Lakeland 50 2015

I've been a bit quiet lately from a blog perspective, I ran a couple of local races but nothing that stood out enough to make me hit the keyboard, all that changed at the weekend though with my second attempt at the Montane Lakeland 50.

I ran last year, finishing in 12:10:40, just happy to finish the event and still be upright, this year I was hoping for a half decent PB.

The initial plan was for me, Andy B and Caroline to do a bit of pot hunting and race as a three person mixed team. This blatant piece of carpet bagging fell apart when race entries opened and the 1000 available places sold out in 18 minutes. It had taken me over 20 minutes to fill in all the entry details for 3 people so when I hit enter; it was “race full”. Our cunning plan was foiled!

I managed to get a solo place on the waiting list, which was quickly confirmed and Caroline bagged one of the very limited number of charity places, Andy was tied up at work all day and by the time he hit the website, the race was full with no waiting list.

So be warned if this little epic tempts you for next year, you WILL need to be sitting on your keyboard when race entries go live at 9am on September 1^st.

The L50 is run concurrently with its big brother the L100 (which is actually 105 miles), with race HQ and the finish for both events at the John Ruskin school in Coniston. The L100 starts there at 6pm on the Friday evening with the L50 starting at the Dalemain estate, near Penrith at 11:30 on the Saturday morning.

Camping for 2 nights is included in your race fee and there is on-site catering to supplement the local pubs and restaurants.

We arrived on site around 4pm which gave ample time to pitch our tent, settle in and wander up to the Black Bull Inn in time to see the 100 mile runners set off and grab a bite to eat with Andy Johns; Howard Seal and Susan Gallagher.

Caroline - last minute race prep

We then headed down to formally register. This was a very thorough but efficient process of kit checking, where you were required to show every item of compulsory kit, with quite a few people falling foul of this and being sent off to purchase whatever didn't make the grade. Having passed through this process you were handed your number, weighed and fitted with your timing “dibber” collected your race map; route book and Montane branded buff.

We'd decided beforehand that a quiet evening was in order so after packing my trusty but soon to be retired Salomon X-wings race vest it was time for an early night. Sadly I’d failed to share my plan with my fellow campers and a steady symphony of slamming portaloo doors, quiet chat’s which were not so quiet and car doors and boots opening and closing kept me wide awake. I also managed to hear the Coniston church clock chiming 1am; 2am 5am and 6am by which time the field was waking up and further sleep was impossible.

If you're thinking of doing it next year and a pre-race solid sleep is a prerequisite………you have been warned!

Sunset over Coniston

With around 700 people all looking for breakfast, I'd opted to avoid the queue and plumped for my usual pot of porridge and a rice pudding, a quick shower, race kit on and then headed to the 8:30am race briefing.

Joint RD’s Terry and Marc gave a concise race brief, including the reminder that we were NOT “just running the 50” and that what we were about to undertake was a pretty big thing!

From there it was straight onto the fleet of coaches to take us to the race start at Dalemain estate, where we arrived with a good hour to spare before race start at 11:30am.

Although I was completely confident that I'd finish and pretty confident I'd beat last years’ time of 12:10:40 my lack of sleep the night before was playing on my mind. I opted to find a patch of grass to lie on and just shut my eyes and relax for 45 minutes, whilst Caroline headed off to find a bacon roll.

Andy Johns - looking relaxed pre start

I continue to be amazed at the number of runners who stand around before the off, (wearing full race kit) when they should, in my view be taking the weight off their feet. I was equally amazed at the size of the packs some runners were proposing to carry; they looked big enough for a weekend camp!

Dalemain to Howton     Total distance covered 11.2

miles            1 hour 35 minutes           67^th place

My rough race plan was to run the first two legs faster than I did last year, on the basis that other than the hike up Fusedale this is the flattest most runnable part of the route. I know there is no such thing as “banking time” on an Ultra but I reckoned I'd be slowing down in the second half anyway irrespective of how I'd ran the first half.

There is a 4 mile loop round the Dalemain estate before you hit the route proper mostly on my least favourite running surface – grass. 

I’d positioned myself at what I estimated was about 100 places from the front and pretty much as soon as we were under the start gantry I found myself running just behind Debbie Martin-Consani, last year’s L100 ladies winner;  a consummate master of steady race pacing and a far faster runner than me. I decided there and then that there was no way I should be running ahead of Debs, not apparently a view shared by dozens of other blokes who stormed this first loop like they were running a 10K and passed her. I decided to stick just behind Debbie as long as I didn't feel like I was pushing myself too hard. I stopped at the river just before Pooley Bridge to dip one of my buffs in the river and drape it Foreign Legion style over my head, whilst nothing like as hot as 2014, it was still promising to be a warm days work.

On the climb out of Pooley Bridge, I ran most of the tarmac section and used my run 50 walk 50 tactic on the rougher trail, I could still see Debbie up ahead (running all the way) as my pace target. Just before the right turn onto the track to Howton I passed a family group being led by a young guy carrying an artificial leg over his shoulder, followed shortly after by a one legged gentleman in an off road wheelchair, definitely my most bizarre sight of the day!

The trail towards Howton CP is mostly downhill, non-technical and very runnable so I pushed hard on this section to keep Debbie in view, albeit she was steadily drawing away from me. As I ran into the Wild West themed CP she was already running out.

The CP staff quickly refilled my water bottles and I grabbed a Chia Charge flapjack downed a cup of coke and I was off, using the short uphill section to wolf down the flapjack, my second objective of the day being to try and actually eat some proper food during the race.

