On Tuesday morning we headed off to Roslin Glen for a very nice walk past the Chapel, Castle and Glen.
A new race on the calendar and a biggish turnout of around 250 runners. Weather was cool and a little cloudy but fairly good racing conditions although it turned out to be very cold on the tops requiring gloves, hat and coat to stay way. Legs not great so it was slow progress on the way up with generally the steeper bits being relatively good for me. A long run on the high terrain with a lot of bog to traverse. The descent down the gravel paths wasn't particularly nice and legs were feeling pretty crocked and not up for going too aggressively downhill. A time of 2 hrs 53 mins felt pretty good for a race of 13.2 miles and 1200 m climb.
Trip down to Screel near Dalbeattie for the first Short Scottish Champs Hill race. A nice route with start and finish on gravel road then some rougher and steeper sections. After a steady start feel on good form on the climb and made good progress through the field. Good fast descent - again passing a good few on the steep bits. Just 41 mins of running but exhilarating as at max effort most of the way.
Next day did the SOL at Limeriggs which was pretty horrendous terrain, very poor navigation and tired legs. Not a great experience.
It is nice to get to Glentress a couple of times a year as it is always fabulous to ride there. Started in Peebles with the hard ride up Janet's Brae. Then down to the main centre then steep climb via circuitous route to Dunslair Heights. Still a lot going on at Glentress with a new cafe at the top car park and around 50 new chalets built in the woods. Riding form was pretty good and enjoyed the Blue route climb sections although a fair bit of the upper half seemed to be closed.
In the evening I has a solo trip to the Queens Hall to see Imelda May. Not entirely sure what to expect as I have zero of her music and was expecting something quite noisy. It turned out to be an intimate set with two musicians and very good with lots of chatter, name dropping and really impressive performance. Very much enjoyed it from a seat at the back of the balcony with a good view. Best seats I think at Queens Hall.
A busy weekend with a trip to Tweedbank on Saturday for two urban sprint orienteering races around the small town of Tweedbank. Short, fast with easy navigation and good fun.
Sunday was orienteering at Calderwood coupled with helping at the start with car parking and at the end collecting controls. A pretty good performance considering legs a little tired.
In the evening we went to the Meadows Tap for the quiz night with Max, Kasia and Alastair. We won ! Mainly thanks to Alastair - not sure whether we added or detracted from what he would have scored. £40 bar voucher won.
