WHW Walk Photos

My Dad is a keen walker and trains hard to walk one road marathon and one trail marathon each year. This year he completed the Belfast Marathon and the Causeway Coast Marathon (in third place no less!). For his 70th birthday this year he came over from N-Ireland and we went for a 2 day walk from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William (staying over in Kinlochleven). The weather was terrible even for October. At least there were no midgies! I took a lot of photos and here are my favourites.

It was interesting to get time to look around more in comparison to running the Devil O The Highlands. I certainly appreciated having a better camera than my wee mobile phone cam that I used during the race.

My Dad totally enjoyed it and we are hoping to walk the full distance over 5 days at some point in 2012. Preferably in full sunshine and during season so we can use a baggage service!

River Ayr Way Ultramarathon 2011

I decided to run the River Ayr Way (RAW) ultra to complete 4 races in the SUMS series and also to have another >65KM race under my belt which could help in applying for the West Highland Way race in 2012. Vikki also seemed keen to run it so we set off on Friday after tea to Ayr.

We stayed in a lovely b+B (http://www.millerhouseayr.co.uk/) and went out for a quite pre race beer in the local pub. Stupidly this turned into 4 pints of San Miguel which gave me a poor nights sleep and a lethargic hangover when I woke at 5:30am. It didnt help that I was feeling the lurgy earlier on that week and was weak already. This probably explains why the rest of this report is a bit moany!

We turned up to the Citadel Sports Centre at 7:20 with 10 minutes to spare before the bus turned up to take us to the start. There was nobody there! We checked the place out and bumped into another runner who was in the car park. Vikki checked her email and found out the website and email said different things! We were supposed to be at Dam Park Stadium (I knew from facebook the finish had been changed to here). Luckily the other runner had a car and we sped round to the proper pick up point. Moral of the story is always read the race directors emails in the run up to a race (although it would be nice if information was consistent for idiots like me!).

At the pick up point we met Andy and Donald and was introduced to Colin Knox. After the panic I enjoyed the usual pre race friendly banter. Then Andy told me that there were only 5(or 6?) drop bag checkpoints now (as per email) as opposed to the 8 listed on the website. This threw me as I had been banking on 8 stops for food. Grrrrrr- I doubled up some bags and reckoned I'd just wing it en route. This was my own stupid fault again (website says one thing, email another) but by the time we got to Glenbuck for the start I was feeling pretty negative. I think it was at this point it dawned on me that I would not be getting home until about 10pm and the though of running till teatime and then driving for 3-4 hours dragged me down.

When the race began I was a little saddened to see how many people were listening to ipods. I can understand some people need them later in the race when they need a lift or a boost - but from the very start? And it wasn't one or two people either. Normally I don't frown on this sort of thing but a lot of the course is narrow single track  and we did have a few issues during the race where we had to overtake on the verge (rabbit holes etc) just becasue folk couldn't hear us.

The first 5 miles or so felt terrible. I was having a tough time and thought the route was uninspiring. Then, after the first checkpoint it really changed. The course became quite beautiful and had a lot of fun forest/woodland
sections. As usual there was quite a lot of fun banter with other competitors and within an hour or two I had become much more positive.

At time the route was very very mucky and very overgrown. However it was a lot of fun and certainly something I would consider running again. I found it a lot tougher than expected possibly due to lurgy/hangover/mental attitude and was willing the finish line to come for the last 3 hours. Perhaps it was also the fatigue of having run the Devil and Speyside recently. However, even feeling like this, there was still a lot of enjoyment to be had. There were a few sections where we wondered if we were still on course but overall the marshalling and signposts were superb.

The race had a stadium finish and we made a real effort to overtake a few folk. I've got to say I enjoyed the finish. The object was to run with Vikki and finish strong. I am not sure I finished strong but did feel an
achievement at actually crossing the line.

Overall, I would reccommend the race and certainly think I learned a thing or two. It also helped me to decide not to run the WHW race in 2012. I'd rather have a lot more "middle distance" ultra experience (40-60 miles) under my belt and possibly at my own pace now.

Lastly, my mum had sent me some dried seaweed for the bath. This was supposed to be a relaxing substitute for bubble bath or something. It was certainly oily and interesting although it made me smell like a harbour.

Speyside Way Ultramarathon 2011

The goal for this years Speyside Way Ultramarathon was to finish the 36.5 miles with a smile on my face, feeling strong and knowing I could continue running rather than “feeling like a burst sofa” (to quote Al). To that end I was going to be running with Alan Stewart and Tommy who were attempting an ultra for the first time. As I’d rather be running for a longer time to get the experience of time on feet (not often you can say that about a race!) we had agreed on a pace of about 10 minute miles. Hopefully we’d get in about 7 hours.
We camped in Buckie on the Friday night and it was pretty uneventful apart from being woken up 12-2am by drunken teenagers. We’ve all been there and done that, plus I probably would have had a restless nights sleep anyway. At least the rain held off and the tents were dry to pack away at 6am.
The race start was well organised and we were bussed to Ballindalloch where there were additional portaloos this year - really appreciate that so great job by the organisers.

