Yesterday's training run

We arrived at Bridge of Orchy just after 9am. We pulled into the car park and got out to have a quick coffee. As The Runner munched on a scone, we saw Ms Former Record Holder running over the bridge with her dog. By the time he left at 9.20am, she was about 10 mins ahead. I warned him not to try to catch her as she's out of his league!

The Runner has coffee and a scone before setting off from Bridge of Orchy

My entertainment for the day


Heating soup on my wee stove at Kingshouse

It only takes 15 mins by car to get to Kingshouse, so I had plenty of time to read my trashy romance novel (girl meets boy, boy falls in love, huge obstacle to overcome, happy ending). I managed to set up the wee stove and heated hot water for coffee and then some Magic soup (which had lentils added after reading in Runners World they're good for endurance). Ms Former Record Holder appeared over the hill 10 mins ahead of The Runner. She stopped for a very quick chat before heading off again. The Runner stopped for his usual coffee and soup and refilled his water.

Just as he was about to head off, a car pulled into the car park flashing its lights at us. It was my Outlaws on their way north for a walking holiday. The Runner didn't hang about as he has vivid memories of a few years ago where Father Outlaw drove up to see him during the race. Chatting to him cost The Runner valuable time as he felt he couldn't just leave. However, this time he had no such qualms! With a quick 'Hello, nice to see you, bye!' he was off, leaving me to tidy up and make small talk. After that, it was off to Kinlochleven.

It's double the distance on the road (18.7 miles) from Kinghouse to Kinlochleven. But I had plenty of time to heat up water and soup (you'd have been proud of me Beardie!) and read my book. Ms Former Record Holder arrived about 15 mins ahead of The Runner. She admitted to having sore legs since this was only her 2nd run on The Way this year. I offered her a lift back to Tyndrum with us when she'd finished. So even with the coffee and soup stops, The Runner was catching up. He didn't stop for long and set off to Lundavra.

I hate this part of the race. It's such a long way round (26.3 miles by road and only 7 miles on The Way). I hate the drive up there. Despite having a 4x4 I just don't feel safe on the narrow road. The locals drive like loonies, presumably because they never meet anyone coming in the opposite direction! Anyway, I trudged up to the shelter with 2 bags of stuff, just in case The Runner needed something. Despite having rice, soup, coffee, jelly babies and scones, The Runner decided to take a risk and try chocolate milk. Again, having read in Runners World that chocolate milk is good for when you don't feel like eating, I bought some on impulse (encouraged by No3 son who would drink it if dad didn't want it!) I think he was pleasantly surprised it worked. He set off feeling good.

The Runner overtakes an old git at Lundavra wearing an i-pod!


Leisure Centre car park

The Runner arrived at the finish in just under 7 hours, having passed Ms Former Record Holder at the Braveheart car park. I think he looked remarkably fresh. After a quick shower and coffee we headed for Tyndrum with our extra passengers.

The Runner took the opportunity to ask Ms Former Record Holder about her training schedules and race strategy (which is run fast and keep going as long as you can!) However, I laughed when she started asking him questions about how to avoid tiredness in the later stages! I guess all runners like to know each other's secrets.

After an excellent fish supper at Tyndrum we arrived home to settle down in front of the golf on TV. From my viewpoint it was a good day out. It reminded me of a few things and I've learned how to use a wee stove. Roll on The Fling in a few weeks!

My first 'training' session on The Way

The Runner is running from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William tomorrow and I'm joining him (in the car). It'll be my first outing this year. You'd think I would know the route backwards by now but it never hurts to refresh the memory. And it's a chance to give my new car a trial run.

Since I won't have The Bearded One with me to heat up the Magic soup on his wee stove, I'm going to try to do it myself. Last year I bought a portable gas stove in the sales but it's never been used. So I dusted it off and practised boiling water. No3 son declared it 'cool.'

It could all go horribly wrong and The Runner won't get hot soup or coffee at the right time. But better to find out on a training run than on the big day itself.

Good luck to everyone running the FLM. If my back wasn't f*cked (and I'd got off my fat backside in time) it could have been me as I was offered the club place. We'll be glued to the TV on Sunday morning to watch for familiar faces. I'll even give up my long lie!

Bedtime reading

I'm sure it won't surprise anyone to learn that since ultra running dominates our lives, The Runner likes to read about other running nutters. He often chuckles away to himself and regularly says 'Listen to this!' However, last night when he told me about an event (in the States naturally) called The Barkely Marathons I was intrigued enough to Google it and find out more. Just because it sounded so mad.

