Hello, did you miss me last week?
I don’t know how I managed it, but I simply forgot to blog last Monday, oops! It completely slipped my mind! It’s not as if I had drifted off track, I’d had a really good week, keeping my activity and targets for my 5×50 Challenge on track, eating well, and keeping busy.
Last week was great, too: I seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment.
As the weather was fantastic last Monday, I thought I’d squeeze in a 5k run before WAR. It seemed like a good idea at the time! I ran along the Crinan Canal, past cyclists, walkers and horse riders, it was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then, it was time for WAR, and it was hot, hot, hot! Ten minutes into the class and my run no longer seemed like such a great idea! Anyway, I stuck with it, and worked hard. I’m finding that my upper body strength is increasing, and my shoulders and arms are looking more toned, which is great.
On Tuesday, Pound and Zumba were cancelled, so I decided to dig out the Wii Fit for a change, and got active for an hour or so tackling some fun Wii activities. I was done in no time, and had built up a sweat, too.
Wednesday was the start of a new block of Jog Scotland sessions, and ours was hill repeats. We did a 20 minute run, followed by five repeats of the hill at Big Brae. It was tough, but great, and we ran 5K, including those pesky hills.
I was pack to a double class on Thursday, with PiYo and VeraFlow. I noticed that my flexibility has improved without me realising it: usually, I have to use my hands to lift my leg forward far enough when we ‘step through’ and return to sun salutation, and my feet would get ‘lazy’ the more lunges we’d do by creeping closer to my waist. Not on Thursday, though. Without even trying, I was going these moves correctly, Yay! I still can’t do a half moon well, but that’s next on my list to work on. VeraFlow was, as ever, a lovely wind down for the end of my working week, as I was off on Friday.
We had Salsa on Friday night, which really is as much fun as you’d imagine: it’s a great stress buster, and we’re really beginning to put some moves together, as we learned four new moves this week.
The weather took me by surprise on Saturday: the forecast was for rain, but the sun was splitting the sky, so I headed out for eight miles. I ran well, and felt strong. @TheWelshWookie ran with me for the first 5k, which is the longest he’s done in a while due to injury. I was pleased to see that each mile was faster than the previous one, which shows me that my training really is going to plan. With three weeks until the Great Edinburgh Run, I’m feeling really good about it.
How has your week been? Is your training still on track?
Have a great week!
Is it just me? Am I the only one who can’t quite believe that we’re moving into March this week?
I can’t fathom where this year is disappearing to!
How was your week last week? Mine was good: I was away with work mid week, but kept on track as much as I could. I started last Monday with Body Conditioning/WAR and I worked hard, knowing that Jacqui was going on a well deserved holiday for a couple of weeks. As I headed to Aviemore for work on Tuesday I packed my running gear, and managed to get a run in on both Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. I took a rest day on Thursday as my legs had felt really heavy the day before and I was feeling the DOMS from Monday 😉 I did manage to fit in 12,500 steps though.
But on Friday evening I was back at salsa, and I know I’ve said it before but it is SO MUCH FUN!
I’ve started this week with a Monday night run, and I’ve christened my new trainers. Yay! I always have a weird feeling when I wear new trainers: hoping that they are comfy and don’t rub, a little sad to get them dirty but a little excited to break them in too. Is it just me who feels like that? 
@TheWelshWookie and I have also signed up for the 5x50challenge again and this will, I think, be our fifth year participating. This year there are various options: one option is to run 5k per day for 50 days, but the option we’ve signed up for is to do 30 minutes of exercise a day for 50 days. Yes, some days that will be 5k, but other days it will be other activities. The aim is to encourage people to get fitter and more active, and the registration fee goes to charity, too. It’s a win win! Find out more here: http://5×50.org/ he next challenge begins this Sunday, 4th March 👍🏻
And so, to reflect the 5x50challenge, here’s some motivation:
Have a good week everyone!
Sorry for missing a post last week, @TheWelshWookie and I had spent the weekend in Dumbarton for my cousin’s twins Christening last Sunday. We had a lovely day! So my blog posting suffered. Oops! While we were there, and having the Monday off, we had health checks done. And it was good news, thankfully 😅
We had blood pressure checks as well as cholesterol and glucose checks. All fine. I discovered I’m a half inch taller than I thought I was 😆 and my BMI is heading in the right direction, phew!
With that done, I missed my Body Conditioning/WAR class, though. Hmmm, I can’t have everything! But for the rest of the week I stayed on track, running on Tuesday and Wednesday and doing PiYo and VeraFlow on Thursday.
My parents were though at the weekend, and yet again Tarbert and it’s people did what they do best: have a weekend of fun, music and entertainment. At the Fèis I tried whistle and learned some new guitar techniques. Our tutors were Craig and Mohsen from the Scottish Trad music group Talisk. If you haven’t heard them, check them out!
Today I was back at Body Conditioning/WAR and I worked hard! Jacqui is heading off on holiday, so I wanted to make the most of it and get my sweat on 😉 
and when I got home, I had a parcel waiting for me: new trainers! Yay! All three of my current trainers have around 300 miles in them, so I really needed to get another pair in the mix. I love em! 
Tomorrow I’m off to Aviemore for work and I’m deliberating about which trainers to pack… decisions, decisions!
Here’s your motivation kick start for today: 
Have a great week!
Well hello there. How was last week? Did you finish January strong, or did it wind down with a whimper? Is February off to a flying start?
