My birthday came around again on Sunday 3rd October. I was to turn 59. Not as alarming as next year might well be, such is the occasion of round numbers. It wasn't really high on my list of bad things fast approaching. Not compared to Saturday's relay race: I had signed up for this a long time ago and covid had postponed it to Sat 2nd Oct. I was now swithering about wimping out vs doing some training and a decent job of it. I compromised with a little bit of training and a lot of excuses. I had run the same section (Leg 5 of the Scottish Long Coastal Race (Fife Coastal Path)) a couple of years ago and burst myself, knocking out 2.22 for the 20.8mile half trail, half road section. I realised I was nowhere near this fitness this time and estimated I'd take 10mins longer, 2hrs32 or just over 7min miling. Absolutely nothing about the day was appealing. From the forecast, to finding out just how rubbish my running was.
Training had consisted of three 16milers. I had done this with Nick as part of his self inflicted marathon training programme. He is doing the Porto Marathon around the first week of November. He has been doing weekend 20milers and if I joined him near where he goes past Leith I would knock out 16 before my remains were driven back to Leith. His route started in Cramond and ran along the coast to Milton Road then inland over some hillier bits back to Cramond. Sometimes I had real trouble getting out his car at the drop off. First one was not much under 8min miling average pace. The next one was 7.45 and the following one about 7.30. I could feel progress was being made and each one slightly easier than the last despite the increase in pace. Unfortunately there was not much consistency as these days I find it hard to do a long week's work AND knock out a few midweek runs. It tends to be either / or. Not both.
I try to avoid team type events. At work I like to be self sufficient - bike my paint and kit in; bring my own food and drink; play my own MP4 player with audiobooks and podcasts. I find I like to rely on myself and be self contained. If I fuck up, then it means I know who to blame. I know where the buck stops and I am entirely responsible for the outcome.
In a team sport there can be a greater sense of camaraderie but you are at the mercy of the weakest link and things that are out of your control. If this is a cross country course round a few playing fields then usually there isn't going to be much of a problem, as long as everyone turns up. And finishes. This event starts in Fife at midnight and people have to position themselves at the appropriate time and place to meet the previous runner who might not arrive exactly when predicted. Running through Fife in the dark on a not-very-well marked course. Just so many things can go wrong. And yet last time, at first attempt, Porty did quite well and ended up in third place overall. Unfortunately that might have led to an element of complacency creeping in. Mark U was the only person I was aware of in our team doing a daylight recce of his section this year. He was on his bike and still went wrong. I'm not sure the team realised just how easy it was to go off-route.
To avoid this on my section I uploaded the gpx file from the Carnethy website into my gps watch. I get the feeling not many people actually know how to do this. It means you now have a mini-sat-nav on your wrist, and if you come to a junction and don't remember if you go left or right, the little arrow on your watch tells you. My Suunto is ancient and more modern watches have far more sophisticated mapping facilities. Unfortunately not many people seem to have learned how to use them.
The other reason I have avoided events like this is the travelling. I don't drive and so there is another layer of admin to overcome to get to the start of my section and back home from the finish. All sections are point-to-point which injects a degree of planning and organisation. Mark F bravely volunteered to drive without even the fun of running a section. What a trooper. I hope someone bought him a beer!
To avoid this on my section I uploaded the gpx file from the Carnethy website into my gps watch. I get the feeling not many people actually know how to do this. It means you now have a mini-sat-nav on your wrist, and if you come to a junction and don't remember if you go left or right, the little arrow on your watch tells you. My Suunto is ancient and more modern watches have far more sophisticated mapping facilities. Unfortunately not many people seem to have learned how to use them.
The other reason I have avoided events like this is the travelling. I don't drive and so there is another layer of admin to overcome to get to the start of my section and back home from the finish. All sections are point-to-point which injects a degree of planning and organisation. Mark F bravely volunteered to drive without even the fun of running a section. What a trooper. I hope someone bought him a beer!
I had asked all those taking part to guesstimate their time for each section so that we might know roughly when to be warmed up and ready to go. Doesn't matter if you are way too early but it is seriously out of order if you are just minutes too late. There was no answer to my request so I sat down and estimated myself what were the likely running times of our team. I knew there would be quite a large margin of error; although I couldn't have guessed so many of our team would opt for a sub-optimal route choice! (I got my own time estimate spot on - I was exactly 10mins slower than last time.) As with last time there was one train that would arrive me too early and another that might get me to (Leuchars and short bus hop to) St Andrews with very little time to spare. I am not an early riser so asked for 2 of our midnight runners to text me an update of how things were progressing. I put my phone at my bedside and woke around 5.30am stressing that no texts had arrived. I was unable to get back to sleep, wondering WTF was happening on the darkened streets of Fife.
I got up at 6am no longer able to sleep and found out (on my computer) there had been much fucking about and wrong turns taken, but that we were still progressing. I could probably get the later train with plenty time to spare but since I was up, may as well get the early train. There would be folk at the changeover to chat with and at least I'd have time to spare if there were any delays on the train. I had an open return ticket. I took photos of the sun lazily climbing over the cloud on the journey North. As my handover approached the weather turned crappy so I didn't carry a camera. So this is the last of my pics, taken on the train.
