Training Log Archive: andyd

Race along the Caledonian Canal in Fort William. 4 miles or so - along the towpath, underneath via a culvert, then back along rolling roads. Winner was 23:36. Fast and furious! It was fun to meet some local runners, and find out that there's a whole winter race series, with the others being more rugged + off-road.

C • Got SOW video the other day, T... 3

Warm up/down

To/from Connel via the back road, which was a very scenic/fun ride. Quite hilly. ~ 6 miles each way.

Along Druim Mor, road to Kerrera ferry and back on soggy path to Pulpit Hill.

Lunchtime run from work, scrabbling around the top of the cliffs then along the grassy rollercoaster to Ganavan Sands and back.

Bike commute (Oban-Dunbeg). 20 mins each way (hilly!).

Hike/jog (mostly hike) around the Ben Cruachan horseshoe. A gorgeous day in Oban, but unfortunately the tops were in the clouds. Still, a fun day. Saw a glory/brocken spectre at the top. Four and a bit hours, with stops.

Fearnoch Forest. Blue loop then red loop (4 miles total). Mostly gravel roads/paths. Grey and rainy day.

Scrambled up through the woods at the back of the house to see what was up there. Found a long, grassy, knobbly hill (Druim Mor) with spectacular views across Kerrera and Mull. Ran the length of it, dropped down to Glenshellac Rd and home.

Event: CompassSport Cup Final
 

CompassSport Cup Final at Greenham Common. Brown, 10.2 km and mostly flat. An interesting area to visit, given its former notoriety (in the 80s it was a USAF base and nuclear missile site - now it's apparently a handling area for used office furniture!). Quite varied orienteering with sprint-style amongst the buildings/hangars, long blank legs across the former runway, and fun, more tricky stuff in the surrounding woods, heaths and waterlogged gravelly areas. Very fast!! With a strong field, the fastest were well under 5 min/km. Ran OK, with a few dithers. It pretty much came down to running speed in the end (finished 24th, and 13 mins down). AIRE came in 4th - not bad, but missing a few big scorers.

Brown - Splits

Beckett Park and fields. Easy jog to loosen up a bit for tomorrow. Found a control!

Glen Nant nr Taynuilt. Very nice oak/birch woods. Ran the 'Ant Trail', which is a bit short and hilly to make much of a run, but an extra loop at the end and exploring some dead ends made it longer.

District event at Deishar (once used for VWC final). Brown, 8.1km and hilly. 65:39 (winner 55 minutes). An all-time favourite orienteering area, so not to be missed. The pleasures of living in Scotland! I'm not sure I'd have driven 100 miles for a lesser terrain, but it was absolutely wonderful. Complex and gorgeous, sun-dappled pine forest. A pretty clean run - just off target on a few, and no more than a couple of minutes lost.

C • Sounds great! 2

Run from the office, through the woods around Dunstaffnage Castle, across a beach, following the coast on a terrace mid-way up the cliffs. Explored a huge sea cave, leaped across a 30 ft chasm, scrambled up a steep reentrant through the cliffs and followed rolling grassy hills along the skyline. Wonderful fun. And it's all on a shiny new O map!

First attempt at a run near Oban - from Lochawe. Headed up into the forest, but the forest was getting dark, so stayed on the gravel roads which were not the greatest place to run. Lots of swooping bats.