Month: October 2020

Weekly Workouts

Weekly Workouts

by TartanJogger ♥ 2 Comments

What a week! The weather has been dreadful but that hasn’t stopped me from getting out in the fresh Argyll air. Ok, so being off work all week has really helped as I’ve been able to make the most of daylight, and I’ve really enjoyed it. Here’s how my week went.

Monday

After being away for the weekend and clocking up over 1,000 miles in the car, it felt great to get back out on a trail again. I stuck to the timber route at Torinturk and kept my first run back short as I had new trail shoes to try out. I have a pair of Asics, which I’ve never worn before but it turns out they are super comfortable and I think I might grow to love them!

Distance: 3.25 miles

Time: 36m 13s

Pace: 11.09/m

Elevation: 469 feet

Tuesday

We went for a wander, and we didn’t quite manage to duck all of the showers! We stuck to the village, heading out over the high road, along to Garvel and over towards shell beach.

Distance: 4.3 miles

Wednesday

I wanted to spend the midweek point of our time off doing a long run, and so I headed to the timber route once again as I wanted to get beyond the 4 mile mark where I turned around a few weeks ago. Although it was dry when I set out, the rain soon started meaning I was absolutely soaked very quickly! No matter, I don’t mind running in the rain, and as it was unseasonably mild I didn’t bother fighting with a rain jacket. My new trail shoes were great, and I found myself running a lovely and comfortable half marathon- my first for quite some time! It was lovely to finish my run with a view of a rainbow!

Distance: 13.35 miles

Time: 2h 24m 14s

Pace: 12.09/m

Elevation: 1,415 feet

Thursday

After Wednesday’s escapade, we went for a trail walk on Thursday morning, heading up into the Kintarbert Forest, taking the climbing road rather than the loop. I had an afternoon meeting so although we were enjoying our ramble we had to turn back all too soon!

Distance: 3.6 miles

Friday

I pulled on my trail trainers once again and headed off to run the circular route by the Giants Grave. I took a short detour into the trees to reconnect to nature, but didn’t venture up to the Dun- it was pretty slippery underfoot so I’ll save than until the spring I think! The route was boggy, muddy but lots and lots of fun!

Distance: 3.5 miles

Time: 43m 14s

Pace: 11.2/m

Elevation: 418 feet

Sunday

I was tempted to take another test day but instead I though I’d get another short run in to round off my holiday. I headed to the West Loch, building in the hill at Carrick cemetery and finishing at the harbour itself. Boy, was it windy out there!

It was also my last run in my Lunarglide 8s, which have now done about 350 miles so it’s time to retire them. New trainers next week then, but these have been favourites for some time.

Distance: 4.1 miles

Time: 43m 59s

Pace: 10.43/m

Elevation: 218 feet

So that’s me now ticked off 13/15 runs for my Great Run Solo Hallowe’en Accumulator. Woo hoo! All in all, I clocked in 25.5 running miles this week, and almost 35 miles in total, with some pretty decent elevation too, at 2.315 ft. Not too bad! If only every week could be like this- but it will be back to lower mileage now that the clocks have changed and the evening will be darker after work. Winter running is now the focus!

Weekly Workouts

Weekly Workouts

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Last week, I ‘front loaded’ my workouts so I could get some exercise in before we headed away for a few days at the end of last week. It was great to get away for a few days for the first time since before last Christmas, but running was still on my mind!

But here’s what I made time for before we headed off:

Monday –

After Sunday’s long run, I wanted to give my legs a break and so we went for an evening walk instead. We went to Kintyre Forest, as I wanted to get some hills in and I also wanted to test out my old head torch. Turns out that it’s nowhere near up to the job- it’s fine to ‘be seen’ on a road run, but is nowhere near powerful enough to run trails with when it’s dark. We started our walk just as the sun was setting and finished in darkness, fortunately we had other torches with us too! We also caught a couple of heavy downpours, but those were fine!

