If you want to get a head................

Get a hat!

Ultra running trend setter Andy Cole has taken sartorial elegance to a new level by sporting a very fetching flat cap during his outings into the wilds of the British countryside. Andy claims it has numerous benefits including thermal, waterproof and UV protection qualities as well as being rather dashing!

This got me thinking as to what other types of headwear may be suitable for my own race calendar this year. There is clearly a desire to gain some technical advantage by the correct selection of headwear but perhaps we should go further and try and celebrate and embrace the cultural associations that go along with the relevant race.

Here are some suggestions:

The Mighty Deerstalker - bit of an obvious one here and, considering the type of race, of no practical use other than allowing you to blend in with the other 999 people wearing the same thing.

The Highland Fling - This race presents a number of options, some of which are perhaps more obvious than others. The race is understandably proud of it's Scottish roots and and prides itself on its informal approach so I would suggest the following:

Note the extended peak and rear neck protection to prevent excessive exposure to the frequently experienced suuny conditions on this race.

The red "bobble" providing easy identification for waiting support crews and the added ability to blend in seamlessly with the groups of young chaps enjoying the outdoor camping life at Salloch Bay.

West Highland Way Race - a surprising selection for this race but one which I think you will agree is perfect for any prevailing weather conditions that you may experience:

The wide brim provides excellent protection from rain, hail, sleet, snow and sun - all of which can be experienced within the duration of the race. Perhaps, it's biggest benefit however; and I'm quite pleased with this; is midge protection! Anyone who has experienced the joy of passing through Balmaha or Rowardennan in the wee small hours of mid-summer morning will appreciate the benefit that this form of fashion accessory will provide

Clydestride - this is a new race that follows the clyde walkway from Partick in the west end of Glasgow to New Lanark. The race presents some notable cultural challenges and the ability to blend in with ones environment should be considered a high priority when passing through the East End of Glasgow. I think I have come up with the ideal solution however that provides both practical and cultural solutions:

It is imperative however that when sporting this particular fashion accessory you ensure that your camelback is refilled with the appropriate isotonic replacement drink of choice. I understand that Achilles Heel and Run-4-it are able to order in the requisite quantites of Buckfast.

Finally, some local jargon may assist your passage through this tricky race route with phrases such as:

"How you, ya fanny, geez a sook o yer ginger!" or "I can see yer baws in they shorts!"

Speyside Way Race - this is my first venture onto this race and one I am very much looking forward to. The choice of hat is a tricky one but given the nature of the location I would sugest the following as an ideal choice:

There is ample space to attach your flies as one of the principal rules of this race is that you must catch your own food en-route. The welcome waters of the river spey will give ample opportunity to ensure a plentiful supply of salmon although the accompanying Ghillie may be deemed to be illegal support on this particular event.

So there you have it - your perfect hat choice for this seasons races. Whilst I cannot hope to follow in the fashionable steps of Andy Cole, I hope I have gone some way towards helping my fellow runners in this difficult process.

On a final note, should your budget not stretch to race-specific head gear and you are looking for one hat that can cover every eventuality, I can do no better than suggest this:

I know - there's no need to thank me.

Montane Highland Fling

Saturday saw me running my third consecutive Highland Fling and my fastest yet (by a whole 6 minutes!)

I set off in the second wave consisting of all the male vets. The older vets and ladies had set off an hour earlier and the young guys were to set off an hour after me. I had no real race plan other than the loose targets in my previous post, but as I headed out of Milngavie and through the woods I felt comfortable and was looking forward to the day ahead.

My early pace was a bit quicker than planned and I reached Drymen in just under two hours. I ran straight through and as I joined the forest drive at the top of the path I was joined ny Ian Rae and Keith Hughes. We chatted away with some good banter all the way up conic hill at a pace that was a bit quicker than I had planned but the company was good and the running felt fine.

Keith picked up his drop bag at Balmaha and kept walking whereas I stopped to eat and had a quick chat with Ian Beattie. I thought that would be the last I saw of Keith but we kept crossing each other all the way to Beinglas.

