Time on Feet

Welcome to the blog for Time on Feet. Tales from the Trails is intended to work concurrently with the route pages from the website, discussing various routes detailed. However, where it differs is in the delivery and structure. Each blog post give a more cohesive narrative of what it is like to run the routes suggested, taking the reader on a POV journey that is relatable, evocative, and enjoyable to read. Most of the routes will have been run but some were completed as walks and therefore the experience is different. In these instances I can only suggest what running this would be like but will still give the experience of exploring the area on two feet. Run these yourself or save them for your day off, take your time and go with family or friends who don’t run.

I hope that the writing takes on the style of books such as ‘Once a Runner’, and ‘Running with the Buffaloes’, whereby the authors describe, in such a tangible way, the experiences of the runner. I hope you can feet the trail beneath your feet, that you can feel the burning pain in your quads up the steep hills, that you feel the wind and rain lashing against your skin as you flow along the false flat stretch of old railway line in the middle of a hard run.

My second wish is that I make it entertaining and inspiring. I hope that all runners, whether you’re 40 years seasoned or you’ve just bought your first pair of proper trainers, enjoy reading these articles and feel inspired to go an do your own run. Perhaps this becomes a go to read when you’re fuelling up for your Sunday long run, or acts a source of inspiration when exploring new routes in new areas.

The posts will alternate between a continual cohesive narrative and a feature write-up. The latter with be an assortment of the best runs, for various types of running, across different areas of Scotland, to give variety and keep everyone reading interested regardless of where they are reading from. The former, the continual narrative, with be a series of vignettes taking the reader of a journey of exploration. I love to set myself challenges when it comes to exploring and get a sense of accomplishment from knowing I have discovered all the hidden gems within an area, rather than stuck to the one route mentioned in a guide book. This narrative would therefore take you on the journey with me as I detail what it was like to explore specific regions of the country on foot.

The first journey I intend to write about is exploring the River Tweed, from source to sea, and all the best routes along it. This is first because, at the time of writing, the banks of the Tweed are my home training grounds and I therefore know it extremely well. Future series I would love to do would be exploring Scotland’s National Parks, and detailing ways to complete Scotland’s Great Trails in smaller manageable routes, rather than one long point-to-point ultra.

These route descriptions will not be a social media style highlight reel that glosses over anything less than perfect, though I obviously hope to sell the reader on them as wonderful areas to explore and run. It will be my experience on each of these routes. Some I have done countless times and can make them sparkle in perfect sunlight. Some however, have been done once, in poor weather, making some navigational errors, or struggling through some sections that are perhaps not so runnable and are more the terrain of the hiker or fell runner. But that is all part of the journey, and part of the fun of exploration. Misery in the moment makes for fond memories in retrospect in these types of scenario.

Finally, I want show these from the perspective of a competitive runner. I’m not a professional or an Olympian, though have trained and lived with many, but I do take my running very seriously and do compete to a high level domestically. I have won county, regional, and national titles, represented each of these two, and both above average PBs. I want to show that being a serious and competitive road runner does not mean every run has to be a miserable industrial estate road loop, though I’ve slogged out many of these. I want to show that exploring interesting routes through hills and country side are not reserved for middle-aged power-hikers and bonkers fell runners. Ultimately, I want to show people that you can have fun with your running while getting extremely fit, not instead of. Running is the best way to explore boundaries, physical and geographical, and above all else it should be fun. I hope the subsequent stories convey that and give you some entertainment alongside your pre-long run coffee.