Tag: fun

Double – Double Digits

Double – Double Digits

by TartanJogger ♥ 26 Comments

Well, it’s now ten days until our wedding. TEN DAYS! The final double-digit day until @TheWelshWookie and I are married:)

On Saturday, I collected my dress, shoes and other last minute bits and pieces. We also ordered a Costco cake, just because I love ’em! So, I now reckon we’re completely organised. We have had one mishap, and if it’s the only glitch, I’ll be very happy. My mum & dad have a cake knife set, and it has been used by my sister and three brothers who are already married. And they have been engraved with their names and wedding dates. And so, the parentals arranged for our names and wedding date to be inscribed, too. But, @TheWelshWookie’s name has been misspelled! Oooops! While it’s a pity, I’m sure it will also be a future talking point!

writing-calvin-panic

On Sunday, @TheWelshWookie reached a huge milestone: his first ever double-digit run! We did a ten miler, in less than two hours, which I think was brilliant for a slow long run 🙂 We ran twice around the Glen road, and along the Kilberry road. It was perfect running weather, and I felt great during the whole run. More to the point, @TheWookie felt great too! 🙂

20140401-191750.jpg

It was good to get that run under my belt, as I hadn’t run much during the previous week. And I was pleased that it was comfortable. I felt like I could have done the half marathon distance no problem: I hope that doesn’t curse things! 😮 The Hal Higdon plan is definitely working well for me.

After lunch on Sunday, we spent the rest of the day in the garden: tidying, clearing, and getting the outdoors looking a little more presentable! We also cleaned out the hot tub, and refilled it ready for use. So after such a busy day we really enjoyed winding down in the evening, with candles and amazing chocolate sent to me by Kyla over at earlybirdfitness. It was delish!

20140401-191819.jpg

After a rest day yesterday (well, if you can call another two hours of gardening resting) we got a 5K in the bag tonight.

Now, we’re delighted to announce that……… the Hot Tub is OPEN!

 

On that note, I’m off for a dip right now! Bliss!

Has your week gotten off to a good start?

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Gifts Come in Threes!

The Best Gifts Come in Threes!

by TartanJogger ♥ 21 Comments

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!

20140325-184845.jpg

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? 😉

 

Tag Teaming the ‘Mill

Tag Teaming the ‘Mill

by TartanJogger ♥ 23 Comments

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!

treadmill

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

by TartanJogger ♥ 22 Comments

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?

Weekend Recap

Weekend Recap

by TartanJogger ♥ 12 Comments

After temporarily disappearing from Blogland over the weekend, I thought I’d explain why.

Friday night, @TheWelshWookie and I had the Hue and Cry gig that I was telling you about last week, and it was brilliant! The Kane brothers were entertaining as ever, and the play through of their ‘Bitter Suite’ album remained true to the original, with a few of the tracks updated a little. It was amazing!

photo 1

We had a couple of drinks at the venue, along with a couple more later, including an apple & guava cider, and a nice GnT. Perfect.

20140318-192200.jpg

On Saturday morning, we had a 5K planned. But, although I certainly felt fresh enough for a run, I decided to sleep in instead. It was bliss! We then hit the shops, as I had a few more bits to pick up for the wedding. @TheWookie got a new long sleeved running top from Run4It, which is lovely.

And, on Saturday afternoon, we had a great time: my nephew, Kieran, was a mascot at the SPL football match between Partick Thistle and Hibernian! He’s only five, but he was so great, and had a brilliant day. Kieran is a huge football fan, and Partick Thistle are his team: he goes to the games with his dad and granda.

Kieran went along early on Saturday with his dad and his granda, where they met the players and had a tour of the stadium. Next, he (along with the other two mascots) had a kick about on the pitch while the players warmed up. And just before kick off,  they led the teams onto the pitch, and were there for the referee’s coin toss.

He must have been a lucky mascot, as Thistle won 3-1!

