to running so started the year (cautiously) helping my team mates out at theDevil’s Burden relay races in Fife. We had amazing day out! Somehow I ended up on the guys team (again! Are you trying to tell me something here guys?!) and we had a hilarious morning dashing all the place, trying to be in the right place at the right time… and failing miserably! Just what I needed to get my running back on track.

FEBRUARY
Feeling slightly stronger, I decided to give the Devilla 15k run another go. I wasn’t expecting much but as it’s our neighbouring clubs event, we always go through en masse to show our support. We had tons of muddy fun and I managed to take a few minutes off last years time, even though the course was a mile and a bit longer!

Biggest club turn out we've ever had at an event I think! — Biggest club turn out we’ve ever had at an event I think!

Last few kilometres and the focus face is on... — Last few kilometres and the focus face is on…

The rest of the month was spent finding my feet on the trails again. Mainly the wonderful West Highland Way. Such a beautiful place, but especially in winter.

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MARCH
I had been looking forward to March for a long time as I was especially looking forward to running the D33 for the first time. I had entered on New Years eve and I know a few of my friends were a bit sceptical that I’d be ready to push my body to such a distance so early on in the year, but I was desperate to get back to racing properly and I knew I felt good come race day. Jemma and I stayed with Rhona and her husband in Stonehaven the night before and we were raring to go and kick start the Ultra season. I had a fantastic race and finished in just over 5 hours. I loved this race and I am definitely going back this year for another go and to try and break the 5 hours barrier.

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APRIL
April was a quiet month for me racing wise. I decided to give a 10k race another go seeing as I hadn’t raced once since September the previous year and entered the Round the Houses 10k in Grangemouth. The route is very flat and very fast and I had a great race taking over a minute off my 10k personal best and setting a new time of 44:51! I worked hard and felt horrific when I crossed the line, mainly through lack of speed work prior to the race! But I was happy to be chipping away at my time again.

I spent many hours training on the Cateran trail for my race in May and had great fun in the process. I met the lovely Claire for the first time and had an amazing day out running over to the Spittal of Glenshee and falling in a river in the process!

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I deferred my London Marathon place until 2016 and ended up going up to marshal and support my friends running the Hoka Highland Fling on the West Highland Way. I had a fantastic day, meeting loads of new people and giving my friends the cheers and support they deserved. Everyone ran so well and made me even more excited about running this race in 2016!

I finished the month with an amazing trip to Paris with Craig. Just what was needed to recharge the batteries before the last term of the year at work.

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MAY
This was it. My biggest race so far and the one that every mile I had run up until now was going towards. The Cateran 55 mile Ultra Marathon and I won’t deny it, I was petrified! I was really excited and the whole weekend was wonderful. The new race H.Q at Gulabin lodge was perfect – right on the finish line, lovely warm showers, comfortable beds and amazing food courtesy of Sandra and Helen. The race was amazing and even though I’m sure I went through many a dark patch, I can only see the positives of the race when I think back. I completed the race in 11 hours and 30 minutes and I was absolutely elated and also amazed that my body is actually capable of doing these things!

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JUNE
In June I ran the amazing Strathearn marathon for the second time along with Jemma and was delighted for her when she got a new marathon PB, along with having an amazing day out in beautiful sunny Perthshire. I love this race, even though it’s definitely not an easy race, and it was lovely to run with Jemma and catch up on all the wedding preparation chat. I also adore these finishing pictures.

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The following week, I had a weekend off running and had an enjoyable booze filled weekend at Fyne Fest with Jemma, Rhona and Graeme. Pub quizes, beer tokens, skanking and flower crowns. Amazing.

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At the end of June I helped marshal at the West Highland Way race and got a real insight into the running of it. Standing at a road crossing through the night guiding runners across, then up to Bridge of Orchy the following day to help runners check in when they got there. I was absolutely shattered on the drive home, just from standing about all weekend. Next year it’s my turn to run it. What on earth have I got myself into!

AUGUST
At the beginning of August I ran my hardest race to date. 12 miles shorter in distance than the Cateran, but so much harder. The 43 mile Devil O’The Highlands has been re branded and taken over by John Duncan of Highland Fling fame, and it lived up to it’s expectations! I had the most amazing day and finished the race in just over 8 and a half hours. Brilliant race, I can’t big it up enough!

My little brother surprising me on the finish line. So delighted to see him!

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SEPTEMBER
After my legs had recovered from the Devil, I decided it was time to get back to road racing and try and get some time off my marathon time. Last year I had finally got a sub 4 marathon time at the Highland Perthshire Marathon, so I decided to go back and try again. Another amazing race, feeling so strong the whole way round and a new marathon time of 3:41:54. I also got my first podium placing! I came 3rd lady overall and 1st senior lady. I’m pretty sure it won’t happen again any time soon, but I’m still on cloud 9 from it!

