It’s Friday the Thirteenth: anyone superstitious out there? If you are, pretend you’re Spanish: they’re fine with Friday the Thirteenth, but not Tuesday the Thirteenth 😮
What have you been up to today? I’ve kicked off a week’s holiday! Woop!
And what better way to spend the day than shopping, eating and drinking with my mum?
We had a great mooch around Glasgow, picking up the final pieces we needed for Christmas. We also had a make up session at Clinique, which was fun! The selfie above is BEFORE the makeover, in case you were wondering!
In keeping with yesterday’s ‘Season’s Eatings’ post, the festive feasting continues. We had tapas for lunch, at Barca in Princes Square: it was delish!
We then had a lil’ refreshment at the Concert Hall before heading home.
Do you have any plans for the weekend? I have my nephew’s Christening, so I’ll be heading through to Glasgow again tonight.
How’s the Christmas shopping going?  All done yet? 😮
Recently, I’ve been eating like I’m still preparing for races:
This is a slight problem because, well, I don’t have any races, and I’ve eased off on my training. Hmmmm.
I’ve also been really enjoying Christmas coffees:
And, I’ve been enjoying the odd gin. My friend bought ne a bottle of Caorunn for my birthday, and it’s my favourite. If you only ever drink gin with tonic, you should try a Caorunn with elderflower cordial and ginger syrup. A-ma-zing.
Last weekend, we popped into the new Waitrose store in Helensburgh, and I was very tempted impressed with their selection:
It was difficult to walk away without adding any of these to my basket!
Do you plan to treat yourself to anything this weekend?
Well, hello there, Monday, you’ve come around too fast!
Today, I received a reality check, after spotting the following goodies in our local Co Op:
Erm, hello, the Hallowe’en goodies haven’t even hit the shelves yet, and you’re selling Christmas goodies?!
Anyhoo, how has your day been?
Tonight, we’ve headed to my favourite cafe for dinner. I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned it before. It’s called Cafe Ca’Dora, and it’s in Tarbert, conveniently located easily within walking distance. And we love it!
What is really tempting is that virtually every run goes past it. It’s difficult not to just pop in!
We visit it regularly- too regularly, and every time we have visitors, we’re guaranteed to be in there a few times: for breakfast, or lunch, or coffee, or dinner. Or any combination of those!
@TheWelshWookie loves the burgers.
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I love the nachos, wraps, pasta and fajitas.
They also make their own ice cream. It is delicious!
All of this talk of food is making me hungry again! 🙂
And I’m having a rest day; so no running to burn any extra calories off! 😮
Good evening, one and all! @TheWelshWookie and I are home from our road trip, and we sound something like this:
We’ve had a fantastic weekend in Coventry, keeping up with the Joneses. Good food, and brilliant company. We’ve also had a few refreshments along the way:
Margaritas! Yum!
So, I’m now going to catch up on sleep, get prepared for the working week ahead, and get planning for our weekend away- again- next weekend. As it’s the RnR Dublin half marathon next Monday, I don’t have too much running planned for the week ahead, but I’ll keep you all posted.
Favourite driving track of the day: Perfect Ten, The Beautiful South
Today’s Life Lesson: all the crazies drive on the Motorway on Sundays….
Good Afternoon, from a lovely, sunny day in Coventry!
This morning, @TheWelshWookie and I had a lovely run through the village of Barnacle, which was very quaint: it was a proper, quintessential village!
Today’s stats:
Run: 7 mile long run, my last ‘long run’ before the Dublin RnR Half Marathon
Time: 1:24:35 slow 😉
Trainers: LunarGlides
Weather: Warm, and sunny
First running track of the day: Barbra Streisand, by Duck Sauce…
We headed out of Coventry itself, along Alderman’s Green Road, right onto Lenton’s Lane.
We then turned onto Shilton Lane, onto Lower Road and through the village of Barnacle. Here’s a pic of the Village Hall. There’s no pub or shop, which would be a miss, I imagine! The hedgerows were bustling with wildlife, and I saw lots of butterflies and even some goldfinches.
We then headed down Mile Tree Lane, Hawkesbury Lane and then came off of the road, and onto the tow path, running along the Oxford Canal. It was beautiful!
I must admit, I was very tempted to stop off at a lovely pub called The Greyhound, but with a mile or so still to go, I thought I’d better not!
We then headed back to the road, onto Grange Road and then into Longford Park. 7 easy miles, done!
After a quick shower and change, we headed into Royal Leamington Spa, to do some shopping. There was a good balance of small, local shops and larger chains, which was good for an afternoon of browsing. We had a Cafe con Leche in a little cafe, and chilled out for a few minutes before carrying on with the retail therapy.
So, I’m now blogging in the sunshine, contemplating a BBQ later. It’s great to be on holiday! 😀
Today’s life lesson: when shopping, wearing flip flops, beware of freestanding displays. It hurts when you accidentally kick one 😮
As I say, in today’s post title, it’s nice to have some time off (so much so, I’m saying it twice!). I finished work at lunchtime today, and I’m off until Monday. I guess that makes today my Friday, then?
Today’s stats:
Run: No running for me today, as it’s taper time, I’m working on stretching, so I’ll do some yoga and some NTC stretching later.
Time: 30 mins walk, 30 mins yoga, 15 mins stretching
One yoga track I plan to listen to today: Â Wonderful Life, Black. Very chill.
So, like the rest of the UK, we’ve had a thunder shower this morning, but only one, fortunately!
This was the view from my office window today, as the rain started to pour down! 😦 It’s still very warm outside, and by the time I arrived home at around 12.30, the rain had stopped 🙂
@TheWelshWookie and I have been for a walk this afternoon, along the harbour and down to the ferry terminal. Of course, we had to pop into the cafe for coffee and cake!
I’ve had a lovely, lazy afternoon, reading this month’s copy of Women’s Running magazine, which arrived yesterday:
There’s an interesting article in it about stretching, particularly in warm ups, and whether they are beneficial, or potentially problematic:
For me, it depends on the length of the run. If it’s a shortie, I’ll really just do a warm-up jog. If it’s a longer run, I’ll start with a set of dynamic stretches: knee highs, butt kicks, and a short warm-up jog. I’ll usually finish my run with a walk home, followed by Kara Goucher’s running stretches from NTC. This seems to work well for me, and I’ve been fortunate in staying injury free (here’s hoping this continues!).
Today’s life lesson: It’s usually sensible to wear a jacket when rain showers are forecast…..
What’s your view of stretching, before or after a run?
A taste + rate / debate of gluten free dining in Glasgow Scotland. By newlyweds team The Murphy’s. Want the latest on her fashion updates too ? Join writer/ blogger @cityslickerinthestix.com
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