Not nearly as long as my blog absence would indicate … but I just spent the last week traveling in Scotland!

The opportunity came up a few months ago, when we learned a friend’s wedding would be held May 1 in Glasgow. A group of us decided it was a wonderful excuse to visit a country we’ve never seen before. And, of course, be there to see our dear friend get hitched.

I’ve slowly started posting my man photos to Flickr if you’d like a preview, but I’ll be featuring them here as well, starting with my first morning in Glasgow.

Upon learning we’d be in the country, I immediately sought out races (ha!), and found that parkrun hosts free 5Ks every Saturday in a park just outside of  Glasgow. I planned to do it, and my girlfriends planned to join me!

Only I neglected to realize Saturday would be our first morning in Scotland (after an overnight flight Thursday into Friday), and that we might be a bit too tired to go running.

But I was wide awake and ready to go! However, my friends were not. Without the use of our cell phones, we had no way to communicate, and I didn’t want to risk waking anybody. So I waited 15 minutes in the lobby before deciding they weren’t coming.

I went for it anyway — I was dressed and ready to run! I walked down to the train station, where the park would be a quick two-stop ride. Except I must have just missed a train. It was a 20-minute wait  for the next one.

So the 5K was not meant to be, but I headed out to the park anyway. I was a bit late but ran into some course volunteers who pointed me in the direction of the race course. Well, I wouldn’t be racing but at least I could join them!

I joined the course just as the  faster runners came by, and tried to stay out of the way as they passed me. The course was a double loop but I added a third for a little more distance. Though with no more course volunteers, I took a wrong turn around a pond before getting back on course.

It was just as well that I missed the race. My travel-tired body didn’t feel particularly speedy that morning, and I managed to run a little farther, finishing back at the train station after 5.25 miles.

It was a beautiful day and a lovely park. I had to pause to take some photos along the way!

Much more to come!