A New Idea
Oh, my poor neglected blog! It's been a couple of months since my last post (and what a joy that one was!), and a gap like that completely defeats the point of having a blog for this campaign in the first place - you guys aren't mind readers, after all.
But I'm back now! So, what have I got to tell you all? First off: the race I was training for when I posted the last entry was the Lairig Ghru Ultra which I managed *cue the hallelujah chorus*.
My God it's a tough wee ultra though! Not nearly as long as Glasgow to Edinburgh but the terrain can be a little eye-watering! My disorganised approach (only got round to buying a map two days before it) worked for me in one respect: I didn't look up anything about the race on Google or Facebook so missed all the pictures of the torturous, six-mile-long boulder field which was entirely foolhardy to do in road shoes. But, get this, I didn't fall over once! And I completed the race in a mildly respectable 5h 18m.
So, my checklist of "Experience for Everest According to Shauney" currently looks like this:
But I'm back now! So, what have I got to tell you all? First off: the race I was training for when I posted the last entry was the Lairig Ghru Ultra which I managed *cue the hallelujah chorus*.
(Proof!)
My God it's a tough wee ultra though! Not nearly as long as Glasgow to Edinburgh but the terrain can be a little eye-watering! My disorganised approach (only got round to buying a map two days before it) worked for me in one respect: I didn't look up anything about the race on Google or Facebook so missed all the pictures of the torturous, six-mile-long boulder field which was entirely foolhardy to do in road shoes. But, get this, I didn't fall over once! And I completed the race in a mildly respectable 5h 18m.
So, my checklist of "Experience for Everest According to Shauney" currently looks like this:
Ultra Distance RaceTough Terrain Race- 2 Grade A, Long Hill Races
- 1 Extra-Tough Race (still to decide on specifics here!)
- Camping Experience
The next challenge on the cards is the Two Breweries Hill Race (#1 of the 2 Grade A Long Hill Races), which I will be doing instead of the Ben Nevis Ultra. Although long, the Ben Nevis Race isn't considered tough enough on the navigation and terrain to count towards anything important (not that I'm eyeing up the Jura Fell Race as my extra-tough one or anything...)
An update on running injury status: the knee (which was put out by a horse kick in March) hasn't been great since Lairig but I think I may just be about to nail this training program thing to help it back! I'm trying very very hard to stick to one light week, one heavier week on the mileage and building very slowly from there whilst keeping as fit as possible in the pool and in the gym. Doing this has meant I've watched my body shape change entirely again to having more muscle mass and being less 'runner-like'. Testament to the fact running does make you more likely to hold onto fat! This fact won't make a jot of difference to training in the long term though as, when my mileage goes back up, I'll probably be welcoming back the hips and bigger bra size again!! .... And that's totally fine...
Anyway, on Wednesday I took a trip up to Aboyne to visit HorseBack UK themselves. It was a gorgeous day and watching the men and women participating in the second phase of the course, working with the horses and learning to understand the relationships between themselves, the horses, and the horses with one another was fantastic to see. It's a well thought out and deeply meaningful course the veterans are put on at HorseBack, which not only helps them to understand themselves better but also the people around them during what can be a very tough time readjusting to 'normal' life after the military. The group then went off to help Glen Tanar Estate with some conservation work in the afternoon which counts towards their John Muir Award.
For the past while I've been considering ways of making what I'm doing for the charity more meaningful, more 'tied-in' with the cause. I discussed this with Emma and the team, and told them how I would, ideally, love to put together a group of veterans and members of the HorseBack team to be involved in the process of getting to the Everest Marathon; come with me if possible.
Think about it: Regular training days in the beautiful setting that HorseBack offers, personal experience of the work the charity does from the people doing, or helping out with, the race effort, and an opportunity to turn one idea into something many people can gain knowledge, focus, inspiration and learning from. It certainly makes more sense than one girl - with no connection to the military - running a marathon for veterans.
An update on running injury status: the knee (which was put out by a horse kick in March) hasn't been great since Lairig but I think I may just be about to nail this training program thing to help it back! I'm trying very very hard to stick to one light week, one heavier week on the mileage and building very slowly from there whilst keeping as fit as possible in the pool and in the gym. Doing this has meant I've watched my body shape change entirely again to having more muscle mass and being less 'runner-like'. Testament to the fact running does make you more likely to hold onto fat! This fact won't make a jot of difference to training in the long term though as, when my mileage goes back up, I'll probably be welcoming back the hips and bigger bra size again!! .... And that's totally fine...
Anyway, on Wednesday I took a trip up to Aboyne to visit HorseBack UK themselves. It was a gorgeous day and watching the men and women participating in the second phase of the course, working with the horses and learning to understand the relationships between themselves, the horses, and the horses with one another was fantastic to see. It's a well thought out and deeply meaningful course the veterans are put on at HorseBack, which not only helps them to understand themselves better but also the people around them during what can be a very tough time readjusting to 'normal' life after the military. The group then went off to help Glen Tanar Estate with some conservation work in the afternoon which counts towards their John Muir Award.
For the past while I've been considering ways of making what I'm doing for the charity more meaningful, more 'tied-in' with the cause. I discussed this with Emma and the team, and told them how I would, ideally, love to put together a group of veterans and members of the HorseBack team to be involved in the process of getting to the Everest Marathon; come with me if possible.
Think about it: Regular training days in the beautiful setting that HorseBack offers, personal experience of the work the charity does from the people doing, or helping out with, the race effort, and an opportunity to turn one idea into something many people can gain knowledge, focus, inspiration and learning from. It certainly makes more sense than one girl - with no connection to the military - running a marathon for veterans.
And so that's why, if you are even a tiny bit curious, I would love you to get in touch! Or maybe you've got an idea of how I could pull the two worlds of running and recovering veterans closer together...I still want to hear from you!
My email is: swatson95@btinternet.com
My personal Facebook is here: https://www.facebook.com/shauney.watson
My running Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/HBUK55
My running Twitter account here: https://twitter.com/HBUK55
Seriously, write to me.
My email is: swatson95@btinternet.com
My personal Facebook is here: https://www.facebook.com/shauney.watson
My running Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/HBUK55
My running Twitter account here: https://twitter.com/HBUK55
Seriously, write to me.
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