Since collecting my treadmill on Sunday, we’ve been working around the other stuff that was in one of our spare bedrooms.
What you can’t see in this picture is the desktop PC in front of the treadmill, the musical instruments on the other side of the room, and the storage unit filled with electrical bits and bobs including a DVD player, video recorder, PS2, etc, etc.
Here’s where we got to, mid way through the clear and sort, when I was just about ready to throw everything away….. @TheWelshWookie wouldn’t let me 😉
And here we are, with the new set-up: the desktop PC is gone, the MacBook has relocated upstairs, and the TV is wall mounted, so that we can watch it while using the treadmill.
And, yes. At my age, I do still have my TY Beanie Bears on display. Does that say something deep and meaningful about me?
The wires and cables still need to be hidden, so we’ll pick up some trunking for that next weekend, but all in all, I’m delighted with all of @TheWelshWookie’s hard work today, setting this up.
Me? Well, I helped a little. And I watched my first two Christmas movies on Christmas24. I did run 5K watching the end of the second one, just to test out the wall mounted TV, of course 😉
And in other news, not only did the Zombified TartanJogger and @TheWelshWookie make it into the Lennox Herald as reported earlier in the week, we made it into the Helensburgh Advertiser too!
Tonight, I gave my treadmill a wee road test (pardon the pun!)
I was late home from work; the clocks have changed meaning it was pitch dark outside, and the rain was pounding. Perfect treadmill testing time!
I ran for 20 minutes, just to give it a go, and get a feel for it. The machine was really steady and sturdy; it felt better than some gym treadmills I’ve tried. I set my Nike SportWatch to register my shoe sensor instead of the GPS, and away I went!
I was running reasonably fast (for me) but only registered at running around 10-11 minutes per mile. So, I increased the speed. I probably should have increased the incline instead- but I’ll try that out next time.
All in all, I enjoyed the novelty of it: being able to watch TV as I ran was fun, but in the long term I’m pretty sure that it won’t replace outdoor running for me 😉
Today’s Stats:
Run: 20 minutes
Distance: 2.1 miles
Trainers: LunarRacers
Weather: wet and windy, hence the treadmill run!
Today’s Life Lesson: the day after helping lift a treadmill is not the day for wearing a skirt- bruised shins is not a good look!
OK, so it’s new-to-me, rather than new, but it is a decent, solid, heavy duty electric treadmill. Â I figured that it would be better to buy a second hand one like this, rather than a new one that wasn’t up to much.
I love it!
This purchase isn’t designed to replace my outdoor runs: far from it. I only want to use it to enhance my existing running: maybe for speed training, and for days when the weather is really bad, now that we’re heading towards winter Me and ice don’t get on well at all: @TheWelshWookie calls me Bambi on icy days, as I struggle to walk if there’s even a hint of ice, let alone run on it!
Big thanks to @TheWelshWookie, as he did most of the work lifting this from the seller’s second floor flat, into the car (which I accidentally scratched 😦 ) into our house and upstairs to the spare bedroom.
It’s now in situ, and @TheWelshWookie has big plans to get the TV wall mounted on the wall in front of it, and setting it all up with the surround sound he has in the room; just to help encourage us to use it. Sounds like a plan to me!
I’ll get some pics up once we’re organised!
Any treadmill owners out there? When do you use yours?
Positives: great fun run, brilliant support from marshals and other runners
Negatives: the weather, no medal, cost
This was our first ever obstacle race, and @TheWelshWookie and I had planned our outfits far more than we had planned the run itself!
My sister-in-law, Janice, transformed us into zombies, and she did a great job:
We arrived at Helensburgh Rugby Club with plenty of time to spare, before registration opened, and so we were able to use the WCs before most people arrived, and watched the end of the rugby:
As soon as we were able to, we signed our disclaimer forms and collected our bibs:
And then soaked up the atmosphere. We had our photos taken with quite a few of the other runners: these are a couple from the ZNR FaceBook Page:
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I wore my base layer compression top, and long running tights with my Nike LunarFly GTX trainers. I don’t have a pre-race gear check pic 😦
The facilities at the start/finish were good, with runners having full access to the changing and shower facilities. if I knew then how much these were needed…… more of that later! There was music playing, and the runners, both zombies and survivors, were milling about, chatting and taking photos. There was a mix of runners who were, and weren’t wearing fancy dress.
