5k Success

 Over a thousand runners for the 5k alone and then there was the half marathon and 5k team attack events as well!

 In the middle of everyone was a small group of Robins :-)

 After all it was called a 'Fun Run' so we thought a little face paint might be appropriate.

 A very pleased Andrew with his finishers medal - time 26: 21. Andrew & I had great fun weaving our way through the slower runners over the length of the course. I was the only one to run in sandals (that I could see). Andrew made such a big effort at the end, sprinting to the finish line, that he ended up in a heap on the floor, but he recovered quickly as you can see :-)

 Zoe & Mum sprinting for the finish: time about 36 mins

 Zoe managed to run the whole course. A considerable achievement.

Goody bags and congratulations from Minnie Mouse

Snowy Edinburgh

Just arrived in Edinburgh really hoping to get out for a run after the 5+ hour journey. The wind is a bitterly cold Northerly and there's snow lying in most places. Should be interesting; sandals or shoes...hmmm?

19:00 Well, that was a bit breezy!
10 miles of slush, snow and ice; dodging the good folk of Edinburgh running through St Andrew Square and Rose Street; even got a bit of a race from Prince's Street down to Haymarket by some chap who was obviously running home after work (he was a good bit quicker than me).

Feels good to be back in the warmth of the apartment in Leith.

Never say never ;-) (wish Google would sort out the smiley thing)

You know, you can always leave a comment, see below 8-)

Jogging or Running?

I needed to publish this post for my own benefit as much as to keep anyone else informed of what I've been doing. My jogging has been going well. I stopped trying to run five/six days out of seven and reduced it to every other day, I've noticed the benefit of doing this. Mainly in not feeling so tired, probably because running at six in the morning means getting up at five-thirty which makes for long days.

For a while (about two weeks) I was managing eight-miles in the mornings and did one ten-mile weekend jog. The furthest I have ever done, it felt great. I now feel confident that I could manage thirteen miles at a reasonable pace. I'm aiming to do that sort of distance at about six-and-a-half miles per hour, which would give me a time of two hours. Pretty reasonable target, I reckon, as I managed an hour and a half for the ten miles (nine-minute miles).

Lately I have been jogging six miles in the mornings; however, I surprised myself by managing this in under fifty minutes (personal best: 0:48:12). Doing an average seven-and-a-half miles per hour, topping out at nearly eight miles per hour (if I get much faster I'll have to start thinking of myself as a runner)!

This Sunday was a beautiful, clear November day and I was determined to try something a little different, so I headed off to run for one hour (30 mins out then turn round). I found myself heading up towards the Bealach (if you do not know what the Bealach is see below). I had set myself a half hour out time-limit and there I was after twenty-nine minutes and thirty seconds - three and a quarter miles away and six-hundred feet above sea-level. The run back down was exhilarating. Not least because at one point I thought I was goigng to end up going so fast I'd end up going head over heels. The final approach to the cattlegrid was a killer; flying downhill as fast as your legs can go when you get about fifty metres to slow to walking pace to cross a cattlegrid thankfully, the gradient eases slightly. Anyway, I finished the run with a mile along the flat - a decent warm-down. Home to well-deserved bowl of soup and a freshly-baked loaf all amde by Sarah Andrew and Zoe.

Final figures: 6.5 miles - 760 feet ascent in 2.3 miles (1:16) in 52 mins.

So, the jogging/running progresses. I've lost a stone and a half since August and am determined to keep it up through the winter, no matter what the weather throws at us (well, I might wait for the slightly better days)!

The Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle)
A road runs over the Bealach (bee-yalach) from Tornapress in the East to Shore Street (there is no village called Applecross, it is the name of the peninsula) in the West. Heading up from Shore Street (by the Applecross Post Office) the road goes from 14 feet above sea-level to 2060 feet above sea-level in 5.34 miles (a very long hill with some parts steeper than 1:5)! On the other side it drops back to almost sea-level in about 5.75 miles, descending into the Coire na Ba in a series of tight hairpin bends. It's already been shut this year owing to snow blocking the road!

Well that's it for now. Hopefully it will not be six months before I post again, I'll try and fit one or two posts in before Christmas.

Ciao!