Getting in the miles and ticking off the milestones

I've mentioned on a previous post how satisfying it is to be able to tick off milestones on a training plan, and this past week has had a stack of them so I should be feeling very satisfied. The truth is that with under 2 weeks to go I'm more nervous than I've ever been at this point in the run up to the Cross.

During the week I tried out my first run to bike changeover. This turns out to be quite tricky when you live in a small top floor flat with no bike storage apart from the spare room; never the less with a bit of pre-planning and organisation I still managed the changeover (including running down the stairs with my bike!) in just over 5 minutes. I'm going to try it again this week just to make sure I'm confident which gear I need to put in my changeover bag.

On Saturday we had our last long run. We went for 16 miles round Loch Ard, a route we did on the mountain bike earlier on in our training. The running was hard going as it was forest trail all the way round, the theory had been this would be better for our ankles but it was pretty hard going on the knees and relatively boring scenery compared to our more recent runs. I am also nervous it was not long enough (though I did 17 miles if you include mustering*); but Colin has a pretty active job and has been knackered after the runs, so we didn't dare push our distance further for fear of causing injury. Running magazines say that not making the distance before the race shouldn't be such an issue as excitement and adrenaline gives you an extra push on the day, but I'm not so sure it applies to runs with a 30 mile cycle on the end!

The big milestone for both Colin and I this week was a cycle ride up Duke's Pass between Callander and Aberfoyle. Colin had been wanting to cycle this pass since before we'd moved up to Stirlingshire. It's well known amongst local cycling enthusiasts, and personally I had been dreading having to do it as it had reached iconic epic status in my head! Our research informed us that there are two ways to tackle this pass: head North, the short steep way; or head South, the long slow uphill grind. We decided that because our knees were a bit tender from the run on Saturday, and I suffer from sore knees cycling up steep hills at the best of time, that we would do the Southern route and went out to Callendar via Doune, then across the pass to Aberfoyle and then back via Thornhill. Around 45 miles in total and right at the top of my daily distance since I first got on Mum's road bike in April (actually, possibly the furthest I've ever cycled in a day!!!!)

As we reached Callander and Bridge of Turk I was feeling great, and the sunshine picking out the hill tops around us made for really enjoyable riding. However I couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation as we passed the sign for Dukes Pass. As we started the up and I heard a voice say "don't put so much effort into the cycling" I may have said some rude words, but much to my surprise steady pedalling got me to the top much quicker than I had expected... I suspect the strangely East/North Easterly wind giving us a push had a lot to do with it but I wasn't complaining! Then came the down, and I actually enjoyed some of it - well, until the steep hairpins which I think I took at around 5mph with my new back brakes being tested to the limit, but honestly I do think my confidence has improved a little bit!!!! We had reached Aberfoyle after 28 miles in 2 hours & 10 minutes so I was really pleased, in fact I was practically beaming and at that moment there was hope that I would be convinced to keep up road cycling after the cross; something that has never been done before. I've only ever done it for training!

We then had a discussion about whether or not to stop for a cuppa. I felt fine and wanted to get the miles under my belt but Colin wisely reminded me that we were returning into a head wind the whole way back from there, and so we stopped, and he got his chocolate slice. I was very grateful that we had stopped as the head wind back was absolutely draining, by the end of the relatively shorter 17 mile return journey which took just over 1.5 hours I was very thankful to be home. I now know what way I hope the wind is blowing in a fortnight, 30 miles of that effort after a run and I'll be a wreck!

Now for 2 weeks of taper with my fingers firmly crossed for favourable weather. Please do remember to support us on the day, you can do so by:

• keeping your fingers crossed for good weather and the best wind direction between now and then


• cheering loudly between 11am and 5pm


• and even if you don't have time or inclination for the above then you can sponsor us too
  

*Mustering is when the front runners run back to the back of the pack, in this case my running back to Colin, to keep the pack together.

and the wind blew so hard we ended up in Oz!

This is a picture of our new friend Joey. He is a wallaby and we saw him out cycling today. I'm led to believe that wallaby's live in the wonderful land of Oz so the wind must have been blowing very hard!!!! I tell you what, it certainly felt like it was, and I would have given anything for a pair of red slippers that I could click together to get me home again.. but unfortunately we had to use pedal power the whole way.

In fact the wind has blown quite hard most of the weekend. After a fairly gentle weeks training, partly because we didn't want to overdo the training, and partly because Colin's knees have been playing up again, we had a couple of long sessions planned for this weekend. Yesterday we headed out to Bridge of Turk to run the Glen Lednock circular - a 13 mile hill track which I had spotted on a map the other week and have since found descriptions of in various guidebooks. I've been really looking forward to running the route and had been advised by a couple of people it would be great training for the Highland Cross, so despite the grey skies and high winds I had set out for the run in quite good spirits.

