The hills have eyes
Rhalou goes trail crazy in the Scottish Borders
Friday, 7 October, 2011
After a month of race madness, it was a blessed relief to be in the glorious Scottish Borders last weekend, away from the chaos and the crowds of the city with nothing to see but rolling hills and clucking chickens. I had really enjoyed my half marathon hat trick, but after three hot races in a row, I badly needed a break and some time off my feet. 
Rhalou is BadassAfter arriving in Scotland I managed to squeeze in a couple of rest days, but if you choose to date an ultra runner, then you’re never going to get a real break! So after two days of lounging in the semi sunshine, Ultraboy took me for my first ever trail run in the Scottish hills.We started by a disused railway not far from Hawick. Although the rolling hills weren’t exactly steep (at first), it quickly became apparent to my city legs that my first trail run was going to involve quite a bit of walking. Like it or not, if you’re used to running in pancake flat zone zero London, you’re going to struggle with even the smallest undulations. But once I’d accepted the fact it was going to be a run walk adventure, and my coach seemed happy to let me crawl up the scarier hills and gently nudge me up the smaller ones, I comfortably settled into the pace of the great outdoors.
I confess I love urban running, and couldn’t be happier than pounding the pavements and people watching in the great city of London, but trail running really is something else. Time just seemed to slip by and although the hills were tough, the ever-expanding horizon kept me so captivated I hardly noticed my legs.We ran up and down hills, through fields, along disused railways and deep into the forests for about 12 miles in total, but I felt like I could keep on flying forever. We were out for just over three hours and for the entire time the only other living thing I saw apart from Ultraboy had four legs and mooed at me.
After an invigorating day of fresh air, endless views and utter silence, we made it back to base smiling and happy. 12 miles might have been a mere jog for Ultraboy, but I was exhausted and slept like a baby that night! After getting my revenge and making him watch X Factor that is...I’ll never turn my back on my first love; I’m a city girl and I love nothing more than hitting the tarmac and racing the traffic in London town with Run Dem Crew. But now I’ve been given a little taster of the great outdoors, the tectonic plates in my brain have shifted. I guess I’ll just have to make room for two types of running in my life now and spend a bit of time up north as well as dossing about the city streets. Especially as I’ve agreed to run an ultra marathon in December! There aren’t enough episodes of the X Factor in the world to get revenge for signing me up to that...
Rhalou is BadassAfter arriving in Scotland I managed to squeeze in a couple of rest days, but if you choose to date an ultra runner, then you’re never going to get a real break! So after two days of lounging in the semi sunshine, Ultraboy took me for my first ever trail run in the Scottish hills.We started by a disused railway not far from Hawick. Although the rolling hills weren’t exactly steep (at first), it quickly became apparent to my city legs that my first trail run was going to involve quite a bit of walking. Like it or not, if you’re used to running in pancake flat zone zero London, you’re going to struggle with even the smallest undulations. But once I’d accepted the fact it was going to be a run walk adventure, and my coach seemed happy to let me crawl up the scarier hills and gently nudge me up the smaller ones, I comfortably settled into the pace of the great outdoors.I confess I love urban running, and couldn’t be happier than pounding the pavements and people watching in the great city of London, but trail running really is something else. Time just seemed to slip by and although the hills were tough, the ever-expanding horizon kept me so captivated I hardly noticed my legs.We ran up and down hills, through fields, along disused railways and deep into the forests for about 12 miles in total, but I felt like I could keep on flying forever. We were out for just over three hours and for the entire time the only other living thing I saw apart from Ultraboy had four legs and mooed at me.After an invigorating day of fresh air, endless views and utter silence, we made it back to base smiling and happy. 12 miles might have been a mere jog for Ultraboy, but I was exhausted and slept like a baby that night! After getting my revenge and making him watch X Factor that is...I’ll never turn my back on my first love; I’m a city girl and I love nothing more than hitting the tarmac and racing the traffic in London town with Run Dem Crew. But now I’ve been given a little taster of the great outdoors, the tectonic plates in my brain have shifted. I guess I’ll just have to make room for two types of running in my life now and spend a bit of time up north as well as dossing about the city streets. Especially as I’ve agreed to run an ultra marathon in December! There aren’t enough episodes of the X Factor in the world to get revenge for signing me up to that...If you're keen on trail running, check out the all-new 8-page Trail Zone section in Women's Running magazine, out now!
