After a week of fun trail running, how could I possibly top it/finish it off?!
How about by running a 10 plus mile trail race followed by an out and back section of the West Highland way?! Ok then! So before the race started, I wanted to treat this more as a long training run and try and do about 22 miles all together, so on top of the race I wanted to try and run to Dumgoyne and back which adds up to approximatley 12 miles I think!
So I situated myself towards the back of the pack and aimed for a pace of about 10 minute miles. The course did not have mile markers so pacing was really just what you felt comfortable doing! I reckon the first couple of miles ish, were all on park paths. I think they do this to spread the field out before all the single track and fun stuff starts! I looked around at one point and saw the marshall at the back bringing up the rear. I never expected to be this far back but surely people had gone out too fast. This was my first time doing the event but looking at the course description and the way it is advertised - it sounds tough! So even though I was doing it as part of a longer run I think I would have taken it easy anyway (I right, lol).
Anyway after 2 ish miles we veered off the path and onto a boggy trail of long springy grass. The first real obstacle was a burn about 2 foot wide and quite deep. People were queueing up to get over it. Some seemed to stop and ponder how to get over it but i just went straight in and got straight back out. Then the route went back through that long, wet springy grass which was so nice to run on before turning back on to the path. The route then climbed up the first hill, but with a slight difference. There were dead trees on either sided and the actual track was up and down, with big puddles on every down. But there was a higher track you could take which avoided some of the puddles. Once reaching the top the hill, we went through more puddles till eventually going back down the other side where I managed to overtake a few people.
Then there was the water station which signified the half way point and I was feeling good. There were a couple of more uphills on the paths before veering right up a very steep slippery hill! people were sliding back down all over the shot. Must have been the shoes, but I managed to get a good grip and strided right up it over taking even more people. Then the second most fun bit of the race. A long trail, up and down through the forest, jumping over logs and the ocassional mud! I then heard music - Welcome to the Jungle by Guns and Roses blasting out! But before I got to that bit there was thigh deep liquidy mud which went round a corner then gradually climbed out of it. I almost fell completely in, but somehow kept my balance.
Then I arrived at where the music was blasting out from. This section is the start of a 1-2 mile section of the most extreme terrain on the course and its also timed with chip mats. The start of it you go into cloud of smoke and you are just guessing you are going straight, when it cleared we were back on the trails. This time the mud was really thick, to the point where I was struggling to lift my leg up and thought I was going to lose a shoe! There were also steep rocky ascents and slippery decents. At one point a women let me past her as I was climbing over a log, forgetting that I was in a mud pit and splashed her, whoops! As the race results show though I did pretty well in this section. Going into it I was 318th going into the Turbo. For the actual Turbo section I did it in 23 mins 18 seconds and was the 236th fastest person to do that section.
After the Turbo X section finished it was all path with a nasty wee incline at the end. Overall I finished in 291st place in a time of 2 hours 2 minutes and 44 seconds. I actually completed the last section of the course between the turbo X finish and the actual finish in 7 mins 44 seconds which was 178th fastest for that section!
What an event! So much fun, I had a smile on my face for pretty much the whole race. Its not about getting a PB unless its for this specific course. Its about getting really muddy, challenging yourself against the tough course and enjoying the wonderful trails around Mugdock Park. You have to be patient at times because there are back logs at some of the obstacle as people try and find there ways round them with out getting too dirty! Trust me, in the end you will get dirty no matter what! I actually did most of my overtaking on the steep climbs and muddy bits. Just because I didn't think about it. I just went for it! At the end of the day the mud comes off.........after about half an hour in the shower! Also the goody bag was superb! An actual Salomon wicking t-shirt, for goodness shakes milk shake, water bottle, energy gel, fruit bar, training log etc etc.........Well worth the money!
Anyway now for phase 2. I dumped my goody bag in the car, had a few fudges and got my new water bottle and headed for the West Highland way which I reckon was about a mile away. I got there after a steep uphill and a very steep downhill. Joining the West Highland Way about the 3 mile mark there were plenty of walkers along the way asking how I got so dirty which was good banter. I decided just to run for an hour out the way and I pretty much got to where the WHW meets the A81 at Dumgoyne, then I turned back and realised I was really beginning to feel it! The first couple of miles back from Dumgoyne were flat which I managed ok, but then the hills got steeper and steeper and I walked every one of them and ran the flats and downs (the one or two that were there!). I was spent and it was really hot, I wish I had more water and thought 750 ml would be enough but not on this day. I got to the 3 mile mark on the WHW and headed up the road to the car park which I knew was only a mile away. But I had forgotton just how steep and long the hill was that I had ran down earlier. I struggled to walk up it! I finished in about 2 hours 18 minutes.
This was easily the toughest training run I have ever done, I have only ever been on my feet run/walking for that long once and that was the London marathon. In total I was run/walking for more than 4 hours 20 minutes. I don't know why I suffered so much in the last 4 miles. Maybe it was my mind, I definetley did not have enough to drink considering the heat for the 10-12 miler on the WHW. It may be because I haven't done a run lasting over 3 1/4 hours. Or it was just because of how technical the whole thing was! Or because i ran/walked 15 miles the day before with nearly 1000 metres of ascent? I don't know but I am still pleased to have completed this run (even with walking) and have my 3rd 20+ mile run in the bag.
3 weeks today until the Loch ness marathon! and planning another hard week this week and then its taper, taper, taper for the final two weeks.
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