Just do it! (Week 28 - 3 to go)

Summit of Goatfell (again), very windy!

After reviewing my training plan this week looks really light and I found I had a slightly different mind-set about getting it done.  I would just ‘do it’.  Ok, maybe I was still a little apprehensive about the big run on Monday – aiming for the summit of Goatfell again, but I just relaxed and told myself I could revise the route at any time, and mentally broke it up into sections.  Get to the bridge, then the shoulder where the Corrie path joins up and then the summit – easy. The weather forecast was mixed but I set off in sunshine, with a fairly stiff breeze to ensure I needed a jacket.

No it wasn’t easy, but I did get up, albeit I still walked quite a lot of the up.  The downs reminded me of how unforgiving they can be with a brief stumble that I fortunately recovered from before crashing into other rocks. And the mountain reminded me how quickly it can change with wintry showers, stinging hail and strong gusting winds all the way down.

Change of scenery on a beach and forest run in Carradale

My next run should have been on Thursday, and this was to be an easy recovery run.  However I left it to Friday as I was going over to Carradale for the weekend and know a really nice route along the beach and through the forest which was a perfect change of scenery.

Saturday was a bit of general exercise with a short bike ride (to the pub) and a longer unplanned walk that turned into quite a major scramble – good for exercising all those forgotten muscles and practising my balance.

Rocky scramble more suited to the goats we found!

Next week is the 2^nd challenge in the run up to the main race, so tapering down a bit to conserve some energy.

Weeks activity 17^th – 23^rd April:

Sunday – Rest day

Monday – Hill run 12.3k / 816m height gain

Tuesday – Rest day

Wednesday – Rest day

Thursday – Rest day

Friday – Trail run 5.27 / 73m height gain

Saturday – Bike ride 5k / Rock scramble walk 7.5k

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)

Less is more (Week 27 - 4 to go)

Enjoying the views - an excuse to stop

After the saunter up Goatfell last Saturday it was time for a quiet week – just as well as my legs needed a rest, my joints have been painful with a flare up of arthritis and I’ve had a couple of allergic reactions (goodness knows what too);  So a few short runs with more gentle ups and plenty of stops to view the scenery.

Lots of forest tracks - steady incline.

I am concerned I’m not getting the mileage in that I planned but at least I am getting out and working on the terrain that I will be facing on the day. But I’ll not pretend this week has been easy. Doubts have crept in when I’ve had to walk bits and during the night when I suddenly suffered a bout of cramp in my inner thigh, but I remind myself it’s a challenge I set for myself – the only pressure is self-inflicted and I can quit any time I want. (I like to use that emotive word ‘quit’ – makes me just want to grit my teeth and [wo]man up!!).

I also took the opportunity to revise my plan for the last four weeks of training.  Less is more has been the advice from Coach Laura with very specific running aims for each run including easy, steady and tempo sessions not to mention the Coastal trail race on the 30^th before the big day looms! But the plan looks eminently doable, only one run I’m anxious about so that’s not too bad.

Watson with his trophy!

Oh and Watson found some more dead meat to carry with him - this time a particularly putrid squirrel!

Weeks activity 10^th – 16^th April:

Sunday – Rest day

Monday – Trail run 5.66k /  102m height gain

Tuesday – Rest day

Wednesday – Trail run 6.73km / 212m height gain

Thursday – Rest day

Friday – Easy run approx. 4k (no watch)

Saturday – Rest day

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)

No such thing as a bad run (Week 26 - 5 to go)

Summit of Goatfell - stunning views

I am starting to recognise a pattern in my running.  After I’ve had a really good week (last week) I tend to follow it with a week where my expectations aren’t met.  And Monday I had a pretty dire start to my run.  But when I say dire I just mean that I didn’t do what I set out to do (those dam expectations) and it’s easy to say it was a ‘bad’ run.  But I kept telling myself, as I virtually crawled the ups on my hands and knees, I was still out there, in the pouring rain, trying.

Wet and miserable 

The thing is it should have been a great run.  I was well prepared, I was running after work and had taken everything with me, including a snack for an hour before (which I ate), some jelly babies to stop the calorie crash at the end of my run, waterproofs, and no watch to pressurise my speed (or lack of).

