What's it all about?

I started writing this blog back in August 2012, primarily as a way of recording my thoughts and experiences as I trained for the 2013 West Highland Way race. I found it quite cathartic to turn my random jumble of thoughts and experiences into words on paper, or screen for the more pedantic reader. Perhaps when my running days are done, I can look back and say “Oh, I remember that”. Or maybe some aspiring WHW runner will read my thoughts and be dazzled by my wisdom, wit and erudition.

I've never made or aspired to any claims of literary ability, only narrowly scraping a C pass in Higher English. I spent 5 years producing essays which mostly ended “…and then I woke up, it had all been a dream”, how my teachers must have dreaded reading and marking another badly written and grammatically bereft effort. If you want well written or inspirational blogs then I’d suggest Rhona; Amanda or Fiona’s superb efforts.

At university I wrote a 10,000 word Geography essay on the topic of fog. I managed to get slightly carried away. You’d be surprised how many different types of fog there are and how much you can actually write about them. I put a huge amount of effort and time into this essay, and convinced myself that my Magnum Opus, would surely be the best in my class and perhaps steer me towards one of the more minor scientific or literary awards.

Came the great day our Professor handed out the marked essays one by one, in no strict order but with a small narrative commentary on each effort “well done Miss Baxter, well researched if a trifle short”, “somewhat lacking in source references Mr Davis” etc. no such problems for Ainslie as I knew in those pre word processing days that I’d smashed well through 10,000 words and had more sources than a Glasgow drug dealer. As the number of essays to be returned dwindled to one, I actually convinced myself that my magnificent effort must be being held back to single me out for particular praise…..no seriously I really did think that.

Whilst his exact words escape me, the broad searing content never has. “Mr Ainslie was asked to produce a 10,000 word essay, he has in fact written over 13,000”, I’d missed or ignored the not so small print in the brief saying you’d be penalised for every 100 words over the 10,000. Oh dear, but never mind, the clarity and sheer in depth brilliance of the content would counter any minor quantitative issues, I thought I’d blown the Nobel, but the class prize was sill surely mine.

“Mr Ainslie work is split into 98 paragraphs, but he has cunningly only managed to use a total of 300 sentences. He has however used 248 semi colons and 147 colons” (I’m not claiming to remember exact numbers, but I suspect you’re getting the gist). Unfortunately I was getting the gist too and a creeping sensation that perhaps the class prize was slipping too.

The Professor went on relentlessly; I’d written an essay covering several different types of fog, completely failing to read the brief about choosing only one type of fog. Perhaps that’s why I’d found such an abundance of material. “Mr Ainslie has made 431 spelling mistakes”, oh shit, oh shit I’m now acutely aware of my own rising colour and the pitiless stares of my fellow undergraduates, all happy that some other poor sod is in the firing line, not them.

He didn't raise his voice, merely talked on relentlessly dismantling my efforts, with every sentence further settling my doom. Reaching his crescendo of humiliation he handed me back my essay, covered in red ink corrections and scrawl, yes he had actually counted all those spelling and grammar errors.

“Mr Ainslie has scored 7%”….yes you read that right, not 100%, not 77% just seven percent. I could have died, I would have paid money for the floor to open and swallow me such was the embarrassment I was feeling.

So what is the point of all the above?

I read recently that unless your blog has a purpose it will never be successful, for the first year I had a very definite purpose, namely the West Highland Way race, but what about now?

I certainly have an occasional problem with writing focus. As witnessed above I set out to examine and clarify why I blog and end up telling the world about my 2^nd year university humiliation.

I've re-read some of my race reports and they are often of the “I did this……then I did that…then I overtook the fat bloke in blue” variety. Not much interest to many people I suspect and sometimes straying over the line into the disliked “see how good I am” genre.

I often find it very difficult to write about something or more specifically to find something of interest to the wider world and I’m not talking about writers block here. I can have a brilliant training run round spectacular forests with great mates, but when it comes to committing to paper it’s basically “Went for a run, great company, lots of banter, felt good.. the End”, not exactly a page turner. 

Whilst there are excellent running blogs that go into great detail about routes, splits, paces etc. that’s not for me. 

I have thought about doing kit reviews, but since I’m a creature of habit I suspect I’d be less than objective. OMM kit is great, Garmin 910xt is the mutts nuts and Salomon Speedcross 3’s are brilliant, just buy them.

I’m forced to confront the gnawing truth that my blog may not actually have a purpose!

But wait a minute; I’m not seriously writing this to achieve literary stardom (I refer you to the fog essay) or wealth. I’m not expecting to have people stop me in the street and say “Oh you’re Keith Ainslie, I've read your blog”, although bizarrely this did actually happen to me in a restaurant toilet in Fort William.

I guess I've reached the conclusion that I actually don’t have a single purpose in blogging, It’s a diary for me; It might help fellow runners avoid some of the mistakes I've made; it might help promote races and places I enjoy, but I suppose I’m principally doing it because I enjoy it.