I always hate the section from Balmaha to Rowardennan and I was determined this year to try and get there feeling ok. I kept the head down and plodded on and about 2 miles before I got there I was passed by the eventual race leader who had started an hour after me! Rowardennan arrived and whilst I wasn't feeling great I was OK and after a quick refuel I was on my way again.

I quite enjoy the lochside section and despite the growing fatigue, I kept a steady pace and arrived at Inversnaid tired but pleased to be 33 miles in with 20 to go.

I suffered my first batch of cramp as I stepped over the rocks and roots of the next section and cried out in pain as a knot the size of a golf ball formed in my right hamstring. I managed to stretch it out and I was able to get going again but I was concerned that this was the start of a repeat of last year. I had been taking "s" caps regularly so far but the clear skies and warm sun meant I had been sweating hard and clearly hadn't been replacing enough salt.

The cramp seemed to stay away however and I plodded on towards Beinglas where I would meet up with Pete (my father-in-law) and my two boys. This gives me a huge mental boost and allowed me to swap my long sleeved Helly Hansen top for a short sleeved one. I left Beinglas feeling ok but very wary about the constant flickering of my hamstrings, calfs and quads all of which threatened to go into a cramping spasm any moment.

13 miles to go now so I knew I was going to make it. I had been on my 11 hour schedule up till now but I knew from past experience that this next section is where the wheels can come off - and they did. The threatened cramps now started to appear and I had to adopt a curious straight legged shuffle to avoid too many bouts. I had been running with a guy called Liam since Beinglas and we had chatted away quite happily. As I started to slow up Liam pulled away and I thought he had gone for good but as I turned a corner I saw him lying on the grass by the side of the track trying to stretch out a cramping muscle. I clearly wasn't the only one suffering today!

Up and over the roller coaster hills above Crianlarich and I'm telling myself that I'm almost home - "just a 10k to go - come on Graeme!" I push on, running when I can, walking when I can't and have a brief strong spell coming out of the woods and into Auchtertyre. I meet my support crew briefly and then decide to push on and give it all I've got to the finish in Tyndrum.

I emerge out of the woods into Tyndrum and can see the finish arch ahead. As I pass the piper 100 yards from the finish, I have to stop again to stretch out my cramping muscles but then finish with a smile in 11 hours 16 mins in 113th place (out of about 350)

As I sup my cold bottle of Coors and chat to many familiar faces waiting at the finish, the memories of the pain and suffering are already starting to fade but then I look across the road to the West Highland Way path as it heads up the valley towards Bridge of Orchy and think to myself "only another 42 miles to go!"

Pre-Fling Thoughts

Saturday sees me taking part in my first Ultra of the season with the Montane Highland Fling. A 53 mile trail race following the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Tyndrum. I'm starting to get that wonderful pre-race feeling of exitement, fear and anticipation as the day gets closer.
I don't have a particularly detailed race plan but given that this is my 3rd running of the event I have had a chance to consider some problems that have dogged me in the past and hopefully, I will avoid on the day. So, in no particular order, here are some thoughts, targets etc.

• Start off slow
• Take "s" caps every hour to prevent a repeat of last years cramp
• Drink a little and often
• Eat a little and often
• Get to Rowardennan feeling good (never managed this so far!)
• If I have to walk; walk fast!
• My main goal is just to finish, but I would like to get close to 11 hours and so my splits would work out roughly: Drymen 2hrs, Balmaha 3hrs 15 mins, Rowardennan 5hrs, Inversnaid 6hrs 40mins, Beinglas 8hrs 25mins, Auchtertyre 10hrs 25mins, Tyndrum 11hrs.
• Enjoy the event

That's kind of it really. I don't want to overanalyse every aspect of the race as I'd rather just set off and deal with how I feel on the day. There has been a lot of talk on various blogs about different pace strategies with scatter graphs, percentages, in depth analysis and comments. I'm sure this is all very important and interesting if you're up there contesting the podium positions but for all the rest of us it all seems a bit anal and unnecessary. Just get your gear on and go and run and don't forget to smile occassionally, it definately helps.

