Time: 1 hour 16 minutes 55 seconds
Today I had the morning off work, so I could plan a different route for my scheduled 8-miler. The beginner's training plan calls for a comfortable 75 minutes, but since I'm now above the level of "beginner marathoner", I'm upping some of the runs by either adding 5%-10% to the distance, or upping the intensity. Not by too much, as I don't want to risk injury by over-training, but hopefully by enough to make my training regime challenging enough to help me get a PB in Inverness.
Initially I was thinking of running through Hatford, along Sandy Lane, as this is supposed to be a bit hillier than my usual Gainfield - Charney loop. However I have to fetch a parcel from the Faringdon sorting office. I could start my run there instead, so I fire up Map Your Passion on the realbuzz website and start planning the route.
How about run towards Clanfield, turn left through Kelmscott to Lechlade.... nope, hold on. That's too far. Start again. Faringdon - towards Lechlade, turn left after Eaton Hastings (where I'd just have to sing the wrong words to a Jam song), cut across to Great Coxwell and back to Faringdon. The distance is about right, but hold on - the A417 is a pretty busy road. How safe is that to run on a weekday? Maybe I should leave that for a quiet Sunday morning.
Then it comes to me. I can park in Fernham, run to Uffington, up White Horse Hill, and back again. No, that's no good either, it's getting on for 10 miles. A bit too far. So I opt for Baulking instead, about 8½ miles, just about right. It'll still be less than 80 minutes - but I get a great workout by running up the road to White Horse Hill and down again!
I want to get some hills in to my training, as I've checked the elevation profile for Loch Ness. Initially it hadn't looked too much harder than Edinburgh, or even London. But then I spotted the scale for the profile is about 5 times larger. Where there was a 30 foot hill in Edinburgh, there's a 150 foot hill to look forward to this time. So what better way to prepare than attempt my local hill which has an elevation gain of about 450 feet?
I park up (by the Church), set my Garmin (which starts suspiciously quickly), check the weather (fine, if a little breezy, but no sign of rain), and set off. I make the first half mile well under 4 minutes, and it annoys me that this means I set off too soon (before my Garmin had properly located me), because I know full well I'm not running under 8-minute miles. Ah well, too late now.
I can see White Horse Hill over on the left of the horizon. It doesn't look too big. On the way out of Uffington, however, it looms up in front of me and looks huge. Luckily I'm on the upward incline already, and the overhanging trees obscure it from view, so all I can do is worry about the hill my feet are on, not the big green monster up ahead. When I reach the crossroads, and the hill is there in front of me, it's now so close it no longer looks so threatening.
I steady my pace as I head ever upward, speeding down my breathing to two-in two-out (instead of three-in three-out that I normally stick to). My legs are complaining. My mind is telling me I'm mad to attempt to run up this hill without being properly used to this kind of incline. Naturally I slow down, but I'm still running, not quite plodding, and certainly not giving up and walking. I'm chuffed to see I've done the last mile in 10:14 - in spite of how much height I've gained.
As I pass Dragon Hill, I can feel the worst is over, there's a slight breather which feels great, but there's still a way to go. Up round the corner and the Horse itself is just obscured from view up on my left; I gaze out over the Valley to my right, wishing I could pause to enjoy the fantastic view you get from up here. But I'm not here to sight-see today, I'm here to work. To stretch my muscles and stress my heart. And anyway, the Hill is beaten. It's all downhill from here.
Click to enlarge
I take it easy along the top road, catching my breath, and preparing myself for another 5 miles back to the car. Then it's downhill, and this is harder in some ways than the uphill. Going up is perversely easy, because you just put one foot in front of the other and work hard to get up. Down means having to watch your footing, check your speed, worry about loose gravel or rough road, as it would be all too easy to slip and fall. The last thing I need at this stage is a sprained ankle!
Down into Woolstone (16% downward slope according to the road-sign - in an 8:14 mile), and the road flattens. This feels like hard work now even though I'm still going downhill, but this is probably because I'm still running so fast. Into Uffington and my average is coming down towards 9-minutes per mile for the whole run. The next couple of miles and I'm still running under 9 minutes, and my average is still dropping.
I pause briefly having passed under the railway line, I hear a train and the wind disguises its sound. I turn to look, but it's just an Intercity 125 (common as anything along the Swindon - Didcot line). I turn back to the road ahead, and kick up a fraction, knowing there's only a couple of miles to go.
Past Uffington Station and the end is near. I rejoin the road from Uffington to Baulking, and I can't help but increase my pace again, risking blowing out before I finish the last half mile back to the car. I check myself, and steady my pace a bit, and I get back to the car in under 77 minutes, which is rewardingly faster than I thought I'd make such a hilly run when I set out!
This is a great run, and I'm sure I'll be including the 3,000 year old iconic landmark in my routes again.
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