The Up & Running Gartmorn 6 – Come along & get muddy!

A little post of behalf of my fabulous running club. They made me speedier, so it’s time to do my bit for them…

My running club, The Wee County Harriers host an annual event in March which takes place around a scenic body of water called the Gartmorn Dam. It’s a fabulous no thrills event but for the low price of £10 (£8 SAF affiliated) you get to run fast for 6 miles, get very, VERY muddy and then get to eat until you can’t move as we put on a rather fabulous post race spread – this year tables sighed from the sheer weight of the amount of food we brought and I’m sure we’ll try and better ourselves next year!

Craig was on photographer duties this year and got some cracking pictures. I was marshaling so didn’t get to run, but Jemma was clearly having a fabulous muddy time.

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So if you fancy getting very muddy followed by eating your weight in cakes and sandwiches…

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I’ll see you then! ONLINE ENTRY

RACE REPORT – Glen Ogle 33m Ultra

Glen Ogle 2014

Official time: 5 hours 41 minutes 18 seconds

Overall: 113th/237 finishers (4th out of 12 senior ladies)

Medal : Yes, (same design as last year) and an awesome Tshirt as well

Before I get started, I’d like to apologise for the fact that my blog seems to just be a steady stream of race reports recently. The plan was always to update it more often with training/life/etc as well… but the whole life/work/training/sleeping balance has been way off recently. However, I plan to rectify that asap!

The only thing worth drinking after an ultra marathon!
The only thing worth drinking after an ultra marathon!

The Glen Ogle ultra was my first attempt at racing distances over 26.2m around this time last year. I had done all the training for Loch Ness and keeping the miles ticking over until race day 6 weeks later had been pretty easy and enjoyable. I had no major injuries and my legs were feeling good come race day. Fast forward a year and it’s take 2 of the same events, but stick the Jedburgh half, a cold and a sore hip into the mix and you can just about imagine how I felt as I rocked up to the start line this year.

I had been looking forward to the race for months. I put my name down as soon as entries opened and then with so much other stuff to focus on in my racing calendar (including my 45 min 10k and sub 4 hour marathon!), completely forget to get excited about it until about a week before race day! On the Friday evening before the race, Jemma made the 300 odd mile journey down from Ness in the Isle of Lewis to meet me in the central belt and not 10 minutes after she had got off the coach, we were stuffing out faces with pizza and catching up on wedding planning gossip. Priorities first of course! After filling our faces with a substantial number of carbs, we headed back to mine where we sorted our drop bags and kit and after some cheesy tv we headed off to catch z’s and prepare for the super early start the next day.

My perfect pre race dinner!
My perfect pre race dinner!
Taking way less than I did last year! Did't even eat all this, but the coke was definitely a saviour!
Taking way less than I did last year! Once again didn’t eat even half of it, but the coke was definitely a saviour!

My alarm went off just before 5am and after having an amazing breakfast of porridge with nutella and blueberries and a vast amount of coffee, we were in the car and on the road over to Killin. This year there had been a slight adjustment to the route at the last minute meaning we were no longer starting in Strathyre and were going to do the route in reverse with a little bit extra added on at the end. This meant all my lovely down hills near the end were going to be up hills near the end and vice versa… nothing like a last minute shake up to keep the mind alert 30 odd miles later! After registering and meeting up with the other Wee County Harriers, we had a quick briefing from Bill and Mike and before we knew it, we were walking round to the very narrow trail where the race would begin. The weather was very, very mild and any worries of a repeat of last years weather eased off and I decided to run in a long sleeved top with just a t shirt underneath. Jemma was so confident about good weather she didn’t even take her jacket with her!

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The first few miles were very stop/start as we tried to find our pace while avoiding puddles and having to run along a very narrow track. Soon enough we were spat out onto a road for a few hundred metres before taking a sharp left and beginning a short climb into the bottom of the forest loop which we had met at about 17 miles when the route was the other way around last year. The positive thing about this would be that one of the worst climbs was out the way within the first 4 miles! I ran with Kirsty, trying to slow our pace down and not set off too quickly on fresh legs or get carried away too early on. We were having so much fun, walking the steep climbs and flying down the descents and having a good chat the whole way round. We passed through the first check point and began our descent down the cycle path towards Lochearnhead, forcing down a gel at 6 miles and keeping the pace steady and consistent. The weather looked like it really was going to stay in our favour and I had to take my long sleeved top and buff off as I was already getting too hot!

