weekendaway – Jenwaar

Loch Gu Loch SwimRun Race Report

SwimRun Loch Gu Loch Race Report

Last weekend, Lisa and I headed up north to the Highlands, Fort Augustus for our first SwimRun event, Loch Gu Loch. We had joked in training for the last year or so that we would be ideal for SwimRun as we have ‘similar’ swim abilities (Lisa is a much faster and stronger swimmer than me). Lisa had been injured most of last year and hadn’t been running but was now running again. During one Sunday morning ride, after much debate we decided to enter Loch Gu Loch, six weeks before the race.

SwimRun is still a relatively new sport to the UK, but growing in popularity. SwimRun is an endurance race which involves open water swimming and trail running with multiple transitions of swim and run (swim, then run, then swim, then run etc.). It is a point to point race, all the equipment that you start with has to be carried to the finish. You compete in pairs, running and swimming together, not straying more than 10 metres apart. Unlike triathlons, SwimRun has much more freedom there are no standardised distances or kit requirements. The origin came from Sweden, after a drunken bet between friends. The original race ÖTILLÖ meaning island to island is recognised as the SwimRun world championship (the Kona for SwimRun).

The total distance for Loch Gu Loch is about 8km of cold water swimming and 47km of mixed terrain running. Lisa’s longest run that year was a half marathon during Edinburgh Ironman 70.3 (21km!). On the run up to the race we had short sessions together practicing transitions and running in our SwinRun wetsuits and swimming with trail shoes. We certainly got a few strange looks running around the Pentlands in our wetsuits! I found the extra weight from my shoes dragged my legs, and found it much easier to swim with a pullbuoy and paddles. Lisa was fine without any aids during the swim. I got a new pair of light SwimRun shoes however they did not give me much support when running! In the future, I would go for a more supportive trail shoe and play around with my kit more prior to such an event.

We had a race briefing on Friday afternoon, checked kit and lined our stomachs for the challenge the next day. We had a wander around Fort Augustus and observed the cold, monster- filled water of Loch Ness. It looked calm with no signs of Nessy!

This year they changed the transport to the start with coaches so we had an extra hour in bed (whoop!). The race starts at Urquhart Castle on the shore of Loch Ness. It started to get light when we arrived, after a quick toilet stop, bag drop and group photo, we headed down to the Loch with a bagpiper to greet us.

Photo by Loch Gu Loch team (unsure who actually took the photo)

I like to acclimatise to the temperature of the water before starting, we got in a little too early as the kayakers hadn’t arrived for the start and the race started a little late, 10-15mins. I was pretty cold and glad to start swimming once the race began. The first swim was the longest at 2km. I was close to the back of the pack, I think it was because I was cold but after ten minutes I got into the race and we started taking over others in the swim. Once we got the front of our pack we couldn’t see where we were the swim exit was, the kayakers were close by so knew we couldn’t be too off course. Although I was cold I really enjoyed the swim -the water was so clear and there were no signs of Nessy! Once we got the other side, I had been in the water for over an hour and had not been kicking my legs so my legs were totally numbed. After a few attempts of trying to stand – Bambi legs, fits of giggles- we both managed to get out the water. I checked my watch 1.7miles, I think our sighting was a bit off and we swam a little extra. Once out of the water the wind made me even colder. I’ve never been so glad to run, or even run up a hill, to warm up. After a couple of miles, I could feel my legs again and my feet began to tingle. I really enjoyed this run along a forest trail; the views overlooking Loch Ness were beautiful. During the run we managed to overtake two or three teams.

Swim two at Loch Duntelchaig -the water was crystal clear, we kept close to the shore to try and keep warmer but it was extremely chilly. We saw a few familiar faces kayaking which spurred me on. I was very glad of the feed station after this swim, a cinnamon roll never tasted so good! We were told by the volunteers we were the first all-female team so after a quick sip of water we were off again.

The race took us across a vast variety of terrains, we found we were much slower on the boggy and heather terrains, that’s where other teams overtook us. On trails, hills and tarmac we were able to catch up. Fell running has never been my greatest!

