Brrr...luckily it's not been as chilly this winter. My girlfriend and I decided to do the Edinburgh Great Winter Run this January, which involves running a 5k round the rather spectacular Arthur's Seat extinct volcano. I'm spoilt really, as I actually live just a little way down the road so get to see it every day!
Actually living in Edinburgh we'll spoilt for running events generally, with a few half marathon distance events, the full marathon festival and loads of 5ks and 10ks throughtout the year. However the Great Winter Run is the only one that really embraces the colder months, so it's a nice change and a good opportunity to get back into fitness after a fattening Christmas and think about what I'm going to do to raise money this year.
My stepdad died of cancer a little after Christmas last year, so it's a difficult time for a lot of the family. However getting a charity event in early helps to focus the mind and reminds me that it's all for good causes.
Last year at the event, my first winter run, the country was covered in snow and ice and the route had to be changed to reduce the likelihood of people falling on their arses. But this year it was the normal route up the hill and round, and despite it being my local running route I found it rather hard. Too many mince pies perhaps? The trudge up the first hill was rather brutal, and it was kind of alarming to hear people wheezing from breath halfway through the very first kilometre!
But I kept a steady pace up and over, and on the downhill increased my speed but started to feel a little rough. I'd expected to feel a bit drained as I hadn't done much running, but I had no energy. Slightly depressing. The crowd of runners were great though, and it's always funny to see people fully decked out in their hats and gloves. Not a normal running event!
Anyway, I managed a rather good sprint finish on the flat and finished in 21m30s or thereabout, which is about a minute and a half off what I'm aiming for in a 5k. D'oh! Oh well, first one of the year means there's lots of time to improve!