Howton to Mardale Head            Total distance covered 20.6 miles            3 hours 44 minutes 79^th Place

Almost immediately after Howton you are faced with the biggest climb of the L50, the dreaded Fusedale where you climb around 1700 feet in around 2.5 miles. Last year I'd have sold a testicle for a pair of walking poles at this point. This year I kept the testicle and used the lightweight Mountain King Trail Blaze poles I’d bought a couple of weeks earlier, knocking 3 minutes of my time for the climb. After the climb there is a sloping descent over Weather Hill towards Low Kop, this area was pretty wet underfoot and my main priority was to avoid soaking my feet this early on in the day, some people passed me ploughing through puddles and bog, I wonder how they fared later with soaked shoes and socks?

Haweswater

There is a sharp drop through waist deep bracken down to the northern shore of Haweswater and a pleasant and runnable stretch towards the next CP at Mardale Head, I ran into the CP doing my feeble attempt at the Morecombe and Wise “bring me sunshine” dance.

I could feel the insoles on my Salomon Speedcross 3’s had slipped and were creasing up, so I decided a spot of shoe maintenance was in order. I opted for some hot soup and a jam sandwich, whilst I carefully sorted my shoes for the next section.

Mardale Head to Kentmere        Total distance covered 27.1 miles            5 hours 18 minutes         77^th place

Once you leave the Mardale head CP there is no gentle build up, you are straight onto the steep climb up and over Gatescarth pass, which although at 1100 feet is less than Fusedale, is covered in around 1.2 miles and is comic book steep. Once again I was very glad I was using poles.

Gatescarth Pass Photo from www.cloudyskiesandraining.com

The race organisers use a simple but clever way of differentiating 100 and 50 milers. Everyone wears your race number on your back pack, 100 milers are in yellow with your name printed below the number. I made a point of giving a shout out to each and every 100 mile runner I passed, I can only marvel at the fitness; stamina and determination needed to complete that distance.

I'm not huge fan of the descent towards Sadgill, with the “road” surface on the descent being a horrid mix (to my mind) of loose scree alternating with longitudinal sharp blocks of stone at right angles to your line of descent and larger erratic blocks of stone with significant ankle turning potential.

At 6.5 miles this is one of the shortest legs between checkpoints it’s also the one I'm least familiar with so was happy to arrive at Kentmere without mishap.

Two more cups of Coke, a water bottle refill and a small bowl of pasta and some further shoe maintenance and I was off towards Ambleside.

Kentmere to Ambleside               Total distance covered 34.4 miles            7 hours 2 minutes            74^th place

The weather had been incredibly kind to us so far, it was sunny and warm but not the brain boiling heat of 2014. Kentmere sits in a valley surrounded by hills and as I jogged out of the CP I distinctly remember thinking “I wonder which of these big f**k-off hills we'll be climbing up next”. I needn't have worried myself as it was, of course the biggest of the hills in view and the climb over the Garburn Pass!

As I descended into Ambleside I chatted briefly to John Kynaston who was running the L100 and was looking genuinely fresh, he was well on target for a sub 30 hour finish. Through the centre of Ambleside milking the crowds and charging across the two road crossings without breaking stride and it was into the circus themed checkpoint at Ambleside. In fact I was so focussed on pratting about that I almost forgot to dib in my timing chip.

Into my checkpoint routine, soup, sandwich and shoe maintenance until a gentle reminder from Noanie to stop fannying about and get running again.

Ambleside to Langdale Total distance covered 40 miles                                8 hours 11 minutes         66^th place

The next most runnable section of the race, with a couple of pan flat riverside tracks and the section where I think you can gain or lose the most time. My mantra here was “any run is faster than a walk”, I was becoming more focussed on maximising the daylight time, because any running in the dark would be slower than in the daylight.

Just out of Ambleside I shouted a warning to a group of 4 guys who had shot off in the wrong direction, I got a heartfelt “thank-you” when one of them subsequently passed me. A pretty uneventful section for me, I know I've broken the back of the race, I’m confident that barring disaster I'll get a PB and I'm running stretches that I was walking last year.

Langdale to Tilberthwaite           Total Distance covered 46.5 miles            9 hours 43 minutes         66^th place

More coke; a bowl of vegetable soup this time, re-sort my shoes (they are definitely going in the bin when this is over!) and I'm on my way towards the unmanned checkpoint beyond Blea Tarn. After the short sharp climb over Side Pike pass I stop and take brief moment to “toast” the view. I'm feeling pretty good here and manage to run all the way to the dibber and keep up a decent run all the way past the NT house. I'm aware now of the fading light and I make a conscious decision to keep my time at Tilberthwaite to a minimum, as I’m running along the road section to the CP I feel a sharp pain on the sole of my right foot. I reckon I've just popped a blister so I decide in advance I'm not risking taking that shoe off, I'll just tough it out with so little distance left to run.

Tilberthwaite to Coniston           Total distance 50 miles 10 hours 43 minutes 23 seconds                72^nd place

A quick cup of coke, I’m OK for water and I sit down to sort my left shoe, as I’m trying to put it back on I get my first proper twinge of cramp all day, it takes a minute or so to get the shoe on without cramping and I'm off up the “stairway to heaven”. It's only 3.5 miles and 750 feet of climb to the finish, but the light is fading fast now as the sky clouds over. 

