Borders Series XC #1 Lauder

I just realised I was posting a picture of a church on a Sunday. In as much as it is also a picture of a moon and I'm not a practising lunatic. It's the blue sky I am selling. More superb weather. Warm and sunny. I took the gloves and hat but only out of habit. What a fabulous day!

In fact almost too good. I was wondering if I should have been doing November's TB run, some 30miler across the country, given just how outstanding the climate was today. However it was a pleasure to kick off the Borders Series Cross Country with Lauder and 4 miles of hilly countryside out the back of Lauder Primary School, up the hill, along the valley, up another hill and back round the playing field.

Mary got us there in plenty time leaving extra to pick up numbers and limber up with a looksee round the second half of the course where we bumped into these 3 reprobates. 

Steve impresses, showing how to deal with obstacles. He had a bit of a chest/cough thing going on and was a bit below par. I meant to ask him if he deployed this hurdling technique in the actual race.

Option 2: gate vault. This is what I did in the race although the dude ahead (who I thought was going to use the kissing gate) used the left side of the gate leaving me to struggle over the taller right side. As punishment I cut ahead of him on the downhill.

Mary wimped out and got 3 points for a refusal.

The second hill was less muddy than usual. 

There were 3 stream crossings, this being the first and longest.

On the way back to the start the juniors caught up with us. There is always a strong contingent of fast youngsters working hard at the Borders XC.

Fergus warming up. 

We will run past the trees at the top of the first long climb.

Good to see Steph racing
(even in the wrong vest) (although to be fair she now lives in the Borders)

Lots of folk to chat to. Then about midday we had a talk from the organiser who spoke about the route which was much the same as last time, then we were set off. I planned to go out quite hard, well, because it was a race. And because there were a LOT of runners squeezing onto some narrow paths and duckboards before going up the hill pretty much single file. Mr Limmer went past before the duckboards I think. Good to see Greg getting back to some sort of form after many months of Lyme Disease which gave him a much harder time than I got. He overtook going up the hill although stayed in the vicinity and I got just ahead before the downhill proper started. 

Thanks to Danielle for this photo. She must have been right there with us although I didn't see her! Good attendance from Bellas.

I was going to carry the camera, what with the weather being so good. However I took plenty of shots on the recce and felt I might want hands free for vaulting gates etc. Or falling in streams. Couldn't believe nobody was taking photos at the first stream jump, as someone was bound to fall in. Mark F wasn't running so was taking photos towards the top of the first hill and again later (how did he do that?) Halfway along the stream section I caught a distant view of Stewart W first m50. Like way too distant! I spent quite a bit of this section directly behind A Gilmore. I'm sure he was I Gilmore earlier but then in the heat of the oxygen deprived moment they somehow swapped. Both were running and I'm pretty sure both finished a bit ahead but how they did that swapping thing I've no idea. Maybe I should have carried a camera. Harry was out on the course taking photos! He would know!

Steve being chased down by Steph!

Mary had a good run.
Her blog here

How to deal with background photobombers!
Also photoshopped: Amy's vest. Glad to hear Amy's ankles survived better this year.
see original photo on Mary's blog.

The organiser asked me at the end if I enjoyed it. I said it was a great course and weather although I think I denied actual enjoyment. I think I have to wait about the same time as it takes before I can manage something to eat, before the enjoyment factor appears. (Half an hour?) It's so full on that it is nearer trauma than enjoyment, although after a short while, yes of course it is enjoyable in retrospect. Once your lungs and legs recover a tad. I was faster than last year but this is no great revelation as I ran Glen Ogle 33 the day before last year. (So should have been more than a minute faster today.) However it was great fun and everyone was full of very cheery banter all the way home. Quality hot showers. Great day out. Magic course and weather. And Scouts washing shoes! Looking forward to the rest of the series.

beachy halloween

And we were just about out the door when Mary said take that mask and the hat. Might as well, it is Halloween. I made them for a Halloween party many years ago and they have been gathering dust on top of a wardrobe since. Never quite got round to binning them, or going to another Halloween party.

