MDS 2009 - Keith
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Fitness Test
A big day today!
Not only were we to complete our fitness assessment but we had the added bonus of having the company of an STV crew filming us for a news article they want to screen tomorrow.
I have to say I was really quite nervous. The fitness test was to establish our lactic thresholds and VO2 max.
In lay mans terms this means we'll each know what intensity to train at so as not to suffer the effects of fatigue as quickly. When you exercise the body releases a by-product called lactic acid, at the point when this occurs it results in fatigue and a feeling of tired muscles. The threshold is the point imediately prior to the body producing this in great quantities and therefore imepeding your ability to continue to exercise.
Knowing our thresholds means we can train at a level below that point, thus exercising for longer with less fatigue. Simple really!!
The VO2 Max measures the efficiency of the heart and lungs to cope with aerobic and anaerobic activity.
We all attended at Dundee University Sports Science Department raring to go in our newly printed t-shirts with our website and charity logos. I went first, it's hard going running for three minute progressive intervals only for our friend Helen Weavers to stab you in the finger repeatedly with a needle to draw blood!! The things you do!
At the end of this part of the test I moved straight on to the VO2 Max test which is simply running at a set pace and every minute increasing the incline of the treadmill until you can run no further. This is particularly difficult as there is no target, no goal, just run til exhaustion. As this was our first one there was no barrier to aim for and we kept each others results secret. This may sound not that bad, however it's amazing the way the mind plays tricks on you, your brain is screaming for you to stop the pain but still wonders how Jimmy and James will do, knowing they would push themselves as hard as they could.
I guess it kept me honest in the test.
James had the added distraction of having the TV crew monitor his entire test and film various stages of the procedure - Nae luck : ) They did appear particularly interested in his uneven sun burn lines caused by his socks from last Saturday, ho ho that'll teach you!!
We await the results of the tests but early speculation puts James slightly ahead of Jimmy and I who are apparently pretty equal. I find this hard to believe as Jimmy and I couldn't be more different in build. I guess the results will be worth waiting for.
STV took plenty of footage of us all and included interviews with Helen from the Uni and Val Busher from Maggie's Centre. We wait with fingers crossed hoping that we get good coverage of the Charity and this website, who knows what that will bring??
Seemed like a good day at the office today. The results of the tests will allow Helen and Audrey at the Uni to develop our training plans, at last a bit of structure in our training, looking forward to it.
Cheers
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Jock's Road??
AT OUR HIGHEST POINT
This weekend we were doing it right! Or so we thought. Travel to the hills the night before, a couple of sociable beers, then up early and away to tackle Jock's Road. Basically we were walking the return journey from Glen Doll to Braemar 30 miles all in. Our good friend Andy, who is a fit guy would join us on this trip.
We started at 8 o'clock in the morning and the going was amazing for the first two hours, we had beautiful weather and followed the easily defined path. 
JOCK'S ROAD LEADING UP THROUGH GLEN DOLL
The picture at the top of this blogg show's us at the highest point of the climb, we were feeling pretty good, although I had some familiar burning sensations on both my heels and Andy had something similar on the soles of his feet - BLISTERS!! The product of some poorly fitting boots. I should have known better. Shortly after this point the path disappeared and we had to pick our own way through the heather.
By the time we had descended towards Loch Callater things were rapidly deteriorating for Andy and myself. From a selfish point of view the only saving grace was Andy's feet were much worse than mine, which meant the pace was slightly slower than our normal stampede. I was able to adjust my walking style to avoid the majority of the pressure on the blisters however Andy had no escape.
LOCH CALLATER
The temperature must have been about 20 degrees, which was more than hot enough for us at this stage of the training. We all pushed on and made it to Braemar by about 1 o’clock, which wasn’t bad at all considering the foot problems Andy and I were suffering.
After stuffing our faces with the pre made rolls and two large bags of salty chips James bought from the local chippy we treated our feet and started back.
When you have sore, swollen feet the worst thing about stopping for a rest is trying to start again as all the fluid pools in your feet and is very sore until you get the blood pumping again which normally takes about 10 minutes. The tough thing about this walk was there was no bailing out, the only way back to the start was over the hills, no buses or taxi's or trains go anywhere near Glen Doll, so onwards we went.
By the time we reached Loch Callater I was in constant pain with my blistered heels, which was nothing compared to poor Andy who was fighting every stride and cursing pretty much anything that crossed his field of vision, in particular us as he wondered why, on such a cracking day, we weren't in the beer garden sipping a cold one?
Unfortunately for Andy and I the return path produced the sign, which you see below...
The sign reads " Public footpath to Glen Doll by Jock's Road"
For public footpath please see picture below..........
Footpath? What footpath? We had to scramble up the hill (for hill read Mountain!!!) cresting it just to the left of the snowfields you can see above Seamus's head.
Enter two very unhappy grumpy bears with feet that were now on fire. As mentioned previously there was no way out so with teeth gritted we pushed onwards and descended back down the hillside towards Glen Doll.
ANDY DESCENDING TOWARDS GLEN DOLL FOREST
We finally made the car park at Glen Doll by nine o'clock some thirteen hours after leaving. A pretty hard day at the office it has to be said. Luckily the bar manager at the Clova Hotel took pity on us and fed us big portions of steak pie and chips, probably the quickest we had moved all day!!!!
The idea was to consume a few beers and chew the fat over the days adventure - two beers apiece and we were all snoring like babies.
Another cracking days training!!!!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Thursday 5th April 2007
I can't believe it's been one month already since we got the green light. We have achieved so much in this time. Team name, charity, website (Well done Jamsie), sponsor money already! (Special thanks to the Maddison's for starting the ball rolling), canvassing for potential sponsors and not forgetting the amount of training we've crammed in to thirty days. It's amazing how much can be achieved when you set your mind on something.