A test of (hill) Fitness

It's been about a month since the Loch Katrine marathon. Since then I've only been on a couple of runs, all of them 4 miles or under. Instead I've been out on my bike trying to ensure I can get pulled around the Red route of the Kinross sportive. So I've been trying to get out and so 3-4 rides a week of between 10-30 miles working under the rule that consistant training is better than one big session If I'm honest, my arse couldn't take one big ride of 50 miles without a little cycling acclimatisation.


This has had a number of effects on my overall fitness but to cut a long story short my mate Steve dragged me out on a 'long ride' to last week to see if we had the 68mile red route in us. After I had repeatidly begged him to cut it short, (alas the river tay is a fine natural obstacle) we ended up doing 55 miles from Fundee through to Fife, Perth and then back via Scone. This also married up rather akwardly with some great weather and a rare Friday off for my better half. So after 55 miles (the furtherst I have every cycled by a huge margin) I ended up going to Dunkeld and walking the inver route through the Hemitage and along the river. To my suprise the next day I felt good. Not great, but I wasn't walking as if I'd been spanked by and angry grocer for stealing apples. Not something I do often I might add.

So after all of that the only thing left to do was to pass myself off as a fitness expert, use all of the pseudo science I can muster. I'll be using ideas so shaky they're too insecure to look 'BroScience' in the eye and test my fitness


Bring in the Beast, or at least the Ben. No, not 'The Ben', my Ben. Ben Vrackie.

Ben Vrackie

This is by far one of the most fun walks to do if you want to get into hill walking as it is challenging enough for you to earn your pint at the finish. Also,  low and behold there's a pub at the finish.

I ran this route roughly 6 months ago completing it in 89:51 I started that a little early so will cut of the appropriate time etc... (why let details get in the way of a good story)


Inorder to add a little scientific vigor I proceded to alter 90% of what I did in the lead up to this run, though I think I was post nightshift in both. Instead of cycling I walked from Pitlochry train station up but made sure it was at a good pace, I was in shorts and didn't want to get cold. It was also a lot hotter, a little less blowy but I still had much to much in my bag. So all things being far from equal but hopefully still meaningful I set off for the top. It was strange being on the hills so late in the day. I got into Pitlochry at about 12:10 but normally head out first thing. This did mean that I had plenty of people to reel in as I made my way through the first section. As is often the case with steep hills I soon adopted a run walk strategy of running past someone then walking again ;) Before the start I hoped that I could do finish in 80 minutes but that might be the disney dreamer in me. After all my last run further than parkrun was a month ago.


I tried to run more than I did last time thinking that a slower more consistant pace might be quicker than running up hill only to stand still and get my breath back pretending to take photo's as an excuse......

 The going is pretty good until you get to the loch, after that it's about putting one foot infront of the other and focusing on moving forward consistantly. The weather was pretty good but I was still getting too hot and I was only wearing shorts and T-shirt. The sweat and snot was streaming off me quicker than a waterfall. At the top I was surprised to still see some snow as you come round the back of the top. There is something pretty cool about running through snow in shorts. Once I had got gotten over the Rocky daydream I decided to put on my cycling arm warmers. Yes runners, cyclists have far more, and better acessories. The start of the down was still far slower than I think it should be. I kept putting on the breaks as I didn't want to fall on what I view as technical downs. Once back onto the loch side I realised that my quads were shot. I remembered the last section being the most fun last time as you could just take of the brakes and go. The path is smooth, wide and easy but my legs were already gone. I kept having to slow down which probably put more strain on them. Once at the final wooded section I knew I'd 'beat' my last time but that I wouldn't make 80 mins.

 

 
Once I had finally finished my legs were screaming at me and I think the bloke coming down a minute after me must have thought I was mad as I wasn't running anywhere and stopped very suddenly. Pleased to have finished quicker and convinced my 'up' was faster than last time but that my 'down' was the slightly slower I was keen to compare.

shattered

As a committed scientist a checky wee half pint was in order before the analysis. Well it would have been if I didn't realise the next train was in 20 miuntes and the next one not for 3 hours. I drank as much as I could in one go (I'm not 20 anymore) and ran to the train starion as quickly as I could, via the chip shop. I made the train with not much time to spare looking a sweaty mess. About to infuriate everyone by being the bloke that takes chips on the train and stinks the carriage out. I'm not sorry though, they were good chips and I earned them.

SO what does the 'science' show?

Before looking at the numbers I was convinced that they would show improvements on the up but not the down. The down hill felt so hard I was convinced the lack of specifically running down hill in the last month would hit me hard. I was surprised to show only moderate improvements in my climbing especially as I felt I had climbed much better with more running than last time. I also thought that the last month of cycling would have translated into good hill running.  So, having to throw out the projected hypothesis that cycling and consistent training would help me running up hill but not down what does it all mean? I think it shows that the last 6 months of consistent training had meant my CV fitness has improved and all the focus on down hill running for Loch Katrine is still in there somewhere.


(Update, one day later my quads are in tatters)


I also think the last year is the first time I've trained consistently 3-4 times a week for a solid period since leaving University. Because of this, my overall CV fitness has seen the benefits. Perhaps this is the reason for the improvements. It's sometimes nice to think that a short intensive block of exercise can dramatically change your overall fitness but I think the reality is long term habits and consistent training over a long period trump miracle cures. Sometimes shit is just hard and there aren't any quick fixes or miracle cures. Trust me I've looked for them. I'm slowly learning it's about small consistant patterns of behavior change. A slightly dull and simple truth, but true.


So.......

