@CraigW – see you in April for the Fling. First time for me, looking forward to it. Coerced into it by a friend at work, who said it was the best race ever. We shall see…

@ajf – some nice routes in there. Respect if you make a BGR!

I’ve got the Foxtrail Nocturnal Ultra this Saturday (6 hours of 5k loops around a forest, from 4pm, in Scotland), then the Fling in April. Always looking for recommendation of other fun races in Scotland/northern England, that aren’t already full for next year. Watching this thread with interest. :-)

Alpkit or the Decathlon one linked above both came top of my research for something straightforward to get out with. That being said, I’ve just bought a Petzl Nao+, for a six hour night trail race in December, where I wanted no faff and water resistance … and totally love it, so would highly recommend that if needs/budget require.

@n0b0dy0ftheg0at Those look good, but they’re sold out in most styles. Had a look on other sites, and can find the black ones – may go with those.

@winston – there’s a stockist near me, so will check those over the weekend. Thanks.

@Northwind – enjoying this thread, although very glad I’m not applying now. HW was my first choice, although I switched course from Elec Eng to Information Systems Eng before the first week. Coincidentally, I spent my morning talking to a kid looking to go to HW next year. Seems like the sort of applicant you want, plus he mountain bikes.

@AD – I was at HW in 1993-1997. Plenty of Chemistry and Chem Eng friends! We probably passed each other one day, long ago.

Is it permitted to utter the k**i word, with a plugin, or am I asking for trouble? No ads, at least on the daily TdF highlights, and streaming worked perfectly too.

As other similar plugins (Channel 4) have stopped working, my *assumption* was that this was is legit.

BoardinBob – Member
Every band and date here

http://www.glasgow-barrowland.com/history/historybands.html

Wow, that’s amazing. Reliving the late 90s right now. Would have bet good money that I saw the New York Dolls there, supported by a random German group who came on naked.

Saw Pavement a couple of times there, and at the Art School, which was always special.

Loudest gig I remember was the Foo Fighters, just before I had to go to work (nightshift). Ears ringing.

Great thread!

@bikebouy – shorts all winter, apart from one day when the sleet was coming down hard and I was going out for a few hours. Was nice to feel the sun on my face when I ran on Tuesday lunchtime. Early morning runs are getting less dark now too. Ahhh.

Aldi have one too: http://www.whathifi.com/news/aldi-reveals-all-in-one-turntable-just-ps30

Police Squad, surely!

Thanks for all the recommendations. My preference would be cordless – so that I can stand outside and do it without the cleanup like @timber – but the reviews I’ve seen online for the Wahl Balding look like exactly what I’m after.

@Tinners – laughing, in sympathy. I cut my brother’s hair with clippers when we were teenagers, and I ‘accidentally’ used a much shorter comb that I meant to. He had to survive a week or two of high school with a nice big stripe down the middle of his head. Still waiting for him to forgive me.

Well done on the run.

Garmin to Strava sync usually works fine. From memory, Strava removes time you were not moving, so if you were going MEGA slowly for a while, that might affect it. You could try deleting the activity on Strava, downloading the .fit from Garmin Connect, and uploading it to Strava again (+ sign in top right).

Is there a reason that the sizes are M, L, XL? Have small garments gone already, or is the sizing on the small side, so a medium = small?

Well done @stox. Decide and get on with running.

I managed to spend so much time researching and faffing around, that my vest arrived the day before my race … as did a completely new pair of shoes. Kudos to Brooks for making shoes you really can just put on and run. :-))

Good luck with your race. Ping when the day arrives.

@stox – I think the 12 compacts down fairly well if you’re not using full capacity. I had the same hesitations about going smaller, although tried to balance that with my inclination to take too much stuff with me.

You probably /could/ get away with the 5, or 8.5 UD, but for winter running on these fair isles, the ability to take extra stuff and keep it dry, won me over, particularly during training runs.

I’m in Edinburgh, and happy to meet up, if that helps you.

I’ve got a Salomon S-Lab Adv Skin 12Set (!). It was offensively expensive, and needed a separate bladder on top of that … however it is quite amazing to wear. SO much comfier than previous Camelbaks.

When I was looking (April 2016), there didn’t seem much difference between the UJ and Salomon, but reviews generally favoured the Salomon.

Depending on how long your long runs are going to be, the 12 may offer too much storage. The smaller vest seems to get good reviews too. My 12 carried mandatory waterproof gear, map, phone, food and drink for 30 miles. Just getting back into full training for 33 miles of mud in November. Have you got a race in mind? Happy running.

L’Escargot Blue (West End), or L’Escargot Blanc (Broughton St). Both lovely, with good variety on the menu. Slightly further than your initial remit, but worth it.