The coldest swim had to be swim five in Loch Mhor, it was Baltic and I needed help getting up the rocks onto the land to start running, I was physically shaking. There was a feed station after that swim and I found it a real struggle to eat or drink anything. It took a long time for me to warm up after that swim, luckily that was when we had the longest run and the sun came out. During the 16km run Lisa’s leg was playing up so we opted for a 7-9min run and 1min walk tactic which worked well as we passed four teams.

The longest run finishes at Loch Tarff, (after a long uphill climb) with beautiful views of the Loch. The last feed station was here, one of my (or our) downfalls of the day was that we were too chatty to the volunteers at the feed stations. We were too busy enjoying the day and not being very competitive (time- wasting). We were 8hours and 30mins into the race, with two more swims and one 6km of run we were hopeful of getting under ten hours. The swim at Loch Tarff was a little more interesting with short swims between small islands on the loch. Lisa got cramp during one of the swims so we resorted to skulling and then walking on the islands. The last swim is more of a knee deep bog but swam it (doggy paddle) as we didn’t want to lose a shoe.

Last swim at Loch Ness. Photo by Mike Brown

Out of the swim, Lisa’s cramps gone, we were aware of other teams behind us. The run took us back onto heather and tough bracken terrain which was slowing us down. Somewhere we missed a marking or sign and before we knew it we hadn’t seen a course marking in a while. We stopped and checked the map. We had gone too far and re-traced our steps. Sadly, this was when we knew we had blown it. Now our fatigue had kicked in and enthusiasm for the race gone, we were just desperate to finish. Once back on track, we noticed the flags, they went up a very steep hill and we were scrambling to the top. This was where other teams started to pass us, the four teams we managed to hold off all day caught us and it felt like they were flying past us. I think we added about 25-30mins extra getting lost, urgh! The views, from the top over Loch Ness, were worth it. We decided to jog the rest of the route back to the water for our final swim.

Before our last swim. Photo by Mike Brown

We were greeted by Mike and his wife, marshalling for the day at the last swim start and we jumped in. We were escorted during the last swim by our triathlon club swim coach Gavin, on a kayak. Once we got to the red buoy we waded the last bit of the swim and had a gentle jog to the finish. Total time 10hours 25mins 26secs.

We really enjoyed the event, just frustrated by our error on the last run. The course was well marked maybe in our tiredness we weren’t focused enough or we didn’t want to climb another hill, ha! The race is well supported with marshals at the start and exit of every swim, all very friendly and helpful with directions and tips, thanks! I’ve also got to thank Mandy for lending her compression socks, life saver!

I really enjoyed my first SwimRun event, the best bit was racing as a team and having a buddy with you throughout the day to share the highs and lows. I like the freeness of SwinRun events, in natural beauty, trail running and open water swimming; it’s more of an adventure. I found it challenging after the swims being cold, the wind chill didn’t help! The wetsuits do help warming you up quickly but it does take it out of you doing it numerous times throughout the race.

Even after our detour, somehow, we were the first female finishers and 13^th overall. We were both pleased with our efforts considering we only started training six weeks prior and we weren’t at our peak fitness. The next day when the results came out, we found out we were the only female pair finishers that year, the other two pairs did not finish the race.

After defrosting, we headed to the boathouse for some food and received a prize for our efforts. I would recommend this race, be prepared for cold water 8-12degrees, long sleeved wetsuit is definitely required. It was well organised, we were regularly checked up on and kayakers on every Loch. I may be a little biased as I live in Scotland but the scenery was totally worth it! Would we do it again…. Lisa is already planning how we can get enough points for ÖTILLÖ next year!

Jenwaar

48 hours in Berlin

48 Hours in Berlin

Berlin is a huge city and you won’t be able to see it all in 48 hours. It’s a vibrant and multicultural city full of history, food, art, culture and nightlife. It’s one of my favourite places and this was my fourth visit.

