Countdown to Edinburgh

It's absolutely ages since I entered a race, and even longer than that since I actually trained for one. In fact, strike that, I've never trained properly for a race. I used to enter the Great Manchester Run every year and my training would consist of going for a few 4-6km runs in the two or three weeks running up to the race, and then dragging my screaming body around the course in a horribly slow time before spending the next six months not running at all.

I think the problem might be that it is actually possible to get round a 10k without putting in any training (even though, in my case at least, it hurts A LOT), which seems to remove any motivation on my part to train. So, in an effort to remedy the lack of motivation thing, I've entered the Great Edinburgh Run, which will be 10 miles around the city centre, Royal Mile and Arthur's Seat on April 27th. I'm sure to a seasoned runner, 10 miles feels like nothing, but I can assure you it scares the pants off me. Especially since I mapped the route on Map My Run and saw the elevation profile of this supposedly "flat" course:

Um, hello? Flat? I suppose hills mean a different thing in a city like Edinburgh that is essentially built on a huge hill, but still, that profile doesn't look "flat" to me in anyone's language.

Anyhoo, the aim of scaring myself into training properly seems to have paid off, and I've started running again. Slowly, I admit. This was one of my 100HappyDays photos last week:

Hardly world-beating (although it did include a looong cool-down, which lowered the average pace somewhat). But a start is a start. Just need to get in some hill runs now.