I got up at 6am no longer able to sleep and found out (on my computer) there had been much fucking about and wrong turns taken, but that we were still progressing. I could probably get the later train with plenty time to spare but since I was up, may as well get the early train. There would be folk at the changeover to chat with and at least I'd have time to spare if there were any delays on the train. I had an open return ticket. I took photos of the sun lazily climbing over the cloud on the journey North. As my handover approached the weather turned crappy so I didn't carry a camera. So this is the last of my pics, taken on the train.
While waiting in St Andrews I was told by Mike, my pal and event organiser, that 2 or 3 of my team had gone off route. While this was bad news it was not as bad as the phone call I then got from our leg 4 guy Marcin, that he had pulled a hamstring 12k into his run and was unable to continue. He had managed to get a lift back to his car. So the team had DNFed and I hadn't even run a step. Neil from another team (who had run leg2 in the middle of the night) offered to give me a lift back to Leuchars station with my pal Nicola, his leg4 runner. (Marcin also offered to drive by and give me a lift home despite his injury, which was very considerate and really appreciated!) I was about to take Neil up on this kind offer when a marshal said why don't you chum that girl on her leg 5.
That girl was Tessa Strain who had been drafted in by HBT at the last moment and was unfamiliar with leg5. While chatting to her I tried to identify any likely tricky nav and describe what to look for. I had only run the whole section twice but was very familiar with the bits between Leuchars and the far side of Tentmuir from previous wildlife trips there. She told me she was an orienteer and would likely be fine. I asked what speed she was anticipating. When she answered 8minute miling I thought I would get a medium paced 20mile run with maybe some chatting and the trip up country wouldn't be such a waste of time and energy. Tessa said she really didn't need a guide but didn't mind me running along.
It was only later I became aware she is one of the top orienteers in the country and one of the least likely to mess up on navigation. Also that 8minute miling? We covered the first 5 miles in 34minutes. This was faster than my original race plan. But quite distracting as well, as we chatted while we ran. Which made the miles fly by. 10 miles in 70 minutes dead. I felt fine but told Tessa I would be falling to bits soon and she should feel free to sprint ahead at any point. It was pleasant going through Tentsmuir although a light drizzle began to fall. Mike and Jim shouted encouraging things at the entrance to Tentsmuir around 9 miles. 5miles later at the exit onto the beach I said goodbye to Tessa and she carried on at the same pace while I slowed. 14miles in 1hr38 - 7.03 average pace. Just shy of 3hr marathon pace.
It was only later I became aware she is one of the top orienteers in the country and one of the least likely to mess up on navigation. Also that 8minute miling? We covered the first 5 miles in 34minutes. This was faster than my original race plan. But quite distracting as well, as we chatted while we ran. Which made the miles fly by. 10 miles in 70 minutes dead. I felt fine but told Tessa I would be falling to bits soon and she should feel free to sprint ahead at any point. It was pleasant going through Tentsmuir although a light drizzle began to fall. Mike and Jim shouted encouraging things at the entrance to Tentsmuir around 9 miles. 5miles later at the exit onto the beach I said goodbye to Tessa and she carried on at the same pace while I slowed. 14miles in 1hr38 - 7.03 average pace. Just shy of 3hr marathon pace.
mile 9, entrance to Tentsmuir
Next day. My birthday! And I was relieved that my legs were not badly trashed. I jogged along to Warriston and let the bird songs and whispering grass blow the cobwebs away. Not sure what Mary was doing, but I spent a couple of hours communing with nature and feeding the birds. And even though there was just one single solitary Speckled Wood, I still enjoyed it countless times more than the day before.
I had worried that Team Porty might start brilliantly and then I'd let them down being overtaken by the opposition on my leg. All my obligation to give at least 100% had been removed with Marcin's DNF so I felt comfortable about coasting in the last 7 miles. Last time I did this section I ran myself into the ground keeping the pace going and could hardly walk afterwards. This time was much easier: there was no reason to thrash myself. I dropped the pace a bit and finally did some real 8minute miles. I was pleased that it took a couple of miles to lose sight of Tessa, (that she didn't disappear minutes after dropping me) who ran the fastest Leg 5 of anyone this year doing 2.24 - a couple of minutes behind my previous time. (The record for leg 5 is now something like 2.10. The Carnethy website is malfunctioning so I can't check.) I was also surprised and pleased to run a very similar time this year to Alison McGill who was in Neil's team.
Alison is a really strong runner and when I ran this section last time she was the record holder with 2.23. I nearly killed myself to do a minute quicker so assumed she would do something like that this year. Not so. Neil was giving us both a lift directly after our leg. Me to the station at Leuchars, and Alison, home. We chatted in the car - Alison was feeling a bit unwell so I was trying to take her mind off it. Neil had been up all night after running for 3hrs and was looking whey faced and shredded. He had volunteered to drive me to Leuchars (only 6 miles) and I was very grateful to get a lift. Big thanks Neil! I had left it to fate, how I might get home. I was fairly sure I'd see someone going that way and if not, I'd get a local taxi. I said thanks and well run to Tessa who was very cheerful and agreed it made the miles fly by to chat along the first 14miles of the route. She had navigated absolutely fine and I did wonder just how much I had tried to mansplain the course to a runner who was clearly fitter, faster and smarter!
