Slush

Hard work today - a combo of the deep slushy conditions underfoot and tiredness. A bit of a lacklustre run along the prom at Silverknowes, then up the banks of the Almond and round near the airport. There were three rivers of icy water flowing over the prom and leaving no way to keep your feet dry. An inauspicious start.

Never mind. Its done now! Most alarming bit was coming down iced up steps at the board walk bit up the Almond in the near dark.  11 and a bit miles at a gob-smacking 13m13s/mile pace!

Another Club Night up the Seat

Another Wednesday night session up the seat in the snow. There were more of us and the general pace was faster. I was breathing really hard for the first time in a while - I've been becoming used to plodding carefully on ice most of the time. I was a bit concerned about what condition the seat would be in before we went out but I needn't have worried. It was really good underfoot - nice sticky snow. It was surprisingly easy to move well and smoothly. I was among the slower people out so sadly couldn't take the time to take many action shots. It was very atmospheric and dramatic at times seeing the lights strung out in the snowy wilderness, but didn't capture it. My camera wouldn't have been up to the job anyway. Need to get moving - have a nice wash in buckets of water (yeah the shower is still not fixed) and then see who gets fired off the apprentice this week!

I could get used to this.

Peter was doing something at Comely Bank so I agreed to come out and meet him on his way back at Inverleith Park for a run. It was hard to predict exactly how long it would take to get there etc. - sub 10 minute miles are starting to seem like a distant dream! Still I needn't have worried - just as I ducked through the hedge into the park there was Peter about 100 yards away. We did a couple of turns of the park as the last of the light faded. The snow was crisp underfoot - a good path has been trodden round the perimeter so there was no wading through deep snow. You had to be a bit careful but all in all it was pretty good underfoot. The sky blushed, the lights sparkled and the air was clear. Another night out running and I'm really starting to enjoy this! It was so pretty.

We threw in a few 100yd strides just to remind our muscles how to run a bit faster.

All this having to think about how you are going to get where you want to go is reminding me of winters in Orkney when I was growing up. Not usually all that severe but more severe than down here and with less infrastructure so you had to be prepared for things to go wrong. We always had a spade and sleeping bags in the boot of the car in winter for instance and pushing cars is second nature. Times were hard and we had to grin and make do lad!

The Reluctant Marcothoner and the Party Season

I wasn't impressed by the notion of the Marcothon - running everyday in December for a minimum of 3 miles or 25 minutes - whatever happens first. I don't believe in running every day - I believe in rest days! And I can't even complete the Marcothon now because I didn't run on the 2nd or the 3rd December...so how is it now that I'm getting dragged into a frenzy of running everyday come hell or high water? I'm just getting pulled along by everyone else's enthusiasm.

The weekend's dancing and drinking only added a bilious edge to the whole thing. But anyway I can't tarry here because I have to get changed again because I'm away out for a run. So bye!!!

Perdu

Another fabulous run up Arthur's Seat today at a very easy pace. I feel I should apologise for being so unadventurous as to keep going up the seat but I worked from 7am til 8pm yesterday and was knackered so only surfaced pretty late today. After a leisurely breakfast the long blue shadows were stretching across the street and the sun had ducked down behind the chimney pots. No point in going far.

And its another world up there anyway. There weren't so many people and those that were were dressed for it. The snow was very deep in places making us slow to a high-stepping walk on the steeper bits. We went up behind the crags where people were being careful to keep away from the cornices curling over the edges.

We went up the gutted haddie and although it was reasonable there were times I wished I was wearing my Mudclaws. I had worn Inov8s that are more for trails (can't remember which ones they are) for the rather fatuous reason that they needed a good clean and nothing deep cleans your shoes like a run in the snow. I felt very tentative on the rather slick icy slope however. It was apparent on the faces of the other few people up there that they were also taking it all just a bit more seriously. Going down would have been a lot harder.

We crested the hill without incident anyway and then harrumphed our way through deep snow down to Whinny hill. At Whinny hill we climbed up to get back into the sunshine and to find some shallower stuff that would make for better running. As we were dropping down to the foot of what we call 'Hell Hill' (I can't even remember why), we came across the rather perturbing sight of two quite young children in the snow. There was no sign of an adult anywhere and the younger one was calling something out and seemed upset. They couldn't have come up themselves could they? There was a kind of kiddy-sleigh on runners near to them. We slowed down and went round for a closer look. We called to them to ask if they were alright but they didn't answer, so Peter tried French and the older of the two responded. It was one of these moments when you start thinking - has something really horrible happened here? Has a parent gone over an edge? - or if we get nearer are they going to be collapsed in the snow?

They didn't know where their parents were, that became clear, but as I struggled for several moments to formulate how to ask them how long it had been since they'd seen them their dad appeared on the crest of the hill on skis shouting "Artur!".

Le phew! Both the kids relaxed and looked happy again. They were really very cute. The younger of the two had lost a boot and was saying something like "J'ai perdu mon maquette" (although I've looked up maquette and its a scale model). The dad said something in French to the kids and then said "Cheers!" to us, so we ran on.

We had a run about on the flatter bit outside the queen's house, inspecting the snowmen and an igloo and a snow-hole which had been created there in the last couple of days and then ran home.
Bliss.
Tonight the running club do. I have to try not to drink too much.

Peter's photos

Torchlight Parade

We knew the Wednesday night session was liable to be cancelled or severely restricted down at Portobello so Peter and I decided to go for a run with head torches round Arthur's Seat, and invite anyone who wanted to come too.

It was a perfect night really. Very crisp and still. I think  7 of us met up in the car park at the Meadowbank entrance to the park. While waiting for 5 minutes to see who would arrive we casually rescued cars stuck in the car park. It was vaguely surreal, especially as, because of the headtorches, you couldn't really look anyone in the face. Not without blinding them or yourself.

We set off for a loop of the perimeter of the park and kept a tight grouping puffing up the hill in the snow. I preferred to stand aside for the downhills and let people storm down ahead as I wanted to be a bit careful with a slightly dodgy left knee. Robert Kinnaird stayed back with me and we chatted about this and that. We regrouped again at Duddingston and ran up the road  and then along and down the other half of the perimeter back down into the park. 40 minutes had passed and we were warmed up and enjoying ourselves so we decided to go up the radical road. It seemed longer and harder than usual but we were rewarded by fabulous views of the snowy city at night. We were considering doing a loop of Hunter's Bog and calling it a day but decided for a more adventurous option of running along the path that runs half-way up the slope beneath Arthur's Seat. (It will have a name but I don't know it. Me and P call it 'the middle way'.) This got increasingly exciting as the path got increasingly marginal - many a left leg was thrust through the snow into space! As the consequences of a fall would only be a bit of a roll in the gorse this was not too alarming. Then we ran down the other side, with many a whoop. One last turn around Hunter's Bog and we were done.

It got me nearly hoping the snow lasts another week so we can do it again next week.

Haven't run for 2 days now (usual service interrupted due to severe bout of work) so need to get out there.
Too much to do this weekend. And I have homework to do for Monday. How will I fit it all in?