On Saturday after a week of watching the weather I woke up freezing cold, to the sound of rain, so dragging myself out of the house into the dark, cold, wet weather wasn’t great, especially after a lousy sleep and waking up with a headache.

Dropped my big bag off to be transported to finish, had a jog down to the beach to dip my shoes in the sea, then headed up to the start with just a few minutes to spare.

Nairn > Cawdor
11.4km, +84m – 64:10

Set off steady and soon realised that running & staying with Ross until Fort Augustus wasn’t going to happen, even halfway down the field in the first few kms I was getting frustrated with the pace (or lack of) of those around and knew the opportunities to overtake were only going to decrease, so set off on overtaking intervals wherever I got the opportunity.

There was a lot of people who had set off too quickly and slowed, and these bursts of overtaking had the adverse effect of raising my HR higher than liked, peaking when I had to go on a sprint after ages stuck at the back of a long slow train. Kept picking off folk though all the way to transition, and saw Dan & Rowena setting off on the bike as I arrived.

Had planned to do this in <60, and probably would have done comfortably without the crowds, but that is my own fault for not doing my own thing at the start and going off alone nearer the front. Looking at the times of others I should really have been targetting around 55 to be properly in the mix.

Transition: 7:22

Faffy. This should have been in, chuck kit in bag & food in waist pockets, throw a bagel down throat, change shoes, and out. But wasn’t quite so slick.

Cawdor > Fort Augustus
70.8km, +510m – 2:44:33

• 1st hour: 25.9km
• 2nd hour: 27km
• Remaining: 17.9km (23.6kmph)

Lovely cycle this, though steadily uphill for the first hour under the A9 at Daviot, then more steady climbing and a bit of undulation for the next hour, then the slog up to the top of the pass before dropping down to Fort Augustus.

It started off badly getting twinges of cramp in right calf in the first 20 minutes, so ate a lot of my savoury stuff and proper food early on, and my back was hurting after a little over half an hour, so lots of attempted stretching on the bike.

Thanks to my slow transition and slightly slower than planned run, I was constantly flying past people in the first hour, and was slightly concerned I had gone off too hard, but the legs were turning over nicely and I was very glad to be on my crosser!

Second hour and the final climb and descent into Fort Augustus saw much fewer folk, but I was still breezing past people despite considering trying to share some work for a while. Was pretty comfortable on the big climb, and caught a number of other riders on it, and managed to beast the descent too (hitting 62 65.5kmph according to cycle computer) – very glad it was dry!

Had estimated 3 hours for this section, so was glad to come in ahead of that, and not sure I could have been too much quicker on the day.

Fort Augustus: Run/Kayak/Run/Transition
3.1km, +20m – 26:22

Was hobbling a bit off the bike on the run to kayak, combination of the bike shoes and a few hours on the bike. Cramped up almost instantly in the kayak, and getting up a steep bank at the end of the paddle kayak killed the legs completely and I had to walk and eat for 5 minutes before getting the legs moving and hobbling back to transition.

Another faffy transition but better, and time well spent. Bottles filled, salty food eaten, more food dug out for the next section, and off we go.

Fort Augustus > Fort William
54km, +420m – 2:42:38

• 33.5km +320m: towpath/singletrack/forest tracks – 1:54:42, 17.5kmph
• 20.5km +100m: road – 47:55, 25.8kmph

First hour of this was probably the darkest hour of the race, was feeling slow on the first section along the towpath, then two steep muddy singletrack climbs up off the road had to be walked. Rest of the singletrack was muddy fun, and although a bit sketchy I did enjoy it, but it was hard going. Only person to pass me on the bike the entire day was at the end of the singletrack, and he was one of the top 3 in the expert class. A couple of 1.5km long, 70-80m climbs on forest tracks followed, but after the second I got back into a decent rhythm and picked up the pace, and was soon flying past people labouring on MTBs again.

Hit the road section and stopped to grab food just as the leading lady left, and it took me a long time to reel her back in not long before Fort Bill where I also saw Dan & Rowena again.

Thought I was moving reasonably well on this part, but the first half had cost me quite a lot – this was at least 15 minutes down on my target time.

Transition: 42:57!