Last week my friend and fellow Midwife Fiona and I flew to Berlin for a small mini break. We left Tuesday morning, landing in Berlin early afternoon. We checked into the hotel at Alexanderplatz and were upgraded to a suite! Thanks Hotel indigo! Our room was in the top floor with a big balcony (sadly too cold to use), the suite was beautiful and the beds, big and comfy!

I’ve been to Berlin a few times before, Fiona hasn’t and she wanted to visit the Currywurst museum. Currywurst is a German delicacy of sausage and a special curried tomato sauce, sprinkled with curry powder. After we checked in, we made our way to the museum. Our ticket includes a sample of the sausage and entry into the museum. The currytwurst itself was nice but the museum quite small and amusing. Don’t expect to learn much but you’ll have a good laugh. I would recommend going to one of the street vendors and trying out the Currywurst instead.

We went on to checkpoint Charlie (checkpoint C) the famous western Allied Berlin Wall crossing point between West and East Germany during the Cold War. It was one of the many checkpoints representing the separation from the West and East Berlin. We looked around a free gallery by the checkpoint, telling the stories of people who escaped, those who sadly failed and those who also lost their lives. The checkpoint Charlie museum continues this with more detail and tells the history of the Berlin Wall. Definitely worth a visit.

After We headed to Augustiner’s to enjoy German beer from a barrel and eat more sausage with sauerkraut. Both were delicious!

For dinner we went for Thai, at Thai inside. We had Mai tai cocktails followed by Chicken Satay, vegetable gyoza and chicken pad Thai all to a good standard and reasonably priced (cocktails were excellent).

We continued our evening visiting microbrewery, Lemke Berlin and onto ‘the pub’ pouring our own Berliner pints of beer.

Wednesday we headed out for brunch at the house of small wonder. At the entrance you walk up a beautiful spiral staircase, to this green and quirky cafe in Mitte. Serving Japanese and breakfast cuisine. I had Croque Monsieur and mint tea and Fiona had the homemade granola with Greek yoghurt. Both were filling, delicious and good value.

We walked off our breakfast, visiting the longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall, now known as The East Side Gallery, near Ostbahnhof in Friedrichshain. The Wall was constructed in 1961, to stop Eastern emigration from communist East Berlin to free West Berlin. The wall is now a memorial for freedom, with paintings by artists all over the world. It was last renovated in 2010. Sadly, they have now put metal fences in front of most of the wall to stop people graffitiing, so it was hard to take photos. Most of the photos below were from a previous trip three years ago.

Late afternoon, we visited one of my favourite places in Berlin Markthalle Neun which translates to Market Nine. In the heart of Keruzberg, this market sells an array of foods, alcohol and street foods. Every Thursday evening, they host their street food market and throughout the month they host special markets e.g. Cheese, Mexican food etc. It was quiet this afternoon, which I enjoyed. Previously I’ve been on the weekend and you are fighting for seats. We both had a ‘small’ meat platter of pulled pork, salad and potatoes, best meal of the trip! Followed by baked cheesecake and washed down by a Moscow mule and a large glass of Pinot Noir.

After a big night on Tuesday, we decided to have an early night and get up early before our flight in the afternoon.

Thursday morning, we intended to go up the TV tower (Fernsehturm), the mist had finally lifted from the last two days. The queue was large so we decided to give it a miss, on a previous visit I went up the tower, you get great views of across the city and can have a cheeky cocktail at the bar. Instead we walked to see the holocaust memorial and Brandenburg gate. When we got to the memorial and the gate, sadly, both were cordoned off by police due to President Obama visiting. Normally you can walk through the memorial and feel the soberness, dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide. I managed one good photo of the memorial (without police and riot vans).

We headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags and set off for the airport.

A few other places I would recommend visiting is Judisches (Jewish) Museum, predominantly about the events of World War II but also gives the history of Jewish people in Germany. This museum is vast, make sure you have lots of time to visit. Tiergarten, Berlin’s biggest park, with the zoo at the south west corner. In summer, hire bikes, the city has many bike lanes and flat terrain, easiest way to get around the city!

