Lucky Number 7

August 23, 2013August 23, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 5 Comments

Last night, I met my new nephew for the first time, and he is a cutie! I can’t believe he is 9 days old already…. but he seems so tiny compared to his brothers and cousins!

I’ve been describing my nephews over the past week as our very own rugby sevens team:

I had to post a pic of the Wales Rugby Sevens team, for @TheWelshWookie!

I now have seven nephews on my side of the family, and we also have a beautiful, talented, wonderful niece and a fun, entertaining, brilliant nephew on @TheWelshWookie’s side, too.

There are lots of good things that come in sevens. There’s the Seven Wonders of the World:

And the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World:

Of, course, I could compare them to the seven dwarfs….

And my favourite- Seven Harry Potter Books 😉

There’s also:

As well as:

Seven Samurai
The Magnificent Seven
The Seven Sisters
The Seven Hills of Rome
Seven Sacraments
Seven Seas
Seven years of luck

Ok, so we’ll gloss over this one:

Today’s Stats:

Run: 2 miles

Time: 19:55 woo hoo!

Weather: Sunny

Trainers: Lunar Racers +3

Favourite Running Track of the Day:

Today’s Life Lesson: When writing, remember to save, back up, save, back up…

Can you think of any more groups of seven? Which is your favourite?

Mo Motivation

August 22, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 1 Comment

Mo Farah is my running idol. I think that it helps, him running 5,000m and 10,000m, and moving up to half and full marathon distance in the coming months/years. It kinda makes him more ‘real’ since he runs my distances.

I’m so inspired by him- I watched him win the World Championship 5,000m and 10,000m golds in Moscow last week. How he reacts to pressure, trusts his instincts and his training is awesome. You can watch the BBC sport clip of his final 10k lap here:

Mo Farah wins in Moscow

I watched Mo Farah at the Anniversary Games in London a few weeks ago, running in the 3,000m. He was amazing, bagging a personal best over this distance.

I watched him smash Steve Cram’s 28 year old 1500m record in Monaco recently.

I watched Mo run half of the VLM, just to test himself and his training.

I watched him achieve his gold 10,000 on Super Saturday, during the 2012 Olympics in London, and his 5,000 gold a week later.

I watched him try his hand at other sports by participating in Superstars.

And I’ve watched him for years. I follow him on twitter. I read other people’s posts about him. He’s some guy.

And he seems to just get better, and better.

He’s such an amazing distance runner: he always looks so relaxed, and the way he is able to pull away from the pack in the later part of his races is awe inspiring, and tremendous to watch.

He runs his own charity foundation. Usain Bolt has agreed to race him, for charity- to benefit both of their foundations.

He seems to be a thoroughly decent, dedicated, hard working guy who loves his family. He loves his football.

He does the MoBot.

I find him really inspiring.

What’s not to like?

Birthday Celebrations!

August 21, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Today is @TheWelshWookie’s birthday- altogether now:

We celebrated with some dinner in the cafe.

Followed, of course, by a glass of vino and a dip in the hot tub 😉

It’s also my nephew’s 5th birthday today- a big

to you too, KAD! xxx

It’s Birthday Overload here!

Today’s Life Lesson: check the zip of your jeans before you leave the house…

Have you treated yourself today?

My Year So Far in Race Numbers

August 20, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Now that I have a short break before my next official race, and with a week before my autumn 10k training begins properly, I’m feeling a little nostalgic and retrospect.

As part of this, I’ve dug out my bibs for my official runs this year.

Two 5ks, two 10ks, two half marathons 😉

When I think back to 30th December last year, when I decided to run my first half marathon, I had no idea how ~~addicted to~~ involved in running I would become. I had no idea what this year would bring, in terms of travel, runs, and such a lot of fun!

Not a lot of planning went into any of these- most were booked on a whim, and there’s no sign of this changing, since I signed @TheWelshWookie and I up for his first half marathon: the Rock ‘n’ Roll Madrid half in April 2014! It looks like autumn/winter 2013 and 2014 will be filled with similar surprises!

I still have four races this year- who knows if there will be any more?

Raining in Rothesay

August 19, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 3 Comments

Today, I found myself in Rothesay. But it was raining. Bleugh!

