Ronnie Cairns Running

My wife and I are taking a short break on the lovely island of Tiree in the west coast of Scotland this week. The island of Tiree is known in Gaelic as Tir an Eorna ‘The Island of the Corn’, and also Tir barr fo thuinn ‘ the land below the waves’.

It was here last year that the running bug took hold of me, each morning I would get up and run along the 3-kilometer beach in front of the house, the sand is hard packed so easy to run on. I was joined on my run each morning with Gem, our friends brown Labrador but sadly Gem is no longer with us and I missed her company this morning.

A holiday is a break from the pressures of work but not from training, so it was on with my trainers today and off for a nine-mile run round part of the island.

Tiree is a very flat island but it is deceiving because when they build the roads here they just went with the contours’ of the ground and there are many rises and falls, which makes it great for training on.

With out doubt running or cycling is the best was to see this Island, although you have to be careful on the single-track roads, when cars come by so not a good idea to wear headphones although it does add to the atmosphere of the run if you are listening to a bit of ‘The Angry Fiddler’ from Skerryvore or ‘Walking on the waves’ from Skipinnish but keep them for the beach or when running over the machair.

My run today started at Lower Kenovay on the west side of the island and I headed east past the airport to
Crossapol Bay, where the kite surfers were already out enjoying the waves. From Corssapol Bay I turned along by Island House, the Duke of Argyll’s holiday home and back over down to Cornaig and along to Loch Bhasapol, where Wild Diamond have their surfing school, then a small loop and back to enjoy a short beach run along Balephetrish Bay. As I had now reached the sea and could go no further, I just had to take a paddle in the clear blue water of the Atlantic to cool down.

After any long run it is a good idea to rehydrate, which for me is usually an SiS recovery drink but on this trip I forgot to pack this so the next best thing is a LFA recovery drink, in other words a bottle of Jarl from Loch Fyne Ale’s. Ah! I feel the better of that but may require a couple more recovery drinks before the day is out. Well, I am on holiday!