It was totally down to me – and hydration – at least lack of it. I used to get bad headaches/sickness from not drinking enough (water that is – not beer!).  I thought I’d learned my lesson and it’s a long time since I’ve been completely knocked out by it – till yesterday…and still feeling the effects today.

So lesson learnt. Hopefully I’ll remember it. A blip in the marathon training but there should still be enough weeks left for a few more decent long runs.

In the meantime I have devised my own Neolithic Half Marathon, a 13 mile route which takes in some Neolithic rock carvings on a mound near to where I live. Not quite sure what Neolithic man would make of Garmins and GPS navigation and running for fun. But I love looking at the rock carvings and cup marks and marvelling at their existence over thousands of years and the connections they represent with the past and speculating as to their meaning.

Today however I did not linger speculating for too long as in true Scottish summer fashion, it started raining.

Neolithic rock carvings

Neolithic rock carvings

]]> http://www.technotrotter.org/2009/07/my-neolithic-half-marathon/feed/ 0 http://www.technotrotter.org/2009/07/good-for-the-soul/ http://www.technotrotter.org/2009/07/good-for-the-soul/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:22:18 +0000 TechnoTrotter http://www.technotrotter.org/?p=490 Had another wonderful hill run on Saturday. Another beautiful day weather wise – sunny with a bit of breeze – just one of those days when it’s good to be alive. Taking in the views from the tops, the purple heather starting to come into bloom in the pass and swans on the reservoir near the end – it was just a run that was good for the soul. There’s not much else to say. Distance approx 10 miles.

View from South Black Hill

Heather coming into bloom

Reservoir view

The weather was near perfect – sun with a breeze – was glad I’d remembered to apply some sun cream, and everywhere looked lovely.

I find the hill runs such a different experience from road running. I love the variance of pace. On the long road runs I can get fixated with maintaining or achieving a certain pace and can spend most of the time watch watching. On the hills, at the moment certainly, pace is not an issue. Getting to the top of uphill sections without expiring is the goal and then enjoying the downhill and flatter sections where I can stretch out and go a bit faster. There is also not the same mental challenge of coping with monotony as there is in the LSRs on the road. In fact, I extended my planned route today because I was enjoying it so much.

As to how far I went, I’m not sure until I can persuade hubby that a Garmin 405 would make a lovely (late) birthday present or (early) Xmas present! Armed with string, a ruler and a Harveys map I reckon somewhere 10 – 11 miles.

I was testing my new Camelbak FlashFlo waist pack for the first time and after a slight readjustment we were off. I can only say I know why people can get addicted to running in the hills. There was just no comparison between this run and one done on pavements. The hills were swathed in golden evening light, the moon appeared in a cloudless blue sky with the trees silhouetted against it and there was peace.

We covered 7.5 miles taking into West Kip, East Kip and Scald Law. Yes, I had to walk on the steeper bits and my downhill technique is sadly lacking (or completely non-existent might be more honest) but these things can be worked on and improved. For the present I drank in the surroundings, the fresh air, the stillness, and loved every minute of it.

Today I got back into the Pentland Hills for the first time in ages. All the training for the Lochaber marathon in April was done on roads. (I trained for my first Dublin marathon mostly in the hills and really felt it when I had to do 26.2 miles on tarmac – so I learned my lesson that my long marathon training runs needed to be done on pavements).

Anyhow, I realised today how much I’d missed the hills – even when the rain came on (as it seems to do a lot at the moment) it was so much nicer than running in streets in the rain with cars flying past. There is no monotony in the hills. The hills mean real freedom – for me the freedom to plod on and push myself that bit more and, as I look round at the higher hills, consider what challenges I can aim for in the future.

Entitled “Hanging Tough – having a long hard think can help you through a long hard run”, it grabbed my attention in light of my near-exit from the Lochaber marathon a week previously.

I still feel sick in the pit of my stomach thinking about how I would have felt afterwards if I had given up. And realising that I’m not as tough as I should be and just how important mental toughness is in keeping going.

As John Shepherd says in the article ” Whatever distance you run, the tougher your mind, the better your performance.” The article continues “Mental toughness is not a standalone quality though. It comes from being physically fit, confident and motivated. It’s not just about overcoming pain.”

The good news is that you can train yourself to be mentally tough although, as the article points out, the bad news is that the best way to learn mental toughness is through tough experiences.

• train well
• train hard (sometimes)
• train for yourself – intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic benefits
• talk to yourself – at the hardest part of the run
• find help if you need it

I’m afraid the shorts have been consigned to the bottom drawer again and instead I had to dig out the old tracksters again – plus windproof jacket as it was a howling gale out there today – with the odd shower thrown in for good luck!

At one point I was hardly moving – arms pumping vigourously, legs going but not really moving forward at all. Oh the joys of spring.

It was the hardest going of the long runs I have done for this marathon training – probably a mixture of the weather, the fact it was less than a week since my last long run and just an accumulation of the miles. The legs were certainly feeling it by the last few miles but it was a good mental challenge in keeping going even when it got tough.

Now it is taper time… it’s always a bit weird as you feel you should still be running long but know how important it is to let your legs recover for race day. Now the agonising about what to eat and carbo loading and such like can begin. Roll on 19 April!

It was a good run at the same pace as the previous week and the same route, combining three of my shorter runs to make up the 18 miles. I had company for the first 5 miles and did the rest on my own. All the long runs help build up confidence although I must admit to feeling the first twinges of nervousness with less than 4 weeks to go now till the marathon.

There was of course another incentive to complete the 18 miles – to get back and support Ireland in the rugby (which might just have involved some of the “black stuff” which of course is good for you!) Did I mention they won the Grand Slam….!!!!!!!!!!