It is almost inconceivable that it has been EIGHT years since I last bagged a Munro (An Socach). I never would've imagined on that solo day with my wee Tig dog (sadly she passed away 3 months ago) that it would take me so long to get back to the mountains. My Munro-bagging definitely slowed down when we moved to the Borders in 2013, as I added an hour on to every drive north. It possibly isn't a coincidence that I started my running journey in the summer of 2017, and as I started training for a road marathon, my priorities changed from walking in the hills to running.
...which is quite funny eight years later as I train for a 53 mile trail ultra and I'm seeking out the hills as part of my running training!
Once we decided to start a family in 2018 and I fell pregnant, had our daughter and struggled through those early years of motherhood, I did not feel capable of taking to the mountains, especially on my own. My confidence in general was completely gone, and I had such fear of something happening to me, and of being away from my baby. I'm sure it is quite common after becoming a parent, but I never wanted this to become a barrier. After all, I'd love my daughter to be interested in hill walking and exploring as she grows up. But postnatal anxiety and depression stopped me from even contemplating taking on a Munro again.
She's six now, and - although I still feel a lot of fear/anxiety - as part of my training for the Highland Fling, I am seeking out elevation and when the opportunity arose to combine a run on my training plan with two Munros in the Cairngorms, I wanted to give it a go! It also was perfectly timed on the day of the Highlander Backyard Ultra, so I could pop by on my way home and cheer on Team Scotland for a wee bit.
(On that note, I'm following a training plan devised by Iain Bethune, the Scottish Backyard Ultra record holder. I'll write more about this post-Fling hopefully, but Iain has totally transformed the way I think about running).
One of my other priorities just now is a notable parkrun milestone. Milestones are awarded for 25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 runs/walks/completions of parkruns. I got my 100th in France in 2022 and it has felt like a long time getting to the next one! Because I like numbers, there's something quite appealing about getting to 250 in 2025...it'll be tight, with I think only one weekend to spare, so I'm trying my best to fit them in every week. They don't always fit with my training plan though (in terms of running them) which means I've walked round more recently. This has been brilliant - I've enjoyed them much more than the speedy suffer-fest they often can be!
On the morning of Saturday 19th July, I set off in time to make it to Faskally Forest parkrun (just north of Pitlochry) and was very glad to be walking round this one, not running - it's a challenging undulating course! Beautiful though, I really enjoyed it. Then I continued my journey north, just half an hour to Dalwhinnie where I parked the car and set off. I felt apprehensive but here I was, giving it a go.
The first two and a bit miles of these Munros - Carn na Caim and A'Bhuidheanach - is all up. Some gradual, then it gets a bit steeper. Not runnable for me, but Iain's wife Julie (herself an incredible ultra runner with many victories and achievements to her name) has helped me a lot recently to get into the swing of walking with purpose uphill. I was also really helped at this point by my pal Nikki, who I was meeting later at Highlander - she called me for a chat and it really helped pass the time. 19 minutes in fact! I was heavy breathing down the phone but it really got me up the up!
Near the top of this initial incline I met a mother and daughter and had a chat. They'd gone up early that morning (I had started at 11am) and had poor visibility in the cloud. They gave me a couple of helpful tips, even though I ended up being very fortunate to get the entire thing done with good visibility and straightforward navigation.
I walked the uphills and I jogged the rest, not very quickly, but it felt like an efficient way to move forward, and faster than walking. The first Munros I've 'run' which is exciting!
I reached the summit of Carn na Caim an hour and ten minutes after leaving the car. Took some pictures then retraced my steps back to the bealach where the path to the next Munro headed off. This path was slightly more undulating but I continued to walk the uphills and jog the downhills. I think it only took around 45 minutes to get from the summit of Carn na Caim to A'Bhuidheanach. I didn't spend too long at the top as I could see some cloud sweeping in in the distance and wanted to be safely down before the weather changed (this was the day of some very heavy rain but it hadn't reached Dalwhinnie yet!). It was a case of retracing my steps - super simple on a clear day.
I was back to the car just under 3 hours after leaving it. I was chuffed to bits at this fairly straightforward afternoon out in the hills, bagging two Munros and gaining a little bit confidence back! I changed my t-shirt, ate some lunch then headed down to Blair Castle to meet Nikki.
Backyard Ultras are not really great spectator sports (4 mile loops on the hour every hour until there's only one runner left!) but I had a lovely wee walk with Nikki and her girls, and had the fortune of meeting legendary ultra runner Fiona Rennie (a seriously impressive woman who'll undertake her 20th West Highland Way race next year!). Nikki kindly got a photo for me as she rightly said I'd have been too shy to ask myself!
I left Blair Atholl at 4.30pm, arriving home an hour later just as Dave and Totty got back with fish suppers from Kinross - for me, the perfect end to a day surrounding myself with all the things I love about running.
None of this comes easily to me, I am massively out my comfort zone and it still causes me a lot of anxiety to undertake a day like this. I especially struggle meeting new people so being at Highlander was a big effort, but with pals like Nikki and familiar faces like Julie there, I am slowly but surely trying to gain confidence that'll help me as I go forwards.
A brilliant day out, and onwards to the Highland Fling on 20th September!
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