But it was miserable, and the hill I had planned was shrouded in misty cloud and the up was turning painful.  So I changed my plan enroute and decided I’d take a more scenic trail run through the forest and passed the waterfalls that were in full spate.  Amazing this ‘bad’ run turned into 8.6k of relaxed sogginess and actually a respectable height gain.  So really there is no such thing as a bad run, if you’re out there it’s a run, and any run is better than no run, and that’s good.

More scenic waterfalls

I did decide after this run that maybe I needed a bit of a rest and I have been trying to work out my optimum break to take before a big run.  Two days doesn’t seem to be enough, three is more promising but I opted to rest for 4 days and then do a long run.  As it happened I did have a plan to go up Goatfell on the following Monday which got cancelled, so my long run on Saturday turned into a Goatfell day – the weather was glorious and it would have been a shame to miss it.

Another from Goatfell Summit

I am still walking large chunks of the up and finding it far from easy, but I did get to the top (loads of people up there), the veiws were stunning.  There were plenty of other runners out, all of which I saw descending as I was still going up, apart from Jon who caught me up on the descent and ran and chatted with me for a while before zooming off ahead (he is an awesome runner).  I was amused again when someone called me a fell runner (still feel like a fraud), obviously I was going down at the time and actually running.  And it wouldn’t be a fell run if Watson didn’t raid some poor walkers rucksack – I think he did quite well at the summit today!

So despite only doing 2 runs this week, I’m fairly content and still very determined to race.

Weeks activity 3^rd – 9^th April:

Sunday – Rest day

Monday – Trail run 8.6k / 353m height gain

Tuesday – Rest day

Wednesday – Rest day 

Thursday – Rest Day

Friday – Rest Day

Saturday – Trail run Goatfell 11.14k / 841m height gain

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)

The Longest Run Yet (Week 25 - 6 to go)

Part of the coastal trail

Well I managed my longest run yet just over 16k with 400m height gain.  It was a fairly straight forward out and back, with some steady undulations which meant I had to do hills both ways, not so good when my legs were tired at the end.  But I learned a lot from doing it.  I found the first 3 - 4k the hardest and walked some of the ups (some pain in my hips and calves) but then hit the zone and the running became smoother – mental distraction seems to be the key for me. It took me a long time but then I wasn’t trying to rush – this was about distance and TOF (time on feet).  One of my main learning points is I need to get some calories in along the way, particularly to sustain me near the end of the distance. The last kilometre was shaky, legs heavy and a bit light headed.  I was positively drained and without taking off my backpack or unharnessing the dog, I hit the fridge as soon as I got through the door. Chocolate caramel seemed to do the trick and I felt revived within minutes. 

Great Views

My previous efforts at eating during exercise have not gone down too well, although I have found a snack bar that I can just about eat a quarter of before feeling nauseous.  So next week I’m going to try one of my trekking favourites and I’ll let you know how I get on.

Julie & Misty (behind)

After the long run, I took 2 days rest.  Then a friend, who also does cani-cross with her dog, had come across for a few days so we planned a run and decided to do part of the upcoming Coastal Trail race. The ups are tough and the pebbles on the beach I found really difficult, so not a fast route but it is beautifully scenic. Unfortunately with such difficult terrain it’s hard to take your eyes off the ground. Then another rest day (only managed 3 runs this week).

Watson crossing the stream with his 'stick'.

Saturday I was ‘up for it’.  However my legs had other ideas and I ran like a hobbled donkey.  The ups were grim. I thought the route I had chosen would be good because it was so varied but it sapped my energy.  Needless to say I toughed it out and got my distance in and enjoyed the downhill.

Watson particularly enjoyed carrying a ‘stick’ he found for most of the distance.  Oh, deer,,, well that didn’t come back in the van with us!

Weeks activity  :

Sunday – Rest day

Monday – Long trail run 16.06k / 400m height gain

Tuesday – Rest day

Wednesday – Rest day

Thursday – Trail run 6.26k / 140m height gain

Friday – Rest day

Saturday – Trail run 8.79k / 287m height gain

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)