Nik Nak Runs

This was the 1st event since starting running that I decided to take seriously. After the horrific feeling post Edinburgh half marathon plus having to have my foot x-rayed as I thought I'd broke it during the recovery week, enough was enough & I decided to contact Craig Baines who I'd met at Edinburgh. The initial chat with Craig was good & it seemed like we would get along. July 2022 saw me at the start of my first ever training block for the half marathon in Glasgow. It also prompted me to buy a Garmin watch as the fitbit that saw me through the initial stages of fitness wasn't as good for running workouts & sessions that I would become familiar with. The training went so well to the point during the block I went beyond the half marathon distance and up to 24.5km, an incredible distance I never envisaged undertaking at this point! This really boosted my confidence for event day & the closer the event came the more confident I was that I would achieve a PB....

I'll start this post off by saying the reason this is called 'the chilli' is because of the Strava art that is created on completion of the route as shown below.....   I had heard about this event on the Young Hearts Run Free podcast & initially thought it was going to be one of these quirky community events where they have a chilli cookoff involved as well as the run, naively not putting any thought into the strava map at the time. It was founded by a man named Frank who ran this route & other runners commented on the shape of the strava art. Its 10km so between Fiona & Steven Watt they informed Frank that they would love to turn this into an event. The event started in 2017 for the local run club then the following year it opened up to the wider running community. The chilli trail race was born! Between myself & my pal Angela (or Angi as I call her!) we have been trying to pin a date down to recce this route since I signed up to it not long after entries o...

I had found a new confidence in running during 2021 which led to me signing up for my 1st half marathon in Edinburgh for the end of May 2022. I signed up late October/early November giving plenty of time for training. I did not train for this event. I had no clue about training plans, was still at the 20 minute HIIT workouts & running when I felt comfortable. I had no idea about long runs, intervals or recovery running. Because I had ran this distance already, how hard can it be a 2nd time?! Event day came quickly (as they always do) & I was really really nervous. I used the park & ride option as I thought it would have been the most straightforward & least disruptive to the family as the start time was 8am, meaning I left the house at 5am to park for 6am. Plenty of time to get the bus to the start line then find my bearings. Naively I still didn't have a hydration vest/pack at this point but instead relied on the water stops I read would be along the course. Still ...

Hello & welcome to the blog! I've decided after a few months of deliberating whether to do this or not to just give it a go. Much like with running I suppose!  This will be a running blog with my thoughts & feelings around training & upcoming events. A bit about me..... I started running back in 2015 by entering the Great Scottish Run 10km in Glasgow after having my 1st daughter. I felt it would be a good goal to aim for having never really ran before. I used to keep fit by going to the gym & playing volleyball in my childhood. It was a long time ago but I remember it being tough! I finished it in 1:18 but remember being happy just to finish. Not so long after, a family member asked if I would be up for doing the Santa dash In Glasgow the following December which I took on. Running in among a lot of Santa's was fun & I don't even remember my time for that. Then I didn't run for 6 years.  Why did I give running another go? To my knowledge, there was n...