Shredded quads

Saturday was the day I have been waiting for since September 2019, but didn't realise it at the time.  My training for the Tahoe 200 meant a lot of time spent in the mountains with my pals training.  Scotland is such a small country and as a result the mountains are less than 2 hours drive away.  But lockdown put an end to that for everyone and we were confined to our homes and then local area.  So the last time I was on the mountains was 18 months ago.
Suddenly, and I am sure it has nothing to do with an impending election coming up, the Scottish Government offered us freedom but I decided that the first weekend would have the mountains filled with people so avoided it.  However this Saturday my pal Michael suggested we do a route that took on four summits and just to make it all the more exciting, we should be at the top of the first one by sunrise!  Why the hell not.  Life's too short so let's go for it.  I got up at 1.30am so I could have some breakfast - need to fuel.  It was slightly surreal as some people in my house, who will remain nameless, were still up enjoying a few glasses of wine!  So while surrounded by the remnants of a good night, I was making my granola, yoghurt and fruit.  I picked Michael up at 3pm and we headed off into the dark.  
Two hours later we were in the car park at the bottom of the first mountain in the Cairngorms, the temperature was -1 so we'd come prepared carrying the necessary survival gear just in case.  These mountains take no prisoners.  We set off at 5.15am and 45 minutes later we'd reached the summit just in time to see the sun appear from behind the mountains.  OMG that was such a special moment and there wasn't a breath of wind or any noise to be heard.  However when in the shadows the temperature fell.
We continueed to run when possible, the terrain is difficult under foot with the boulders hiding in the heather / grass so picking your spot and not admiring the scenery is advisable.
As we descended from the forth summit cloud base was starting to form below us and we were very close to the edge of a sharp drop which was covered in frozen ice / snow.  We kept back from it as it looked like the whole lot could plunge to the bottom in an instant.  Michael took loads of amazing pictures and I did my usual FaceBook live from the top just to prove that not every summit I'm on is in cloudbase!
Back to the car park for 9.30am to watch numerous climbers starting their journey.  We'd covered 25km with 1,134m of ascent in 3hrs 44 and back home in time for lunch.  I knew my body was going to be feeling it the next day because it was already feeling it!
Today I had to follow this run with a 20km run keeping my heart rate below 147 bpm.  When I swung my legs out of bed they started protesting as did my foot.  I headed out and had a great run with my head rate averaging 127!!!  I can't tell you how happy I was with that result however my quads less so.  The end of the run finished with a downhill and my quads decided to protest.  It wasn't pleasant but it was expected.  What I need is more downhill mountain running and that is on the cards for next weekend as we're planning our next trip.  After a few days of "quad shredding" the pain eases and you don't feel it anymore.  That's my experience and it's exactly what I need for Ultra Race Romania. 
What a joy and privilge to be out in the mountains enjoying sunrise.  Hopefully there will be a lot more of that with my running pals.  Mixing it up with mountain running really puts your body through it but the results are amazing.  But if you do venture off the tarmac go prepared for the worst, no matter what the weather forecast is or how it feels in the carpark at the bottom.  Go enjoy your freedom.  We've been locked down too long and hopefully this is the start of some normality.  Go shred your quads!