58 Degrees North

Almost sunset at Bosta Beach on the Isle of Lewis.

Tue, 29 May 2012 07:46:07 +0100

Almost sunset at Bosta Beach on the Isle of Lewis.

Super moon over the Outer Hebrides not a great picture but an...

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:37:31 +0100

Super moon over the Outer Hebrides not a great picture but an awesome moon

Returning to an Island

Sat, 05 May 2012 15:16:32 +0100

It is a strange thing coming back on a ferry to an island where you live, a very bitter sweet thing:

It is like being returned to a prison, all be it an open prison with great views and a fantastic playground but it is also restrictive and sometimes it can feel like your view of the world becomes very constrained and narrow.

There is an excitement to seeing the children again even though it is only a few days since you last saw them.

The stretch of water ensures it isn’t easy to just leave to move on and it still to be easy to see the children.

I have seen the world outside and the trouble is I guess I want to have the journeys and adventure I started so many years ago the ones I still have left unfinished.

It is the dichotomy living on an island brings.

Evening swimming in the Outer Hebrides

Wed, 02 May 2012 18:57:38 +0100

Evening swimming in the Outer Hebrides

Next race

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:01:45 +0100

Done, my entry is in for the Highland Warrior in Sept, so now I have a focus got the training

Sean and I went for a mountain bike ride round Tolsta Head on...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:17:25 +0100

Sean and I went for a mountain bike ride round Tolsta Head on the north east Coast of the Isle of Lewis, a fantastic day was just added to by the suprising quality of the riding. I would say we rode about 99% of the way. The decents at the south end of Traigh Mhor were fantastic and there is a load more to be explored there.

Swimming in the sea after dinner at Vatisker, Isle of Lewis

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:24:06 +0100

Swimming in the sea after dinner at Vatisker, Isle of Lewis

guardian: Morning Tumblr! Today we’re celebrating World autism...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:35:31 +0100

guardian:

Morning Tumblr! Today we’re celebrating World autism awareness day with our Monday morning post. In the last two decades there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of autism globally. Some people talk of it as an epidemic, with statistics estimating as many as one in 100 people are affected. We have a series of photographs are of students at the MacIntyre residential school in Wingrave, Buckinghamshire, for young people with severe learning disabilities, including autism. Reblog to make more people aware of autism.

juicerunningloose: I think it’s about time we discusses the...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:27:06 +0000

juicerunningloose:

I think it’s about time we discusses the relationship between sleep and our running. It’s a mandatory aspect of the recovery aspect of out training yet we often neglect it, take it for granted or misunderstand its vital role. If we can gain an understanding of what exactly sleep is to us then maybe we can explore what we gain from it as well as what we are losing without it. Armed with some the knowledge I learned through Running Times and Running Research News lets explore the topic of Sleep and running.

What is sleep? Sleep is categorized into four stages, classified as either non-rapid eye movement (NREM) or rapid eye movement (REM). Stage 1 is a transitional light sleep, where brain activity and vital signs slow down. Stage 2 is a lighter deep sleep and even slower vital signs, we spend about 50% of our sleep time in this stage. Stage 3 & 4, are known as slow-wave delta sleep, which is deep sleep with depressed vital signs and slow, low frequency, high amplitude brain activity, leading to REM. General protein synthesis, cell growth and division, and tissue repair and growth take place during all four stages of sleep, but mainly during slow-wave delta sleep. The pituitary gland releases growth hormone for cell growth is at its circadian peak during delta sleep, plays a key role in building and repairing muscle tissue and bones, as well as acting as a catalyst for the body to use fat as fuel. Without the right amount of HGH in the blood, recovery from workouts is hindered; prolonging the time it takes the body to build a strong aerobic engine. It’s during the third and fourth stages of a typical sleep cycle when a body heals itself through Anabolism.

Those are the basics of sleep and we can assume that we get them if we get adequate sleep and loose them if we don’t, but what is gained with additional sleep? Several studies have shown that when people first take up running, their sleep quality is improved, and that exercising longer than 1 hour further improves sleep quality and that people who exercise regularly and intensely spend more time in stage 3 and 4 slow-wave sleep which means more REM time, enhanced recovery capabilities as well as prolonged repair time. One particular study found that fit runners spend 18% longer in slow-wave sleep than unconditioned people.