I keep a good yomp up on the steep climb, but on the potentially runnable bits I’m unable to muster a run, it’s getting too dark and my legs are too tired to risk a fall, so I'm passed by a strong looking group of guys (including two 100 milers) and lose 6 places. I manage to reach the top of the descent and can see the lights of Coniston below before I admit defeat and don my head torch. Bizarrely it’s here that I have my longest stop of the day as I decide to strap my poles to my pack and discover that my head torch has got itself in a Gordian knot of a tangle, I try running few steps with it in my hand, before stopping to sort it properly. I use a Petzl Nao but the combination of a brilliant white beam, light coloured stones underfoot which meant I had no depth perception and a rocky steep and technical path underfoot brings me back to a slow steady walk. It’s only when I hit the more graded road above the Miners Bridge that I can break into a proper run for the last downhill mile.

As I turn onto the main street in Coniston to welcome cheers from the pub goers, I see Andy Beattie taking my photo. Glad as I was to see him I wasn’t slowing for anything now, mustering my first sub 8 minute mile for some time, I pushed onto the finish.

10:43:23                PB by 1 hour 27 minutes

Each and every finisher is greeted by a marshal whose task is to guide you into the hall and to asses if you are mentally and physically OK. By good fortune I was greeted by WHW race veteran Andy Cole. As each and every finisher is walked through the School Hall, they are heralded by a marshall shouting "50 Finisher" and a great cheer, a really nice touch.

Then you pick up your medal, part company with your timing dibber are handed a printout with your splits and your race t-shirt, this year it's a pucka Montane Branded one.

Andy was right there asking me if I needed anything? I've started to crave cold milk after my Ultra run's now and much to my amazement Andy produced 2 cups of Ice cold white stuff, just magic.

The race provides a free meal to each and every finisher so I settled down to a plate of Cottage Pie and washed it down with another 4 cups of milk.

Andy had been following Caroline's who was not having the best of days, so I popped off for a quick shower (lovely hot showers also provided foc.) and a change and then we headed into Coniston to wait for Caroline to finish, which she duly did in a very creditable 12 hours 25 minutes.

By her own admission she'd not got her nutrition right and had ground out a tough race, visiting some pretty dark places en route, she keeps threatening to write her own blog so I'll leave the telling of her tale to herself.

Two Happy Lakeland 50 finishers

Conclusion

I've done a lot of running on the West Highland Way and I'm regularly asked how the Lakeland races compare.

With no disrespect to the WHW, the Lakeland races are far far tougher, bigger climbs; steeper climbs; poorer ground conditions, overall much less runnable.

Overall I couldn't be happier, it's a colossal PB, far beyond my best goal of PB by 1 hour.

Now its time for a brief rest, before my next challenge the Helsinki Marathon in 4 weeks time.

To close I'd like to register a huge thanks to RD's Marc & Terry, to the veritable army of marshals and helpers who gave up their weekend, thanks for an epic Lakeland Adventure.

Cheers

Troon Tortoises 10K road race 2015

I suppose one of the potential benefits of shorter races should be shorter blog posts so here goes.

It's quite a while since my running club sent a large group to participate in a race and despite initial enthusiasm and sign ups when entries opened in February, this number was whittled down by injury, work and other distractions from 15  to 7 Harriers toeing the line on the night.

I'd managed to wangle my work schedule to be in Ayrshire and I narrowly made it on time, turning up a mere two and a half hours before the race started! The upside being I had no trouble finding a parking place, no queue to collect my number, no queue for the bogs and I was able to rest my eyes in the car for an hour.

This race is one of a diminishing number of midweek races, but remains incredibly popular being both a sell-out and attracting over 900 runners this year persuaded by the excellent value, chip timing and fast and flat route it offers.

The start and finish is on the Troon seafront with a brisk and blustery wind on the night promising a tailwind on the first kilometre and a challenging headwind for the final 1000 metres.

A few minutes before 7pm Andy, Emma, Lesley and myself positioned ourselves close to the 42 minutes sign. I felt this was realistic, but had a slight confidence quiver when I looked back and saw that this put us very close to the sharp end. Eight hundred people behind you on a 10 K is an awful lot of people, too late to change now, we're off.

Much to my surprise I wasn't immediately trampled and overwhelmed by a rampaging horde of skinny road runners, in the first kilometre I was probably overtaken by 10 people and in turn overtook about 10 people myself, so perhaps, for once most runners had put themselves in the correct "starting pen".

The route is flat other than two spots where the road crosses the railway line, and is on footpaths, quiet residential roads and a couple of very short bits on Tarmac track, a definite PB potential race. It's incredibly well marshalled with a reasonable smattering of support, particularly on the second half.

I've got no tales of interesting conversations or musings about the magnificence of the scenery as its a 10K so I was working too hard to talk and you're mostly running through housing estates and around the perimeter of Troon Municipal golf course.

 

Troon 10 K route

From the off Andy disappeared into the distance and although I overtook Emma around 1K, she promptly repaid the favour and that was the last I saw of her till the finish!

I was acutely aware that this race fell a mere 10 days after the Highland Fling and 10 days before my first crack at the 55 mile Cateran Ultra so my race plan was to aim for sub 7 minute miles, ease off if things hurt and hold on if I could.

My mile splits were 6:43 6:56 6:51 6:56 6:53 6:51 and although I was working hard, I didn't feel I was majorly "in the red" at any point. The last kilometre is back along the seafront into a noticeable headwind which allowed me to pass a couple of people and my usual sprint in the final 100 metres gave me another couple of scalps, I finished in 42 minutes dead, knocking 42 seconds of my PB. I'm pretty chuffed with that given the complete absence of any speed work in my training this year.

The slick organisation continued after the finish with runners being funnelled to collect your technical t-shirt, commemorative buff, water and a Tunnocks Caramel wafer, incredible value race for £10 especially for a chip timed event.

