If it sounds bad - it probably is

Been doing a little bit of running, but not much .. Was having a good week last week, Sunday, Monday and lunchtime Thursday... Went to the Adventure Show preview night - was great to see everyone and I thought the race report was tops...

It is a sign of my off season that I am back on the turps and so was also out on Thursday night. This time it was for dinner with my good friend Kristin - the lovely Kiwi girl who ran with my for the first and last bits of Fort William to Inverness and provided the wonder hands to massage my battered body and keep me going to the end. Her Mum and Dad were over from Kiwi land, and so me and a few work colleagues went out .. So we all went to a newish French Restaurant here in Edinburgh. And what a top night it was... Beers, a few wines, some cliche'd French food, a steak, and some more wine...

Next day - was feeling a little rough, but put it down to the wine.. Now 1:30AM Saturday morning was a different matter.. Oh dear.. Without going into the details, my guts were in a terrible state.. We've all been there.. Slept intermitently between trips to the loo..

On Saturday I had arranged to help my mate Mike (my best mate and the guy who followed me from Milngavie to Inverness in Lucy the Combi) to demolish his shed.. So it was not something that I wanted to miss out on .. Climbing up ladders, hitting things with big hammers, smashing bricks, loading the pickup, lifting bit of wood, shovelling rubble all with clenched butt cheeks and between running to the dunny made for an interesting day.. But at the end of day, there was a bare concrete pad where a shed used to stand..

So lesson learnt - if there is something on a menu that says Snails and Pigs Ear, even if you think it might be interesting and it ticks a box - read the words..

Snails (yes - you find them in the garden) and Pigs Ear (it is fatty crappy stuff that your dog might chew on...) - FUCK ME - that is NOT FOOD !!!!

A few days on, and am nearly back in one piece.. Happiness is a dry fart !!!

2 for 2

And just went out again
not too much beer at the weekend
to slow me down or
take from me the
will and the desire to
end
the malaise of the everyday
all those excuses that the mind will say
oh I'll just do it another day
I know I will
just not today
much better to listen to the heart
and the pleading of the soul
get out and run
don't sit don't recoil
get out and breathe and work and
beat the heart
get off your arse
don't think
don't reason
just start..
with a step
the one out the door
once that one is done
you can do one more
until you can rest
contented and in repose
with a body, mind, heart and soul
at one ..

Not time for a new top - YET !!!!!

Been a bit of a week. so have been looking forward to getting out tomorrow for a short run with Norman.. He is doing Loch Ness in a couple of weeks so sent him a text and said I was not up for more than and hour or so but would join him for the first part of the run... So now I find he is picking me up, for a trip to the Pentlands and I guess I will be coming home when we have stopped running...

You gotta love mates who can see the signs of an impending change of clothing in the direction of something flouncy and floral and nip it in the bud... Best pack a gel or 2 and a sachet of toughen the fuck up..


KH

PS - Job done - 2hours out and a cracking run it was too... Gotta love it .. Saw a few dogs out and thoughts turned to my little black haired mate - all good... Blouse and tissues not needed !

ENJOY !

Who's the Best Boy - It's the Sammy Boy

How many miles did we run together
Along the sand when you were young
and my years of running had just begun,
in the dunes on the other side of the world
the Freo doctor blasting into my face,
it was a race
you barking at my feet, chasing seagulls
catching one just the once
getting such a fright
and look at me to say
look what I've got, thats a bit of all right..
the setting sun disappearing
into the waves we crash, you yelling at me as I swim too fast
the only time I can make you work
then explode out of the water
you really pissed off
chasing me as I dive again, yelping and clawing my back

You are the maddest boy, eating swimsuits, stubby holders,
digging holes, chewing things
stealing my steak from the barby
always running, always the fastest thing
you catch the air
you fly, speed and black hair
noise and energy, and a perfectly still
poised
and focussed gaze

And then we could run together,
and that is what we did ..
Just a bloke and his best mate, going out
running
in the start 5 feet in front looking back, egging me on,
and maybe checking that I was still there as when you get too far
I turn and you have to chase me
and eventually that is the lead that I never need use,
as we run together
and there is nothing
not cats or dogs, the rest of the human race
nor aliens from out of space not man or beast
nothing
can separate a bloke and his mate
running

We move from the beach,
to a cold place, with hills
and snow that you love
and rain
and the girls
who grow,
and we run still
by my side, at my heel, never moving
stride matching stride,

we go out on the Way
from Rowaradennon to Inversnaid
and back
with my mate John and a few others
he doesn't like dogs,
but like everyone he likes you ..
the tree roots don't worry you
it's the goats you smell and want to catch

and things go on
staying the same
and changing
you are no longer beside me
you are 2 out 2 back
but you are still my best boy
you're still having a crack

On Monday this week
we went to the park,
you stopped for a pee
and then ran to join me
you saw a branch of a tree
and tried picking it up
just like you used to
when we were at the sea

So tonight you sleep
I held you as you went
to the beach, from the snow
chasing
running and chasing
head poised in perfectly still
gaze
where's the birds Sam ?
catch them and bring them
from the hills
back to the sea
Go on
Catch them Sam...
You're the best boy...

