Petestack Blog

It’s a logical circuit I’ve had my eye on for years but somehow (despite having run just about everything else you can run in this area) never got round to doing as a whole. So this afternoon I ran round the base of the Buachaille Etive Beag by the Lairig Eilde and Lairig Gartain, and have to say that, if it was all as delightfully runnable as the Lairig Eilde, it might just be the best mid-level off-road circuit round here. But the Lairig Gartain, while not looking that much longer on the ground, is quite simply bigger, rougher, wetter and slower, and comparatively marred by a less continuous path that’s eminently losable through some quite awkward ground at the Etive end. So, while still well worth doing (and how could it not be in such spectacular surroundings?), it’s not the ‘best of the best’ it promised to be for the first three miles, and Dalness and back by the Lairig Eilde should be a more pleasant course to pick up the pace and maintain some rhythm for those more carefree days.

Edit (22 March 2015): having seen Susie Allison pick this up (as ‘The Two Lairigs’) for Scottish Trail Running and done some more Lairig Gartains myself to go with yet more Lairig Eildes, it seems that my initial judgement of the Lairig Gartain was harsh and the Two Lairigs really does stand up as the best run of its type (mid-level, through-hills trail) in the whole area. But might also defend myself by noting that Susie’s obvious refinement of skirting the deer fence rather than descending to Dalness takes out the toughest ground of the Glen Etive end (still a few awkward spots left on the reascent of the Lairig Gartain above that) and the path north-east back to Glen Coe is now both continuous and better/drier right down to the Glen where it wasn’t before. The old road back through Glen Coe (another ‘Susie’ tweak I’d missed) also makes a more carefree alternative to the A82 verge, though possibly slower through being quite soft and wet over the first mile.

Edit (10 April and 23 April 2015): take the higher path traversing from a start up the south ridge of Stob Dubh rather than descending to the one by the Allt Gartain and you remove the last of the awkward ground for a much more pleasant and runnable ascent of the Lairig Gartain. Simple as that!

After running off-road every night this week bar one (Wednesday’s road run) and finding Thursday’s and Friday’s efforts severely snowy struggles, I decided I deserved a long, ‘easy’ run for some cheap mileage and headed out this afternoon to run round the Loch. Which took me 2 hours 49 mins for 20.2 miles of hilly road running (of which more shortly), bringing my total since Monday to 58 miles and really not being too bad for a glorified jog (with some renewed discomfort from the bash I took to my ribs on WML Training last week) the day after taking nearly two hours to cover six miles! And that should be pretty well all I need to report just now except for a most interesting discovery about the ascent and descent recorded by my Garmin Forerunner (in this case my new 310XT, but probably applying to my older 305 as well)…

Now, popular opinion seems to suggest that the Garmin altitude readings are way too high, although I’ve found them to be surprisingly consistent in practice with Memory-Map elevation profiles for the same routes on open hill ground. But today’s run comes out as 2,007 ft ascent/2,025 ft descent in Garmin Training Center, 2,381 ft of elevation gain in Garmin Connect (a discrepancy already noted in my brief 310XT review) and an even more impressive 2,688 ft when converting the track to a route in Memory-Map and letting it recalculate the ascent. So make of that what you will, but here at least it looks like the GPS could be under (rather than over) estimating the altitudes!

It’s MICROspike weather again! With this evening’s fresh snow at village level obviously extending to cover the icy paths higher up, I’ve been wearing the spikes again instead of just carrying them. Which is fine, really, because the running’s quite simply easier when the routes are either clear or properly covered than somewhere in-between.

On quite another note, I removed a live spider from the wok while cooking my ‘co-operative vegetable stir fry’ and suspect (since the spider wasn’t there when I put the wok on to heat up) that said spider came with the vegetables! :-/

While I’ve been very happy with my Garmin Forerunner 305 as a training/pacing/recording aid for three years, I’ve just bought the new 310XT with this year’s West Highland Way Race in mind. Mainly for the increased 20-hour battery life (which should be enough to see me home if all goes to plan!), although its ability to use British Grid as well as just lat/long for navigation could also be useful for further adventures away from the beaten path.

