ACE Race Dirty Weekend!

It was advertised as a dirty weekend, and that’s exactly what it was! Steve & I had entered the 2-day standard race, starting at Traquair House, near Innerleithen in the Borders. We set up our tent on arrival and got registered, ready for the fun to begin. Unfortunately the weather was miserable and rain forecast for both days – a long weekend ahead! An 8-hour race on the Saturday turned into nearly 9 - we made a silly decision to go for an extra checkpoint on the run and it was a lot further away than we thought. A lot of biking up hills and through mud, carrying bikes over gates, stiles and unbikeable sections, kayaking against a nasty headwind, trudging up hills and trying to run through long grass, heather & a few bushes – whose idea was this?!

The checkpoints are small electronic boxes, and we both have a ‘dibber’ attached to our wrists that go into the control points. They also have a random 3-letter code attached to them but I began to wonder if it really was that random after I’d seen the following at the top of some hills - WHY, SAD, EAT, CRY!! I didn’t feel too great on Saturday – managed to hang in there, but hadn’t eaten enough in the previous couple of days (hadn’t been feeling well) and after 6-7 hours I really started to hit the wall. Steve was fantastic – his navigation was really good, and he never seemed to get tired (bit annoying really!) After returning to the tents and having a few hours to get warm, dry and have some food, we set out on the night orienteering section. I felt a lot better (thank goodness) and was glad to have a bit of energy back in my legs.

We biked to the starting point (approx 6km), collected the orienteering map and set off. Partly on foot and partly on bikes, we did pretty well on both – once again, Steve’s navigating was pretty much spot on… I was just happy to go where I was told and try to keep up!!

Sunday’s section was 6 hours, so it was a race against the clock to get as many checkpoints as possible – you get penalised heavily for going over time (as we learned on Saturday) so decisions on which checkpoints to go for are based on how fast you think you’re going to cover certain sections of the map – often very difficult to predict if you don’t know what the terrain is going to be like. I think we made good decisions on Sunday, and probably got as many points as we were capable of that day. There were some really fun sections (the descent through Innerleithen on the single track mountain bike trail!) and quite varied checkpoints, including a cave in the middle of a very dark tunnel, and a short flying fox ropework section! All in all it was a good weekend, we would have done really well if we’d been a bit smarter on Saturday but it was enjoyable all the same. Went back to Steve & Jo’s for a well-deserved Roast Chicken on Sunday night – thanks Jo!!

Tips for next race:
1) Get much better bike lights + head torch for the night section
2) Wear non-goretex running trainers because once the water gets into goretex its really difficult to get out – feels like running with weights on the end of your legs!!

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Lake District

After a manic week at work, I got the train down to Lancaster on Friday night and had a really nice chilled out holiday weekend staying with the Wolfendales! The house is amazing - used to be a mill - with a lovely garden and lake, how cool is that?! I never see Ali much anymore (she lives in London now), but whenever we do catch up we can just start chatting wherever we left off last time!





Sheila, Ali & I went hiking in the Lake District on Saturday (while David completed the Comiston hill race) and we saw Auntie Wendy at the end who'd been running too(not really my auntie, but was my mum's bridesmaid and that's what we've always known her as!) - went back for a cup of tea and had a good catch up with her too! On Sunday I ran up the local hill (called Nikky Nook?!)a couple of times, then Ali & I went into Lancaster for a wander and general blether. Monday morning we all went for a cycle round the country lanes, it was really nice to explore the area where they live, which is about 8 miles outside Lancaster. Then I got the train back up and felt refreshed ready for work on Tuesday! The weather's been fantastic this week, so I've been coaching outside and working on my tan - can't really complain about a job when it's like that :)

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Skiing!

Had a fantastic week’s skiing in Wengen (Swtizerland) - the first family holiday in ages, this time with an additional member (soon to be official too!). Jen was actually a bit of a legend… she seemed totally fearless, and picked it up unbelievably quickly having never skied before! The snow conditions were brilliant, and we had 3 days of blue skies/sunshine - the other 3 days it snowed so visibility was poor but we still had a great time.





