London & Yellowcraig Score Orienteering

Stopped off in London on the way back from Bournemouth and had a nice run along the canal through Camden to Primrose Hill and back via Regent Park. A nice change from the late flight home from Southampton. Pizza express and a glass of wine afterwards.

On Saturday went to a small local orienteering event at Yellowcraig. Took the bus from Waterloo Place which was around a 1 hr journey which was quite pleasant. Orienteering was fun in decent weather. Result not terribly good although probably not capable of that much better. Got a slower bus home which dragged a bit and the walk afterwards when tired wasn't entirely welcome. Overall worked quite well.

Scottish 10 K

Another 10K race - this time a big mass participation event with over 1000 runners. Had been feeling a bit off the last few days and Cherry is down with a cold so cautious about whether I've got some mild infection and decided to take this one nice and easy. 30 mins cycle down and a good well organised event that started at 9 am. Took the run nice and easy and avoided looking at the watch until very near the end. Felt fine plodding along at an easy pace and couldn't help increasing the pace a bit in the latter stages without ever extending to a full out effort. Came in at 52 mins 34 secs which isn't a great time but certainly not terrible and a lot better than expected. 

A cycle home via a stop at Costa. Good start to the day and surprisingly felt all the better for the exertions.

SOSOL Cademuir

First proper orienteering in quite some time. Thought it would be easy given that the course would all be on open hillside. Disaster on the first control. Headed in roughly the right direction but soon found I was pretty lost. Eventually got my act together in the last 7 controls and navigated these reasonably well and carefully. Great fun and I relish the challenge of getting a little better next time. 

Blast Running 10K - Silverknowes

Flat and fast course at Silverknowes. 49 mins 32 secs. 

Arthurs Seat

Gradually ticking off training runs to each of the 7 hills of Edinburgh. A lovely afternoon and a fabulous run to the summit in Holyrood Park. I love the feeling of being able to skip and dance up and down a hill like a mountain goat - I'm sure it doesn't look like that but on a good day it is a real joy to be able to move confidently up and down the craggy slopes. It was a slow training run but still just 23 minutes to get from front door to summit.

Portobello Beach Race

A bike ride down to Portobello for a nice run along the beach at Portobello. A nice sunny morning and Portobello sea front looking surprisingly continental with the beach front cafes busy and buzzing.

The race was just over the advertised 4 miles. The tide was out with a wide beach to run on and mainly fairly well compacted sand so not overly difficult although pace was pretty slow suggesting soft enough to lose a fair bit of momentum. Completed in 36.55 and came 40th of 63 runners.