Training Log Archive: Trevail

Devil's Burden Leg 3 in Deeside Runners V50 team, running with Ian Hamilton.

It was a misty morning and at both ends of the first leg, we didn't get any sight of the hills at all. It could be interesting on the top navigating in the mist! As we waited to start Leg 3, on a steep slope just above Kinnesswood, we got a few glimpses of blue sky before the mist closed in again. Alan Smith and Donald Kerridge appeared out the mist and hurtled down the steep slope to hand over to us and we were off. It starts with a very steep climb of about 195m in about 630m, and before we got to the top we were out of the cloud and into beautiful sunshine. Visibility was excellent and we could always see people ahead which helped with the navigation. Whenever the route dipped down, which it did once in the middle and again at the end, we were surrounded by cool mist again (now with misted glasses as well).The first half was mainly along footpaths which were a bit muddy and slippery but after we climbed to control 12 near the top of West Lomond, there followed 5km of downhill, with the first 3km on a hard stoney, landrover track. So, it was hard to get the right shoes: My Inov8 212s were really good on the soft, but I ended up with a blister on the bottom of the heel from the track; Ian had shoes with a sole like Peregrines which slipped around on the soft but were more suitable for the track - I don't think there was a perfect solution for that. There is absolutely minimal course marking, even along the section that was supposed to be marked and fixed which led to some uncertainty as there were many small track intersections and some people made some errors there, fortunately we didn't. It's a course that favours local runners that are able to scout it out in advance or people that have run it before.

Ian and I were well-matched and it was a really nice run. I think Sarah Henry and Marie Entwhistle were probably a little quicker than us, but we had a few minutes head start on them and never saw them.

Scolty, steep way, down via saddle. About half the distance and elevation of Devils Burden on Saturday.

Hard round to church (Approx 1:30 mins 400m), jog back, repeat 10 times every 3 minutes.

Run around at Scolty trying to construct something similar to Leg 3 of Devils Burden next Saturday. 2 visits to the top. Ended up with a bit shorter, a bit less climb and certainly easier going than it will be next week. Mmm. It's going to kill me on Saturday!