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At the end of the month my friend Kirsty asked me if I fancied running the Strathcarron 10k. Again I hadn’t been training for speed, but I had been bashing out the hill reps and feeling strong after the marathon so I gave it a go. It was a scorching day but I gave it my everything and took another 30 seconds off my 10k time finishing in 44:17. I never thought I’d get so close to 44 minutes and I’m hoping late next year I can finally get under the 44 minute mark.

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OCTOBER
I hadn’t raced a half marathon since the Loch Leven Half marathon in May 2014. When the Neil McCover half came round again, I was looking forward to really pushing myself and seeing if I could get a PB in the only distance left to better in the year. I have no idea what happened, but I had another fantastic race and managed to take 9 minutes off my time, finishing in 1:37:26. Whose legs are these?! I was elated!

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NOVEMBER
And finally it was time for the last race of the year. Glen Ogle round 3, and I was looking forward to finishing the season with a bang. I had another great race and amazing day out with 20+ of my team mates. I love the race and will definitely be back for round 4 next year and hopefully finally get under 5 hours. 1 minute over is just annoying!!

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And so the year draws to a close. I’ve had a phenomenal year and I owe thanks to so many people for their support, for getting me back on my feet, for inspiring me and for not letting me quit. Next year is the big year and I have so many hours to put in before I’m even close to being ready, but I know they’ve all got my back.

Here’s to your health. Happy New Year!!!

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I have a plan..

11/12/2015 / Iona / 4 Comments

Coming to the end of another year (really, how did that happen?!) and like everyone else I am starting to think about what next year will hold for me. Not just in terms of running, but work, travel and life in general. The start of this year was a disaster, from getting out of hospital on Christmas day after my burst appendix fiasco and then lying flat on my back for 4 weeks before easing back in to everything in the New Year (a cup of tea to see in the bells; warming if a tad boring!) and finally lacing up my training again at the end of January and getting things back on track.

It seems like forever ago that I joined a few of my team mates on a late January adventure up the banks of Loch Lomond for my first recovery run of the year. It was probably rather silly of me to take on a 30 mile run so quickly, but I felt great and I promised my coach I’d turn back and wait in the pub for them if I felt even slightly sore. Turns out it was the start of an amazing year and I haven’t looked back since.

Which leads me on to the big news. After such a strong year, excellent races and a huge jump in mileage I decided to put my name in for the West Highland Way race ballot. Even when I was helping out at the race this year I never for a second thought I’d be ready for entering the following year, but as the year came to an end and I looked back on how much I’d achieved in a year, I thought why on earth not! So on Monday night, along with many others I sat with everything crossed waiting to hear back about whether I was in or not. Every time my email pinged my heart flip-flopped and eventually the email I had been waiting for came through. I’m honoured to have been lucky enough to be offered a place in the 2016 race and now everything is about getting to the start line in Milngavie on the 18th of June.

Training starts now. I need to get my head down and battle through the sucky winter months. I will hold my hands up and admit that I HATE training in winter. As a July child, I live for the summer; the long days, bright mornings and warm(ish) weather. I don’t hate the rain, I don’t really mind training in the dark but I can’t stand waking up when it’s dark and leaving work when it’s dark. I teach swimming and the pool only has frosted sky lights, so during the day I only see sunlight on my lunch break which isn’t enough. Usually after work I run home, dump my stuff and head straight back to training but these days I find myself sitting down for a few minutes and then not getting back up again, especially if it’s blowing a gale with horizontal rain as an added extra. But not anymore! Last night I missed training but I knew what the set was so went out and did it on my own anyway. I might not have been as fast as I would of if I had been chasing down my team mates, but I wasn’t far off and that makes me believe I can do it. No more excuses!

I plan to document all my training on the blog so I can look back and make sure I have achieved my targets. I’m lucky that I have a great bunch of friends who have also been successful in the ballot and we’re also lucky that we live so close to the WHW and can travel over and recce sections easily. I have started to assemble my crew and I’m delighted that my friends are so eager to help – they’ll see the best and worst of me throughout the course of the race and ultimately they will be the ones who make sure I finish.

Training with Gordon in the hills. Much more of that to come!

It still doesn’t seem real. I’ve read countless blogs, listened to plenty of podcasts and scrutinised so many training plans and I’ll admit it; I’m petrified. This is not going to be a walk in the park, this is biggest event of my life and possibly the hardest race I will ever do. It’s going to hurt and I know at times I will feel like I can’t do it, but I’m determined to make it. “All roads leads to Milngavie”, and my journey there starts here!

