Student Bloggers
The Highroad to Edinburgh
Date
January 9, 2017
One suitcase, one carry-on, and one backpack.
They say it can't be done. But I'm here to tell you that five pants, two coats, one rain jacket, four sweaters, one cardigan, eleven button-up shirts, eight tall socks, ten no-show socks, twelve pairs of underwear, nine undershirts, one bath and one hand towel, one sleeping bag, ten running shorts (some packing lists said one or two pairs of exercise clothes... oh boy), one singlet, four tech running shirts, two long sleeve tech running shirts, one thicker tech running shirt, one outer layer for running, six running socks, two pairs of running tights, two compression long sleeve shirts, one pair of shoes, one pair of boots, three pairs of running shoes, and a random assortment of miscellaneous items later and... smokes, I really fit all of that into one suitcase, a carry-on, and a backpack.
With full knowledge that I'm forgetting at least three things, I zipped everything up and stood back in disbelief that this is all really happening. With months of planning and filling out forms, deciding next years housing in advance so I don't have to worry about it abroad, trying to figure out summer plans and failing, and dreaming about a wetter climate, it is all finally here. Beginning's are always exciting, but more than starting over, it feels like the continuation of a dream.
This is even more true because my abroad experience is going to culminate in something I have thinking about daily for a little over a year. Something that for at least one hour of every day I have been picturing and working towards... and will be continuing to work towards. The Edinburgh Marathon (reportedly the fastest and most picturesque marathon in the United Kingdom). This would be my third marathon, but it will also be the hardest. Knocking down my time from 3:34 to 3:07 from the first one to the second, for the Edinburgh Marathon I am aiming for two hours and fifty minutes (roughly 6:30 pace per mile). Yikes.
So follow me as I push my body to the brink, exploring Edinburgh through runs and through my free time. Discovering Edinburgh's coffee scene and going on hikes in the highlands. It's going to be a time, and there's only a terribly long plane ride across the pond left to go.