Hanging out with some Olympians

Last week was a good week of training considering I was still suffering a bit from a sore ankle. I did most of my running in a pair of Inov-8 288 "walking" boots - they gave plenty of support. I did a couple of good hilly trail runs (a 6 miler and a 12 miler), a 13 mile run on tarmac (not much fun), a few easy intervals and some cross training (40 minutes on the rowing machine). Overall I ran about 50 miles in the week, but didn't feel my right leg was strong enough for a really long run.

The highlight of the week sports wise was being part of the team that won the Perth Business Challenge Curling Competition. The competition was set-up for people who had never curled before to try the sport for the first time, though each team was allowed a maximum of two experienced curlers. I was one of the three non-curlers on our team, and our ringer and team captain (skip) was Pete, who was part of the British mens' curling team at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 - his sister, Katie, who represented Britain at Nagano in 1998, is one of my workmates. It was good fun trying a new sport, and I could definitely see the attraction as I got quite a buzz when I played a half decent shot, so I'll add it to the list of things to take up when I'm an old man - until then getting out and about in the hills is more my bag.

Speaking of which, I was out for a 30 mile run today - a good route around and about Carron Valley. I felt pretty good at the end of it - much better than a did on my long run a month ago. I might do a post later in the week about the route and showing a few photos - so that is something for you to look forward to or avoid. Until then, here is a photo of Carleatheran and a snow covered Ben Lomond.