Great Scottish Run 2022 Half Marathon
It had been three years since my last Half Marathon, and in all honesty I wasn’t feeling terribly prepared for a grand return to long distances. I suspect I could count on two hands the number of runs over 14km I’ve done since the start of the pandemic. However, undeterred by this realisation I had set myself the slightly ambitious goal of cutting ten minutes off my previous personal best, and running the distance in 90 minutes.
Loch Lomond Beastie Triathlon
It was an early start and a rather dreary day when the time came for my first triathlon. Doing one of these had been on the cards for a while; I’d agreed to do one sometime before COVID struck, but without a great deal of confidence. At the time I’d regarded swimming two lengths of the university pool without stopping for breath and to recover to be a good day, so the notion of heading out into a cold loch to swim 750m was not immediately inviting. I did, however, resolve to correct that deficiency, and by last winter I could get up to four lengths without being completely exhausted, and I was actually swimming with my head underwater most of the time without panicking.
Dumyat Hill Race
It was a sunny, and fairly warm evening; good turnout (presumably the best for the whole series). I probably had a slightly slower start on the tarmac through the university grounds than I’d have liked ideally, but once I was up and through the forest it was pretty good going all the way to the top. Got a very brief, but good view as I summitted, and then was very happy with most of my descent, though was almost taken out by a Stirling runner who tripped just above me on a tree root.
Whangie Whizz Hill Race
Once again we had good conditions for a race, and a nice local venue. There was a reasonable walk up from the car park, but aside from the first 100m or so which was along a boreen which joined the main path up through the Whangie, the route was pretty familiar to me. The conditions underfoot were muddy fairly much the whole way around, but overall a good race.
Beinn Dubh Hill Race
Given that the course reccie for this race had involved snow at the summit a few weeks before, conditions turned out to be nearly perfect, with good visibility, good temperatures, and no rain to open my Bog and Burns campaign. The race started from the field just on the far side of the timber bridge over the A82, and is fairly steep the whole way up, slightly more gradual for the first kilometre or so, and then getting onto some slightly rougher terrain near the top. The ground was pretty dry, and the total amount of bog was relatively minimal the whole way. I was pretty pleased with the run, given it’s the largest ascent I’ve done in a race since Tinto in 2021.
Etape Loch Ness 2022
It was a very early start. My alarm clock was set for 04:30; I’d spent the last couple of days getting up earlier and earlier to reduce the shock of needing to be on the bike before 6am. It was time for my first Sportive.
I’ve only ever driven along the A82 coastline of Loch Ness once, thirteen years ago, and I don’t remember having much of a view that time, so I jumped at the chance to cycle along it on a closed road for the Etape Loch Ness. It was a good excuse to spend the winter getting a substantial amount of mileage in on the bike too, which would do me no harm. I’d done a few long rides before, including touring through the Outer Hebrides, but this would be my longest, and my first ride over 100km.
MacTuff Sprint 2022
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Over the last winter I’ve become fairly experienced at dealing with mud on runs, but a foray into obstacle course racing in Fife would quickly prove that there are in fact muddier places than the Campsies in January. The course was arranged mostly through woods and a field next to Knockhill race course outside Dunfermline. The weather was good, though a bit chilly (it was a good few degrees cooler than when I left Glasgow), and it had been dry for a couple of weeks. The organisers had ensured that there was mud however, thanks to the presence of a fire engine which had liberally soaked the area.