The race was due to start at 5.30pm, but we were told that there would be a short delay. At around 5.45, we were asked to enter an enclosed area for the pre-race briefing and warm up. As the ground was a little marshy, people (us included) were trying to find dry-ish areas. Turns out that was just daft!
The ‘survivors’ were then asked to head to the start line, and they headed off, with a five minute head start. Each survivor had a belt with two ‘life tags’, and the zombies were supposed to chase down the survivors, and take a life tag. After what seemed like forever, we were allowed to go; and we entered the forest in a cloud of dry ice- very atmospheric!
After only a couple of minutes, we were towards the back of the pack, but those in front of us took a wrong turn, and before we knew it we were leading the zombies! Of course, this only lasted for a few minutes, before we were swiftly overtaken!
The rain had just started as we began running, and the grass was wet and slippery. The light was beginning to fade, and I realised that this was going to be great fun! We reached our first obstacle, and had to crawl under a bridge, into a river, under a cargo net and up the muddy riverbank. Only then did I remember that I had my iPhone in my waistpack, and I was soaked through! Fortunately, my phone was OK!
So, even in the first kilometre my feet were squelching and I was dripping wet. We ran up a farm track, in the mud, where we were joined by a cow on the path! At the top of the muddy track was a large bog which we had to cross, and I managed to get my left leg well and truly stuck- fortunately I was able to drag myself out, and the next part of the race was through the dark forest, which was really, very muddy.
Some parts of the course were in complete darkness. Other parts of the race were lit with glow sticks, or had strobe lighting. It was slow going, but so much fun. On more than one occasion, I found myself hugging trees for dear life!
The marshals were excellent, they were very supportive and really encouraged us to keep going and kept us in character!
There were two water stops on course, with jelly babies at both, which was ideal, as much of the ‘race’ was walking, or wading through mud!
Towards the end of the run, I was able to pick up some speed, and run along a forest track road. Despite the squelching and the mud, I managed an OK pace! At around this time, the rain started to fall, really heavily, which didn’t help with visibility or the conditions; but added to the atmosphere.
At the last kilometre, we had to wade through a burn, which was icy cold. I couldn’t stop smiling! And there was one final surprise in store- a series of hay bales to climb over and cargo nets to clamber under. Fortunately, @TheWelshWookie was able to give me a shove over the hay bales: I’ll really need to work on my upper body strength! Finally, we crossed the finish line.
I’m happy to report that we finished ahead of several survivors, even though we didn’t get any life tags.
We then had to give our numbers, to make sure that all runners made it across the finish line!; and we were given our goody bags. We then grabbed our dry clothing and headed to the clubhouse to change.
Here’s the map of the race:
The goody bag was OK: a biscuit, a snack bar, a Buff sticker and tattoo and a bottle of water:
There as an after-run party which I’m sure was fantastic. We had planned on going, but I had a baby shower to go to and so we couldn’t stay for the party. Maybe next year!
I have two bruised and scraped knees, but I survived!
Here’s a short video clip:
My Stats:
Time: 1:35:42, but I came up a little short on distance.
The Medal: There was no medal, though I was sure that the website did originally say there was going to be one. Maybe I dreamed that.
Goody Bag: a paper bag which was sodden in seconds, with a biscuit, a snack bar, a bottle of water and a Buff tattoo and sticker.
T-shirt: a black technical T shirt. The design is good, but it was only available in men’s large, which was a little disappointing.
This run was a little on the expensive side, given that there was no medal or choice of t shirt size, but brilliant fun.
Positives: relaxed event, well organised, good & supportive marshalls, fab goody bag
Negatives: I missed hearing the pre-race instructions
This race was the first ever CowalFest running event held as part of CowalFest, which is held every October celebrating walking and the great outdoors! This was our first ever, proper trail race, and so we opted to sign up for the 5K rather than the 10K event.
