Well time is accelerating to Showtime. Monday evening as always, well that’s the way
it seems, was a return to the hill. We
just call Arthur’s seat ‘The Hill’ as we are now on familiar terms with the 340
million year rock, well it’s better than referring to its acronym A’sS! Surprise,
surprise it was wet which meant we cut our session short – you can get pretty
wet out there in such a short time. Instead of running both our colours we only
ran one.
On Tuesday we treated our jogscotland group to an interval
session. One minute intervals, run out for a minute drop a cone and that’s your
mark. Always amazes me the honesty of
runners, out they run as hard as they can for a minute and drop the cone and
give themselves a challenge.
Strathclyde parkrun gave me another opportunity to run using
the Chi running method. If it’s
consistency that you are after you can’t argue with the results, I clocked
21:25 which compares with 21:24 two weeks ago. Moira, on the other hand was
unhappy with her run (getting old, unfit grumble grumble).
Our last long run before Speed of Light turned out to be 2
miles longer than planned. We were approaching the final homeward stretch when
Moira pulled a fast one – let’s go this way. Before to long we had added a
further 2.5 miles, all because Moira felt good at mile 9 (not old at all!).
Our last Monday night on the Hill was a somewhat crowded affair;
you couldn’t run down a path without bumping into a run leader. Either the run
leaders are conscientious or panic has set-in, I think it might be the latter –
well it is in our case! Just for a change the conditions were perfect, and with
the grass recently strimmed, navigation was a lot easier.
Tuesday saw me successfully complete my own personal
Jammython – 31 days running at least 3 miles (or 20 minutes). In the end I
clocked up 182 miles running, 22 miles cycling and 6 exercise classes – so safe
to say the injury nightmare is well and truly behind me. It is all
part of a masterplan for next years Jogscotland Challenges for The Jammys and
all those that would like to join us in an accessible challenge for all – watch
this space.
August arrived and that could mean only one thing, we were
now days away from ‘The Speed of Light’. Friday was the first technical rehearsal and
the nerves were building all day. I couldn’t settle to anything on Friday – I
was frantically studying my choreography notes. Eventually I came up with a set
of notes that made sense to me. Fortunately on the Friday night I was down as a
Reserve Run Leader, so I was unsure how much I would need to do. Moira,
however, was leading the green colour along with Ann. As we assembled with the
other run leaders there was an odd mix of fear and excitement.
My duties were pretty straightforward I was there to assist
at the far end of the hill. Encouraging runners to keep the 10 metre space
between themselves and the next runner. Being able to look on from afar – it
was amazing!
As the runners arrived in the “holding tent” the excitement grew.
Once assembled Ann and I briefed our group before being suited up and before we
knew it we were off up the hill. The green group were brilliant, entering into
the spirit of things and having a good time. The green route is tough; there’s
a couple of time we’re at the bottom of the hill heading straight up to the
top. We had no complaints and some of the group did both sessions and loved it.
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After the late night, Saturday morning parkrun was less
appealing but it was our monthly pacing Saturday and I was committed to running
with the 22 minute pacing vest. Despite Pat’s best efforts to swap with me, the
flattery did not result in me taking up his 21 minute pacing vest. It was a
bumper turnout for us at Strathclyde parkrun, smashed our attendance record
with 243 runners enjoying the perfect conditions on Saturday. I came in at
21:57 – not bad – job done. Whereas after a night on the hill Moira could only
manage 24 minutes.
Saturday evening saw us attend a lecture on the history of
The Hill and for me to lead The Dream
team aka The Blue team. Catriona and I
had quickly established we had the best team on the hill. The team were awesome
from start to finish and if we get teams of that calibre every night we are on,
it will be a breeze and there will be no need for nerves. The conditions,
however, were horrendous. The mist came rolling in and made visibility poor
resulting in other colours claiming they were the best.
Saturday night saw Moira with no duties. Along with the
other “no duty” runleaders, I was asked to be part of the audience. This was as
a training exercise for the walk leaders. The fog really restricted the view
and we didn’t make it up to the top to get the whole effect. However, the mist
did eventually clear and we were left with the awesome sight that will be Speed
of Light. I pity the poor walk leader who had to deal with Fiona, Tim and
myself, cause we just didn’t want to leave the hill. Watching the show we kept
saying “oh look they’re doing a lighthouse” or “that will be the red group
there” or “look at that hub it’s really pulsing”. Up on the hill as a runner
you don’t get to see the visual effect so it was great to see and it’s going to
look amazing.
Sunday, thankfully was a rest day which meant we could watch
some small event happening in London
that clashes with the main event – The Speed of Light!
