Tag: fun

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello! How has your week and weekend been? 

I’ve been really focussed, on my health, my food and my fitness 👍🏻 Jacqui has been running a 10 day accountability/clean eating challenge which was just what I needed. Thanks Jacqui! It started last Monday, so we are already in day eight and I have loved it. 

I’ve focussed on eating well- and cleanly- with no junk, no alcohol, no empty calories, and on staying active. To that end, I went to every class last week, which was great. Here was how my week looked:

Monday- no WAR, but as I reported last week, we did a lovely hill walk during the day instead

Tuesday- Stability ball class and PiYo Stretch and Flow. Doing the Doubler is great!

Wednesday- a wet Jog Scotland run, which I thoroughly enjoyed 

Thursday- PiYo signature round, for the first time in ages

Friday- Wii Fit

I didn’t do anything in particular over weekend as we had a quiet weekend planned, and it felt great! On Sunday evening a cold started to appear, but I’m pushing through as best as I can, it explains why I needed some extra R and R this weekend!

When the challenge comes to an end on Wednesday night I’m planning on keeping it on track, but loosening the rules only ever so slightly. I’m excited to check out my measurements on Wednesday night!

Here’s some positivity to help kickstart your week if you need it:  Have a great week!

Wednesday Wisdom

Wednesday Wisdom

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

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Happy Bank Holiday Monday! 

We’ve had a lovely weekend, with lots of RnR. Last week was great, though a busy week at work meant that my training wasn’t quite a planned I’m afraid. We had no WAR on Monday, but I did a double class on Tuesday: stability class is getting tougher using weights, medicine ball and increased reps with every week. This was followed by PiYo stretch and flow, which I really love. I missed Jog Scotland on Wednesday and I also missed Thursday night PiYo. Here’s hoping for a calmer week this week, with more of my regular routine.

We had no WAR tonight as its a holiday, insteaywe had a lovely long walk past Tarbert Castle, and it was as beautiful – if foggy- easy for it.

Here’s your motivation for the coming week: 

Have a good week, all!

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

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Sorry, another Monday has hurtled by and is drawing to a close. I’ve only just sat down, and realised very quickly that I hadn’t blogged yet. Oops! 

Quick summary of last week:

Monday- 12,500 steps, no class as WAR was cancelled (Jacqui was celebrating her anniversary!)

Tuesday- stability ball class followed by PiYo Stretch and Flow. The stability class is building, and we are now adding weights and medicine balls to help with core strength and balance. I’m really enjoying it!

Wednesday- Jog Scotland, 4 miles in total. Ace!

And that’s it, I’m afraid: work and a very busy weekend meant I didn’t do much else. But I did what I could, and I’m happy with that. I’m running the Great Scottish Run half marathon in two weeks, and I’m very light on training, but I’ll walk if I have to- I’m not going to be too precious.

I have lots of news to share with you about our national campaign that is underway- more of that later on though. For now, here’s your motivation to kick start this week: Have a good one!

Wednesday Wisdom 

Wednesday Wisdom 

by TartanJogger ♥ 1 Comment

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

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Sorry for my short post last week, but I just HAD to see the finale of Game of Thrones Season 7 😉, and boy- was it worth it!

But I didn’t settle down to watch until after WAR. I had a good week, fitness-wise: I started last Sunday with an 8.25 mile run which I found harder than I thought I would…. so I didn’t exactly start the week in a high note. But things took a turn on Monday with a solid WAR class, burning 460 calories. I worked hard!

On Tuesday I did two classes: first up was a new class, using a stability ball. I had one at home, which I dug out and blew up, not having used it for a very long time! It was lots of fun, and very different; I think Jacqui went easy on us to help build confidence, so I’m looking forward to developing more as my confidence- and my abs- grows! We followed that up with PiYo Stretch and Flow which was very welcome after the hard work on Sunday and Monday. 

Wednesday was an informal Jog Scotland session, out to the West Loch and back, while Thursday was back to PiYo for the signature round, this time including the higher intensity tracks which we don’t do on a Tuesday. 

