Low mileage, high input

Day two in Scotland, on the ground in the Tweed Valley for some "Mighty Deerstalker" event reconnaisance. After an icy drive from Glasgow, Gary T and I met with Stewart at the event venue (and incidentally the oldest inhabited house in Scotland), Traquair House.

Lots of walking about in the fresh snow, meeting estate owners and farmers, considering the finer points of unleashing over two thousand fancy-dress-clad runners to rampage through the hills and waterways of Innerleithen.



The ups and downs of adventure sports event planning

Eventually it was time to take a look at the nub of the event, a section of mountain bike course used in both the 5km(ish) and 10km(ish) races.
We ran from the empty carpark, which in summer might accommodate scores of vehicles of downhill mountain bikers, and in increasingly deep and fresh snow, made our way up the zig zags of the cross country black run, and push trail.

After almost fifteen minutes of uphill slogging, we paused to explore the first of the hillside's geographic features, known as a "rack", where forest harvesters ascend vertically up the slope to thin the woodland. We hiked and scrambled up the rack, before turning the Garmin back on for the jog back down to the main track.

Gary T and Stewart enjoying the sunshine

As the track starts to descend, the trees thin out, and today our hard graft was rewardded with a crystal view over the Tweed Valley. With such an opportunity to discuss the race routes from a clear birds-eye view, Stewart talked through the course, pointing out the intricacies of the course on the valley bottom six hundred feet below, and on the adjoining hills, half a mile to our east.

The respite didn't last for long however, and we were once again uphill, first in deeper drifts over fallen saplings, and then into the dark of the forest, to emerge onto the hill's uppermost trails at just under 1400 feet.

Then followed some of the hardest running of Janathon, as we clattered down the flank of the hill below, using a mounatin bike black run. In and out of trees, over jumps and through berms, and all the way in ankledeep snow, and plummeting like stones. Exactly the wrong sort of running for a month like Janathon, thighs burned and shins tingled, landing hard between long strides as the ground fell away beneath us.

Nice work if you can get it

Within a dozen minutes we were back on the valley floor, running beside one of the fastest flowing rivers in the UK, checking the banks for the condition of the event's established crossing points.

A few more stops to reaquaint ourselves with local allies, and it was soon time to run back to the vehicles and drive to the next round of meetings, and eventually, a stop in the new Whistlestop Cafe for some hot food.

Given the kind of mileage I've managed to rack up so far this month, part of me wanted to do a few more today, and I considered running again once we arrived in Edinburgh much later that evening. However, it's not many days I get to run up a mountain, and even though it was only another four miles in the bag, no amount of city running was going to improve my day.

Some people like to keep their feet dry. I don't mind wet socks every now and again, if it means my feet aren't stuck under my desk.


Summary:
Today: 4.0 miles, 0:48 hrs, 488 cals
January: 165.9 miles, 24:51 hrs, 22109 cals