Edinburgh (Portobello!) to North Berwick Race 2014

Enjoying a joke with myself! (What was I thinking?)

Edinburgh to North Berwick Race yesterday. Except, while telling non-runners about it I realised it isn't really the Edinburgh to North Berwick race any more is it? More like the cat and dog home to North Berwick.

I have somehow turned into someone who wakes up early since the old racing days, so 11am is too late for a race start. I set my alarm for 7am, was up by 6.15am and by 9.30, when Kathy and Graeme were coming to pick us up I was hungry again so I had Peter's duo Boost bar he had hidden in his "UltraBox" (This means nothing to me...)...a box of food evils you're only allowed if you're going to run 35 miles and whip yourself with a birch twig. It didn't even touch the sides to be honest. The first 4 calorific miles of the race were already spent and it had not yet begun.

The Portobello presence was a bit overwhelming and after a little while my spider sense told me that Emily and Jim MUST be hiding outside near their car as I had seen nothing of them.
I went to find them and they were there, with Jim Scott. I realised that for some reason my heart rate monitor had chosen this morning to die and Jim joked that maybe next year's race would be called the Mary Hunter Memorial Race. That was a comforting thought. I perhaps shouldn't tell this story, so I'll cover my tracks somewhat, but there's a big race in the lakes that is run as a memorial of a fell-runner who died as he ran. The trophy is a replica of one of his Walshes cast in bronze. One of our friends down in the lakes has won this trophy a few times but he finds it a bit disturbing so he keeps it up in the attic for the year until it's time to take it back again. If the E2NB became the Mary Hunter memorial race I would like the main trophy to be one of these glow in the dark  Catholic Icons that light up. In fact I'd like it to play a tune too. In fact I'd like it to be like my old Dracula Savings Bank where if you put money on a slot a hand comes out of the box and snatches it. As us young people say "I'm just saying!".

Anyway, I didn't die on route although my HRM never came back to life. In fact, I found I was running well. (For me) I was a bit tired and hungry and I've got sore toes on my right foot which were bothering me a bit - but I don't think it's a running injury particularly and I don't think running makes it much worse.
I was delighted to go under 8 minute miles for the first 10 miles. When I first started racing I remember going under 1h 20 mins for 10 miles for the first time and being thrilled and I felt a similar feeling again.

Miles 10 - 15 didn't flow quite so well. Miles 15 - 18 I spent a good bit of time trying to work my way around a stitch. I never quite mastered it and it never got really bad so it was a case of living with it.

The last 4 miles or so I started to pass a few people who were stopped with cramp or injury. This made me grateful for my still functioning legs.

I didn't enjoy the last 2 miles but I wasn't desperate for it all to be over either. I wouldn't like to do this every day but I enjoyed it too. There was lots of support and shouts along the way.

I'm not sure what the next race will be. I'm not sure what the point is. I thought I could sneak 10 points for the O45 Porty championship series but Kathy Henly cottoned on to this and came along to steal first place despite having done the Fling the week before. If I'm not going to get reward in the form of points or prizes I would rather be running on a nice trail, that's for sure. And it has to be kind of long because I'm not interested in trying to run fast.

I meant to say....if you look at the Garmin thing up the top you'll see I had some more freak jumps in elevation to c.21,000ft. This might have something to do with me being a Catholic icon but I'm not sure. Aileen Ross has been experiencing similar phenomena. I would suggest that there might be worm-holes along the coast of the Forth.