@TheWelshWookie and I left in plenty of time, as we had an hour and a half’s drive ahead of us, and we wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time before hand. as the traffic can be slow.
We managed to get there with plenty of time to spare, so we registered and collected our bibs, and then soaked up the atmosphere while debating whether to wear jackets or not!
It was a cold, fresh day, but we knew that we’d warm up when the run started. As I was wearing my brand-new birthday jacket 😉 I opted to keep it on.
Here’s my pre-race gear check pic:
The facilities at the start/finish were great. Benmore Gardens, the location of the race, has a lovely coffee shop, and so toilet facilities were better than the usual portaloo! The staff had set up an outdoor sales area, with tea, coffee and snacks available for runners and supporters. It was great!
The race was due to start at 1.30pm, and about five minutes before, we all walked towards the start area. The 10K runners were asked to keep to the front of the group, with the 5K runners further back, which made sense. There wasn’t a loud speaker, and in the beginning, I could hear what was being said. Then, after about 30 seconds or so, the people to my left started talking and laughing, which meant that @TheWelshWookie and I couldn’t hear a thing. Nice one – so thoughtful!
Not only did I miss the briefing, but I actually missed the start of the race! 😮 People headed off, and so I was playing catch-up early on. I pressed the button on my Sport+ watch, and ran!
After we settled into the run, we decided to increase our pace slightly, as we were running well. That was until we reached THE HILL. Never having run here before, I had overheard other runners talking about The Hill, but I thought I’d wait and see it for myself. It was a long, winding monster of a hill! I managed to run for the first third of it or so, and then I power walked the best I could to the top of it. I was pretty out of breath!
The downhill was amazing, though, the view was great (sorry about the finger in the pic!):
I did take it easy, as I was a little worried about slipping on the shale. But I didn’t. 😉
Next, in the middle part of the race, was an out and back section, which was great: I saw that there weren’t many runners ahead of me who were running the 5K, and so my confidence grew a little. I ran a little faster (having recovered from the hill) and began picking off other runners.
In the final part of the race, I just ran. It felt great, I was really enjoying myself, and I picked off another three or four girls heading into the final stretch.
I had a couple of false finishes, though! I came around one corner, and saw a large group cheering, including my sister and three nephews. I assumed that was the finish line, and slowed down! People then started shouting ‘keep going’ and, literally, ‘this isn’t the finish line!’ lol!
I then reached the start area, and thought that I must have missed the actual finish, so again I slowed, and jogged over to the goody bags (priorities, and all that!) when I realised that I hadn’t quite reached the finish line for a second time! Doh!
I had a quick chat with the race officials, told them how much I had enjoyed the race, and then @TheWelshWookie finished.
The whole event was very relaxed, well run, and I loved it, even the big hill. I’d love to do this one again!
The gardens were beautiful:
Here’s the map of the race:
The goody bag was really great: I love the reusable bag. Here’s the contents of it:
As the 5K was a fun run, it was untimed. BUT- I placed! I was the third female home! Yay! I’ve never placed before, and will probably never place again, so I’m going to enjoy this for a long time!
It was a great run!
My Stats:
Time: 30:02, but I came up a little short on distance.
The Medal: I was glad to have one, and it was engraved
Goody Bag: reusable tote bag with a lovely logo, 9bar, water, an orange, jelly beans and some great money off vouchers from local businesses including Portavadie Marina and Loch Fyne Oyster Bar.
T-shirt: no t shirt, but we didn’t expect one, given the entry fee.
I’m hoping that this run will be a regular feature!
I know that I’m very lucky, since @TheWelshWookie supports my running, and also runs with me.
For my birthday last year he got me my Nike LunaryFly GTX:
I love these shoes, they’re great!
This year, he got me a new Ron Hill running jacket; perfect timing, since the weather has definitely turned cooler!
Thanks, Wookie! I love it! I know I’ll get great use out of it now, and again in the spring.