Spotting the camera from afar.
Spotting the camera from afar.

As we approached the very steep descent on the zig zags just as we came into Lochearnhead, I felt a horrible twinge in my back and began to panic. This was too early for things like this to be happening!! I hoped it was just because I had quite a lot of water in my pack and it was slightly heavier than usual, so I decided to empty some of the weight out as we continued to fly along the cycle track and immediately noticed a difference. Fingers crossed I wouldn’t come to regret that decision later on in the race!! Kirsty was looking a lot stronger than I felt, so I made the decision at that point to push her on if the time came where I needed to pull back. She kept saying she was going to stay with me, so we pushed on and continued to enjoy the run.

Trying hard not to step on the poor photographers head as he lay in the middle of the track :) Photo - Ross Lawrie
Trying hard not to step on the poor photographers head as he lay in the middle of the track 🙂 Photo – Ross Lawrie

We passed through check point 2 and once again didn’t stop. I forced a few shot bloks in my mouth and we decided to walk the next few hills and shake out our legs a bit. The next few miles were the ups and down round to Balquhidder which was the point where I had wanted to quit last year as my whole body had gone numb from the cold. This year we were just over 13 miles in and feeling warm (and dry!) and still pretty fresh, so it felt good to be able to push through and conquer our demons. We ran on, all the way round to just before we got to Strathyre where we clocked a hill and both gave a little yell of delight as we were both in need a walk! The constant pavement pounding was beginning to make my back hurt again and we were starting to tire a bit. However we knew that Richard from out club was waiting, camera in hand, to cheer us on in Strathyre, so we flew over the shoogly bridge with our arms in the air and cheered at him as we ran by.

Dressed slightly differently from last years picture in this exact spot! Are we sure this is November? Photo - Richard O'Grady
Dressed slightly differently from last years picture in this exact spot! Are we sure this is November? Photo – Richard O’Grady

This was where the finish line had been last year, so it took a bit of effort to push past where we had stopped last time, knowing we were just over half way and had a huge climb ahead as we entered the second forest. We were ushered across the road by John Munro who was a vision in head to toe high vis and were all laughs and jokes until we hit the climb. The route had been slightly altered at this section as well and as we gritted our teeth and shuffled up the hill. I felt like there was someone behind me pulling me backwards again – It was just so steep!! We walked all the way up to the top, hands on thighs and leaning forward trying to catch our breath remembering that once this was out the way there was a lovely 2-3 mile downhill run all the way back to check point 3. Cue photo opportunity with a genuine smile…

Photo - Amanda Hamilton
Photo – Amanda Hamilton

We stopped briefly at checkpoint 3 to pick up some coke and a few jaffa cakes and within 2 minutes we were back on the path back to Killin. This is the point where my mind started to play mental games with me and I gave in to it. I needed to go to the loo and Kirsty said she’d walk on so I could catch her up, but I felt like I was holding her back so I told her just to push on and I’d try and catch her eventually. I was glad I did tell her to go on and she ended up smashing her last years time by 9 minutes, but once on my own, I really started to struggle. The climb back out of Lochearnhead killed my already trashed quads and the zig zags felt steeper than ever before. Once at the top I tried to keep my head up and look ahead and ran to a set of gates before letting myself walk again. I pulled out my ipod and an upbeat playlist helped me push to the top of the cycle path and road crossing back to the forest. On entering the final check point I was handed my drop bag by the ever super cheery marshals and quizzed about my socks once again. Noanie and Bill ushered me across the road and after being told I only had 4 and a bit miles to go, I decided to really dig deep and go for it. The wonderful Ruth Howie got the crowd cheering as I passed by the snack van and they made such a racket I felt like I’d finished – what a fabulous sound! Just before I started my descent back into the forest the amazing Robin Wombill told me I had a fabulous smile and grinning from ear to ear, I flew round the next 2 miles of the forest track feeling like I had a second wind and it was time to finish this race with power. I looked at my watch for the first time in hours and realised I’d passed the distance of last year course and was still under the time it’d had taken me to do that, so even though I was feeling a lot sorer I was actually performing (albeit just slightly!) better. I got to the bottom of the forest track, turned left back onto the main road and followed the road over the Falls of Dochart and back down the high street towards the finish line in the sports field. Through both utter fatigue and it not being that well signposted, I couldn’t for the life of me tell where I was meant to go to get to the finishers arch, until I saw a High Vis clad figure that was Angela, waving her arms in the air and jumping up and down to get my attention. I squelched over the grass, grinned and punched the air as I fell over the line and collected my second Glen Ogle medal.