Jenwaar

Edinburgh Triathlete’s winter training weekend

Apologies for my lack of posts….A fortnight ago I went along to Edinburgh Triathletes winter training weekend. This is annual winter training weekend ET organise every year. I previously went two years ago. Friday evening, I headed over to Bridge of Earn in Perthshire. Friday night was spent catching up with everyone, eating pizza and have a cheeky glass of wine.

Saturday morning commenced with an early morning run, I’m currently not running at the moment, so spent an extra hour in bed! At 9.30am we went off for a group ride, two groups were formed based on ability.

Photo credit: Euan Batten

We headed off into the rain in the beautiful Perthshire countryside. After ten minutes we were all soaked but that didn’t dampen our spirits! After an hour of cycling we had a Pit stop at Loch level larder. I had my ‘go to’ cycling snack, a sausage bap and hot chocolate (this time I had a chai latte but basically a hot milk drink). Highly recommend this cafe, I have been many times before for lunch and afternoon tea.

Photo credit: Euan Batten

After our stop we continued the ride. A few minutes into the ride Paul had to stop for a puncture so a few of us in the group had a plank off competition. The girls won, sorry Pierre! Look how much mud we have on our bottoms! The ride was only 28miles but quite hilly and wet so I glad to get back to the lodges and put on dry clothes!

Photo credit: Euan Batten

In the afternoon Richard, one of the coaches, conducted a ‘Q&A’ type of talk answering all questions on everything triathlon. We submitted questions in advance of the weekend. Richard covered questions from kit, coaching, racing and training, giving tips and advice. I found this really interesting and useful. I particularly found his advice on improving my times on the bike helpful and will use this in my training and racing. It also made me really want to buy a time trial bike!

Late afternoon we had a swim session at Strathallan School swimming pool which was very cold! The focus was on technique and good form. We were practicing tumble turns, rotation, push offs, streamlining and posture. This was good session, breaking down our swimming technique to build on form to swim more efficiently and effectively. ‘Swim well before swimming fast’.

In the evening we all went out for a meal at a local restaurant, followed by a couple of drinks at the local pub.

Sunday morning, we were back in the pool for a 9am start. We warmed up with a few lengths and continuing good technique. We were then divided into four groups and started racing! Sadly, all my good form went out the window whilst racing (game face)! Individually, I came second in my heat but in our team relay we came last. I had lots of fun diving off the blocks, however need to practice sprinting, I’ve not raced competitively since I was a child.

I headed home after swimming. The rest if the triathlon club completed a mini duathlon in the rain, followed by a short trail run.

The weekend was great, I loved the relaxed nature of the weekend and socialising with other club members. Big thanks to Mike for organising the weekend and Richard and Euan for coaching!

Jenwaar

Iceland Weekend Trip

Last weekend I went to Iceland with my little brother James for four days. This will be our last trip together for a while as he’s moving to Sydney, Australia on Friday (sad face).

Iceland is so unique and beautiful, definitely worth a visit however it’s not cheap, be prepared to spend much more than on your standard holiday. The landscape is so breath-taking and diverse, one of the most naturally beautiful places on earth. It feels like you’re on another planet, from open fields of lava rock, mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, waterfalls to the vibrant capital city of Reykjavík. The weather is quite varied, always changing and unpredictable. During our visit we experienced, snow, rain, strong winds and cold temperatures, my warm coat and long underwear were essential!

We only came for a short visit and stayed in Reykjavík city centre. We focused most of our stay in the south of the island. To keep costs down we stayed in an apartment using Airbnb, just a fifteen minute walk from the city centre. We stayed with the host in our own private room; our host was great at giving advice and recommendations during our stay.

I arrived on Thursday evening, got the bus to Reykjavik from the airport. Getting the bus is much cheaper at ten pounds compared to getting a taxi costing £60-70. Keflavik airport is about 50kms from Reykjavik, usually buses are waiting after flights for transfers.

