lowe alpine mountain marathon: beinn dearg

..or a second chance to redeem myself with the hills around ullapool.

in the interest of saving weight we've got a very light tent. for light, you can also substitute the word small, very small. we'd been sheltering from the mid camp rain for nearly 4 hours. i'd started to sketch out a draughts board on a piece of foil, jane had suggested using the ibuprofen as pieces. we'd already exhausted i-spy and decided against a game of 'consequences' due to lack of artistic ability. cooking in these cramped conditions is interesting to say the least. being on the short side, i can at least sit up. amusingly for me jane can't, therefore making eating/changing clothes a constant source of entertainment for me.

when the noise of water on nylon began to ease, we seized the opportunity to stretch our legs. it's amazing how your perception of what actually constitutes rain changes when you've been in a cramped tent for a few hours. walking through the moist air we went to check the half way results. we'd moved up a class since our last lamm together, so were happy to see we'd made 58/107 (5/12 female).

but this doesn't tell the whole story. what those numbers can't show are the smiles on our faces as we jogged and slogged our way though the hills. rain free, blue sky, jagged peak bliss. despite me over shooting the first check point, there were no strops. despite the lack big miles in our legs there were no tears. it was one of those days when things were just right, even when they weren't.

day 2 followed with more of the same. it's difficult to explain just why these events are so good. yes, it's a test of mind and body but there's something more. neither of us can quite put our finger on it, and we had a lot of time to think about it! you get to visit the most remote parts of the country, travel across the landscape taking the most perverse of routes and all the time knowing that it's just you and your partner. relying on each other, with all you need on your backs. i'm sure i've said all that before but there really is something special about feeling so self sufficient amongst such giant hills.

we managed to gain a few spots on day2, taking us to 54th in c class and if you don't count the female vet. team who beat us by four seconds (they're registered as 'non-competitive'-so i'm going to take that!) then we moved up to 3rd female team (but still, way, way, way off the leaders). as always thoughts turn to 'what if...' well, if we do get an entry for this years omm, then this weekend as pretty much been perfect training.