Johnny Hall’s Travels and Travails

I ran the Lochaber Marathon yesterday but despite running well, I just missed out on my sub 3 target although I'm not sure what I could or would have done differently. Truth be told, I was super confident right up until the wheels (marginally) fell off. I had a great taper, felt good all week and the conditions were grand (though a wee bit of sun and wind appeared from about halfway but nothing to bother about). 

I went out super conservative, hit my first 2 miles in 6:55 and 6:53. A lot of people charged out *very* fast, it was amazing to see. I think I was about 50th after the first mile or so, then I didn't get passed again and finished about 26th I think. 

My pace was very easy, barely breathing, legs felt good, holding it was no problem. One issue was that my Garmin was reporting the miles slightly long, and after the first couple, the mile markers started getting further away from the mile alerts. Ended up at 26:32, made pacing a bit awkward but nothing that made a difference.  In the end it meant that when the going got tough, when I thought I had been running to build up a cushion of around a minute, I only had about 20 seconds, so when I started dragging, I couldn't buckle down and get it done.

Started passing people steadily from about mile 8, I think. Hit halfway at 1:29:50, which was cutting it very close but I figured I felt good and was running easy, so I was confident of managing my plan of picking up the pace about 5-10 seconds a mile from mile 20. 

Got to mile 20, after passing quite a few more, hitting my marks, then almost every mile from 20-24 has a bit of a climb, nothing major, just enough to make you feel it. Ran about 10 seconds slow for a couple and started feeling it, wasn't worried though. Then I started to steadily slow down and run the next 3 or 4 in 7:10ish but my legs were on the edge and I just couldn't pick it up.  If I had less than, say 30 seconds in the last couple of miles, I might have been able to grit my teeth but because I knew it was beyond me, I think I didn't push myself too hard and lost a bit more.  I wasn't going to crush myself for sub 3:01 but I might have for sub 3.

I was still passing a few but the whole race, I ran on my own. I don't remember running beside anybody at any point after the first mile! 

By mile 24/25, I knew the game was up - had to run impossible splits for the last couple but subconsciously knew I couldn't. Last mile was about 30 odd seconds slow, not helped by a couple of steep rises where I almost lost it! 

So, disappointing but considering my previous PB was 3:53, I can't complain. I honestly don't know what I could have done differently. I trained hard and well, tapered properly, didn't miss many sessions, got to the start in good shape, paced my race pretty well (if a touch slow, could have done with a couple more seconds a mile for the first half but the mile markers confused me a bit), had enough gels and water in the race but just couldn't get it done. The only thing I could have done was HTFU but try as I might, it just wasn't happening.

Still, I'm proud of my achievement.  I've trained hard and consistently and I've improved considerably in a short period.  I'll get under 3 hours next time.  I have learned one thing though - I love marathon running.

The Carnethy 5 was my first hill race last year and I enjoyed it so much, I ran about 20 of them in 2009.  This year, I'm in much better shape and I know how to run a hill race better than I did a year ago.  So, I was keen to improve on my 191st place and maybe edge into the top 100.

On the one hand, I'd had several months of very consistent running and had been averaging 45 miles a week before the New Year and 60 miles after it, even through all the snow and bad weather.  On the other hand, most of it had been on the road and I hadn't ventured up any serious hills for a while (apart from the Devil's Burden) and I had a bad cough which was restricting my top end a bit.  So, I wasn't too confident.

I decided on a fast start to get position on the climb up Scald Law and I was right up there when the runners all hit Charlie's Loup.  There was a bit of a detour up the trail before climbing the hill up a steeper section than normal and after a couple of minutes of ascent, my calves were screaming at me.  Russell came past here but I couldn't keep hold of him, so I settled in with Gregor Heron and was happy with that since he's a good climber.  Soon enough, we were over the summit and I got away from Gregor before he passed me on the way up South Black Hill.  This would be a pattern that repeated all the way to the finish.  I wasn't going up very quickly and Gregor doesn't like descending.  Claire Gordon caught us on the way up the first Kip too and again, I was descending quicker than her but she whipped away from me going upwards.

Carnethy is a hard race, since the climbs are steep and frequent and there is a big steep descent from the Kips, where you lose all your height before going back up Carnethy itself.  On the last climb, I started to flag a bit and though I wasn't losing many places, I certainly wasn't gaining any and I think I lost a bit of time here.  The descent of Carnethy was a fun time though, down the many snow and scree patches, until one of the soles of my shoes decided to unhitch themselves from the upper and my heel started hanging out.  Luckily my shoes didn't come off altogether but it did restrict my running somewhat on the run in through the bog.

