Tag: running

Race Report: The Great Winter Run 2017

Race Report: The Great Winter Run 2017

by TartanJogger ♥ 1 Comment

Date: 7th January 2017

Profile: One Big Hill

Terrain: Road

Weather: Dry and mild, for the time of year

Website: greatrun.org

Positives: excellent organisation, positive crowd support

Negatives: that hill!

For years, I’ve watched the Great Winter Cross County Championships and the Great Winter Run from the comfort of my living room. But every year I’ve also always said that I’d love to take part.

Well, 2017 was the year.

As we had decided to buy the Great Run’s Scottish Season Pass, it gave us entry to the 5K Winter Run. And so, instead of heading home after work on Friday, 6th January we headed off to our hotel in Edinburgh instead. We had booked the Ibis on South Bridge, as we knew we’d be pretty close to the start time, and to the action, at Holyrood Park. As usual, I made sure my kit was ready the night before: 

On Saturday morning we were up early, and on our way to the start line with all of the other runners. The venue was well laid out, clearly sign posted and easy to access. We got there round about warm up time, which was perfect. We made our way into the corral and took the obligatory selfie: 

As @TheWelshWookie was injured, we had already agreed to run our own race, and so when the start came, I headed off amongst the crowds and headed up Arthurs’ Seat. We had been allocated the Pink Corral, and in future I’ll definitely upgrade my time. Within moments I was surrounded by walkers who had either set off running too quickly, hadn’t anticipated the hill or had only ever intended to walk. Now, @TheWookie was walking – and I would never criticise walkers – but here’s where extra corrals would help – if there was a walk/run or walk corral it would help, I’ve seen it work elsewhere. Anyway, I spent the first kilometre dodging lots and lots of walkers, which was frustrating and did affect my pace. More than once, people stopped dead in front of me.

When we reached the first kilometre marker we were greeted by a piper which lifted my spirits a little, and the walking crowd certainly dispersed a bit. The second kilometre continued the climb up the hill, and as we reached the third kilometre, we had levelled out and were greeted with beautiful views across the city of Edinburgh.

Then, the fun started; the long, downhill section taking us back to the start line. It was ace! My legs moved faster than they have done in quite a while, and I felt like I was gliding downhill. I overtook a guy who was playing an accordion, which was fab!

As the hill levelled out with a few hundred metres to go, we could hear singing, and as we crossed the finish line there was the ‘Sing in the City’ chorus to sing us across. It was great! I collected my goodie bag, which already contained my t shirt and medal before heading back to the hotel, and to meet @TheWelshWookie.

This was my first run trying out the NRC App on my Watch, and it worked great – no need to worry about finding a GPS signal, which was so much easier.

Here’s the goodie bag: 

And the medal and long sleeved T shirt: 

Here is the route of the run, too: 

After we had showered, changed and packed, we headed back to Holyrood Park to cheer on the participants in the Cross Country Championships. Yay! 

We’ll be back next year, definitely!
 
 

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

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Bam! And I’m back at classes, yay!

Last week was a little difficult to keep on track, I did a lot of traveling and spent time away from home, but I didn’t slack off even though I didn’t manage to get to classes. I spent time walking and running instead. I’m gradually grinding my 5k time down which I am very pleased about. I’m quicker than I was at any point last year so I’m counting that as solid progress!

I was back at Salsa class on Friday night. It’s such a lot of fun, and I definitely worked up a bit of a sweat. We worked on turns for the first time, which was tougher than I anticipated- getting my head movement right is not easy! I had a relaxing weekend, with the first of my Clarsach lessons on Saturday- I really enjoyed it, and I kept up with those who were able to attend the first lesson which I missed. The next class is this coming Saturday and I’m excited to have another go, to see what I can remember!  I spent some time on Sunday doing some food prep. I didn’t do much more than I would normally do, but I was a little more organised and prepped some dips and some extra snacks. My thinking is that I might make better food choices if it’s ready to go and needs no preparation when I actually want to just eat!  Some of my snacks for this week include:

  • Sugar snap peas and caramelised onion hummus
  • Red pepper sticks and salsa
  • Apple and peanut butter
  • Sweetcorn and diced red pepper
  • Edamame beans
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Strawberry, blueberry, Greek yoghurt with flax and chia seeds

I’m getting hungry just thinking about it! 

Tonight, I was back at class as I said: we had a combo of WAR and Body Conditioning which was ace! It was certainly a workout I needed. I didn’t quite work hard enough, though: I planned to work at 60-70%of my max heart rate which would have been around 107-125BPM. My average was 106BPM so I must do better next week!

Here’s some motivation for this week: Get out there!

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

Hello, how was your festive break? Did you have time off- from work and from running (or fitness)? I did, but I managed a few runs while classes were off, so I haven’t been completely idle.

Some classes return this week, and hopefully most will be back next week, but until then I’ll be running to make sure that I kick off my 2017 health and fitness goals the way I mean to go on.

