Petestack Blog

Not many gear reviews on this blog so far, but afraid this is one I just have to write. And, while I wish it related to a positive experience, I’m afraid the reverse is true with a tale of initial satisfaction followed by such disappointment, frustration and ultimate letdown that I’ve resolved not to buy from the manufacturer concerned again… (more…)

So… with a week already slipping by since the big race to mull things over and post-mortems apparently all the rage (well, John Kynaston’s got two big blog posts of them!), I thought I’d try one too. But there’s really not that much to say apart from the one thing I was reluctant to highlight too strongly before, with me now thinking my performance was impacted (and possibly significantly) by the cold/infection I picked up the week before the race and still haven’t fully shaken off yet. (more…)

Another West Highland Way Race (my third and last as a competitor!), another mixed experience and another style of report to set alongside 2007’s dual-perspective runner’s/support crew narratives and 2010’s bullet-point summary… (more…)

Too many ‘what if’s in this all-your-eggs-in-one-basket, big-ultra game! So you’ve trained sensibly but (necessarily) obsessively for seven months to hit your best ultra shape ever and tapered conscientiously to be strong and fresh for the big day. But what if, you jokingly muse, it all goes belly-up through factors outwith your control? (more…)

Tapering for a big effort can be so hard to judge, being theoretically simple but practically affected by other (external/immutable) factors. So how do you score that two-day D of E expedition (Wednesday/Thursday) from Corrour to Kinloch in a ‘tapering’ context, being low-intensity but significant time-on-feet when tapering should maybe be more about maintaining the intensity and reducing the volume? (more…)

Spent this afternoon up at Outward Bound Loch Eil tree climbing with a group of our first year pupils (who are there for the week), so was still looking for a run when I left at back of 7pm. Thinking time (as much as weather) might be against me to go bagging the fine Corbetts of Sgurr Ghuibhsachain and Sgorr Craobh a’ Chaorainn, I decided just to grab what I could on the mileage front by setting off on an intended 10- or 12-miler from the same start point along the tremendous track down the east side of Loch Shiel, but found the going so good that I ended up doing 16! At 8:28-mile average (8:40 out, so must have come home at 8:16 pace), apparently hitting 5:36 (don’t often go that fast!) at one point and still strong enough at the end to know it had been quite comfortable. So truly a case of grabbing what you can! :-)

Some further thoughts here to follow Thursday’s Pacing by feel post, with a potentially hugely significant conclusion about my optimum WHW pacing strategy. So, to skip briefly over yesterday’s run (Fort to Kinloch by the Lairig Mor after work at an average 9:35 mile pace, and notable only for another soaking plus chance encounters with John O’Neill as I left the Fort and Ian and Sandra coming the other way just north of Blar a’ Chaorainn) to start explaining, here we go… (more…)

So you’re training for a big trail ultra like the West Highland Way Race, have discovered that even what you’d normally class as ‘easy’ pace is not only going to be unsustainable for the duration but disproportionately damaging later if indulged in early, need to find out what’s actually ‘safe’ to run and how to stick to it… but how? (more…)

So it’s May, the big hills are fair game for daylight evening runs again and it’s time to start hitting them during the working week. But, with some truly pish conditions now replacing this April’s (excessively) hot, dry ending, what can you do? (more…)