From A(shes) to B(louse)

So on Monday I had the great pleasure of catching up with the Pirate Dave Waterman, the Lovely Lee, Murdo the Magnificent and Ian the Wise.. A nice little lunch sitting in the sunshine, trading a bit of chat and just having a catch up.. And getting a present and a surprise..

1st one off the block was from MtM - my own version of the sacred urn that the Aussies and Poms have been tussling over for the last few months.. As I was still pretty gutted from the outcome of the weekend, it was a little light relief.. Still bloody hurts though, roll on 2010/2011 !! We'll get them back..


And then we come to the best bit.. Cue The Pirate, at this stage wearing a black zipped up fleece.. Clearly smarting a bit from his pansy like performance and DALBBNFE (Did A Little Bit But Not Fucking Enough) in the Round Strathaven 50 miler on the weekend, he was clearly keen to get my thoughts out in the open and over and done with .. Knowing full well that the Blouse moniker was heading back south he had come prepared. Now the guy is truly a SCPB, but I tell you what, boy does the fella have a great sense of taste, elan and a certain je ne se qua. Sitting in the sunshine on a warm August lunchtime he has singly re-defined the meaning of the word blouse and for this my friends I Salute him !! The tatts, the hairy chest and back, the friendly little man boobs, what a shame he is taken.. In the words of DQ "Marks out of 10 - I'd give him one !"

Enjoy

Training and Motivation

Seems a very hot topic on a lot of blogs of late so without going into the various discussions I thought I would put in my 2 pence worth here. Anyone who is a regular reader of the WHW Race Forum will already know my views and thoughts, as I am always telling people to relax and not get too obsessed with times and distances..

My first Ultra was the WHW of 2002... These days you would not even get an entry form with this sort of 'pedigree' but back then you could still apply in March and get in.. I was working at BP Grangemouth at the time and mentioned to someone that I had always wanted to walk the WHW. As I had done the London Marathon the year before, they knew I ran a bit, and told me about a bloke who ran the whole 95 miles. The bloke was John Kennedy and the rest is history .. Lesson number 1 - never listen to someone who can rationalise a 95 mile race and say - it's only 4 miles an hour average for under 24 ! Lesson number 2 - always have time to listen to someone who has done it before and decide what advice you want to keep.. The one I will always remember from John is "If you get to Kingshouse you WILL finish "

So at this time there was no forum, no real website, scant information.. In some ways this helped, too much information can be quite daunting and you worry if you are not doing enough, haven't got the right shoes, supplement, leg support or t-shirt.. I only did 1 'long' run with John that year - from Kingshouse to Lundavra and return (he ran to the end of Nevis forrest). This was just him and me, I was a rank novice and underfit, yet this did not matter. I would never get near John in a race, but for 6 or 7 hrs, we just plodded on and chatted, and cracked on..

So over the next couple of years, I went on a few more runs and got another goblet. I remember meeting Ian Beattie in Jan or Feb at Falkirk Station for a run with John and others from Rowaradennon to the top of the Loch and back, meeting mad Jim Drummond for the first time going around Queen Elizabeth National Park, John McLaughlan and other notable proper runners. And I learnt a lot, from people faster than me, and those at my pace or slower. I learnt from Ian that where the forestry road turns into track after Rowaradennon is about 45-50 mins, and to look for the concrete block that is less that 500 m from Inversnaid.

And not only in training. I have had the privilege of sweeping the race twice and supporting once, learning all the time. In 2006 (?) I met my Pirate mate, and learnt that it is possible to get lost at Auchtertyre, and no matter how crap you feel and the fact that your knee is going to drop off, you can keep going.. I also learnt how to better read the signs of people who really don't want to be told they are going to get poked with a big stick :-) ! And in this race I spent 3 or 4 hrs with Mad Jim Drummond going across Rannoch Moor, on a cracking still night, listening to his tales of life in the army, and the words of his Sgt Major "The Queen pays you and she wants you to go 40 miles that way and be there in 8 hrs.. The Queen doesn't care how you do it, and she doesn't care if have to stop in the bush and have a little cry, as long as you do as she asks.." Classic.. In 2008 I swept the whole race, and ended up finishing the last 40 or so with Jim Robertson.. 67 years old, doing his 12th race and going through all the ups and downs.. A truly awesome experience.. At 1:45 AM, going up the Devils Staircase, 40-50 mph wind, sleet, rain, dark, cold and we are all getting asked some big questions. I was thinking that they would give us a safety stop at Kinlochleven, and said so to Jim .. "No they won't stop us" was his only reply.. I immediately felt ashamed to have had that thought, and will always remember the big cup of Toughen the Fuck up that I got from this bloke 25 yeats my senior.. Needless to say number 12 was completed by Jim and I was so proud to be with him when we got to Lochaber Leisure Centre after 33 hrs 45 mins, how can a PW also be a PB ??