In conclusion I’m going to keep blogging even if fame and fortune continue to elude me.

Just in case you’re wondering about the fog essay? You will not be surprised to hear that my Geography studies ended in year two. Year three was spent on Topographic Science (map making and surveying) which consisted mostly of trailing around Kelvingrove Park with outdated surveying equipment or deciding which colour of pencil to use to colour in a map.

Now where are my coloured pencils when I need them?

Cheers

Devilla Forest 15 Km Trail Race

I've been told that my report on last years race could be interpreted as less than positive, so straight out the blocks I'll put on record THIS IS A GREAT RACE!

Thanks to a combination of great venue and route, seamless organisation, chip timing, lovely weather and a bottle of beer as a memento, I can't actually think of anything negative about the event..so full marks to Carnegie Harriers, go straight to the top of the class.

I had hoped by harping on to Dumfries Harriers that we might get a decent crowd up for the race, but I ended up as a team of one. Yes only one person sporting our distinctive "where's Wally" club colours.

The venue is the Scottish Police HQ at Tulliallan, central, easy to get to with bags of parking, huge hall for registration (no queues) and its own proper coffee shop for my pre-race Caramel Latte and proper showers to get cleaned up afterwards.

This is one of the growing number of races that seem to sell out extremely quickly, in most part because its a good race, but also the recurring and apparently increasingly common Facebook frenzy phenomenon.."if your not hanging over EntryCentral on the day it opens you wont get in".

Anyway, enough rambling as Burns said "To our tale...."

The race starts in front of Tulliallan Castle, with the first 400 metres on a wide tarmac road to allow the field of over 500 starters to thin out, before progressing into the forest itself. I'd made the mistake last year of starting too far back. So this year I positioned myself about 1/3rd of the way back, not too optimistic but minimizing the danger of being caught up with the racing snakes.

The early parts of the route are on wide trails rather than forest roads so they aren't quite wide enough to allow easy overtaking, I had the bad luck to get stuck behind a chap in a red top who couldn't make his mind up if he was running in the middle or right of the trail. I persevered with his zig-zag style until his failed attempt at a snot rocket narrowly missed me and I surged past him.

The route is mainly on well maintained forest roads apart from one narrow section around mile 2 and the Western loop around Peppermill Dam, so after passing Mr Snot overtaking did not present any further problems.

The route

My tactic was to focus on a particular runner up ahead until I passed them, then pick another target. I didn't have a particular time in mind, but was steadily passing other runners and was aware that all the miles alerts on my Garmin were nearer 7 minutes than 8. I was feeling pretty good and relaxed and indulged in a bit of gamesmanship by chatting to other runners and saying thanks to all the course marshals, in  my head if I pass someone who is gasping for breath on an uphill and make a nice cheery comment, they're unlikely to be passing me anytime soon, hey it is a race after all!

Where's Wally top

The very muddy section round Peppermill Dam (the larger of the two lakes on the map) was still frozen solid, so disappointingly avoided a mud fest. Back past the water station, where the route crosses itself above  and we're on the last leg. A quick skirt round Moor Loch and the route is downhill all the way to the finish, I say downhill, but with 430 ft of climb in total over 15 Km the route isn't especially hilly. There is a handy day-glow sign announcing 1 Km to go..pick up the pace, I can sense someone on my shoulder, I can hear his panting. A couple of leisurely greetings to spectators "thanks for coming out", "lovely day isn't it" and I can feel I'm pulling away from him. 
One last sharp left turn and its back onto the road and I really let go, no-one now close enough for me to pass, but I'm damned if anyone is going to pass me.
Over the line 1:08:28 109th place out of 506 finishers, average pace of 7:17 (by my Garmin), 20 seconds per mile quicker that last years shortened route, I'll take that thank-you very much. 

Before heading for a quick shower I chatted to Keziah (who'd got 4th lady) and Craig from Harmeny, who in addition to racing, were planning a 20 mile run to Linlithgow via the Kelpies and were both looking fresh.

I'm really happy with my run, I did 8 miles the day before on icy trails, I was faster than last year and I felt absolutely fine afterwards, so another successful marker passed on the route to the Malta marathon in 2 weeks. 

I know its not much of a race report, but you'd lose the will to live if I gave you the full blow by blow account. But hopefully still enough to give you a flavour of this event, you never know....if you're quick enough next year you might even get an entry.

Cheers

West Highland Way Training Weekend

This annual feature in the Scottish Ultra calender, is centered round the Oak Tree Inn in picturesque Balmaha. At its core is a 30 mile out and back training run from Balmaha to Inversnaid Hotel following the West Highland Way, although being an out and back run there were groups planning to run anything from 12 miles to the full 30.
This would be the 4th year that the Dumfries Harriers had attended this excellent training  and social weekend, and the 4th year that Andy, Ian G, Ian A and myself had shared our 4 bedded room.
We all enjoyed the usual excellent Oak Tree food and far too much drink on the Friday evening, accompanied by the usual schoolboy giggles and hilarity inevitable when 4 blokes share a room.
Whilst the numbers staying over on the Friday seemed lower than in previous years, the large crowd that gathered on Saturday for the run would have put a third division football club to shame.

