Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Hi everyone, here we are at the start of Wedding Week! 😮

Four days to go….. I know that it will be Friday before we know it!

If you’re struggling to get started on your fitness plans this week, or struggling to stick to plans you have made, I hope this helps. It’s from Pinterest, of course:

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Do you have any big plans this week?

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Hi everyone, Happy Monday!

I’ve had a busy weekend that included last minute wedding stuff – can you believe that I can now say that I’m getting married NEXT WEEK? 😮

I’ve also spent time gardening and getting the inside and outside of the house ready for spring.

AND, as if that’s not enough, I’ve kicked off that 5×50 challenge, and continued with #ATWRBR2014 with a long run yesterday!

I’ll give you a more detailed post about my weekend antics tomorrow. In the mean time, here’s something that might just help if you’ve eaten well so far today, but are tempted by the lure of the kitchen:

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Did you have a busy weekend? Any running in there?

The Best Gifts Come in Threes!

The Best Gifts Come in Threes!

Hello everyone, how has your Tuesday been?

If you’ve read my posts over the past few weeks, you’ll have seen that I’ve been a very lucky blogger indeed.

First, in the first instalment of the great playlist swap, I told you how Girl Runs Wild had sent me a wonderful gift box packed with some post run goodies.

Next, I was totally surprised to receive some amazing chocolate from Kyla (who can now be found at earlybirdfitness.com).

Yup, I’ve been spoiled.

Well, the best things come in threes. And that’s also true about gifts! Yesterday, I received a parcel from Amazon. Now, as someone who shops on Amazon A LOT, I was racking my brains, trying to figure out what I had ordered. So, I opened the package to find a lovely, scented candle!

My friend, Margaret, had sent me a wonderful ‘tranquillity’ candle, which is gorgeous: it’s scented with  lavender, ylang ylang and orange. It smells great!

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So, I was able to relax after my run, with the gorgeous candle, and the latest copy of Women’s Running magazine.

I’m one very lucky girl! I’ve been so touched by kindness recently.

Have you been counting your blessings? And gifts? 😉

 

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Welcome to another week. Have you gotten your sweat on yet today? Are you tempted to skip it? Then read this:

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I hope that helped. Now, get to it! 🙂

Tag Teaming the ‘Mill

Tag Teaming the ‘Mill

This morning, @TheWelshWookie and I planned a 9 mile route. So, we had a breakfast smoothie, and got changed to head out for a run. Then, I made the mistake of looking out of the window, and seeing the icy, driving rain outside.

Ooops.

So, I made an alternative suggestion: why not check our running ‘outfits’ for Madrid by running our nine miler on the treadmill?

That’s what we did!

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As I mentioned yesterday, @TheWookie has had a dodgy knee, so rather than running nine miles straight, we tag-teamed it by running three miles and swapping over. I’m pleased to say that the running gear performed well, as did @TheWookie’s knee 🙂 We were also able to watch a couple of films as we ran, so we’ve now caught up with the excellent American Hustle and  the not-quite-so-good The Delivery Man. It certainly passed the time!

The plan for this evening is to chill out with a glass of vino and The Voice. What are your plans?

A Friday Update

A Friday Update

Happy Friday, peeps!

I thought I’d catch you up on my half marathon training: some people have been surprised to hear that @TheWelshWookie and I are going on runeymoon, but after I’ve explained that we’re able to combine a love of running with some sightseeing and relaxation, it makes more sense to them. I’m still following my Hal Higdon plan really closely, and the training is still going well. I missed one run last Saturday, but that’s really the first missed run and I’m already at the end of week 7’s training plan.

Unfortunately, @TheWelshWookie slipped on some grass when playing football with the nephews on Sunday and has re-injured his knee, so he’s not run this week. Yet. Hopefully he’ll be back to it soon enough!

Runners blog relay 2014

My  Around the World Running Blog Relay mileage is about on target: I’ve already gotten in 57.96 kilometres so far, and with a 9 miler planned for tomorrow I should be adding more to that this week.

