Back-to-Training Tuesday

July 9, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

I ran today! Woo hoo!

OK- so it was very hot, at about 25 degrees, and very humid which is not something I need to deal with every day! So, my run was very slllloooooow and pretty short as a result. But I did it!

It actually felt great, to get out and stretch my legs, since I hadn’t run since Friday. Except for the sticky suncream. Yuk. Factor ~~1,000,000~~ 30 since I burn as soon as the sun appears, even if I’m only out for, maybe, 30 seconds 😉

Today’s stats:

Run: 3.5 mile recovery jog

Time: 35:37 slow and steady

Trainers: Free Run +3

Weather: bright and very sunshiny!

Best running track of the day: Hey Boy, Hey Girl, Chemical Brothers:

As it was a short run, I decided to wear my free run +3s. I only wear these for really short runs, as I much prefer my lunars for longer runs.

Here are my fabby coloured free runs:

And here’s a wee pic of my Nike trainers:

As you can see, I quite like a wee splash of colour! I do like to keep my trainers in rotation, to extend their wear and to make sure they’re in decent condition next time I run in them.

Tonight @thewelshwookie and I are toasting Andy Murray’s success having cracked open this beauty:

Today’s life lesson: whenever you take a day off, your workload is always waiting for you, including a couple of surprise challenges! For me today, that’s gone for both work and running!

Which suncream do you use when you run on sunny days?

Tarbert Seafood Festival Weekend: Part 2

July 8, 2013July 8, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Well, I’ve had a fantastic weekend at Tarbert Seafood Festival, along with family: it’s been really busy, really fun, and filled with eating, drinking, laughing and having a wonderful time!

The picture above shows just some of the fresh seafood caught and sold locally, in our wonderful fishing village: langoustines, spider crab, brown crab and lobster, just to name a few. We were also inundated with wonderful scallops, squat lobster, mackerel, velvet crabs and lots of other tasty treats.

The weather was simply fantastic- glorious sunshine and warm. The village was busy with both locals and tourists, milling around, browsing and shopping from many of the fantastic stalls, including crafts, home baking, fresh and cooked seafood, home decor, handmade toiletries and fun stalls like ‘splat the rat’ and ‘play your cards right’.

Would you like to see some of the fantastic stalls?

You can see some of the other fantastic seafood we feasted on in my earlier post. Deee-lish! Fresh, straight from the loch!

There was a Seafood Queen accompanied by her Seafood Princesses:

And a wonderful parade, led by the Mid Argyll Pipe Band; with floats: this year’s theme was ‘the Wild West’ which was fantastic!

There were wonderful cooking demonstrations, which were really interesting:

My brother started bidding for a box of fresh seafood in the auction, much to the horror of my sister-in-law: not because she didn’t want it, but because they weren’t heading home for another three days!

I had three favourite stalls this year: one was the Spingbank Whisky stall, where I sampled the Old Raj gin, which is flavoured with saffron. It was so delicious that I bought a bottle which will last me for ~~about one night~~ some time:

My next favourite stall was the Arbroath Smokies, which were absolutely delicious:

And then there was the ‘guess the number of midgies in a jar’ being run by Tarbert Academy Parent Association. How many would you guess are in the jar?

My guess was 167,600,000. Turns out that the answer was 148,000,000! And- I was closest! Woo hoo! I won!

Here’s my prize:

We finished off the evening with some ice cream sundaes from the cafe:

Sunday saw the arrival of more family, ans the day started early with a dip in the hot tub and a wee beer:

It was a scorcher!

Doesn’t the village look great in the sunshine?

The main event for the Sunday is ‘Beer on the Pier’, with bands playing at the Fish Quay, and beer, soft drinks and ice cream for sale. We had a fantastic time, listening to The Democrats and a Steps tribute band 😉

Of course, it was also the Final of Wimbledon, so we kept an eye on the score, and watched the final couple of games in the Islay Frigate. What an amazing result for Andy Murray!

Our evening was filled with fun, laughter, good food and good company: we watched the tennis highlights and then, at around 11.30pm we had a power cut! But we continued to celebrate by candlelight, which was fantastic!

Day three has been a little more subdued, but it has involved a lovely 6k walk to Shell Beach and back:

Can you see the jellyfish in the first picture?

We’ve said goodbye to our visitors, but before we did, we made sure that some of them signed up for the Perth Kilt Run 🙂

We’re now relaxing in the garden, after the busy weekend:

Normal running routine will resume tomorrow, albeit probably slower due to the short break and warm temperatures 🙂

Roll on next year’s festival- I can’t wait!