Job done.
Job done.

Once we had cheered everyone in, we headed to the Inn at Strathyre for our soup and a drink where we caught up with various people before heading home for plenty of good food and some well deserved drinks. I know I wasn’t feeling 100% on race day and it showed in my results, but it just shows that you can’t work for so many different goals in one year and expect a good outcome in all of them. My speed will take a back seat next year as I want to focus on distance and power and with my eyes on the D33, Cateran 55 and DOTH next year as well as Glen Ogle round 3…something will have to give for a while. It’ll probably be my knees, but we’ll see!

Elated we got cider instead of beer this year! And I've sill got high hopes of my mug shot making the bottle next year...
Elated we got cider instead of beer this year! And I’ve sill got high hopes of my mug shot making the bottle next year…

RACE REPORT – Stirling Aquathlon 2014

STIRLING AQUATHLON 2014

Official time: 37 minutes and 04 seconds

Overall position:49th/121

Gender position 11th/57 (7th/37 senior ladies)

Medal: Yes

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I’ve been thinking about trying a triathlon for a while now so when my friend Kat suggested giving and Aquathlon a go, I said yes immediately. Was there any better way to ease my way into the world of multi sport than with my two favourite activities? I signed up there and then.

Stirling Triathlon club were the hosts of this event and it took part at the National Swimming academy up at Stirling University, which was where I went to Uni (all 13 years ago now!) and I am always more than happy to revisit the campus. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and once registered (which took a bit longer for Kat as someone else had been given her number!!) we pottered about, had a look at the transition area (a first for me!), set our shoes and towels and then went for a tea and a flapjack as we still had tons of time to kill before our heat.

Kat and I setting up in the transition area. Me pretending I've got the slightest idea what I'm doing! Photo - Stirling Tri
Kat and me setting up in the transition area. Me pretending I’ve got the slightest idea what I’m doing! Photo – Stirling Tri

The event consisted of a 750m (30 length) swim and a 5k run. I hadn’t swam competitively since I was 16 and even though I’m in the pool every day teaching, I can’t remember the last time I timed myself swimming! On entering the race you had to submit your time for 750m so the lanes could be seeded in order of fastest to slowest. This was my first big mistake. I had a total guess at a time and then the following week went and completed the distance in training at about 75% effort and was about a minute and a half faster than the time I’d submitted. By now it was too late to say to the organisers as they’d already sent out an email with lane order, so I’d just have to see how it went on the day….

The carpet to transition after you come out the pool. About 500m of barefoot running!
The carpet to transition after you come out the pool. About 500m of barefoot running!

Kat and I were in the same heat in lanes next to each other, so when it was time to start, we gave each other a final thumbs up and off we went… for all of about 20m before I swam straight into the feet of the person in front. Now, I know it’s my fault for putting in the wrong time, but there is meant to be lane etiquette of moving aside if the person behind you catches up. I’m guessing the Ultra running rule of “don’t be a dick” does not comply with triathletes. A few taps later and I still wasn’t allowed by, so I gave a gentle ankle grab to be a bit less subtle… but still no budging. I tried not to get frustrated as after all, this was my fault for being in the wrong lane… but come on!!! Soon enough the 30 lengths were over, I hauled myself out the pool and ran out the fire door of the pool and across the grass and red carpet down to transition. Again something totally new for me and I felt a bit lost! I had decided to bring my trail shoes as they already have lace locks on them and are easy to slip on, but it didn’t help that I ran straight past them! Eventually I found them, quickly dried my feet, shoved on my socks and shoes and picked up my race belt with attached number and I was back out in all of 35 seconds…. not bad!! The run route was 2 loops of the uni campus which went across the sports field, up a very sharp hill (which I remember stumbling up and down in my uni days!), round the back of the industrial estate, back down the hill and round half the running track before heading across the grass fields and back to the pool. It was a great route but running after swimming is a weird experience – I couldn’t reset my legs and running while soaking is HARD! I have a new found respect for anyone who does an ironman – you are total legends and one day I hope to be part of your crew!

