{"id":19915,"date":"2019-07-09T08:05:34","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T08:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/?p=19915"},"modified":"2021-01-19T14:25:57","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T14:25:57","slug":"confessions-of-a-non-runner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/confessions-of-a-non-runner\/","title":{"rendered":"Confessions of a non runner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\nIt doesn\u2019t matter how you get there or what\nyou call yourself, the hills don\u2019t care. David Lintern escapes the\ntyranny of team sports and goes for a jog up a ridge. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago you\u2019d have never caught me doing it. I used to run a bit in secondary school, but only as a way of getting out of games. We\u2019d be allowed off school grounds to run around Shirley hills, but we ran only the pavements and not into the woods themselves. We were on a prescribed route. I tolerated it, but it was mostly an escape from the marshalling of team sports, which I loathed with a passion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nI got used to thinking of myself as non-sporty –\nnot good enough, not a team player. How often do we define ourselves\n(or let others do it for us) in the negative? I started smoking at\n13, became an awkward teen – half swot, half rebel. In my twenties, I\ncycled everywhere but only because I couldn\u2019t drive and was broke.\nLater still I found the hills, a steep learning curve for a city\nslacker but a welcome respite from a piece of charity work that was\nfulfilling but emotionally exhausting in equal measure. And then came\nthe Pyrenees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI didn\u2019t run the Haute Route, but I did do the\nfull crossing as well as some exploratory detours over a couple of\nmonths. I returned 2 kilos lighter and had ditched the fags.\nSuddenly, it clicked into place. No \u2013 not (just) an early mid-life\ncrisis! The physicality and momentum of that journey was a\nrevelation. I\u2019d enjoyed getting leaner and stronger over time, and\nI loved the re-connection between body, mind and the outside world. I\ndiscovered that some form of athleticism wasn\u2019t just for others, I\ncould manage just a little of it too. I wasn\u2019t racing anyone else,\njust challenging myself. No peer pressure, no stop watches and no off\nside rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nSomehow, over the last five years or so, I\u2019ve\nfound myself running again. First in my local parks and now in my\nlocal hills. I shouldn\u2019t be surprised really \u2013 a lot of new\nparents seem to take it up as a means of keeping a modicum of fitness\nwhile being much more time constrained. It\u2019s a micro dose of the\noutdoors that can be shoehorned in between nursery drops, work and\nhousehold duties. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI\u2019m certainly not breaking any records.\nMy personal best on my most local\nbump is almost double the time the fastest person races around on the\nannual hill race. But that PB is mine\u2026 both yardstick and pressure\ngauge; a measure of tiredness, fitness, recovery from illness, a\nweather check and some headspace from kids, deadlines and the other\nblessings and trappings of adulthood. Often as not, my other\noutdoor activities are communal these days,\nand\nwhile\nI\nlove to share those\nexperiences,\nI cherish the personal time that running offers. I\u2019ll not be\nentering any hill races any time soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nEven stranger than my dodgy jogging habit, I\u2019ve\nfound myself writing a book which is ostensibly\nall about running. The Big Rounds\n– the Bob Graham, the Paddy Buckley and the Charlie Ramsay Rounds –\nare mainland Britain\u2019s most challenging 24-hour mountain circuits.\nI\u2019ll share a bit more detail on the Scottish Round in particular\nnext time, but for now these routes are a portal into some amazing\nhill country and a life affirming part of\nour outdoor culture \u2013 the regional differences, as well as what we\nenjoy in common. And the people I\u2019ve talked to on the way have told\nme things I\u2019d not expected to hear from serious athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nJim Mann, who holds the record for all three rounds in winter, as\nwell as the record for the most Munros in 24 hours (it\u2019s 30, plus a\npint in the Braemar Hotel by the way) put me instantly at ease;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, all this is just a bunch of mates going out for a big day in the hills and having fun. That\u2019s the roots of it, and that\u2019s what I love. It\u2019s no different to people going hillwalking for the day, doing a tenth of the distance; you have a day that wears you out, and you land up in the pub. Big, fun hill days. It\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheers Jim, sounds great! Jasmin Paris, who until recently held the overall record for the Ramsay Round and still holds the women\u2019s record for the other two, continued in the same vein and didn\u2019t mention puking once; \u201cGoing hiking in big mountains is the ideal preparation for these sorts of challenges. You need long days out with less risk of injury than running, lots of ascent and descent, and some altitude training.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWendy Dodds, the first to complete Paddy Buckley\u2019s Welsh round in\n1982 and one of the UK\u2019s most experienced fell runners, said matter\nof factly; \u201cIt allows me to cover more ground in a given time\nthan walking, and allows me to reach isolated places that would\nrequire a bivi if not running. I consider myself more a mountaineer\nthan a runner.\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nGranted, the hill running scene as a whole is\nrefreshingly down to earth, but these are concepts I can get my head\naround as an average hillbum\u2026 despite being shared by people who\nhave achieved genuinely astonishing things that I cannot begin to\nfathom in the mountains. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I park the car and get the bike out of the back. I cycle steadily through the forest and up onto the treeline before tucking the bike behind a tree and setting off in first gear for the Lairig Ghru. You\u2019d never have caught me doing this a few years ago. I\u2019m feeling cautious enough to have chosen bike shorts over \u2018proper\u2019 running shorts because I might feel too exposed in the \u2018proper\u2019 mountains\u2026 but that\u2019s one of the joys of running. No special kit; just a pair of trainers, a small pack and some snacks. Any old clothes will do, really. There\u2019s an extra layer, navigation tools and a tiny first aid kit in the mix too\u2026 but nothing a hill walker doesn\u2019t already own. Running means stripping out the baggage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI try to pace myself early on, enjoying the dance\nbetween rocks on the path. I caught an interesting\nonline conversation between a runner (Mark)\nand a walker (Alex) a while ago, with the former convincing the\nlatter of the benefits: \u201cYou’ll\nget the benefit of increased resilience as you build leg musculature,\nbone density and proprioception. All good if you want to keep on your\nfeet for long periods.\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIt\nseems to be true that running does these things, but for me that\nisn\u2019t selling it. I do love that running on uneven ground keeps me\nnimble. I\u2019ve found it improves my mental dexterity; my ability to\nnegotiate a good line; my footwork. It\u2019s obvious really – moving\nmore quickly, you need to think faster about where to put your feet.\nMy ankles feel stronger, and on a good week my cardio is too, but\nmostly it\u2019s about how well I process the environment. That\nconnection, the body awareness, is nurtured through practice. I\nthink this is\nthe \u2018proprioception\u2019 part of Mark\u2019s statement, and it\u2019s the\nsame stuff I savoured when I walked across the spine between France\nand Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nRunning in the hills is not the same as running\nlaps around the park back in Glasgow. Even\nthere I could check in on new growth, birdlife and other seasonal\nchanges, but off the tarmac it\u2019s interesting underfoot as well as\nahead, and what I\u2019m interacting with changes and evolves.\nExploration is the other piece of the puzzle that was missing at\nschool. The only prescribed route here is the one I design myself.\nAnd there are\nrules, but they belong to nature, not a game. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIt\u2019s worth saying out loud that hill running\nneedn\u2019t mean running all the time either, which to be honest is a\nbloody relief. Even the proper runners don\u2019t run uphill (much). I\u2019m\nover that particular mental barrier. If I\u2019m really tired, I walk,\nbut I try not to stop, and slowly my threshold has improved\u2026 at\nleast until the wheels fall off the next time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI pass the Pools of Dee as a brief snow shower\npasses over. I eat but keep moving, around into an alpine Gharbh\nCoire greening up nicely from snowmelt,\npoke around the shelter and study\nthe steep wall\nunder Lochan Uaine for a workable line.\nI\u2019m adopting Wendy\u2019s advice today, if not her pace, and going\n(just a bit) more quickly is really an excuse to explore new ground.\nI end up too close to the burn on slippery rock and backtrack before\nfinding a way up to its right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stop for a few minutes at the loch and my cardio relaxes a little. The beautiful simple line of Sgor an Lochain Uaine<\/a>\u2019s NE ridge beckons, and the exercise endorphins take over. It\u2019s a straight forward grade one scramble but with little gear and all my food gone I feel lighter, a fraction extended, slightly giddy from a mix of exertion, excitement and not quite enough calories. Depending on which list we\u2019re using, I\u2019ve just \u2018run\u2019 up the fifth or sixth highest mountain in the UK \u2013 not too shabby for the runt of the pack. Near the top, the boulders are larger and steeper and I slow down for the final clamber, completely immersed in my mountain meditation. It\u2019s the same kind of headspace we all benefit from, however we travel in the hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ll be honest; after reaching Braeriach<\/a> I didn\u2019t run much further. I\u2019d not taken enough food for the day and was getting sore. I alternated walking and jogging with a bit of hobbling down the long north facing slope back to my bike, and my knees were glad I was freewheeling most of the way back. Braeriach didn\u2019t care, either way. I\u2019d had a wonderful day in the hills and had rested a palm gently against my personal envelope; testing, probing to see what I could manage. I often think that in the UK we are a little too tribal – about everything, including our hobbies. In my head I\u2019m still not a runner, but there\u2019s a lot to be said for shedding preconceptions, however hard fought for, and giving things a go. You just never know where you\u2019ll end up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It doesn\u2019t matter how you get there or what you call yourself, the hills don\u2019t care. David Lintern escapes the tyranny of team sports and goes for a jog up a ridge. A few years ago you\u2019d have never caught me doing it. I used to run a bit in secondary school, but only as a way of getting out of games. We\u2019d be allowed off school grounds to run around Shirley hills, but we ran only the pavements and not into the woods themselves. We were on a prescribed route. I tolerated it, but it was mostly an escape…<\/span> <\/p>\n

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