I wasn't moving too quickly on the final section and a couple of runners came past.  At the time, I wasn't in the mood for racing but once I saw the results, I was a bit annoyed with myself, since I finished in 101st, only a few seconds away from my top 100 goal.  My time was 1:05ish, much quicker than last year, but still a minute or two short of where I'd hoped to be.  The fact I spent most of the rest of Saturday coughing was indicative of the state of my lungs though.

Next day, my legs and lungs were a bit screwed, so I took a few days off to recover.  My cough didn't shift though, so I just buckled down and started running again.

The Moorfoots managed to put together 18 runners and 3 teams for the Devil's Burden hill relays yesterday.  I think we should be proud of ourselves since this is probably 2/3 of the active membership of the club.

I was placed in Team B and allocated myself to the longest and hilliest leg 3, with Colin Williams (stronger than me).  Unfortunately, a pullout in Team A meant that Colin got promoted and Steve Martin ran leg 3 in his stead.  Steve is a fast road runner (much faster than me) but I'm probably a bit stronger on the hills, which meant we probably weren't perfectly matched.  Still, not far off.

We took over from Aegir, who ran a great leg despite a chest infection, and set off up the steep climb on to Bishop Hill.  There were a number of routes to the top and we definitely didn't pick the best one - we should have followed the Fife AC pairing but they got away from us.  We (ok, it was me) made another route choice error off Bishop and I slavishly followed the route map rather than the other runners and we got bogged down across marshy, tussocky, snowy ground before the climb to West Lomond.  Once on the climb to Lomond, a group of runners caught up to us, which was frustrating.

After regrouping at the summit, Steve and I ran well to the end, descending together and keeping a decent pace to Strathmiglo, for a final time of 1:17, probably about 5 minutes slower than I'd hoped but still decent.

We placed 37th out of 120 teams.  Moorfoots A placed 6th and Moorfoots C were 91st.

I'm running well at the moment, I've definitely made a jump recently and my 60 mile weeks have yet to make a difference, since I've just got to that mileage in the last couple of weeks.  I'm hoping to do well at Carnethy and may even taper a bit for it.

Probably my strongest performance in a hill race yet, unfortunately the organiser is essentially ignoring all requests to publish the results, which is obviously frustrating.

The course was under a lot of snow, which slowed the runners down and meant a smaller than normal field of 78.  I stayed near the front to the foot of the climb up Trahenna, stayed strong up the hill where overtaking was impossible in the deep snow and then tried to run back down as fast I could muster (half way down my legs decided I was going too hard).  I wasn't overtaken on the way down until the run to the road where one chap came past - I caught him back up though.  

I didn't manage to catch the next runner on the road and came in at about 22:10.  I'm guessing the winning time was about 18ish.  I wasn't far behind runners who normally kick my skinny backside like Colin (Williams) and Mike (McGovern) and I beat several people who I've never gotten close to before.

I think I finished about 15th or 16th (going by the photos).

Where are the results?

The SHR 2010 race calendar has just been published and one minor scheduling change has completely thrown my early season plans into disarray.  The Jura Hill Race is usually on the 3rd Saturday of May but this week it has been shifted to the 4th Saturday, which clashes with our holiday to Corsica, which is frustrating because I picked that date specifically to avoid Jura and to get a wee rest after the race.

Still, nothing I can do about it.  There are a few alternatives but I've decided to focus on attempting to run a fast marathon in April and then switching the emphasis to cycling from May in readiness for A Day In The Lakes (middle distance triathlon) in June and Powerman in September.

So, rather than doing the Edale Skyline and the Three Peaks in March and April, which were training for Jura, I'm now going to do the Alloa Half Marathon in March and the Lochaber Marathon in April.  I might squeeze a hill race in there too, as well as the Stirling Duathlon.  I'll be doing Ben Lomond in May and then, instead of Jura, I'm going to do the Etape du Dales cyclosportive again, hopefully with a bit more fitness than last time.

I notice the Mull hill race is on again this year, in the middle of July, so I'll get over for that as long as I can be back for Emily's birthday the next day.

At the moment, the second half of my season is going to remain the same - A Day In The Lakes, Mull, British MTB Triathlon Championships, (maybe) Borrowdale, Powerman, 2 Breweries and the Pentland Skyline.