Tarbert Seafood Festival Part 1

July 6, 2013July 6, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 2 Comments

So, today I haven’t run, but I’ve spent the day walking in Tarbert, enjoying the entertainment and food at the Seafood Festival.
Full report to follow, but for now, have a look at these beauties:

Amazing day! Off for a dip in the hot tub now 😉

The Color Run UK- London, baby!

July 6, 2013July 5, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Guess what arrived in the post?

Woo Hoo! Bring on next Sunday!

Long Run Early

July 5, 2013July 5, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Woo hoo! It’s Friday! And I’ve kicked off Seafood Festival weekend with an early long run I say early because I had to do two things:

Run before work (I usually run in the evening) so I was up early, and ~~knackered~~ raring to go;
Do my long run a day early. I usually try to get my long run in on a Saturday, but I don’t want to disappear and leave my visitors for over two hours tomorrow! Not very hostess-with-the-mostess!

Today’s stats:

Run: 11 mile long run

Time: 1:55:34 slow and steady

Trainers: Lunarglide+5

Weather: cloudy, with a little spot of rain during the last two miles

First running track of the day:

As I said, my run was early in the morning, which was a bit of a shock to my legs! For the third time, I donned my new, bright pink, compression socks, to give them another try. The jury is still out as to whether I think they are helping- I think they are, but I’m not entirely sure! Do you want to see how fetching they are?

Lovely, huh? Nobody tells you that it takes about 10 minutes to get them on! Or maybe that’s just my chubby legs 😉

It was lovely and cool outside, and the rain had stopped awhile, leaving a bit of humidity in the air (no laughing- we do occasionally get a touch of humidity on the West coast of Scotland!). It was surprisingly lovely to run when the village was still quiet and peaceful.

Here’s a pic I took with the Cafebarge just peeping into the foreground:

And here’s another from the harbour:

Can you see the boat to the left of the picture, with the yellow trim? That’s Singing Sands. She used to be parked along the side of Garvel Road, out of the water. She marked the first mile of my run, most days, and was always a welcome site. Now, I have to rely on Nike+ for my mile marker, but it’s lovely to see her in the water.

Today’s life lesson: it’s always a good idea to make sure your Nike Sportswatch is charged before a long run: had to use my iPhone instead!

We have the Seafood Festival this weekend: what do you have planned?

Happy Independence Day!

July 4, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Happy Independence Day to all in the US! I hope you’re having a lovely day, and getting the miles in?

For me, the closest I got to any celebrations was stocking up for this weekend’s Seafood Festival. We’re having a house full of guests, and looking forward to it! If you want to know more about the Seafood Festival, have a look here: http://www.facebook.com/TarbertSeafoodFestival1?fref=ts

So, my shopping basket was a tale of two halves. One half good kid stuff:

Yum!

And one half naughty kid stuff ~~the really good stuff!~~. Ahem:

Which half do you prefer?

Today’s Stats:

Run: no: today was a strength day for me

Exercise: 30 minutes NTC Get Strong, Full Action. Man, burpees to shoulder presses are killers! I followed that up with an hour of housework including brushing and mopping the kitchen floor- the worst job!

Today’s surprise strength training track:

Today’s Life Lesson: Don’t add bleach to water, dip your hands in it, then wipe your wet hands on your trousers. Big mistake.

What silly housekeeping mistake have you made?

Tartan Mascots!

July 4, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This picture, from The Perth Kilt Run’s Facebook page, are of two tartan-clad mascots meeting for the first time :

The handsome mascot dressed in red is the brilliantly named Hairy MacKilty, he is the mascot for www.perthkiltrun.co.uk/ I’ve signed up for this 5k race and can’t wait to join many others in breaking the world record for the number of kilted runners! This event is open to all, with a day full of fun and entertainment planned- including music from the Red Hot Chilli Pipers!

The mascot on the left is the über-cute Baxterbear. He is an adventurous bear indeed, whose mission is to provide positive support to various good causes. He started off his adventures as a WWII reconnaissance co-pilot, and he continues to provide support to people who need it today. You can read more about his many adventures at worldofbaxterbear.com

Baxterbear was on-hand with Hairy MacKilty to support ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, who are one of the main fundraising partners of the Perth Kilt Run.

Tartan rocks! 😀

picture courtesy of http://www.facebook.com/thekiltrun

Race Report: RnR Edinburgh Half Marathon

July 3, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 2 Comments

Date: 14th April 2013

Profile: Hilly (my view, that is!)

Terrain: Road

Weather: Wild! Wet, windy, very stormy

Website: http://uk.competitor.com/edinburgh

Positives: great course, lovely medal, fab experience

Negatives: goody bags, weather!