This year, we kicked things off by taking part in the Great Winter Run in Edinburgh, which was absolutely brilliant. Although it was only a 5k, it was well worth the overnight trip to take part in it. I loved it! I’ll post a full race review later in the week, but meanwhile here’s my medal:

Over the past 10 days or so my running splits have improved, which is really encouraging. Tonight I braved the rain and the wind to get another 5k in. @TheWelshWookie and I recently joined Vitality UK and I’m enjoying the additional health motivation that comes with that. So much so that I’ve decided to take part in their 10 week #FittestYearTogether challenge which kicks off today. Day one down, and so far so good!

Here’s hoping that my motivation continues:)  Have a good week. 

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

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So tell me: how was your week? Mine was mostly positive. It started off great, with a fantastic Body Conditioning class on Monday, followed by a double session on Tuesday: Pound and Zumba. It had been a really long time since I last tried Zumba, and it was fun! On Thursday, I had car trouble (it’s a long story) so I didn’t make PiYo, or VeraFlow which was disappointing. 

On Friday, @TheWelshWookie and I were back at Salsa, and I think we made more progress. It’s such a great workout, my hips are still aching so it must be working muscles that I don’t usually use in other classes. Putting the arms and the legs together is certainly challenging!

Saturday saw our first lessons as part of Tarbert’s Feis: I had a go at accordion and clarsach 🙂 So we had dance lessons and music lessons, fab cultural activities two days in a row!  We rounded off our busy weekend by taking part in Glasgow’s Mo Run along with my bestie Pauline, Gavin, Olivia and Christopher. The weather was very kind to us, and the rain stayed away until after we finished. It’s such a fab medal and we had a really good time! 

All in all, it’s been a busy weekend!

I’ve started off this week with another Body Conditioning session. I’m really loving this class, I’ve been pushing quite hard, tiring my muscles out as much as I can; Jacqui is really helping us to improve our form and developing the effectiveness of each movement, and I am feeling the benefits. This week I’ll be trying to work on my tricep press ups so that I can make the most of them in class. 

Here’s something that does cross my mind from time to time:

 Do you sometimes wonder that? Have a brilliant week!

Race Report: Tarbert 10k Dookers Doubler

Race Report: Tarbert 10k Dookers Doubler

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This year’s Tarbert races featured a new challenge: the Dookers Doubler! Thirty or do of us set out to run both the 5k and 10k runs, and I was looking forward to it.

First up was the 5k, which took us from Garvel road end along the harbour to the end point and back. It’s such a fast and flat route that a PB is a distinct possibility: not for us, though; knowing we had the 10k still to come meant we were taking it easy! 

As ever, the support was tremendous. The marshals were excellent and the runners all supported each other, too. It was a pleasure to run. As we crossed the finish line, we collected our first medal, changed over our bin for the next race and lined up, ready for the tougher 10k. 

While the 5k is fast and flat, the 10k is hillier, with two off road, trip sections. Although these are tough, they give runners cracking views over the village. @TheWelshWookie pulled his calf as we turned the first corner, so I found myself running on my own for most of it. But, given the excellent support, that was not a problem. I walked the first trail section up to Maggies Cottage, as runners were heading back downhill towards us slower runners and I didn’t want to hinder any of them. Next we headed back through the village, along the harbour past the crowds and back again, this time heading up Big Brae and around the Castle loop offering fabulous views over Tarbert. I love it up there! I kept asking the marshals if they had any gin for me….. but no joy. Maybe next year someone will oblige! 😉  Next, it was back down Big Brae and along the harbour front to the finish line. Although my legs were tired, the support really kept me going. 

I collected my second medal (yay!), goodie bag and specially designed Doubler t shirt. We were treated to masses of goodies: home baking, tablet (the thought of that tablet kept me going), water, bananas, sandwiches galore. It is brilliant! 

I then headed out to cheer @TheWelshWookie across the finish line and we stayed around chatting and to support those who had placed. There are loads of awards up for grabs at this event, with fantastic prizes. 

Overall, my 5k time was slower than last time, but I took three minutes off my 10k time from last year, so I was very, very pleased!

When 2017’s event opens, I’ll be first in line to sign up 🙂

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

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I’m writing this while I should be at Body Conditioning 😦 Unfortunately, I was caught up in traffic as there was an accident, meaning I’ve missed two Mondays on the bounce, I’m not impressed with that as I’m a firm believer in never missing a Monday. Sometimes it can’t be helped.

On a much more positive note, my first ever interview has been published! It’s an article about my favourite race, and it features in the latest Run ABC Scotland magazine. I’m very excited! The article is about the Tarbert 10k, and I’m very pleased with the end result. There’s one typo and it’s a mistake in the link to my blog (of all things!) but it can’t be helped now. Oh, well!

 The photos of the village have come out really well, I reckon!