Yeah, a ridiculously long transition as it was timed out. It should have been much quicker, but in hindsight I’m glad it wasn’t, as it meant I had great company for the run stage!

Grabbed some tea, crisps, coke and my remaining bagel, and transferred more food into pockets for the run. Dumped a lot of gear with the bike, but still carried too much kit (and food) with me. Was really struggling with my back at this stage, couldn’t bend to pick stuff off the ground, and had to use fence to change shoes.

Fort William > Loch Leven
24km, +770m – 3:23:28

This was brutal, and cruel.

First section took you up the walkers path up the side of Ben Nevis, and after an easy km on the road my legs were getting into it, but they weren’t up to the rocky climb (where the only other person to pass me outwith transitions did so), so most of this was walked. And then we descended straight back down to the road by the Youth Hostel, again on a horribly rocky stepped trail that I just couldn’t run on. And then we climbed up and up and up what seemed to be switchback after switchback of forest tracks onto the West Highland Way.

I ran where possible, and walked quite a bit on this, but thankfully fell into a small group including the woman who ended up second. The pair of us ended up running away from the others and we kept each other going well over the remaining blast out of the forest and along the West Highland way. When we turned off this there was a massive slog up the trod/stream onto the top of the hill from where we could se the finish, but not before the long steep descent back down to Loch Leven and a final km on the road to the kayak.

I think I might have struggled on this section a great deal without such good company and the motivation that it brings – especially from a woman who was going really strongly right ’til the end! I had though this would take under 3 hours, but had really underestimated the climbs, so would have struggled to be much more than 10-15mins quicker on the day.

Loch Leven Kayak & Finish:
1.7km – 17:35

Sit back (or rather lie back by the end), paddle and enjoy the fantastic setting. No cramp this time until twinges when I tried to climb up the bank at the far side to run to the finish.

Further reflections

Overall I’m pretty pleased with how this all went, I could maybe have knocked off some time on the day but there are always ‘what if’s', and despite a couple of bouts of cramp my body held up well to the punishment.

Without having done a race anywhere near this length, with a mix of disciplines, for some time (closest training being 52km road bike followed by 25km trail race), it is always hard to know what an extra few minutes of effort at one point might cost you later on.

The journey was a fantastic one, and we were lucky to see Scotland at it’s very best. While it rained at the start, the rainbow over Drummossie as we cycled up along the Nairn valley was an indication of a day of reasonably good weather ahead.

There were memorable views galore, particularly along the Great Glen, and the highlight was probably leaving the forest section into blazing sunshine on the West Highland Way, seeing the valley open up ahead of us. The sight of the finish from the top of the hillside and while dropping down to Loch Leven was beautiful and welcome, while the kayak across to the end was equally memorable.

I’d heartily recommend anyone to do this race, in either its one or two day formats. I love the fact that it can provide a good day long challenge to the very top athletes, while also being manageable by those at lesser levels of athleticism, and as a way to see some fantastic bits of Scotland it cannot be bettered.

I’m sure I’ll have a crack at it again some day, the 10 hour target remains, and those additional 54 minutes and 6 seconds may sound a lot, but removing them is tantalisingly achievable.

Find out more about the event on the Scotland Coast to Coast website and see the results here.

I’m always up for a challenge, but all too often I don’t actually follow through with them for one reason or another, usually illness or injury, and these knock plans off course.

In recent years I’ve done some decent adventure races that have pushed me quite hard. Some fun, ‘traditional’, 5-8 hour events such as Ace Races and Dynamics were good days out in the hills, while the Rat Race in Edinburgh 2009 was full on, racing head to head at the front of the field was a lot of fun and something that I’m not used to doing! The Great Wilderness Challenge a few months later was a great test of gritting teeth and getting through the final quarter of a race I hadn’t quite done enough training for, and failed to pace sensibly.

This weekend sees the first decent challenge for about 10 months, since the Dynamic Adventure Race with Ben last November. Once again in that race, my legs fell apart during the 28km run after nowhere near enough training and a far too high pace at the start, but recovered well on the cycle to give us a decent finish (top 10 & 2nd in category).

I think I’ve learnt my lessons from these events, and am now ready to take on the Scottish Coast to Coast, 105 (late change due to landslide before Loch Ness) 103 miles from Nairn to Loch Leven and Glencoe.