Anyway, it got its first outing today on an icy run to the Blackwater Dam and back by the Ciaran Path and my initial observations/thoughts go something like this:

• It works, and feels reassuringly familiar to a 305 user.
• The new soft-strap heart rate monitor is nice and was worth getting even though the 305’s monitor will work.
• The watch strap retainer has a kind of super-secure interlocking system (not something I’ve seen on a retainer before when they’re usually just loops) that makes the end of the strap just a little awkward to feed in and out of it.
• The new wireless computer interfacing is nice and I’m pleased to be able to download the data to both the Garmin Connect online thingy (looks like I can use that with the 305 as well?) and my existing Training Center software. (Garmin Connect has some nifty fun features like ‘movies’ of your run superimposed on a base map or satellite imagery, but it’s online and I like to have my data stored and accessed locally.)
• Training Center and Garmin Connect have given me different elevation/altitude figures for the run, which seems a little curious?
• The watch screen appeared to be briefly (and very lightly) misted inside at one point, but I’m not too concerned about that right now (think the 305 might also have done this from time to time, but can always consult Garmin support).

And that’s about it for now. Not giving up on my trusty 305 because it was a present, I love it and am quite happy to have the choice (and/or a reserve device), but the 310XT clearly has the advantage where battery life or potential navigational use (for which I’ve never used the 305) are concerned.

Something I’d been thinking about for quite some time (like years!) before this winter’s prolonged cold spell sent me researching seriously and posting some questions to the UKC Forums. Which saw my initial list (based on Needle Sports’ stock) of Kahtoola MICROspikes & KTS, Charlet Moser Spikys and Grivel Spiders augmented by recommendations/suggestions for Yaktrax and various types of studded/spiked shoes. And (to cut a long story short) resulted in me picking up a pair of locally-available Spiders from The Ice Factor to try while ordering a pair of MICROspikes online as well.

So here are my interim reviews from that UKC thread, starting with what I had to say about the Spiders on 23 December:

For the record, I carried the Spiders up two snowy hill/trail routes on Sunday/Monday without using them before finally giving them a whirl on an icy 12-mile run from Kinlochleven to the Blackwater Dam and back tonight. So this is what I’ve just posted to the parallel ‘Shoe snow chains’ thread:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=386138

‘First impressions are surprisingly positive because they stayed put on my shoes (Asics 2130 trainers), allowed me to put my feet anywhere I wanted (including passages of pure ice), brought me safely down a significant hill and back along the pavement to my house, didn’t interfere with my gait at all and are still in one piece. If you’re crossing cleared roads from one icy pavement to another, you’ll feel/hear the unit under your instep, but it’s not tall enough to cause problems and not worth taking them off for that. Having said that, I think the MICROspikes look better in just about every way (especially very clever, quick ‘binding’ system and better distribution of spikes), but didn’t find the instep-only pattern of the Spiders as limiting as I expected tonight on ground that’s probably pushing their remit. So they’re clearly suitable for a town environment (where the instep design should be even less of an issue and short spikes are what you want), except that I’m still expecting to discover that the MICROspikes have them beat for everything except weight and price.’

To which I might just add that I did the straps up once (snugly but not over-tight because I was needlessly concerned about creating circulation cold spots) and left them, but never had any problem with the things moving. While they seemed to rotate slightly to find their natural position (aligned with the inside edges of my soles and the inside back spikes maybe toed in a touch), they really did stay put at that (on my running shoes anyway) and let me just run. And made a reassuring and satisfyingly ‘crampony’ crunch on the crispest/iciest stuff, which certainly would have had me flat on my back or picking my way at a snail’s pace without them!

And continuing with my take on the MICROspikes from Christmas Eve (when Eppie, Eileen and I waylaid the post van round the corner after missing their delivery while out to lunch at The Ice Factor!):

Got my MICROspikes today, so had to head out for another run (this time an 8-mile round trip to Tigh-na-sleubhaich in the Lairig Mor) to try them out. Which gave me the chance to run on everything from ribbons of pure ice (where the bottom end of the path forms a natural drainage line) through following existing footsteps in the softer snow to chasing down more compacted Landrover tire tracks on the west (Fort William) side of the highest point. And they did it all as well or better than the Spiders, with the most obvious differences being the ease of fitting with that strapless/buckleless design and the added (possibly partly psychological?) confidence stemming from the more extended spike pattern. Apart from that, both Spiders and MICROspikes benefit from spikes of just the right length, meaning long enough to bite but not long enough to cramp your running style or ball up in softer stuff, which also means you can just fit and forget unless you’re taking them off for obvious stretches of bare ground. Where the Spiders clearly score is in being lighter (NB light enough to carry as emergency spares!), cheaper and ‘one-size-fits-all’, with the MICROspikes (still pretty light!) getting the nod for the brilliant ‘harness’ and more crampon-like performance (think I’d be happy to run over many real hills in these). While the elastomer harness was softer than I expected, it seems to be pretty durable by all accounts and could obviously be patched on the hill with a length of shockcord or similar if any of the eyes did go. So they’re looking pretty well perfect for my needs if their durability matches their functionality!