Next week I've got the cycle and then after I'm going to focus on getting out in the hills more. Although I don't have any firm races in mind I might see if I can do the Ben Ledi hill race, though that's all dependant on the God of Offduty.

Forfar Multi-terrain half marathon 2014 race report

MUD, WATER, HILLS and then more MUD.

This really is a multi-terrain half marathon. Organised by Forfar Road Runners it advertises itself as a race NOT FOR NOVICE RUNNERS. In hindsight this is probably designed to make you train properly for it and not to underestimate the event or to enter aiming to run/walk it. Throwing this advice to the wind I entered before it sold out and set about getting ready for my first half marathon.

The morning started by getting up far earlier than I needed to. Having my usual pre run breakfast of 3 slices of toast and nutella, washed down with loads of water. Not exactly the breakfast of champions but then again this isn't Mo Farah's blog. After that, my pal picked me up and off we went on the short trip to Forfar.

Bromance

We arrived safe and sound but as both of us are totally unfamiliar with 'club race' protocol, we were unsure of what the acceptable pre-run routine is. Turns out it's the same as any other run and you all huddle together in the warmest place. Forfar Road Runners were out in numbers offering people maps and pointing us in the right direction.

Nipples. Just nipples

At a very civil start of 11:00 we all walked out to the start line which was on the rugby fields by the loch.
The race organiser then struggled to tell everyone something about route changes and how to drop out. Also explaining the river crossing would be left out and we would follow the diverted route ran last year. Making it a slightly shorter race.

I decided to go off slow for the first 6 to8-ish miles and try to stay with enough people that I didn't get lost.

My overall aim was less than 2 hours but as this was my first half marathon race and it is renowned as a tough race I thought anything less than 9 minute miles for the first half then just see what happens. 

The elevation shows a fairly small and constant incline for the first half but as the scenery changed so often you didn't really notice it. 

The real challenge was the MUD. It was really wet the week before, and the race day was wonderful and mild which means the tracks we ran on were either border on small lakes, or so muddy you could lose a trainer. 

I tried to keep to a steady pace and found that chatting to people was a great way of doing so. I spoke to quite a few people before the inevitable spread of people began. The woman from Fife athletics club in the 2nd mile was lovely and encouraging telling me about a few other interesting races. Then I met someone who had ran the glen clova half 7 times and like me was using this race to train towards a marathon (if you read this good luck). After encouraging reports from both the Fife lady and Glen Clova 7 girl I will definitely be signing up to that race when it opens. After I left the Glen Clova 7 girl it got really muddy as we went along a farm track. Initially you could skirt around the puddles but this was just the water Gods toying with you. Eventually you had no other choice but to run through them. Easily above trainers but below knees at this point. Once wet, my legs felt really heavy but thankfully not too cold. This took about half a mile to pass but once again the changing scenery was helpful.

Split	Time
1	8:41.2
2	8:25.9
3	8:34.8
4	8:27.3
5	8:30.5
6	8:48.5

Mile 6 was very welcome, and in my mind made me about half way. Still feeling good but knowing that there was still a hill to come I tried to keep an even pace and leave plenty in the tank. Fairly ignorant about elevation and running it I thought one of those minor blips a mile 7 might have been 'the hill'. Thankfully I said hello to a friendly looking runner and he told me that the hill came at mile Nine but that it was just 'short and sharp'. Feeling chipper about this I headed on. I have since learnt 'short' in running covers all manner of sins.
I think it was at about this point that we discovered a new loch. To call this thing a puddle would do disservice to the giant fish that inevitably swim within the 'puddle/loch'. I had thought he farm tracks were the water feature for the day so when I saw this I was more than a bit gutted. But with nothing to do but keep going I tried to keep running through it rather than wading. eventually the water was past my thighs I just had to power wade. This all passed mercifully quickly and we were back to running.

When the hill finally came I thought 'F@#k it' tried to kept running, thinking I could see the top. As I reached 'the top' I discovered it was just a turn and the now mountain just kept going. On and on. It was horrible. Finally at the top I didn't have the energy to speed back up and my splits suffered.

7

08:50.8

8	09:08.9
9	09:23.3
10	10:08.9

A firm sign I need to do more hill training I think.

At the top we passed a brilliant and impressive looking monument for something. Sadly I didn't exactly have time to stop and look around but maybe some hill training opportunities in the future.

Once I finally got my breath and legs back The down hill was fun, being steep enough to speed up but not so steep that it was hard on your quads. The final section takes you off the tracks and back through the industrial estate that surrounds the rugby club then back along the Loch, the real one this time. I managed a good pace for this final section and finished fairly strong in 84th out of 164, with a time of 1:50:22. With my terrible statistical analysis, I think this makes me almost average.

Post run 'glow'

I finished with a smile on my face and happy with my time and my experience. It really is a brilliant event with really varied and challenging terrain. The finish is fairly low key but I think probably typical of club races. This certainly isn't a negative. Everyone was really friendly and my god the food.

If the post run spread is typical of Forfar road runner events sign me up for more. There was everything you could want from soup, to sandwiches, to cakes. With the bar open everyone seemed to be getting into the party atmosphere. Just after finishing Anna turned up and was horrified she had missed me finish but I was secretly quite happy as it meant I was quicker than I thought. I chatted to some more friendly people I had meet at Camperdown park run and then once my pal had finished we headed back off home to Dundee then to relax at Murray Park hotel in Crieff and sooth my muscles in the Crieff hydro Victorian spa. I have to say this was a brilliant way to recover and importantly clean up after a tough but enjoyable run.


Once again thanks to everyone I spoke to on the race, to all the marshalls and race organisers who did a brilliant job.


I'll put another post about how my Lochaber training is going very soon. Woop Woop