On Saturday, I was given another education in the sport of hill running at
Stuc a' Chroin. You'd have thought that I'd know not to charge on early in a 3 hour race and to not get stuck at the back of the pack before the start and work too hard to get through the field.
Still, learning from mistakes is one way to get better. Stuc is a very popular, very well organised race, starting from Strathyre in Perthshire, which makes an unconventional route up the mountain. There's a bit of everything - forest tracks, boggy paths, steep descents and climbs, heather scrambling, rocks and grass.
I've just started to feel right again after most of April, I felt rubbish, so I was hopeful of doing ok. As it was, I did ok for about 90 minutes and then my legs just went and I was left a bit powerless to lift the pace. I'd ran too hard for the first couple of miles through the forest and then kept the gas on through the boggy climb above Glen Ample. I wanted to be further up the field by the time of the single line climb up Beinn Each but in retrospect, it would have been better to be further behind and then keep some energy for the long descent back to Glen Ample and then back up Meall Mor.
I caught my dodgy right ankle a couple of times on the rocky ridge to Stuc itself and that coincided with my slowdown and I went into survival mode. Still, I pushed on and despite being passed by quite a few folks, I managed to keep a steady plod on, finishing in 3:12 for 185th place. Not magic, I was hoping to get close to 3 hours but certainly not a disgrace.
If I'd done that time last year (when the going was faster with less wet ground), I'd have been 60th of 120. The quality of the field was much higher this year because it was part of the British and Scottish Championships. My club mate James was 51st in a time which would have been good enough for the top 10 any other year.
I can recommend the race, the organisation is first class, it's dirt cheap, entry on the day, a marked course and loads of marshalls, all with water and most with jelly babies. I'll be back next year to get under 3 hours.
Ben Lomond next weekend.
