It's been over a week since I ran the Highland Fling now, and most of the aches and pains both mental and physical have subsided, so I figured it was time to pour myself a strong one and get all this out of my head.
I had run the Devil O' The Highlands in August and it had been properly hard. I think it took more from me than I cared to admit. Some things happened to me beyond the end of the race; I continued to lose weight for a couple of weeks and I had a few days of really low mood.
Later that month, I was at Glenmore Lodge for my Summer Mountain Leader Training where I was fed to the gunnels every single day and that seems to have sorted out my weight loss issues. To quote one of my friends, I was no longer looking like "the gable end of a £5 note". I still enjoyed the race though and despite the issues, I actually really wanted to get back to it again.
Autumn came around and nice, light evenings disappeared. With no races planned other than Tinto at the beginning of November, I had nothing to train for, but I kept it up, maintaining about 40km a week over the Winter.
In December, entries opened for the Highland Fling and I was pretty keen, but I missed the deadline. I just applied for the waitlist and in early January, I was notified that I had a place. All 4 of us who completed the Devil had applied and been successful, so it was game on!
I started increasing my distance again, to a minimum of 50k a week, but within the first 2 weeks of January, I caught COVID and was laid low for a few days and lost pretty much a full week. However, by the end of January, I was feeling much better and agreed to join Al on a 48k training run from Balmaha to Inversnaid and back. We had great conditions but within the last couple of miles I started to experience the tingles and light-headedness that plagued me during the Devil. I ended that day feeling quite concerned that there was no way I could manage a further 36km.
I needed to see someone professional about this and I was recommended Emma at Fuelwise Nutrition, so I went along to see her for some advice on how to enjoy the race a bit better and end strong.
I won't go into a lot of details, but let's just say the amount of hot cross buns in my freezer was a running joke between my colleagues and I. Emma really helped me understand what was going on and what I needed to eat and drink before, during and after the race. She also gave me the tools to sort things out when it didn't go to plan and that proved to be absolutely invaluable.
Race day was fast approaching and I'd been training well - frequently getting out up to 45km and really enjoying being out in the wilds of Scotland in late winter and early spring. Quite often, I'd be using the West Highland Line as a way to get to places and that just made everything feel like a proper adventure. Nutrition practice was going well and I'd added some weights into my training too.
This time, I wanted to raise some money - two of my Explorer girls are heading to Roverway in Norway this year, so I had set up a JustGiving page and I ran the whole race in a 30th Glasgow neckie.
The day before race day, I took the afternoon off to get some last-minute anniversary things sorted (race day was on our anniversary). It also gave me time to consume the huge lunch that was in my plan.
That evening I waited for Ellie and Al at the station and we had dinner at mine, then headed off to the Burnbrae in Milngavie to get registered. We bumped into Will and Kat who were in a campsite nearby. Once all that was sorted, it was back home and then fairly quickly, all went off to bed. Pepper was confused by the early night, but took advantage of it.
I was up at 0400, then we all had breakfast. Everyone was feeling nervous about the day ahead, but we knew we had to get that porridge down us otherwise it was going to be a very short race! We arrived in a very cold Milngavie quite early, dropped our bags and the nerves started to turn to excitement.
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| Team Dayshape, ready to take on another Ultra |
At 0545, it was time for the race briefing, and then into our pens and then we were off, running through Milngavie and leaving the city way behind us. As we hit Craigallian Loch, the mist was rising off it into the warming air. By Stockiemuir the sun was well up and the views over to the Ben and the Trossachs were stunning, with blue skies above us.
We split up somewhere around Gartness and then I was ahead at Drymen, where my friend Andy appeared to say hello.
It was getting hot as we entered Garadhban forest, where the roads were a bit wider. I put some factor 50 on, but I think it sweated off fairly quickly. I was really enjoying this section, I could see over to the back of Duncolm in the Kilpatricks and was already amazed at how far I'd come.