Carol, Emma, Doug, Lesley, me, Carolyn & Andy

For the record the Dumfries contingent finished as follows

Andy Beattie     40:37     49th

Emma Knowles  41:09     64th (and 8th lady overall).  PB

Keith Ainslie      42:00    74th.   PB

Lesley Jeffrey    43:30    111th

Douglas Kerr      47:11    218th.   PB

Carol Graham    55:01     547th.    PB

Carolyn Davies   1:10:22  897th

Well done to Troon Tortoises RC who organise the event, it's a race I'd thoroughly recommend.

Cheers

D33 Ultra - 2015

For the uninitiated the 6^th running of the Deeside way 33 mile race took place last weekend, widely known as the D33 this event sees participants run from Duthie Park in Aberdeen to Banchory and back, a distance of 33 miles.

It’s both an ideal event for noobies looking to make the step up to Ultra distance races and as a training run for the longer Highland Fling and West Highland Way races.

I had a bad day here last year, in fact as I lay on the tarmac at the finish I distinctly recall saying “I will never do this bloody race again”. However the simplicity and friendliness of the event drew me inexorably like a moth to a flame and I found myself on the start line for the 4^th year.

Following a good result at the Malta Marathon 3 weeks ago, I decided I needed to focus a bit on race day itself and have a real good crack at getting a PB. I love the friendship, support and banter of the Ultra scene, but having trained and talked to a few people up at the sharper end of the field I've reached the conclusion that you need to sacrifice some of this if your primary goal is achieving a better time.

So my race plan evolved as

• Limit myself to one pint on Friday and have an early night
• Fuel up with a good breakfast before the event
• Delay arriving at the start as late as possible, to avoid getting cold and or distracted
• Don’t overdress
• Position myself closer to the front to avoid congestion in the first couple of miles
• Have something to eat every 2 miles and make sure I've drunk at least one 500 ml bottle of water or electrolyte every 8 miles (the checkpoints)
• Keep checkpoint stops to an absolute minimum, no faffing
• Don’t fanny around for the cameras
• Don’t get carried away and run with someone just because I’m enjoying their company and conversation
• Try to keep my pace between 7:30 minute and 8 minute miles for marathon distance
• Minimise the amount of slowing down that would inevitably creep in in the last 7 miles

I’m happy to report that my plan succeeded which made for a great time, but leaves the blog somewhat devoid of jokes; japes and tales!

As usual I stayed at the Inn on the Park, right next to Duthie Park on the Friday. Spent about an hour organising my backpack and drop bags, avoiding the temptation to put in too much stuff before heading down for one pint and a meal, I was duly tucked up in bed by 9:30 pm with my alarm set for 7:30 am.

Race Day

By the time I dressed and went down for breakfast I was the only runner left in the hotel, toast; yoghurt; porridge and two cups of coffee for breakfast and a leisurely walk over to collect my number and hand over my drop bags. I availed myself of the standy uppie gents’ urinal and was introduced to the legendary Ray McCurdy, before heading over for George’s straight to the point race briefing.

D33 Strava route

The weather was hovering around 5 C with a southerly wind and with no rain in prospect, Goldilocks running weather, not too hot, not too cold. I decided to pack my waterproof jacket away and run with only a short sleeved compression top and long sleeved Helly Hansen t-shirt , buff, running gloves  and beanie hat.

Ten second countdown and we were off. To describe the first mile as congested is unfair, but in past years I have found that people running 2 or 3 wide on the path meant I was slowing down; dodging round or running faster than ultimately was sensible. Not so this year I think I judged my position pretty well and settled into my planned pace before the first footbridge at 0.6 miles and with no dodging or jumping involved.

I ran with Malcolm from Buckie and had my only conversation of the day, but he was running just a shade too quick for comfort so I consciously dropped back and left him heading into the distance.

By checkpoint one I’d drunk my bottle of electrolyte, eaten several shotbloks and a gel, so refilled the bottle, replaced the gel and was away. Including stationary time I maintained sub 8 minute pace, hey! perhaps there is something in this more focused approach?

I remember someone shouting out a warning about geese on the track, but some kind person was busy herding them of the path as I passed, and I remember eventual race winner Ross Houston flying past on his return leg, he eventually went on to knock 19 minutes of the course record.

I was neither passing nor being passed much on this outward leg and although I wasn't counting the returning runners, I reckoned I was probably in the top 50 or so as CP 2 hove into view.

D33 Profile

Grabbing my drop bag from the ever helpful checkpoint staff I thrust my now empty water bottle and its refill at a random spectator, “do me a favour and fill this up for me”. As she duly complied with a slightly bewildered look on her face at being accosted by a complete stranger I shoveled in my customary rice pudding with strawberry jam and downed a small bottle of flat Irn-Bru, my longest stop of the day probably just over a minute and I was off on the return leg, with no faffing.

Half Way Split 2 hours 6 minutes

Although my half-way time was pretty similar to last years, I felt significantly more comfortable I had hydrated and eaten steadily so far, so was feeling reassured that I could sustain a decent run.

Passing a steady stream of runners on the return leg I restricted myself to “well done”, thumbs up and an occasional muted high five and kept the focus on the running.

Into CP 3 refill the bottle, two gels, more flat Irn-Bru and off again three guys passing me as I was stationary. Between Drumoak and Peterculter is pretty much the only hill on the route, I decided I’d pass the three guys on the uphill. Three years of trail running has both strengthened my legs and built my confidence. Inwardly repeating “I’m good on hills” I steadily reeled in and then passed them, with Ivor Normand of HBT saying “you’re flying” as I eased past him. In reality I wasn’t flying, I was just slowing down less than others.