I was so excited about running my first ever half marathon!

Training began on 30th December 2012. I wanted to start the New Year with a bang, and so I started with some cold, wet, windy runs. Turns out that this was a good plan! @TheWelshWookie and I were looking forward to our weekend away in Edinburgh, and had booked into the Holiday Inn at Cowgate for the night before the race.

We chose that hotel because it was within easy walking distance from the start and finish. Perfect!

We had a lovely walk on the Saturday, past this aptly named pub:

I took that as a good sign! I noticed at this point in the walk that the route was going to be quite hilly, and on the cobbled streets for part of it too. Hmmmmm.

We walked past the office of the Children’s Commissioner, who is Tam Baillie, who I knew from working with Barnardo’s. I just love the pic of him on the window! Looks just like him! 🙂

@TheWelshWookie and I then headed for an early dinner to the Hard Rock Cafe, and we were seated under a cool piece of memorabilia:

After an early night, @TheWelshWookie was up and out early, as he was a volunteer marshall on the course. I was looking forward to having a supporter at some point! I headed for breakfast, to find the restaurant filled with fellow runners (and joggers like me) from all over the world! I knew, by then, that it was raining outside, but the forecast was, apparently, OK.

But nobody told the weather that….

It was wild! So much so that the T-shirt marquees blew away, and there was a delay at the start until they made things safe 😮

I was soaked through, despite wearing my anorak, before the race begun. There was little race build up (probably due to the weather) and I was in the fourth wave, just eager to get going!

Here’s the Scottish Government building- the starting point of the race:

When it was our turn to start, I started slowly (ahem… more slowly than usual), I didn’t want to get carried away in the first couple of miles! The first miles took us through Leith, and along the waterfront, to Musselburgh. The rain was pelting, the wind was blowing, and I felt good!

By the time I got to the 5 mile mark, I found @TheWelshWookie’s posting- he was the gate lock keeper, on the main road. It was a welcome wee boost to see him!

I turned left, and realised that the road ahead was cobbled and uphill. This seemed to go on forever, and was quite slippery underfoot. We made our way back to Edinburgh city, to head around Arthur’s Seat, which was both hilly and wet. And windy. So windy, in fact, that in some places I was blown backwards, and could barely make any forward movement!

Then, at around 9.5 miles, disaster struck! I had been using my iPhone both for music and for measuring my progress on the Nike+ Running app. But the battery died! Argh! I had enough juice left in it to call Tony and let him know that I wouldn’t be able to call him when I was done. Lesson learned! That was the low point in the race- but I pulled myself together, and pushed on.

Things got much better after that- though the weather didn’t change! As I reached mile 10.5, we arrived back at Cowgate, for the final run through the old town, when I slipped on a metal cap in the road, and almost fell- almost! I walked for about 1/4 mile, just to check that I wasn’t injured, and I plowed on uphill again.

The final couple of miles were great- the crowd support was good at the end of the race, and that certainly helped. There were supposed to be bands at eery mile mark, but perhaps some cried off because of the weather. Those who did perform were great, and a welcome boost for joggers like me!

The pacemakers were also good- upbeat, friendly and encouraging.

I crossed the finish line in 2:22:49 feeling really proud, elated and full of energy- not quite as shattered as I thought I would be! And I knew that this was the start of a new jogging phase for me 🙂

@TheWelshWookie was waiting for me, which was great. Can’t wait for next ear- though I see that the date has changed to June- because of the weather, I assume?

My stats:

The Medal:

Brilliant. Shiny, sparkly and heavy! I love it!

Goody Bag: there were no bags, so I had to try to pick up and balance what I could, which wasn’t much. I managed a PowerBar, an energy drink and a bottle of water. That was all. Hope the bags are available next year.

T-shirt: I love the technical shirt, so much so that I wore it for the MOK10K:

We had to queue for some time to get the shirts, but that’s because of the problems with the tents blowing away! Fortunately, the organisers were handing out foil blankets, which were essential given the low temperatures. Don’t I look fetching after all of that?

Bring on next year!

Hot Hills and Hazelnut Pavlova

July 3, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Today, I met the DreamTeam for a spot of lunch, where we promised that we would not talk about work for a whole hour. We didn’t even last five minutes! Anyway, we had a lovely lunch at The George Hotel in Inveraray. It was busy, and as ever, the food was great. We all had dessert, as their selection is fantastic. Knowing that I would be heading out for a run after work, I still decided to have a Hazelnut Pavlova served with blackberry & cream ice cream. It was amazing! Want to see?