So for everyone else who is running on Saturday - the best of luck and don't eat all the stovies at the finish before I get there. If you're not running - get your gutties on and get out there, you've got just over 12 months to be ready!

Up till that point I had been feeling pretty pleased with myself!

Easter Sunday brought the usual family commitments what with hiding easter eggs, finding easter eggs, not finding the easter eggs that I had hidden half an hour before and preparing for a meal time visit from my parents, so my long run had to be squeezed in to it's usual early morning slot.
I decided to drive up to Gartmore and run from there over to Balmaha and back. A total of 20 miles with the added bonus of a couple trips up and over Conic Hill. I set off at 7:00am and was feeling quite spritely as I trotted along the road and then up through the forest behind Drymen before the first ascent of Conic Hill. One or two little patches of snow left but nothing much and I slid my way down the wet grass before the lovely little downhill section through the trees to the car park at Blamaha.
I arrived in good shape having really enjoyed the run so far and munched on a Hot Cross Bun and Jam (it was Easter after all!) before heading back from whence I came.
The second ascent of Conic Hill was a breeze and I was up and over dancing my way down the river bed that masquerades as a footpath on the other side of the hill. By the time I got to the bottom, I decided to step up the pace as I was feeling comfortable and wanted to push myself a bit. I continued this pace all the way down to Drymen, passing hoards of walkers going the opposite way with a cheery, "morning!", "morning!", "hiya!", "morning!", "morning!"
I crossed the main road at Drymen and was heading across the field to join the road back to Gartmore when I spotted Ritchie Cunningham and another runner coming in the opposite direction. We stopped for a quick chat:

R - "Hi, have you been far?"

Me - "No just over to Balmaha and back but I'm going really well today. How about you, where are you heading?"

R - "Tyndrum"

Me - "Whoa , good for you"

R - "Then Fort William tomorrow"

Me - " Really?!"

R - "Then back again over the next two days"

Me - " "

R - "See you then, have a good run"

Me - "Yeah, you too"

So there you go - just when I was starting to feel like I was going well, along comes Ritchie to put it all into perspective - Thanks Ritchie!

Not too dispondent, I pushed on and finished my last couple of miles at breakneck speed before reaching my car and heading home. I did console myself however with the thought that as I was sitting there supping my first of several glasses of Tempranillo later that day, Ritchie would have been battling with the cow shit just past Derrydaroch - at that brief moment I did feel slightly more pleased with myself!

The Mighty Deerstalker

Saturday saw my fourth running of this slightly off-the-wall event based at Traquair in the Scottish Borders. A beautiful sunny day meant that the start was delayed by 20 mins to ensure we experienced some night time running later in the race so at 5:45pm 1,500 of us set off up the grassy avenue of Traquair House and within 100 yards encountered the hay bale hurdle - the first of many obstacles we were to encounter.

Having run this several times before, I knew the key was to start fast to ensure you didn't get caught up in the bottleneck of runners formed at some of the later obstacles. I was feeling good and ran the first section well and comfortably (I think someone had been dredging the "pond" as what had previously been a waist high water feature was now chest high!). Up the long climb before a mad descent down the mountainbike trail of hairpins and jumps and through the forest into the catch nets by the road.

After a spectaular head over heels just before the nets I was laughing with guy behind me when this picture was taken.

Onwards and along by the river before descending into said river for 300 yards of upstream wading before emerging onto the muddy bank and heading for the main climb of the day up the scree covered side of the hill. Over the top and over a log bridge before once again, plunging down hill through the forrest in the fading light. One particular section of muddy bank was so steep, they provided ropes to help you down - I preferred the "bum-slide" method!

Another river crossing:

and then back through Innerleithen and the finish at Traquair (with a few more tunnels / rivers etc. just for fun!)

