The Joy of Six(ty) or, "I did it my way"

"Hmm", you're thinking, "odd title, please explain".

I thought you'd never ask... ;-)

A long long time ago (well 2015 actually) I realised that I was going to be 60 at the time of the 2017 WHW race and what's more, John Kynaston wouldn't be!  Of course my chance of ever beating John in any sort of head to head event is near zero (barring injury) but in a new age group, I stood a chance of taking an age group "win".  I say "win" as the WHW race like many others is woefully behind the times in recognising age-group categories.  I know the reasons why and I can sort of respect them but as an old codger now age group recognition adds greatly to my pleasure and incentivises me enormously.  I think every race should have age group prizes (that should naturally increase in size/value the older you get).  I might be biased. ;-)

Anyhow, only two problems with my plan.  Firstly I had rather fallen out of love with running and secondly, I didn't feel that I had an adequate qualifying background for 2017.  Yes I had results from 2015 that would have "counted" but they didn't count where I felt it mattered, namely in my head.

Ever since the WHW race became oversubscribed and switched to a ballot I've felt that if one is lucky enough to get a place, you should respect the race and all those who were unlucky in the ballot. To turn up at the start line unprepared is a wasted space that could have been used by someone who wanted it more.

Preparing for entering

In 2016 I really wasn't running much but a new 50km  ultra at Glen Lyon tickled my fancy and I duely staggered around it in a rather unimpressive fashion trying to stay ahead of Ada (sweeper) and her cattle prod.  I don't actually know if she had one but such is the terror she can induce you just don't take any chances. ;-)  Can't say that I enjoyed the race but it was a start.

The Great Glen ultra was another one of the BAM events that had also caught my eye. 60 miles long but nice and flat alongside the canal and river, or so I thought at first!  Turned out to be hilly as f*ck and 72 miles long but it was exactly what I needed.  (Reading race websites can sometimes be useful).  Apart from the last ten miles which dragged on forever I really "enjoyed" (in a "type 2 fun" kind of way) this race and love the glassware that every finisher gets.

In the two months between the two race I didn't do any big runs though and concentrated on speed and hills.  I think I had three 17 mile very hilly training runs (Glentress black route for anyone interested) and this was more or less all that I did in terms of distance.  I was 64th out of 78 finishers so definitely didn't fly along the course but given my lack of training I was just happy to finish.

With these two races under my belt I now felt a lot happier about putting my name in the hat for the 2017 WHW race even if my performance had been pretty mundane.

Preparing for the race

Okay, so that was "Stage 1" taken care of, now all I had to do was to turn "mundane performance" into something that both respected the decision of the organisers to give me a place and the race itself.  I really didn't want to go out and "just get around".  This would be my 5th WHW race (2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012).  Every time I've come to the start line my target has never been lower than a sub-24 hour finish and I wasn't about to lower my sights.  I haven't always achieved it but frankly, I'm way too lazy to want to run much slower than that!  How those folk who take nearly 35 hours to finish do it I just don't know.

I am also hugely motivated by the memories of my grumpy support crew back in 2005 when injury slowed me to a 27 hour finish. ;-)

The training

Well, as I said earlier I had rather fallen out of love with ultra running and when I thought about it, it was all the long training runs over the same territory that I had got sick to the back teeth with.  (This is where the "I did it my way" part gets explained).

I decided after the Great Glen that any running that I did had to be FUN.  That meant just doing lots of the running and training that I enjoy, namely parkruns, hill reps, hill runs and other speed work.  No long runs as training unless they were part of an "ultra run as training" and no "back to backs".  Just lots of speed and intensity with the odd race as training.  I say "lots" but the other thing I decided to do was to do more resting.  Consequently I rarely ran more than four times a week.

My "long runs" were the 50K John Muir Way ultra, the 75K North Tyne Trail ulra and the 55 mile Caterann Ultra.  These were nicely spaced timewise and graduated in terms of distance and elevation.  The Fling might have been a more "logical" choice for some folk but as I said, I was bored of training on the WHW and I really was in no hurry to repeat things that I'd done many times before.  I race the first two of these races pretty conservatively (especially the North Tyne Trail) and pushed a bit harder in the Cateran, just to see what was in my legs.  That produced what I felt was a "more decent" result (11 hours 36 minutes. 53rd out of 92 finishers) although still not as fast as I would have liked.  Still, the main thing was that all the training and racing this was was done without any injuries and I know from experience that getting to the start line uninjured is more important that squeezing in more training.

"But you still need to run lots of miles surely?" I hear some of you ask.  Well, until about May I hadn't totted up my mileage at all.  I could feel I was getting stronger and faster so my actual miles seemed rather irrelevant.  Now that I've totted it all up I can tell you that from the 1st of January up to the WHW race I ran 606 miles in total, an average of about 25 miles a week.

