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.