Tag: run

Coos on the Beach

Coos on the Beach

by TartanJogger ♥ 13 Comments

Yesterday, @TheWelshWookie and I had a busy day.

We started our Saturday off with a little run, involving a mahoosive hill, followed by a dip in the hot tub. It was a beautifully sunny day!

After an early lunch, we headed to Campbeltown, on an errand. I’ll reveal more about that later in the week 😉

On our way, we saw this:

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And we also saw a few wakeboarders out enjoying the weather.

While there, we were lucky enough to see the pupils from the local school in a football tournament. It looked like they had a brilliant time, and the weather couldn’t have been better for them! Not only were there schools from around Argyll, but also from Dumbarton, Glasgow and other places. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time!

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We then headed to Muneroy Tearoom in Southend, which is the most southerly point on the Kintyre peninsula. Southend is also the place where St Columba set foot in Scotland, and has a cracking beach!

At the tearoom, we had FANTASTIC cake. They post pictures of their latest home baking delights, and we were not disappointed. @TheWookie had a Butterscotch Cream sponge, I had a Mint Choc cake. Wow. It was served slightly warm, with the icing just going gooey and was sprinkled with mint aero and had mint aero bubbles too. Oh, my. It was nom nom nom!

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Given that the weather was so good, we drove back to Campbeltown the scenic route, and it was beautiful. Ailsa Craig and the Isle of Arran were partially hidden by the haze caused by the sunshine on the sea. We even saw some Highland Cows Heilan’ Coos sunbathing on the beach! Not something you get to see every day!

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Today, I wore my RnR Madrid vest on a run for the first time, and got in an 8 miler. It was warm! So, of course, I finished up with another dip in the hot tub.

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The GB Relay has begun today: good luck to all those running this week, and we’ll see you on Sunday in Argyll! 🙂

How has your weekend been?

The Playlist Swap (Part Three)

The Playlist Swap (Part Three)

by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

It’s been a while since I posted about the Playlist swap. It has been a lot of fun!

Frequent visitors will remember that Girl Runs Wild and I swapped MP3 players earlier in the year, and it was a fantastic experience! I also shared with you that I’d received an MP3 player from Kyla at http://earlybirdfitness.com and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying her music.

Lots of tracks are upbeat and really good for running to. There were a few oldies I had forgotten about, including a track that reminds me of a holiday to Ibiza with my sister (The Ketchup Song, if you’re wondering 😉 ) and I’ve been loving the Justin Timberlake tracks!

As with Julia’s MP3, it’s been really good to hear music I didn’t know, and songs from both MP3s that were previously unknown to me have become firm favourites.

I’m looking forward to getting another MP3 in the future from The Running Princess, who has been busy running the Paris and Edinburgh marathons recently. Go, Allison!

There’s another running track that I just love running to at the moment. It’s a little slow, but very powerful. It’s from a BRILLIANT album, too. I’d highly recommend it.

‘What is it? What is it?’

I’m sure you’re shouting that out loud, while reading this post and rolling your eyes at my dramatic build-up…. 😉

It’s….

Yip, Iron Sky from Paolo Nutini’s album Caustic Love.

And I love, love, love it.

Do you have a favourite new running track at the moment? What is it?

Wednesday Wisdom

Wednesday Wisdom

by TartanJogger ♥ 8 Comments

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I struggled to select a quote for today. Many, many of my favourites are from the wisdom of Maya Angelou.

Rest peacefully, Phenomenal Woman.

Marathon Training Tuesday

Marathon Training Tuesday

by TartanJogger ♥ 16 Comments

I ran today! Woo hoo!

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Today’s Hal Higdon marathon training called for 3 miles. It was great to get out there. I sported my Great Run t-shirt for the first time 🙂

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As we headed to the harbour, it was sunny and a little warm, but by the time we got to the end of the first mile it was chucking down! But, it actually felt really good to run in the rain.

When I uploaded my Nike+ SportWatch data, I saw that the Nike+ running site has had a facelift, and I like it! 😀

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I was really pleased with the pace tonight.

I also received an email today from the organisers of the GB Relay. It contained a link to the contact details of participants, so I’ve emailed the people on either side of our stage, so that we can arrange the baton handover. Hopefully it will all go very smoothly!

Did you run in sunshine or rain today?