I finished 92nd out of about 1500 but to be honest, the placing and time is irrelevant. I was running well within myself and just set out to enjoy the day. It's a great atmosphere and a really fun event and so there is no pressure on you for times or pb's.

I changed into some dry clothes and shivered my way through an excellent plate of haggis neeps 'n tatties before getting back into my car for the journey home. As I left the field I looked up to see a trail of head torches still snaking their way up the hill I had battled with 1.5 hours earlier. There would be some very weary, wet and cold stragglers out there for a while yet. See you next year!

Sticks and Stones (twice)

My first ultra of the season is now only 5 weeks away and I'm starting to panic! I've been putting in some regular sessions but nothing of any great distance so, yesterday, I decided to take a day off and run out from Rowardennan to Beinglas Farm and back - a distance of 28 miles.
I have run this section many times before and so I knew what the stretch from Inversnaid to the top of the loch was like but I've never done an out and back over it. The run out was fine and I was skipping over the rocks, roots and trees quite happily although feeling the effects by the time I reached the Doune Bothy. A quick stop at Beinglas Farm for a pot of beans and I turned and headed back the way I had come.
It puts a whole different perspective on this stretch running it backwards (not literally!) and the constant clambering up and down and around was starting to take its toll on my weary legs so I was delighted to see the Inversnaild Hotel coming into view once more. Another brief stop and a marmalade roll (food of the gods) and I set off on the last stretch along the lochside to Rowardennan. I'll not pretend it was easy - coz it wasn't. I was relieved to finally emerge back in the car park 5hrs 50 mins after I left with some concerns over my ability to do the same again plus another 25 miles in a few weeks time - still a complete lack of preparation, ability and talent has never stopped me before!

My legs feel ok today which is just as well as Saturday sees me running my first race of the year - The Mighty Deerstalker. This will be the fourth time I've run this race and I know some people don't like it but 2,000 of us seem to turn up each year so they must be doing something right! It's billed as 10k and a bit but that "bit" is actually another 5k. The route takes in river crossings, tree bridges, culverts and lots of mud and is timed so that the later stages are run in the dark. All good wholesome fun!
The last few years, the whole family have come along to support and we've stayed in a local hotel afterwards. This year however - as my dog has very selfishly broken her leg and is confined to her crate, I'm going down with my eldest son and one of his pals and driving home after the finish - That post race beer may have to wait slightly longer this year!

My feet are a pain in the arse!

No, I really mean my feet are an actual pain in the arse! I have discovered over the years that in certain biomechanical areas, I was not designed for running. There has been much talk over recent months about the return to "barefoot" running as this was how we are meant to run - back to our pre-historic roots of chasing antelope until they fall over!!!

I would contest this however as my own personal experience suggests some form of full enclosure, bomb proof cushioning is the only way forward.

I have always been blessed (cursed?) with big flat feet. I remember fondly getting my first pair of Doc Martins (8 holes - I wasn't allowed the 13 hole ones :( ) when I was a spotty 13 year old in 2nd year at school and at size 11, it prompted my new nick name of "Angle Bracket Reid". Not exactly snappy and cool but none the less, descriptive and, when coupled with my Levis which had been taken in to allow people to see how much change I had in my pocket, frighteningly accurate!

My feet haven't actually got any bigger since then. I still have size 11's but over the years, anything that once resembled some form of arch has been gradually beaten down to leave me with the fine specemins I have today.


For the most part, my running is largely unaffected by this attribute, indeed, small holes and gulleys are easily bridged and I was able to run across the surface of the recent deep snow without the thigh deep immersions of my running buddies. However, as the distances increase and my fatigue grows I find the effort of lifting my feet over rocks and boulders harder and harder until I find myself tripping and stubbing my toes continuously.

This is where the whole barefoot running thing falls apart for me and what I need is something more suited to my needs;

Alternatively, I could look at another pastime where my feet are consideed to be an asset. So watch this space. If you tune in to the winter olympics over the next week or so and hear talk of the introduction of barefoot ski-jumping in 2014 - you'll know where it came from!