A Step Up?

Highland Fling 28 April 2012

The Highland Fling 53 mile ultra race along the West Highland Way is an epic journey, geographically and mentally, that shouldn't really be attempted in one day by sane people. I'd imagine many walkers of the route must think that we are quite barmy and possibly a bit disrespectful to the beautiful countryside that we can't properly take in the way we rush along, staring downwards at the trail lest we fall over? Have a rest, enjoy a pint or two along the way (uh-hum, some runners have been known to do this as well). Relax and enjoy? No. I'm an ultra runner and I want to step up from last year's PB of 12:41, so I'm willing to forego my pint for a bit longer and see what I can do about that.

There are so many reasons to adore this race, and some big reasons to fear and at times loathe it. Afterwards, once the dust has settled, everything seems rosy and our minds wander, planning strategies to improve our times next year. We bask in the warm glow of completing an epic physical and mental test, but I don't remember looking at the world through those rose-tinted glasses when struggling to climb up to the viewpoint after Balmaha, or passing the badly injured runner approaching Rowardennan.

So, what did I have to beat?

2011 Fling race splits:

2:03; 2:03 to Drymen
1:30; 3:34 to Balmaha
1:54; 5:28 to Rowardennan
1:54; 7:22 to Inversnaid
2:06; 9:28 to Bein Glas
3:13; 12:41 to Tyndrum

I worked out a plan for this year's race in February based on a combination of my previous Fling times and also the various training runs over the winter months, that I thought was stretching but achievable:

2012 Fling race plan

2:00; 2:00 to Drymen
1:25; 3:25 to Balmaha
1:35; 5:00 to Rowardennan
1:00; 6:30 to Inversnaid
2:00; 8:30 to Bein Glas
3:00; 11:30 to Tyndrum

Since February, I've ignored trails and hills to concentrate on marathon running, as my main goal race of the year was in Paris two weeks ago. That was my 2nd consecutive PB polished off (after the D33) and so going into this year's Fling I felt confident for the first half of the race but thought I'd struggle for endurance later on, and also worried about my lack of hill training.

So even before the benefit of hindsight that a blog allows, I expected to go out strong, start to fall apart in the middle section, and hang on for dear life to the end.

I love the preamble to the start of the Fling. I didn't see many of the 6am starters, as we didn't get going quite as early as I'd hoped. I was wondering whether Robbo (Alan Robertson) had managed to make the start line after all his injury travails, but delighted to bump into him after the end of the race and hear that he had finished well.  Mike Raffan came and had a lovely chat after his epic overnight chaperone duties of running the Fling in reverse for Karen and for George, who I spotted limping quite badly after a fall.  Dave Morrow also popped over to say hello, looking very cool.  (Ian) Shanksi - the most sociable male on the planet - came and had a cuppa as well.  Andy Johns popped over for a hug, but couldn't hang around as he had to ensure he was late for the start of the race. It's not enough just to run sub-9 hours, he also has to miss the start by about a minute!  That takes some planning. John Pickard came over especially early for a chat and a cuppa in the camper van, which was nice of him.  John was in a relay team with Julia, my wife.  We also saw David Simpson and his wife Julie and son and Jonathan Mackintosh and his wife Leanne.  At registration I also bumped into Nick Dunc, who went on to have a fabulous race.

Julia finishing her relay leg (1)  in 1:58 - great time

And so to the start. The previous two years I'd lined up at the back of the testosterone-fueled MV40 pack. But this year I wanted to force the pace a bit in the first 12 miles so I lined up halfway to the front. It wasn't an ego thing, I will always be a fun runner (which I'm reminded of every time i see a photo from a race) but I just wanted to push myself from the start this year.