Me, Tommy, Mike and Al

Before we knew it we were all lined up at the start. Al, Tommy and myself were wanting to start with Jonathan Mackintosh. Before that I managed to say a quick “Best of luck” to a few of the elites (Lucy Colquhoun and Paul Giblin I think). Saw Al and Tommy about ¾ down the line so went to grab Jonathan who was behind the gate. At that point I was confused to see all the runners trotting past me. Then the penny dropped - the race had bloody started! Arhahhhhh - quick sprint back to Al and Tommy and we were off. Unfortunately we didn’t see Jonathan until the end.

Al and Tommy

The first 12 miles flew by and were pretty uneventful. We paced about 9:30-10min miles. We did a lot of walking on the uphill section through the forestry and the three of us were feeling good and still pretty strong.

I was keeping the lads right by having stops every 30 mins for food/electrolytes/water.

Just before the turn into Fochabers I felt a pain in my arm and looked down to see a wasp stuck in it and buzzing like a mad thing. I realised there were at least 2 more round me. I’d like to think I acted in a “manly fashion” but I know I let out a very feminine yelp and resembled Kate Bush dancing in that Wuthering Heights video. Tommy was out in front having a wee chuckle and 2 lady marshalls were giggling. When I reached them one said “Why not use a docking leaf?”. I replied it wasn’t a nettle but a wasp sting. She looked concerned, paused and then said “Well, at least it’ll take your mind off your sore legs for a bit” and burst out laughing again. Must admit this raised a big laugh from myself :)

Got through Fochabers and Tommy started to slow. He got a spasm in his right leg and was struggling. He told Al and myself to go on but we wanted to stay and spur him on as much as possible. Also met another chap who was doing a walk 1 min, walk 4 mins strategy. He seemed in chipper spirits. This was his first ultra and he’d picked up a spasm in his left leg! I told him he should be proud that he has managed his energy levels so well and it was just his legs letting him down - at least he’d “done everything right”. Seemed like a nice bloke and was happy to plod it out to the end. We played cat and mouse racing with him for the next few miles.

Tommy was struggling and I suspect it was a combo of sore legs and enegry depletion. Took the right turn after Fochabers and spied in the distance that the other spasm chap had taken a wrong turn. I sprinted after him and caught up after 3-4minutes. Nice to see there was still a bit of speed left in the legs!

Al and myself decided to run on at the 28(ish) mile mark. I don’t think we were helping by trying to spur him on and he’d be better to run his own race from that point instead of trying to keep up and feeling bad about it.

For the next few miles we were doing 8:30-9ish pace. Got to the sea and Al asked to pick the pace up! We ran 8 min miles for a bit and then realised there were only a few miles left. I think we both wanted to overtake folk if we could so ran 7:30 pace from mile 34(ish) to the end. I was really proud that Al managed this comfortably in his first Ultra! I think we overtook 5 or 6 folk at this point.

Al storming it

Came in at 6:39. I was happy to have spent a reasonably long time running and still felt strong. Good signs :)

Mike met us at the finish. He had stormed yet another ultra - 5:01 and 10th place. What a lad!

Next up the lad with spasm leg came in (6:55ish?) and we shook hands and had a giggle about the diversion. Tommy came in at 7:09 looking sore but pleased with himself. He was pretty positive about being back next year. Then Jonathan was in at 7:23. He looked a broken man but he had PBd. As Al said to him on facebook - “it's easy to run when you're feeling strong and hard when you're struggling so you should great character and strength getting round”. A fantastic effort.

So I managed to achieve my goals and enjoyed the route. Last year I finished swearing my head off. This year I was smiling and  joking. Huge respect to the organisers for getting everything spot on. The race just gets better and better. I’ll be back next year.

The River Ayr Way Ultra (44 miles) is next. Same goals - have fun and finish strong. Also, avoid wasps.



Lessons learned:

- I had Choc Soya milk and 25g almonds at the 2 + 4 + 6 hour marks. The idea was to give my stomach a rest from carbs and feed it some protein and fat. This worked remarkably well and was very refreshing.

- For the rest of the time I used shot bloks. A great carb to weight ratio but I think I want to experiment with “real food”.

- I used SCaps rather than Hammer caps this time. I think they worked better due to higher sodium.

- The addidas Kanadia shoes hurt my right heel. Not killer sore but it feels slightly bruised today. Maybe it is time to invest in new trail shoes?

- We took the downhills easy. My quads are thanking me today.

Dairy free diet and number counting

As a quick recap: 2009 got psoriasis on sole of foot, ruined my running, tried multitude of creams and potions, finally saw specialist May 2010, Sept 2010 tried new cream, Oct 2010 went vegan (decision was unrelated to foot), got the "all clear" early 2011.