Fiona and Lucy

Falko's seem to have adopted smaller paper cups. Last week I felt short changed when I got a smaller cup while Mary's black coffee came in the standard size. I'm sure it's the same amount of caffeine but less water and they haven't started charging less. So this week I asked for an Americana and not a flat white. BOTH cups were small and the price seems to have slightly increased from £6.70 to £6.90 for 2 coffees and 2 raisin brioche. I may change dealers to the Village Coffee Shop next time as they give you a massive cup that had me up till all hours of the night the other Monday. Anyway while we are sat there Lucy and Fiona appear. They have already caught the train to Dunbar and run back and will prob get to Longniddry before catching the train back to Edinburgh. They look fresher than we are feeling so we make them model the hat and mask. Lucy is not looking happy because she has just found out the hard papier mâché interior is about the most uncomfortable thing you could ever strap to your face. 

So as part of Mary's self improvement come self harming we are doing 10 burpees in the car park. The tendency is for the person holding the camera to aim the camera at the prone section of the exercise then miss the jump. First 5 are easy peasy except I lose count. Was that six or seven? After about 8 I am ready for a sit down and drive home.

hup

yup

Mary took this.

There was a big strudel of dark grey cloud hovering above the Forth. While the sun was shining it felt like summer. Then the cloud rolled inland, hiding the sun and it felt like it might hail or sleet. (Putting an end to ideas about swimming.)

I think the blue glove runs up and down the beach at night.

Mary took this obvs.

who needs a broomstick?

goosey v-ness

Run done and Mary felt 1/ we weren't going in swimming and 2/ we should do the Halloween shoot on the beach. Why? No idea? Best just follow orders. 

beach gallery

Last Sunday, Oct 25th we went for a gentle recovery run around the beach at Gullane / Aberlady and perhaps a swim. Stoked up on crack caffeine the beach was looking fab. First there was a myriad tiny brightly coloured grasses or mosses or ferny things that were red then yellow and so sparkling that Mary stood on her head. Until some passers-by came upon us and hovered embarrassed, thinking they maybe had come across a cult. I was also hovering wearing a "you-know-how-it-is" look on my face.

And then just item after item that looked very distinctive; like it would be more at home in a gallery than washed up on the beach. And it wasn't that the light was special. It was pleasant but a long way from bright or sunny.

Mary turned this plank over to reveal lots of raisins and sultanas although it wouldn't surprise you to learn they didn't have the same variety of taste as colour. We didn't open the rocket bottle to find out what it might contain but I do like the colour combo of white, seaweed black and red.

What miraculous journey takes a large lightbulb to the beach without breaking it? I was going to wash it off for a proper close up but as the shoreline sand sank on approach to the water I remembered my pledge to keep my shoes dry. I hadn't taken a change of shoes and would be standing in Tesco's in them 2 hrs later whether they were dry or wet. I hate getting my feet wet unless it's for a good reason, and I have a change of shoes to hand.

blue glove has left his perch and has been touring the beach

I felt warmed up after the run and determined to go in for a swim. The last time swimming had seemed so much colder and I hoped it was just a glitch. I didn't want to draw a line under the swim season by admitting defeat to a glitch so put on the winter gear (properly warm hood and gloves) and braced myself. Mary wasn't keen so just had a paddle to loosen off stiff legs from the previous day's longer run. We also took the thermometer along to give us an objective measurement. Air was just over 10' water was just under. And no, that doesn't make them feel the same, no idea why. The winter gear made it very do-able but did feel a bit clumsy. More like swimming in a deep sea diver outfit than slipping sleekly through the water. The chill factor was bearable though. It would be interesting to know if it was colder last time.

"Thanks" to Craig for this birthday gift in response to my seal-o-phobia. I have since seen videos shot in the Scilly Isles of seals and swimmers interacting and feel suitably foolish for freaking that time. It won't (might not) happen again. 

waving not drowning