Can you BELIEVE it?

Yup, already.

Stuff I Shouldn't Own Up To.

I got sent to Stirling.

And got to film the Scottish Rugby 7s Commonwealth team in glorious weather.

The first signs of Autumn, chameleon leaves in crisp air.

Wallace monument and Stirling Uni Golf Course.

Sat Truck 534 on a lovely day for broadcasting.

Central Belt Cuisine.

Scottish Parliament Canteen Food.  Got a nation to run?  Do it on greasy carbs and boiled canned corn...

Uh Oh

So I took my sister's advice (or was it a demand?) and didn't work out for a whole week, because work suddenly got crazy and I ran straight to the money.  Then Saturday was an amazing sunny day that I spent painting the shed instead of doing 12 miles.

But now, it's two weeks till Amsterdam and I'm suddenly freaking out....

Rare September Sun

Te WareWhare, Glenboig Branch.

Long Run, Sunday, Out and Back.

Crossing the mighty Clyde then heading up the Kelvin River to the Clyde & Forth canal.  A tour of Glasgow's great waterways on a grey afternoon.  

Hills, Friday

How could I have forgotten?

To post my favourite picture from my run in Cambridge.

No eating the roadside berries down this way...

Amusing Cropping Incident

On the Guardian's live Pope page today.

Yeah, I'm a bit slack. Whadya gonna do about it?

I can't keep up with the blog, the website, the facebook, the twitterfeed and the rest of my life at present.  I'd do better if I didn't spend the first half hour of each day reading online newspapers and skimming the best of ALD.  For those who need more Nicola time, I also do a weekly boast on my website designed to frighten other freelancers, and I twitter under the moniker @damntheinternet.

The eventual aim is to merge everything into one massive information stream, which will spew onto the web via a port in the back of my neck.  I'll maybe start by mingling some of my online profiles next week.

Until then, here's a video of a train:

Leftovers from Cambridge

Too cool not to put 'em up, even if they're late...

Leo the owl, from the Raptor Centre

Photo of the month, by Ross.

7 in the Zafira!

Cambridge.  It's where smart people go.

Possible album cover for a band yet to be named. Suggestions please...

It's the MaizeMAZE!!!

Urr... we are so lost...

...and lovin' it.

Must...find....cider....

What's the time?  Stomping on the Meridian line in Somersham.

Topographical Triumph

At one point in this race I was apparently dead...

Race Day, Glasgow

We were as lucky as Christchurch.  Totally wrecked but no fatalities.

George Square, 20 minutes before the start.  Note the look of total fear on Kirsty's face.

Waiting in the start line queue.  

2 minutes in, and all is well.

It's all fun and games until you're forced off the path by a man who's forgotten the size of his costume.
Stupid Rainbow Heart man.  

That's US!  2 hours, 30 mins, and 3 seconds.  Ignore that clock above our heads.

Trust us, that's a grimace of relief, not a smile...

For Frances

A record of the pretty-ness she visited apon my nails, before real life slowly chipped it off...

All Tony Blair's Fault

Not content with stirring the Middle East (further) into a blood frenzy, he also caused me to waste a day of my life last week in a paparazzi stakeout at Gordon Brown's house after slagging his former Chancellor off in his turgidly written memoirs.  At least we had something to read while we waited for nothing to happen...

I'm sure I took a better photo than this but I can't find it...

Health Warning!

It's Ramadan.
Which means the chef at the Sheerin Palace is not tasting the food.
Which means the samosas are hot enough to blow your head off.
Which means at 50p a pop that's the cheapest adrenaline buzz in town...

Get there before 9th Sept!!

Saw-ry

Got busy.  Went to Cambridge last weekend:

It's a 6 hour drive from Scotland to Cambridge.  Zoe and Marshall, however, are sleeping on the 30 minute trip from Cambridge to Somersham...

Maureen, the party throwing queen, and John "I had no idea" Aitken.

Hurrah!  The night starts cheesily.

Born in the 80's, anyone?

Photos: always flattering from a high angle

The night starts to get messy...

And messier...

Tidy.

And messier again as a birthday boy full of cider entertains the girls.

Never upset a Cambridgeshire landlady.

Hangover Breakfast!