Hills, Trees and Running into them!

5.30am and the alarm sounds for me to get out of bed and don my gear.

Its my first hill training run today, an adapted mountain biking route of circa 16km in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh.

The last 2 days have seen torrential rain so I expected to be wet and dressed accordingly with waterproofs, gloves, long tights and several layers.

Because it's so early, I dont feel much like eating so instead have a Herbalife 24 F1 shake en route.  When I get to the Ranger Station at Harlaw Reservoir, the start point, Im keen to get going.

The sky is grey, the air heavy with drizzle and the hill tops are obscured from view.



Bottom of Maiden's Cleugh - slippy descent

Once off the tarmac track, the water logged tracks soon soak my feet.  I stop after about 12mins to check the map and check my Nikeplus is working on my IPhone..........and I drop my phone in a puddle WITHOUT a waterproof case!  Fortunately its still working so I continue up to the top of Maidens Cleugh - watching a male barn owl hunt over the hillside in front of me.

At the top, I get a great view down the glen at Glencorse Reservoir and its downhill, on a mix of mud, gravel and water!

The amount of rainfall has made the track like a stream and every step kicks up more water.  All I can think of is the tales of 'crazy descents' described in the book 'Feet In The Clouds' by Richard Askwith - a story about Fell Running that I'm currently reading.


At the bottom I stop to remove my rain jacket, take on some isotonic (Herbalife Prolong 7:1 carb/protein) and check the map.  It's starting to dry out a little and my hopes are getting high for the sun to come out.......mainly because of the Scottish Midge eating me alive in the still, damp air!

Im at 4.5k now and have about 3k to go along a tarmac road alongside the reservoirs until I return back to trails.

Its a steady incline and I'm going steady,  My IPhone is working, but I have no music!  This turns out to be a godsend as I get to listen to my surroundings...lambs and sheep bleating, birds singing, fish splashing and the water running down the hillsides.  I'm really enjoying myself now and don't care if my phone is damaged or not - this is too much fun and its not even 7.30am!  Most people are still in bed and I have this wonderful place to myself!

The path is here somewhere....

As the tarmac comes to an end, I study the map quickly and find my trail between two hills - at least I know where it should be but the torrent of water has almost obscured it completely!  Seeing as my feet are already wet and my phone damaged - nothing to lose so off I go!

Its a steady run through the hills on a mix of gravel and grass track for about another 4km.  No-one around, just me and the sheep!

Its at this point I start to test myself mentally - getting ready for the coast to coast challenge in September and talking to myself about pace, fuelling, how I'm feeling, what I'd do differently etc. 

Physically I feel ready for the challenge.  These sessions are to maintain physical condition AND prepare myself mentally.

I'm just 5k or so from the end now and I get a 1km downhill section on tarmac before turning off to run through woodland at the side of Harlaw Reservoir.

The downhill sections are actually more hard work than the uphills, taking much more effort to retain control and causing much more pressure on knees and ankles.

Thankfully I'm 2stone lighter than when I started this blog and by the time of the Coast to Coast I should be a further stone lighter.

After crossing the reservoir via a foot bridge, its a sharp right turn through the woods and back to the car.  There are some parts where woodland trail runs parallel to gravel or tarmac track.  I decide to take the woodland trails whereever possible to improve my conditioning and skills on difficult terrain.

Its at this point I trip on a tree root, stumble forward and slide in mud and then smack my face into a tree trunk!  My first trail running injury and I'm not even descending or in the hills!

Cursing myself and laughing at the same time, I return up to the tarmac track and plod steadily on to the finish - my right eyebrow starting to throb a little.

It's about half 8 now and there are dog walkers, mountain bikers, fishermen and other runners out.  After about an hours solitude and knowing I'm close to my finish, I actually enjoy greeting each with a smile and a 'Good Morning'.

The best part was knowing that some of them will be thinking 'He's soaking wet, covered in mud, got a bloody eye and he's happy - must be on drugs or drunk!'

The truth is I was cold, soaking wet, with a damaged phone because of my clumsiness and with at least an hours drive back home where my two girls will no doubt have a plethora of activity planned for Father's Day.  But I was absolutely thrilled with what I had just done.  I was smiling from ear to ear because I had just run in the beautiful hills close to home for the fun of it.  No time mattered - what mattered was I had enjoyed it!  A lesson from Caballo Blanco and I think I'm really only just starting to understand it fully!

Till next time, keep running and keep smiling as you do it!