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!