Montane Highland Fling Pics
The Fling was not something I was thinking about running until Sarah talked me round some months ago. With not much training under my belt due to injury I still felt optimistic. Two weeks ago I ran the Highlander Mountain Marathon coming in 5th on the A class, and no sign of the injury, so I thought ok lets go for a good time in the Fling. I set my sights on sub 9 hours and worked out what splits I'd need to achieve that. Hoping for a rainy overcast day, as I don't do well in the heat, I was pleasantly surprised by the rainy start at 0400 on Saturday morning, this was not to last. After waving Sarah, Ann and Ross off at the 0600 start and Stevie B away at 0700, it was my turn at last.
With stomach churning in trepidation of the 53 miles that lay ahead and the pace I was aiming to set, the race got under way, before I knew it I was running with the leading pack flying through Mugdock park and on our way to Drymen, averaging 7.3 min/miles. Conic hill flew past and on the descent I could feel my quads complaining which I wasn't expecting until at least half way. Checkpoint at Balmaha, fill up bottles, stock up on gels and banana cake, crack on ! No time to waste. The next section is a good trail but pretty undulating and I found it tough going. Thinking about nothing other than the next checkpoint I was just focusing on maintaining the pace, lots of encouragement from the vets as I passed really helped keep the momentum. It was good to hear Claire, Julia and Andrew's familiar shouts of encouragement as I approached Rowardennan and the half way point in just under 4hrs.
Quads were v.sore now and it was hot, not a good combination, and I was only half way. Focus, think only about the next checkpoint, this was what I kept telling myself. One foot in front of the other, off I go. Maintain the pace but don't go mad up the hills. The next bit is a quad killer and mine were already dead. I struggled over boulders and up down steep slopes trying to get to Beinglas in around 6.5 hrs, but I could see this was not going to happen. Finally Beinglas appeared after what seemed an eternity and I could see Sarah waving at me from the checkpoint. She was about to leave but waited while I grabbed some food and we set off together on the final leg. Running now was truly a painful experience, and I managed a walk/run over the last 13 miles. The heat was cranked up full now and the lack of wind didn't help. I reached the finish line feeling quite emotional and also very sick. The heat had taken it's toll and my legs could no longer function as nature intended. I was a mess. Over 10 hours of running and an hour over my target. Sarah on the other hand had paced it well and made the ceilidh in the evening while I had no choice but to lye down in the tent and drink water all night.
Would I do it again ? Maybe, I'd still like to get sub 9.
