Back in the Saddle Again

Just a quick post to say I got my behind out the door and ran this morning for the first time since *glancing down to check blog*, well, it says February 20, but I know I got at least one other run in after that. I've been hauling my running clothes around for several days with the intention of going to the gym after work, or saying I was going to get up and run in the morning. Never materialized. But this morning, yippie!

And it was a perfect morning for running too! Light wind. Some blue in the sky. Chilly, but not freezing. And it felt good. Whenever I have a break like this, I'm always afraid that I'm not going to be able to do it again. Weird. But I did! 5 min running/1 min walking x4 for a total of 20 minutes running. I took it easy, because I didn't know how much endurance I would have lost. But this was just fine. Just fine indeed. :+)

Mom and Dad Visit Scotland: Days 1 & 2

Yay, my parents have come to Edinburgh to visit!

Day 1: Mom and Dad arrived on Wednesday afternoon, about 6 hours late due to weather delays out of Pittsburgh. These delays also caused them to miss their connecting flight in Newark, so they ended up taking a later flight, which first took them through London, Gatwick. And of course with all the rearranging of travel, their bags couldn't keep up. Argh.

Because of the late arrival, we didn't do much other than exchanging money at the post office and then grocery shopping. Dinner was Black Bean Polenta Pie. Yummmmm! This is the first time I've had the chance to make this for anyone.

We were all exhausted, so it was a fairly early night.

Day 2: We got off to a slow start, but it was a nice day for Edinburgh -- cloudy with the occasional break in the clounds letting the sun shine through, and not too windy. Just a few sprinkles later in the afternoon.

We walked across the Bruntsfield Links and through the Meadows to my place of work. Along the way, we stopped to admire these beautiful spring flowers.



After showing off my fairly unremarkable office and extremely cluttered desk, we walked into Old Town, stopping to have lunch at The Elephant House. The Elephant House bills itself as the birthplace of Harry Potter. It is one of the coffee shops where J.K. Rowlings would go to write.



After lunch, we wound our way down Candlemaker Row, then up Victoria Street and George IV Bridge to the Royal Mile. We crossed High Street and leisurely strolled down the Mound. From here, the Castle is clearly visible, rising above the Princes Street Gardens on the left. Here are a couple of pictures of my parents in front of the Gardens.



We ended our day at the tourist infomation center, where we bought tickets for the Royal Edinburgh Tour, a two-day pass with entrance to the Castle, the Palace, and the Royal Yacht Britannia. That's for Saturday.

We took the bus back to my flat, and I made Chicken Parmesan for dinner, with a Tivali escalope for me. Mom and Dad said it was yummy, and I was pleased. I think this is only the second time I've cooked chicken in my life. In the evening, we watched an episode of the Vicar of Dibley. (Thanks, Scope, for giving me the idea!) Just as we were starting to watch, my parents luggage was delivered! There was definitely much rejoycing.

Tomorrow we're planning to hit a couple museums. The weather is supposed to be pure Scotland: very windy and rainy, and not much fun to be out there.

Pros and Cons

Pro: Oh my gosh! I ran 3 miles tonight! Three miles on the treadmill with 0 incline at about a 14 mph pace, but still. [Edit: Oops, make that a 14 minute mile pace. :+)] This is the farthest/longest I've run since...since...well, ever. Previously, the longest I'd ever run without a walk break was probably 25 minutes about 3 years ago, the last time I tried this running thing. Over the past few weeks, I've only been running 7-8 minute intervals! And tonight I felt like I could have kept going, but the gym was getting ready to close.

Con: I ate a bag of chips with lunch, and a Cadbury Cream Egg and a small chocolate bar on the way home from work. Can you say stress eating?

Pro: Hopefully, I ran off at least the small chocolate bar.

My theory for tonight's marathon at the gym is that the Cadbury Cream Egg actually came from the Energizer Bunny. The question now is, how badly am I going to pay for this tomorrow, and I'm talking about the run, not the junk food.