July 2021 challenge: 7 hills of Edinburgh
I ran 25 miles up and down Edinburgh's 7 hills over 3 different runs.
Fundraising for JCWI in 2021
This is the 7th recap post of my 2021 monthly running challenges. These challenges are part of my fundraiser for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI).
Recapping the horrors of UK immigration each month
As part of my fundraising efforts, I am also raising awareness about what's happening in the world of UK immigration each month.
I want people to understand just how much awfulness happens in 28 to 31 days. My recaps will be over on my Medium site.
Why 7 hills
I originally was going to make this month a run up 2 hills: Arthur's Seat and Allermuir Hill in the Pentlands.
Then some coworkers mentioned doing the 7 hills (but walking them), and ultra-competitive me thought 7 hills sounded better than 2.
I needed to incorporate these runs into my marathon training, so I divided the 7 hills into 3 of my Sunday long runs.
Run 1
I kicked things off with an 8-mile run through the central hills.
Arthur's Seat
When I first moved to Edinburgh, I would see runners rush past me while climbing Arthur's Seat and think, why in the world would someone do that.
It occurred to me recently that runner Lauren is in fact capable of doing that, so might as well try it out.
Turns out runner Lauren was a bit too over-confident in her abilities and ultimately decided on the wrong path up.
There are a few paths up Arthur's Seat, and I decided to take the short stairway up and then take the long, more gradual path back down.
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| Making my way to the stairs. |
This was the wrong decision. My body did not appreciate running up rocky stairs.
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| I'm smiling, but I'm by no means happy. |
It's didn't even feel like running. It's more like heavy stepping. On an incredibly humid day. It was not long before I had to stop.
So I walked a bit. Tried to run again. Stopped again. Walked a bit again. Tried to run again. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
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| Views on the way up. |
In total, it was more walking than running. Before you get to the top, it plateaus a bit and I could run on that.
But to reach the summit, I had to climb. I'm not sure if people even attempt to run that bit. I don't know how you would do it without injuring yourself.
But I made it to the top and waited patiently to get my selfie at the summit.
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| A tired smile for the summit. |
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| Hello, Edinburgh. |
It was the 4th of July, so I also wrapped an American flag scarf around my running backpack and felt the need to take a patriotic selfie with this, too.
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| Independent Lauren on Independence Day. |
I couldn't immediately run back down. There are still some scary rocky bits that I did not feel safe running down.
But once I got on the trail path down, I finally could run again.
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| A runnable path. |
All in all, Arthur's Seat whooped my ass, and I feel determined to face it again at some point.
Calton Hill
Calton Hill felt practically flat compared with Arthur's Seat. There's a road up to it, so I switched from rocky trails to running on smooth pavement.
At the top, I got to see the National Monument.
And a snap a selfie with the monument.
And the Nelson Monument.
And that view that is used in every photo meant to showcase Edinburgh as a tourist attraction.
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| On the right you can see the hotel affectionately nicknamed the Golden Turd. |
Surprisingly, this was only my 2nd time up Calton Hill. The only other time I went up was in 2014 for Beltane, the fire festival that happens every April 30 (when not in a pandemic).
So this was the first time up without seeing any strangers' boobs. (Something you do inevitably see at Beltane.)
Castle Hill
Again, another easy-ish hill compared to Arthur's Seat. But I could definitely feel the uphillness of it!
It was nice to see the Castle in summertime without all the stadium seating on the esplanade.
Run 2
My 2nd run was 10 miles through the west-side hills. These were the only 2 hills I'd never been up before.
Craiglockhart Hill East
Craiglockhart Hill felt like a non-event compared to the 3 hills I ran the week previous. It's not that steep and has a pretty gentle incline. I didn't feel tired going up it.
It's also very tree-covered compared to the other hills. Lots of shaded trails.
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| You can tell it's not hilly because my smile isn't a tired one. |
There was a section which had a nice view of the Castle.
The way down had a staircase. I eventually just started running on the side because staircase running isn't really running, even going downhill.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a pond when I reach the bottom.
Corstorphine Hill
Corstorphine Hill was a proper hill. Nice and challenging but not overkill.
It started off tree-covered, very similar to Craiglockhart.
Then the flowers came.
Then the sweeping views of the city.
I very much appreciated this marker telling me to rest.
At the top of the hill is a clocktower.
At the bottom of the hill, it's still pretty high up, so you get nice views of the Pentlands.
Run 3
My last run was 7 miles through the southside hills.
Braid Hills
I'm no stranger to Braid Hills. I run them often. So the terrain was familiar, but the circumstances less so.
I had cycled 21 miles the previous day. I didn't actually feel tired on the run, but from the second I started running, my pace was very slow and I had no desire to run faster.
It was also, thankfully, mostly cloudy on what had been the hottest week in Edinburgh this year. All things considered, there could have been worse conditions for a run.
Braid Hills has the most beautiful views of Holyrood Park.
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| Mandatory Holyrood-Park-in-the-background selfie. |
And the Castle.
Because I normally run them west to east, I didn't even realize you get lovely views of Queensferry Crossing Bridge on a clear day.
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| You might need to zoom in, but the bridge is there, I swear! |
You also get a view of my next hill: Blackford.
Blackford Hill
I had only been up Blackford Hill once. This was my first time running it.
I had to descend down into the Hermitage before ascending back up to start the climb up Blackford Hill.
I didn't realize the way up would include stairs. I thought this was going to be a repeat of the disastrous attempt up Arthur's Seat.
But I kept to the path besides the stairs (where possible) and managed to run up the entire thing. Go, me.
I truly felt victorious when I reached the summit. Yes, it was my slowest run ever, but I did it.
From the summit, I turned around to snap a pic of Braid Hills.
Since they're both next to each other, you get the same (but closer) views of Holyrood Park and the Castle from Blackford.
On the way out, I passed the Royal Observatory.
Running reflections
Hilly over hills
I used to hate hills on runs, but it was the Tenby 10k I did in 2019 that made me start to enjoy them. That being said, what I really think I like is for parts of my run to be hilly. Not to run up entire hills.
I did enjoy this challenge and being able to see what I'm capable of. But if I had to pick a choice between running or walk up massive hills, I'd choose walking.
If I'm going up a hill, I want to take my time and keep pausing to enjoy the views.
I need an Arthur's Seat re-do
I set out to run the 7 hills, and I ran them. But I realized Arthur's Seat was a level of fitness I am not quite at.
So in some ways, it feels like the challenge is not yet complete. I want another attempt at Arthur's Seat, this time taking the long, gradual path up.
I don't know when I'll run it, but I just want to see whether I can. It's been interesting to see where my limits are. I now know where I can challenge myself even further.
I'm a badass athlete
Arthur's Seat was a struggle, but Blackford Hill reminded me my body is capable of amazing things. When I started that run, I was honestly worried about climbing Blackford because of how much my 21-mile cycle was slowing me down.
But I ran the whole thing.
I don't care that it was slow. It was running. I ended the challenge on a high note.
You know what would make it end on an even higher note? Donating to my fundraiser. Even the struggle up Arthur's Seat doesn't compare to the struggle of going through the UK immigration system.
August challenge
Sunday long runs
I'm in the middle of marathon training, which is a challenge in and of itself. So my August challenge will focus on making my Sunday long runs interesting in some way.
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