Photo courtesy of Sandra McDougall

Following a really good period of running for me over November and December, I've been struggling with a roving back - bum - leg injury through January, being a middle aged male I've religiously adopted a moan like buggery - whilst not seeking any medical assistance whatsoever strategy.
I'd added to this lack of common sense approach by drinking 4 pints of Guinness on the Friday evening and being persuaded that a malt whisky night cap was a great idea too, so my plan for the day was three pronged

1. Try to go for the full 30 miles
2. Try to beat last years time
3. Try not to die in the process

After the initial climb over Craigie Fort I found myself running with Andy Johns, who I last saw when he completed the Lakeland 100 last July. He's dropping down to the Lakeland 50 "fun run" this year and is definitely a runner I would categorize as being at the pointy end of the field. We chatted for a mile or two, but I was struggling to match Andy's pace and as we left the beach at Sallochy I dropped off the back. Running solo through to Rowardennan it's fair to say I was not "feeling the love" for running and was beginning to have flashbacks to this run 2 years ago where I passed the day endlessly reciting Tam O' Shanter in my head on what proved to be a largely joyless solo run.
Leaving the car park at Rowardennan I saw long suffering training mate Andy Beattie up ahead and having caught up we then ran together for the rest of the day.
As Andy said "given that we train together at pretty much the same pace, it shouldn't be a surprise that we end up running together".

We reminisced about our first run on this route 4 years ago, when neither of us had run 30 miles before; we thought the 2 miles into the Inversnaid Hotel was outrageously technical (Oh how we laugh now); passing through 26.2 miles and (me) having to take a walk break and how we were all barely capable of walking, sitting or any form of motor activity afterwards.

As our watches beeped through 14 miles we started looking for the first of the returning runners and were pleasantly surprised that it was 14.5 miles before we saw the first of them. There we're probably only half a dozen people ahead of us, and whilst this day isn't a race, it's always nice to gauge yourself against your previous years performance.

We even got an ego boost as Andy Johns shouted out "you guys are flying" as we passed.

We paused only to refill our water bottles at Inversnaid and well ahead of last years time, we turned back South to Balmaha, thankful that the headwind we'd been running into, now became the runners friend...a tailwind.

On the long climbs before the drop back into Rowardennan I was inclined to drop into a walk, but Andy insisted on a run 100 paces, walk 50 paces strategy. Having by now lost the mental acuity to count to 100 in my head, I'm convinced some of Andy's 100's were very big 100's indeed, but it did the trick and we overtook a good number of people on these climbs. Speaking to them later in the bar, many people were kind enough to say we looked really strong as we ran uphill, I'm happy to confirm that looks can be deceiving.

In truth I think we actually make pretty well matched training partners, I tend to lead on the first half pushing the pace, and Andy kicks in on the back half when my natural inclination is to ease off.

The return from Rowardennan was largely uneventful, apart from a small walk break when I felt the approach of cramp, shoveling down a couple of pinches of salt to hold it at bay. With Andy taking the lead and with conversation becoming sparser with every mile covered, my confidence was growing that at minimum, I'd better last years 5:29:55 time.

Once you're past the strength sapping shingle beach you really are on the last leg and it was heads down with the knowledge that there was only the sharp climb up Craigie to come, where we met the lovely Rhona (who writes the fabulous Redwinerunner blog). Both she and Andy were descending with aplomb, while I clomped down with all the grace of an epileptic hippo.

The view from Craigie fort

We managed to put on a half decent sprint back to the Oak Tree Inn to complete the 30 miles in 5:10:11, nearly 20 minutes better than last year and only about 10 minutes behind the guys at the front of the field, yes I know its not a race...don't nag!

Straight into the village shop for my favored recovery drink of a cold pint of milk and then off for a quick shower before I got too cold followed by hitting the Oak Tree bar for three back to back pints of diet Coke and a bowl of warming soup.

All in all a great weekend away for the Dumfries crowd, Ian G and Neil had headed of for a 60 mile cycle, Caroline beat her time from last year, Lesley had enjoyed her first weekend in the Ultra company (and has now signed up for The Devil & Tiree Ultras) Choppy had logged his longest run for ages and Susan, Dawn and Marion were there usual sparkling selves, as well as being able to enjoy the company of all the "well kent faces" of the Scottish Ultra scene.

I'm happy to report that I hardly felt my roving injury during the run or even during this weeks 5 subsequent runs, okay it still kicks in when I'm trying to shift my butt of the couch but I'm happy it seems to be on the mend, whatever it was. 

Next on the schedule is the Devilla 15 Km trail race on Sunday 8th February, and two weeks after that it's the Malta Marathon bring it on.

Cheers