The sun was, however, breaking through the cloud over Portavadie first thing this morning:

I have only ever been to Rothesay once before, and I was hoping to see the Isle of Bute in glorious sunshine, but it wasn’t to be.

The trip involved two ferry journeys:

1. From Tarbert to Portavadie

2. From Colintraive to Rhubodach

On the drive from Colintraive to Portavadie, I pulled in quickly at Tighnabruaich Viewpoint to take a quick photo, but headed off again pretty quickly to catch my ferry home.

Maybe my third trip- whenever that may be- will be sunny!

Today’s Stats:

Run: 2 miles, and it felt pretty good

Time: 20:09

Weather: Glorious sunshine

Trainers: Nike FreeRuns +5

This was not part of my running playlist, but it has been stuck in my head all day….

Today’s Life Lesson: take two photocopies of everything. One will go astray….

Did you use any public transport today?

A Terrific TT10K

August 17, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 6 Comments

I did it! I ran the TT10K, and I loved it!

I survived my third run in 12 days!

The weather was very kind to us: it did, unexpectedly, involve some sunshine.

Yes, I found both off-road sections pretty tough, as they were both uphill, but what an amazing sense of achievement!

I’m pretty pleased with my time, considering the course, and I was definitely helped along by the really positive marshals and fantastic support.

We’ve been to the Village Hall, to take part in the Tarbert Harbour Authority Centenary Celebrations, and partied with free beer and BBQ! I wish all races ended like this!

I’ll post a full race report soon, but for now, the hot tub is calling; and I actually have a mud-related blister to tend to (there’s a new experience for me!).

Who’s up for next year? You’d be crazy to miss this one from your calendar!

Today’s Stats:

Run: 10K race: hilly, part road and part trail

Time: 1:06:00 or so. Forgot to end my run on my Nike+ SportWatch GPS at the finish line!

Weather: Cloudy with sunny spells, warm and humid

Trainers: LunarFly +3 GTX

Motivating running track today: This track played just as I got onto the Castle Loop- it’s one of my Power Songs. I LOVE it. And I needed it!

Today’s Life Lesson: Even older trainers and socks can still cause blisters, especially when caked in mud!

What was your first off-road run?

TT10K Tomorrow!

August 16, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 2 Comments

It’s the night before is the inaugural Tarbert 10k run, the TT10k.

It’s also Friday.

It’s also sunny, which wasn’t forecast.

Woop Woop!

@TheWelshWookie and I went for a short run, mainly ~~to look like runners when we visited the registration marquee~~ because it was such a lovely evening, and I wanted to have a wee stretch/limber before tomorrow.

I took some pictures, just to show how gorgeous it is tonight. The forecast for tomorrow is torrential rain and high winds, so I wanted something to compare with my photos tomorrow!

We then went to the registration marquee, and I collected my bib for tomorrow:

It was lovely, being greeted by the ‘caution, runners’ signs on my way home!

I’m now organised, and ready for tomorrow.

Bring it on!

Today’s Stats:

Run: 2.5 miles, slow and steady

Time: 27:32

Weather: Glorious sunshine

Trainers: Lunarglides

First running track today: this will get stuck in your brain!

Today’s Life Lesson: if you see me standing in a queue at the supermarket, join a different queue. I’m likely to be in the slow moving one.

What’s the weather forecast for you tomorrow?

Rockin’ and Rollin’ into 2014

August 15, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Evening, all!

Are you fed up with me titling my blogs with words ending in -in’ this week? I promise this will be the last. Ok, at least I think it will, so I’d better retract that promise, just in case!

After signing up for the Zombie Night Run UK event this morning, as a Zombie, I’ve been excited all day, thinking about it. Now that I know where it is (it’s still a secret, except for those who have entered early 😉 ) and I’ve decided to be a chaser rather than be chased, I’m looking forward to it! It also comes at the end of a week’s holiday for me, so it’ll be something to look forward to.

And when I arrived home from work tonight, I found that another amazing run has been announced.

Drum roll please………………………………………………..

2014 will be the inaugural Rock and Roll Liverpool Marathon and Half! Woop! Woop!

