kaznicholl
|
Pentland Sky Line - Karen Nicholl - 3hours 49mins 27secsDespite Al wanting to call for a therapist, I decided to do the Pentland Sky Line last Sunday.
I was pretty nervous about the distance and the navigation, but I awoke to a pretty clear day on Sunday, so navigation nerves died down and I could just worry about the distance.
It was the funniest start to a race ever because it ws so steep that we all trundled off like a herd of sauntering cows - not high drama! However for me it felt a great deal easier than the last time I had to go UP this hill I was in full ski gear, course inspecting from bottom to start under ski racing rules.
My first target of the day was to reach Drove road by 2h 15 so that I wasn't forced to retire. I had a wee celebration of water and flapjack when I reached there at 2 hours 1 minute. Even more excitingly I still felt pretty good.
The third quarter introduced me to the wonders of mudsliding through the heather, and bogs so deep the water went over my knees - hilarious. Luckily the really deep bit wasn't too wide and I didn't know it was like that before I was actually in it. I am also glad my shoes didn't come off, or I think they would have become like the badly hit golf ball at the bottom of the water! Apart from that I still felt pretty comfortable and realised I was overtaking people who had flew past me in the first section.
Al had cylced round to cheer me on at the point where I would be heading into the last quarter and it was such a boost to see him - thankyou Al. I continued to feel strong in the last quarter until about 3 hills to go, where I could feel I was starting to get pretty pooped. A last cake seemed to sort out the legs, but my poor little toes just had to remain in Pteradactyle mode over the last 2 descents.
I felt like I finished really quite strongly, passing quite a few folk over the last 3 hills - I just wished my toes had been a little less painful. I had hoped that I could finish in about 4 hours and so I was absolutely over the moon with my time of 3hours 49minutes and 27 secs. This put me 12th lady and 120th overall out of 167.
Carnethy did a fab job organising the race - with a marshall ontop of each hill and food, juice and water at each 'abandon' checkpoint. I had a great time as there is such a sense of comaraderie throughout the race.
Toes are still pretty bruised but my legs are recovering nicely. See you out running soon.
Kaz 
|
McStecko
|
Kaz, that's a fantastic achievement - well done! It's certainly one of the toughest hill races on the circuit that I've done so far - 17 individual hills! I know just how hard those last 3 hills are so good for you to finish so well.
What's next? You should definitely do Stuc a Chroin next year and the Ben?
|
|
|
|