Clachnaben Hill Race
Between January the 1st and the middle of March, I ran over 450 miles in training and was beginning to get into some decent shape. Unfortunately, it all went downhill there for a couple of weeks and I'm going to have to rebuild a bit. First, I get the flu, which destroyed my lungs and sinuses for a week and then, just as I'm getting back to it again, I managed to get food poisoning, which has been a lot more debilitating.
So, lining up for one of the hardest hill races in Scotland after most of the last 3 weeks out of action and with a lingering illness, wasn't probably the best of ideas. Still, I needed to get back into it again, since Jura isn't too far away.
I travelled up with a clubmate, Russell, early on Saturday morning, and we made good time. The weather was perfect, sunny, warm, with a cool, strong breeze. We were informed on the start line that the heather was particularly high this year and the going would be a bit slower as a result. I wasn't feeling too great, so I decided to take it easy at the beginning. We started out for a couple of miles on a track before striking up the first hill through the heather. I managed to keep the effort level constant up the first hill and went past a few people. Down the first descent, I started to grasp the difficulties ahead - there was a narrow muddy track through the heather which was very difficult to run down, so I took to the heather at the side. It wasn't too deep and was fairly runnable.
Then, another big climb up Clachnaben itself, which went ok. I hit the summit, which I judged to be about halfway at about 55 minutes. There was a stiff breeze round the summit tor and then we charged down the backside. Although we were maybe about halfway, we hadn't hit any of the difficulties yet. The run down the back of the hill was very difficult. The track was narrow, boggy and rough and the heather was too high and uneven to run easily. Runners came passed me and disappeared into the distance - my legs were too weak to keep a decent pace going. Then we hit some level, boggy, wet ground which was, again, hard to run on, and then another descent down some very high heather, which I had to resort to walking down. My ankles turned a few times and I hit the ground on more than one occasion because I lost my footing.
Finally, I got onto level ground and then started up the last climb back over Shade Hill. I figured after that, the run in would be easier but not a bit of it - the heather was high and uneven and I lost more ground. It was also boggy and I plunged into knee deep mud on a couple of occasions. Then a run through shin high heather, which flayed my legs and a last little climb before a couple of miles on the track.
I had no strength all the way around the second half and couldn't defend my position at the end, and lost several places. I finished in just under 2:02. If I was in the top half, I'd be very surprised. Still, it was good training, my legs aren't too trashed today (apart from a sore left ankle, which I turned badly) due to not being able to run hard downhill and this morning was the first morning I woke up not feeling terrible in the last 3 weeks. Maybe I've turned the corner.
Next week, I'm going to Wales for 3 days of hard training in Snowdonia, finishing with the Moelwyn 3 Peaks race.
