Thursday 22 September 2016

Summer => Back to Uni


It's been a while since my last post but nothing much has really happened since then, except some final few weeks of summer enjoyment.

I took a couple of weeks off scheduled training after Tampere, and in this time enjoyed some road biking in Aberdeenshire. I also challenged myself by cycling 100miles to Andrew's house near Forres, which apart from ruining my back, was a great ride - including the 20% Lecht Road.

I ticked off a total of 15 Munros with Andrew in the Ullapool hills (5), Oleg in the Arrochar Alps (4), and finally Jacob in the Mamores (1+5). Some unforgettable views were experienced and I'm happy to say that my hip flexors are finally beginning to tolerate big runs like these. This is especially clear after racing the Mamores Vertical Km last Friday, after an already big week and a bit of a hangover. My legs coped awesomely well, and there's no doubt that this is down to a good handful of very big mountain efforts this last summer. It's nice to start off uni now without any niggles.


Some of the recent views can be seen below:
The Lecht Road (downhill)
Ullapool hills with Andrew
Arrochar Alps with Oleg 
Pentlands with the boys, back to uni

Mamores VK

Mamores with Jacob
View of Ben Nevis
Final 3 munros in the Mamores.

Meanwhile, JEC has suddenly crept up out of nowhere, and I have been put into the situation of training through the races. This was the original plan anyway, and although there's a chance that I won't be in top form speed-wise, I'm feeling stronger than ever and look forward to racing a big international field on home terrain and seeing what happens. I don't think anyone will be more ready for some rough Aberfoyle forests than the British team!

After JEC I look forward to racing some rough XC races, as well as the Pentland Skyline, FRA Relays and potentially some mountain marathon mayhem too! Juggling this with 3rd year Mech Eng and EUOC captain won't be easy but I'm looking forward to being busy for once (it's been a long summer..).