Alright it is now understood that spending time in that vital stage of REM sleep is required to maintain healthy performance conditions but what happens when we fail to get adequate amounts of this type of sleep? Sleep loss can lead to impaired endocrine, immune system function, reductions in memory, concentration and cognitive performance. Another disadvantage of sleep deprivation for distance runners is that it takes longer to recover from races due to elevated stress hormone levels not having adequate time in REM conditions to dissipate bad chemicals, flush out waste and conduct repairs. Another concern is that our ability to dissipate heat may be affected by sleep loss. Researchers believe that sleep loss can depress the body’s thermoregulatory system by reducing our ability to sweat during exercise, which is potentially could impair performance significantly. When a person is chronically sleep deprived their levels of HGH, which is essential for the repair of training-induced soft-tissue breakdown, decreases and cortisol levels are increased with the combination of sleep deprivation and exercise. Too much cortisol can be dangerous because it can prohibit the body from recovering fully by interfering with the repair and growth of soft tissue. One study showed that a period of decreased sleep of only a few days could cause a disruption in glucose metabolism, which is the process responsible for storing energy from the food we eat. With impaired glycogen synthesis runners can’t get their glycogen stores as high, which means they may crash sooner during longer runs or races than if they were well-rested.

That is an awful lot of information to grasp at once but the principle boils down to something simple. A runner in training needs an adequate amount of sleep in relation to their quantity of training in order sustain their health long enough to see the improvement they are training for. You may be able to get away with a hiccup in your sleep patterns every once in a while in the short term picture, but be warned that left unchecked in the long term sleep deprivation as we learned will make your body simple incapable of basic recovery functions. Additional sleep can lead to improved recovery but the effects are nothing in comparison to what can occur when sleep is lost. It is a snowball effect each night it is neglected when the chemical process don’t get to do their job. Even if you increase your mileage to improve your performance your improvement will be negated by the effects of sleep loss, because remember that we don’t improve during the work but instead when we recover from it. So if we do not recover we do not improve and the work is only damaging our bodies. Every action requires an equal reaction; so don’t make your miles go to waste just because you strayed from the basic principles of sleep.

Bike Helmets

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:25:32 +0000

Mountain biking today in the Castle Grounds in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis; riding some of the tracks to get there you need to ride the multi-use trails and it was great to see so many people out enjoying the good weather and the fantastic resource right in the centre of town but it makes me mad when I see a parent cycling with their kids and the young person is wearing a helmet and the parent isn’t.

This is wrong on so many levels; is the parent’s head made of tougher stuff than the child’s? Is the parent less likely to fall off than the child? What message does it send to the child about safety and managing risk?

I teach first aid so I know the consequences of a head injury and I have fallen off my bike enough to know if I wasn’t wearing one I probably wouldn’t be here. It is dangerous to even have a slow speed accident and in the worse case we are a long way from the nearest neurological unit by are ambulance.

We all fall off our bikes when we are riding on tracks; I still fall off my bike even when I am teaching, only last week I fell and winded myself on impact during a lesson (at slow speed), so as a parent who probably doesn’t ride very often is the risk of you falling less or greater?

‘Do as I say and not as I do’: Make your child wear a helmet to keep them safe and then don’t wear one yourself. So as a role model you are saying you don’t need to obey the rules. It would be the same as saying ‘don’t steal’ then popping out and doing a bit of shoplifting.

There is also teaching young people about risk assessment and how to quantify risk, it is often in the press we are bringing up our children wrapped in cotton wool. If you are saying to a child this is dangerous enough that you should be wearing a helmet and then not wearing one yourself how are they supposed to make sense of the risk involved. Teaching young people how to handle risk and manage it is so core to their personal development you cannot afford to send out conflicting messages.

Just as a footnote one of them was a member of the local mountain rescue team who I would have thought would have known better …

Powerboating

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:56:23 +0000

Yesterday I was teaching an RYA Intermediate Powerboat course in Loch Roag on the West coast of Lewis, it was the second day and so the group had planned a journey which would take us from Maivaig through under the Bernera Bridge then to Callanish then Kirkbost and return. The aim of the day was to look at using traditional navigation; distance time runs and fixing your position using a hand bearing compass. By lunchtime we had all of those things in the bag and it was time to head back.

The approach to Bernera Bridge from either direction is a tough piece of pilotage, it stresses me and I have done it many times; so we are coming from the East Loch and we are just in the shallowest part where you run within fifteen metres of the shore and we had about four metres of water under her at that state of the tide, when the engine (Yamaha inboard) started to hunt and then cut out.

Up to this point I try to let the students run the boat but I needed to act and act fast or we would have been having a close look at the shore. Quick sharp, we put the anchor over the side and I opened the engine bay to see if there was anything obvious - nothing. My next immediate worry was is the anchor going to hold - after dragging a little it bit and we now had thinking time.