I didn’t do much from Friday through to Sunday, as we were at a Clarsach residential weekend. It was lots of fun, with some brilliant people- I had planned to do some walking, but the weekend was so packed that it just didn’t happen! 

I was then back at WAR again tonight, and I found it very tough, probably after the full weekend we had. I’ve been trying to pay closer attention to my body, and a full week of classes has helped me to do that: I’m feeling some stiffness in my shoulder and lower back, so I’m going to keep paying close attention to those areas, dialling back the running intensity to help with recovery. 

Now that I’m back in a routine and have been for a couple of weeks, this quote here certainly resonated with me:  Have a good week! 

Monday Motivation: 6 days until Spartan Day

Monday Motivation: 6 days until Spartan Day

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I cannot believe it, less than a week to go. Oh my! This training period had flown by in a flash, and I’m only now feeling fully recovered from my injury. 

 I feel like I did last week: part excited, part filled with trepidation, but what will be will be. Last week’s training went a little awry: lack of numbers meant that Jacqui had to cancel Monday and Tuesday night’s classes, which was a really difficult call for her- but I agree that she can’t run them for very small numbers of attendees. It’s just a shame when it happens to her (and is) at short notice. It put a little more focus on what I had to do for myself, so on both nights I did some strength training and ran, managing 5k on Monday and 4 miles on Tuesday. I know it’s always more difficult to train by myself than to put in the effort at class, but I pushed myself with some challenging moves including box jumps (eek) and sandbag lifts. I then ran 5k again on Wednesday to test my tired legs and I struggled, but I’m very glad I pushed through as I’ll have to keep going with tired legs on Sunday. 

I was then in London from Thursday through to Sunday night, so I didn’t get any training in – unless you count an average of 15,000 steps per day and lugging a suitcase about with me!

Tonight, we were back at WAR and I pushed it: it was really hot, really sweaty, but I felt much more capable than I have in weeks and weeks, with the strength returning in my legs for the balance moves and the jumping lunges. Progress indeed! I’m sure I’ll have DOMS tomorrow, but that’s fine with me 😆 I also worked my shoulders, chest and core hard with some full press ups and I tried to focus on my form when doing planks and side planks. 💪🏻

I have my bag packed for tomorrow, I’m hoping to squeeze in a run before PiYo tomorrow night, again just to really push myself. Bring it on! 

This is my focus for the week: I hope it resonates with you, too. Have a strong week! 😎

Monday Motivation: 13 days to Spartan Race Day

Monday Motivation: 13 days to Spartan Race Day

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Yip, you read that correctly. In two weeks, it will all be over. Hopefully I’ll be a Spartan Warrior 💪🏻

My training has been pretty solid this week, and I’m almost back to full fitness, while accepting that there will be some obstacles I’ll really struggle with. C’est la Vie.

Last Monday I worked really hard at WAR, pushing myself during the HIIT sections to really get the most out of it. We had a new routine, and boy did I feel it on Tuesday! Jacqui provided me with yet more invaluable techniques on Monday night using resistance bands, so I’ve been building them in to my training this week. Thanks as ever, Jacqui! 

Tuesday was a good day for training, I managed a Doubler by getting in a 5k run along Helensburgh seafront followed by an hour of PiYo stretch and Flow. I needed it after the previous evening’s hard work! 

I made it along to Jog Scotland on Wednesday and my intention was to drop back and do an easier run. However I just can’t resist the glen road, so I went with the Improvers 1 group for a little hill run instead. And I’m glad I did- it was a fab run! 

Thursday night’s PiYo class was cancelled so I did some cross training but kept it quite light. It was good to mix things up a bit. I then had a rest day on Friday, followed by a busy Saturday that left little time for structured exercise. I did do a good bit of weeding so my shoulders got a workout and I did plenty of squats, that’s for sure! I’m classing that as functional training 😉

Tonight, we had no WAR class due to last minute cancellations but instead I ran and did some strength training. Go me! 

All in all, I still have mixed feelings about the Spartan Sprint- I’m really looking forward to taking on such a different type of event and testing myself, but I’m a little anxious about some of the obstacles. I’m sure I’ll manage to drag myself over and under some stuff and I’ll have to rely on TheWelshWookie and others to shove or drag me over and through others! 