It was disappointing to see all the hard work of the Porty Team come to nothing. Alan mentioned on facebook how much heart all the runners had put into their efforts, and that was true. Perhaps it could be combined with a bit more head next time, although I can't blame the 2 members who stepped in at the last moment to make up the team numbers.
Thanks also to Mike and his team for organising this huge event. There were marshals at points all over coastal Fife and many in the middle of the night, in places you wouldn't necessarily want to be in the middle of the day. Haha! I am just being rude because Mike hails from Fife! He did a splendid job, and it requires he travels the whole route missing a night's sleep and trying to keep account of who is where, and when he has to move to the next section. MUCH more tricky than a race that starts and finishes in the same car park and doesn't take 20hrs. Every runner who finished got a bottle of beer, which makes it taste better. Although when I got home after a long day, my thoughts were "never again" - too much hassle, and too much relying on other people, and a DNF that was out of my control. I'm sure there are plenty of younger faster Porties that might want to give it a go. It's an interesting challenge - although I would recommend either a recce of your section, or a working knowledge of the sat-nav type function (course following) on your Garmin. I bet there are youTube videos. There are - here's a dude showing you how to program a Garmin. Easy.
Alison is a really strong runner and when I ran this section last time she was the record holder with 2.23. I nearly killed myself to do a minute quicker so assumed she would do something like that this year. Not so. Neil was giving us both a lift directly after our leg. Me to the station at Leuchars, and Alison, home. We chatted in the car - Alison was feeling a bit unwell so I was trying to take her mind off it. Neil had been up all night after running for 3hrs and was looking whey faced and shredded. He had volunteered to drive me to Leuchars (only 6 miles) and I was very grateful to get a lift. Big thanks Neil! I had left it to fate, how I might get home. I was fairly sure I'd see someone going that way and if not, I'd get a local taxi. I said thanks and well run to Tessa who was very cheerful and agreed it made the miles fly by to chat along the first 14miles of the route. She had navigated absolutely fine and I did wonder just how much I had tried to mansplain the course to a runner who was clearly fitter, faster and smarter!
It was disappointing to see all the hard work of the Porty Team come to nothing. Alan mentioned on facebook how much heart all the runners had put into their efforts, and that was true. Perhaps it could be combined with a bit more head next time, although I can't blame the 2 members who stepped in at the last moment to make up the team numbers.
Thanks also to Mike and his team for organising this huge event. There were marshals at points all over coastal Fife and many in the middle of the night, in places you wouldn't necessarily want to be in the middle of the day. Haha! I am just being rude because Mike hails from Fife! He did a splendid job, and it requires he travels the whole route missing a night's sleep and trying to keep account of who is where, and when he has to move to the next section. MUCH more tricky than a race that starts and finishes in the same car park and doesn't take 20hrs. Every runner who finished got a bottle of beer, which makes it taste better. Although when I got home after a long day, my thoughts were "never again" - too much hassle, and too much relying on other people, and a DNF that was out of my control. I'm sure there are plenty of younger faster Porties that might want to give it a go. It's an interesting challenge - although I would recommend either a recce of your section, or a working knowledge of the sat-nav type function (course following) on your Garmin. I bet there are youTube videos. There are - here's a dude showing you how to program a Garmin. Easy.
Next day. My birthday! And I was relieved that my legs were not badly trashed. I jogged along to Warriston and let the bird songs and whispering grass blow the cobwebs away. Not sure what Mary was doing, but I spent a couple of hours communing with nature and feeding the birds. And even though there was just one single solitary Speckled Wood, I still enjoyed it countless times more than the day before.
tiny mouse - would not hold still for photos
well, not for long
only ghost I have seen at Warriston, so far!
just the one, last one of the year?
I took a wee diversion down the WoL to see if there were any goosanders or kingfishers etc. about. I can't remember if this was the day I saw one fly into the ivy clad undergrowth over the other side but I do remember no pics were taken of any. As per usual. The kingfishers are getting quite common and I regularly see them flying past but they do like to distance themselves from human proximity.
grey wagtail
female mallard
sipping squirrel
not how you spell bushy
gormers
more of Helen Miles ace mosaic
(below bridge at Canonmills)
(below bridge at Canonmills)
These squirrels were at the botanics - someone had tipped out a bag of seeds. Not great as it would attract rats and mice, or go mouldy. Also the small birds were hanging back to see if they could get some. This great tit wasn't sure if I was friend or foe and sat in the tree very close to me assessing the situation.
another view of Gormley on the way home
now how exactly did the spider get onto this midstream sculpture?
I suspect it flew on a web parachute.
now how exactly did the spider get onto this midstream sculpture?
I suspect it flew on a web parachute.
some birthday wine may well have been drunk!
No comments:
Post a Comment