Well no-one has blogged for quite a while so here is the latest from me.

I'm off to Driac this Friday for the last time before the race; I'll be drying her out between tides and refreshing the antifouling. This has lasted pretty well (I used Jotun which is an industrial one) so it should be just a broad band around the waterline I hope. I hope to have some reinforcing plates from Stefan by then to fit to damaged frames, shelves and retaining material for lockers and leecloths for the foc's'l bunks. I also hope to complete the refurbishment of the self steering gear; I've obtained, repaired or made the missing components and spoken to the makers so I hope it can be got to work OK. There are endless other small jobs of course and I'll do as many as I can.

Training has been held up by a serious cough which stopped me for two weeks but Nick and I had two runs together in Scotland during the Odyssey course we ran last week and those went well with lots of climbing. Yesterday I decided to do a longish cycle/run session. I cycled for 55 minutes, covering 9 miles and climbing 1,050 ft then set off on foot expecting to run for 2 hours. 4 hours and 10 minutes later I tottered in having run 17 miles and climbed 2,800 ft. This was not a record-breaking time by any means but I feel the cycling really helps the running and I was pleased to be able to keep plugging away for 5 hours and do that amount of climbing without getting cramp, stopping, crawling, crying or being crippled the next day.

I have a busy few weeks before the race but I'll try to keep doing a mixture of cycling and running of different distances with one or two long ones included.

Latest from Driac

I've just spent three days on Driac and was lucky with the weather for the first two, so I now have four coats of varnish on the coachroof and the portlights (repaired and polished) back in. She's looking good. It was good to be aboard her while it was raining as I could assess the deck leak situation. I'm happy to say that there are now very few drips and those there are are not in areas crucial to comfort.

The chart table area has been transformed by the addition of a flap to make it chart-sized and a seat so that it can be sat at properly; I've also tidied up the loose cables and instruments to make it useable. Further improvements will follow. I hope to make the quarter berth, (which is a very confined space and a little prone to leaks) suitable for the 'on call' watch member, so that a fully clad person can doze there on karrimat when not needed.

The major job to tackle now is repairs to damaged frames on the port side. These have been cracked for about 50 years so it isn't dead urgent but I have now spiled (measured) precisely for sister frames. I need to decide how far I can go with this in the time available as doing the job properly will involve making holes below the waterline. It may be that I put sisters in place to support the old frames but leave the through-fastenings until later in the year.

Ok, my turn to try the clever stuff. Here (I hope) are maps of three of my usual runs.

The first is a run that takes me about 55 min; 5 1/2 miles and about 750 ft.

Next is my usual longer run, 6.7 miles and 1,200 ft.

Then last is the long run I did on Sunday, 15 miles and nearly 3,000 ft.

Nick, I must try and get the mapping programme you have if they do it for Mac.

Running route

This is my short running route here in Cromarty.

4.03 miles - 572' of ascent.

It is a pleasant jaunt with absolutely wonderful views out across the Cromarty and Moray Firths. However, I know that I have to get into the mountains to really get the training in!

I decided to do a big run this weekend and as the weather was good I went for it today. I set off at nine am and expected to be about 2 1/2 hours. Three and a half hours later...

I chose as many hills as I could fit in from the house and the total was 14.92 miles and 2,961 ft climbed. Time was 3hrs 31min ands I was absolutely banjaxed by the finish with cramp beginning in various parts. Felt a bit better after a good stretch and a lot of water. Good to do it as I realise I will need to work more on the distance and climbing if I'm to avoid the cramp I suffered from in last year's race. I did keep going though...

A short recovery run tomorrow and I look forward to another monster next weekend!

Around Loch Affric

Yesterday saw me plugging away at a 10 mile run/slip & slide around Loch Affric. I have often wanted run the route around the Loch and so I took my chance. Mistakenly I thought that the route would be clear of snow but was proved to be very wrong when I set off into a calf deep blanket that must have been there for a good few months.

Thankfully when I reached the south facing slope, the snow had all but disappeared. The first half of the run is along an estate track and the next half along a good old fashioned stalkers track.

All in all it was a good run and I am pleased with my latent fitness. It was wonderful to be away from roads and vehicles and as tempted as I was to get up high, the conditions did not allow this.

The weather was mixed with sunny periods and driving sleet.

My time: Pretty slow @ 1:55 with a total ascent of 1251 feet.

Stop all the clocks....

Sorry chaps, I didn't realise that the blog automatically selected Pacific time zone as a default.

I might have managed to sort it out - let's see.

All the best, Vernon