Ben Lomond practice - Ben Arthur

I felt the need for speed and to see how I was doing in terms of practice for the Ben Lomond hill run. With only 3.5 weeks to go, I had to try something steepish, longish and toughish. I had never been up the Cobbler before so I thought I'd head up on a weekday early. I left Glasgow at 0650 and was at the Succoth car park for 0755. On the drive up, I had noticed a fair dump of snow on the hills which I had not banked on. I didn't have much gear for the hill - waterproof jacket, new Berghaus waterproof troosers, my trainers and a will to get up and down as quick as possible. I set off up the new path and it wasn't long before I realised it was a steep initial climb. Long enough to realise I wasn't running anymore and just concentrating on the lactic acid burn in my buttocks and calves. I walked up and jogged when I could before I hit the 1100ft mark in 20 minutes. Not bad - could I keep it going? Once past the Narnian boulders, things flattened out a little and I was running nicely, which surprised me - my fitness had obviously improved. However, once I got to the bealach at 640m (2100ft?), I realised I was up to my knees in snow and I couldn't locate the path anymore. It had stopped becoming a running exercise and was now a proper Winter hill-walk for which I was not properly equipped. 40 minutes to this point and thus on for scaling Lomond in an hour? I decided to head back down and began the sprint back. I passed 2 surprised onlookers and nearly cowped head over heels - how embarassing but still kept going. I hit the car park in 22 minutes descent and with 5 minutes fannying about at the bealach, gave myself some hope that I can get up and down BL in 90-100 minutes and not finish last. My last practice run is Lomond next week - judgement time.
Once back home, I got showered and into work for 1200 - and near enough fell asleep! 4 days on and the muscles are totally recovered. Bring it on.