Half Ben.

I tackled my 1st half Ben yesterday before work. It was very warm and as I did my wee, pretendy running style up the start of the track, a young German lad upped his pace beside me. He had a big rucksack on his back and youth on his side. He said his friends had done The Ben in 7 hours and he was hoping to do better. I suggested he follow me up the short cuts to half way and he would easily beat them. He louped up the 1st short cut and then began to flag a bit as the gradient kicked in. We chatted the usual stuff about the race times and he was a bit flabbergasted. The mens record is 1hr 25mins, which includes 2 miles of road running. He had packed enough gear for all weathers and eventualities and couldn't believe how little I had on or with me. He declared me to be the strongest woman he had ever met and shooed me on ahead. I laughed as I have only just begun training, and there are a whole heap of Lochaber woman - 30's, 40's and 50's, way stronger than me. I suggested he keep an eye on me as I would stay in sight and he would see my final shortcut.

I loved the warmth of the day and the views. It kept me from focussing on the discomfort of the climb. When my young companion eventually caught up (I waited for him at the halfway point to say goodbye), he was grateful for the challenge but looking forward to having a holiday on the 2nd half.

I met Graham Brookes coming up as I was going down. Funny that, as I met him on my walk up to the Ski Fields too. I am certainly not out every day, but I figure he probably is. He retired 2 weeks ago and is looking younger each time I see him.

The fire on the hillside was just one of many as folk try to get the burning done before the cut-off time of 15th April. There were fire engines galore last night, trying to get a fire under control on Locheilside, which was coming very close to houses. Finn came home from rugby training at dusk and said that the hillside on the other side of the loch was lit up.

Meg did a 4 mile run on her own before tea and was much quicker than my 'fit' time. Spook and I did the first of the Tuesday Time Trials. I preformed poorly - heavy Ben legs and bad attitude, and Spook was much slower than usual. They go on until late August, so there is plenty of time for improvement.