Conic hill was the next big push, and it was pretty warm, but I could hear a cuckoo in the glen and I was feeling good! The descent was harder. I could head someone shout "save your quads". Probably a good call. I stuck my sunnies on and headed down, not going too hard. Will and Al joined just at the end and we headed into the Balmaha checkpoint together. I faffed a bit too much and maybe lost some time here. The next section seemed to go on a while, but it was good, runnable trail and I was with Al and Will for a lot of it. Rowardennan happened quickly, with a quick stop for water and then it was the relentless grind up the High Road. Al pushed hard here and was out of sight quite quickly.
I was pushing on for Inversnaid and really enjoying that bit of terrain in the lead up to it. 54km in and I had a train of about 6 behind me, no one wanting to overtake and someone behind me even said "mate, your foot placement is amazing, keep doing that!". What a compliment as a runner! However, I think that was pushing me too hard. With 1km to go to Inversnaid, I got the tingles. This exactly what I had been trying to avoid. I was light headed too, so I stopped, let everyone pass and reached for the dextrose. That worked for me and I made it into Inversnaid where I knew Andy was waiting for me. I took ages here, partly to give me enough confidence to press on, but also I knew what lay ahead. But I think it was a good idea. I needed to run my own race, and getting psyched up for it was what I needed to do. Andy checked in on me and if he hadn't, I might have just bailed then.
Will passed through in that time and Ellie arrived just as I was about to leave. Good to know that everyone was still intact and fighting on. It was a hard slog from Inversnaid, time just slipped away and I just kept worrying that I might crash again. I had started on jelly babies but struggling to eat. At one point it took me 6 minutes to consume 3 jelly babies.
Ellie appeared and we ran together for a good part of this. I was quiet because I was just worrying about the blood sugar crash. When I said that to Ellie she said "Ross, it's going to be fine". That was a turning point, because I knew I could get out of this if it happened again. The pace was low and things were starting to hurt but just grind it out to Beinglas and see how things are there.
Beinglas came with a heavy shower. People were sat on chairs under the tent looking defeated. I refuled and pressed on feeling ok. Not great, but tolerable. The track between here and Bogle Glen is another grind, feeling like a lot of uphill. I knew everyone was ahead of me but I knew my Explorers were waiting for me at the end.
I stopped and sat down at Bogle Glen - I needed more fuel so I filled up on coke and started popping some dextrose. Within a few minutes, I was feeling great! 11km to go!
I could see Ellie up ahead and it was not going well for her at this point. She was in a lot of pain, but she insisted I press on, and there was nothing I could do. I made it to the road crossing and then along the fairly flat stretch into Tyndrum. In the last 2km, I popped more dextrose, drank all the coke I could and pushed to be ready for a big finish. I popped my sunnies on - partly to look cool and partly to hide the tears, and then I could see my Explorers at the last corner waiting for me.
They all started shouting, yes! This was going to be amazing. I ran up that red carpet and high fived the hands of some familiar faces, then it was over the line, punch the dibber for the final time and see everyone.
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| Crossing the line! |
Isa was there for me too, so I got to her first, then saw all my Explorers and the banner and it was all a bit emotional!
I got all my Explorers together for a finishers photo:
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| The troops(with Ross face masks) |
I caught up with everyone else that was there, then had a shower, got some soup and Isa and I got a lift from Caroline back to Milngavie to pick up the car.
Anniversary dinner was at McDonalds in Milngavie, and then home to the deluge of messages.
I was on my bike the next day, running again by Tuesday and Al and I ran Arthur's Seat on Thursday, so recovery was remarkably quick. I am still eating a lot but haven't lost any weight.
I didn't have the low mood this time - and I do wonder if the improved diet has something to do with that.
What next is the thing that people keep asking me. I don't know yet, but I quite like the 50km distance, so maybe something around that distance, but perhaps with more ascent? I'll see, but for now I'm going to enjoy the summer and get out on some hills.
Distance: 85.76km
Ascent: 2,099m
Time: 12h 35m
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