December 31, 2022
Another year comes to a conclusion and time, once again, to reflect on the last twelve months. On the surface 2022 has been a quiet year […]
June 14, 2022
The Moray Coastal Trail 50 was a success. In spite of appearances and my ‘lanterne rouge’ position for most of the race I completed it well ahead of plan. I was in control throughout, my plantar fascia held up and I got my fluids and nutrition pretty spot on. This was always going to be a play it safe event and more of a training run for my forthcoming Global Odyssey Greenland 100k.
December 31, 2021
Review of 2021, another year defined by Covid, but a year of solid and consistent running maintaining sanity and fitness
December 18, 2021
I confess that I have a love-hate relationship with High Terrain Events’ races. They ‘whip my ass’ good and proper every time and involve a lot of bad language and general grumpiness.
October 25, 2021
The short version: it was 52.2k (due to a diversion), there were lots of hills (I had forgotten just how many), there was weather (biblical over the last climbs), and I am nothing if not consistent with another 6th in age group finish.
September 27, 2021
Recovery, the last step in the cycle of returning to a more normal routine: train; race; rest; recover then repeat.
I have managed to nail the train, race and rest steps, but the recovery step has been somewhat confounding which has prompted me to ask a few questions of myself.
September 16, 2021
The day finally came for that first post pandemic event: Run the Blades 50k from Breaking Strain Events which is run at Whitelee Wind Farm, Eaglesham.
The route is on the dirt tracks around the outer edges of the farm over moorland and through pockets of woodland with regular undulations providing some variety just short of 2k feet of ascent.
My first organised event in two years, although I had completed a couple of Global Odyssey challenges at the start of 2020. There was a lot going on in my head and I have dubbed it ‘Over-coming the Fear’.
July 24, 2021
We are easing ever closer to pre-pandemic activities; group running is back, live events are back albeit with some restrictions still being required: we have the freedom re-join our running family, meet up, train together, run socially, race together.
June 27, 2020
Virtual race? What’s that? These were the first questions that people asked with a slightly perplexed look on their faces. After explaining the next comment was […]
December 31, 2019
As I write this on the last day of 2019 with one run to go my year’s mileage sits at 1,370 miles and my year will probably end on 1,376, or thereabouts. A lower mileage than in recent years. The last year of the decade has been one hell of a year: extreme highs and extreme lows with everything in between. Quite apart from the Global Odyssey, life’s odyssey took me on a path I had not expected to encounter for some years.
November 1, 2018
I must be honest and say that this blog entry is tinged with disappointment and frustration at my second failure to complete the African stage of the Global Odyssey, but I am entirely comfortable with my decision to abandon forty-five kilometres into the 100k Ultra Mirage el Djerid event.
August 5, 2018
I would never have imagined that the Scottish Highlands would have been the location for heat conditioning for the Gobi Desert or that the Great Glen Ultra would be my last long run for my Global Odyssey Gobi 100k challenge. Surreal as it seems that is how things roll sometimes.
March 29, 2018
Car crash alert! You would have thought it would get easier with each year that passes, but no, the path to getting the Loch Katrine Running Festival over the start line this year has been littered with caltrops waiting to trip me up.
March 26, 2018
High Terrain Events and I have ‘previous’, in fact the Glentress Trail Marathon and I have previous. I came last in the previous two High Terrain Events that I did in 2017: Kielder 80km and the Tweed Valley 65k. When I ran in the first edition of the Glentress Trail Marathon I was a DNF at the halfway point, just not having the motivation to tackle the mud again.
December 31, 2017
November 28, 2017
Raid Des Bogomiles: Do I get the prize for the most amusing race name? You have to admit that coming from a country where the word ‘boggin’ is common parlance and where you frequently run through miles of bog it has a certain amusement value.
Did the Grand Raid Des Bogomiles, (one of three races held within the Grand Raid Des Cathars), provide miles of bog? No, but there was an ascent up vertical mud slide which left me fairly boggin.
November 4, 2017
A not so cautious return from injury.
It’s an age old story.You get injured. It’s a bad one, crutches are involved. Painkillers are involved. Picture a running diva lolling with a ‘blanky’ and a pile of cushions. There are weeks (four) of enforced inactivity. Picture diva impersonating a cat on a hot tin roof. Finally, you get the all clear to ease back into training, but there is a small problem. It is only seven weeks until your next race, a huge kick-ass 100k with ascent equal to climbing Ben Nevis five times.
August 20, 2017
Plan Z: I had a blast. Best day out since the Namibian and Genghis Khan marathons in January.
For the first time ever, I was smiling in every photo taken during a race: unheard of. There is a lot to be said for just rocking up, not pushing it, hanging at the back of the party, chilling and taking it easy.