Section 1 - Milngavie to Drymen

And I did, which, after the normal early race leg niggles, was quite good fun. I'd expected David Simpson to be ahead of me but before leaving Mugdock Park he caught me up. "I went off a bit too fast", I told him. "I thought so, you're breathing a bit heavily" he replied. Oh, I thought, and determined to slow down a bit and I let him shoot off. I ran along with Dave Morrow for a short while, but he said Vikki Shanks had told him not to set off too fast so he retreated back behind me. I had to admit to myself that I was tanking it a bit, but the leg stiffness cleared up and I was running well. As we dog-legged on the 200m road section I saw David ahead and just after we joined the disused railway line I'd caught him up. Now I've enjoyed some very pleasant training runs with him over the winter, and I know that he's a good deal faster than me, but what the heck. I had an enjoyable run along the straight section through Beech Tree Inn, with David tucked in behind letting me open all the gates (I'm only saying that to wind him up - as I said to him at the time I'm built more for opening gates than running through them). We spotted and passed Richard Dennis who had joined us on a training run a few months ago - hey? He's a 3 hour zilch marathon runner. Either he was going very slowly or I was severely overcooking. As time told it was a combination of the two.

I had a ball on that section, but once we left the track and hit the more undulating road I struggled to keep up, so just before Drymen I "let" David go off. He went on to have a fine run, finishing in 10:44.

Drymen: 1:50 (versus plan 2:00)

Section 2 - Drymen to Balmaha

I was on my own pretty well for the rest of the race now, and whilst having company is preferable, I'm quite happy to plod along in my own world. Ascending the path up towards the Grab-a-gran (copyright Robbo) forest Richard ran past me. He seemed a bit low, saying something about it not being his day, so I replied "slow start, fast finish", and boy did he take that mantra and prove it. He finished in around 9:45 which was another big PB I think. I loved the run through the forest, and the climb up to Conic seems to get easier every time I do it. From my mile splits, I ascended two minutes faster than last year, which I'm chuffed about. Runners like me have to be cute (in the "smart" sense), ie. we have to fly through drop-points whilst others stop for a break, ascend hills as quickly as possible and power walk really fast whenever we can't run, to make up as much time as we can compared with the fleeter of foot.

The descent from Conic Hill was an unmitigated disaster. There had been a debate, started by me, about whether to wear road or trail shoes. Those in the know (George, Sandra, etc) had wisely advised trail shoes, but I was thinking I'd wear my road shoes because I'm so much more comfortable in them and thought they'd help prevent my right leg playing up. As it happens, at almost the last minute - the night before the race - I changed my mind. I turfed my (rubbish) Saucony Peregrine trail shoes out of my kit bag and realised that both shoes were split down the sides! Absolutely no way I could wear them, so it was back to the road shoes. Now the fall I had down Conic on Saturday wasn't as spectacular or as far as on the February run - when incidentally I had worn trail shoes - but this was because the slide down was stopped by a large protruding boulder which my left shin smacked into. Ouch. End of race, was my immediate thought. There was quite a lot of blood and a couple of good chunks of flesh left on the stone. However, once a few seconds had passed my mind started to move on and work out a way to stand up, then get down off the hill (very gingerly) and before you know it, I was running fast into the Balmaha checkpoint, where I managed to procure a couple of dressings. I'd even managed to keep to my planned 1:25 for this leg.

Balmaha: 1:25 (versus plan 1:25), overall 3:15 (plan 3:25)

Conic 1, Minty 0.  And the largest of the two holes is covered up!

Section 3 - Balmaha to Rowardennan

Now readers, if you're still awake, at this point I just want to say that the next section is my least favourite of the race. I enjoy the scenery, and it's nice as a training run when you're starting off from Balmaha, but after 20 miles of mainly running, this at times undulating section is quite sapping. there are also two or three really hard, short, steep climbs, that take your breath away. Today felt not too different, but I did notice an improvement over last year's fitness level. Some time during this stage Dave Morrow came sauntering past me, looking very sprightly. He went on to complete in just over 11 hours, with those wise words from Vikki paying off. The really sobering point of the day came just before Rowardennan when running past Ellen, the fallen runner. She was on a stretcher and I didn't know how badly she was injured. I thought it was amazing that Sandra gave up her own race to stay and help look after Ellen. After all that training, what a sacrifice to make. I've since heard that Ellen broke her collar bone, and hope she's able to make a good recovery in due course.