Also, it’s almost time for The 5×50 Challenge 2014. We signed up for this back in mid-December, and time has flown in, as it now kicks off in eight days: next Sunday! I’m really looking forward to it, as I know it combined with #ATWRBR2014 will definitely keep me on track!

In wedding news, everything is in a bit of a lull: everything is organised, and I’m now just waiting to carry out the last minute things that can’t be done in advance. It’s three weeks today: I can’t wait!

How are your challenges going?

Happy

Happy

As you’ve probably heard, today is The United Nation’s International Day of Happiness. And so, I did something that makes me happy: I ran. I tried out the running gear that I plan on wearing in Madrid, and all seemed OK with it. The vest is probably a little more snug than I’d like 😉 but all in all, I had a slow-but-solid five miler. So, that’s a total of 12.93k this week so far for #ARTWRBR2014, and 57.96 kilometres for March.

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And, I also received some surprise mail today that really made me happy: a large, overseas envelope was waiting for me on the doorstep. Puzzled, I picked it up, and carried it into the house, wondering what on earth this could be!

I opened it up, and out came three gorgeous bars of organic, fair trade chocolate in fantastic flavours, and a card! The wonderful Kyla from Motivation had sent me a tasty treat, and a gorgeous card for my wedding! It was such a wonderful surprise, and couldn’t have arrived on a better day! She knows me so well, and my love of fancy chocolate bars 😀 The chocolate is made locally to Kyla in Vancouver, so I have a little bit of local goodness to look forward to!

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It was a reminder that not only are you fellow bloggers, but you are also friends – and you’re so generous with your support, your comments and even your lovely gifts! 🙂

What has made you happy today?

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Hi everyone, sorry for being MIA over the past few days: it’s been a very busy weekend! More about that tomorrow.

In the mean time, here’s something that made me smile:

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I naughtily skipped a 5K run on Saturday, but I’m back on track with my  Around the World Running Blog Relay run tonight!  I got in 3 miles, which I’m glad about. That’s 4.83 kilometres to kick off week three, and a total of 49.91K for March so far.

Did you have a busy weekend?

Bitter Suite Friday

Bitter Suite Friday

Happy Weekend to you, welcome to Friday!

Today is exactly four weeks until @TheWelshWookie and I get married.  Eeek! Time is flying by!

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I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we were heading to a concert tonight. Do you want to know which concert? It’s a band I was a HUGE fan of when I was at school and at University: Hue and Cry.

They’re marking the 25th Anniversary of their dual album ‘Remote’ and ‘Bitter Suite’. Remote was a good, fun pop album, with slight political overtones. Bitter Suite was more acoustic, and was recorded live at the Renfrew Ferry. I love them both!

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And so, Hue & Cry are playing two gigs: tomorrow night is a big, live full band set to celebrate Remote, while tonight is a full acoustic play through of Bitter Suite, with some ‘surprises’. I cannot wait!
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I’m looking forward to having a break from wedding stuff, and from normal life – and reliving my teenage years for a few hours 😉

What was the last gig you went to? Have you revisited teenage bands much?

An Early Weekend

An Early Weekend

Today is my Friday! Yay! I can celebrate the arrival of the weekend 😉

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@TheWelshWookie and I are off for a wee night out tomorrow: we are going to a concert, and will perhaps visit a hostelry or two while we’re out…… 😉 Watch out, Glasgow!

Well, our spring weather has lasted two days, today we’re back to ‘light drizzle’. Surprise, surprise, eh? But that didn’t get in the way of @TheWelshWookie and my three miler. We’re sticking to this Hal Higdon training plan like glue.

It was quite a slow run tonight: I had lead legs. That’s the first time in aaaaages that this has happened – I guess I’ve been overdue a rough run. But, hey. I got it done 😉

#ATWRBR2014: Today’s run brings my weekly total up to 11.27 kilometres, giving me 45.08 kilometres for the month so far 🙂

Do you have any plans for the weekend?