In May this year I gave up veganism and "downgraded" to vegatarianism. Then my psoriasis returned. First to my fingers, then my scalp and finally my foot. I reduced dairy for a month or so (to no effect) but when I had to superglue my foot in order to run I decided that I needed to cut out dairy altogther. Within a week of
becoming vegan again my psoriasis had 100% vanished from my fingers and had almost gone
from my scalp and foot! That may not be a fool proof conclusion in scientific terms but in my eyes: eating dairy=get psoriasis=no running.

That's been 4 weeks now and I am used to the diet again. In fact I quite enjoy it especially working out the cal/carb/protein amounts required for the training I do. I run 10 miles every day except Sundays where I run a wee bit more. Average is about 70-80 miles per week. Food wise I average about 2500 cals a day with 400g carbs and 100g protein. Additional cals/carbs tend to come from beer! I take 2 vitamin supplements daily, mainly to cover B12 requirements.

On my previous vegan phase I did get asked what I ate from other runners so here is a breakdown of yesterdays menu:

1 litre Soya milk throughout the day
breakfast: massive green salad with nuts and cranberries
second breakfast: Chick pea/pea/olive oil/chilli/lemon salad
snack: bagel with jam
snack: banana
lunch (after run): porridge with sugar followed by 2 mugs of sweet tea
snack: apple and a pear
tea: chili with rice and extra kidney beans followed by 2 mugs sweet tea
snack: porridge with sugar
supper: toast with peanut butter and jam

Anyway, here's hoping the psoriasis is gone. Then I'll probably stop bloody banging on about it ALL THE TIME ;-)

Devil O' The Highlands 2011

I have ran 2 ultramarathons before and had crumbled quite badly in both near the end. After the four hour mark they had gone to hell in a bucket. This was clearly a pacing issue as I was trying to race them and couldn't keep a marathon pace up beyond marathon distance (DOH!). My only goal for the Devil Ultra was to finish strong with a smile on my face. To that extent, Vikki kindly agreed to let me run with her and hopefully this would be mutually beneficial - she would stop me storming off and I might push her to run more sections than she normally might have. Ian and Laurie were our support crew and a fantastic job they did as well.

In the end it worked out perfect. To be honest I could not believe that 6, then 7, then 8 hours had passed and I still felt top of the world. I am so chuffed about this that I'm still sitting here with a grin on my face

 

Needless to say I will be back again next year as I found it absolutely superb. I do, however, want to take note of lessons learned:

- running well within your limits makes for a far better expreience.
- running well within your limits allows you to go much much further.
- walking (either enforced on hills or by choice) for sections helps later in the race.
- food I am happy with: shot blocks for running, soy milk/soy pudding/bananas for checkpoints.
- if you need to poop then do so ASAP. Don't hold it in.
- I got sore sides (kidneys?) in the last few miles. I am not sure what caused this but I think too much liquid and/or electrolytes (too much or too little?).
- you are not immune to midgies and there is a reason why support crew are wearing those funny hats. I now look like I have chicken pox.

Disease ridden and banging the Devil

Best laid plans and all that! Those that know me will be aware that I am *slightly* prone to changing my mind about races and all things running. The amount of times I've signed up to a race/run/plan and then backed out is a bit of a running joke. After starting my high mileage plan in March I decided to abandon all ultramarathons and concentrate on racing shorter distances. This has paid off by getting under 40mins for 10K and under 90mins for HM.

The next stage was to carry on with Hadd training and try to achieve a sub 3hr marathon. I was hoping that would have been at Loch Ness this year.

But (and there was always going to be a but!) my psoriasis came back. It has slowly started to get worse since I resumed eating dairy in May. However it got really bad when I was on holiday in Ireland and to my horror it had returned to my foot

No need to panic though - I have gone back to a fully vegan diet in the last week and seen significant improvement. I have also returned to the creams and potions supplied by the NHS specialist. Things are looking better and I've only needed to superglue my foot together once

Here's the rub though. I've realised that I may not be a consistent runner forever. God knows whats round the corner and maybe this time next month I'll be on the injury bench for months until the pox dies down a bit. So while I still have the chance, do I really want to remember my running as a means to an end - regimented training and a struggle to hit a self imposed timed goal? When I thought about my mates running on the West Highland Way next weekend having a whale of a time with fantastic scenery I was simply jealous. That is what I'd like to remember if it all goes pear shaped.

So change of plan. I'm running/jogging/bimbling the Devil O The Highlands Ultra next weekend (well, I'm on the reserve list) and also Speyside Ultra at the end of August. I have no time in mind and am running it with Mrs_Shanksi - I want to take it easy, enjoy myself and have a whale of a time with mates. I'll continue with the Hadd training because I really enjoy it and it is superb for my fitness. Long may it continue