Marathon split 3 hours 25 minutes

Splits

From previous years I knew that miles 27 to 30 were a gentle uphill, with my “I’m good on hills” mantra repeating in my head I continued to pass people, including a few who’d dropped to a walk, been there done that, NOT today though.

Now it was all about managing and containing my reduction in speed. Through mile 30 and it’s a gentle downhill all the way now, slight twinge of cramp in my right calf so I shoveled in my bag of rock salt to keep it at bay. Over the footbridge, only 0.6 miles to go, not exactly giving it the beans but picking it up as best I could, no-one is going to overtake me now.

Through the park gates, and start sprinting, or what passes for a sprint after nearly 33 miles. Under the arch, stop the watch, big hug from Karen, medal round my neck………..4:20:02. Done it! A 21 minute PB a smile wider than my face and I actually still feel pretty good overall.

My legs do feel tight from top to bottom so I avail myself of the sports massage, the best £5 I've spent in a long time.

Strip off my sweat soaked tops, don a dry top, warm jacket and hat and chat briefly to Carol Martin and Helen Munro, there still aren't many people about as I’m pretty far up the field (for me). I’m starting to cool down rapidly so I decide to head for home, back to the car, heaters on full blast and I’m heading south by 2 pm with a near 4 hour drive to look forward to.

This years fabulous medal

I break up the journey with a couple of pit stops and leg stretches and I’m back in Dumfries before 6 pm to pick up a message that I should have stuck around for the prize giving. I was 37^th overall and 3^rd Male Super Veteran, not my first age category place, but the first one with an actual trophy…and I missed it, Oh well never mind.

Thanks must go to Karen who stepped in as RD, whilst George has been unwell. To all the people who gave up there time to marshal; support and man checkpoints and who delivered another superb race, well done and thanks. A big well done too, to all the runners, whether it was your 1^st or your 6^th D33, running an Ultra is still a pretty big deal.

Reflections

I’m still ecstatic about bagging a PB and especially by such a margin. Any concerns I had about running an Ultra 3 weeks after a marathon PB proved unfounded and the more focused approach delivered the result I’d hoped for, in spades.

My focus shifts now to the Highland Fling Ultra in just over 5 weeks, and next weekend I’m going to have a crack at the local Criffel Hill race, another chance for me to get roundly humped by skinny hill runners and bring me back to earth.

Happy Keith, with medal and PB

Malta Marathon 2015

The dust has now settled on what, for me proved to be a great weekend and an even better race so it's time to record and share my thoughts.

With the demise of the Lochaber marathon, I'd been looking for an early season marathon. I can't quite recall how Malta Marathon came onto the radar, but an entry fee of €30, return flights at £80 and The Intercontinental Hotel at £40 per night B & B probably all contributed.

Ten pillows per bed

With the race itself on the Sunday, Myself and Andy B arrived at Luqa International on our Ryanair flight from Liverpool just after 9 pm on Friday.

We payed €12 each for a minibus transfer to our hotel which seemed absurdly cheap, but was probably compensation for the Mad Max style of driving which saw our driver careering round the narrow Maltese streets with total disregard for any conventional rules of the road, prompting several brown trouser moments.

We arrived alive, if somewhat shaken and stirred at our Hotel, to the very pleasant discovery that it was a seriously posh affair. With more cushions on the beds than you could shake a stick at and fluffy white bathrobes to boot.

Eschewing the hotel bar and the trendy and packed local nightclubs we discovered Andrew's bar, a small, traditional and very friendly place whose regulars seemed to be mostly locals and ex-pats. With Guinness at €3.50 a can it was the ideal place for us to chill out and completely fail to put together a plan for Saturday's tourist day.

Waking up at the crack of 10am, we headed down for breakfast, another very pleasant surprise with the breakfast buffet being quite simply the best hotel breakfast I've ever enjoyed, in fact we both pretty much ate two full breakfasts.........just because we could.

The hotel concierge provided us with maps and advised that the best way to get around the island was the municipal buses, with an all day ticket only costing €1.50, yup that's just over one pound for all day unlimited travel!

With a loose plan to head to the centre of Valetta we duly hopped on a number 12 bus packed with locals, presumably heading to work, one sitting next to Andy who could have done with a slightly closer association with her soap. We plopped down on the only two free seats, revelling in our travel bargain.

Andy, sleeping as usual

To describe Valetta's bus station as chaotic would be charitable, arriving buses seem to halt pretty much where they pleased. Stopping anywhere remotely close to a pavement seemed optional and disgorging passengers in the middle of the road without regard for traffic or personal safety, to an extent that would give any UK health and safety professional heart failure.

We opted to visit St Johns Cathedral, a quite spectacular place of worship, whose custodians seems quite unabashed about selling us entry tickets without telling us the place would be closing shortly, nonetheless we managed a quick tour round. It's a cliche but my photos do not do justice to what is probably the most spectacular and ornately decorated church I've ever seen, and I've been to the Vatican!

With Andy taking advantage of his student discount card, no really he did. We next headed to the Palace and armoury museum and spent an hour looking at lots of suits of armour, swords, pikes and cannon, certainly worth a visit if you're into that kind of thing.

Mind you I am, and even I was a bit armoured out after an hour..."oh look another display case of armoured helmets, that are a tiny bit different from the other 27 cases".

St John's Cathedral

St John's Cathedral

We walked down to the WWII siege memorial which overlooks Grand Harbour enjoying what the locals assured us was unseasonable wind and rain, then headed back to the bus station.