Last week, I returned to Jog Scotland after a gap of around eight years 😮 and it was fantastic. Everyone was so welcoming and we found the three miler that we ran to be spot on for pace for us. I’m looking forward to going back this Wednesday. Why have I taken so long to get back to it? I have no idea!

I saw this quote from Tribe Sports and thought I’d share it this with you all this week: Have a fantastic week!

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

Hello, there, blog readers. How are you?

This past week has whizzed in, and in a week’s time, the inaugural Disneyland Paris Half Marathon will be all over. I feel that I’ve been waiting for this event for so long – and suddenly it’s approaching far too quickly!

Training last week went really well, with Body Conditioning, PiYo and another VeraFlow session. I also did a very comfortable 5k and 10k, so I reckon I’m about ready for race day as I can be.

We’ve also done all of the rest the prep: we’re packed, we have all of the waivers and forms printed and signed, Euros ordered and flights checked in. Roll on Saturday morning!

This week, I’m keeping training very light: I have Body Conditioning tonight and I’ll also do a couple more 5k runs – nothing strenuous, keeping everything gentle at this stage. I’ll be missing PiYo and VeraFlow on Thursday, though, which I’m sad about – I love these classes so much! But it’s only for one week. I’ll be back for some post-race recovery next week.

What do you have planned this week? Any training scheduled? Remember this – it’s how I think I’ll be phrasing Sunday’s run in my head:

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Have a brilliant week!

 

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

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Welcome to a wet, windy Monday here on the west coast of Scotland. After a lovely, sunny and warm weekend, I’m looking out of the window to a deluge of water and some decidedly autumnal winds. Urgh! Looks like summer may be over!

How was your weekend?

I had a lovely time – Tony’s parents were visiting, and we spent the day on Saturday at Portavadie, using the fabulous spa facilities (yes, again). It’s very relaxing, with stunning landscapes across Loch Fyne. Even the sauna has a stunning view. Needless to say, I’m planning my next trip already….

My last run was back on Tuesday, but I’ve managed to walk a fair bit, and I also had PiYo and Veraflow classes, back to back, on Thursday. You all know that I love PiYo, but Veraflow was new to me. It was our instructor, Jacqui’s first time teaching it, and it was good fun!

The warm up involved latin-style dance steps, combined with some gentle stretching. Actually, that sums up the class well, too – lots of lovely stretches with fun dance-style routines that I’m hoping I might get to grips with after a few weeks 😉 I’m not the most co-ordinated person, as many of you will know.

Tonight, I’m off to Body Conditioning again – I worked hard at last week’s class, so much so that my DOMS lasted though until Saturday! 😮 I’m looking forward to feelin’ the burn again tonight – though I might have to make sure I don’t take it too far. I’ll then pull on my trainers again tomorrow night, Wednesday night and again on Saturday – we’re less than two weeks away from the Disneyland Paris half marathon – eek!

Here’s a little something to get you started this week, if you are struggling:

22motivation-fitness-quotes

Have an ace week 🙂

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 1 Comment

Hello, did you miss me last Monday? We had visitors, so I didn’t post. We had a wonderful weekend with Neil, Ange and Harry which included a lovely walk around Skipness and a luxurious visit to Portavadie Marina’s Spa. It was bliss! 

I was back at PiYo this week which felt great after a few weeks off, I really needed the stretch and the workout. I’ve also been running, culminating in a long, slow run on Saturday. @TheWelshWookie and I did eleven miles along the Crinan canal. The weather forecast was for rain, but it didn’t appear so we ran in sunshine for most of the way. It felt really good to get such a steady run under our belts. With Disneyland Paris’ inaugural half marathon in three weeks time it was just what we needed. We spent time this weekend making the arrangements for our trip- I’m really looking forward to it!

Tonight, I had a Body Conditioning class which was tough but ace! It has been years since I did a body conditioning class- in years gone by I did body conditioning and Body Max so it felt good to exercise my body in a different way. Suffice to say that my arms are so tired that I struggled to pick up my cup of tea this evening! 😮 

This really helped me to push through tonight during the class:  Gie it laldy if you can! Have a good week!

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 1 Comment

I am the boss of my running. I am! It has taken a while recently but this weekend, I felt back in charge 😉

My local race was this weekend- the Tarbert TT10K and @TheWelshWookie and I ran in the inaugural ‘Dookers Doubler’ which was both the 5k and 10k.

I’ll save the race review for now, but I was pleased with how I did. My 5k time was less than a minute slower than last year, but my 10k time was over 3.5 minutes faster, so I was absolutely delighted! 😀

Here’s this year’s t shirt and medal:

 Aren’t they fab? 

I stretched my legs tonight with a 5k run, and I just had to wear my new shirt;) it was hot, hot, hot out there but my legs felt good. I’m feeling more confident now, as my attention turns to the Disneyland Paris half marathon next month.

Here’s a little something for today, which has helped me lots:  

Have a grand week, all!