LauRunning

I traveled 10 hours by bus during a rail strike, all to run 16 gorgeous miles in the Yorkshire Dales. A trail race, but a finish in a parking lot. Why Yorkshire Dales Festival Earlier this year, I read a travel article that mentioned the town of Settle in north-west England. It looked nice and I saw with a railcard, I get could advanced tickets for £20 return. (How that fact would later come to mock me!) At the time, I checked if there were any races there, and the only ones I found were on dates I wasn't free. Flash forward a few months and I get an email about the Yorkshire Dales Festivals, a series of runs and walks starting and ending in Settle. The 16 mile route slotted in well with the marathon training schedule I'm doing this summer.  The journey When I booked this race in April, I wasn't anticipating there being a national rail strike on the day I was meant to get down. I seriously considered not going, but in the end, I thought this race was too pretty to pass u...

 I ran a 5k in my hometown in incredibly sunny and hot June weather. Jumping American in America. Why NJ Trail Cross Country 5k I like to run races when visiting my family. The Cross Country 5k was the one I came across with the most convenient time and location for my visit. I also liked that it took place in my hometown, though I had never actually been to the park the race was held it. The race The route and conditions The race was held at Central Park of Morris County, which is a big sports complex with fields of every sort. Surrounding the park is a cross country course. The route started in an open field and then went into trails. Most of the race was in the shade, which was very welcome seeing as it was 78F by the end of the race (and this was at night!). The open field at the start of the race. The ankle timer With it being so hot, I wasn't particularly keen on the chip timing for this race. It was a thick band that wrapped around your ankle. I've had ankle chip-timing ...

I ran the hardest I've ever run at the Edinburgh Half Marathon and ended up with a new PB race time of 2:07:10. Got USA shoes for my USA running outfit. Why Edinburgh Half I was meant to run the Edinburgh Half in 2020. It obviously got canceled due to Covid, so I decided to attempt it now that it was back on. For a course in Edinburgh, it's actually pretty downhill or flat most of the way, so I was hoping this would be a chance to get a half marathon PB. The journey This is the first local race where I actually walked to the start! It was just over 30 minutes to walk, so I figured that would be a good warm-up for my legs. It didn't take long before I was passing other runners making their way to the start as well. Then came the caravan of cars dropping runners off. Pretty soon it was people, people everywhere. I've done 2 large-scale races in the Covid world, but this is the first one that felt genuinely packed to the brim. The crowded baggage queue The packed-to-the-br...