So what's the point of all of this... It's not only about training and running, at least not for me .. It's about the friendships, about the shared learning.. It's finishing a run in darkness in January with Mags and Jim and Michelle and Gus and Jeannie and John and others and sledging DQ coz his car broke down and having had a cracking day out.... It's about getting mental cues and aids for recovery when you are down in the depths, about taking something from every run, which if you are only set on the goal of beating a time, I don't think you can do .. A bad day running is still far better a day or period of time than most of the world can enjoy, which sort of means there is no such thing as a bad day running . So as a natural extension, a bad period or dip in a run, whatever the distance, is still only a passing and fleeting moment of insignificant discomfort... Best just dry your eyes and have a crack !

Test Cricket - The Ultra Running of Team Sports ?

Been feeling like I should write something for a few weeks, but have been struggling to find the time.. So a quick summary

Went to Birmingham for 5 days of cricket.. Now it is one of the things that I really miss living in Scotland - cricket... I love it ... I can watch football (just), I like rugby and other sports, but cricket is definitely my favorite.. No-one gives a hoot about it up here, it is just one of the crosses I must bare (just as well the hills are good ! )

So every 4 years when the Ashes comes by I make a point of heading down to England to get my fill.. This year (and in 2005) I made my way to Edgbaston in Birmingham for 5 days... People often say "Oh that must be so boring.." ... I have been thinking, and I reckon that test cricket is the Ultra Running of Team Sport.. In these days of instant gratification, of year round football, of penalty shoot outs and now now now results, Test Cricket over 5 days just should not fit in. It takes too long, people can't concentrate for that long can they anymore ? Sound familiar ??

So is it boring ?? Not for a moment.. The tension builds from the very first ball.. You can very rarely win a test in 2 hours... One team can get on top and be seemingly cruising, only for a someone to play an absolute blinder and turn the course of the game.. Each day brings a new challenge... There is always a chance of a turnaround... And best of all, there is beer... And mates... And you can sit there watching the game, having a chat, blowing the froth of a few and relaxing.. No agro, no hassle... Sensational..

And a Test it is.... Not only for the players, but also the spectators..

A standard day saw me wake at 730-8:00 AM and go for a trot with Gaz (K'leven to FW support runner) and my mate over from Oz Peter West.. Westy is 65 but still fit as a fiddle and great company... Not a long run, but 25-20 mins for a great hangover clearing start to the day.. Enter the ground at 9:30 - 10.. First pint at 10 :30 then on it all day... Carlsberg which is very weak, but needs must... After play closes it was out for dinner, then a pub or wherever to get home at around 1:30 ish to get ready for the next day.. When it rained (on the Thursday and Saturday) we either got a taxi into town for a 3hr lunch or went back to the flat to investigate the fridge..

They had these cracking "automatic" beer dispensing machines. The ist day we walked past and at least 1 of them was open at any time getting fixed.. On day 2 they were working... In order to get these "automatic" machines working, they had 1 person at the voucher dispensing unit helping you put your change in, then you handed your voucher to the bloke at the beer unit and he pressed the buttons and within a minute you had your pint.. 3 pints took 3 minutes.. Sensational... An automatic machine that needs 2 people and takes longer to pour a pint that I did to pi55 it out 2 hrs later... I love it !!

So after 5 days, the end result was 1) The Game: A Draw, 2) Subversive Behaviour: Lots !! 3) Runs: 4. 4) Money Spent: Are you kidding - who knows who might read this..

And it is game on again this Thursday in London .. I had a ticket for the Oval but have to pay the bills somehow so sold it to a mate.. He is a pom, so I hope he enjoys the day, but not too much !!

As an aside, cough still giving me grief but have managed a few runs.. My mate has shrugged that blouse off in style so it is currently looking for a new home.. Am toying with going to Strathaven on Sunday.. The idea of a lazy 50 miler and a hug from rhe lovely Lee is very tempting... But I might well be celebrating the Aussie demolition of the Poms so ....

Enjoy