These are a couple of my favourite pics, if you want to see the rest of the album click here ...(and try not to be too shocked at HB doing jaigermeister shots…)

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Lairig Ghru & Lairig an Laoigh

Bet you can’t pronounce that correctly :) Basically, these are the two mountain passes that connect Braemar to Aviemore in the Cairngorms. Having done masses of hill-walking and scrambling all around that area, I’ve always wanted to ‘connect the dots’ and complete these two walks which are both 22-25 miles in length. I started at Linn of Dee - just me, my mp3 player, boots & backpack! I had 2 days of fantastic weather and superb views, and despite being by myself I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.







Apart from having to completely strap both feet to pad out the developing blisters, and the slightly cold camping spot, which I found out later was ~ -10C. I think I might have drifted off for an hour or so, but spent most of the night doing sit-ups, rolling back and forward, stamping my feet and rubbing my hands to try and stay remotely warm… My boots and water bottle were frozen in the morning, and packing up the tent/sleeping bag etc was a serious challenge with hands and feet that I wasn’t sure belonged to me anymore.



Running around my campspot, smacking my gloved hands together and jumping up and down eventually enabled me to pull out the tent pegs, roll up my gear and stamp my feet into my boots to start walking again. At first I felt like I was dragging clubs around on the bottom of my legs, but after half an hour the tears pricking and intense fiery feeling told me my feet were starting to defrost!


Once up on the saddle above Loch Avon and in the sun, it was all far behind me and the rest of the walk/run (walking any declines is just boring!) was really nice. Back to Braemar in plenty of time before going out for a lovely dinner with mum, dad, Gavin & Jen at The Gathering Place for an early birthday dinner.

Saturday was a lazy day – went into Ballater, met the lady who’s doing the bouquets for G&J’s wedding, discussed various other wedding plans, and then I had to head back down the road because I had a coaching course on Sunday at Ratho. Parts of the course were pretty interesting, but probably the best bit was getting to do a bit of bouldering, abseiling and the Ariel Assault Course at the end of the day…fun stuff! My actual birthday (Monday) wasn’t so exciting because I was working all day, but I’d had a really nice few days so can’t complain, and did an extra spin class to celebrate (!)

Click here to see more pictures from my trip!

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Time out to climb some mountains...

The last month or so has been 'slightly' busy to say the least, as I'm essentially working 2 jobs until I manage to handover the business/administration part of Craiglockhart to someone else! Actually the thing that takes an incredible amount of time is just parents :) phone calls, e-mails, questions, etc etc... anyway, I've been working in Stirling twice a week, have had 3 training camps at the new National Tennis Centre (and LTA base) in Roehampton, London... up to Aberdeen once, and the rest of the time at CTC. No complaints, everyone knows I like a challenge ;)




Managed to take a chilled out weekend in Braemar with Mark and Sylvia at the end of September. By chilled out I mean we only climbed a handful of munroes on Saturday, after biking in ~10 miles, a bit beyond the White Bridge (past Linn of Dee). Beinn Brotain, Monadh Mor and Cairn Toul were the main peaks we climbed. Heading back to the bikes, we touched the base of the Devil's Penis, but decided against climbing it because we were short on time...bit of an anticlimax.

The weather was mild and calm, although visibility was a bit low, but we still really enjoyed it. Got back just in time to watch Scotland beat Italy in the rugby, so a great day overall :) On Sunday we cruised into Ballater and had a nice walk round the golf course plus picnic lunch! Of course we had a mandatory visit to the Sweetie Shop and a tourist stop in the Old Station as well.

I've also found out I'm going to South Africa at the beginning of December for two weeks with a British squad to some junior world ranking tournaments. woohoo!!!!

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Braemar Highland Games!

Headed up north for the Braemar Highland Games at the weekend...we had a full house with mum, dad, Gav, Jen, Auntie Katie, Mark, Sylvia, the Wolfendales (David, Sheila & Hils) and me!! The ceilidh at Mar Lodge on Friday night was great fun - held in the ballroom which has 3000 stag heads on the ceiling - true fact, not me just exaggerating to tell a good story :) Next morning I went up Morrone, it felt so good to be out in the hills! The Highland Games was hilarious - watched the hill race (David competed), tossing the Caber, hammer, sprint events, tug-of-war etc. The Queen arrived and was welcomed by an impressively large pipe band going round the Games Park. Also saw Tory and Charlie who recently got engaged so we were all excited to see the bling-bling.




