Sea King-tastic!

Despite the tone of my last post I managed to get a couple more days in before the end of the year. On Saturday I ran a superb of two Grahams and a Corbett on the west side of Glensulaig near Fassfearn returning down the glen track. The weather slowly improved all day although the decent off the southerly most hill was significantly steeper than I wanted My aging fell shoes really weren't the most suitable tools for the job and I was very relieved to get out of the snow line which was at about 400m. The rest of the run went really well despite getting very numb feet on some of the climbs. The track in the glen was mostly there but degenerated into bog shortly before the bothy, which was a bit dank but looked fine to stay the night in. It was a good hard run and I definetly felt it in my legs on Sunday.

Dist: 20km Time: 3hs

On Sunday I headed out to Creag Meagidh with my wife and some friends from Uni. The new path up to the lochan is superb and Easy Gully (I) was in good climbable condition with a suprisingly good depth of snow. Much of the harder routes were not quite there yet and have probably been stripped by todays thaw. The day ended up with an interval session as I mislaid my wife in the white-out conditions on the summit plateau. The RAF were on a training mission in the area and were happy to come back to look for her and she was soon located on the path about 10 minutes from the car park. Several lessons learnt there!

Dist: 16km Time: Lots!

After yesterdays epic it was decided that a nice easy day was required. Up to the corries by Carngorm and we found some good icy bulges The routes looked thin and the snow was slushy so we were quiet happy to just link up icy weeps up the Goat Track at about Grade I but very escapable. We finished up over Carngorm to help Lisa get her Munro count up. The Ptarmigan station was busy with skiers and I left with the impression that only in Britain could a ski-centre open with such bad snow conditions! Yet again the forecast was wildly wrong with lower winds and much better visibility.

Dist: 6km

Last training of 2007

The last week of 2007 hasn't been too bad weather-wise and I managed to get a few decent training efforts in. Too many pies and beer though. Christmas Day wasn't white, but instead we had wall to wall blue skies and sunshine. Up on the hills just above Inverness there was a bitter wind and everything was still very frosty and all the bogs frozen. I got out for a couple of hours before heading home to cook the lunch. I went out above Dalness south of Cawdor to a hill called Carn nan Tri-tighearnan. Outwith the estate tracks there were some serious peat hags and in parts the only way to make some kind of forward progress was to drop down into the re-entrants themselves. It was disorientating not being able to see where you were going but at least it was runnable and out of the wind. Right on top of the hill someone had laid out numerous snares for the snow hares whether for their fur or flesh I have no idea. From the trig point I had great views over to Ben Rinnes and Ben Wyvis but the Gorms seemed to be covered in great rolls of cloud. All within less than 30min drive of home.

Dist: 10km Time: 1.5h Height: 330moa

The rest of week went well with a mixture of long lie-ins and nice training rides. Heres to a successful and enjoyable 2008.

Fun in the sun

The high pressure is still sticking with us and the frost is so heavy in places it is almost snow-like. It has been hard working in the office when the skies have been blue all day (well at least when we have daylight). Long lunch beaks with mountain bike rides (about 1h10min in duration) over in Ord Hill and Culloden Woods have helped keep me sane.

On Tuesday I went up for a quick run around Meall Mor, a superb little hill that is prominant on the east side of the A9 just before Daviot about 10min from Inverness. The deer have been busy and there are a whole host of narrow tracks once you manage to get above the forestry belt. With the good weather we have been having, the views from the cairn stretched from the granite tors on Bheinn a'Bhuird in the south to Caithness in the north. Another reminder that size doesn't (always) matter. The 5km run was suprisingly tough and took me about 40min.

On Friday I couldn't stand it any longer and headed out past Garve to Strath Rannoch, and did a bike (10km) / run (7km) up to the Graham of Carn Loch nan Amhaichean. The weather was superb and the ground so frozen that my feet stayed dry even in running shoes. The stalkers track from the farm marked on the map wasn't quite as good as expected but the heather was managable. I sat around on the top for while and enjoyed the views over to Scaraben and Ben Wyvis. The run down the SW ridge was very quick and was followed by a very cold bike as the sun had left the glen. Back at the car parked by the bridge at Inchbae it was -7C despite it being just above freezing in Inverness.

