Running in Scotland

The Scots love outdoor physical activity. A lot of them walk, hill-climb, run and bike and of course golf. One of their bikers won three gold medals in the Olympics this year. So I have tried to fit in by running a little more than I am used to. I was talked to running a 10k at a beautiful manor house right on the Firth of Forth. I trained for about six weeks and even joined the local running club in Musselburgh. The tuesday before the race I went around 7 miles and felt confidant going into Sunday. During the race, I ran the first 3 miles with one of my new colleagues and was right on pace for how fast I wanted to finish. Then came the hill of MUD. A hill that went straight up and was six inches of mud for about 100 yards. I got to the top and I felt glad, until I realize that the entire rest of the race was UPHILL, long sloping grades that went on forever. I found out later that 4 of the 6 miles went up. They are used to hills over here, but I am not. I missed my goal by about 5 minutes and was a little disappointed. Oh well, we had a great time and it was for a good cause (cancer research) and Beth and Monique got to hand out medals at the end. (they volunteered) There were almost 1000 runners and in general it was a beautiful day. I am going to look for another race, but one with less hills.

Cheers

Weekend in London (Part Three)

I know that you have all been waiting in anticipation for the last part of our London weekend. Once again the cruel demands of teaching has kept me from my duties. I have also started my class at Edinburgh University, which I will discuss in a future blog. After we left Wicked we took the tube down to the Tower of London, the famous home of English kings since William the Conquerer. The place where Anne Boleyn lost her head and where the famous Crown Jewels are kept. We did not take the tour because it was late in the day. We walk around the Castle and went across the Tower Bridge, well known landmark that Brandon Fraser ran across in the second Mummy movie. Once we were on the south side of the Thames we walked along as the sun set over London. After having a great dinner in Leicester Square we joined the throng of people from around the world out on a Saturday night in London, it was intoxicating. The following morning, Harriet picked us up and took us out to Hampstead Heath for a great breakfast at an old English estate that now serves as a public park. It had a great view of the London skyline. Finally, Harriet dropped us off at covent garden and we shopped and watch some street performers before we had to go. (yes the natives were there and playing Celine Dion AGAIN--Madrid, Edinburgh, London they are tracking me) When we got back to King's Cross, Monique and I bolted and decided to head off to hogwarts instead. Have a great weekend. Cheers