MUDDY 10k

It’s not often that I let the rain put me off going for a run – but it did on Saturday. Jeez what a crappy day that was – absolutely pissed it down from dawn till dusk. Didn’t let up at all.

Where we live (up in the hills) we were above the cloud level and that just seemed to add to the feeling of gloom and misery.

On the plus side the “semi-enforced” day indoors did allow me a bit of time to catch up on some quality [jazz] listening….nice!

I also used the time to check the Moorfoot web site a few times to double check that the Beltane 10k trail race was still on for the Sunday….I had visions of the Tweed bursting its banks.

It didn’t ….the race was still on …so we went.

 

Billed as a “trail 10k” this race is more of an extended cross country and actually takes in quite a bit of the Peebles leg of the Borders XC race. I knew that after a little rain it would be muddy…but after the amount we’ve had of late I expected it to be really MUDDY.

Strangely enough, the bit I thought would be worst – the bit that goes along by the river bank and past Neidpath castle wasn’t that bad at all. Boggy, but not much in the way of mud.

However, once we got over the river and into South Park Wood things changed.

I was trailing behind Mr Sills here and we came to a steep climb that saw us both walking up, hunched over, hands on knees style. This took it out of the legs and once we got back onto the level I felt a bit slow to start with. I was also suddenly aware that it was a lot muddier here. Right claggy, slippy, cloying stuff. Mud that was exactly the correct consistency to get into the tread of your trail shoes – clag them up – and transform the soles into useless, slippery flip flops. KM 6 to 7 was a complete nightmare of twisty descents,  with sharp corners, over narrow paths covered in mud and hidden rocks and tree roots.

By the time we got down onto the level Ian was quite a bit ahead.

The route has a 1km loop right at the end so I had the pleasure of watching winner Steve Cairns cross the line just as I got to the 9k marker.

At least the last km was on wet marshy grass and the shoes got a wee bit of a clean.

Everyone seemed to be a bit slower than previous years so I don’t feel too bad with my time of 40:33.

So. Saturday’s extra day of rest, then yesterdays 10k (rather than some LSD) means it’s going to be a low mileage week for me this week (got the Porty 4 mile race on Thursday). Maybe no bad thing – I’m getting a bit of “jip” in my left leg.