I braved the roads this morning to go and run The Lawbreaker, 5km up and down The Law in the Ochil hills from Tillicoultry.  I had an idea that the vast amounts of snow would make the course an insurance nightmare, and indeed, as I had guessed, the route was changed to 3 laps at low level.

I've been running a lot recently - this week was my 7th in a row where my mileage was over 40 miles.  However, I've done very little intense running for months now as I attempt to build a better running base and improve my endurance and my speed over the longer distances.

In spite of that, I ran pretty well and came 26th of 68 runners.  I wasn't any closer to the winner (Prasad) than Tinto but I was closer to a lot of other runners who would normally have been well ahead of me.  I paced it not too bad, didn't get overtaken much on the climbs but lost a few places (from a fast start) on the icy descents.

Saturday was the first round of the ERC Winter Duathlon series.  The last couple of years, I've thought about doing these but didn't get my finger out in time.  This year, I got my act in order and I've entered rounds 1 and 2.  The 3rd round clashes with the Carnethy 5, which is a shame.

The race format is straightforward.  It's a 4km run (almost) from Kirkliston Leisure Centre, which has a couple of wee draggy climbs in it, then a 10 mile ride on the back road through Winchburgh towards Linlithgow, and then the run is repeated.  Winning times are usually in the low 50 minutes.

I haven't been cycling regularly or with any sort of structure for about 16 months, since before IM Austria but I have worked hard on my running in that time, posting about 1500 miles this year.  I'm knee deep in winter training though, which consists of lots of steady run mileage (I'm at 40-45 miles a week at the moment, building towards 60 a week by the spring) and I've got my triathlon bike set up in the office on my turbo, with a rented Powertap.  My cycling program is still in it's infancy though, I've only been at it for 3 weeks, not enough time to make much difference.

So, I was interested to see where my fitness is, particularly the difference between my running and cycling.

It was very foggy on Saturday morning so I half expected the race to be cancelled (the roads weren't particularly safe) but it went ahead.  There were about 70 competitors on the line, out of an entry of 100 (poor show really), with a mix of obviously serious athletes and a few beginners and everything in between.  I'm not sure where I lie on that spectrum - towards the serious, I guess.

The race was late starting, which played a bit of havoc with my warmup - I wasn't sure how long I had.  I definitely didn't warm up properly, next time I'll do it properly.  The racers charged away at the line and I was left in the middle of the pack, making a mental note not to get too carried away and stay within myself.  It did seem very quick though and I've not got much speed at the moment, I don't think.

After 10 or so minutes, I started to catch some runners who had obviously gotten a bit excited at the start (easily done) and on the last section back on the main road, I caught a fella in orange who I would be up against for the rest of the race.  I passed him and then he came past me again just before transition.  My first run time was 14:33, I was hoping to go under 15 minutes, so that was good.

My transition wasn't the quickest - I had to sit down to put on my cycling shoes and I had trouble getting on the bike (clumsy) but instantly felt comfortable and worked hard reeling in quicker runners.  Again, I caught the orange chap and went past.  However, unlike every other cyclist that I overtook, he wouldn't stay overtaken and over the next 10 miles we caught and passed each other several times (no drafting though, I hasten to add).  

Just before the turnaround, I flew past him on a downhill section and noted after the turn that I had 10 or 20 seconds on him.  I kept the pace high and felt good on the homeward section and overtook a few more cyclists.  Through Winchburgh, I got bogged down a bit and lost some pace and Mr Orange came past again, which was frustrating.  We came into transition more or less together but again, I wasn't the quickest.  My ride time was 27:27, which was about where I was hoping it would be.

Running off the bike in short races is a brutal affair and I was breathing hard as I got moving, right on Orange's heels.  I was determined to stay with him and he was running pretty hard.  We caught a runner after the farm and another before the main road (I think) and I stayed with him all the way.  He kicked the pace up at the end and I matched him but couldn't get past.  Our battle meant that we kept a high pace for the second run leg and I posted a 14:45 time, only 12 seconds off the first leg.

In the end, I was 18th of 70 starters in a time of 58:14.  I wanted to go under an hour, so I have to be happy.  In my first run, I was 25th and the second I was 21st (which in itself is pleasing - must warm up properly next time) and I was 10th cyclist.  So, despite hardly cycling, I still posted a decent ride time.  Hopefully, by the next race, my bike training will have kicked in.

3 years later, and Tinto is the last race of my 2009 hill running season, during which I have raced over 20 times, including 18 hill races. From the beginning of the season at the Glentress Duathlons and the Carnethy 5, to now, I am a different runner. I'm not radically quicker, but I'm definitely stronger and I can now hold my own on the descents.