Rowardennan: 1:42 (vs plan 1:35), overall 4:57 (plan 5:00)

Section 4 - Rowardennan to Inversnaid

So, still on course, and taking very little time to pass through the check-points. The next section was quite uneventful, I ran where I could but as the race wore on, more and more I entered into "pragmatic" gear, ie. fast-paced walking on inclines rather than running. A few MV 40s passed me but only a trickle so I was quite comfortable.  Just before Inversnaid I caught up with Vikki.  Poor Mrs S was suffering with her ITB but she still managed a cheery smile and encouragement.  I pushed on and made it to Inversnaid in 1:40, 10 mins slower than predicted, leaving me behind overall for the first time.

Inversnaid: 1:40 (vs plan 1:30), overall 6:37 (plan 6:30)

Section 5 - Inversnaid to Bein Glas

For some reason I wasn't too worried about timings, saying to myself that what would be would be... I think I might pen a song about that one day.  But this next section would certainly find me out if I was running out of steam.  Pragmatic gear went into overdrive at this point - or is that an oxymoron?  Well you know what I mean... I walked a lot of the course at this point, but always keeping a good pace. I noticed, as I caught and overtook some other MV40s, that they were quite a bit slower negotiating the rocks and boulders; as I mentioned before, every little helps (perhaps that could be a new advertising slogan if no-one's grabbed it first).  I arrived in Bein Glas, surprised and delighted that I had caught up on my plan by 4 minutes, arriving only 3 minutes later than planned.

Bein Glas: 1:56 (vs plan 2:00), overall 8:33 (plan 8:30)

Section 6 - Bein Glan to Tyndrum

So, 12 miles in just under three hours to secure 11:30. 3:26 to go sub-12.  Could I do it?  Could I run?  In 2010 and 2011 I hadn't managed to run the eight miles after Bein Glas until the forest descent into Auchtertyre, and my ambition was to achieve that this year. Well, I'll have to wait until next year to tick off that particular box, because again I couldn't must up enough energy to run, apart from the odd shuffle on the odd occasion there was a downwards gradient.  On fresh legs this section is quite runnable, but the course profile shows just how much the net elevation gain is once you leave the Lowlands and move into the Highlands. One bit of good news is that the cows in the farm before Crianlarich (known affectionately as Cow Poo Alley, or something similar) were all munching away on their hay and not wanting to play a game of chicken with WHW runners for a change.

After turning left at the 47 mile fork, I really struggled to climb the initial steep section up into the forest. Then a very kind chap threw me some jelly beans - pretty well the first solids I'd managed all race - which gave me enough boost to continue the climb. At this point I was playing leap-frog with Ada, who was having a good race, and in the end she was too strong and went off ahead. Descending to the main road wasn't much fun for the quads - but it was a whole lot nicer than climbing. All that remained was to shuffle run through Auchtertyre and on to the finish. I tried to end with a flourish but my legs just refused to go fast. I couldn't quite manage the 11;30 but was only five minutes off that, and once I knew that the sub-12 was in the bag I relaxed and "enjoyed" myself for the last three or so miles.

Tyndrum: 3:02 (vs plan 3:00), overall 11:35 (plan 11:30), for a 66 minute PB.  I'll take that!


Well who would look their best after 11 hours 35?

Just a note of thanks to everyone that helped with organising this race. It's very special to me, and I'm always so thankful to all the marshalls and other volunteers that give up a lot of their time to allow us to go out and be silly. You might not think we always appreciate it because of a lack of grace when passing - especially as the race progresses, but although we might not be able to eloquently express our thanks, inside we're really grateful.

Next year? Well the target has to have a 10: in it, doesn't it?

The rest of my blog is devoted to my experiences at the after-party...












... you get the picture - yes, fast asleep whilst the party was in full flow :-(