I gave it my all on the last loop and flew across the finish line with my arms in the air and a huge grin on my face. I was given a goody bag (containing milk and water) and a lovely medal. I went across to get my time printed out and wait for Kat to finish and she also flew across the line with her arms in the air and the biggest smile – quite the come back for having had such an awful year post injury!! We were both elated with our times and once we were changed we headed to the pub to celebrate with wine and amazing food.

Done! Full tri next!!
Done! Full tri next!!
Nothing beats a post race wine!
Nothing beats a post race wine!
Kat in her funky egg chair
Kat in her funky egg chair

I’m definitely going to try another aquathlon and see how I get on with a better swim. Considering how shattered I was, I was still only 30 seconds off my 5k pb so thats also a bonus! Next time however, I will NOT go to CX works and metfit the day before a race. My calves and bum were KILLING me!!! One day I’d love to do a full triathlon, but I need to buy a road bike first. Or a nice person could just buy me one???

RACE REPORT – The Loch Ness Marathon 2014

LOCH NESS MARATHON 2014

Official time: 4 hours 05 minutes 49 seconds

Overall: 1016 out of 2478

Medal : Yes, same design as last year but ever so slightly bigger and shinier!

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I’m a little late in publishing this race report because for some reason the post race buzz wasn’t there this year, which disappoints me as it’s the first time it has ever happened after a race! After enjoying last years race so much I was really looking forward to giving the Loch Ness Marathon another go. I had pulled out of the Clyde Stride after thinking I wouldn’t be able to get my mileage up after my long holidays sailing around the Baltic, and also Jemma had talked me into it. On Saturday afternoon I drove up to Inverness, met up with Jemma at our B&B, headed into town for lunch and then over to Bught Park to get registered and have a nosey around the expo.

After quite a huge lunch neither of us fancied going out for dinner, so we bought some bits and bobs from Tesco and hunkered down in our B&B to watch some DVDs and stuff our faces with munchies. A couple of weepy films later, I sorted my race kit, had everything that I’d need in the morning laid out ready so I wasn’t crashing around the room when Jemma was still asleep and then drifted off into a rather uncomfortable sleep (note to self – remember my own pillow next time I go away as the one I had felt like it was made out of cardboard!).

Kit ready, including my running skirt in club colours!!
Kit ready, including my running skirt in club colours!!
Cold have done with a bit more than this, but never mind...
Could have done with a bit more than this (and about 5 more coffees!), but never mind…

Silly o’clock came and my alarm managed to buzz about once before I threw myself on it to shut it up. I had the usual pre race breakfast of porridge, coffee, banana and electrolyte drink and packed another banana and a flapjack to take with me for the bus journey. I was ready to go by 7am so I said my goodbyes to Jemma and headed off over to Bught park to meet my brother-in-law Stuart and get on one of the many coaches which were to transport us all the way down to the other end of Loch Ness for our race start. The organisation of the transport was once again perfect and bang on 7:30am the coaches started moving. I sat down next to a guy and soon realised I’d seen him at practically every race I had run that year and we got chatting about our plans and challenges for the following year. His challenge for this year was to run 100 races and this was about race number 75 – I thought I’d done loads! (I forgot to introduce myself at the time, but I later found out his name was Daniel and he also has a blog at medaljunkie)

The buses arrived at the start area which is just after Fort Augustus on the South West end of the Loch. We got off our buses and trudged towards the start line where thousands of other runners were mingling/queuing for the toilets/warming up and by chance met up with Anne and Scott from my running club. It wasn’t as cold at the start this year but there was a brief shower of rain while we were waiting to get going. I was feeling a bit nervous but more than anything I was just ready to run. I love the idea of everyone arriving together and then running the full distance back along the Loch side, but being dropped off in the middle of no where at 8:50am and the race not starting until 10am was a bit extreme. I could have had another half an hour in bed!!

Before the crowds arrived
Before the crowds arrived at the start of the 2014 Loch Ness Marathon
Scott and I ready to get going.
Scott and I ready to get going.

Finally, at about 9:55am the crowds started surging towards the start line. It seemed busier than last year and everyone was raring to go! I’d decided to start at around the 4 hour marker and just see how my race went, but I didn’t have any other plan than to start running and 26.2 miles later, stop running and lie down. After about a minute of walking, I crossed the start mat, hit the start button my watch, passed the pipe band that was playing for us and started the first few miles of descent while trying to maintain a comfortable and steady pace. No such luck! I got caught up the crowds, was close to tripping over the feet in front of me as people set off at a slower pace and in trying to get round them I had to run along the grass verge on the side of the road. I’m not meaning to moan at all, but in races this big it just seems silly when people set off in lines of 5 or 6 and take over the entire width of the road when there are thousands of other people barreling down the hill behind them. It’s the second race for me this year where I’ve nearly been taken out by someone stopping dead in front of me with no room to get round them within the first mile of a race! Anyway, small rant over….