It was a really fun weekend and great to spend some time relaxing and enjoying some G&T's, lovely meals and great company.

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holidays - back in the USA!

Finally, I've got round to posting some pics and an overview of my holiday in the states - I had a great time, and really enjoyed seeing everyone again from my ASU days! These are links to the picture albums online:

Seattle/Yakima
Olymnpic Peninsula
Mt.Adams
Vancouver

and below are some overview pics I've put together!

Flew into Seattle on Monday 2nd, and went straight to the pub with Ian, Derek, Tien, Jason & Sarah - just like old times minus the kiltlifter & sadly no Virginie either. Day 2 we headed to the North West side of the Olympic Peninsula (Ian's girlfriend Ester came too, but no Jay & Sarah) - a place called Neah Bay. Hiked down to Shi Shi Beach and set up camp on the sand with gorgeous views and very few people about.

Day 3 we hiked out, drove back to Seattle and then down to Portland to stay with Ian's parents (just Ian, Derek, Tien & I).

Day 4 we drove to Mt.Adams, stocked up on provisions and gear (ice axes & crampons) and just made it to the car park although the engine nearly over-heated several times. We set off around 2pm hiking up to the lunch counter (around 9000feet), and I think we reached there about 7:15pm...it was quite steep in parts, with snow from around 4500feet. The following morning Ian, Derek & I set off for the summit around 5:30am (Tien wasn't feeling too good). I could really feel the altitude, and it's the first time I've had to use ice axe & crampons, not just for fun either!

The part leading up to the false summit was extremely steep and I felt like I'd never moved so slowly in my life! VERY much worth the effort though, the views were unbelievable - clear blue skies with views of Mt.St.Helens, Mt.Baker, Mt.Hood & Mt.Rainier. Glassading down was super fun as well (although not the part when I almost went down the wrong section, I don't want to contemplate what would have happened if I hadn't realised...)

Day 6 (after driving back to Seattle and passing out on the comfy couch) we took Ian to the airport because he was flying to Toronto for a family reunion. Then went out for brunch with Jay & Sarah, and spent the rest of the day having a few drinks and telling good stories. I got the ferry across to Brementon to meet Claire Carter and her husband Dan, who's parents have a cabin on the hood canal and kindly let me stay with them. We had several games of table tennis and basically caught up on all our tennis gossip - was really nice to see Claire again, and Dan + his family are extremely nice people. The next day I went back to Seattle with Claire, Dan etc and joined in with some family birthday celebrations!

Day 8 I got the bus to Vancouver and met up with Tien again, who with his cousin gave me a tour of the city. It was really nice to have a tourist guide with local knowledge! Tien then took us out for a very fancy meal at a fantastic Japanese restaurant - thanks dad :)

The next day we drove north towards Whistler, stopping to hike up Grouse Mountain & Squamish Peak. They were both great recommendations - interesting hikes with mixed terrain and stunning views. We arrived quite late in Whistler but watched some crazy downhill mountain bikers completing the set courses and then found a campsite for the night.

Day 10 we returned to Vancouver and I got the bus back to Seattle - met Jason in an Irish pub for a couple of drinks and then went back to stay at Ian's place on his comfy couch. The next day I went on a mission to my favourite USA store - REI. I spent a ridiculous amount of money, but managed to convince myself that it would have been at least twice as much if I'd bought everything over here so somehow that justified it in my mind. I had a good time anyway :) Then I took Ian's car (he had told me to borrow it, I didn't just take it honestly) and drove to Yakima to visit the Adkisons.

Day 11 - it was really nice to see John, Maureen & Kate again (they are kind of my American family, I used to spend Thanksgivings with them when I was at ASU). I had a really relaxing weekend and joined in Maureen's 60th birthday celebrations (she definitely doesn't look 60 though). Drove back to Seattle and picked Ian up from the airport.

Day 12 - my last day :( Went into town again and just walked around Seattle, enjoyed exploring the city a bit and then went out for drinks with Ian, his flatmates and Sarah, Esther joined us later. Jason had been sent to Amsterdam on a work trip the day before which was a shame, but hopefully he'll be back over there another time and be able to visit me in Scotland!

Great holiday - packed so much in such a short time, but loved it all and look forward to the next reunion already!