Hope to do some more testing of both yet, but my interim verdict says the MICROspikes are a seriously clever bit of kit that really works and the Spiders will do if budget (a few pounds) or weight (a few grams) really matters that much. :-)

To which I should add some further notes covering things not otherwise mentioned above:

• The Spiders are ‘handed’ (left and right), but apparently just to keep the buckles to the outside of the feet because they’re basically symmetrical apart from the threading of the straps.
• It’s worth pulling the retainers for the strap ends down away from the buckles before doing them up.
• My Spiders weigh 166 grams the pair (against Grivel’s quoted 140), with the carrying pouch adding another 12.
• The MICROspikes are not handed, but still have an obvious front and back.
• My large MICROspikes weigh 412 grams the pair (where Kahtoola quote 280 to 411, depending on size).
• While all the positive reviews helped, a late look at Kahtoola’s MICROspike fitting video was virtually enough on its own to convince me to buy!
• I carried both Spiders and MICROspikes again today with the hope of further testing, but needed neither for miles of mostly virgin powder snow to the far end of Loch Eilde Beag before finally fitting the MICROspikes (and still being happy with them) for the return over the icy An Cumhann path and big descent to the village.
• While a true crampon like the Kahtoola KTS should be better for true hill work, the shorter spikes (nothing you’re likely to catch and trip over there!) of the MICROspikes and Spiders seem more attuned to running. So, while I might yet give the steel KTS a whirl some day (ruling out the aluminium where contact with rock is basically unavoidable) if the MICROspikes get trashed too quickly on my habitual rocky trails and paths, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got pending longer-term trials.

A very satisfying run over the Devil’s Staircase to Altnafeadh and back this afternoon…

To explain quite simply, I ran every step of the way with no walking or stops whatsoever. While I’ve more than once run the whole way back up the short, steep (Glen Coe) side and down the long (Kinlochleven) side, today I ran all the way up the long side (where I usually let myself walk for a few steps above the Penstock) and down to Glen Coe, just touching one of the roadside marker posts where I’d normally take a quick standing break and heading straight back up. So perhaps I was suffering by the time I hit the zigzags towards the top, but kept it together through a real mind-over-matter head game and shuffling jog to the twin cairns, after which I knew I was home dry (except that it rained, but you know what I mean?) and running more freely again.

Not by any means my fastest trip over this course (some 16 to 17 minutes outside my best), but I’m still well over my target weight for next summer’s ultras (when I know I’m fastest at my lightest) and running’s rarely the quickest or most efficient way up the steepest ground anyway. That said, for the sheer self-discipline of convincing myself I’m strong and my body’s capable of going where my mind can, it’s pretty encouraging at this stage! :-)

Standing between Glen Creran and Glen Duror and being the final hill after Beinn Maol Chaluim on my truly local ‘why have I never done that?’ hit-list, the fine Corbett of Fraochaidh was a much coveted summit. So what better way to spend a clear, cold November Sunday afternoon than running into it from Ballachulish and out again?

It’s a good route through good hill running country, enlivened by great views of the surrounding hills (especially fine today on the return leg as the Glen Coe peaks started to glow in the late sunshine) and really feeling like it’s taking you somewhere as you look down into Glen Creran, although quite an effort for a solitary Corbett at 12.4 miles and 4,400 ft round trip over an undulating ridge. Completed in 3hrs 29mins, which seems typical at the moment for a hill run of this stature in non-racing, camera-carrying mode. And the dusting of snow on the summit was nice! :-)

The panorama below (not perfectly stitched!) was taken on the way home, covers about 180° and shows (from left to right) Beinn a’ Bheithir, Ben Nevis and the Mamores, the Glen Coe peaks (with the Pap, Aonach Eagach and Bidean group all visible), Sgor na h-Ulaidh (looking very fine from the west) and Beinn Fhionnlaidh.

While I wouldn’t normally bother to report a ‘routine’ training run round a course so short that I rarely run it on its own, tonight’s little outing up past the Grey Mare’s was just a little bit different. Being so wet I might as well have gone running through rocky stream beds in the dark (so those were paths, were they?) and I’m surprised I didn’t meet any fish!

So perhaps we’re talking about a mere 2.5 miles over the ground (albeit with 1,000 ft of ascent) taking a good five minutes longer than normal. But the time’s not important when I nearly didn’t go (8:05pm start) then realised that I was genuinely enjoying myself up there! :-)