I also received another wonderful surprise last night: I PLACED in a run!  I was the third female across the line at the CowalFest 5K on Saturday! I’m going to be crowing about this for a long time 😀
The plan for the rest of my birthday is playing football with my nephews, dinner at the cafe, and more Harry Potter. And perhaps a celebratory glass of vino!
Positives: well organised, goody bags, well supported
Negatives: narrow route in places; poor water station placing
After the excitement of the Family Mile, we had spent the evening before the race at my sister’s house, celebrating two of my nephew’s birthdays, Ryan and Aidan, who’s birthdays were on Monday and Wednesday. We had a great family party; but @TheWelshWookie and I were very good and only had a couple of beers to celebrate 😉 We carb loaded with fish n’ chips and birthday cake!
I had my gear all prepared and ready:
We drove to Glasgow Green, and parked the car near to the finish line, for a quick get away later and walked along with lots of other runners to the start line in George Square.
Well, when I say George Square, we didn’t get near the square itself today, as the green muster area was just along Cochrane Street, back towards Merchant City. We had a long wait of about 20 minutes for the portaloos, but fortunately we had left plenty of time for this. We then headed into the corral, and it wasn’t too long until we heard the elite runners start, and we could see the big hill facing us to start the race, heading up St. Vincent Street. Here’s my view from the start:
Very quickly, we were moved to the start line, and we were off!
We headed up the dreaded hill, and this year there seemed to be far fewer walkers here than there were last year; or maybe we were just more prepared for it? Who knows, but it was much better. The hill finishes just at the 1K mark, and by then @TheWelshWookie and I had settled into a comfortable pace.
We ran along, past the slip road we used to use, to head over the Kingston Bridge. This year, we ran along the Clydeside Expressway instead, past a few highlights of the Glasgow Skyline: the SECC, the Armadillo, the Hydro (which is a brand new venue, opened earlier this week).
As we came off the expressway, we ran around the amazing Transport Museum, which is a fantastic building.
But, here’s my biggest criticism: the running width narrowed substantially here, at around the 3K mark, and it stayed quite narrow for the out-and-back to the ‘Squinty Bridge’ at 6K. This definitely affected my time, and that of many other runners, who had to dodge and weave, and run on the soft verge to get past.
Fortunately, a lot of runners followed race etiquette, and walked to the right, but not all did this.
As @TheWelshWookie and I carry water, we didn’t need to pause at the water stop which was at the 5.5K mark; it was a crazy place for a water station, as it was far too narrow, the rod as still open to traffic along our left hand side, and runners were tossing bottles right into the way of traffic! That’ll need to be thought out again!
We then ran over the Squinty Bridge, and I was feeling great!
We headed past Pacific Quay, and could see the Glasgow Science Centre, before we turned around, headed back over the bridge and ran along the Broomielaw alongside the River Clyde, towards Glasgow Green.
At around the 8K mark, @TheWelshWookie was slowing, but only ever so slightly. We had a half kilometre of a slightly slower pace, and with one mile to go, he told me to run on. I set off, still feeling really good, buoyed by the fantastic support along this stretch.
The final kilometre took me though Glasgow Green, to the finish point: again, the road narrowed, which I remembered from last year; but it was difficult to weave in and out; so my finish wasn’t as strong as I would have liked. But, all in all, I was pretty happy with my whole run!
Here’s the map of the race:
As I crossed the finish line (and remembered to stop my SportWatch this time), there were a lot of runners  taking sick bags, and using them. A LOT. Yuk. I kept walking, and had to de-tag my trainer myself, with no scissors. I’ve bruised my leg, accidentally punching it as I pulled it off. Oh, well.
Shortly after, I saw that @TheWelshWookie had finished, so we queued to collect our goodie bags, which contained our medals and finisher T shirts. Here’s the contents:
And we posed for a couple of photos:
There was then another bottle neck, trying to get out of the finisher’s area, which was crazy. Then, we weren’t able to get out because so many spectators were standing about waiting to met finishers: hello, people- that’s what the meeting area is for?? Hmmm.