Colin was a little nervous due to the lack of running he has done over the past few weeks whilst resting his knee, but he decided that he could always walk the route if running proved to be too painful. The track was fairly 'undulating' to say the least and the last big steep hill had a real sting in the tail of a false summit made worse by the fact that it was hidden in the cloud - so when we got there we really had thought that we'd reached the top. The low cloud turned into heavy rain and the wind increased making the last half of the run a particularly cold affair and very hard work. Never the less both of our legs held out well and it was just as good a training route as I had hoped for. I think it makes a much nicer run or mountain bike than a walk, and I would certainly do it again - but maybe in slightly better weather!


We are lucky in that since moving to the Stirling area we have met a couple of hill runners through our climbing club, and have had some excellent routes suggested to us. This also meant that we got given the name of Angela Mudge who does great sports massage. Both Colin and I treated ourselves to a sports massage this week and I have to say I think its helped loads with the heavy legs I was experiencing this time last week. Not to mention the great advice she has given on stretches to do and places to go training. Angela also happens to be a top fell runner and all round great athlete, she not only knows of the Highland Cross but has won the womens race a couple of time, this means that when she is offering advice you listen... Thus I can now be seen sitting on a couple of tennis balls of an evening, don't ask!


As for the cycling Colin has really been picking up the pace, and I am being made to work hard on speed, hills and confidence. The deal is that I pick the long runs and he picks the long cycles but this is now backfiring and today he had me out on a 38 mile circuit to Auchingarrich Wildlife Park and back. Despite cycling not being my favourite sport I do have to confess that I am loving cycling the local back roads; they are generally quiet with very friendly drivers using them, and are taking us to places with amazing scenery that we wouldn't normally go. However, that said, today was incredibly hard work. It didn't seem to matter which direction we cycled in, the wind would buffet us so much I found it difficult to stay on the road. At one point I was actually having to pedal to go down hill - most annoying! It was therefore a joy to come round a corner and see Joey sat next to the road at the entrance to the wildlife park.

We have marked the Wildlife Park down as an interesting looking place to go back to when we've finished the Highland Cross and can spend a relaxing Saturday there without having to run or cycle back again in some crazy weather. Its under 4 weeks to go now, so just two more long runs - let's hope the conditions on the day are a bit better than the weather we've been training in this weekend.

Sometimes training is just plain hard work

In training for an event, just like anything, you have good days and bad days.. and sometimes you have bad weeks. The tricky bit is reminding and convincing yourself that this is just part of the journey and that it doesn't mean you are failing in any way. In fact you need the bad days to make the good days better - it just doesn't seem like it at the time!

From a training perspective, I have had a bad week, not a terrible week, but I've just found it hard work: my legs have felt heavy on every run and though my confidence is definitely improving on the bike I'm suffering from knee and back aches - probably as a result of lack of prior use! The fact that for much of the week it has been showery making it difficult underfoot and resulting in a lack of nice views has merely compounded the issue.

On Saturday for my 'long run' I returned to Lochearnhead and Glen Ogle to do a 12 mile circuit of the old railway (endless boring hard tarmac) and the old military road (mud, river crossings, marsh and route finding challenges). I had got the route out of a walking book and surprisingly it stayed dry for the whole time I was out, but I hadn't anticipated the effect of the recent rain on the terrain - not a mistake I want to make again in the near future!

On the plus side, last week I really felt I was making good ground on the bike, and even didn't mind getting a little wet when I got caught in a shower. So yesterday - inspired by the local Etape Caledonia in aid of Macmillan Cancer - we aimed for a 25 mile cycle ride from Dunblane to Callander via the backroads, returning via Thornhill. It was the most beautiful cycle ride and I finally managed to cycle over a reasonable (and undulating!) distance with an average of above 10mph!!! If I hadn't ached so much when I'd finished it would almost of have made up for my poor running this week. Maybe we should enter the Etape next year?!

However, though I seem slightly down about my current performance, I can console myself with the knowledge that hard work does pay off. I'm not just saying this from past experience or from reading too many articles about top athletes! It's true in all walks of life. To illustrate this I can proudly point you towards Julie Broadfoot who launched her first exhibition last week, containing the beautiful image of rain which I've borrowed for this blog. A very good week for her indeed, but not without much hard work and I'm sure many days out with her camera in moody weather!

Lets hope I get a good week again soon.

It's all in the planning....