Thursday evening we went out for dinner at Fiskmarkadurinn (Fish market). All the reviews we read in advance sang their praises. Our Taxi driver also informed us that the owner was Iceland’s version of Nigella Lawson, Hrefna Rosa Soetran, so we had high expectations. We weren’t disappointed! The décor of the restaurant was beautiful, the staff were very friendly and spoke English extremely well. We had the tasting menu, eight courses of mainly seafood and lamb with a selection of desserts. They also have a great cocktail menu and good choice of craft beers and wines. This has to be one of the best meals I’ve ever had, every single course was delicious. It’s quite pricey but has good value for money because of the quality of the food and drink. I would recommend anyone visiting Iceland to go here, please view (drool) over my photos below.

On Friday we went snorkelling and on the golden circle tour. We were picked up in the morning and taken to Thingvellir, Silfra a freshwater fissure. This lake is so special because it’s the only place you can swim between two continents; North American and Europe. We bravely donned wet suits rather than dry suits and submerged ourselves in the gap where the two tectonic plates meet. The water is crystal clear and as pure as water gets you could even take a sip! Although it was incredible, I have never been so cold, the water temperature is 2C and the temperature outside was freezing. We got ready outside in the snow and before I took the plunge I couldn’t feel my hands and feet. I was quite surprised when I got in the water it wasn’t that cold but that’s probably because I was already so cold. The advantage of snorkelling with a wet suit is that you can dive underneath the surface and explore more. Dry suits you float along the top of the water but stay dry and keep you much warmer.

After warming up with a couple of cups of hot chocolate and dry clothes, we continued on the golden circle tour. Our route commenced at the national park Thingvellir where Althing the Icelandic parliament was established. It is also where the continental drift between North American and Europe plates can be seen in cracks and rifts.

We moved onto a geothermally active valley, Haukadalur. This is where the famous Geysers, Strokkur and Geysir itself which gave others their name. Strokkur erupts regularly, which we saw a few times, quite spectacular to see in person! Geysir erupts rarely our guide informed us it erupted two weeks earlier, but usually goes off about once a year.

The last stop on our tour was Gullfoss waterfall, translated ‘Golden falls’. I don’t think you can really appreciate its magnitude and beauty until you see it in person. My photos don’t do it justice!

Saturday we explored Reykjavík, it’s such a colourful and vibrant city. The houses are wooden framed and clad in wooden planks or corrugated metals painted in bright colours. The centre itself is quite compact and easy to walk around. We started the day walking down to the harbour and continued onto dramatic concrete Hallgrimskirkja church. We went up the tower and took in the wonderful views of Reykjavik. In the evening we went down to the Harpa concert centre and saw a comedy show ‘How to be Icelandic’. Later on in the evening we went to a few bars, most bars don’t have entry fees and all very close to one another. Craft beer and cocktails are popular and lots of specialised bars such as Mikkeller and Friends with twenty beers on tap. Just to mention the drinking age in Iceland is twenty (not that’s a problem for me).

Sunday we walked up to the Perlan (Pearl), which has a panoramic views over the city and a rotating restaurant. In the afternoon we caught a bus to one of the 25 wonders of the world, the blue lagoon. We took a dip in the geothermal water, it was so nice to go into warm water after our freezing dip on Friday. The water is cloudy and steam billows off the pool to make it feel mysterious. Again it’s quite pricey to go and a little busy, but it has good facilities and a nice relaxing way to end our trip. Afterwards we took a taxi to the airport for our late night flight back home.

During our stay we were lucky to experience the food and fun festival. Local restaurants created gourmet menus at affordable prices, using Icelandic ingredients. We tried menus at Sushi and Samba restaurant and Kopar restaurant. Both restaurants served amazing food. All the food we had on our trip was excellent, local cuisine is fish and lamb. I would also recommend Bernhorfbakari for a pastries and K Bar, a beer bar with Korean inspired food.

Sadly the three nights we stayed in Iceland it was cloudy and we were unable to see the Northern lights. Our flight back home was late and we were fortunate to see them from the plane.

The only ‘negative’ I would say is the recurrent smell of sulphur, smelled of rotten eggs. By the end of the trip I think got used to it. The trip was amazing and there is nowhere quite like it. I recommend anyone to visit this mysterious island. I would love to visit again and explore the rest of the island.

Jenwaar