@TheWelshWookie and I went along to support him, along with his mum (my sis) and his brother, Aidan who – at three – was going to his first ever football match. He loved it too! My other nephews Ryan and Liam also came along, as did my other sis Angie, her BF Ryan and Kieran’s auntie and uncle Alison and Chris. It was a fab family day out!

20140318-192128.jpg 20140318-192146.jpg 20140318-192137.jpg

I even, erm, ‘enjoyed’ a pie and bovril at half time 😉

BizkkfFIEAAx_Sv

After the game, we were all invited to the hospitality suite where Kieran was presented with a signed football by the Man of the Match, Kallum Higgenbotham. Lucky boy!

photo 2

We then had a fab night back at my sis’ house, with a few vinos and a Chinese takeaway.

Sunday was grocery shopping, and driving home, tired after a busy-but-fun couple of days!

Have you ever been a sports mascot before?

Bitter Suite Friday

Bitter Suite Friday

by TartanJogger ♥ 16 Comments

Happy Weekend to you, welcome to Friday!

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

wedding_meme

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!

a1869163729_10

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!
http://youtu.be/ZxJjv1LQ4ic

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?

Affy Windy

Affy Windy

by TartanJogger ♥ 26 Comments

This morning, @TheWelshWookie and I headed out to do our eight mile run. We had perfect running conditions: it was cool and overcast but dry. However, it was affy windy. So much so that when we got to the harbour the Tarbert – Portavadie ferry wasn’t running!

We headed out on around glen road, which was where we ran a fortnight ago. It was quiet, and we kept our pace slow. We then headed back into the village, and along our usual harbour route to Garvel then around the harbour to the concrete and back. 8 miles done. It felt really good today!

20140308-140157.jpg

This was @TheWelshWookie’s longest ever run, and he felt good afterwards, too: the steady, slow pace and fuel practice paid off.

I took the MP3 player that Girl Runs Wild sent. And, I can tell you, she has some great taste in music! It has loads of really good, upbeat tracks, including ‘Gloria’ by Laura Brannigan, ‘Suddenly I See’ by KT Tunstall and ‘Grace Kelly’ by Mica. I was so excited to hear a track by The Lightning Seeds that I hadn’t heard for years! (It was ‘Sugar Coated Iceberg’ in case you’re wondering). Then, at around the 6 mile mark, I heard the first track that we both have, it was ‘Teardrop’ by Massive Attack. Love that.

As I got to my final hill, I was cheered by some good old Meatloaf, and I was signing along like a loon! @TheWelshWookie thought I was singing ‘I Battered the Hill’ instead of ‘Bat out of Hell’, so I think I’ll be sticking with those new lyrics from now on 😉

To finish the final mile, I had some Mumford and Sons, which was just right at that point in my run. I can definitely say that I am so glad we did the swap: I’ve heard some great tunes I don’t have, or I had forgotten about, and I’ve been introduced to some great music I hadn’t heard before. I’m not sure what Girl Runs Wild will think of my playlist, but I’m looking forward – with trepidation – to finding out!

After today, I’ve added to my  Around the World Running Blog Relay total by another 8 miles, or 12.88 kilometres, which brings my  total to 28.98 kilometres for week one 🙂

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend: I know it’s LA Marathon time, and the Inverness Half tomorrow too.

Are you running this weekend? What’s your goal?

An Update

An Update

by TartanJogger ♥ 16 Comments

Evening all!

I thought I’d give you a quick update on my half marathon training plan, and the headline is that it’s going really well.

So far, Hal Higdon is working out really well: it’s a good mix of runs, with four days running, one day cross training and two rest days per week. I’ve now reached Week 5, Day 4, so I’m not quite at the half way point yet. I’m managing to do a mix of running outdoors and dreadmill runs, which is also helping to stave off boredom.