I knew that I’d need to head out for my hill run this evening, but being ~~absolutely stuffed~~ a little full after lunch, I was able to have a quick flick through my BodyFit magazine, which arrived in the post today:

When I felt that ~~I couldn’t put it off any longer~~ I could actually begin to run, I headed out for a hill session. Now, this is something I’ve been putting off for quite some time! I’m the first to admit that I like to run on the flat, and any incline is difficult for me. Anyway, having signed up for the TT10K in August, I thought I’d better try out a couple of the hills that I know are en-route.

I headed out along the harbour as usual, and along to Garvel road end, which is the start of the TT10K. I ran along Garvel Road, and turned onto the main road to face the first, and the smallest, of the hills I was tackling today:

Doesn’t look to bad, eh? It was actually ok, I wasn’t heaving and gulping in air when I got to the top. Immediately after this one, though, I crossed the road, and turned the corner onto the high road, to face the second hill. Don’t be deceived by the next picture- this is only the start of it, and the rest of the hill is over the brow of the one in the picture below:

Yeah, right, I hear you say. It can’t be that high? Well, just to show you how high it is, I took a pic of the harbour where I started, from the viewpoint at the top of the hill:

Pretty high, right? And gorgeous, of course. So lucky to live here.

Anyway, I managed the second hill OK too. I continued my jog back down the high road, and back along the front of the harbour, making my way to the hill that would take me up to Tarbert Castle and the Castle loop, which is a trail part of the run. This is the ~~monster~~ biggest of the three hills, and it snakes and winds its way up to the Castle. Here’s the first part:

Well, by this point, my large lunch was beginning to take its toll and my legs were a bit heavy, so I ~~lumbered~~ powered up as best as I could. I admit that I had to stop and walk for about a minute, then I continued to run to the top of the road and onto the trail.

I had planned to finish here, but as ~~I am totally crazy~~ it was such a lovely evening, I thought I’d just take on the Castle Loop too. 😮

This was tough going- much more hilly to run than I remembered from walking it in the past, but I’m glad I stumbled, walked and jogged my way around it. I stopped at a bench ~~because I was knackered~~ to take a picture, but it doesn’t really show much, I’m afraid, though it is really pretty:

I then headed home, to watch Andy Murray win! Woo Hoo!

Today’s stats:

Run: 3.5 mile hill run

Time: 40:25 (lots of walking!)

Trainers: Lunarfly GTX

Weather: sunny- yay!

Fave running track of the day: Gotta Get Thru This, Daniel Bedingfield. This track came on as soon as I reached the hill up to the castle!

Today’s life lesson: Don’t expect to have lunch with work folks, and avoid talking about work.

Also, don’t have a big dessert and expect to run as if you haven’t!

Have you ever regretted doing anything before going for a run?

Are we sure this is summer? Really?

July 2, 2013July 2, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Well, now that the schools are on holiday here, the weather is typical: wet, windy and cold. Brrrr!

In a bid to encourage the sunshine, I started today with my usual, summer time breakfast, which I love:

It’s Total greek yoghurt, topped with local strawberries and some blueberries, with a sprinkling of flax. Mmmm-mmm. Delish. I’ll add some chia seeds tomorrow, I think.

Well, my ~~desperate~~ attempt at willing the sun to visit didn’t work.

Here’s the wet vista from my office window today:

See?

Today’s Stats:

Run: no, today was a ~~lazy day~~ rest day for me

Exercise: 15 minute NTC Shawn Johnson’s Stretch Guide, followed by 30 minutes of yoga.

Today’s surprise yoga track:

I wore my super, duper long sleeved top from the MOK run for doing my yoga in, do you want to see it? You’ll have to excuse my slightly blurred pic, I’m afraid:

Not bad, eh?

Today’s Life Lesson: Don’t wear a T-shirt to the office on a day that’s more like winter. You’ll regret it.

What have you worn to work and instantly regretted?

	Still a Runner on The Great Post Lockdown W…
	TartanJogger on Weekly Workouts
	Still a Runner on Weekly Workouts
	TartanJogger on Weekly Workouts
	The Running Princess on Weekly Workouts

TartanJogger

Adventures in living well, quotes and very slow running

Month: July 2013

Back-to-Training Tuesday

Tarbert Seafood Festival Weekend: Part 2

Tarbert Seafood Festival Part 1

The Color Run UK- London, baby!

Long Run Early

Happy Independence Day!

Tartan Mascots!

Race Report: RnR Edinburgh Half Marathon

Hot Hills and Hazelnut Pavlova

Are we sure this is summer? Really?

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this: