Islay Half Marathon

Having collected the boys from kennels on Wednesday and then driven back up past Loch Lomond to camp for one night at Lochgilphead before getting the boat over to Islay from Kennacraig.

We are staying at a campsite in Port Charlotte which has two pubs. The eye wateringly expensive Port Charlotte Hotel, which to its credit sells three real ales, although at a premium and all are only 3.8% and one is Greene King IPA but another is for Islay and one from Loch Fyne. They also won’t serve us food outside because of Health and Safety, even though it’s a glorious evening, nor will they let the dogs inside lest it might upset their two customers.

The other pub, whose name escapes me, has a Draught Bass hand pump on the bar but doesn’t have any and I'm not sure they ever have had. They do serve Islay Beers in bottles as most places do but hardly anywhere sells the local brews on draught. That's a poor show. The bar also wouldn’t serve us food after 6.45 as they were too busy. We eat back at the campsite cafe, which is frequently running out of food presumably because no one can get served anywhere else but each time they do manage to come up with something.

On Saturday I plod around the Islay Half Marathon which is hosted by the island’s capital Bowmore, home of the famous whisky, but the race is sponsored by Ardbeg, one of the rival distilleries on the island of which there are eight.

The race was tough on a fairly hilly course and it rained throughout. There are some pretty serious straights on the course and I swear that as you come up to one mile marker you can actually see the next in the distance. Perhaps, if your eyesight was better than mine, you’d be able to see the next one too.

I finish in a very pedestrian 1:54 and gagging for a post race pint. Unfortunately Belhaven Best on keg is the best they could offer. I did swear I would not have another one but I do and again it is awful. Much better at the race presentation is the free whiskey from Ardbeg. They give out loads of prizes including gallon bottles to the winners. Clearly they are keen to upstage the local Bowmore distillery but it’s all too late for us. We’re already sold on Bunnahabhain after an excellent sales pitch by their rep on the ferry over, as in free samples. 

 

Much smoother than the normal Islay malts it became the tipple of choice under canvas once the Talisker we brought with us ran out and considering the lack of real ale options.

(Saturday 2nd August)

Commonwealth Games

We have set up camp on the quiet side of Loch Lomond at a place called Cashel. This was actually as close to Glasgow as we could get, most campsites already being booked up due to the Commonwealth Games.

This is the side of Loch Lomond you can’t drive up as the narrow road runs out a bit further up the road at Rowardennan. We’ve visited Rowardennan once before, thirteen years ago, when we got a boat over from the other side of the Loch where we were camping and climbed Ben Lomond in the rain with the two kids. Afterwards we dried out, warmed up and waited for the return boat in the Clansman bar of the Rowardennan Hotel. I recall us drinking coffee with whiskey chasers which was probably because the beer wasn’t any good. Thirteen years on the beer still isn’t any good, the thriving Scottish real ale scene hasn’t penetrated Rowardennan yet and Belhaven Best on keg was the best they could offer. It was awful and I swore not to have another one this week.

On the day of our Commonwealth Games trip we drive south and drop the boys at a kennels close to a place called Bearsden. Sadly they are to be interned overnight whilst we enjoy ourselves without them. 

We manage to find a train station close by, where we park up and head to Scotstoun Sports Complex where the squash is taking place. All public transport costs are included in the games ticket prices.

We see several games of doubles on the glass show court which they have made bigger for the doubles. That’s an odd thing to do as all the other games are taking place on normal squash courts around the centre which cannot be resized without taking down a few walls.

The games we see are first round games and are largely one sided. Australia beat Jersey 2-0, England beat Malta 2-0 and Scotland beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 in the men’s doubles. Then in the mixed doubles Australia lose the first game to the Cayman Islands but then cruise through the other games to win 2-1 before England beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0. It’s interesting to see the tactics the pairs use with England and Australia both pairing a right hander with a left hander. In the mixed the girls always get to play on their forehand.

After the squash is over we head to the centre of Glasgow for some lunch which we have at one of those cheap sandwich places that aren’t actually very cheap before we head to Hampden Park for the athletics.

When we get there we are pleased to find that our randomly selected (by the internet) row G seats are actually on the front row until we discover out that a TV camera has sat in our seats and we will have to be seated elsewhere. We are offered seats right at the back. Naturally I am inconsolable at this and protest profusely. We are sent to the ‘ticket resolution centre’ where a very nice young lady swaps our tickets for front row ones right at the start of the 100m straight. 

These are better even than our original ones which were much further back around the track. We have a great evening.

In the stadium I was sort of expecting a very pro-Scottish crowd baying for independence as well as a Scottish victory but not a bit of it.

The English, Welsh and Northern Irish athletes all get massive cheers from the Scots and even the English cheer the Scottish Athletes.

Better together perhaps, certainly if it’s medals everyone one wants.

(Tuesday 29^th July)

Great Scottish Swim

For Friday night we move back on to the mainland and stay at the Beinglas Farm Campsite near Inverarnan, us, several dozen Germans doing the West Highland Way and the midge population of Argyll and Bute.

It was a pleasant campsite, midges apart, it even has its own on site bar. No beer naturally but they did sell us a bottle of wine. Which we consumed, hiding from the midges, in the tent.

This is after we had eaten and drank at the famous Drover’s Inn. Pub of the year 1705 apparently. It still has the original decor and stuffed bear. The food is just average though and the beer was sadly only Deuchars IPA. 

Then on Saturday morning we traverse the length of Loch Lomond, by car, before arriving at the southern tip and Balloch where the Great Scottish Swim takes place. I believe this is the first Scottish swim to beat both the weather and the algae, to actually take place. Although this is their first attempt at Loch Lomond. Which is also, according to the signs, 'Certified Unsuitable For Swimming'.

Both L and I swim the mile. I start at 10.30am, L starts at 1.05pm, giving enough time for dog handover in between.

As I wait to start, at first I don’t realise that I’m stood next to Evan Thomas. 

Then after L has pointed this out and asked me to take photos of him, I suddenly realise that I’ve also been stood next to Keri-Anne Payne, super open water champion babe, but was too busy biting my nails to notice.

The swim itself is ok, as swims go. Actually I’m sure I swam well over a mile, so my half ironman distance of 1.2 miles shouldn’t be a problem. I get lost on the way out and get corrected by a marshal in a canoe. I get even more lost on the way back due to the sun being very low and totally blinding me as I swim back to shore. Simply following the pair of feet in front of me doesn't work, when another canoe based marshal paddles after him and turns him around until he's pointing in the right direction. Do they do SatNav for swimmers?

As I swim past a marshal actually stood in the middle of the loch, I realise I could have probably walked some of it.

I’m quicker than at Windermere but a lot slower than at Nottingham, where there was the advantage of following the edge of the rowing strip to stay in a straight line and therefore I didn’t get lost.

Then we hand over the baton (the dogs) and L does her swim. A mile being a bit of a come down for her, she's used to doing two.

Then afterwards it’s straight back down the M74/M6 as we head home.

(Saturday 24^th August)

Continuing To Train, Sort Of

L has a day off, I think she’s just dodging work but it may be to get ready for the holiday by baking raspberry buns and to become a redhead again. I hope the colouring doesn’t run in Loch Lomond or in the Scottish mist.

I continue to sort of train, sort of. I bike to work and then swim. At least that’s my two swim sessions a month done already. I also manage to get a bike locker this week. Two of the four are broken and the other week the other two were full. Instead I had to lock my bike to L’s with my padlock, which is all I usually bring with me. This time I bring a full lock and chain but don’t need it as a locker is free, which is lucky as L isn’t there.

(Wednesday 14^th August)

I Wish You Hadn't Taken Me To The Tri...

My arms and shoulders still ache after Saturday’s swim and both my calves seem to be locked in unhelpful mode. I get out the foam roller but it doesn’t seem to improve them much. Doggo sits on me, just in case that helps. It doesn’t.

L keeps saying ‘I wish you hadn't taken me to the tri...’ Sorry.

Sort of inspired myself, in a sort of ‘still alive’ sort of way, I plan our summer holiday. E.g. Isle of Coll half marathon to start the week; Loch Lomond swim to finish it off. I’m sure everyone’s holiday plans are along similar lines.

The Coll Half website was saying ‘race limit 300 – entries so far 298’, so thought I best get in quick. Although the online booking page offered a generous 54 entries still available but I wasn’t risking which one was right.

Now just to book a ferry, don’t tell Doggo he’s got to go on another boat.

In the evening she heads off for a run with Sweatshop, I head off to train the boys. 

(Monday 8^th July)