Running Up That Road, Running Up That Hill... by tinabee

I have so much to tell you about I hardly know where to begin.  I suspect that this blog will turn out to be long as I have three weekends of events to tell you about so I may split it between two parts.  Either way, go make yourself a cuppa and grab a biccie or two and make yourself comfortable.

I mentioned a couple of blogs ago that it was the start of my silly season.  So three weekends ago I dragged my reluctant son north towards the Isle of Skye with the promise of a great cycle ride on the Sunday!  I was going up there primarily to take part in the Quaraing 10K race organized by my very good friend Vicki.  The trip north was uneventful until we crossed the Skye Bridge when the weather changed completely.  Strong winds and driving rain all the way across the island to Uig!  Nice!

Needless to say this weather did not change much overnight and it is a tribute to the fortitude of runners that most of us gathering for the buses to take us up to the Quaraing still managed to laugh and joke about the weather and how mad we were to be contemplating a run in these conditions. 

A short mini bus trip up to the view point and then we were at the mercy of the elements!  I am not kidding when I say it was difficult to stand up straight so strong was the wind up there and it felt more like November than mid August.  We were all sheltering behind each other trying to keep warm and as dry as possible before ‘Go’ was hollered at us from a car just ahead and off we set.  Now I ran this route after the Skye Half in warm sunshine and honestly this felt like a completely different route.  The wind blew and the rain was in our faces for practically the whole run.  The race is from the viewpoint back down to Uig and you do drop downhill but being Skye you go uphill as well as down.  I had really hoped to go under 50 mins for this race but on one particular stretch when I didn’t feel like I was actually moving forward I kissed all chance of a PB away and just concentrated on getting to the end.  My friend from work (and the Skye Half) Africa was also running and normally can outrun me and we had said we would run together initially but I had found myself ahead of her from very early on.  I pushed on, passing the odd person here and there.  Finally, the last major incline and then the drop into Uig itself which was mercifully sheltered from the wind.  Along the sea front and then the last 500m or so into the sports field and across the finish line!  Thank God!  I was soaked through and very cold but a quick check of my watch and amazingly I had achieved what I had set out to do – 49:08 – yes!  In those conditions I was so chuffed.  Even the winner who has won for the last three years had added 2 mins on from last year’s time and he is training really hard so maybe under better circumstances I might have been even quicker?  Next year then!  I didn’t realize until much later that I was 3^rd lady home!  Taking part in these smaller races definitely has benefits!

There was a Ceilidh in the evening, which was great fun and then on Sunday Vicki, Scott and I set out on a 23km cycle around that part of the island culminating in a lung busting 15% climb up the far side of the Quaraing.  Tough doesn’t even begin to describe the ascent but if you have ever watched the Tour de France this was worthy of one of those climbs except it only went on for about 2km!  I was really pleased to get all the way up without stopping and even more proud of Scott who pushed on ahead and was up there a good 5 mins before Vicki and I.  Good times!

The following Saturday saw me heading north again but this time only an hour up the road towards Perth.  I was meeting Vicki to take part in the Highland Perthshire Challenge.  This is a cycle race around the Perthshire countryside.  There was a choice of two routes; a 50 miler and a 100 mile (more challenging) route.  We were doing the 50 miler.

Despite it persistently raining on the whole journey from Livi to Perth, miraculously the skies had cleared by the time I arrived at Scone Airport and parked up and the weather was near perfect for a cycle ride.  I soon found Vicki who had just picked up our race packs.  We had a cuppa and a slice of toast before getting our bikes and kit ready.

It is a very low key event, so low key in fact that you can turn up and register anytime between 8 – 10am and once you have your timing chip and bike sorted you head for the start line and once 10 cyclist are assembled you head off.

 he route was pretty well signed with different coloured arrows depending on which route you were doing and we only came across one marshall the whole time we were out on the road.  On our route there was one feed station at the half way point with plenty of water, bananas and cereal bars.  We had a brief stop here before pushing on.

The 50 mile route was great.  Not too challenging, a couple of cheeky hills and one or two long draggy inclines but mostly flat and very scenic if you remembered to look up from the road occasionally! Vicki is a much faster cyclist than me but hung back making sure I was not too far behind her and I pedalled hard trying to keep up.  Just around the 72km mark we turned back onto a busy A road which was long and slightly uphill and into a head wind and that is when my quads started to tie up big style.  My pace dropped and I started to struggle a bit.  Vicki was a trooper, giving me a gel and dragging me along as best she could.  We finally crossed the finish line in 3 hours 24 mins which is by far the quickest I have ridden 50 miles by some 20 mins!  We were 6^th and 7^th in our age category and 124/125 out of 199 finishers.  We really enjoyed it and will certainly be on our list of things to do next year and may even step up to the 100 miler then!  We found a fab little cafe on the base and had a well earned cuppa and a bacon roll!