We'd decided to head out to the Marathon start point in the ancient island capital of Mdina, which would give us an opportunity to discover if the marathon route really was as downhill as promised.

The casual Maltese approach to health and safety was replicated in the apparently random relationship between bus numbers, routes and stands but undaunted we hopped an a 212 which promised to head roughly to Mdina.

Malta is an incredibly densely populated island, with many narrow village streets more suited to horses and carts than single decker buses. The Maltese attitude to parking seems to be "I'm here so I'll just stop" with a complete disregard for pretty much every thing else. If the road is blocked so what. The attitude of bus drivers seemed to be "I'm bigger than you, now what are you going to do?", having said that everyone was very friendly and we're still alive>

WWII - Siege Memorial

Grand Harbour - Valletta

 As the bus was request stop and we pretty much had no idea where it was going we actually went right through Mdina and had to back track, but we got there eventually.

By this time the rain and wind was making any prospect of a tourist walk decidedly unattractive. We headed up a typical narrow alley in search of food and found the worlds smallest two floor restaurant. We both ordered paving slab sized portions of Lasagne, coffee and cokes and were slightly bewildered when the bill came to a grand total of €16 euros, NOT each, in total, another bargain.

Quality race bling

Two more buses took us back to the race HQ hotel and 10 minutes queuing provided race number, t-shirt, and baggage bag (a black bin sack with a small sticker with your number on it), A quick nip back to Andrew's bar, this time for food, where I failed to eat a modest pasta dish and Andy hoovered down two courses and a salad. Sensibly limiting our Guinness consumption to one each, we were tucked up in bed at the sensibly early time of 9 o'clock, with multiple alarms set for 4am.

RACE DAY

Sunday 6am and a chilly and blustery seafront at Sliema (the race finish), not liking the look of the huge queue for buses to the start we queue dodged our way onto one of the first buses to Mdina, arriving fully 90 minutes before the race start. Even with a plastic poncho and a throwaway cotton T-shirt over my running kit I was frozen, we quickly headed into a nearby cafe, which provided a welcome coffee and a loo.

Although the event advertises 4000 participants, there are actually three events

Full marathon with c 700 runners starts at 8am Half marathon starts at 9:45 Half marathon for walkers 9:45

 

Marathon route Left to right

Although all the routes shared the last 10 miles or so, the timings meant that if you were able to get through 13 miles in under 1:45, you should ahead of the bulk of the half marathon runners before the routes join.

THE MAIN EVENT

The weather had improved slightly by 8am, with less sign of rain but a persistent and swirly wind, perhaps the weather fairies were looking kindly on us?

The race is run almost entirely on closed or coned off roads. It is extremely well marshalled by police, traffic wardens and volunteers, water, energy drink and sponge stations were frequent and well stocked and manned.

Net downhill overall, but a couple of little slopes to catch the unwary

The route is also net downhill with most of the notable height loss in the picturesque first 4 miles. At 4 miles you start a series of loops round the national stadia and former RAF airfield of Ta'Qali, there are no real hills but there were a couple of upslopes which saw you running into a strong headwind. From the start I could see Andy ahead of me, the gap varying from 150 - 250 metres, but as we approached the 9 mile point I overtook him. With a brief hello and a feeling that that I might be overreaching myself I pushed on. I've been running well of late and I'd decided on the Friday night to try for a PB, if I couldn't do it on a downhill course when could I, so no chatting, playing up for the cameras and NO fannying around.

Without boring you with the details of mile by mile splits, I went through the half way point in just over 1:36. I'd convinced myself that I needed 3:15 for a London "good for age" and this was still very much in prospect. Approaching mile 20, the heavens opened and gave us a generous dump of rain. With the Maltese drains unable to cope the next couple of miles saw intermittent wading through sheets of water coursing across the route. 

The final three miles of the route is absolutely flat and follows the twisting coast road. I'd been racing and yo-yoing with an Italian lady for a couple of miles, my mile splits had been slowing so I gripped myself, gobbled down some salt to preempt cramp and for probably the first time in my running career, pushed myself really hard. Italian lady dropped behind and I focused on the finish complex up ahead. It was slightly disconcerting being passed on this final stretch by half marathoners, but not by many.

Finish gantry in sight and I started to stride out, only to discover that it wasn't the finish gantry, just extra inflatable gantry advertising DHL, one of the race sponsors...darn.

Working hard at the finish

Keep up the sprint, only another 200 metres or so, I've missed the 3:15 but nailed a PB, under the clock, stop the watch...bazinga...... 3:16:06, a near 10 minute PB; 72nd overall and 7th in my age category. Collect my medal and space blanket and bottle of water, keep moving and head for our agreed meeting spot on the adjacent church steps.

Andy finished in a creditable 3:28:01 having decided that if he wasn't close to his PB, he'd be better taking it easy and saving himself for another day.

There was a slight delay in retrieving our bags, the downside of hundreds of identical bin bags in the back of a DHL van I suppose, but again hugely friendly people manning this area.

Back to our hotel for a shower then a proper big post-race feed and an hours kip before hitting Andrew's bar again for R & R.

Overall I'd give this race a 9 out of 10, I'd definitely do it again and I'd recommend it to anyone. 

I'm ecstatic about my PB and the added unexpected discovery that I only needed to beat 3:20 for a VLM good for age place.

Plenty of  photos during the actual race too as every participant could sign up via Facebook for a free online, automatically posted photo album. Where many marathons try to charge you £20 for a single photo, Malta gives you a free album. Another example of the incredible value this gem of a race represents.