On Saturday I headed out to Torr Breac just past Garve and climbed a couple of short (10-15m) easy pitches on a frozen waterfall. I was surprised that it was in such good nick despite being only at 100m AOD. All good fun. I am feeling fairly bushed after all the biking, but the weather is forecast to hold so no doubt I will be headed out tomorrow.

Temperture Inversion

North Scotland has been languishing under a temperature inversion for a least a couple of days now. This means that it has been absolutely baltic down here at sea level (-10C) but much warmer up in the hills. We have had superb blue skies but those are soon to go as soon as we get closer to the weekend.

I got a 10M run in on Saturday near Inverness in the Dumnaglas Estate. The head keeper didn't seem too keen but let me do my run and I did my best to avoid his pheasants. No shooting is allowed on Sundays so I would probably schedule my next run or bike accordingly. There are some great tracks and the one through Conagleann would be a very fine afternoon ride or run (although you would have to do a bit of running on the road). In making the effort to go to the lower hills I have finally realised there is so much more to Scotland then Munros and Corbetts. Within 20min drive from home I was in some seriously wild country. Unfortunately this very wildness is making it vulnerable to 'green energy' developers as they see this area as un-used and therefore any easy target. It would be a shame to 'lose' these quiet, undeveloped areas so close to Inverness for quick hit finacial benefits for absentee landlords, corrupt councillors and energy companies. Rant over!

To help my climbing partner get fit I went for a wander on Sunday to have a look at a bit of the Ramsay Round. Unfortunately the clouds were too low to make the trip much use. Still, my thinking is that the more I recognise on the attempt itself, the less stressful it will be and make it easier to recognise if/when I go wrong. It is a bit early for new year resolutions, but I really must get out running with my co-attemptee for some joint reccies.

The Adventure Show was about the OMM tonight and I got in shot a couple of times. It brought it all back again and I definetly hope to be back doing the event again. Perhaps with better training (faster but shorter long runs) and better navigation (orienteering races) I could do slightly better.

Back to base

Finally my motivation is returning! After a month of not feeling positive at all about running, now or even in the next year, I am getting back into it all.

Over the past couple of weekends I have been getting out quite a bit, despite the weather and the lack of daylight. It s very depressing when it gets light at 8am and dark again by 3.30pm. That's why I suppose head torches were invented.

At the moment I have been sticking to short-ish runs (2 to 2.5hs) but have tried running all the hills. Absolutely knackering for a plodder like myself. A couple of weekends ago I had a Marylin bagging session on great trails in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh (as an escape from christmas shopping). Got all my Christmas presents too! To escape the crowds I wandered into a running shop and got some new trail shoes. I had some gait analysis done and, apart from the staff all coming to have a look at my horrendous style 'he is very bow-legged..... how do you run like that?!!!', it seemed useful. I am currently trying some Superfeet and some more supportive shoes (only on road and trail). To get in the mileage for the races / challenges I have planned next year I reckon I will do a good deal of trail running as up here snow can seriously curtail hill running over the winter months. Last time I ran high mileages (for me at least) on trails I got injured. Fingers crossed that it wont happen this season.

The weekend just gone I had my first snowy hill runs. Saturday was good despite the grim forecast but getting over to Braemar for the running club meet was horrendous. A 2h drive took 4hs after we had to do a massive detour to avoid the high roads. Sunday was just dreich but again I felt strong on the hills and managed to hold my own on the club run.

I went out in the hills above Loch Quoich on Tuesday to find some sun and got some of that but more snow than bargained for. So what should have been about 1.5hs turned into a 3.5h snow plod. The ridge was quite complex and a bit itimidating in the mist on my own. Coming off the summit I had superb views over to Knoydart and the South Glen Shiel Ridge.

The short section along the road back to the car was enlivend by a number of stags feeding on silage that had been left for them on the verges. It was probably the closest I have ever got to deer in the 'wild' and must make the stalking in these parts easier!