@TheWelshWookie and I have already been ~~considering~~ dreaming about the possibility of doing the RnR Madrid run next year. I’ll more than likely do Edinburgh, and I’d love to go back to Dublin, too!

Does this mean a possible 3 or 4 RnR events might be on the cards for us?

Ooooh, decisions, decisions! Whatever I decide, I’ll be looking to add another of these to my collection:

Today’s stats

Run: ANOTHER run-less day…. I need to get that sorted soon! Stretching (and eating) instead 😉

Favourite Stretching Track today: an old Coldplay fave

Today’s life lesson: think before you speak. That’s all.

Have you planned any runs for 2014 yet?

Getting Ready for TT10K

August 14, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This Saturday is the inaugural Tarbert 10k run, the TT10k.

I can’t wait!

There are two runs: the 5k kicks off the day at 10am, followed by the 10k at 11am.

One thing that I’m really, really looking forward to is that I know the route well. Pretty much every step of it.

But I know it will be challenging: two parts of the run are off road, on trails, which is totally new for me. I’ve never done an official run on a trail before! Also, it has hills. Pretty sizeable hills.

OK, so maybe not quite a mountain, but still:

It’s definitely high enough for me!

Saturday also marks the 100th anniversary of Tarbert Harbour Authority! So, we have another fun filled weekend ahead, including a village barbeque after both runs. The organisation that has gone into setting up this event has been brilliant, and I’m sure it’ll all go very well, as the people behind the run really have put in loads of work, and obviously care about making this a great event for participants, marshals, volunteers, locals and visitors.

Here’s an idea of the route:

It’ll be worth it, for views like this:

Here's my usual running route. — Here’s my usual running route.

Today’s Stats:

Run: Not today, planning on some strength training

Favourite track from today: on of my most favourite songs ever!

With all of this running talk, I forgot my important news: I’m an Auntie again! 😀

My sis had a gorgeous baby boy yesterday, he arrived weighing 7lb 14oz, and looks just like his brothers! My family now has a rugby sevens team: seven boys, no girls!

Can’t wait to meet him!

Today’s Life Lesson: as soon as you walk away from your desk, you can guarantee that an important call will come through, and you’ll miss it….

Does your village/town/city have any running events?

Dabblin’

August 13, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I wrote about browsin’. Today I’m writing abut dabblin’.

Dabblin’ in what? I hear you ask….

Dabblin’ in making my first ever video clip, and uploading it to YouTube. Woo Hoo! Go, me! Learning a new techie skill! I didn’t just upload it to the website in the ‘normal’ way: I uploaded it directly from my iPhone. Who knew?

I'm such a technophobe at times! — I’m such a technophobe at times!

And, so, what’s this major, artistic masterpiece I have lovingly crafted and edited together with skill and determination?

Erm….. it’s a wee clip of two boats that I filmed when out on my walk yesterday. 😉

Would it seem more exciting if I told you that one boat, a fishing boat called Seaspray overtakes the other, Silver Buccaneer?

Would you like to see it? Aww shucks, go on, then…….

Yay!

On another note, I found my race result from the RnR Dublin:

Today’s stats

Run: just a shortie, 2 miles. @TheWelshWookie came with me, to test out his knees, after Saturday

Time: 21:27 nice and slow

Trainers: Nike LunarFly +3 GTX

Weather: Cloudy

Favourite track from today’s run: Cannae beat a bit of DJ Sammy

Today’s Life Lesson: When sneaking out a fire exit you intend to sneak back in, remember to jam it open first….

What new skill have you tried recently?

	Still a Runner on The Great Post Lockdown W…
	TartanJogger on Weekly Workouts
	Still a Runner on Weekly Workouts
	TartanJogger on Weekly Workouts
	The Running Princess on Weekly Workouts

TartanJogger

Adventures in living well, quotes and very slow running

Tag: Nike

Lucky Number 7

Mo Motivation

Birthday Celebrations!

My Year So Far in Race Numbers

Raining in Rothesay

A Terrific TT10K

TT10K Tomorrow!

Rockin’ and Rollin’ into 2014

Getting Ready for TT10K

Dabblin’

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this: