Month: March 2021

Weekly Workouts

Weekly Workouts

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

What a beautiful week, with glorious sunshine and warmer temperatures. It has really felt like spring has sprung as we mark one year since lockdown and restrictions began. I had a little more space in my diary to get some exercise in, so here’s what I did.

Monday-

I had a meeting finish early which meant I had time to fit in a lunchtime run. The weather was lovely, with some light cloud overhead so I thought I’d squeeze in a trail run. I headed to Kintarbert Forest and did the hill and loop there. It was a lovely start to the week!

Later I was also able to join Jacqui’s Fitness Pilates class which was just lovely.

Distance: 3.4m

Time: 45m 19s

Elevation: 630ft

Pace: 13.19/m

Wednesday-

After a busy day on Tuesday when I managed no time for a run, walk or class I was determined to get a decent run in. Working from home gives a little flexibility around this and so I set out to run four miles. But both my legs and my head needed a little more, and so I ended up running 10k instead. Lockdown life isn’t always bad!

Distance: 6.2m

Time: 1h 8m 14s

Elevation: 433ft

Pace: 11/m

Thursday-

After work, we headed out for a walk, to make the most of the remaining sunshine, and I’m very glad we did, it was such a beautiful evening! It took longer than usual as we kept stopping and talking!🤣

Distance: 3.96m

Friday-

I had a wee gap on Friday and squeezed in a three miler, which was slightly faster than I thought it would be!

Distance: 3.01m

Time: 31m 10s

Elevation: 36ft

Pace: 10.21/m

Sunday-

We were up early and on the trail before 7am with a plan! As 21/3/21 is World Down Syndrome Day, we thought we’d walk 21k to celebrate and mark it. Diversity and inclusion is so important for so many people and we need to celebrate and raise the profile of those who need our support.

Distance: 13.66m

Elevation: 1,654ft

Not a bad way to end the week!

Weekly Workouts

Weekly Workouts

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

After a really good few weeks, the past week has been curtailed somewhat by other priorities, which has affected the number of classes I’ve been able to do (zero) and the length and time of my runs. We all get weeks like these, and I’m certainly not going to beat myself up over it – it’s just one of those things! Here is what I did fit in:

Monday –

After my eight miles on the Sunday I was keeping my Monday run short, so I managed a wee 3 miler around the harbour. I was distracted, thinking ahead to my afternoon workload, and forgot to take a photo! Oh well, you’ll all know what the harbour looks like!

Distance: 3m

Time: 31m 0s

Elevation: 69ft

Pace: 10.19/m

Wednesday:

After a particularly busy day taking part in two really excellent seminars, I knew a run would be a good idea to expend the adrenaline and decompress my thoughts. It was absolutely the right thing to do and I felt so much better for doing it. I even kept my lipstick on!

Distance: 4m

Time: 45m 29s

Elevation: 52ft

Pace: 11.21/m

Thursday:

After work, we went for a walk to the West Loch and we’re surprised to see the Gigha ferry sitting there! It was a strange site!

Distance: 3.37m

Friday:

I was able to squeeze in a short lunchtime run and so I headed back to the West Loch to see if the ferry was still there, but it was already away. Ah well!

Distance: 2.67m

Time: 30m 3s

Elevation: 131ft

Pace: 11.13/m

Sunday:

It was a really cold and wet day, and I really didn’t feel like lacing up. Ordinarily, running in the rain doesn’t bother me, but it was windy and cold, and- well- I just wanted to stay home!

I did lace up, and decided not to put myself under pressure. I opted to just do 30 minutes, just to get it done, so that’s what happened. It was so, so wet!

Distance: 2.56m

Time: 31m 16s

Elevation: 453ft

Pace: 12.12/m

We’ll see if the coming week brings more opportunities to get a sweat on! 🤣🤷🏼‍♀️

Weekly Workouts

Weekly Workouts

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

March arrived, not like a lion for a change, but with a hint of spring in the air which was perfect for me as I wasn’t working on Monday. My plan was to get a slightly longer run in to kick start the week, and to get my March Accumulator off with some real bounce.

That’s exactly what happened, and even though the remainder of the week had me finding very short windows for running, I managed to keep on track even with a tough workload. Here’s how my week turned out:

Monday-

I had a long lie and, unusually for me, I had switched my work phone off completely on Sunday night so I wasn’t tempted or distracted by work matters before heading out for a hill run. I had tried to run at Corranbuie on Friday, but couldn’t get parked, so thought I’d try again. The weather was foggy as I headed out, but that soon lifted to leave a beautiful sunny run with blue skies.

Sometimes Corranbuie can seem pretty tough and unrelenting with its continuous climb, but when I reached where the rod joins the Tarbert castle loop I was surprised to find that two miles had ticked by quite unnoticed, so I kept going!

