The first month gone.

It's been a great start to the new year with some nice miles put in for January. 10 days after the Hardmoors 30 I met up with Dave Simpson and Benjamin Napier at the start of the John Muir Trail for a Birthday Run on a new trail. The plan was to run the 40 miles from Cockisburn to PrestonPans.

The trail is spectacular in parts, the first 9 miles was just stunning as the Sun came up, It is known as a coastal Trail however I would say only half is coastal and the Trail heads inland and takes you by Rivers and fields and Fields and Fields with some nice little villages and Towns.

The day was about getting out and just Running it didn't really matter how far we went or what the pace was we just plodded along, We met my Family at north berwick and Dave's family was also coming to meet him as he was happy to finish here, Thanks for the Company Buddie, and al pay you back on the 21st of June :-)

                                                                               

Myself and Benjamin carried on, the Sun was out but there was a cold bite to the breeze, Soon we had covered 30 miles my legs had felt great upto then, which I was happy with after Racing hard 10days before, However they started to tighten and a few walk breaks came into play, I continued like this for another 4 miles and Benjamin being a star said he didn't mind calling in the rescue party, as he could see it would be a cold 6 mile walk to the End, As I said 40 would of been nice but I was more than happy just running with 2 running buddies, Thanks again Benjamin and See you out there Soon.

                                                                                  

Also after my Birthday I found out I was unsuccessful in the C.C.C...UTMB race, I was that upset, I jumped straight into the T.D.S race Oooppsss If the C.C.C. scared me the T.D.S terrifies me and excites at the same time it's only a wee bit climbing more and a few Kilometers longer, Shouldn't be a problem ;-)

 Thanks to David Hetherington Our accomadation is all booked (superstar) and my Flights sorted, just need to get Running up some mountains.

                                                                                 

Also I have been running all January in these slippers, The Brooks T7 Racer classed as a 5k-10k Shoe, My choice of road shoe in the past have been Crap, I don't often do allot of roads and the one's a buy are mince, I had been eyeing these up for a while, and Collared fellow ultra runner Paul Houston on a 23 mile off road run and he had these on his feet aslo I ran a muddy 16 with him and he raved about these and he had been upto 30miles with them, I was sold grabbed a pair at £24.99 and Boy these are Fast and Light and there never off my Feet for a 4ml 6-7oz shoe there is bags of cushioning and they can take on the hard stuff as well Oh and they glow in the Dark, these are ruined for 5-10k's  ;-) For all the Geeky info go somewhere else.

Oh one more thing been welcomed Back onto Team Simpson for the WHW Race So some Fun in June.

Onwards to the D33side 33

Safe Runnings

                                                                                

Hardmoors 30 New Years Day Race

For my first race outside Scotland our journey started 9am on Tuesday Hogmanay, our destination for the Race was Whitby, which should of been a 5hrs drive, however driving 50 miles past our turn off and then having a detour through the North Yorkshire Moors, which I may add was a fantastic drive and worth the 1.5hrs detour.

Come Race morning we arrived in ravenscar to a very busy Hall and rather Damp and cold conditions, Once Jon Steele gave us our Brief we lined up and to his count from 4 were off. First I had no idea of the Route so the plan was always follow some one and hope they knew the route, Although there was no fears as the Route was well marked and I even managed to stay on Course ;-)

The first few miles we Ran on top of the cliffs and this was fantastic just looking out over the sea, although you couldn't look to long as it was super muddy and slippy and you had to watch your Foot plant. After this we came out onto a cinder track which we would follow out to whitby, where we turn back and come along the Cleveland way and on the Cliff tops all the way back to Ravenscar.

I had been running well for the first 18-20 miles and holding around a 7.15 pace On nearing Whitby my pace was dropping naturally and then the conditions dropped it dramatically Once up the steps and out onto the Cliff Tops we had around 9 miles of slipping and sliding in a mud Fest, I wouldn't say you Could Run more jog with some Split positions thrown in.

                             

                                       
The Wind and Rain had started to come on Hard and straight at us, However it was still Rather Fun in a sadistic way. Having passed through the last checkpoint and knowing there was around 4.5 miles left it did become a Fight to get to the Finish asap. I was starting to struggle badly with the cold and being soaked through. I had seen my target time vanish however I knew if i kept moving I would still be happy with my Run, I could see Ravenscar up in the distance yes I say Up right in the last mile there is a nasty wet muddy climb, I knew warmth and shelter was at the top, I had only one option it was way to wet and cold to contemplate walking, so with some shouting cursing and almost tears I moved up the climb then up the road and into the Hall and Safe but broken from that last effort.

What can I say Wow what a Race and Route, It has to be one off the most enjoyable Races to date, You finished knowing you had been in a Race and it had everything that could be thrown at you, I must say well done to the Hardmoors 30 Team, all your marshals, Summit Fever and all the other Runners who toed the start line I hope you got what you wanted out of your Race in some Lovely Conditions. I will make the not So long Journey next year for sure :-)

Next week also brings another wee special Birthday run, which is another coastline Run hope the weather is a little Kinder.

500ml of High Five Endurance

4 High Five Gels

Adiddas xt4's

18th Place

4hrs 53mins :-)

Safe Runnings