So that brings us to this weekend!  I am not sure I know where to start.  It was months ago when Vicki asked me if I would like to be part of her First Monster Challenge Team and I had said ‘yes’.  Suddenly it was a week before and I was starting to panic about how much kit to take and how the transitions would work.  I don’t know how much you know about the Monster but basically it is a 120k duathlon relay.  Four run legs followed by four cycle legs around the Loch Ness area and finishing in Inverness.  Each leg is challenging in its own right.  There were around 250 teams taking part plus a bunch of mad people who were doing the whole thing on their own – Iron Monsters!  We had been struggling for a team as one or two members had dropped out late on but two lovely ladies had stepped in with about 3 weeks to go! 

We all pitched up in Inverness around 6pm and listened to the race brief which included an upbeat presentation by Sally Gunnell and Gavin Hastings who had their own teams entered and had taken part in the previous four Monsters so were old hands.

The alarm went off at 5.30, we got dressed and had a quick breakfast before heading up the sports stadium to catch our buses to each transition area.  I was doing legs 3 and 7 so had a about an hour and 40 mins to wait until Vicki D and Vicki Mac completed their runs.  The transition area was heady with nervous excitement.  There were only five porta-loos so the queue to use them was extremely long!  There was a canteen tent giving out portions of porridge and bananas but not many people were actually eating.  The first runner handed over at around 8.10 which is impressive to say the least.  The race started at 7 and the first run leg was 9km and the second 8.1km.  Soon our race number was being called and Vicki ran into transition, put the electronic ‘dibber’ in the machine to record her time and handed it to me and I was off.  My run was 11.5km with a difficulty rating of 8.  The first half kilometre was flat but then the climbing started.  The ground was pretty rough underfoot and it climbed pretty relentlessly for the first couple of kilometres.  Then an undulating section until we entered a forest and it was a case of heart pumping leg straining inclines and some wickedly fast twist turny downhills which were made all the more scary because the ground was so slippy and uneven.  It was a blast though, and I really went for it on the downhill sections.  Half way round, Loch Ness came into view with mist hovering above the water – beautiful.  As we came out of the forest we were confronted by a mega steep section which was nigh on impossible to run up.  After that we hit the road for the last kilometre and a half.  For me this was the toughest part of the run.  After the soft trails through the forest the path was really hard and jarred my quads.  Past the Loch Ness Visitors Centre and then finally the next transition area came into view.  A slight hiccup as Rachel hadn’t expected me quite that soon and came running across pulling off her fleece top and shouting ‘sorry, sorry!’.  Leg 3 – 12k(!) 1.07.

I grabbed a quick drink of water and met up with a girl I had been chatting to before the run started and we headed for the bus to the cycle transition.  When we finally arrived at the field, I located my bike, got my cycle kit together and then headed to the food tent for some pasta, hot tea and shortbread – yum!  As I was heading out of the food tent I saw Sally Gunnell who was also doing the same leg as me.  She smiled and I asked her how her run had gone and we had a lovely chat about running and other girlie stuff for about 20 mins.  She is tiny!  How she ever got over those hurdles is beyond me!  She is also lovely.  Very approachable and very friendly.

Another hour or so and the riders were coming in thick and fast and it wasn’t long until Vicki came flying in, timed in and I was off.  I had the second longest bike leg but not the hardest.  It had a steady uphill section to start with and then was undulating for the next 20k or so.  I felt great and pushed as hard as poss using my big gear to power up the hills and going as fast as I dared downhill.  The kilometres ticked by really quickly and before I knew it I was at the last transition area and handing over to Rach.  Leg 7 – 52 mins.  Vicki M and I had decided rather than hand our bikes in to be transported back we would ride back to the finish line together,  So we gathered the bags up and took a steady ride back to Inverness which was about 14k.

So we had done it - 120k of running and cycling completed!  128^th out of 213 finishers and in 8hrs 04 mins!  None too shabby!

We collected our medals, had our photo taken and even managed to blag a photo with the rather lovely Gavin Hastings!  We were all weary and starving and treated ourselves to a burger and cup of tea followed by an enormous ice cream!  Yum!

Did we enjoy it?  Did we ever!  It was a total blast.  Even the so so weather didn’t dampen our spirits.  Will we be back next year!  I truly hope so!

My legs have totally gone on strike today mind you!  I can’t remember the last time they were so sore and stiff.  If I sit down for more than 10 mins I can hardly move them!  I guess the cumulative effect of the last three weeks has finally caught up!  Hopefully, it will pass in a couple of days.  It needs to – I have the Haddington Sprint Triathlon next Sunday!