Friday, 16 December 2016

Same Shit.....just a different day.

2016 turned into a lousy running year with very few positive running stories to remember. I felt I was just turning up and running on automatic at most events and on many was lucky to actually finish. Too many times I felt that I shouldn't even have turned up to start....that old saying about things that don't kill you just make you stronger?...it didn't feel like it. At the start of the year I had set myself targets for each race, hoping to improve upon the previous years times. Its always hard to squeeze a PB out year after year after year, but you always try and strive towards that goal. So in hindsight I was just setting myself up for disappointment after disappointment. There were a couple of Positive runs in the mix but they ended up in the shadows being cast by the negatives. I had lost that 'loving feeling'.

So in March it was business as usual.....the D33......again.
Again....... I turned up at Duthie Park on another cold morning and couldn't help feel that I was only turning up to keep my 'ever present' status at this event. I normally try and start off my racing year with the D33 and is always a jolly and a very well organised and managed event from George, Karen and their team. And it's cheap. Beer, cake and a unique handmade medal. Truly ...'Epic Shit'.
Year number 7. I trudged round the out and back 33 mile route not really wanting to be there, I was tired, under trained and just 'not in the mood'. I had lost the fun feeling today before the race even started. When your head isn't in it it's not long until your body follows suit. 



The Anglo Celtic Plate was back in Perth in 2016 and so was I for its 50K race.

Round and Round and Round we go.  I managed a course PB here, by a few seconds. I enjoyed the day more than when it was last here, 3 years ago. Although being lapped again and again and again can, and does, get frustrating! But I came here to stick to a pace and just get the mileage done, using it as a means to an end and was happy at maintaining a consistent pace.




My 8th Fling start, which we now know will the last to grace the word 'hoka' before it. It remains, despite suffering from a malfunctioning arse this year, my favourite all round event.


Not long after Milngavie I knew this wasn't going to end well! My stomach began to protest and had several stops along the way to make deposits, leaving a trail of blocked toilets and stinky bushes in my wake . Getting slower and slower as the day went on. Last year I was in tyndrum in under 12 hours, this year I crawled in on over 14, my slowest fling to date.









So I've now finished 7 out of 8 Fling races I've started, with this one being the hardest physically and mentally. 




So the first three races of 2016 were done.......surely things could only get better?

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

I'm Back

So after neglecting my Blog for nearly 18 months......I'm back!
I won't bore you with a long summary of all the races since July '15. So from January 2017 I'll get back to posting regular race reports.

After having had 2 years of disappointing and lacklustre races I'm going to approach 2017 the way Hollywood movie companies have been doing of late....and reboot my approach to my running and choice of races. I need to do something different and rebuild. So for 2017 I'm not going to have a long A race. I didn't enter the ballot for the Whwr, I didn't enter the G24 and I'm not considering the Great Glen Ultra. It's been a tough to make as I love these 3 races.....but they'll be there when I'm ready to go back. Instead I'll treat every race in 2017 as just a long training run to try and figure out why things went so wrong over the last 24 months. I'm going to concentrate on distances around 30-40 miles, with the exception of the Fling. Reboot, rebuild and reaffirm my passion.

So for next year.....well currently I've only entered three events......

The Hobo Waterway 30 Ultra (you guessed it.....30 miles)

My 9th 53 mile Highland Fling (no longer Hoka)

And the 30ish mile BaM Racing Glen Lyon UltraMarathon

More entries will follow......however, I'm turning my attention to races South of the 'wall' and to pastures new and don't plan on doing what have been my regular races over the last few years. I need to re-energise my running which has stalled this year.