I'm a project manager.
I mean this in more than a professional sense, it's not just what I do but it's who I am. It's quite scary really and it's not always something I'm concious of; however there is no doubt about it that I am far happier if there is a plan/list/map on hand for reference purposes. This doesn't mean I don't enjoy being impulsive or winging it, in fact some of my best trips have been where I've just followed my nose, but you will normally find a fall back of a guidebook, map or something similar in my bag - just in case!

The most recent case in point is the training plan for Highland Cross. I've always used a training plan to prepare for big events like this. I don't force myself to stick to it rigidly but it is a good guide for me to see what distances I should be running or biking and helps me to think about how I can fit it around my other activities (or work!). Truth be told, if nothing else, having a list to tick off milestones really helps me feel like the task of getting up to distance might be possible!

The real benefit of having a training plan was brought home to me this past few weeks since recovering from being struck down with laryngitis. It is just over 3 weeks since I was able to start training again after 2-3 weeks of doing absolutely nothing except sleeping. The training hadn't really kicked in before I had got ill so it left me very behind where I should have been. By having a plan I could adjust, I was able to work my way back on track. It's difficult to strike that balance between slowly increasing time/distance and pushing yourself to get back on plan, but it's much easier if you can see where you need to be so you can set yourself interim goals. I've never really thought about it in terms of the job I do but actually this planning and replanning is exactly what I have to do in my work as a Project Manager. Just like reading a map when you are out walking you don't need to refer to the plan all the time, and the plan isn't there to be stuck to, it is there to remind you of how you are going to get to where you want to be - if you need it - and most importantly it's ok to change the plan/route as long as it still gets you to where you want to be.

With this all in mind and the plan suitably adjusted, we've found some lovely local runs to do around Dunblane, Doune and Callander over the past couple of weeks. I'm so lucky that we live in such a beautiful area with plenty of walking routes around to turn into runs. We've possibly not got in enough hill running which seems odd considering we are surrounded by them here, but I am confident that will come now fitness is improving. I just need to plan them in! The good news is that if I can achieve our milestone this weekend of a ten mile run tomorrow, then we will have hit our mid plan target, which will be a huge relief.

So now I'm off to look at maps and guidebooks for some inspiration for tomorrow's route; after all, planning is what I do!

Learning to cycle all over again - it's a piece of cake?!

For those who followed my endeavors at learning to ride a bike for my first Highland Cross in 2007 (or maybe those who have foolishly and somewhat dangerously tried to follow me on a bike since then!) it will be of no surprise that it is the cycling section of this challenge that fills me with most dread. There is a popular saying “it's like riding a bike” which suggests that you never forget how to ride a bike. However, I can confirm that not only is this a falsehood, despite 4 years between getting back on a bike and today, I still feel like I'm learning!

Several of my friends have tried to convert me to the hobby of Mountain Biking, and I have to confess I really do enjoy pootling around hill tracks and forest trails on the bike. You can get so much more distance covered and get into areas which would take hours to walk to. Never the less I think these same friends often despair that my enjoyment of Mountain Biking is nothing to do with going fast down trails, in fact entirely the opposite, I like to think I'm very sedate in my descents (if slightly wobbly) – other people of course may just call this slow.

In the my two previous attempts at the Highland Cross I was left convinced that it was the cycling section that let me down. So many people, who I had probably passed on the run, passed me on the bike. It's not that I was worried about my time or placing but it is incredibly disheartening to finish the event in such poor style. My mother on the other hand, who loves her cycling, always says that being able to finish by passing people in the second half of the event helped boost her morale. All I know is I was worried about her being on my tail. Therefore, this year, I have vowed to work harder on my cycling skills. They say practice makes perfect and that things become more enjoyable the better you are, but as well as practice I also have a new secret weapon.... my Mum's race bike!

As Mum isn't competing this year she has kindly lent me her race bike with assurances that this will take at least 10 minutes off the time I managed on her touring bike; Colin told me that Mum's bike was a model that not long ago was used on Tour de France. All that sounded good to me and I gladly accepted the offer, only to find myself the subject of refitting and requiring coaching as both Mum and Colin got me cycling round a car park to learn how to ride this race machine!!

It seems that a race bike is not only different to a mountain bike but it set much lower in the handle bars to a tourer. This did not do my fear of falling over the front of the handle bars any good at all and much raising of the handle bars took place to minimise the wobble factor on the road. The gears are in the wrong place, there isn't enough of them, and you have to lean forward to brake. All of these things are going to require some getting used to, but I am determined to learn, and so yesterday we went out on my favourite local cycle ride to the great coffee shop at Kippen for cake. Cycling may not be a piece of cake for me yet, but I don't mind using a piece of cake as a training incentive.. Yummy!

