I've been a bit quiet on the blog front recently mainly because my running has taken a bit of a back foot and I have been going to the gym more. I think I needed a bit of variety as I think I've covered the streets of the southside of Glasgow so many times, I just needed a break from it and time to reassess my goals. And yes I have been missing some sessions especially in the long run department hence the reason not to do Clyde Stride this year.
I was out for my first bike ride today since last years Pedal for Scotland. On the way out it was absolutely chucking it down - I think I experienced every type of heavy rain - it was so refreshing. After about 9 miles I got a flat. I tried to fix it only to find the valve on my pump didn't fit the valve on the inner tube. So I had a fun, slow cycle back which was challenging to say the least. I have decided to do Pedal for Scotland again this year but undecided on whether to go for the 50 or 100. At the same time I plan to get back into running with Pentland Skyline in the forefront of my mind and either Lomonds of Fife hill race or Ochils 2000s hill race depending on how much I manage to get out on the hills. Then hit the ultra scene hard next year.
Well done to everyone who did Clyde Stride yesterday - that t-shirt looked awesome!
Euro Takeover
Thought instead of doing a double post; I'd just put all in one.
It's a very exciting time for ultra running with the big races being more competitive than ever.
Over in America, the Europeans have been tearing it up with Kilian Journet winning Western States and Julien Chorier winning Hardrock. But who dominated the top 10 in the Men's race and won the women's race? Brits!
Nick Clark 3rd, Jez Bragg 4th and Ian Sharman 10th. While Ellie Greenwood came in 1st in the Women's race! Nick Clark was at Hardrock just a few weeks after Western States and came 3rd place there too!
Well done to the British team over in the Connemara World Trail Championships where Lucy came 3rd!
Awesome and inspiring performances. The re-match between a lot of the big guns at UTMB is going to be incredible.
Hopefully this is a return to regular blogging for me. I say hopefully as if I'm blogging I've actually done some running!
Sunday 17 July 2011
Sunday 3 July 2011
02/07/11 Dollar Hill Race
So much has happened since my last post. But my 2 main focuses since were the Kilpatrick hill race in early June and Dollar hill race just yesterday.
In the Kilpatrick hill race I was 5 minutes down on last year, but I enjoyed it a lot more and it was really muddy more importantly. In between the 2 races I have been back at the gym and just been doing general fitness stuff.
Yesterday I thought I'd give Dollar hill race a go and cut it a bit fine getting to the start. There were 100 runners and I arrived 20 minutes before the race start to pick up number 99. We were off before I knew it and after a short run out of Dollar Academy, we were funneled through a gate. The route then goes down the road for a bit before turning left up through a forest path. My legs were still feeling it a bit from Thursday's club session so I ensured I didn't go out too fast.
After we got out the forest the climb up to . It was just relentless. At times it was a case of crawling up on all fours it was that steep. I altered my strategy between going straight up and zig zagging. I was overtaking well on the way up which was nice. A few false summits later I reached the top of the Whitewisp hill. After that the course was rolling hills on grassy paths - great stuff! I really enjoyed going up and down. I found myself in a group of 4-5 runners who I would play yo-yo with. With me overtaking on the ascents and them overtaking me on the descents. There was a small stretch of technical stuff but nothing to write home about.
Overall a great race and one I'll be back at for sure. Thanks to the Westies and Ochil runners who helped out at the respective races.
In the Kilpatrick hill race I was 5 minutes down on last year, but I enjoyed it a lot more and it was really muddy more importantly. In between the 2 races I have been back at the gym and just been doing general fitness stuff.
Yesterday I thought I'd give Dollar hill race a go and cut it a bit fine getting to the start. There were 100 runners and I arrived 20 minutes before the race start to pick up number 99. We were off before I knew it and after a short run out of Dollar Academy, we were funneled through a gate. The route then goes down the road for a bit before turning left up through a forest path. My legs were still feeling it a bit from Thursday's club session so I ensured I didn't go out too fast.
After we got out the forest the climb up to . It was just relentless. At times it was a case of crawling up on all fours it was that steep. I altered my strategy between going straight up and zig zagging. I was overtaking well on the way up which was nice. A few false summits later I reached the top of the Whitewisp hill. After that the course was rolling hills on grassy paths - great stuff! I really enjoyed going up and down. I found myself in a group of 4-5 runners who I would play yo-yo with. With me overtaking on the ascents and them overtaking me on the descents. There was a small stretch of technical stuff but nothing to write home about.
Overall a great race and one I'll be back at for sure. Thanks to the Westies and Ochil runners who helped out at the respective races.
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