Doing a race recce...(Six weeks to go)

There are a few things that aren't so great about being freelance: no one offers to make you a coffee at work; there's no one to pull a cracker with at your office Christmas party; and you might have to camp out on people's doorsteps to remind them to PAY you.

However, sometimes it is brilliant. Sometimes you can decide 'it's a lovely day, let's go to check out the Edinburgh Marathon route'. And if you are really lucky then one of your racemates is also freelance and you can go together.

So it was that Paula and I were able to skive off work yesterday and head over to Musselburgh to check out where the Edinburgh Marathon will be held in less than six weeks time (eek). And it's quite a good job that we did because it turns out that our parts of the race are quite far away from Edinburgh itself.

Whilst Lilith will be starting in the City Centre for the Royal Leg, heading down the Royal Mile and out to the coast along Portobello Promenade - by the time she hands over to Paula the race will be in Musselburgh proper. Armed with this map from the Edinburgh Marathon Website we thought we'd have a trial 'run' and see what we'd let ourselves in for.

The first thing to say is that this is a gorgeous part of the country to be running in. As we parked up I was thrilled to see that the traditional communal drying lines are still in use here (whereas in parts of Glasgow using these is now not allowed):

The second marvellous news is that once Lilith's initial downhill stretch is over the rest of the course is remarkably flat. The website had told us that the course was flat but you know, different runners have different ideas of what constitutes a 'hill'. Even by our shabby standards it's fair to say, this is a very flat course!

So flat in fact, I kept taking pictures of it, just to prove how flat it is. It's flat:

There's also lots of lovely public art to view along the way. From sculpture:

To painted murals celebrating the area's industrial history as a fishing port, coal mining area and producer of cooking salt:

That's alongside the beautiful landscape that surrounds the John Muir Way* which was looking particularly spectacular in the surprise April sunshine:

And if all that isn't enough to tempt you to come along and support us on the big day well, there's a pub called The Goth. 

FUNDRAISING NEWS!

It's been an exciting week on the fundraising front too as we have smashed through our initial target. With just under six weeks to go we'd love to see that total reach the £1k mark because MS Society Scotland could do some fantastic work with a cool grand so if you haven't already donated please do so and please share this blog far and wide!

Don't forget that those who donate can be entered into our prize draw -  read all about that here There are fabulous new prizes being added all the time so it's worth keep checking back for the latest news. 

*'Who is John Muir and why does he have a 'way' named after him?' we kept wondering as we wandered about the area enjoying ourselves. Well, it turns out he was a Scottish-American naturalist, ecological thinker, political activist and religious prophet. Blimey. Did he ever go for a pint in The Goth though? Wikipedia unfortunately does not tell us this but he sounds like an interesting chap and he certainly has a lovely way. 

What a difference a day makes...

Twenty four little hours after a very dispiriting run it was time for Purlpower to strap on the trainers for the second time in a weekend and head into Glasgow to accompany Lilith on the Glasgow Frontrunners Rainbow Run celebrating LGBT History Month.

This time the omens were a little better. The BBC weather report was encouraging:

And the sky above me as my train pulled into Glasgow Central was as blue as my fingernails:

Each runner in the Rainbow Run is allocated a colour according to their month of birth so being a September baby I was true blue all the way. The 'start' sign was reassuringly non-flecked with mud, it was time to run!

Seventy rainbow runners headed off along the Glasgow Canal towpath. A fantastic place to run, close to the city centre but it felt like a world away - I'm embarrassed to have lived here so long and not realised this great footpath existed. We had a choice of running 5k, 7.5k or 10k. Now that I'm running 5k on a regular basis it seemed a good time to challenge myself and try the 7.5. And with Lilith to encourage me it really wasn't too bad at all. The route was traffic free and mostly flat (apart from a hill up to the canal path right at the beginning) and it felt great to push myself to go that little bit further.

Those all important Map My Run stats at the end told us that I had managed to run my 'fastest ever 5k' and had an average pace of 6mins 22 per kilometer. *SNORE* Sorry, getting a bit stat-obsessed of late...

Of course the best thing about running is the guilt free binging at the end and we were not disappointed with the selection on offer. Lilith was introduced to the kiddie party staple of 'Top Hats' while I tucked into a rainbow cupcake...or two. Celebrating every last crumb of diversity.

And if you want to see what a running rainbow looks like I recommend you take a peek at the Glasgow Frontrunner's Facebook Page because we do look rather snazzy if I do say so myself.

Park(run) Life

Sometimes it can seem like the universe is telling you that running is a really bad idea. When Paula and I were driving to Parkrun in Victoria Park yesterday every atom in the world seemed to be united in one message: Do not run today.

Parkrun is an amazing phenomenon. Many parks across the world - and three right here in Glasgow - offer the chance to run a free, timed 5k every Saturday. It's a not-for-profit organisation and all the runs are staffed by volunteers. Big up to the volunteers.

Since the beginning of 2014 Team 4ply has been sporadically attending the Parkrun in Pollock Park but we'd heard tell of another Parkrun, in Glasgow, with LESS HILLS and so we'd decided to set our sights on the mythical flatlands of Victoria Park this week.

Unfortunately this coincided with one of the wettest weeks in British history and we both felt a bit rubbish. Paula was adjusting to some new meds causing her to be proper glaikit. I'd spent the past week transcribing for about eight hours a day, was knackered and starting to hear things.... At one point I was curled up in the front seat of Paula's car pretending to go to sleep. When I opened my peepers, this was the view:

If a motorway could talk, this one would say 'go back to bed you pair of numpties, this running lark isn't for you'. In fact I could almost swear that's what it DID say...

But if Team4ply is anything, it is stubborn to a fault. So we went to our first Parkrun at Glasgow's usually delightful Victoria Park. I've been to Victoria Park on lovely spring mornings, had fossil fun in the Fossil Grove and taken a gentle stroll round its dignified swan pond.

But it looked rather different yesterday:

Rain had fallen, rain on mud, rain on rain. Most of the track seemed to be submerged under water. I was testing out my new 'seal skins' socks (they're not made of real seal skin, stand down vegans!) which are supposedly waterproof. I can report back that they do indeed keep your feet dry, however a small pond of water was collecting inside my trainers and was then trapped between trainer and my impermeable sock. Giving me the sensation of running round with two carrier bags full of water wrapped round my feet. Like a human stumbling 1970s waterbed. Not pleasant.

Just waiting for the fella to shout 'go' was torture; we just wanted to get this over with and get home to normality. But sensibly every Parkrun begins with a brief safety chat and an explanation of the route ahead. A few shivery minutes later, we were off....

This was our view for most of the run, i.e. from the very back, through the grey. This week Paula and I were trying an interval method of running for two and a half minutes and walking for one minute. And it just seemed like a real slog. Our legs simply did not want to run or walk. They wanted to go home to bed with an electric blanket and be positioned in front of a telly watching Labyrinth or maybe The Muppets.

But we battled on: three laps of the soggy, puddle-ridden park and then finally the finish line:

Paula achieved her Parkrun PB* and I found out that while I like having dry toes the sensation of running/walking on water ain't all it's cracked up to be.

We had survived another run together. We had a newfound understanding of the benefits of hills (namely, that water cannot gather at the top of them). It was time to go home, have a cup of tea and watch some Muppets....

*That's 'personal best' - we're runners now dontchaknow!