Richard, Thomas, Nicola & Zoe Visiting

The Weston's arrived on Friday afternoon and Max & Hannah returned later in the evening. We had dinner in together on Friday and enjoyed playing Pictionary.

On Saturday the youngsters went into town and up Calton Hill whilst Richard and Cherry had a walk about town. Colin unfortunately had work to do. In the evening we went to the Old Bell Inn for dinner. We didn't get the Christmas Dinner we hoped for but it was a reasonable pub meal.

On Sunday Cherry and Richard went to the Castle. The youngsters went to Fountainpark for bowling and pool. Later we all went for a Room Escape adventure at Summerhall.

Newhailles Trail Race

A short trip on Sunday morning to Newhailles House on the outskirts of Edinburgh for the inaugural trail race in and beyond the grounds of this National Trust property. A very well organised event and a pleasant course with a nice mixture of path, trail and field to get round. No particular aims for the event and deliberately avoided looking at the watch as I went round. Felt pretty good with no issues in knees or heels. Hoka Speedgoats were a good choice of footwear. Faded a little over the last 1/2 km but managed a decent push over the last 100m to avoid being passed. Definitely worth doing again.

SOSOL Dalkeith Park

Some glorious weather on Sunday for a trip to Dalkeith Country Park for a SOSOL event. Huge numbers of cars turned out and the park looking quite different with a lot of investment having been done in the restaurant and new adventure playpark. The Orienteering was the quickest and easiest green course I've ever done getting round in just over 30 minutes and coming in second place. Enjoyed a short walk afterwards with Cherry.

Tinto Hill Race

It had been a long time since my last hill race in the summer of 2017 and Tinto was a tough winter race to make a comeback on. The race had a 2 pm start and the weather was cold but not freezing and damp but not yet raining. Lots of pre-race nerves and frequent trips to the freshly felled pile of logs for a pee. Confidence was low and that feeling of what am I doing here on such a dreich afternoon was strong. But soon we were off and the heart rate pounding as the long ascent commenced. Gentle at first then getting steeper and rougher. Lots of muddy puddles. A few moments of respite on the way up when the slope briefly eases and then the question is can you summon the will power to force a running pace again. Strength, lung capacity and above all will power are needed on the way up. On the way down strength, core stability, courage and perhaps a bit of madness are the secrets of success. I'm running in Hoka Speedgoats with thick solid soles with lots of bounce but not quite the studs of the traditional fell shoe - they work a dream on this terrain letting me flow down the hill at speed aiming the feet at solid rocky ground of which there is plenty. Yes - I'm loving this - this is my sport. Total concentration and maximum effort as I push through a rapid 2 miles of downhill and race through to the finish in a time similar to what I was achieving 8 years ago but not quite the best results of a decade ago.

SOSOL - Dechmont Law

A glorious day out in Livingstone. Helped with the event parking before a good run round the Green course. Pretty straightforward navigation wise. 6th of around 60 runners.

Mid Week Pentlands Cycle and Run

With some nice weather I enjoyed a cycle out to the Pentlands followed by a run in the hills of about 7 miles taking in the summits of Caerketton, Allermuir and Capelaw. Felt on pretty good form.