For the first time ever I was out in front of Colin, it was slightly unfair as he hasn't got a road bike for the event yet, but it was impressive how easily the light race bike handled in the head wind on the way home. I did have some hairy moments setting out and I may even have 'grumped' at Colin when I got the gears back to front, making it slightly harder to go up a hill than I intended, not to mention a huge wobble when a bus passed too close to me. (I really don't understand why when riding a motorbike you put on leathers and a full face helmet yet riding a push bike you apparently just need a bit of plastic on your head?!) However the sunshine, beautiful scenery and quiet roads, not to mention the cake stop in the middle, all helped with a great introductory cycle, and meant I really enjoyed my trip out on the bike. It was a 26 mile trip with a cake stop in the middle; so now I just need to practice more and increase the mileage.. and I suppose I'll have to drop the cake stop too!

Upping the distance

Well, the aim of the past 7 days has been to start pushing the distance so I'm pleased to report that yesterday an 8 mile run was completed and today a 16 mile bike ride. I'm a little nervous about how quickly I'm ramping up the distance on the runs but there's no doubt that the long holiday is helping as there is ample opportunity for resting tired muscles. With any luck I shall be back on the original training plan by next week. Fingers are firmly crossed.

The weather has been fabulous for training this past week, making getting out into the great outdoors a real joy. Today we went to Loch Ard to cycle round the forest tracks there. I did the cycle route on foot as a training run for my first Highland Cross nearly four years ago and I think it will be a great one to aim to repeat this year. We found a peculiar sculpture of a hole which looked like something out of Star Treck - Colin tried to jump through it but he didnt seem to change time or space dimension!

Tomorrow is a cross training day so our plan is to go and hike up Ben Vorlich at a nice gentle pace. I am determined to make the most of this sunshine whilst we can.

Back on Track

The training is back on track. A couple of weeks ago when Sara was nursing herself back from a bout of laryngitis, I was nursing a knee injury, probably due to pushing myself too hard too soon. A couple of visits to the physio and a few easy runs have helped me get back into running from a lost couple of weeks training.
Recently we spent the weekend north of Inverness staying with Sara's mum and John. We enjoyed a mountain bike ride around at the newly opened Learnie Red Rocks.
Friday where we did a run up Tain hill taking Skipper for along for the ride. Followed with a sunny barbeque enjoying the views over the Dornoch firth.

The rest of the weekend was more relaxed as we met up with Sara's dad at Culloden battle ground where in 1746 the last great battle was fought between the Jacobites and The Duke of Cumberlands government army, definitely worth a visit if your in the area.
Were now pushing the distances and with a good run to Doune and back today. Tomorrow were on the bikes for a ride around Aberfoyle.

So i can firmly say we are back on track with the training plan and i just hope the knee holds up.

The recovery....

In a bid to get back into training slowly I enjoyed a sedate cycle to our local crag on Sunday with Colin, where we met the Ochil Mountaineering Club to clamber around on rock. This was followed by a pint in the sunshine, and a sedate cycle home. I was knackered!

Since then Ive had a couple of gentle runs and feel much stronger in the legs, but I'm still aware that I am not quite on form. Never the less, with just over 8 weeks to go, I need to start working on the distance so there is now a plan for the next few days that involves mostly cycling, running and resting! We're heading North to visit the parents, stopping at Learnie Red Rock Trails on the way for some cycling; there's a loose plan to run Tain Hill the following day to get in some running miles; and then a rest day that involves catching "The Shee" at Eden Court on the Saturday night. Hopefully with nothing else on the agenda the mix of pushing the distance and resting up will kick start the training properly again.

Wish me luck!

A very bad start

Training is not going well. In fact it is fair to say that it is going decidedly badly. After a slow but steady start I then came down with laryngitis and have been out of action for 3 weeks.

It was one of those nasty bugs that sneaks up on you and takes you out without any warning, which was most annoying. There I was running up Dumyat in the Ochils and I started to feel unwell, I walked alot of the route and then finally gave up and went to bed after lunch. I then stayed in bed for nearly 2 weeks!!! and this past week has definitely still been recovery time with even walking or a gentle cycle ride wiping me out - needless to say I'm very nervous about setting out back on the training plan. When you take 3 weeks out of a 15 week training plan it doesn't fill you with confidence but I'm no quitter and I shall certainly be giving it a shot.

So there you go, I think I need to replan. Any tips on how to get back on track as quickly as possible would be very welcome. The good news is that I am no longer commuting to London and have some time off so at least I can focus on both training and recovery for a while. Fingers firmly crossed I can see some quick returns.