Johnny Hall's Travels and Travails

After a wee hiatus after Jura, to let my ankle settle and to let my body recover a bit, I raced again today. This time, it was a much smaller race in the Borders at Yetholm, which is the northern terminus of the Pennine Way. Indeed, part of the route ran along the end of the Way, straddling the border of Scotland with England. Most of the active members of the club were out today. Out of 45 runners, there were 9 of us (Darin, Mike, Wull, Russell, Kenny, myself, Julia, Steve and Dave) - we outnumbered every club there, even the organising club, by quite a margin. It's a great club to be part of - there's some great runners in there and everyone is friendly and there's a bit of banter, which suits me. I haven't run much in the last couple of weeks. When I ran last weekend, we were in the middle of a heatwave and my body rebelled - I can't run in the sun until I've acclimated (which is hard when we only get a few such days every summer). I knocked the running on the head until yesterday, when I had a wee blast round the forest and found my legs in decent nick, so I thought I'd give it a wee go today. So, I kept the pace up on the first hill, hovering around just after the top ten (5 of which were Moorfoots). That climb was tough to start with - steep and uneven. I was blowing out my backside by the time I hit the top, trying to keep pace with some better runners. In retrospect, hitting the first hill so hard was a mistake since I couldn't get my breath back for the rest of the race it seemed. Still, I gave it a go and didn't really slow much, so maybe I just am not fit enough. The route is very good - pretty runnable and with decent terrain. There was a bit climb in the middle which slowed down proceedings but it was over in 15 minutes and the run back to the finish was predominantly downhill. I couldn't catch anyone after the last ascent, so I made sure I wasn't going to be caught and then cruised back to the end. The club did well. We had 7 runners in the first 19 (I was 18th) and several placings - 3rd, 6th, 7th and 10th; first senior, first V50; first senior lady and first team. I ran more or less to target and didn't kill myself or turn my ankle, which is a bonus. I could have paced myself better and I never felt comfortable, but I don't think you are supposed to. Next week, Loch Lochy.