Training Log Archive: AlistairH

Final day of 6 days at Coulmony and Belivay. Very early start, meaning that I got biannual fix of setting elephant tracks while inhaling carcinogenic bracken spores. Well, I started quite positively and was enjoying myself - came off path a bend early at 1, a bit left at 3 but got distance right and fixed it quick, somehow got a good split at 6 despite running up wrong hill first (got up and down switched around), but lost will to live running from 17 to 18... didn't contour, instead assuming the north edge of marsh would have proto-elephant track and be faster than the hillside. No - getting to it and running along it were both grim. Enthusiasm vanished, followed shortly by losing several minutes on 19 - relocated on exquisitely mapped gap in the bracken just NW of the control (you really could navigate by the vegetation screen). Self-destructed at 22 getting line and height completely wrong and lost will to live wading in 7 foot bracken.

Oh well. 13th overall. Really enjoyed the week and glad I went (almost didn't). Some good positive sections - some decent nav. in places and was fast on day 2, but I need to get stronger in terrain to place higher and to be able to run consistently throughout a multi-day event.

C • Carcinogenic 2

Ran to white/green start early to help, walked the 2.5k back to assembly then ran to red start and got on with it.

Day 5, Roseisle. 9th. Not so much undergrowth which helped with runnability but it was technical. Quite a few standing still compass bearings but generally I was feeling as if, with 5 days of practice, I was navigating better, and reading more detail. Will look up errors on Winsplits but must the main ones must be 1 minute plus on 8, over-shooting, possibly a full 2 mins on 15 where I missed the path I was aiming for (wimpy route) although it was obvious immediately afterwards where I went (straight down the wide re-entrant towards the control). Lost where I was on 27 but kept running to a path en route so probably just 30" hesitation. Felt tired going up and down the dunes.

Post-script - was 5th at 5... the standing still bearings do actually pay off if I then leg it properly once I've found the right direction to run in. 40" lost at 6, 1'45 at 8 (too much for simple overshoot to obvious road), 1'10 at 15 (less than I thought probably because I at least stuffed up quickly), 45" at 20 (slightly wavering route but did I take the right route in the first place?). Some good running sections when confident - second fastest to 28, 3rd fastest to 11, 18 and 21.

Running late again. Got to start with 4 mins spare.

Day of Moray 2013, Loch of Boath. 14th. +20%, from middle of start block. Hmmm. Not quite in the zone. Well, ran reasonably well and thought I was doing better on terrain than in the past, but beaten comprehensively by good terrain runners. Nav generally fine but lots 2.5 mins at 7... partly due to wandering left of the line out of the control but I suspect there was an elephant trail on the straight line, through the green? Going round it was slow. Will see in Routegdaget perhaps. Took the road run 12-13 although I suspect straight was best, once elephant tracks were formed, but had 7th split for that leg so if I lost anything it wasn't much. Need to try to get another good run in before end of week.

Day 3, Culbin - not the nice east bit but a bit futher west, with quite a bit of heather. 12th, +19%. Early start didn't help (particularly for the end bit). 4th at 4 after reasonable running start, including taking the road way to 2 as I didn't want to get tired early on with lots of heather running to follow and wanted to look at the map, then lost a minute at 5 (too far right - no excuse on a short leg) and once we got back into the forest after 9 and there was more heather to run I sort of tailed off, dropping from 10th to 23 in last few controls. 2'50 down at halfway in time, 9'59 down at end. Ran out of strength for the terrain running really. Looking forward to rest day.

Late again.

Day 2, Carse of Ardesier. 6th...+3% (1'58"). Much better and good confidence boost. Started well, fastest split to 2 and was in 2nd place at 3 before binning a minute at 4 - just a lack of confidence - I was right of the line and decided to look a little further right before committing to going back left - another 20" at 5 being overcautious. 50" at 7 - lack of confidence again pulling up way too soon approaching along the hill past 2 and 50" at 8, taking too far round a route, again not confident to go straight. Then fastest for the rest of the course...