Other than that, it was a great, well organised event, which we thoroughly enjoyed!
My Stats:
Time: 57:45 19 seconds short of my PB, but given the issues, that’s OK. I finished 3331st out of over 8000; 484th in my age group, and the 960th female to finish. @TheWelshWookie PB’d with 58:32
The Medal: pretty simple; the same medal was given out for a events this weekend.
Goody Bag: draw string bag, discount leaflet, chocolate bar, power gel, gel shots, Eat Natural bar
T-shirt: A grey marl T shirt, with ‘Finisher 2013’ on it. I already had the technical shirt.
Now, do I register for my third GSR 10K in a row, or for the half next year?
I’ve been waiting all day, to road test some of the new gear I bought over the weekend. I decided to try out my cool stripy tights 😀
We’ve had dreadful weather here, with gale force wind and really heavy downpours, but nothing was going to stop me from trying out these babies!
Instead of heading to the harbour, we turned left, and ran along the Campbeltown road. @TheWelshWookie suggested running up the hill on the main road, instead of running to the West Loch: a suggestion he later regretted when he realised how steep the hill was! It was tough, but I’m really feeling the benefit of the hill training paying off.
You can see the elevation 🙂
The hill gave me a chance to put the tights to the test. OK- so I know these are workout tights, not running tights. I know that I’ve gone for style over substance. BUT they are really comfortable to wear, and ideal for short runs. They did slip a little, so I probably won’t wear them on longer runs, or to races. But I do really like them.
@TheWelshWookie liked his new gear, too, including the new knee support, which is for his oldmanitis!
We were absolutely soaked by the time we got home, but I felt great! Autumn has definitely arrived, and I might have to dig out my running gloves soon…. my fingers were a little cold; it was around 10C/50F
On another note, the ticket ordering for the Commonwealth Games 2014 closed tonight: I hope I get some of those I’ve requested!
Today’s Stats:
Run: 2 mile, hills
Time: 20:26 pretty good!
Weather: Rainy, and quite cold
Trainers: Nike LunarFly GTX
Today’s Life Lesson: Why do socks always come out of the washer in odd numbers?
Evening all, have you had a good weekend? I’ve had a blast!
My shopping spree yesterday went better than I had anticipated (although @TheWelshWookie was driven bonkers by other shoppers barging in front of him 😮 ). We popped into the Nike store, only to find that they had a SALE on! Yes, that’s right, I accidentally walked into a sale. In the Nike shop. Oh. My. Goodness.
And so, IÂ was very controlled went a wee bit crazy, but at least I stocked up on some winter running gear, and not some frivolous stuff!
I bought two pairs of full length tights, one pair is a funky blue stripy number, and I also bought the dri-fit knit long sleeve top that  I have been coveting for months, since it was on SALE! Yay!
@TheWelshWookie also got some gear. including this rather bright number:
And, as it was the day before the Great North Run, I made @TheWelshWookie take my photo with the picture of Mo, in the Nike Store. Yes: I have no shame….
I then had a great night celebrating my god daughter’s birthday, which included a shedload one or two glasses of vino….!
This morning began with some more shopping (grocery shopping, bo-ring) and then we settled down to watch the build up of the GNR. I might have mentioned once or twice (or maybe more) to @TheWelshWookie that I really want to run it next year. It looked brilliant! I’m sure everyone will have seen the final couple of miles of the elite race, with Mo Farah just losing out on first place by one second: his sprint finish was just not enough. It was so exciting!
Congratulations to everyone who ran: I hope you enjoyed it, and are celebrating tonight.
We’ve been to a family Christening, and are now home, watching football. My team, the Jaguars, are facing @TheWelshWookie’s team, the Raiders, so tonight is going to be fun!
In other weekend news, Carolyn and Dougie have successfully completed the Beatson Challenge! They are so amazing, and I’m in awe of what they have achieved! We drove past them on our way to Glasgow on Saturday, and they managed a wave and a smile: they were looking really strong!
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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