My week was good, pretty solid actually. Travel for work meant I didn’t manage to my Monday night class, and Pound is still off on Tuesdays while Sam, our instructor, recovers from an injury. All in all, though, I managed ok.
Monday I found myself in Glenrothes, and so I went for a run as soon as I arrived. I had a little trouble with the Nike Running Club app (i.e. it conked out) so I restarted it, and all in all Imanaged 4.25 miles. Woop! I was up early on Tuesday and headed out for a pre-breakfast run, knowing that I would be tired after a long drive home, and I didn’t want to risk skipping a day so early in the week. Once again my app was glitchy but I did manage a 5k first thing.
On Wednesday evening I headed out with the Jog Scotland gang, and the run just flew by! We did a 10 minute warm up run followed by 10 minutes of chain running and a 10 minute cool down. It was great fun, I hate to say it out loud but I do love chain runs 😮
I’m pleased to report that I made it to both PiYo and VeraFlow on Thursday night. I’m really enjoying this round of PiYo, it contains lots of my favourite moves like kick throughs and the PiYo flip, yay! It felt tough but very satisfying after missing class the previous week. We even added the start of the latest Flow section so we’re making rapid progress.
I had a day off work on Friday, so I headed out for a run in the morning: my legs felt tired and heavy after classes the night before, telling me I had worked hard! When I checked my pace, I was also running a good bit faster than I had anticipated which was a lovely surprise! We then had Salsa on Friday night and again, I felt like we were making progress. Having said that, we did some work on arms and, well, my arms do not want to work when put together with my feet! Oops! I definitely need to practice, practice, practice.
Oh, and I said goodbye to 2.2 lbs of fat, so that’s good news too 😉
We then had a relaxing weekend and my legs definitely felt the better for it at WAR/Body Conditioning tonight. Speaking of which, I felt much stronger in some of the sections tonight so this seemed very apt: 
Hustle hard this week, girls and guys! 😉
If you had to describe last week in three words what would they be?
I’d describe mine as kept on track. That’s really good, given that I was on Islay for part of the week. I set myself up well on Sunday evening by prepping healthy snacks, some of which I packed in a mini cool bag for my trip- win!
Last Monday, I was back at War/Body Conditioning which I’m finding is a perfect way to kick off my week. As it’s less of a focus on cardio and more on strength training, I feel like I’m really pushing hard and starting as I mean to go on. Tuesday and Wednesday were 5k runs, while Thursday was a bit of a disaster! My plan was to head to PiYo as soon as I came off the ferry, but the weather had other ideas and I missed PiYo altogether. Boo! But I managed to make class for VeraFlow. Yay! Although I’ve enjoyed VeraFlow since my first class it has really grown on me, and I find myself really looking forward to the routines, the stretching and the relaxation that it brings.
On Friday morning I squeezed in another 5k before work, and in the evening it was salsa time! 🙂 It was so much fun, and we are really building our basic skills now: we’re adding in turns and other steps which means that routines aren’t too far away in the future.
I managed another 5k in the rain on Saturday morning before @TheWelshWookie and I headed to Glasgow to see T2 Trainspotting. I managed to refrain from spoiling my healthy eating all week: I had eggs and spinach for lunch and so I felt I could treat myself to some popcorn, accompanied by water- no fizzy drinks here!
Sunday was a lazy day: I did some Clarsach practice, then as it was a glorious day we went for an active recovery walk, stopping off at the cafe for a cup of tea before heading home for a soak in the hot tub. All in all, I’m very glad that my week was stable: no huge swings in eating, exercising or anything else- definitely stayed on track.
I have another trip away this week, so the food prep is done and ready to go, the running gear is packed and I’m looking forward to another good week 😉
Hello, happy new week to you.
As you may know, I don’t really do new year’s resolutions hence why you’ve never seen me post about them. I’m more fond of the opportunity that ‘new you’ presents at any time: it doesn’t have to wait for ‘new year’ to begin.
For me, I realise that I have refocused on a few things not just with the beginning of this year but in recent months:
As we reach the end of January and some resolutions begin to fade and enthusiasm wanes, I’m here to remind you to stick at it! Check if your goals and targets are achievable and realistic. Do they bring you joy? If yes, then keep at them!
I had a solid week last week: On Monday I was back as Body Conditioning which is now a conditioning/WAR combination. I loved it! I used weighted power gloves for the first time and boy did they make a difference! It’s a good class for strength work, with both weights and body weight exercises. War brings an element of boxing which is all new to me, so there are new techniques for me to learn.
On Tuesday I managed to fit in a 5k run before work which was a good way to start the day; Wednesday was the first in a new block of Jog Scotland and it was fab to see lots of runners come along!
Thursday brought my usual favourites: PiYo and Veraflow, my ‘double bubble’ of classes. As we are starting a new round of PiYo we had some breaks between tracks for demos and I must admit, I felt the difference – Although I’m very happy to stop for others to learn the moves I selfishly wanted to push on. I’ll regret that in a few weeks! VeraFlow is such good fun- we all have a brilliant time!
Friday was more Salsa, where we worked on a new step and on turns. The Welsh Wookie was back at class, so that was good.
On Saturday I had another Clarsach lesson, and I brought Bruce, my loan clarsach home! Yay! And after class, I managed to get another 5k run done. Boom!
So I had a full week of activity and I loved it! I also ate well, thanks to my Sunday night snack prep I was less inclined to make poorer choices when I was hungry. All in all, it was an ace week!
Here’s hoping this week can continue in the same vein! 
Hope yours is good too!
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