Sunshine, Wind, Rain and Royalty by Marriage – this year's Highland Cross had it all!

The Highland Cross is a fabulously well organised event. With 720 people entering the event, there is a huge challenge to looking after the well being and safety of the competitors whilst they cross Glen Affric on a track which is mostly inaccessible by even the most hardy of landrovers - not to mention the logistical nightmare of getting everyone to the start, their bikes to the changeover, and ensuring everyone is reunited with their belongings at the end of the race. I know this from my previous entries, I know this from my younger years helping out at Camban Bothy passing out water and Gatorade, and I was reminded of it again this year as the weather gods couldn't quite decide what to throw at us.

The underfoot conditions were 'soft' to say the least, this translated into 'wet, slippy and difficult' as soon as a very drizzly head wind hit us as we came round the brow of the hill section. We'd been horribly misled by waking up to glorious sunshine and, despite the forecast being for sunshine and showers, the sun deserted us after approx 4 miles running and was never really seen again. I don't know if it was a good or bad year from a casualty perspective but I saw a few folk who had twisted knees/ankles on the treacherous ground and the support helicopter certainly had to land on a few occasions. I was very grateful for the network of radio volunteers who man the route every few miles and can get warm blankets and medical help to folk whilst a plan for helping them get off the hill is put together. I made a point of thanking every one I saw as well as the teams of volunteers who hike into these remote spots just to hand out water and cheer support as we rush past in pursuit of our own personal goals. Whether or not my wheezing thanks could be distinguished as a word I'm not entirely sure but I hope they understood!

Despite the difficult running conditions, I have to say that I felt really strong and enjoyed the event immensely this year. I suspect this has a lot to do with being better rested and looked after before the race; however even in bad conditions the run section is beautiful, which makes it so much more enjoyable than it would be otherwise! As a team we had agreed to run at our own pace and would see each other at the end, over the first 4 miles of track to Glen Licht House we leap frogged each other whilst we found a comfortable pace but once we hit the steep hill pass of Allt Granda Colin surged ahead leaving Jo and I struggling to navigate our way through folk who were walking the single track path in front of us. However once the hill section was done I was able to find a steadier pace and slowly started to make good progress, finally catching Colin at the 10 mile mark of Alltbeithe Youth Hostel. From this point the track becomes much easier with the majority of river crossings complete (!) but the continual Easterly head wind was starting to wear me down; and for the first time ever I was looking forward to the Yellow Brick Road section where I hoped to get some shelter from the trees! I ran the whole distance (apart from sections of the hill where it was unsafe to pass people so walking was a necessity) which is something I've never been able to do before, completing the section in around 3 hrs 30.

Behind me Jo finally caught Colin at mile 18 and they both hit the changeover in around 3 hrs 45. Jo had a very quick changeover and got a good lead on Colin, who had no idea he was so close behind me. We had calculated that based on our expected cycling speeds I needed to be over 20 minutes in front of Colin at the changeover to get to the finishing line before him! Somehow I knew he was on my tail and my little legs have never pedaled so fast; spurred on by the chase, along with the the extra effort I had put into bike training this year, and the loan of Mum's race bike, I achieved the 30 mile cycle section in under 2 hours – my best bike time ever by a long way – and I was in front of Colin by just 3 minutes! Jo crossed the line around 1 minute later, all of us finishing in under 5 hrs 40 giving us a hugely respectable team time. A brilliant effort all round.

There is nothing quite like the experience of cycling into Beauly where the whole town turns out every year to cheer the competitors on as they complete the last mile into town. I read in one of the papers on Sunday that they believed the crowds to be fans of Pippa Middleton who entered the race this year. I would like to correct them in that respect: the locals always come out in force for the event which supports local charities and has been taking place for the last 29 years, they deserve recognition for being out in all weathers for all the competitors and we are very grateful for their cheering – it means the world as you approach the finish line after expending every ounce of energy you have. Never the less its great to see such a wonderful event getting publicity from someone who is becoming a star in her own right, I believe Miss Middleton is a very accomplished athlete and she certainly finished the race is a superb time of 5hrs 05 minutes so she deserves the recognition for that – even if she did 'cheat' by getting a helicopter to the start line rather than joining the rest of us on the bus at silly o'clock in the morning!!!

At the end of the race, we are treated to a buffet prepared by the 'Ladies of Beauly' and this year's prize giving we were also treated to the wonderful sounds of a German Brass Ensemble – one of this year's team entries was from a trio who play with a German Opera. It was an absolutely fantastic end to a fantastic day, and the memories of the wind and rain are already fading. I've heard Colin mention that 'next year' he is going to be quicker at the Changeover.. so I fear that this won't be our last Highland Cross; maybe next time I might beat Mum's record of 5hrs 15 but for now she remains the family record holder and I shall continue to wonder if I'm nearly there yet!

Participating in an event like this requires much dedication from many people so I'd like to make some thankyous. Firstly Thanks to my Mum (Norna Hall) and Stepdad (John Hall) who were a very welcome support team on race day, and particularly to Mum who set me this silly challenge in the first place in 2007 to beat her time which I'm STILL trying to do!! Thanks very much to Angela Mudge & Knead to Relax for their support and helping get my muscles ready for the race. Thanks to Colin for being cajoled into being part of the family team and being patient with me during training! thanks to Gordon Stewart our previous team mate who we were very sorry to have to replace, we hope we did you proud; and thanks to Jo for stepping in at the very last minute with no specific training and still managing to get in a superb finishing time, not to mention raising some money too! A great big thanks to Calum Munro and John Fraser and the huge team of volunteers at Highland Cross for putting on yet another superb event;

and most of all thanks to YOU for your support and donations. You can still sponsor us and check out our total at Just Giving - it's for great causes and is the reason that we put ourselves out in the rain and do it atall!

Our photos of the day are on Flickr for you all to see

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.

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!

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!

This is another fine mess I've gotten myself into

.. well I know I probably said this the last time but I'm not entirely sure how I've ended up in this race again. It's nearly 3 years since this picture was taken of the family team finishing and alot has changed since then. I've moved back to Scotland with my partner Colin and, though I still do alot of hills and climbing at the weekends, I have kind of let the running and cycling take a back seat whilst I've been commuting to London from Stirlingshire! With that in mind - I wouldn't say Im at my peak fitness. So how did it happen? Well my brother Martin sent off the application form saying they may be short of someone, and at the time there was at least 3 or 4 of us saying "sure - no worries - we wont let the side down"; so when I got back from our ski holiday in March to a text message saying "you're in" my first reaction was to hide!! Never the less I'm slowly coming around to the idea and a few tentative runs have shown that I'm fitter than I should be, if not as fit as I need to be - which is alot better than not being fit atall. Now, I just need to see if I can still ride that bike :O)