I tried firing up the engine again and it decided to run although it was hunting so it was time to uncover the auxiliary outboard.

While this was happening I decided we would be better hanging from one of the mussel farm mooring buoys which were a few metres away rather than the anchor so while the engine was running we quickly lifted the anchor and moved to pick up the mooring. Meanwhile further attempts were being made to start the auxiliary engine.

I got on the VHF and called the other boat which was operating out in the West Loch, I was unable to get them but the shorebase had someone in and he was able to contact them.

After a lot of persuasion the auxiliary engine decided it was going to run and we were able to make very slow progress under the bridge and head back the three nautical miles to the pontoons. Meanwhile somebody on shore had managed to contact the guys working on the cages at the fishfarms and one of their boats came over and gave us a tow.

If it happened again what would I do: We moved quickly with the anchor and put plenty of chain out this was the right thing to do. I would consider carefully if I was going to move from a secure anchor when I couldn’t be sure if the engine was going to continue to run, I would probably stay on the anchor. I would find out if there are any quirks to starting the auxiliary engine, oh and I would take my own mobile phone in a waterproof case, there are places in Loch Roag where the VHF signal isn’t great.

I don’t know what the problem with the boat was yet so we shall see if there was anything mechanical I could have done.

Powerboating

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:25:07 +0000

Teaching an RYA intermediate powerboat course today in Loch Roag on the Isle of Lewis. We are taking the students through to their Advanced endorsement and this is the fourth year I have take a group through from level to to assessment.

What I was struck by is now we do the navigation teaching to Day Skipper level before we do the Intermediate course the group get on much better with the practical course. I know this is obvious but it took us a while to realise.

Loch Roag was stunning today with the wind gusting occasionally up to a F7. Although it can take your breath away when it is sunny and calm the days like today shake you into realising what a rugged place we live and reinforces my connection to ocean.

Powerboating

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:25:02 +0000

Star lit night

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:22:50 +0000

Staying at Borve Guest House in Benbecula, just arrived back and stepped out of the car to be stopped in my tracks by the breathtaking panorama of a star lit sky. I stood until I was so cold I couldn’t feel my feet.

juicerunningloose: Check out this cool video of someone running...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:01:43 +0000

juicerunningloose:

Check out this cool video of someone running on an underwater treadmill. Everything about this should be so boring but for some reason it is so interestingly mesmerizing I cant stop watching. It’s in normal speed but underwater everything is in slow motion, you can even see the energy from the impact force of each step travel through the runner’s legs.

First Aid

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:16:09 +0000

After a dreek run down through Lewis and Harris I find myself on the ferry over the Sound of Harris. The drizzle, rain and mist made the drive a viewless experience. It wasn’t a complete loss with a bacon and sausage roll from the Butty Bus at the pier in Leverburgh.

Heading the Benbecula to run a two day HSE first aid refresher course. I was hoping for a run along the machair after work this afternoon but it isn’t looking like a nice experience.

Dinner and Independence

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:42:50 +0000

Had a great dinner at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in George Square Glasgow last night. We had far and ranging conversations; one was about Scottish independence.

One if my friends said he would be voting against it and when I asked why he said he didn’t have the time to research it to make an informed decision: I will admit to getting a little hot under the collar about this.

Surely if you aren’t going to make an informed decision you should abstain and leave those who are to vote? If you vote for things to stay the same just because that is the way they are and you don’t want to or can’t be bothered, for what ever reason, to make yourself informed are you doing democracy a disservice?

It was no good when I saw this I had to laugh and watch it...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:51:49 +0000

It was no good when I saw this I had to laugh and watch it again; before showing it to the kids, the youngest is now wanting to do stop motion.

End of the week

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:42:00 +0000

After a week teaching powerboat navigation it is time to escape so heading out into the Castle Grounds in Stornoway for a blast on the mountain bike before catching the late flight to Glasgow.

Navigation in boats is quite tough to teach because for many people the mathematical skills needed they last used when they were a school and probably hated every moment of it now suddenly they are told you have to pass this course and use all those skills it is a bit of a mind melter. Hopefully by the end of this course and the two practical ones to follow the tough maths will become relevant.

Still to the more important matter of blast on the mountain bike …

Navigation

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:24:20 +0000

Teaching navigation to a powerboat driver; fish farmers are generally good drivers but the paper based navigation is a class room environment and that is hard in most cases. Today estimated positions (EP) and using tidal curves, tommorow we are on to course to steer (CTS)