The other aspect of my training that I thought I really ought to address was my weight.  I've been a bit overweight for many years and I know that if there's one thing you can do without when you're racing, it's excess baggage.  My wife and I had already started eating a more vegetarian diet and without really trying too hard, I found that a combination of reduced meat eating (max of 2-3 times a week), avoiding snacking (apart from cherry tomatoes), cutting back on alcohol and maintaining my current training regime saw my weight dropping away at the rate of a pound a week.  This resulted in a pre-race weight reduction of about 25 lbs.  If you stop and imagine carrying 25lbs over 95 miles you can see why I was so happy to ditch it!

The race

This year I was lucky enough to have two support crews, one for each "half".  My wife has in the past done all the driving from start to finish but it's not safe or clever and when my daughter and her partner agreed to help out I was delighted.  I did feel rather guilty about exposing them to the wrath of the Loch Lomond midgies though (needlessly as it turned out!).

Anyhow, they picked my up in their rusty trusty VW T4 van and off we headed to Milngavie.  Registration was the usual nervous mix of stinky loos, hugs and kisses and "meeting the regulars".  I must admit I'm not a naturally particularly sociable person (a near complete inability to remember names is a huge handicap) and I just want to get started.  You just can't think about the whole journey but you know that each step northwards is one step closer to Fort William and that the sooner you start, the sooner you'll get there.  Oddly, they insist on starting everyone at the same time so I just had to wait. ;-)

The Start

The picture hides well the anxiety that I (and probaly all runners) feel before the start.  As my training had been very different this year I really didn't know what kind of run I would have. "Crash and burn", painful slog or a good run.

The hooters sounded and we were off through the tunnel as I fumbled with my garmin trying to start it.  Another botched recording!  As usual, I got sucked along at a pace faster than I really wanted to go and it took a huge effort of will to throttle back and to run at *my* chosen pace.  It's just so tempting to run faster than is good for you when it feel so easy but I had resolve to walk all the hills and keep thing really relaxed until Balmaha.  Getting to Balmaha in good shape and then dying on your feet shortly after is no fun in the Fling let alone the WHW race.  I've done it too often in the past.

I tried to ignore the demoralising feeling that I got whenever a runner overtook me and allowed myself to slip slow back down the field.  I was surprised to find myself still catching and passing John Kynaston though.  Knowing that he was starting the race carrying an injury meant that it was a very "hollow victory" though and I was sorry to hear that he had been force to pull out later on. John has a huge amount of experience of running on the WHW and if you had to pick a runner likely to DNF it wouldn't be him!  Still, sometimes and injury can't be argued with and there's not a lot you can do about it.  Despite DNFing John was out on the course cheering us all on, a gesture much appreciated by me and all the other runners I'm sure.

There's not a lot to say about the first section to Drymen really. The magic of running in the dark has rather faded for me and it's just a section that "needs to be done".  At the "boggy field" just before the road crossing to Drymen most of the runners were following the path over the hillock and down through the bog.  I noticed Fiona Rennie taking a different line to the right of the hillock and decided to follow her (on the basis that there's unlikely to be anyone who knows a better way through this field than her) and found that her route reduces the climb slightly and puts you on a good line to go around the reedy bog without losing any time.  Slightly longer but a lot dryer and definitely quicker.  I'd recommend it.

I *think* I reached Drymen at 03:20 (clock time), a bit slower than in precious years but that was what I was aiming for so no worries.  Not long after I was able to turn my head torch off and found myself enjoying the forest roads to the start of the Conic hill ascent.  My running just felt "easier" and the time didn't drag in the way that it always has in the past.  It was remarkable how moany runners kept their headtorches on for absolutely ages though.  Couldnt understand that at all.  Maybe just forgot they were on?

The ascent of Conic passed quickly and I found myself passing quite a few runners on the way up and down. I managed to phone my support crew from the top of Conic to warn them of my impending arrival.

Balmaha to Rowardennan

I hit Balmaha at about 4:45 and found my neophyte support crew all eager and waiting with hot coffee and my "selection box" of food.  They were taking to this support role like ducks to water and did a brilliant job.  I was in and out in no time having left them instructions for hot noodles at Rowardennan. 

I set off and the running still felt easy.  So ofter before a mile or two down the road I've suffered a collapse in energy levels but not this year. The climbs that have felt painful in the past all went by without me really noticing them.  After about and hour and a half I was approching Rowardennan feeling good.

Once again my crew were brilliant and I carried on after eating my noodles and leaving instructions for hot baked beans at Beinglas.  I failed to notice that there was a "dibbing point" at Rowadennan though but fortunately my crew recorded my time.  (If I my say so, the dibbing point was in a damn stupid place.  It would have been much better to put it at the entrance to the car park rather than at one side away from where support crews were parked).

Rowardennan to Beinglas

The running was still coming easily and I had been passing runners all the way along the loch.  I was really looking forward to seeing a new bit of the WHW, namely the new "low road".  I've never enjoyed the old forest road route much which has long dragging hills and not much to commend it scenically.  My anticipation was rewarded and I found the new section much much nicer.  Better views, mostly runnable and just "nicer" all round.  Not everyone will agree of course but I thought it was a great improvement to the WHW.  I was just a tad disappointed when the path popped out on to the old forest road but it was only for a short distance before it was back to the "roller coaster" path to Inversnaid, a section that I enjoy.

Picked up my drop bag at Inversnaid, scoffed a few snacks and then headed out for my least favourite section.  Despite being my "least favourite" I seemed to be making better progress than many and continued to overtake runners.  A look at my splits shows that I moved from 121st at Balmaha up to 76th by the time I got to Beinglas.

As ever, the gnarly section was gnarly and horrible but it seemed to go by a bit quicker that usual and I arrived at Beinglas without have had a single "low" moment.

(Thanks to Stuart McFarlane for capturing me looking "not shite")

Beinglas to Auchtertyre

Once again my support crew were brilliant, having carried a huge crate of food up to the checkpoint and kept a plate of beans warm up there!  I was soon on my way to Auchtertyre still feeling unnaturally good.  Maybe I wasn't going to crash and burn!

"Cow poo alley" rather failed to live up to its name this year (thankfully) being just a bit muddy but with a bit of careful tiptoeing, it was possible to avoid the worst of the mud.  The "Roller coaster" came and went and it wasn't long before Auchtertyre hove into view.  I had lost about 1.5 kg but felt fine and after more grub, headed off to Bridge of Orchy.

Auchtertyre to Bridge of Orchy

It was on this section that the wind really started to pick up.  On one magical section it was full on our backs which was wonderful!   It didn't last however and soon turned into a full on head wind.  Still, walking and running got me to BoO in good time but a couple of positions down.

My wife and support runner met me here and after a brief discussion about whether my support runner needed his full weather protection for the next section, we headed off.  Fortunately sense prevailed and he was very glad of his jacket!

(Myself with Bobby Miller, my support runner)

Bridge of Orchy to Glencoe

This was nasty.  I'd run the WHW race four time before and also once on the shortest day and the combination of rain and wind was the worst I'd ever known it.  I'd fallen a bit behind with my nutrition and my apetite had been flagging and I think I suffered more because of it.  Arrived at Glencoe feeling like a drowned rat and pretty dispirited.  I hadn't been paying too much attention to my time but I knew that I had slowed and that any hope of a PB was out the window.

Glencoe to Kinlochleven 

(Photo taken by Scott Wilson)

Still I got some coffee and food down me and headed out into the wind and rain once more to run to Altnafeadh and on to KLL.  NOW I was finding the hills a real slog and the climb up the Devil's Staircase was everybit as tedious as it's ever felt. All I could do was to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and hope that the top would appear soon.  Of course, it always does and I was amused to see a "shop" at the top.  Not sure how it sits with the scenery though and whether it was just there for the race or is there all year round.  

The descent from the Devil is a bit I usually enjoy and had a pretty good run down.  My quads have always been pretty good at taking the hammering on the way down.

Despite a "good" run down, I was still feeling pretty low about my performance and was feeling that all my goals were slipping away from me.  I got into KLL feeling drained and despondant but thankfully my crew shoved a steak pie an chips in my face on arrival.

I looked at it and thought "There's no way I can eat that!" but I took a bit from the pie and before long discovered that I could indeed eat it all!

Kinlochleven to Fort Willam

Bobby, my support runner, was getting itchy feet about getting out the door and up the hill.  Unlike me, he *was* keeping an eye on my time and knew that a sub-24 was still on the cards.  I think at this point I had resigned myself to "a finish" which is of course nice to have, but not when you've spent so much time preparing for one race.

The climb out of KLL felt significantly smaller this year which was encouraging.  The never ending walk/run to Lundavra eventually ended (hoorah!) and at this point Bobby reminded me that we were still on for sub-24.

Know that this target was still up for grabs was like being hit with Ada's cattle prod.  The steak pie was working its magic and I found myself powering along like a man posessed.  When we hit the top of the forest road I found myself legging down the hill faster than Bobby could keep up!  After making sure that he was okay and getting his blessing to carry on I hoofed it all the way down to Braveheart passing 9 runners in the process moving up from 70th to my finishing postion of 61st. I continued to pound along the road section (which has way more uphill in it than I remember!) before flying into the finish.  It was over! 

I finished in 23:43:46 which is  about 45 minutes slower than my PB but that was set when I was 9 years younger so I'm happy enough with that.  I do still feel that I can improve on it though!  I was going to wait until I reach MV70 status before returning for a rematch but I think it might be sooner than that. ;-)

Looking at John Kynaston's fantastic spreadsheet I see that I was 19th fastest on that section.  Not too shabby for an MV60.

Well that's my 2017 WHW story.  I entered the race hoping to "do it justice" and I think I did. I hope I also repaid the faith the race committee showed by allocating me a place.

I've prattled on way too long.  I feel a very lucky man to enjoy good health and to have the fantastic support of my wife, daughter (and her partner) and my runner. By way of celebrating my "re-found" pleasure in running as an MV60, I splashed out this year on an indulgence. ;-)

 Oh, and if anyone is wondering why one of the goblet at the top of this blog is upsidedown, it's because it was given to me by Dario Melaragni, the WHW race oganiser before Ian, for running the WHW from North to South on the shortest day of the year, just for fun. ;-)