Distance: 8.2 miles

Time: 1h 44m 12s

Elevation: 1,175ft

Pace: 12.43/m

Later on Monday I also logged in live for Jacqui’s Fitness Pilates class, this one was using hand weights. I know I neglect upper body exercise, it makes me feel sick in a way lower body work never does, which is probably a sign to do more!🤣

Tuesday-

My initial plan for Tuesday was to give my legs a bit of a rest, and a full diary during the day meant no time for a walk. Instead I was able to do another of Jacqui’s online sessions, this one was a fab Virtual Powerwalk session, and I just loved it!

Wednesday-

Another very full on day left no time for a daytime run, but I did manage to step away from my desk just before twilight to squeeze in a short run around the harbour before sunset.

Distance: 3m

Time: 33m 10s

Elevation: 79ft

Pace: 11.02/m

Thursday-

Another busy day meant I finally stopped for a break just as most people will have been sitting down for their dinner, but that didn’t stop us from getting a leisurely stroll in before we did the same.

Friday-

Another busy but productive day with no lunchtime run, but it does make such a difference when it is still daylight into the late afternoon and early evening! I wanted a short run, and instead of going to Garvel and then around the harbour (bring a creature of habit), I headed to the concrete first. Small changes can make all of the difference!

Distance: 3m

Time: 32m 4s

Elevation: 85ft

Pace: 10.40m

Saturday-

I had – for some unknown reason – a cup of coffee at 10pm on Friday night 🙈🤯 which meant I had a disturbed sleep, unsurprisingly as the caffeine took over!🤣 So I didn’t have too many expectations for what my Saturday morning run might look like. We headed to the trails up at Cour windfarm, and I had a loose plan that I might do 10k, but would be happy with 4 or more miles given my lack of sleep.

As can sometimes happen, though, I found myself really enjoying the run, listening to my audiobook and watching the deer cross my path ahead. I managed much more than I thought I might, which is great for my Kintyre Way training and for my overall fitness and stamina I suppose!

Distance: 8.1m

Time: 1h 36m 50s

Elevation: 636ft

Pace: 11.57/m

The dry and settled weather this week no doubt played a big part in what felt like a good, solid week of running, especially off the back of last weekend’s four runs in a row (counting Monday). Gotta make the most of it while it’s good- 22.3 miles, 1,975ft.

Not bad indeed!

Weekly Workouts

Weekly Workouts

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

And just like that, February has drawn to a close. We are already two months into 2021 and the weather has been more kind over the past week, that is for sure! The end of the month also marks the end of my February Accumulator Challenge, which I’ve completed with 17 runs. That marks five Great Run Solo challenges in a row…. so of course I’ve signed up for the March Challenge, marking six straight months if I get through this one ok.

Here’s how last week shaped up for me:

Monday-

I started off the week with a lunchtime run, and as I knew I had a busy week ahead I decided to get a 4 miler in, so I knew I had some mileage under my belt. It was such a beautiful, sunny and mild day so I decided to test out the trainers I’d bought last autumn, but had put away for the spring. They felt so light compared to my winter ASICS GTX!

Distance: 4 miles

Time: 41m 55s

Elevation: 344ft

Pace: 10.28/m

Tuesday-

What a difference 24 hours makes, it was absolutely horrible outside with torrential rain, high winds and stormy weather. But, Jacqui had us all sorted with an alternative- a virtual power walking class! It was such a lot of fun, with 35 minutes of indoor walking: low intensity (ok, I did ramp it up at times, I can’t help myself!) and it passed so quickly. Can’t wait for the next one!

Wednesday-

The storm had passed, leaving some overcast skies on Wednesday, with quite a bit of moisture still in the air. My legs were tired after Tuesday’s class, and I was pushed for time, but I squeezed in a half hour run to the West Loch and back.

Distance: 2.72 miles

Time: 30m 3s

Elevation: 115ft

Pace: 11.02/m

Thursday-

Thursday saw a return to blue skies and mild weather. Tony and I were both working from home, so at lunchtime we headed out for a walk around the harbour, making the most of the day while we had the time.

Distance: 3.48 miles

Friday-

I have a long weekend off work (ok, except I did do quite a bit of work on and off during the day), so I started the weekend with a run, of course. I knew I needed to get into a trail and had no plan in mind at all. My original plan was to run at Corranbuie but when I got there it was busy, so I headed to the timber route instead. As I had no plan, I took a trail that I would usually pass by, just to see where it went! It turned out to be a lovely, if not terribly long, trail and I’m glad I did it. On my way back I diverted down another trail, and found myself in some woodland. Following my instincts, I made my way through the trees and back to one of the other trails I use quite often, feeling some sense of accomplishment at not getting lost!

Distance: 4.7 miles

Time: 58m 8s

Elevation: 827ft

Pace: 12.22/m

Saturday-

I wanted to shake out my legs a little after yesterday’s trail adventure, though they were tired and heavy when I set out. From trees to the sea!

Distance: 4 miles

Time: 42m 49s

Elevation: 243ft

Pace: 10.42/m

Sunday-

Unusually, I headed out for an extra run to round off the month. I realised that my slightly shorter longer runs this month meant that I was just a fraction off 100k for February, so I decided to get in one wee run just to add the mileage in.

Distance: 2 miles

Time: 20m 44s

Elevation: 136ft

Pace: 10.21/m