The Carnethy 5 2010

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.