Yesterday was a fantastic day for running - cool and practically wind- and cloud-free. 295 runners turned up for the race, which is a new record. I was hoping to run the race in the low 40s and I knew who I would be racing against. I warmed up by cycling from race HQ at Symington and then had a bit of a jog up and down the road with Derek.

I tried to keep my position towards the front at the start, to ensure I didn't get held up. By the time the track started getting steep, my HR had sky-rocketed over my threshold and it started to get painful. I was reduced to walking where others were running but I wasn't losing places, so this was definitely an advantage. I had some runners in my sight that I knew were faster than me, so I realised I was going quite well, despite my rasping lungs.

At the bottom of the last steep ascent, Prasad came flying past on his way back down, and it seemed to be about a minute later before Al Anthony cam past as well. After that, a steady stream of runners came down the hill and soon enough, I was round the cairn and on my way back down myself.

The first part of the descent is rocky but I was enjoying myself and my newly strengthened ankles meant that I could get a fair bit of speed up down the difficult parts with confidence. I passed a couple of runners on the way down and was only caught by one other until the final run in, which seemed to take forever. There, another couple of racers came past (and put about 20 seconds on me, despite me running about 5:30 min/mile pace) but overall, I held my position from top to bottom, which was pleasing.

At the end, I was 74th of 295 starters and my time was 41:07, which was at the top end of my expectations. I'll go under 40 minutes next year.

Thanks to Carnethy for organising another great race.

This morning was the third leg of the club handicap series, expertly organised by James and Rachael. The first race in March, in the forest in Cardrona, I ran fairly well and came in well up the field but at the second in April, at Glentress, I felt terrible after a bout of food poisoning and trailed in last, just failing to reel in Mick Warrington on the line.

This time, the race was south of Innerleithen at the Leithen Valley on some tracks skirting the edge of the Moorfoots. Unfortunately, it was teeming down with rain and pretty windy. I put on a windproof top but it was completely pointless, since I soaked through within minutes. I started with a couple of other chaps, Eddie Balfour and Nick, one of Colin William's friends.

The first mile was flat, and with the wind. I took out a wee lead on the other two and quickly got my HR up to my threshold. Russell came steaming past very early, taking about a minute out of me (I think) and I tried to match his pace but didn't last long before my HR rocketed.

We turned right and started a climb which would last about 3 miles and, though it was never steep, it took it out of my legs. My first mile was run in sub-7 minute miles and the second in about 7:30 but the next two, I struggled a bit and hit high 8s and low 9s as the hill dragged on. Nick re-caught me at about the same point as Colin but I was struggling and couldn't stay with them.

Soon enough, the hill ended and we started the long, wet, muddy descent. I passed Rachael at the top of the hill and tried to keep up a strong pace, rudely interrupted by a short ascent before dropping again. It was very runnable and suited me and Mick Warrington came into my sights halfway down. My sixth mile was run in 6 minutes dead.

Back onto the flat with 2 miles back into the wind, I tried to keep the pace up to catch Mick. Despite running in mid-6s, it took me until the final 200 metres before I passed him, coming in 4th in 54:40, absolutely soaked through to the skin.

I ended up third in the series, behind Russell and Colin, and I'm glad I managed to stay strong despite going out too hard.

I was a cyclist long before I was a runner and I consider myself a decent cyclist and a mediocre runner (though I'm hoping to improve again next year). I more or less took this year off cycling to concentrate on (hill) running and though I enjoyed my racing, I've missed cycling. So, I'm intending to get back in the saddle and race the bike a bit (Bala Middle Triathlon and Powerman Zofingen as a minimum as well as some local time trialling).

One major difference between cycling (and triathlon) and running is the expense, though. This year, I've barely spent any real money - just some new kit and shoes and not much at all on race entries (20+ races this year and probably spent less than half that I spent on Ironman entry alone). Now, I've decided to cycle seriously again, I've got a big list of expenditure (most of which isn't necessary to be fair but I'm easily sucked in).

• This bike case looks awesome
• New wheels;
• A power meter and computer (finally);
• New shoes;
• And a bunch of bits and bobs.

Some of that kit isn't available yet, in fact most of it but it all looks very cool. Cycling is a lot more geeky than running.

I'm going to get back on the turbo over the winter and start analysing my data using a couple of bits of software - RaceDay and Golden Cheetah. At least one of those is free, mind.