RACE REPORT -Glen Ogle 33m Ultra 2015

11/11/2015 / Iona / 2 Comments

GLEN OGLE 33M ULTRA MARATHON 2015

TIME: 5 Hours 1 Minute and 56 Seconds

Overall position 70th/327 finishers

13th/131 females

Glen Ogle 2015 – my last race of the year. The lead up to this race hadn’t been a great one as I’d hurt my back at work and had limped through the 2 weeks leading up to the race with minimal effort and mileage. I’d had a fantastic year up until now, starting every race injury free and feeling good (except the Haddington half in August, but the less said about that, the better!) so come race day my only real goals were to beat last years time and finish pain free.

Race morning began at about 4am. I woke up before my alarm and instead of going back to sleep for another half hour or so, I got up and started the race morning preparation. That done, I still had over 40 minutes until Alastair was to pick me up so I took the dog out for a walk seeing as she was awake as well (and expecting breakfast on our return, so was heartbroken when I set her back to bed!). Just before 6am, Alastair arrived with Andy and we began the hour a bit journey up to Killin, joining the steady stream of tail lights of all the cars also heading in the same direction. The Ultra runners are back in town!!!

After a quick registration, I dropped off my drop bags and went about saying hello to all my friends. I felt ridiculously calm and even as we listening to the briefing and shuffled up to the start line, I didn’t have a single ounce of the pre-race nerves I usually get. Before I knew it the race had begun and we were on our way through Killin and on to the first forest climb. I’d started a bit further back than usual so spent the mile or so chatting to everyone around me and then falling into line as we began to stomp our way up through the forest. We were surrounded by stunning autumnal colours and an eerie low lying mist as we made our way up and up through the forest for the first 3 mile or so climb. I tired my best to keep my pace at something above a shuffle up the hills, slowing to a walk only when absolutely necessary.

The forest section was enjoyable, if a bit slippy. Road shoes were the obvious choice for this route, but as the first few miles were on soggy forest tracks there were a few stumbles as I fought to find my footing! Once out of the forest and on to the long downhill stretch and over the via duct, I picked up my pace a bit and tried to stretch out my back. I ran along for a few miles with a couple of guys (sorry I didn’t catch your names, but your chat was awesome!) and the pace seemed to get faster and faster as we trundled down the cycle path, catching up with Derek and adding him to our wee pack about half way down. By now the weather was starting to turn. Up until now the drizzle of rain hadn’t bothered me, but I began to think I should probably put another layer on soon before I got cold. In the end I couldn’t be bothered taking my bag off and having to slow down to faff around, so I didn’t bother! Onwards, along the cycle path towards Kinghouse and I felt my pace increase a bit. Still only 12 or so miles in, this was probably a bad thing but again I just wanted to see how long I could keep this up…

The road section towards Balquhidder and round to Strathyre has been the worst part of the race for me for the past 2 years as it is constant ups and downs on tarmac, but this year I wasn’t going to let it beat me! The rain was picking up but still I didn’t want to break my stride and walk to put my jacket on. Stomping all the way around to the road that leads back to Starthyre, I finally admitted defeat and walked up a hill while taking the time to finally put another layer on even though I was already soaked to the core. The field of runners had really spread out by now and I was passing and being passed by the same people time and time again as we made our way back to Strathyre, down across the shoogly bridge and into check point 3.

The hill out of Strathyre. Ouch. I used this to slow down and refuel with cheese seeing as my other option of a cereal bar had pretty much frozen and almost broke my teeth! Nearing the top, Billy from my club whizzed by having jogged all the way up! Up and over the top of the hill and finally it was down, down, down for a few miles and then back on to the cycle path and on the return journey to the finish line. We caught up with Graeme and Billy and the 4 of us struggled up the zig-zags together. They are ridiculously steep – I can’t imagine going up them on a bike!! The stretch back up to the viaduct is on a gradual incline and last year had been a nightmare. I’d walked sections, hobbled sections and felt like I was about to keel over, but this year I was determined to run all the way up to the check point. Marathon distance came and went in just over 4 hours and before I knew it the final check point was on the horizon…. could I actually finish this race in around 5 hours?!

Coming back into the forest for the final section, my back started to seize up. Every time I hit section of down hill I’d get shooting pains up my spine. I tried to relax and lean backwards and drop my shoulders, but the downhill stomping was agonizing. 30 miles ticked by and I knew it was less than 3 to go… so close to 5 hours, I couldn’t break now! I pushed up the inclines, passing people who were walking, and shuffled down the declines with pain written all over my face. The last stretch coming out of the forest felt like it went on forever but finally we were spat back out on to the road and across the bridge back into Killin.