So tonight, I’ve added to my  Around the World Running Blog Relay mileage: another 3 miles, or 4.83 kilometres, which brings my  total to 16.1 kilometres so far 🙂

In wedding news, I now have virtually everything arranged, I think. And if I don’t have it arranged, it isn’t happening! I’m just about to finish off writing the Order of Service, and that will be another job done! 🙂

funny-wedding-programs

I feel as though some things are just about coming together, in terms of both running and wedding planning this week 😉

What’s going well for you at the moment?

The Playlist Swap

The Playlist Swap

by TartanJogger ♥ 30 Comments

Tonight, I headed out for my second dry run in a row for ages! I was running four miles, and so I was able to listen to some of Girl Runs Wild‘s running playlist. I was very excited!

The first forty five minutes worth of music is a really great mix, all of which I really enjoyed. It included:

  • the theme from Flashdance
  • a good smattering of Country music
  • some old skool James tracks
  • some Katie Melua

And, as I finished my four miles, I was running to Roar by Katy Perry! Yay!

20140304-190039.jpg 20140304-190031.jpg

I’m looking forward to hearing more! As I think of some of the sad tracks on my own playlist, I think I’ve benefited from this swap! It was great to be able to run, and have no idea what music was coming next. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this aspect of my run tonight.

So, I’ve added to my  Around the World Running Blog Relay mileage: another 4 miles, or 6.44 kilometres, for a total of 11.27 kilometres so far 🙂

What’s your favourite running track?

A Blogger Surprise!

A Blogger Surprise!

by TartanJogger ♥ 44 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting to Girl Runs Wild about running music and playlists. During the online conversation, she mentioned that we should buy a basic MP3 player each, download our playlists, and mail them to each other.

And so, the great playlist swap has begun!

While Girl Runs Wild is still waiting for me to receive the MP3 player from Amazon to load and send to her, I received an email on Tuesday, telling me to look out for a little package through the mail 😉

And yesterday, there was a parcel waiting for me at the front door! Eeeek!

It was quite a large package, and my first thoughts were: was there something I’ve ordered for the wedding that I’ve forgotten about? Has @TheWelshWookie been doing some sneaky online shopping?

I carried the package into the kitchen, and opened it. Hmmm. It was a lovely pink box, wrapped in a silver satin ribbon. I was intrigued!

20140226-194506.jpg

I carefully removed the ribbon, puzzling over this lovely package.  My thoughts included have I entered and won a competition? I rechecked the name and address, in case I’d accidentally opened a package for my neighbour: nope! It’s definitely for me!

I opened the box, unsure of what to expect. And what did I find? A box of fabulous goodies, perfect for a runner!

The lovely notecard inside explained all: this wonderful blogger was treating me to the whole ‘Girl Runs Wild’ running experience, including the music, fuel, recovery food and post-run pampering kit! 😀

20140226-194459.jpg

In the box was: a 9 Bar (I love these), a bag of Lindt eggs (delish!), The Body Shop Total Energy Enlivening Body Gel, a big box of lovely scented tea lights and another small gift box containing the MP3 player!

I’m a very, very lucky blogger!

I’m already a huge fan of 9 bars, and I’m not sure you’ll believe this, but @TheWelshWookie and I polished off the last of our Lindt chocolate balls from Christmas only on Monday, so to receive the Lindt eggs now is just perfect!

The body gel smells really lovely, and I can’t wait to try it post-run. I use a lot of candles, and the ones Girl Runs Wild included smell divine!

I am tempted to have a sneak listen to the MP3 player but I’m going to hold off, and use it on my long run, so that I can really enjoy it. I’ll let you know all about it after I’ve listened!

20140226-194512.jpg

I’ve been blown away by both the generosity and the lovely, thoughtful surprise: it has really made my week!

Thank you, Girl Runs Wild! You’ve really highlighted for me how fantastic all of you bloggers are!

In case you missed it, we’re also both signed up for the Around the World Running Blog Relay 2014: Are you in yet? No? Well, you’d best get a wriggle on, it starts on Saturday! 😉 Sign up here

Have you ever received a wonderful surprise?