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The Chain Walk

Last Friday we had another county practice followed by BBQ at CTC... hadn't planned on going out after but got my arm twisted (okay, it didn't take much twisting) and ended up having a really fun night in town.


Sunday I took Mark & Sylvia to the great Kingdom (of Fife) and we met up with Fiona & Bernard to do the chain walk at Elie. Was a good laugh although next time we need to do it when the tide is higher so there's actually a need to use the chains :) Took the coastal road around the fishing villages afterwards, ending up in St.Andrews to walk around. The weather was great and we had a fun time being tourists (and me trying to be a good tour guide!)





Towards Elie; Pittenweem; St.Andrews Castle

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Braemar with Mark & Sylvia

Honka House; Balmoral Castle; Posing on the Peugeot

Had a nice relaxing weekend up in Braemar...despite pretty dodgy weather it was still really nice to show off the area to some more visitors! We went for a good walk on Saturday, then a bike ride on Sunday up to Garbh Alt Falls/Honka House, and on to Balmoral Castle. Riding dad's 18-year old mountain bike with non-existent back brakes, very dodgy front breaks and no shocks was part of the challenge :) Also took Mark & Sylvia to the Linn of Dee and the Quoich to see the punchbowl of course - classics of the area :)



Sylvia biking, Garbh Alt Falls; Punchbowl; Mooooooo!

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wan more wan dae!

I did the Wan Dae Adventure Race in Drumlanrig on Saturday, and just like last year (see here) it was another Total Strangers team that turned out to do pretty well! I met Davie on Saturday morning at Glasgow Queen Street, a challenge in itself (more details below) - the race organiser had put us in touch because we were both looking for someone to race with.

It was a brilliant day with great weather and super trails - 8 hours of biking, running, kayaking & a couple of random activities. We crossed the finish line with 1 min to spare having got every checkpoint except one - which put us in 2nd place, behind a semi-professional team called Open Adventure, who run their own events in England. I was really chuffed! Felt great all day - the addiction to spin classes must have it's advantages :)

Planning to get the 5:59am fast train from Haymarket to Glasgow Queen Street, I biked with all my gear and got there in plenty of time. Too much time... I somehow managed to get on the 5:56am train (from the same platform) going to Glasgow Central ... as soon as it left a huge list of station stops was read out - oh no. I ran and asked the ticket lady what I could do, it went something like this:
This is a really slow train. You'd be best getting off at the next station, going back to Haymarket and getting the 6:15am to Glasgow QS. How fast can you get there?
Was the adventure race already starting?!
6:02am - Train arrives at Slateford (just past my flat)
Jump off train, run over bridge with bike & 2 rucksacks, PEG it back to Haymarket ignoring all traffic lights
6:12am - Arrival at Haymarket.
Sweating, puffing, dragging bike down stairs to the platform.
6:14am - realise that there's no train until 6:34am on a Saturday! aaaaaaaaaah!
Phoned Davie to explain my stupidity, and to assure him he could do all the navigating during the race!

We ended up being fine for time as the roads were really quiet, but it was a fairly manic start to the morning. Davie was seriously good at navigating which makes a huge difference in these races, which is probably why we did so well. I can do all the events, I just need someone to tell me where to go! Looking forward to the next one already, with whoever needs a teammate!

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holiday + turning a 1/4 century :)

My holiday started in Frankfurt and ended in Strasbourg...I did a lot of hiking (and got a couple of nasty blisters), explored small towns in the Black Forest Area, and had a really fun birthday weekend in Strasbourg with friends, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends.

In Germany I explored Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Baden-Baden, then hiked through the Black Forest region via Lake Mummelsee, and ended up in Freudenstadt where there was a strange carnival thing going on!





I made my way across to Strasbourg at the end of the week...it's a beautiful city, and met up with Orianne to prepare for our joint birthday celebrations (she turned 26 on the 17th, and I turned 25 on the 18th - aaaaaaahhh!) Orianne used to share a flat with Jo & Steve in New Zealand, before I lived there!

These are pics of a hike we did about 45 mins outside Strasbourg...was fun to meet everyone and luckily they all spoke good English (my French is a little rusty!):





When decorating the table we decided we deserved a crown each seeing as we were the birthday girls :)

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