It's a 100 miler in Tennessee consisting of 5 loops but there is a 60 mile Fun Run if you're not up to the full event! There's a time limit of 12 hours to complete each loop and consists of 20,000 feet of ascent and descent per loop! The trails haven't been maintained for years and the course isn't marked. To prove you actually made it round each loop, you have to rip a page out of paperback books placed around the course with appropriately named titles such as Fatal Terrain, Curl Up and Die and Going Nowhere Fast! Runners who drop out are taunted by a bugler playing "Taps!" Entry to this race requires an essay called "Why I should be allowed to run the Barkely." Only 7 people have ever managed to complete 5 loops.

Have a look at the site and make sure sure you click on some of the links especially the one with a photo of the guy's knee with a hole in it!!

http://mattmahoney.net/barkley/

The pictured book was loaned to The Runner by McStecko, a fellow Strathearn Harrier who is running in this year's WHW. It's full of great stories about the extreme events to which some runners are inexplicably drawn. I thought the WHW race was bad enough!

ETA It was actually The Doctor who gave The Runner the book.

Balance

There are many reasons why I deleted my old blog but this past week 5 people have told me they used to read it and miss it. So I've decided to revive this one. I recieved a card from Debs this week (btw I'm glad you like your socks!) where amongst other things she said there aren't enough girl bloggers. She's right! You boys are all about the competitiveness and your "I'm so hard I ran 50 miles at 5 mins mile pace the whole way!" approach to training. The blogosphere needs some feminine balance.

And of course I'm still here to tell tales on those who deserve it! Especially The Runner!!

I've been nominated!

This blog (and my other one) has been nominated for a Rockin' Girl Blogger award! Many thanks to nevisknitter (who I 'know' from a knitting forum and is not a runner) for nominating me. I am continually amazed by the number of people who say they read my blog even though they don't run themselves. It just shows the appeal of this mad event goes beyond the running community.

Post Race BBQ - UPDATED!

Due to the amazing success of our first post race BBQ, we have decided to make it an annual event. So if you want to see what happens when Mr Race Co-ordinator drinks malt whisky or see The Hippy Chick crawl upstairs to bed, put Sat 28th June 2008 in your diaries NOW!

Updated to reflect change in Race day (since Cally Challenge have cocked it up again!!!) Just remember it will always be the week after the main event!

Part 4 - The Last Bit

I woke up on Sunday morning feeling well rested, unlike The Runner. We made our way through to breakfast where I had the full works. I hardly ever have a full cooked breakfast but I was starving. Even though I made up a special cool bag of goodies just for me, I actually didn't eat very much myself during the race.

After breakfast we went up to the leisure centre to see if anyone was about. Mr Race Co-ordinator was desperately trying to find someone to pay for its use but the staff had disappeared. We spoke to a few people we knew from Central AC and congratulated The Hayman on his success.

The prizegiving is always good but was especially good this year. Despite having the use of a bigger room we still need more space! It was great to catch up with other backup teams and hear their stories. I loved hearing about The Young Man's snooze in the heather on Rannoch Moor! I loved the huge cheering for Ms Record Holder and the presentation to the Longest Serving Backup Team! And I was thrilled that The German finally made it on his third attempt. I told him at the start I thought it was his year.

After the prizegiving we loaded up our car with Mr Running Shop's boxes. We took him and his backup guy (who Doesn't Usually Drive) and dropped them off at a railway station. It wasn't until later on in the journey we heard the story about how Mr Running Shop's car died at Lundavra. Doesn't Usually Drive admitted that he hadn't driven a car since the early 1990s! He walks to work and everywhere else. Mr RS received a call in the first few minutes of the race to be asked "How do you start your car?" He didn't know about power steering or how the steering wheel locks if you nudge it before trying to start the car!!

Doesn't Usually Drive also didn't know that the little lights on your dashboard tell you if something is wrong. So by the time he found out it was already too late! The car was dead. To cut a very long complicated story short, several phone calls to Mr RS's insurance company (who's call centre is in India) resulted in the car being taken back to Auld Reekie. Apparently they couldn't understand why Doesn't Usually Drive couldn't give the street name or postcode for the Lundavra checkpoint! He did offer them the OS reference but they had no idea what that was!!

So another successful race was over for us. The midgie hoods are packed away ready for the next time. The Travel Inn is already booked for next year. The Bearded One is signed up for another go. The Railwayman will be press ganged next time we see him.

I've been asked if I'm keeping this blog going. I've run out of material for this year but I'll start again next year in the build up to the event. If anyone has any interesting stories to tell please get in touch. All names will be changed to protect the guilty (unless you're in my backup team!) I've already got a few good ones I'm saving for next year (mainly to let the dust settle first before going public!!) But I will be starting a new blog which will include my exciting life being dragged round the world accompanying The Runner in his quest to find interesting events! Watch this space!