Distance: 2.95 miles

Time: 1h 3m

Elevation: 331ft

Tuesday-

I was back running again, for run 8/15 of my Great Run Solo Hallowe’en Accumulator. I changed things up a little, deciding at the last minute to stick to the village, and so I thought I’d do a couple of laps of Tarbert Castle loop, as well as running up Big Brae on my way. And that Brae is always a tough one!

Distance: 5k

Time: 41m 45s

Pace: 13.25/m

Elevation: 413 ft

Wednesday-

Wednesday was the first day of our leave, and I wanted to celebrate with a short birthday run. My legs were feeling a little tight, probably a combination of Sunday’s run and the hills the previous evening so I thought I’d just enjoy a short road run instead of a longer trail run. I ran to the West Loch, but still included the hill up to Carrick cemetery just to get some elevation in. I fair enjoyed it, and counted it as run 9/15 of my Great Run Solo Hallowe’en Accumulator.

Distance: 3.2 miles

Time: 38m 9s

Pace: 11.54/m

Elevation: 217ft

While we were away I stocked up on a pair of new trail shoes ready of winter, and I also bought some new road trainers, as they were a bargain and I couldn’t resist! 🤣 I also stocked up on some other gear- leggings, a swiftly tech tee and a long sleeved top for winter running. Not a bad haul, though I’ve still to get a head torch. With the clocks changing next weekend I’ll need to get that ASAP if I still want to fit in some evening runs.

Weekly Workouts

Weekly Workouts

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Well the Great Solo Run Hallowe’en Accumulator is well and truly underway, and over the last week I got some solid runs in, although some have been rather short. But they have indeed been sweet!

My running motivation remains high and I’m feeling that my trail running is continuing to improve, and I want to make sure that I continue that during the winter months. First up is a need to test out my head torch, so that’s on my list for the coming week. Here’s how last week worked out for me.

Monday-

A lunchtime trail run at Kilmory which I have missed! Of course I didn’t have any company from the usual crew, but I had a chance to get out and so I took it. I skipped the run around Kilmory Loch as I’m always a little worried about slipping on the rocks when I’m on my own, but I did tackle the hill which has not gotten any easier! It felt good to start the week with this run under my belt.

Distance: 2.7 miles

Time: 31m 13s

Pace: 11.32/m

Elevation: 395ft

Thursday-

After a couple of incredibly busy days that meant I wasn’t able to squeeze in any running I was looking forward to hitting the trails. I managed to get out slightly earlier than I thought I might and so was able to get in over 4 miles for the first time in a good few days. Loved it!

Distance: 4.2 miles, though Strava thought it was 4.64 miles

Time: 45m 8s

Pace: 9.43/m according to Strava. Doubt it!

Elevation: 497ft

Friday –

I had just enough time at lunchtime to squeeze in a short 30 minute run, and somehow I managed to dodger the torrential downpours! Result!

I did get a little wet at the end of my run, but it wasn’t too bad at all. First run around the harbour for a couple of weeks!

Distance: 2.9 miles

Time: 29m 46s

Pace: 10.15/m

Elevation: 66ft

I also managed a live fitness class with Jacqui on Friday evening which was a real bonus!

Sunday-

First long run for some time. I had some company for a chance which is now very rare so we had a lovely socially distanced run, starting in Clachan we made our way into the Kintyre Way, which after the autumnal rain was really, really boggy and muddy, with some sections almost like swimming pools! 🤣I think we’ll need to stick to forestry tracks for the remainder of autumn and winter now. The views, however, made it all worthwhile, and it was really fun to splash and slide about in the mud- there wasn’t too much running at this section! We then ran past Loch Ciaran, and rather than joining the Cour windfarm road right away we added in a loop which gave us some spectacular views over to Jura.

It was a stunning autumn day, and just perfect for an early morning trail run. Days like these really remind me how lucky we are to have all of these trails and forestry roads so, so handy.

Distance: 9.75 miles

Time: 2h 3m 41s

Pace: 12.41/m

Elevation: 1,078ft

Let’s see what this week brings!

Wednesday Wisdom

Wednesday Wisdom

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In my post last week, I alluded to the fact that everyone sees themselves as the main protagonist in life. Look, I’m blogging, so doesn’t that demonstrate that principle? Assuming what I have to say is important, has value and is of interest, aren’t I?

