LauRunning

I took advantage of being in Manchester for a conference and came a day early to run the Manchester Half Marathon. Why Manchester Half Marathon I'm speaking at the ContentEd Conference, which I noticed conveniently fell the Monday and Tuesday after the Manchester Half Marathon. Wanting to take advantage of work paying from my train down to Manchester, I came a day early so I could do the race. The journey John came with me for the race, and we took the train down. Nothing exciting to report about the journey other than for the last half hour, the train got very busy with young folk going to see a big fight happening in Manchester with a YouTube star.  Canal walk and finding the start line We didn't do much before dinner other than checking into our hotel. To make the walk interesting, I chose a route along the Bridgewater Canal Tow Path which had some pretty sights along the way. The only other thing I did was while John took a quick nap, I went to find the race start line so I...

I ran my third (and slowest) marathon in the Highlands along Loch Ness. It was a tough race where I felt so close to stopping many times, but managed to never stop running. It doesn't look like it, but I'm tired. Why Loch Ness I was looking to run another marathon this year. I originally set my sights on Valencia, but when I went to book, travel and accommodation prices had skyrocketed. I then looked for a UK marathon to run and learned choices for end-of-year marathons are actually quite limited. I wanted a large-scale race with an interesting route that didn’t involve multiple laps, nor was too hilly. Loch Ness was the only one I could find that fit the bill; although as you'll read later, it was pretty hilly. Training by time, not distance Last year I ran the Yorkshire Marathon with my partner, John. Not keen to endure 26.2 miles again, John opted to be my supporter for the marathon this year instead. This meant training on my own over the summer. I really enjoye...

 I ran the Edinburgh Half Marathon for the second time and got my third-best time. The jumping American returns. Why Edinburgh Half Marathon I wanted to run a big half marathon race, but I didn't feel up to traveling. So I signed up to my local half, where I got a PB last year. Edinburgh Half Marathon 2022 recap The journey Last year, the race started near the Commonwealth Pool, which was an easy enough walk to get to. This year, it started at the University of Edinburgh central campus, which is a bit farther for me, so I opted for the bus.  There were already a few people in running gear when I got on the bus, so the convergence of the runners started quite early on in my journey to the start area.  Special toilet access Last year, I was still in the toilet queue when the race started. This year, I took advantage of the University being the starting point for the race and brought my staff card with me, so I could use the Main Library toilets. Turns out, I wasn't the only...

My 2nd race of 2023 was a beautiful 16k taking in the sights of the John Muir Way and Belhaven Bay. No medal for a finishing photo. Why Fox Trail 16k at Foxlake I haven't been feeling very motivated to sign up to races this year. Especially after my regretful 5k race in January, I don't want to run a race unless I deem it worthy of my time and money. My recap of my January 5k race To be honest, I wasn't sure this Fox Trail race met the criteria. At £26, it seemed expensive for the size of event and the fact that you didn't get any sort of bling or goody bag when you finish. Plus, I had to wake up at 5:30am to do it. But the woodland and beach scenery just outside Dunbar seemed like a good enough reason to check it out.  It was on a Saturday, too, which meant there were early enough public transit times that could get me there for a 9am start.  The journey I went to the race by bus. There was a bus stop right outside Foxlake, so taking the bus made more sense than the tr...

Edinburgh Winter Run becomes my first repeat race and the race I regret signing up to the most. Uninspiring race, but better t-shirt this time. Why Edinburgh Winter Run I did the Edinburgh Winter Run in 2020 with a bunch of colleagues and had a wonderful time, despite the poor organization of the race. Edinburgh Winter Run 2020 recap With the University subsidizing places again (though I had to pay £12 instead of £6.50 like last time), I signed up immediately, thinking other colleagues might, too. But no.  It was just me going solo to pay to run a 5k route that is now a parkrun route, so somewhere I can do a timed run for free any other weekend. I felt silly for signing up and was not looking forward to this race. An empty race The 2020 Winter Run featured long queues to drop off bags and at the finish. The 2023 run was practically empty. I'm not sure if it was because they did staggered start times this year, but even so, I have never seen a race of this scale so empty. I know it ...