Training for the Devil O the Highlands

One of my biggest goals this year has been to complete the so called, informal 'Triple Crown' by running and finishing the Highland Fling (53 miles), West Highland Way Race (95 miles) and Devil O the Highlands (43 miles). I've completed the first two, given myself about 3 weeks of rest after the WHWR with only an odd few runs and gym sessions, and started training for the Devil in earnest last week.

I've managed to have 1 session of most types so far (medium trail, trail hill rep, long trail, speed, medium road and gym strength) and was very pleased to see that my speed hadn't really diminished since the WHWR. I ran the 6 mile +/- 450' Stockgrove park trail run in almost record time for me and felt strong and aerobically fine.

Not so with my first hill rep session - I set out to do 8-10 reps but my legs were almost at failure after 5 and I was grunting and puffing away. I squeezed out another rep then called it a day - I'll do another couple of these sessions before the Devil so build up muscle strength and lactic acid tolerance again. I find I get better at hill reps quite quickly so amn't worried.

I do wonder whether I have lost some muscle mass as a consequence of the WHWR. It isn't possible to take on board enough calories during the race so there's only two things left to use - fat (not energetically efficient to convert) and muscle.

The stats for my training so far ...

Medium trail run

Distance: 6 miles

Ascent / descent: +463' / -453'

Time: 00:47:07

Splits: 7:52 (avg), 7:23 (max), 8:16 (min)

Medium road run

Distance: 7 miles
Ascent / descent: +81' / -120'
Time: 01:09:48
Splits: 9:58 (avg), 9:05 (max), 10:30 (min)

Trail hill reps

Distance: 2.87 miles

Reps: 6 + warm-up and cool-down
Ascent / descent: +746' / -739'
Time: 00:30:36
Splits: 4:14 (max), 4:30 (min)

Long trail run

Distance: 16.5 miles
Ascent / descent: +1600' / -1500'
Time: 02:34:25
Splits: 9:27 (avg), 8:42 (max), 10:09 (min)

Speed session

Distance: 5.36 miles

Reps: 6 x ~700m plus warm-up and cool-down

Time: 00:40:26

Mile splits: 5:50 (fastest), 6:09 (slowest)