Anyway, I digress. We do position ourselves as central to our stories, and if we are able to be empathetic we can better understand how other people see themselves. I think that when people lose hope, or lose confidence they still retain an element of this but it is diminished. And it’s our job to help them recover that.

Everyone is ‘selling’ something, promoting something or trying to get others to better understand their point of view, and earlier this year I read Don Miller’s essential read How to Build a Storybrand. This book should be on your to-read list if you haven’t gotten to it already. As a writer, Don understands the power of storytelling and this book reframes how we can use that storytelling to improve our engagement with customers and with others more widely, all people we engage with. He uses some great examples to demonstrate where this does, and doesn’t, work well.

There are clear steps to achieving this but the one step that has stuck with me above the others is that customers don’t care about your story or your brand’s story. They care about their own, and want to know how your products can help them achieve their own story arc.

I’m simplifying the message, but this small snippet has stuck with me, and over the past few months I’ve been seeing this everywhere, and watching how people and businesses position their own story in comparison to how they centre their customer’s story.

I can’t recommend this book enough. Spoiler alert: Don tells you early in the book that he will spoil movies for you as he talks you through how the basic narrative construction works. It hasn’t ruined anything for me, but I have found myself putting his framework to the test when watching films! Try it!

Weekly Workouts

Weekly Workouts

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Last week was quite a change from the week before, when I enjoyed a few longer runs. Being back at work meant that I didn’t have the luxury of running when I most wanted to, and my runs were all a good deal shorter than the previous week. But I did have a lovely, enjoyable week of runs.

I also signed up for the Great Run Solo- Hallowe’en Accumulator, which calls for participants to do 15 runs of any distance throughout the month of October. So far, so good!

Monday-

It was a public holiday here, and so I had another sneaky day off before going back to work. I started the week with a lovely, sunny trail run out above Torinturk on the timber route. The colours are definitely changing, as early autumn makes itself seen!

Distance: 4.09 miles

Time: 47m 59s

Pace: 11.43/m

Elevation: 364ft

Tuesday-

Back to work, and I was home later than planned, so I was a little worried that it would be too dark to run on a trail by myself. Instead, The Welsh Wookie and I went for a walk, exploring the trail on the other side of the road from Monday’s run at Achaglagach. It was dark by the time we got back to the car, so I made the right call.

Distance: 2.56 miles

Time: 50m 54s

Elevation: 258ft

Thursday- GRS Hallowe’en Accumulator 1/15

I started my accumulator challenge with an evening 5k. Again, I got home later than planned, so didn’t want to push the distance too far. I’ll be fine running in the dark, but I need to check my head torch and leg torch to check they are working ok. It was a lovely evening to start a new challenge!

Distance 3.3 miles (Strava said 3.94 but that’s not accurate!)

Time: 34m 4s

Pace: 10.12/m

Elevation: 468ft

Friday- GRS Hallow’en Accumulator 2/15

I managed to head out for a lunchtime run, for the first time in weeks! It was just what I needed and I really need to find time to build in more lunchtime runs, making the most of daylight. As I was working from home I opted for a short road run to the West Loch, but I added in Carrick Hill.

Distance: 3.22 miles

Time: 33m 3s

Pace: 10.15/m

Elevation: 509ft

Sunday- GRS Hallowe’en Accumulator 3/15

My original plan was to get in a longer run, somewhere between 6-8 miles but when I got up my back and knee were a little niggly. I don’t want to take any risks now that I’m committed to the accumulator runs so instead I decided to head to Cour wind farm and have a little fun with a 5k. It was really wet and rainy, so I deliberately ignored any focus on pace and just enjoyed my run.

Distance: 3.32 miles

Time: 39m 21s

Pace: 11.51/m

Elevation: 488ft

Not quite the strong finish to the week I had planned, but it’s been a solid couple of weeks so I’m pretty happy with that. I think I’ll be taking it easy again this week, seeing how the back and knee hold up. Have a great week!