The Next Challenge... by Skye_Trekker

Not too much running has been happening since my last post. For the time being I'm going to have to limit my mileage, and realistically I wont be running any real distances probably for the rest of the year.  Although running definitely isn't the cause of my back problems any run over 5-6 miles only aggravates the injury to the extent that everything just siezes the next day, and its just not worth it.  A couple of osteo appointments with Dr Doom have helped but things just aren't improving enough any more.  So 2-3 weekly runs of around 5 miles will be the most I'll be doing.  I think I'd rather stick with that in the hope that maybe I'll see an improvement as the year goes on.  In all honesty though I suspect my Half Marathons are more than likely finished now.

So, with reduced running its given me a bit of time for extra cycling.  It had been my aim this summer to try and get a 100mile ride done, and as I've entered a 100m sportive at the end of Aug I thought I'd better get a few long rides in before it.  I'd managed a couple of 40 & 50's (longest since the 81m Etape) and there was going to be the possibility of a ride down to Fort William next weekend as the running group are doing a race there.  Plan was for me to cycle down, meet up with them then get a lift home after.  But with the weather here being pretty grim I was reluctant to make too many plans for race day in case my cycle was rained off, so decided just to take the opportunity to go the first chance I got.  Towards the end of last week the weather finally picked up and Friday looked as if it might be okay to try my 100 miler, so I thought I'd still try going down to FW earlier than originally planned and meeting up with the Skye bus and getting back home that way...

  It probably wasn't the best choice for my first 100 miler...  And all in all it was a ride done purely done on a wing and a prayer.  First consideration was the bus back left FW at 2pm so I reckoned at riding between 14.5-15mph it was going to take around 7hrs. That should have meant a 6.30am start, except I had a ferry to catch at Armadale, and as that left at 8.50am I then had to leave home at 4.15 to cycle the 60 miles down there.  It was an obscenely early time to get out of bed on a Friday morning.  Even worse it was raining...  But my kit was ready so I set off anyway.  I cycle the first 25 miles of this route almost weekly, so it was a fairly easy start, but the following 35 were new to me, though as the roads were quiet it was a nice cycle down.  Got to the ferry with 45 min to spare so was able to relax, thinking the hard work was done...

Its just a 20 minute crossing, so when I arrived in Mallaig I had over 4.5 hours to do the remaining 40+ miles, so I sat back looking forward to a steady scenic cycle.  Opting to use the cycle/walking path at the side of the road was a BIG mistake, it was covered in little stones and rocks - a puncture waiting to happen - so I decided to get back on to the road the first chance I could.  "Pfffsttttt".  Too late.  Flat tyre - only 5 miles out of Mallaig.  Off the bike and a  delve through the saddle pack for spare inner tubes.  Finally managed to get the tyre off, new tube on, try to blow it up only to find the valve was too short for my pump.   ****.  Quickly dig out the gas pump from my rucksack only to find the valve was too short for that too.  Back into the saddle pack for the other spare inner tube.  It had the wrong valve too.  It was then I regretted ditching my 3rd spare tube the previous night - although it was an old one and patched I at least knew the valve was the right length.  Sods Law.   So, there I sat, at the side of the road, contemplating a long walk back to Mallaig or hitching a lift to FW when I had the smart idea of trying to repair the burst tube.  After all, I've done it plenty of times before - it wouldn't take long...  I can tell you now that patching a tyre in the comfort of your kitchen/garage bears no resemblance whatsoever to trying to repair it at the side of a busy road, when you are knee deep in grass and being eaten alive by midgies.  Blew the tube up, only for it to deflate before I could find the hole.  Tried again with the same result and realised that the basin of water I usually had in these circumstances was sitting in my kitchen sink.  No way of finding the puncture without some water, a puddle or anything.  No puddles to be found so I used the next best thing - my water bottle (smart thinking at the time, not so smart when I needed water later on though...).  So there I was, dipping my inner tube into a bottle full of electrolyte solution as if it was the most natural thing in the world as the cars, caravans & lorries whizzed by.  Eventually located both punctures, patched them, got the tyre back on and proudly set off again.  It had only taken me almost an hour...  And the repair only lasted 8 miles.  Quick stop to reinflate and I was off.  This time it lasted 5 miles.  Next time I got 2 and the following time nothing.  I was now stuck between Mallaig & FW with a completely flat tyre, 2 useless new inner tubes - and a ticket for the 2pm bus.  I then did something I probably shouldn't I rode on my rim for 3-4 miles until I could think of what the hell to do.  In the end the only option left was to stop, dismantle my bike and hitch to FW.  So thats what I started doing, really gutted at the way my day had ended.

Then, in the distance a couple of other cyclists appeared, saw my problem and stopped to see if they could help.  Their cycle pump actually managed to fit my tube so it was a case of getting my tyre off (again) and doing another change.  At that point to my horror/shame I realised I'd left my tyre levers somewhere in the grass the first time I stopped.  What a muppet.  Next thing the guy has my wheel off, tyre removed and the new tube in and is already blowing it up.  What an angel.  Just as he was finishing I started picking up all my bike debris scattered  everywhere in the grass when an artic decided to overtake a van travelling on the opposite side of the road. We never even saw or heard it coming.  It missed the 3 of us by what I thought was inches - judging by the look on the other cyclists face it was obviously closer than that, and we all screamed in unison.  It was as close as I EVER want to get to an articulated lorry again, and the most horrifying incident I've had in over 20 years in cycling.  I was busy watching for traffic coming from the left, never expecting a vehicle to come from the right at that speed, especially when we were all clearly visible.  Next punture I have I'm getting as far away from the road as possible before I change it.  I'd rather be eaten by midgies than become a statistic of road kill.

It took a few minutes to calm nerves, say thank you/goodbye and get on my way.  I had just under 90 min to cycle the remaining 20 miles to Fort William, bit of a non-starter really, after already having done over 80m.  Funnily enough at the Etape I got to 81 miles and felt I could carry on for another hour or so - on Friday I reached 80 miles and just wished I could stop...  And even if I got to the bus in time I still needed to dismantle the bike and put it in a cycle bag as the bus won't take bikes.  Anyway, I made it to Fort William with 5 minutes to go and managed to take the bike to bits out of sight of the driver and put it in the luggage compartment with seconds to spare.  Absolutely no time to get changed/clean myself up though and I got on the bus covered head to ankles in bike oil & grease, black tyre dust, grass, muck and general debris.  What a fetching image I must have been to my 16 yr old daughter who was also on the bus - on her way back from a Take That concert in Glasgow...  She just smiled and said quietly "hi mum", but I bet thats not really what she was thinking...  Sat down, fell asleep and woke up just before we reached Skye.  I was kind of hungry at that point, however as it had been my intention to have a leisurely lunch before catching the bus and that obviously hadn't happened, I was rather short of food.  A rummage in my rucksack produced 6 gels, 1 shotblok, a rehydration sachet and some peanuts.  None of which was really going to hit the spot.  I didn't even have anything left to drink as it tasted of inner tube...  Next option was just to try and sleep the rest of the journey away... 

 Was met off the bus by my OH who just looked at me and laughed, shook his head and said 'good day then'.  I suppose it was in a way.  Nothing could take my first century ride away from me (101.3m to be exact) but it had to be the most stressful bike ride I'd ever had in my life and I was more mentally shattered than physically...  I'd do it again (still planning to cycle down and watch the others race next w/e) and with the many lessons learnt hopefully I'll enjoy it a little more ...

(I really will need to try and find some running buddies the same height as me...)

4th and final attempt at putting a post up on here.  I've posted, saved (but where the hell to???), sworn, ticked both the private & public options but still everything disappears and I now have 5 posts floating around the internet somewhere.  Not very happy...  I'm now trying to edit in a paragraph at a time under a 'private' post (but how come I've had 2 views already?) though surely there must be an easier way than this?

* * *

In the end I decided that for the Half a 'did not start' was a fractionally better option than a 'did not finish' and a trip back to the start/hospital in the ambulance.  I tried and failed to run through this injury last year, only succeeding in losing 3 months of training & races for my pain - it wasn't worth it, so I decided to pull out.  Its the second time in a row that I've missed the Half through injury and twice now I've invited folk up to run the race, only to bail out on them at the last moment...  Really didn't have a choice though.

Anyway, the Skye Half weekend starts with a runners BBQ on the Friday night, though this year the weather was distinctly on the chilly side and it wasn't long before fleeces and jackets were being pulled on.  At one point I looked round only to see a guilty looking running buddy clutching our rather bemused dog to her as she was being used as an impromptu hot water bottle.  Couldn't really blame her as I did the same thing myself recently at a baltic outdoor climbing session - except the dog was a cuddly, soft 3 month old puppy at that point, whereas now she is skinny, leggy and a whopping 18kg - not so effective! A game of 'pass the dog' soon followed, however it wasn't long before the combination of wind, cold and midgies drove us all indoors, with the hope that the weather the following morning would be better.

Saturday dawned a lovely sunny, warm morning and around 9am we set off for the race start.  Out of our running group 2 others were injured apart from me, but with Tina and Africa drafted in as well as my youngest to the fun run we managed to enter a team of 6 altogether.  The other 2 non-runners watched the race start then headed off to the 5 mile mark to cheer everyone on.  I was delegated to photographer again, so was waiting on the first hill for the Half runners to pass, then the kids doing the fun run, before going back to the finish area.  My youngest finished in the same time as last year, but as she has moved up a year group and had to run 3k instead of 2k she was well pleased with what she did.

The big hope for the day was local runner Hugh Campbell.  He had won the race in 2010 in a stunning time of 1.12 - and it was his first ever Half (he'd been running less than a year too) so great things were expected.  And he didn't disappoint.  He came round the final corner in 1.10+, crossing the line in 1.11.15.  But it was at a price and he collapsed immediately afterwards and was taken to hospital a short time later, so then next hour or so was spent waiting for updates.  He is a genuinely brilliant guy, has time for every runner he meets regardless of their ability so there were a lot of people worrying about him...

The other 2 errant running buddies had appeared back from their cheerleading duties by then so we were waiting just in front of the finish for our team.  We had been given rough estimates from them all, but Africa and Tina surprised us by approaching the finishing line well ahead of time - they had run a brilliant race.  Not too far behind them came the next 2 and the final runner shortly after.  We were so proud of how well they all did given the hills and hot day.  After that it was into the High school (which is the base for the race) where soup/sandwiches/tea/cakes are laid on for the runners and its a fantastic way to catch up with everyone post race.  A recovered Hugh was able to put in an appearance towards the end and it was good to see him looking better, and he was still chatting to folk when we left 20 minutes later.

Back home after that to another BBQ with the leftovers from the night before, and the suggestion of an early morning recovery run was made - needless to say, not by somebody who had actually run the Half that day...  Arms were twisted and it was agreed on an 8am start, so it was an earlyish night.  I decided to ride, so took the long road round the top of the Island to meet up with the rest of the crew.  The photo at the top of the page was taken at the Quiraing (at the top of a 15% hill that never gets any easier no matter how many times I cycle it) before we all set off back to Uig.  A recovery run it was not - for the 8k Tina & Fiona averaged 8.4mph and Africa & Rachael were 8.11.  Kind of glad I had the bike actually.  Then it was just time for a quick shower and final pack before Tina, Scott and Africa headed home to Edinburgh.  It was great to have them up to stay - though I think Scott has been left a little shell-shocked by his Skye experience...  We are now trying to convince all 3 to come back and do the village 10k in Aug - we know they really want to !  And that was the Half weekend...

Thanks for the 'back' comments and advice.  Aphid - I've been referred to the 'local' pain clinic (Inverness!) and through them I got the injections that Mike mentioned.  They were, without a doubt, the most painful thing I've ever experienced.  It was like my spinal cord was being tazered (remember that post?) and to make matters worse, the injections didn't work and because they were done under x-ray I won't get them again.  Instead I've been given a TENS machine to 'help manage the pain'...  Reckon I'll stick with the tramadol thanks.  So for the time being I'll have to cut back on the running to see if that helps, and if need be I'll stop for a week or so.  Better that than being forced to quit for a couple of months.  Any other advice though would be greatly appreciated.  I've got a 100 mile sportive at the end of Aug so that is my target now - hopefully things will have sorted themselves by then.  7 hours with a sore back on a bike is going to be a painful experience otherwise...

The end. 

Fantastic.

Another hour spent typing up a post only for it to disappear.  Again.

Thanks Realbuzz.  Think I'll stick to Facebook.....

I've just spent the best part of an hour typing up a post only for it to disappear when I've hit the 'publish' button...  Seems like a few others appear to be having this problem. too.  I kind of miss my General Running buddies as well and have been busy trawling through dozens of pages trying to find everyone again.

Anyway, amn't going to spend another hour on this tonight.  Brief summary instead -

May running - 103.6 miles (494 for the year)

May cycling - 657miles (3435)

Trip to Edinburgh played havoc with my back.  Dr Doom the osteo initially worked wonders but its now as bad as ever again.  Sacroiliac joints are screaming - hefty doses of painkillers help but thats not sorting it, only masking the problem.  Think another appointment is needed.  And its going to be a painful one...

Skye Half this weekend.  Its going to be a PW.