End of Summer.

As some of you may know my last event was more or less cancelled. Due to a burst water pipe on the bike leg the cycle was cancelled. I therefore took the hard decision as to not compete, the race was a two and a half hour drive from home and i have been all summer working on my cycling. I therefore did not want to turn up just to swim and run when it was not what i had trained for.

Instead on Sunday i managed to find a very late entry to the St Andrews Sportive a 144km cycle ride around Fyfe. I don't have too much to say about the race, the weather was misty and dull and therefore the ride lacked excitement. However i believe i was one of the top ten of 400 to finish and put down a good time of 5 hours 8 minutes. It was good to be able to still use my training however i was disappointed with not 100% racing.

This disappointment quickly faded when on Monday thanks to a friend i was shown the Glen Clova Extreme Duathlon (14th September). This event is not like many others, it is a 24km cycle from Glen Clova Hotel around the valley then into Glen Doll car park, from there it is a run/hike up to Corrie Fee then across two Munros, Dreish and Mayar ( For my English readers a Munro is a mountain in Scotland over 3000ft) from there you descend before jumping back on the bike for the final leg to Glen Clova car park. The event is described as follows on the website :

"You have 9 hours to complete 20km or 40km cycle around the stunning Glen Clova valley, 7km into Glen Doll ranger station transition point to begin your run/walk approach into magnificent Glen Doll forests where you will come out in the breathtaking amphitheatre of the Corrie Fee, from here a steep ascent to 928m summit of the mountain 'Mayar', then traversing over the broad 3km ridge, where, if you are within your time limit you may ascend the second munro reaching a height of 947m and the summit of mount 'Dreish'
Returning back on the rocky and challenging Kilbo path back through Glen Doll forest returning to the ranger station to cycle the 7km road back to the Glen Clova hotel finish point"Returning back on the rocky and challenging Kilbo path back through Glen Doll forest returning to the ranger station to cycle the 7km road back to the Glen Clova hotel finish point"Returning back on the rocky and challenging Kilbo path back through Glen Doll forest returning to the ranger station to cycle the 7km road back to the Glen Clova hotel finish point"Returning back on the rocky and challenging Kilbo path back through Glen Doll forest returning to the ranger station to cycle the 7km road back to the Glen Clova hotel finish point"

This race will be like no other i have done. Racing up and across the mountains and very steep uphill running. The weather will also be a major factor, up the back of Corrie Fee if the weather is bad it is very hard to navigate and find your way. However i am extremely excited. This is a race on a road i have cycled many times and regularly train on and Dreish and Mayar are hill walks i have done many times. However never have i ran them!

Between then and now i will put in hard hours on the bike and running. Already i have been up to Glen Clova and cycled the route and done a couple of Brick sessions. Making my runs longer and gradually steeper. I will also re walk the mountains and gain better knowledge of the route. Training will not be easy, i hope to be able to put a fast time into the course and so will try and run as much as possible through the mountains on the race.

I will start to think up a race plan as unlike other races i know the course and where i can push hard. 

I am extremely excited for this event and relish the fact i have new focus in my training. I have also entered what i think will be my last triathlon of 2013 on the 16th of October. The fistral beach tri fest, another race i am excited to be part of. 

Thanks for reading and i will keep up-to-date with how my training is going before the race.