The first few miles flew by. The descent along with the large crowds and cheers from supporters and runners around me made it easy and enjoyable. By 5 miles I’d realised it was going to be a long and lonely race running by myself, so out came my ipod and I hit shuffle to get me going. Then I realised than a few of the albums I had tried to put on the previous day weren’t there, so I was stuck with the same tunes I’d had for my last few events! Onward we plodded, through the ups and downs of the first few miles and after what seemed like no time at all, Loch Ness came in to view over the next hill. I’d got into a nice comfortable pace but when I looked at my watch at half way I realised I’d got there in 1:52:xx…. way too fast and I was already starting to regret it. At my last marathon I’d developed a blister which had suddenly burst at around 25 miles and now at only 14 miles in I was starting to feel my shoes rubbing on both feet – one on the same toe as last time and the other foot on the outside of my big toe. Not good when I was still so far away from the finish line! I suddenly started to panic and wondered what I would do if one burst now. Would I be able to continue? Would I have to drop or walk the rest of the way back? The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced I could feel my feet rubbing but I think (thankfully) it was just me being paranoid as nothing ever got any worse. By 17 miles I was still feeling OK but starting to tense up my shoulders which was giving me a sore neck. I decided that at the next water stop I’d walk through and have a proper drink and then see how I felt before the hill at Dores. By the time I got to hill my negativity had taken over.

I couldn’t pick up the pace after walking through the water station and the pain in my feet was really starting to get me down. As soon as I clocked the hill I knew I wasn’t going to manage to run up it so I thought I might as well pull my pace right back and just get to the top before trying to figure out how I was going to run the last 7 miles or so. While walking up the hill all I could think about was how much I desperately wanted a can of coke – if there had been a shop anywhere near by I would have been in there without hesitation! I now realised that I had not fueled properly at all for this race so no wonder I was feeling awful! My dinner the night before had consisted of a small bowl of noodles, some nachos and about 3 cups of tea and now I was feeling unbelievably hungry but also a bit queasy. I usually run with a bottle of powerade and also a sachet of high five 2:1 fructose powder to add to a bottle of water later on in the race, but after too quick a start I had guzzled my powerade by 10 miles and the zero highs tablet I had with me just wasn’t hitting the spot quite like the other stuff did. By the time I had finished that bottle at around 20 miles, plain water just wasn’t enough and I started the feel awful. The fuel stations were handing out cups of Osmo hydration but having never tried this, I wasn’t about to grab a cup this far into a race just in case it had negative consequences! Once over the top of the hill I got my legs going again and kept a steady pace along the road back into Inverness. Just like last year the crowds started to grow as soon as you entered the outskirts of the town and all the way down to the river the streets were lined with people cheering us on. This lifted my spirits a bit and I pushed along through the final few miles.

As I rounded the final bend at the bridge and turned to run back along the other side of the river back to Bught Park, I heard my name being yelled and some huge cheers and I saw Jemma and Rachel and some others cheering from the pub! I gave them a half-hearted smile and a feeble thumbs up and plodded my way along to the finish line. I heard my name being called out over the P.A system just before I finished but I was so drained I couldn’t even muster a smile for my finishing picture.

No marathon-photos. I will not be paying a trillion pounds for some pictures of me looking like death thanks very much!
No marathon-photos. I will not be paying a trillion pounds for some pictures of me looking like death thanks very much!

I was given my medal by a lovely cheery woman and then I went to collect my goody bag, t-shirt and so many treats but nothing that would quite satisfy this sugar craving I had. I plodded back along the road and fell into a chair in the pub beside Jemma and Rachel and was presented a bottle of coke which instantly inhaled! I wasn’t disappointed with my time at all but more my performance and how easily I sunk into a negative mind state during the run. I’ve learned that 4 races in 4 weeks (including 2 marathons and 2 10ks and both a marathon and 10k PB as well!) is far too much if I want to perform well on the day.

Soon enough it was time to say my goodbyes and head back down the road before my legs got too stiff. As good a race as it is, I think Nessie and I have spent enough time searching for each other for a while and next year I’ll hopefully be on to something bigger and better! Not to say I’ll never return though – I do love a Loch Ness medal!!