We are off to London later this week, so I’ll be trying to get as much training in during this early part of the week. Make the most of it while I can! 

 Have a brilliant week!

Monday Motivation: Three Weeks Until Spartan Day

Monday Motivation: Three Weeks Until Spartan Day

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I can’t believe that, in three week’s time, it will all be over and I’ll have- hopefully- completed my first Spartan Run. Eek! This is hurtling towards me at an accelerated pace, and I’m hoping that my nod towards training is enough to see me through.

As I said in last Monday’s post I started the week with WAR. And I had DOMS for days, I definitely pushed myself! On Tuesday I did a 5k run/ walk which felt good, but reminded me that my body isn’t quite 100% yet, my left leg still felt a bit off and weak. I’m hoping that my runs this week will show an improvement, but who knows. 

I had an unanticipated busy week, with a trip to Islay on Wednesday meaning that I missed my regular Jog Scotland run. I was out on Thursday night and so I missed PiYo but I managed a walk and a little cross training on both nights which was better than nothing. Since then, I’ve had visitors all weekend for the Seafood Festival, which is one of the best weekends of the year in Tarbert. This year was no different: it was really wet but we had great fun, great food, excellent company and a few cheeky drinks including the newest addition to the local gin collection: Kintyre Gin   I’ve had a day off today, which had mostly been spent getting beds stripped and washed, and catching up on a few things around the house. We have a quiet weekend coming up, with no visitors which will be nice as we’ve enjoyed company for the past three weekends. I’m hoping that this week will give me a chance to keep my fitness goals on track. I’m heading to WAR later today, we’ll see how that goes after such a busy weekend 😉 

We then have a trip to London planned before the Spartan Race, so I’ll be doing what I can between times to keep up. Eeek! Here’s some Monday Motivation that I’m holding on to- I hope it works for you!

Monday Motivation: More Spartan Training

Monday Motivation: More Spartan Training

by TartanJogger ♥ 3 Comments

Pheeee-ew! What a busy weekend! We had our end of class salsa night out on Friday, our Ceilidh-come-Fèis-Showcase on Saturday and a lovely day out to Portavadie on Sunday. My parents were here, so it was good fun to catch up and relax. But it did mean that I didn’t get much training done over the weekend.

Before that, though, I’d made good progress in my attempt to become a SpartanJogger: I didn’t get to WAR on Monday or PiYo on Tuesday: I’d had some adjustments from the miracle working Osteopath on Monday so I gave my body some time to adjust, but I felt brilliant afterwards.

On Wednesday I ran. Yay! 

First run in five weeks. It was a slow, steady three miler chatting with Emily so the time flew by. It was also torrential rain- we had thunder, lightening and overflowing drains to contend with, but we got it done. Why does running in the rain make you feel so bad ass?

Thursday was my first full- power PiYo session for some time and it felt great to be back to some degree of strength and flexibility. Jacqui loaned me some kit so that I can work on strength training in advance of the Spartan race, which is brilliant- and very kind of her. I now have a box jump, medicine balls which I can use as they are intended for or in a hold-all to replicate a sand bag. Jacqui gave me some really really good tips on some training ideas and exercises so I’ll be testing those out in the coming few weeks. 

Friday night was our last Salsa class- boo 😔I’ll miss it: the fun, the footwork, the cameraderie- hopefully we’ll have a chance to do it again.

So, all in all, I have definitely made progress in my work towards the Spartan race. Yay!

Tonight I gave it my all at WAR. I’m almost back to my old self: I definitely still have some weakness in my left leg, and it did collapse under me when I was doing some jump lunges. But for other parts of the class I dug in deep and kept focussed. I imagined myself in four weeks, ready to run and as strong as I could be 💪🏻, so I worked HARD and used my weighted gloves as much as possible.

 My plan for tomorrow night is to get in a solid run and to follow it up with some circuit exercises- if I’m not too sore after tonight’s class. I want to test my body a little, pushing it on while trying not to set back my recovery. 

We’ll see how that goes and I’ll report back to you next week 👍🏻, meanwhile I hope this resonates with you:  How is your training going? 

Have a good week 🙂