 

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 16 Comments

Welcome to Monday.  Is it a holiday where you are? It isn’t here in Argyll, so I’ve been busy working all day.

Today is day one of my Hal Higdon Marathon training programme. And it’s a rest day 😉  I’ve been really inspired by everyone’s running this weekend, be it at the Edinburgh Marathon Festival, Mull of Kintyre runs, Rock ‘n’ Roll Liverpool, Bupa 10K or many other runs. Well done!

Here’s something to set up your week:

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Absolutely. How are you going to be of value this week?

Wednesday Wisdom

Wednesday Wisdom

by TartanJogger ♥ 8 Comments

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The Garden

The Garden

by TartanJogger ♥ 20 Comments

While I was out running, in the rain, on Sunday, I was admiring the fields full of bluebells and the primula that were blooming by the side of the road.
@TheWelshWookie and I had decided to run the Glen road in reverse: and it turned out to be tougher than expected! So it was good to be distracted by the beautiful plants and the lambs gambolling in the fields.
When we got back, I realised that our own garden is getting to that point in Spring where the colours are beginning to pop and burst out all over. The fushia, clematis and roses aren’t yet out- they’ll give some late summer and autumn colour. But the peonies and azalea are showing off their style!
Wanna see?

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How’s your garden looking at the moment?

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 24 Comments

Happy Monday! Did you have fun this weekend?

I’m happy to report that we’re really pleased with our route for the GB Relay. Most of it is along a cycle path, and is reasonably flat/undulating with no stonking great big hills!

But here we are, back to the working week. Do you sit at a desk while working? I used to. For the past year or so I’ve been standing most of the time. I moved my laptop stand from my desk, and rearranged my office so that I could stand when using my laptop. My phone is right beside it, and all of my important files are in the drawers below, as I’m using a three drawer filing cabinet as a ‘standing desk’. It’s the perfect height for me to work at comfortably.

When I need to focus on a piece of work, I can sit at my desk and concentrate, without being distracted by incoming emails.  I have plenty of room for laying out work, so it’s much harder for papers to go AWOL, or be abandoned due to other distractions. For me, it’s a win-win 🙂

At first, I thought I’d perhaps do it for a few weeks. I’ve now been doing it for so long it’s second nature. Also, as my ‘standing desk’ area is looking out of the window, I get to enjoy the views too!

Here’s an interesting infographic I found on Pinterest, which I thought I’d share:

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Do you sit, stand or walk all day?

300

300

by TartanJogger ♥ 11 Comments

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Welcome to my 300th blog post! And, I had to find any excuse to celebrate by posting a picture of fellow Scot Gerard Butler as a Spartan ❤

This probably reminded him of the weather at home:

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Anyone out there doing a Spartan race this year?

If so, this might be the workout for you, courtesy of Men’s Health 🙂

GB Relay Update

Tonight, I saw this post on Facebook:

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So, with FREE STAGES up for grabs, now might well be the time for you and your team to bag a few stages!

Happy Friday, all!

The GB Relay

The GB Relay

by TartanJogger ♥ 14 Comments

Well, @TheWelshWookie and I were hoping to run in the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Liverpool half marathon next weekend. But, plans have changed, so we’ll have to pass on it this year.

So, that means that our next run will be as part of the Great British Relay 2014 on 8th June 🙂

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The aim is to break the world record for the longest continuous relay around the coast of Britain. Did someone say record attempt? We’re in!

The British coast has been split into 594 stages, and the run is done continuously, 24 hours a day, during June and July 2014.

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@TheWelshWookie and I will be running stage 138, from Duror to Strath of Appin Primary School, which is at the very north of Argyll and Bute. Our stage handover is at 18:19, and our stage is 12.5K long.

There are still a few gaps along the way, including immediately before us, so I have no idea how we’re going to get the baton!

We’re going to go for a recce on Saturday, and try to figure out how we’ll get ourselves from the finish to the car; or how we’ll get from the car (if we park it at the finish) to the starting point! I’m sure we’ll figure it out, but with no buses or trains, it’ll be a challenge 😉

We’re really looking forward to being part of such a brilliant event, and if you’re in the UK and haven’t signed up yet, visit the website  GBrelay.com

Any suggestions for how to manage the logistics? Have you signed up?