RACE REPORT – Stirling 10k 2014

STIRLING 10K 2014

Official time: 45:50 – NEW PB!!

Overall: 364th/803

Gender: 52nd/165 senior females

Medal : No – instead we got a super bright technical t-shirt, caramel wafer, banana, milk and gatorade.

Last year this race was one that I was not particularly looking forward to. The weather on the day was horrific, my legs were pretty sore and it was exactly 2 weeks before I was going to run my first ever marathon so training had mainly consisted of high mileage and back to back runs. This year it also fell 2 weeks before Loch Ness (I should notice the pattern here!) and one week after having already ran a marathon, so needless to say speed work has been somewhat minimal and my legs were even more worn out that the previous year. But as it’s a local race and I can run it and get back to my weekend by lunchtime, I thought I might as well give it another go.

I had a bit of a lie in seeing as the race was only 15 minutes down the road and by 9:45am I was outside the Peak Sports Center in Stirling with my fellow Wee County Harriers, enjoying the atmosphere and cheering on the kids in the 2k run. The race also doubles up as the Scottish championship race for that distance and was packed to the rafters with tall, lean very fast looking runners who would fly around the course in times that take my breath away just thinking about, as well as the usual familiar faces I regularly see at events like this.

Wee County Harriers ready for the start of another fantastic race. (Stirling 10k)
Wee County Harriers ready for the start of another fantastic race.

At 10:10am we made our way to the starting pen and bang on 10:15am, we were off! This is probably the flattest 10k race I have ever taken part in so I knew I could get a good strong start and then my plan was to keep it up for as long as I could. The only short race I have taken part in this year was the Brig Bash 5 back in July where I managed my first mile under 7 minutes and then sat between 7:10 and 7:40ish for the following miles. I knew if I could do that again a slight PB might be on the cards as during this race last year my last few miles were around about 8 minutes and I struggled in the last mile or so. Were my tired, achy legs up to the challenge? I was about to find out!

I remembered to get nearer to the front of the pack as last year I got really held back in the first half a mile as the field spread out. Straight away I could see the front runners away ahead and disappearing around the first bend in the road and I got into my own steady rhythm and switched off to what was going on around me. Before I knew it my watch beeped and the first mile was over. The road dipped and then turned to follow the river around to Cambuskenneth, again all totally flat, and I was still managing to keep my pace up. Over the bridge, up a slight incline and onto the out and back road where the front runners began to pass us. Pushing on I concentrated on my breathing and maintaining a steady pace as I rounded the cone and started on the return leg. I passed a few of my club mates, exchanging high fives and well-dones and noticed that there wasn’t much between me and a few of my WCH friends, so again I dug deep and pushed on back to the main road. Coming up to 4 miles my legs began to burn a bit and I felt like I had slowed down considerably, but a brief glance at my watch told me that in fact I’d only slowed my pace to 7:29. This was possibly the fastest I had ever ran! All I had to do now was keep it up for another and a bit miles and it would be over…

The last mile. Things hurt so bad...(Stirling 10k)
The last mile. Things hurt so bad…

We flew back over the narrow bridge, back through Riverside and onto the second very slight hill in the race and this just about ruined my legs. I checked my watch again and the suddenly realised that even if I ran a 10 minute mile I’d still get a PB, but I had no idea how close behind me the next WCH runner was, so my competitive nature kicked in full force again and I flew round the last mile of the course giving it everything I had left. A large sign on a lamppost saying “400m to go!” was the final push I needed as I powered up to the finishing line and yelled with delight as I saw my final time. 45:50, which is 2 and a half minutes faster than my previous personal best. I was absolutely ecstatic! I wobbled up to the marshals to get my timing chip cut off and trying to stop my legs shaking once again.

Mile splits: 6:53, 7:08, 7:23, 7:29, 7:41, 7:40, (1:34)

No time for posing and smiles during this race... what a gorgeous look that is!! (Stirling 10k)
No time for posing and smiles during this race… what a gorgeous look that is!!

After congratulating everyone I decided to celebrate in the only way possible after the Stirling 10k. By running 8 miles home!

I think fast races may have to take a back seat for a while now. My legs were sorer on Monday than they were after my last 2 marathons!!! And now for marathon number 4….

Photos – Bob Marshall and Gordon Donnachie