EDIT: Also Cafe St Honore or Marlayne, as suggested above.

The Jolly Judge, near the top of the Royal Mile. Nice little pub, decent beer, highly possible that the fire will be on. Enjoy!

I was behind a guy cycling last night, who had what appeared to be a red light back tyre and white front tyre. It was as if he had a light running down the centre of each tyre (where it connects with the road). The only thing I’ve found that looks close, is this: http://revolights.com/ . Anyone know what they might have been? Tried to catch up with him, but the traffic lights were not in my favour.

Looks like a good adventure. The weather was a nice bonus!

Epic thread – thanks for all these posts! Spotify playlist definitely required. I see a weekend task coming up. :-)

Some good options in there…

@KingOfBiscuits – depending how much you plan to run, I am finding this Gregory Miwok to be good (http://www.gregorypacks.com/products/mens/technical/260/miwok-22). It is more expensive than some of the other options, and it doesn’t have some of the features, but the compression straps and good running fit have seriously impressed me.

I used AppliancesOnline (http://ao.com/) who were very good. Ordered one afternoon, delivered the next morning (cooker + hob). Used my Quidco account and got a decent amount of money back. Recommended.

My 2.5yo sleeps very well on/in an Alpkit Dirtbag and an Alpkit Alpkid.

See if there’s some horse racing on – that was a good stag activity.

You could try installing DataMan, which will tell you precisely what apps are using what data. Turn on the precise tracking option. It’s a handy app if you roam, as you can set an almighty foghorn to go off if you get too close to your limit. It does drain the battery slightly faster in my experience, but worth it.

My wisdom teeth move every so often. I just rinse my mouth with salted water, and get on with life. :-)

I have a 15month old son, and would love to take him camping soon – I was planning May/June time.

What kind of temperature should it be outside, and what kind of kit do you need? My son is in a sleeping bag in his cot right now, but he rolls around all over the place. I’d be scared if I was sleeping beside him, that he would roll right into me, and I could squash him…

We only have a small tent, and I don’t think it would fit the travel cot.

Any advice gratefully received. :-D

On the whole the buses in Edinburgh are amazing – their boss makes them watch a helmet cam video of him cycling to work during their training i think. the taxis really are a nightmare though.

re the horn – a mate bought one and used it for the first time on an old boy in a car who cut him up at lights. the old boy got out his car and challenged him to fisticuffs! hilarious.

Actually, I do think the buses are pretty good. My incident was out of the ordinary, for the buses. :-) Interesting to know about the video.

@BigJim – are you saying a horn is a good or a bad idea, then? :-))

@TandemJeremy – it does seem like taxi and bus drivers are particularly cranky & thoughtless on Edinburgh roads at the moment. Got pushed by an overtaking bus into a parked car the other week, in broad daylight…

Lights don’t seem to improve safety, so I’m going for a horn as well.

@bigjim – Where did this happen? Was it over by Dick Vet School? Glad to hear you’re on the mend.

Yes, I would expect so. Data is being downloaded from a site to your computer, much the same as iPlayer.

Thank you, that's a great list to get things rolling.

Martin

Brilliant write-up. Totally inspirational. You do need a magazine column!

What kind of rucksack do you use? Anything special in your setup that you wouldn't mind sharing?

Do you have an option to expunge anywhere? This really actually deletes messages, and compacts the mailbox (as far as I understand).

My brother organised a ride in a RIB, which most people really enjoyed, despite hangovers. We all had matching waterproofs, and I (as the stag), got to steer the boat. We visited a few pubs, and it was a great activity that everyone is still talking about. As we were a fairly large group, the cost averaged out modestly.

Pic from the RIB

We also went self-catering, and got a big Tesco shop in, which brought everyone together, kept us away from anyone who might complain and kept the cost controlled.

It was an epic weekend all in. Hope you do a great job. :-D

matt_outandabout: is that picture with 'usual conditions' Ben Chonzie, by any chance?

Check out the shorts on here: http://www.runandbecome.com/shop/running-clothing/men/shorts/ . Can't find the Nike ones I normally go with, but there's a range of options there.

If anyone in Edinburgh is looking to join some friendly structured training sessions, Edinburgh AC have sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday (ladies only), Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, mainly at the Meadows.

We've got people training for London and Edinburgh marathons, as well as a host of other triathlons/duathlons/MMs/hill runs/adventure races throughout the year. More on our site[/url], or else drop me a message.

We've been to the horse racing there, which was pretty good. Everyone was dressed up, which we didn't expect. Not sure when you're going, but check out the schedule[/url].

@Gordy: How far do you plan to go/how long do you plan to be out, from where and how hardcore are you? :-)