Cheers

What's on the menu for 2015?

Whilst my enthusiasm for running grew through 2014, my enthusiasm for blogging dwindled in equal measure. So whilst I don't generally bother with New Year resolutions, I've decided to endeavor to be a bit less erratic with my posts in 2015.

I suppose the key decision for this year was NOT to enter the West Highland Way race. Although I wouldn't completely rule out going for another goblet at some point in the future. There are a number of reasons for this:-

• I don't feel I can make the wholehearted commitment to the training required without making unacceptable sacrifices to both family and work
• If I can't commit wholeheartedly to it, I'm certainly not going to commit to a race of that magnitude halfheartedly
• I seem to be able to run 50-ish mile ultras without serious damage to my body
• I'm selfish, the injuries I picked up during the WHW in 2013 kept me away from running for 2 months and I don't want a repeat
• I'm still in discomfort from the foot injury I picked up and a little part of me is scared that I add to or aggravate it and kybosh my running career

Bruised, black, damaged and swollen feet Post WHW race

Having ruled out the WHW race, I've lined up a reasonable list of races for 2015

January

Feel the Burns hill race (13 miles)  - my first bash at a proper hill race

February

Devilla Forest 15K trail race

Malta Marathon

March

D33 Ultra

April

Highland Fling

May

Cateran Trail Ultra - my first go at this one

Edinburgh Marathon  - not wholly decided about this one yet

June

Mabie Forest 10K Trail Race - our club trail race

Not racing but supporting Caroline on the WHW race

July

Lakeland 50  - despite spending most of last year's race saying I'd never do it again, I'll be back for a second attempt

September

Tiree Ultra Marathon - Dumfries Harriers are heading here en mass this year instead of the usual Coll half Marathon trip

Dumfries Half Marathon

December

Glasgow Santa Dash

Marcothon 2014, completed

I'd really like to have a go at the Speyside Way Ultra in August, never having run this one plus I think the medal looks really nice, how shallow am I?

I'm also tempted to try some 10K and half marathons as long as they fit in the training schedule. I put in a lot of miles in November and December and my average pace on my training runs is not far off my PB paces, so there might be some room for improvement there.

Having listed all the above, I'm actually taking a few days off running having picked up a roving injury on my right glute, hip and upper thigh during the Marcothon.

Happy running

Cheers

Went the day well? Lochaber Marathon 2014

After beating myself up for completely failing to execute my race plan at the D33, I had twin objectives for the Lochaber Marathon. Firstly stick to the plan this time and secondly make sure I didn’t have a bad race, the latter being most important in my head with only 3 weeks to go to the Highland Fling 53 mile race. Without broadcasting it too widely I was also hoping for a time round about 3:30.

I make no pretence to being a writer of suspense so I’m going to blow the gaff straight away and say “yes” for me the day went well.

I’ve been fretting about the mix of Ultras and road marathons I’ve signed up for this year, or more precisely how do I train for them, especially given the limited time between events. I’ve also been missing too many weekend back to back runs, either dropping one or both runs. Although my overall mileage has been on a par with last year there is a disturbing lack of runs over 20 miles. I felt this was the core of my WHW race training last year with a solid base built up through January, February and March and I've compromised it this year.

Anyway enough introspective navel gazing and back to the main event, the Lochaber Marathon.

Given that Fort William is around 4 hours driving from Dumfries and I've had bad experiences of long distance driving after races, I’d decided to book the luxuries of the Travelodge for the Saturday and the Sunday nights.  Ann had agreed to come along as bag carrier; cheerleader; photographer; first aider and rescue driver to both myself and the rest of the Dumfries contingent comprising yours truly; Caroline; Neil, Lesley and Ian.

A leisurely drive up gave time to collect my number and t-shirt on the Saturday afternoon and fit in a shopping spree in Cotswold Outdoors, where a bright shiny new pair of Salomon Speedcross 3 CS, mysteriously found a way into my basket.

Having slaked my shopping thirst, we met up with Caroline; Neil and Lesley in The Grog and Gruel (that’s a pub, not a euphemism for pre-race activity) for food. We were all very restrained and after nice meal and a couple of pints it was time for an early night, although I did consider that my choice of Boar’s Breath Chilli for a meal might have been slightly imprudent given a stomach that had ranged from volatile to volcanic throughout the day.

Pre-race confidence (and "the leg pose")

With a race start at 11am, there was no rush in the morning, with ample time for a lie-in, shower and  my usual pre-morning run breakfast of porridge and an Ambrosia rice pudding, a shower and a leisurely stroll along to the Nevis Centre for the obligatory team photo and race briefing. 

With a weather forecast varying from light rain to heavy rain throughout I’d opted for a long sleeve compression top, club vest and light gloves, a choice I was happy with from start to finish.

We all had slightly different objectives for the day. Lesley hot of the back of a great race at Trimpell 20 miler, was gunning for a PB, Neil building for his City to Summit Duathalon was looking on this as another training run ; Caroline was aiming to run a steady measured race as she’s running VLM next weekend and The Fling two weeks after that; Ian had more modest objective’s hoping for “anything under 4 hours” as he’s been battling a persistent foot injury for some months. We also chatted with Ian Minty who was very much using the event as a marker both on his return from injury and part of his WHW race build up.

There was a palpable lack of enthusiasm as the 350 or so runners wandered out to the start line on the shinty pitch, with a persistent drizzle and grey skies no doubt mirroring the mood of many. No preamble, no hooter, a quick count down and it was off!