Starting in my home town, devised by my friend Gary T and organised by the Rat Race crew, this was always going to be a must do event. Really I should have done it last year, its inaugrual year, but in an Autumn of other events, lack of time and training ruled that out.

So this year, with my girlfriend returning home to Australia two months before the event, it was perfectly timed to fill a massive void in time and energies. Training once again hasn’t quite gone to plan, with an enforced week off at the end of July following a bike smash that left me a bit battered and in need of a new front wheel. I lost a couple of weeks of running with a foot injury, and then another couple of weeks more recently through illness,  but by then it was a bit too late to get any massive training gains, and the enforced rest (although frustrating) probably did me some good.

The event itself is pretty straightforward, no navigating and no thinking needed (I usually prefer having both elements in races, but will be nice to switch off to some extent). Run, cycle, kayak, cycle, run, kayak, collapse. The first run, 11km, is a nice little warm up out along the River Nairn to Cawdor, something I’ve done most of a few times in the past, usually cutting up to my friend’s house to finish before Cawdor.

The first half of the road cycle is something I’ve not done for many many years. Not since I was about 15 in fact. Then I cycled out to Ally’s house in Daviot, and either that day or the next, we cycled out along under the A9 and along the same roads towards Loch Ness in search of the source of the River Nairn. I was completing my Standard Grade geography project on the River, so had to do some rock measurements and take some photos and such like. As was the way in our cycle trips, one of us got a puncture and then the heavens opened, leading to a very dreich cycle back to Daviot.

The rest is all rather unknown, I’ve never cycled out by Loch Ness despite always having wanted to. My Dad as a youngster once took a cycle trip from Nairn out down one side of Loch Ness and back up the other, I can’t recall if he did it in one day or two, but it is something I’ve always wanted to replicate. While not quite the same, I quite like the idea of races as a journey from one point to another, and when the scenery is as good as it will be over to and odown the Great Glen it should be fantastic.

After a short kayak near Fort Augustus, followed by another 50 odd km on the bike both on and off road, it’ll be a case of gritting teeth and getting on with it over the final run. 23km up the side of Ben Nevis then along the West Highland Way to Loch Leven. I like to think I’m quite good at the “teeth gritting” part of endurance races, and I also would like to think that despite a less than ideal preparation, I’m in a decent position to run a sensible race and keep myself moving for the entirity.

We shall see, tomorrow!

Scotland Coast to Coast – Rat Race Event from ResetFilms.co.uk on Vimeo.

Very lazy posting of late, mainly due to half baked post ideas getting to draft stage but then no further as I run out of time/energy/motivation/excuses/excuses/etc. Need to work on just pushing things out rather than trying to make it ‘perfect’ and exploring all avenues… otherwise topics are obsolete by the time I get round to hitting publish.

But alas, 2011 will hopefully be different. It has started with a new job which, after 4½ years in my previous one, is a welcome change!

Spending a lot of time writing content in my last job probably had something to do with my lack of energy for writing anything else outside of work (both personal and for Nopesport), coupled with lame excuses give above. My new role is social media orientated, in-house for a trade association type organisation, and seems to be a very good change of scene.

We’re in the thick of developing a new website so the next month will be a pretty full on one, but working on a development costing around five times more than the £20k ones I’ve managed of past is an interesting experience! Actually having the full attention of the agency we’re working with is a novelty, compared to being a really small fry project that isn’t a priority at all. Also nice is working with and observing a fully agile methodolgy in action, which makes it a very quick and structured process. Plus it not all being on my shoulders is quite a welcome relief!

So 2011 will be about trying to do more:

• writing: I enjoy writing so should try and do more of it.
• exploring London: there is so much on offer here, I really need to get out and see new (old) things.
• gigs: 2010 seemed pretty poor compared to my first few years, while I don’t want to return to seeing 5 gigs a week, I’d like to see more ‘new’ bands again.
• training: just a consistent period of doing ‘decent’ training would be nice, without it impeding too much on the rest of my life.
• racing: there are much more interesting looking orienteering races this year, so I fully intend on getting back out there and chasing flags around some decent areas.

Anyway, we’ll see whether any of these pan out…