LSD CYCLISTS AND WITCHES

A bit on the blustery side again yesterday - so yesterday's run was cut short a wee bit to 9 miles.
This morning however the weather was a bit more favourable so I ventured a little further and went via Spott, Burnhead and Pitcox then along by the bridle path by the side of the A1.
Really nice running weather, and I felt a little over heated in my running jacket.
It's been a while since I ventured out that way and I had almost forgotten how bloody awful "Starvation Brae" is to run up, especially if you've already done 11 miles. There's only one thing worse than running up Starvation - cycling up it.
It's cruel of me, I know, but every time we're driving down Starvation and we see cyclists struggling up it I always give them a smile and a cheery wave as we pass. It's psychological, but you can see the disappointment in their faces - once they know they've been spotted you can see they don't want to lose face and get off and push. I like to think I'm helping with their motivation! On the down side it can get a bit hairy when a cyclist is out of the saddle pushing away at the pedals and pulling on the handle bars - and then try to wave back!

I couldn't help but notice today as I ran along, just after Spott, that the "Witches Stone" had quite a collection of loose change on top of it. The Witches Stone is, allegedly, where witches were put to death (by burning) in the 17th and 18th century, so perhaps the coins are there to appease the spirits of the dead.
Some people claim that it's the location of the last witch burning in Scotland, but I think that claim has been taken by others and those responsible for the Spott stone seem to agree and have changed their notice to read "...the last burning in the South of Scotland...".
Given that the stone has been "refurbished" in recent years and a nice metal fence put around it I hope, at the very least, the money goes towards it's upkeep.

Quite a good week last week. Managed 65 miles. Next weekend my opportunities for longer runs will be limited (XC at Berwick on the Sunday). Normally I'd cut back a bit the day before a race but, quite frankly, my XC performance has been a tad on the poor side this year anyway so I might as well just go for a long run on Saturday and treat the XC like a hard training session.