This weekend is looking like it will be a warm one with high winds so it looks like some low level runs are on the cards.

First Winter Route of the Season!

Winter has arrived with some furry on the high mountains up here! After a wet and windy mountain bike ride round Glen Feshie (again) on Saturday it was an early start on Sunday. We left Corrie Cas at 8.00am and walked in to Corrie nan Lochan. The snow started properly at about 700m and got progressively deeper. An annoying mix of super hard neve and knee deep powder. I was trail breaking too, but all good training I suppose.

As the clag was down and it was bloody freezing we decided to do an easy gully so headed up to Y Gully Right Branch. There was plenty of snow and the first pitch was a mix of superb snow ice, soft powder and crusty ice. Nowhere too hard but protection not easy to come by. Finding a belay took some work but I got an excellent hook in after extensive excavation. Juan led the second pitch while I stood on a small perch freezing, at least I thought at the time, to death. Everything was coated with a thin layer of ice and my toes and fingers took it in turns to go numb.

After a while I got the tugs on the rope and I set off up the snowy groove, front pointing and loving every minute of it. About 20m up I looked up and saw that the next 10-15m of the groove was filled with what looked like pack ice. My climbing partner, in the process of trying to maintain upward momentum, had transformed the goove into a raft of snow-ice tiles. The tiles were stacked at crazy angles to each other on a bed of soft snow. I made my thoughts light and levitated my way up avoiding any downward pressure. A couple of meters further my partner looked down at me and very quietly said that the belay was bad and I shouldn't fall. I believed him. As I climbed on past him I inadvertently destroyed the belay. At least I was leading and I could do something about the situation rather than watch nervously as I cautiously climbed further. A few more moves on the same bad ice saw me on to steeper ground and I carefully climbed up to the cornice. Making sure my feet were well placed.

The snow here was deeper but the angle pushed me back. Knocking off the cornice, the wind blew the snow back into my face smoothering me. At last I could reach up over and get my axes planted into the firm neve of the plateau. I rolled on the flat ground and crawled away from the edge. As I did so I heard a shout of alarm from below as a large 6 foot slab above my belayer sheared and hurtled down the gully. After my hotaches subsided I brought my partner up and at last we were on flat ground, albeit in a white-out. The walk back to the car was pretty uneventful apart and as always dragged along the built path that winds through the rather drab and deary landscape. Hot chocolate in the flesh-pots of Corrie Cas and then back to Inverness for tea and medals!

Off-season!

Its been a while since I have done any proper running. That really is the great thing about having an off season. I know 'season' sounds very grand and much more scientific than what is really boils down to is the fact that I can't face anymore hard training or races this year. Not having to go out for a run and then feeling guilty about it.

So with this in mind the past couple of weekends have been superb. Mountain biking in Glen Feshie (trailmaps available from Bothy Bikes in Aviemore) along superb narrow swooping single track in the sun, Munro bagging in a snowstorm in Glen Doll with an overnight camp,

watching waves,

and more midweek Munro bagging in Glen Lyon (Inveran). Cheshunt Estate (on the web too) must surely figure amongst the most obstructive estates in Scotland. Of course that nutter up in Alladale Estate (more info on their website) takes the biscuit with his 30 miles of electrified fencing. But what really bothers me about the Cheshunt lot is the fact they try and make walkers (I assume they tar runners with the same brush) guilty for taking legitimate access due to the damge we cause. Strange, I thought over-grazing was one for major issues which is caused by the huge number of deer, not baggers, in the hills. Of course Argocats ferrying fat, gun-totting 'huntsmen' up to bag that stag has nothing to do with erosion. I went up the hills anyway on the assumtion that most of these idiots need a standing target for them to shoot and that I should be able to out-run them. I had a great day in the hills on superb running terrain and met one walker and no deer or 'stalkers'.

Today I was up over in Tomintoul to try out some biking there (trailmaps can be down loaded from the Glenlivet Estate website). Not as good as Glen Feshie but still worth while whilst the bigger hills are storm bound.

Just a couple more weeks off then back to training proper. I even have a traingin plan which I will post soon, along with a target race plan, when I feel brave enough.