The race route is an out and back mostly on the A830 road to Mallaig alongside Loch Eil, it’s billed as flat, IT IS!

There was none of the early congestion you can get in bigger races and within the first half mile I found myself running alongside Ian Grey with Lesley slightly ahead. My race plan was for steady 8 minute miles and when mile 1 beeped at 7:31 pace, I knew it was time to ease back slightly. Ian and I ended up running the first 9 miles side by side before I edged ahead as Ian indicated he was having trouble with his foot. Over these miles Lesley continued to edge ahead eventually moving completely out of sight. At this point I could bang on about the rain, but I’ll just say it pretty much rained all day, varying from drizzle to sheets of rain to spits and back to sheets again. What a magnificent job the helpers at the water stations did, they all looked frozen and drowned, but were unfailingly cheerful, a big thanks is due to them all.

It was good to have some company for this first section, I suspect our “where’s Wally” Harriers tops and steady conversation and good humour stood out well but we regularly moved aside to let speedier runners through without undue obstruction. The first three or four miles until you pass the sawmill at Kilmallie are on footpaths thereafter we were running on the road, which was open to traffic in both directions, but pretty much every driver slowed or stopped for runners so no issues there.

One mile in

I think it was somewhere around mile 11 that the lead runners started to appear running back in the opposite direction, I gave a few shout outs (but apparently this is something that Ultra runners do, and marathoners don’t) and I made a conscious effort to count the ladies as I reckoned Lesley must be running well.

I was right, Lesley was running well and perhaps a quarter mile before the turn I saw her and shouted out “4^th lady”, immediately to hear this echoed by her husband Neil who had sneakily run up behind me.  Round the turn and the plan is still holding together nicely, miles 1 – 11 were all sub 8 minutes, miles 12 and 13 a couple of seconds over.

Homeward bound now Neil and I ran together for a mile or two, until he edged ahead about 20 metres. I was taking on water and isotonic at every opportunity, prompted by vivid and painful memories of lack of hydration induced cramp at D33, still feeling very good, no signs of cramp and only slightly sore legs. Kirsty Burnett was on my shoulder too, running really strongly until she suffered a dodgy tummy at mile 19, Kirsty is building really well for this year’s WHW race. I was also getting regular roadside shout out’s from a rain swept Ada Stewart, what a difference  a bit of encouragement makes to your mood, thanks Ada.

I love the phrase “a marathon is a race of two halves, the first half is 20 miles and the second half is 6 miles”, as I went through 20 miles I was still feeling good, relaxed and uninjured and I was still running and feeling like a proper runner, as opposed to shuffling. I cannot remember exactly when I passed Neil, but it was probably just after 20 miles, but it wasn't just Neil I passed, I was slowly but steadily picking off other runners. All in all, a much nicer feeling than being passed! In fact over this last 6 miles I was starting to see and pass quite a number of runners reduced to walking, a few stretching off cramp and a few obviously injured too. I tried to give each and every one a shout out. Miles 13 to 24 were all slightly above 8 minute miles, but I was still happy as I knew I’d banked a few seconds on the first half.

At mile 25 you turn almost due south and then the blustery cross wind became a full on head wind, two of the safety pins on my number gave out, so rather than end up chasing my number across the road I finished the job and scrunched my number in my fist for the run in. Bizarrely I couldn't stop smiling on this stretch, pishing rain and an awful headwind, NOW I feel I’m well in my comfort zone, all those winter training trail miles paid off. There is one horrid little uphill slope exactly 0.6 miles from the finish then it’s into a housing estate, I couldn't see anyone ahead of me and I knew no-one was close behind, but I couldn't see any marshals, might as well go straight ahead. 

Fortuitously correct a couple of 90 degree turns and it was through the gates and onto the shinty pitch for the final 100m, as I ran past the grandstand I milked the soggy crowd for a cheer, whilst trying to sprint, smile and hold up my number for the timekeepers to see.

Sprint finish - nearly

Job done 3:31:53, 26.2 miles at an average 8:03 pace, I couldn't see Ann so grabbed a bottle of water and climbed over the fence surrounding the pitch to head for the grandstand. As I jumped down I felt something go twang around my left chest.

Oh the irony, 26,2 miles without injury and I strain my left boob climbing the fence.

The purists among you will probably say that if I felt that good after a marathon I wasn't trying hard enough, probably true, but remember the race plan back at the start of this post? I’d done exactly what I wanted to do and proved to myself that I could plan and execute a race plan without getting carried away…result.

Lesley had had a blistering race, clocking a PB and finishing in 3:25; Caroline came in running strongly also logging a PB in 3:37 with Neil completing the trio of PB’s not far behind in 3:39.

Neil and I - Captain Sweatpants and Co, post race

Sadly Ian had not had such a good day his foot injury had not improved but Ian had still toughed it out to 22 miles before making the difficult but sensible decision to pull out.

We hung around for the presentation to see Lesley pick up her 1st FV40 trophy, then with Lesley, Caroline and Neil facing the long drive back to Dumfries, it was back to the hotel for a quick shower for me and then a well deserved beer or two.

I've mentioned before that for me the best measure of any race is "Would I do it again?" 

As far as Lochaber Marathon goes the answer would be an unreserved "YES", good value for money, flat route, abundant water stations, friendly marshals, potentially stunning views and a technical T-shirt, I'd definitely do it again.

To cap the weekend off on a positive note, we went for a meal at The Crannog restaurant, where my ego got a further boost, when a chap (sorry I didn't catch your name) asked me "Are you Keith Ainslie? I read your blog" .....RESULT

Cheers