Edinburgh Parkrun

The Parkrun series has made it to Edinburgh and this was the 6th one. I went along with fellow runners, Marc, Julia, Jamie and Katherine, all up from London for the weekend. They all did the race (with Katherine power walking it!). A great flat, out and back course!

Distance: 5km

Time: 19:22 (PB!)

Position: 43rd (2nd female)

Although I won't be able to make another one of these this year, I hope to make them more regular in the new year, a good way to keep some speed over the winter months.

Ratho Aerial Assault Course

To mark my 30th birthday, I thought I would have a new kind of challenge...one which would help me overcome my fear of heights. There are two schools of thought in facing your fears. One...to start gently, introducing yourself to whatever your fear may be a bit at a time, until you are no longer frightened. Or two....jumping in at the deep end and obliterating it completely. I went for the latter of the two, deciding to attempt (along with some poor unsuspecting friends) the aerial assault course at Ratho Climbing Centre just outside Edinburgh. Here it is when the BBC sports correspondent gave it a go: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7743250.stm

So, along with me I had Susan and Nick (accomplished rock climbers), Emma (a recent recruit to rock climbing), Gillian, Dean and Kerry (very brave runners!), Alison (my hiking buddy who I one day hope to climb/abseil the Inn Pinn with), and Heather (Alison's poor unsuspecting friend who thought she was coming along for a climbing taster session!).

I found stepping off the 100ft drop and swinging across to the other side to start the assault course suprisingly ok! I think that was largely due to 5 others going before me and witnessing them getting to the other side alive! This gave me confidence. Then the aerial assault course began!! At first it was really scary, but once I realised that even if I let go, I was still going to be hanging securely (albeit 100ft off the floor) in my harness, then I started to find the whole experience less frightening and more enjoyable. We all made it round, and by the end I was feeling really comfortable with the height.

I'm looking forward to trying rock climbing next....watch this space!

Stirling XC, Scottish Relay Champs and Allan Scally Relays

As usual, it's been a few weeks since I last updated my blog, so I've done a few races now. The cross country season kicked off with the East District XC League. A beautiful day and a beautiful course around Stirling University. We had the Wallace Monument peering down at us from one direction and the Ochil Hills on the other. They were a welcome distraction from the hills and rough terrain of the race. It was a shock to the system after a season of road running. Finished 33rd in 26min11s. A good day for CAAC ladies team, think we were 5th overall.

The following weekend was the Scottish National XC relay champs in Cumbernauld. I was in one of two CAAC ladies teams. I went off first leg, handed over to Megan, with Susan bringing us home. We came 29th in a total time of 56min 51. A tough course! Somehow, I'd managed to forget from last year how many times we have to run down the hill and then back up it! Less muddy that last year though!

We got a rest from off-road this weekend with the Allan Scally Relays near Glasgow. These relays are quite historic in Scottish road running, the first one having been held in 1928. 4x4.8 miles for the men and 3 times round for the women. For the first time in all those years, the course was on a different route this year. It was a twisty route, and although the first mile was all downhill, that meant the inevitable gradual uphill for the remainding 3.8 miles. It was history in the making for CAAC ladies, as we had the first ever ladies team taking part in the event. We were made up of myself on first leg, Susan second and Corrie third. We finished in 8th position overall, so very pleased with that, and only 4 seconds difference between our 3 times, amazing!

Next challenge coming up is likely to involve HEIGHTS!!!! Watch this space..... (I think I may need my head examining!)