Friday 7 July 2017

West Highland Way and 2017 so far

So, despite promising myself that I'd keep this blog; I've failed spectacularly.
I'm going to blame being busy at work and moving house... the plus point being that we've managed to buy a lovely new grown ups house with trails from the door. All we need now is for some grown ups!

So, 2017 seems to be going pretty well so far. I'd hoped to run the Highland Fling in April to make up for my disappointment with my time last year, but I was offshore for the race so had to chose something else.
The Kielder 80k seemed to fit the bill. It was a great event run by High Terrain Events, with some seriously tough terrain and a field of some very talented runners.
I managed to hold on for 3rd place finishing in 8h20m, which I was pretty pleased with.
3rd Place at the Kielder 80k
I was fairly broken by the end of it though, mostly due to not fuelling properly during the race.
I have issues with my nose (I can barely breath through it), which makes chewing on the move difficult; as a result I quite often just don't eat. I try quite a lot of different things while I'm on my long runs, but I'm yet to find something that really works for me.
And I knew I needed to get my fuel right if I was to have any chance of doing well in my next event... the West Highland Way Race.

I'd been targeting this race ever since I crewed for someone in my first season of ultra running in 2015. I wanted one of the prized goblets for myself.

Keziah and I drove down to Glasgow on the Friday morning before the West Highland Way, having booked a B&B near the start line to allow me to get a few hours sleep. 
11pm came and it was time to head to Milngavie for registration. It was good to catch up with a few familiar faces, but I was conscious that I was going to be on my feet for a long time to come so made my excuses before sloping off back to car for another last minute snooze.

By the time the pre-race brief came I was still feeling remarkably relaxed - subdued even. Sean warned us there would be weather (and boy, was there some weather to come!), then I made my way to front of the mass of runners and waited for 1am and the start of the race.

Before I knew it we were off and heading into the darkness of Mugdock Park. I was making a concerted effort to keep the pace easy in these early sections, aware that pushing too early would mean blowing up further down the line.
(Thanks to Debbie Martin-Consani for the pacing guidance - not that she knows she did anything! I stole and tweaked her Fling times, as she's renowned for her superb pacing skills)

Drymen came and went, just about bang on schedule, with Keziah and Kirsty throwing a fresh water bottle and some food at me. Then the short climb up and over Conic hill already had me catching and overtaking people - and I still felt like I was taking it fairly easily. I was feeling pretty good at this point and happy with how the race was going.

The checkpoint at Balmaha was buzzing when I got to it. I spotted Keziah in the crowds and refreshed my food and water supplies, downing a lukewarm cup of coffee as I walked through the carpark (my diva demands - sorry race notes - had asked for the coffee like this, so I could drink it quickly).
The next section of the WHW is one of my least favourite. I'm not sure why, as it's a really pretty bit of trail tracking along the shore of Loch Lomond, but it seems to consist of lots of pointless climbs just to descend again straight away. Anyway, I was still feeling good and actually enjoyed the section - catching a few more runners before gliding into the next checkpoint at Rowardennan.
Onwards uneventfully to Inversnaid where the superstar that is Ruth Howie was waiting with my dropbag. This section takes in the new "Low Route" which is massive improvement over the old fireroad "High Route". A sweaty hug from Ruth (I was sweaty, not Ruth!), then a quick wipe down with an antiseptic wipe from one of the first aiders (I'd tripped on a root earlier), and I was on my way again.

Approaching the bothy at the end of the Loch, I started having thoughts that my Salomon Sense 6's might not have enough grip as the trail was starting to become muddier. 
Just as I was about to pull my phone out to text Keziah and ask for my S-Lab Soft Grounds; BANG! Down I went; slipping in some mud and landing heavily on a rock on my left knee.
I tried to jump straight back up, but I couldn't. I could tell that I'd hurt myself and took a few moments on the ground before wobbling back to my feet. My knee started stiffening straight away, I knew there and then that any hopes of a finish were fading let alone the fast time that I hoped for.
Hobbling into Beinglas Farm, I switched shoes and took on some more food. I was still able to run in short bursts at this point, but I was putting more pressure on my right leg to take the strain off the injured left.
More and more people were overtaking me at this point, as the running became slower and I walked more, including the first lady who came flying past me on the rollercoaster section north of Crianlarich. A few positive words of encouragement passed in either direction before heading into Auchtertyre.
This was the last check point that the wonderful Keziah and Kirsty were seeing me at, before passing over support duties to the marvelous Ali and Jonny.

By this point, I could tell I was moving much slower - by now both knees were sore, one from the fall and one from being forced to compensate - and I had a choice to make. The easy choice would be to accept that the race wasn't going to plan and drop out; the difficult choice was to keep going to Fort William.
Go hard, or go home - I wasn't going home just yet!

When I eventually made it to Jelly Baby Hill, there was almost no running. Murdo (what a star waiting out in that weather!) asked whether I was going to finish before he permitted me my jelly baby; I said I was, picked a red one and I headed off towards Rannoch Moor.

By now, the weather that Sean had mentioned had closed in. I wasn't dressed for the speed I was running (I'll normally run in short shorts, even in the snow); but the 50mph winds and horizontal rain meant I was nigh on hypothermic by the time I reached Glencoe.
Thoughts of a DNF started to enter my mind but I had the presence of mind to head straight for the cafe for a warm up. Gavin Bussey was there at the front of the queue and called across to see if I wanted a hot drink... between him, Ali and Jonny I soon had a down jacket, some hot coffee and a cheese toastie working their warming magic on me. The race team must've been a little concerned about me too, as Lorna McMillan who was marshalling came up to the cafe to check on me and to make sure I had someone with me if I was going to carry on.

The next sections passed in a bit of a blur. Jonny accompanying me to Kinlochleven and the Ali until the end.
The Lairig Mor was almost unbearable, with a strong headwind and my pace being reduced to a shuffle; my right knee was now giving out due the extra pressure put on it by trying to save my injured left knee. Darkness fell as we left Lundavra and I was in a pretty bad way; Ali trying to forcefeed me banana while all I wanted to do was curl up on the side of trail and sleep.
On the Lairig Mor - looking happy, but just wishing that it would all end
After a seemingly endless descent, Braveheart carpark appeared with Keziah, Kirsty and Jonny all waiting to walk it in to the finish with me (well, they walked, I was more of a stagger-hobble by then). And finally the Leisure Centre arrived and I fell through the finish arch 24 hours and 44 minutes after leaving Milngavie.

I collapsed into a chair and almost immediately fell asleep mid-sentence... I was totally spent.

I got my goblet, but was obviously well away from my sub 18 hour target - but the race will be there for years to come, I'll be back.
You may think that this report sounds negative, but all in it was a great experience; I'm immensely proud of myself for carrying on, when the easy thing to do would've been to quit. And regardless of any of that I wouldn't have finished anything without the unbelievable support of Keziah, Kirsty, Ali and Jonny.
The dream team
2 weeks later, as I sit writing this, the swelling has gone down and my knees look just about normal. I'm back offshore on the treadmill, easing myself back into it - just one more big training block to go before UTMB!

1 comment:

  1. Sounds brutal Richard, well done for pushing on through. I'm sorry we didn't get much chance to catch up, I had heard you'd got injured but wasn't sure what happened.

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