Went to Selkirk with three other Penicuik Harriers for the "Feel the Burns" race. As I'd hoped, this was a really good course for me since it didn't have so many steep climbs or descents as most local fell races. This meant that, once I'd got up the first big hill (Peat Law) it was generally very runnable. Knowing that I'd be out for about two hours, I didn't push too hard and felt great, steadily moving up through the field. The weather wasn't as good as forecast yesterday, and it was very muddy in places. On the way off Brown Knowe I got chatting with a guy from Dumfries which was a reasonable distraction, although the long descent down the Minchmoor Road wouldn't have been painful. We started to be overtaken by a few people who might have been more suited to the gentle trail, and after coming through the Broadmeadows Farm complex, I was slow on the last big climb and overtaken by a handful of fresher runners. From the top of Foulshiels Hill it was pretty much downhill all the way to the finish but the muddy ground and fatigue in my legs made me cautious about just "letting go". So I lost a couple more places before finishing in 2:06:00 for the 21+km and 900m climb. Then it was back to Selkirk Rugby Club for haggis, tatties and neeps, washed down with soup, juice, bread and shortbread. Congratulations to "SelkirkFundRunners" for putting on a really well-run race in a lovely bit of country.
As Tranter training this really wasn't much use since it was run at speed on gentle Border hills, but as confidence-booster it was a real tonic. I believe again that, even in my usual untrained state, I can still run at a reasonable speed in the hills.
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