Events

June 14, 2022

Moray Coastal Trail 50

The Moray Coastal Trail 50 was a success. In spite of appearances and my ‘lanterne rouge’ position for most of the race I completed it well ahead of plan. I was in control throughout, my plantar fascia held up and I got my fluids and nutrition pretty spot on. This was always going to be a play it safe event and more of a training run for my forthcoming Global Odyssey Greenland 100k.
September 27, 2021

The road back (part 5) – Recovery

Recovery, the last step in the cycle of returning to a more normal routine: train; race; rest; recover then repeat. I have managed to nail the train, race and rest steps, but the recovery step has been somewhat confounding which has prompted me to ask a few questions of myself.
September 16, 2021

The road back (part 4): and we’re off

The day finally came for that first post pandemic event: Run the Blades 50k from Breaking Strain Events which is run at Whitelee Wind Farm, Eaglesham.

The route is on the dirt tracks around the outer edges of the farm over moorland and through pockets of woodland with regular undulations providing some variety just short of 2k feet of ascent.

My first organised event in two years, although I had completed a couple of Global Odyssey challenges at the start of 2020. There was a lot going on in my head and I have dubbed it ‘Over-coming the Fear’.

July 24, 2021

The road back (part 3) – running together again

We are easing ever closer to pre-pandemic activities; group running is back, live events are back albeit with some restrictions still being required: we have the freedom re-join our running family, meet up, train together, run socially, race together.
December 31, 2019

2019

As I write this on the last day of 2019 with one run to go my year’s mileage sits at 1,370 miles and my year will probably end on 1,376, or thereabouts. A lower mileage than in recent years. The last year of the decade has been one hell of a year: extreme highs and extreme lows with everything in between. Quite apart from the Global Odyssey, life’s odyssey took me on a path I had not expected to encounter for some years.
November 1, 2018

The Desert Strikes Back

I must be honest and say that this blog entry is tinged with disappointment and frustration at my second failure to complete the African stage of the Global Odyssey, but I am entirely comfortable with my decision to abandon forty-five kilometres into the 100k Ultra Mirage el Djerid event.

August 5, 2018

The great Glen Ultra – not my nemesis after all

I would never have imagined that the Scottish Highlands would have been the location for heat conditioning for the Gobi Desert or that the Great Glen Ultra would be my last long run for my Global Odyssey Gobi 100k challenge. Surreal as it seems that is how things roll sometimes.

March 26, 2018

Easy like a Sunday Morning – Glentress Trail Marathon

High Terrain Events and I have ‘previous’, in fact the Glentress Trail Marathon and I have previous. I came last in the previous two High Terrain Events that I did in 2017: Kielder 80km and the Tweed Valley 65k. When I ran in the first edition of the Glentress Trail Marathon I was a DNF at the halfway point, just not having the motivation to tackle the mud again.

November 28, 2017

Raid Des Bogomiles

Raid Des Bogomiles: Do I get the prize for the most amusing race name? You have to admit that coming from a country where the word ‘boggin’ is common parlance and where you frequently run through miles of bog it has a certain amusement value.

Did the Grand Raid Des Bogomiles, (one of three races held within the Grand Raid Des Cathars), provide miles of bog? No, but there was an ascent up vertical mud slide which left me fairly boggin.

November 4, 2017

I’ll take that

A not so cautious return from injury.

It’s an age old story.You get injured. It’s a bad one, crutches are involved. Painkillers are involved. Picture a running diva lolling with a ‘blanky’ and a pile of cushions. There are weeks (four) of enforced inactivity. Picture diva impersonating a cat on a hot tin roof. Finally, you get the all clear to ease back into training, but there is a small problem. It is only seven weeks until your next race, a huge kick-ass 100k with ascent equal to climbing Ben Nevis five times.

August 20, 2017

Plan Z – It worked! (almost)

Plan Z: I had a blast. Best day out since the Namibian and Genghis Khan marathons in January.

For the first time ever, I was smiling in every photo taken during a race: unheard of. There is a lot to be said for just rocking up, not pushing it, hanging at the back of the party, chilling and taking it easy.