Sunday 20 November 2011

Haddington - Duns - Haddington

Yesterday, me and Susan put the bikes in the car and drove over to Haddington for a day of cycling. We'd been planning this cycle for a while, but today the conditions were perfect. Clear skies, fantastic views, not too windy and pretty mild for November. After finding a spot to leave the car in Haddington we got the bikes ready and headed on our way, south out of the town. The route had been described as hilly - and it wasn't wrong. Within a few miles we were heading up some fairly steep climbs, a bit of a shock to the legs. However, they soon got used to it, and we managed to marvel at the great views as the route took us out into the beautiful countryside of the Lammermuir hills. We were heading for the first village of Garvald, and then onto Longformacus. We almost had a slight navigational error at Whiteadder Resevoir, but noticed just in time and turned back on to the correct route. Longformacus had been described in the route instructions as "the only sign of life on the long road to Duns". I think this was a slight exagerration, as there was "no sign of life". We stopped at the village bus stop and fired up the stove to make a cup of coffee. No buses, nor people went by during this time! I think a couple of cars perhaps went by later on. The peace and tranquility of this cycle was brilliant. Most of the time we had the road to ourselves and could either just listen to the breeze, grouse and turning of the tyres, and in the case of the hills, our heavy breathing. We made it to Duns in time for lunch, and found ourselves the local pub, the Black Bull, where we had a drink and refuelled. This was 29 miles, so we had the same to do now in reverse. The ride back was 'slightly' easier as I think we did more climbing on the way out. We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset in the last stretch. However, the last 20 minutes we were in the dark, but this added its own bit of adventure. We reached the car after 58 miles. My legs were making it known that they'd been working hard today, but I loved ever minute of it. More cycles to come I hope!


Wednesday 16 November 2011

Edinburgh Parkrun 12/11/11

It's been far too long since I last wrote an update in my blog. Hopefully that will change, as I have lots of exciting things coming up over the next few months.
But I'll start with my Edinburgh parkrun last Saturday. My running had taken a bit of a dip over the summer due to one thing and another, but I'm finally getting my running mojo back and getting some better training in. I thought I would test my level of fitness with a trip down to Cramond for the 5km time trial. It was a beautiful sunny morning, so I jumped onto the bike and cycled the 8 miles to the start. You can't beat Cramond promenade on a crisp sunny morning.
I started off at a fairly fast pace - went through the first km in 3:40. I wanted to start off fast and just see how long I could keep it going. I had a couple other girls around me which was good to keep me going. I could feel my lack of speed endurance in the last couple of km's. I usually start overtaking people at this point, but not today!
There was a sprint between me and girl from Portobello right to the line, complete with dip finish! Not sure who got it, but my delay in walking through the funnel to get my token meant I was given 3rd lady anyhow. Not that it mattered, as I was pleased to go sub 20, in 19:49. Something to build on in the next few weeks. I'd like to get closer to the low 19's before too long.
Susan and I have entered the Marrekech half marathon on January 29th (Susan the full marathon), so the training has begun.