I have been mostly avoiding hills and today was the day that I decided to bite the bullet! I set off at lunch time to do a 5k circuit of Arthur's Seat (pictured) knowing that I would need a bit of Jeffing to get me up the thing.
One badly planned warm up walk later and I started my run - just at the beginning of the hill. Good grief - the gremlins were in their element! There were the vicious little Lesser Spotted Hill Gremlins in league with the common Leaden Legged variety. The howls and cackles were atrocious!
Good old Jeff to the rescue though, I did 30 sec intervals to get up the steepest bits then ran the rest. The great thing though was sailing down hill with a smug (albeit purple-faced) glow. 43.26 was not exactly greased lightning but happy with that on that brute of a hill! I am awe of those who do this all the time!!!!
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Fionamags
Graduate10
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Yes, Liberton originally, just down the road really. Now in East Lothian (when at home), stuck in Portugal for second year, which is no hardship at all Fiona😉, hoping to get home in July like I did last year...or later...feeling very relaxed this year unlike last when every couple of days we were hopeful of a flight out only to have hopes dashed. This year I’ve just rebooked for July so no constant need to pack/unpack. I know in the grand scale of the world’s problems, hardly worth a mention. But it was unsettling not knowing whether to buy more milk (or wine 😉). Huge respect for running up 🌋
When I am not dragging one leg or the other around after me, I put a 5k hill run each week. Nothing as ambitious as Arthur's Seat though! Mine averages out at a 155m gain. The main hills (up and down) are focused on a 1 to 2k slot mid run. Broken up in that way, I can usually run it all. I couldn't run the 155m gain all on one hill though ! Now that I am showing signs of recovery I think that I will take a leaf out of your book and head for the heights this spring and summer. It will involve lots of jeffing, but the views will be worth it! Well done for getting up there.👏👏👏👏👏
Wow sounds like hills are your thing then? I was so knackered at the end of this i thought (perversely) I'll have to do more of this as I'm clearly not 'hill fit'....
Ooh well done! I avoid hills or even steep slopes if I can. Am so looking forward to revisiting Edinburgh once we are allowed, absolutely loved it last time we came x
Hi that is some circuit to run. Well done doing it . The way up there is steep had to Jeff as well but the flat bit on top and the way down great. Did the BigFunRun there with partner. The picture is great as well . 👏👏
I've run it non stop twice - both times for 5k events and quite a few years ago. 😉 Would be good to be able to manage it again. But its pretty brutal, isn't it???
Really brutal. I would have to do Jeffing the way up. I did it in 2018 but now 65 not sure about old legs 🦵 getting up there. Think more worried about sacroiliac joint hills not good on hills.
I bow before your victory over the Gremlins and that’s a respectable time, my last time was slower than that and I live in the flat lands. Great to read you are back to the runnings. ☺️
Thanks Capn! I have been following ur exploits on LeJog and you have been putting me in the shade so horses for courses? Although I am not exactly a horse built for hills. 🤣🤣
Nice run for you today Fionamags around Arthur's Seat, on clear days I can see that hill near the centre of Edinburgh in the distance from near where I live, years ago there used to be a 5K race event on that route you ran earlier in January, I remember watching the runners on television. 😊 🏃🏾
I ran it quite a few times Al but only managed non stop twice! The first was during the Edinburgh marathon weekend when they do a 5k around Arthur (maybe 10 yrs ago?) and the second was in January (also a few years back) - don't remember what it was called but it was snowing and I had the beginnings of hypothermia by the end of it. Took a long time to warm up!
It was the January 5K that was mentioned on the television, before the main event which was either 10K or 10 miles or even a Half Marathon, those elite runners can run a HM in the time that ordinary runners run a 10K or 10 miles, they interviewed some runners who had completed in the 5K race.
Blimey, super woman 💪💪💪 running/walking up that hill, and that's an average time for me, on the flat! 🤣 anyway, well done on the run, and ignoring the gremlins! 👏👏
Its amazing what you can do with a bit of Jeffing! The downhill and flat bits let you make up time. You should definitely give it a go. Edinburgh Marathon Festival do this route every year in May for the 5k and an extended version for 10k. The marathon on the other hand avoids it.
🤩 wow that was a really great run for you FM and a decent time too. So glad that you bopped all those gremlins away. Awesome 🤩 running. Well done. 👏👏👏👏👏here’s to next weeks 🏃♀️ 😀😀😀😀
Wow that is fantastic Fiona, massive well done to you for tacking the hills that is a beauty of a hill for sure! You are doing amazing. I must say coming down sounded fun! Take good care hill runner 💪💪⭐️⭐️👏👏🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️
Respect! 💪💪💪Hills (well inclines) are my nemesis. I've not been close to that off road, and total elevation gain on my woodland circuit is usually ~50-60 metres
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
