My West Highland Way race report

[Tim]

Well, I've been up since 4:00 am scribbling away (couldn't sleep) and spreading my tale far and wide. It seemed selfish to leave you lot out. ;-)

Hope you enjoy the report.

http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/whw2005report.htm

Tim

[Bierzo Baggie]

Wot? You ran the West Highland Way!!!! Wow....I must introduce you to my mate Basurko!
Congratulations and....congratulations. Did you fall asleep on your feet at any point?

[Sweder]

And there I was, whinging about heat fatigue on a 12 mile lope!
Excellent report, Tim. Yes, definately 25th out of 88, no question.
Congratulations.

[Tim]

Wot? You ran the West Highland Way!!!! Wow....I must introduce you to my mate Basurko!
Congratulations and....congratulations. Did you fall asleep on your feet at any point?

Strangely enough, I never felt sleepy at all. The sleep deprivation turned out to be a complete non-issue.

Now this could have been because the two nights prior to the race I had stayed up late (to 4 am and 5 am) and tried to lie in the following morning, but the lie-ins never really worked (I'm just useless at lying in). All that happened was that I arrived at the race start having lost about 8 hours sleep over those two days. Not the best preparation!

I think the combination of adrenaline and endorphines just buoyed me along.

[Tim]

And there I was, whinging about heat fatigue on a 12 mile lope!
Excellent report, Tim. Yes, definately 25th out of 88, no question.
Congratulations.

Much as I would have liked to be 25th, it was actually 35th.

Many thanks all the same.

Tim

[El Gordo]

Fantastic report, Tim, and an incredible achievement. I just can't get my head around a 95 mile race. Just astonishing. I felt knackered just reading about it. Very, very impressed. And there I was, ducking out of my 7 mile run at the weeknd because it was too hot.... I'm feeling chastised.

Out of interest, have you tried any of the long races talked about in Feet In The Clouds?

[Tim]

Fantastic report, Tim, and an incredible achievement. I just can't get my head around a 95 mile race. Just astonishing. I felt knackered just reading about it. Very, very impressed. And there I was, ducking out of my 7 mile run at the weeknd because it was too hot.... I'm feeling chastised.

Out of interest, have you tried any of the long races talked about in Feet In The Clouds?

Thanks Andy. I know that when you stop and think about it, 95 miles seems utterly inconceivable but when you're actually doing it, you don't think of it like that. It was a big help having done the Devil O the Highlands race last year (Tyndrum to Fort William) and having done training runs over much of the more southern stretches. As I said, my longest training run was only 27 miles so it just goes to prove you don't have to run mega-milage to finish one of these races.

The trick is to learn to run very slowly indeed. Once you've mastered that, the world is your edible bivalve. ;-)

Much as I'd like to, I've never run any races south of the border apart from the London marathon. Don't feel quite ready for the Bob Graham round, well at least not this coming weekend. ;-)

[Riazor Blue]

Well done Tim. That's one hell of a long way. Fantastic report, I can almost feel your knee, the cold, the rain...

[Tim]

Bierzo, Sweder, Andy, Riazor, thank you all for your kind comments. I can't pretend to write as well as Andy say, but I'm glad that so many people have enjoyed my report.

One reader has apparently printed it out and left it at his dentist's for others to read!

I'm sure that you, Andy, could write a much better report. You've cracked the running slowly bit so you more that halfway to being an ultra runner. ;-) Go on, you know you want to do it really!

Tim

[El Gordo]

Well, there are many ways of writing a good report, Tim. I don't think race reports should be judged in the same way as most other pieces of writing. There are at least 7 or 8 people who contribute here who (in my view) write exceptionally well, even though there's a huge variety in style. It's not all about 'wordsmithing' and being creative with the language - though those things are always interesting. It's about conveying the excitement and the pain and all those other things, and your report did that. Your writing is a lot more understated than mine, but that can be really effective when describing something like a 95 mile race as it serves to emphasise the achievement. And take the stuff from our Spanish correspondents. The description of the characters, the food, the terrain make these compelling on their own, even without the actual wordplay.

As for the chances of me doing something like this race, I must confess that these words were very encouraging: "The trick is to learn to run very slowly indeed". If that's the case, I shouldn't have much trouble....

Seriously, I have the big 50 arriving in a couple of years time, and it has occurred to me that it could be a good long-term goal to aim for something like the Comrades marathon (a famous 56 mile race in South Africa, for those who've not heard of it). I'll have to think about it some more. I can't believe I'd ever start doing these things as a matter of habit, but certainly it would be good to have a crack at one of them sometime.

Do keep us up-to-date.

[Tim]

Andy, if I may make a suggestion, I think the Comrades marathon wouldn't be a wise first choice for an ultra event.

It's one on my to-do list but if I believe it's nearly all on road and that is *much* harder on the body than an equivalent length trail race. In fact, given how much more I enjoy running on trails, it might well get scored off my to-do list now.

[El Gordo]

I think the Comrades marathon wouldn't be a wise first choice for an ultra event.

Phew!

[stillwaddler]

I stand in absolute awe of anyone who can even contemplate such ultra runs. Thoroughly enjoyed your report Tim, hope you didn't do any lasting damamge to your knee.

B*oody well Done

[Tim]

I stand in absolute awe of anyone who can even contemplate such ultra runs. Thoroughly enjoyed your report Tim, hope you didn't do any lasting damamge to your knee.

B*oody well Done

Thanks. I sincerely hope I've not wrecked my knee too!

Touch wood, I've never had any knee trouble so this was a bit of a bolt out of the blue for me. Still, I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Trouble is, it will always be at the back of my mind that it could spring a surprise again some time in the future. I'd hate to have to do the WHW with my knee playing up again! ;-)

[Yorkshire Plodder]

Well done Tim, and great report. After reading that I'm beginning to feel a bit pathetic worrying about having a go at 26 miles!! Hope the knee's beginning to feel better. What have you got planned next, or are you taking a very long, well deserved rest?

[Tim]

The knee's a lot better thanks. My physio reckons it pretty well has to have been a cartilage problem (bad) but the good news is that I've no residual swelling or tenderness (good) so it could either have been a very small tear or a bit of buckling or folding of the cartilage.

Certainly nothing like bad enough to scope. My more immediate worry is my dented shin which has developed a bit of a haematoma that may be infected (my immune system just isn't what it used to be). I'm on antibiotics now so fingers crossed that it settles soon.

I've decided to take a full month off running (my first planned rest from running ever) which I'm quite looking forward to. Normally not running drives me crazy but having made it a "planned rest" it's not bothering me. After that, who knows? I vaguely recall entering the Ben Nevis hill race many moons ago and if I'm fit enough I'll give that a go in September. My better half wants to do the Platex Moonwalk marathon in 2006 (which is the same date as the WHW) so I won't have another crack at the WHW till 2007. Plenty of time to train if you want to join me! ;-)

Don't feel guilty about worrying about 26 miles. *Any* distance can be scary if it's a race.