Just as we crossed the bridge, David Scott flew by me at an incredible speed! He was also pushing for under 5 hours, but as we came back into Breadalbane park, we noticed a line of tape going round the perimeter of the park, adding on a good few hundred meters. So close…. yet so far!! But 1 minute over 5 hours, 40 minutes off last years time and feeling good after 33 odd miles? I’m over the moon!!

So the racing year has come to an end. What a year it was, but I think I’ll save these ramblings for another post. So much has happened and I owe it to so many people, so big thanks to you all. I can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store! And I’ll definitely be back for Glen Ogle round 4, sub 5 has hopefully got my name written all over it! Well done to everyone from my wee running club who completed this race. I think there were 25 Wee County Harriers there on Saturday and every single one of us finished the race!!

RACE REPORT -The Neil McCover Half Marathon 2015

15/10/2015 / Iona / Leave a comment

THE NEIL MCCOVER HALF MARATHON 2015

TIME: 1 Hour 37 Minutes and 26 Seconds

Overall position 56th/146 finishers

9th/54 females

The half marathon has been my nemesis distance for quite some time. I clocked my last PB at Loch Leven back in May last year, just as I was recovering from illness and then every time after that I seemed to get further and further and further away from my time. I hadn’t raced many last year – the worst of all being Jedburgh in October where it was so windy my feet were getting blown from underneath me and my breath sucked out my lungs, and after that all my favourite races or good PB courses seemed to clash with other races or be on when I was on holiday. My first half of the year was the Haddington half in August – stupidly the week after the Devil O the Highlands, so I had absolutely nothing to give and slogged around, breathing out my arse and couldn’t wait until it was over. On finishing I promptly told my team mates if I was ever so silly as to sign up for a race the week after an ultra ever again they would be allowed to slap me.

So, a few months down the line and I noticed the Neil McCover half was coming around again the same weekend as Jemma was down for a wedding, so we signed up and looked forward to a run in the countryside near my home town and a good catch up with my new sister in law. Race day came and I wasn’t sure how I was feeling, but there was a tiny voice in my head screaming at me to do well. I silenced in, forgot about any pressure and prepared to run another enjoyable race on pretty fresh legs. What a race it was!

A few miles in and it's still all smiles for now! — A few miles in and it’s (sort of) all smiles for now!

Spits; 7:07, 7:30, 7:14, 7:30, 7:35, 7:24, 7:30, 7:33, 7:24, 7:58, 7:32, 7:38, 7:28…..

The first few miles were brilliant. I tried not to look at my watch and just enjoy the race and looked forward to seeing my parents at 5 miles as we ran through a village near where they lived. I spotted my mum from a few hundred meters away and flew by waving my arms around like a loon as my dad attempted to take some pictures, but round the corner and away from them it was time to continue to dig deep on this exceptionally undulating course. Through the 10k mark in just over 45 minutes and feeling fresh, a nice stretch of downhill and then, ooooooh big hill. It’s a sneaky hill in the it’s split into 2 sections; the first being a long slow climb up to the bridge over the canal and the second half a sharp steep hill to the top. Suddenly everything went a bit pear shaped as all at once the one ear phone I had in fell out, my ipod became unclipped from my shorts and I spilt juice all over my face. But not to worry, a quick glance at my watch and a bit of counting miles and splits on my fingers and I realised that even if I did the last 3 miles in just under 10 minutes I’d still get a PB. On one hand I felt like easing off the gas a bit and trundling home, on the other I wanted to give it my all and see if I could bag a huge PB in the only distance I was still struggling on for the year. So I chose the second option!

Starting to tire and heel strike :( — Starting to tire and heel strike 🙁

Last 100m, trying not to look at my watch!

Coming back down the last 2 miles and I was running on the outskirts of my home town and on the very road I used to to cross county on back in my school days! The route was still not easing off and I continued to dig deep and give everything I had left to get to the finish line.

1:37’26. Wooweeeeee, 9 minutes off my personal best and 15 minutes off my course time from 2013!

I’m absolutely over the moon with how good a season I’ve had and with one race left this year (Glen Ogle round 3!), I’m easing off for a few weeks now and am just back from enjoying a week in France and Switzerland with Craig, which involved a few huge treks up mountains, some paragliding and a train ride up a mountain railway to try and see the Matterhorn! No rest for the wicked 🙂

Roll on 2016. Who knows what huge events I’ll try and enter next year!!

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Iona Running Blog

Tag: Scottish running blog

West Highland Way Race Training – Weeks 1 & 2

And so another year has come to pass…

I have a plan..

RACE REPORT -Glen Ogle 33m Ultra 2015

RACE REPORT -The Neil McCover Half Marathon 2015