Day off Work = Day on Running

September 13, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 7 Comments

I have a long weekend off! Woop Woop!

And so, I’ve made use of my day: I’ve been a domestic Goddess, been shopping in the village, (and on the internet), packed for our weekend trip and gone for a run! Today is the first day that @TheWelshWookie has been for a run since our trail run on Sunday. We did a pretty solid 5K relaxed run, which I really enjoyed.

As we were heading home, the kids were having sailing lessons. By the sound of their whooping and laughter, they were having a great time! 😀

We’ve been healthy kids, and had a lovely salmon salad for dinner:

Beatson Challenge Update:

Day two of their three day challenge is over. Today’s section included running up (and down) The Rest and Be Thankful: a big hill which marks the half way point to Glasgow. It’s called The Rest and Be Thankful for a very good reason 😮

The report is that they even managed to run a little further than they had planned today, which must be a really good sign. They are doing absolutely brilliantly!

It’s likely that we’ll drive past them tomorrow on our way to Glasgow, so we’ll give them a wave from you all!

Today’s Stats:

Run: 5K easy run

Time: 31:12

Weather: Cloudy. It’s definitely getting cooler

Trainers: Nike Lunar Glides

Favourite Running Track Today:

Today’s Life Lesson: When you switch on the dishwasher, remember to check that you’ve put the tablet in properly 😉

What are your plans for the weekend?

The Beatson Challenge

September 11, 2013September 11, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 5 Comments

Tomorrow, two fantastic local runners, Carolyn and Dougie, are taking on a huge challenge, which they have called the Beatson Challenge. They are running an ultra marathon, over three days: running from the Beatson Oncology Unit in Glasgow to Tarbert, raising funds for the Friends of the Beatson. They’ll be running 100 miles, over three days.

Wow.

They have been keeping all of their supporters up to date on their facebook page, which you can find here. I’m hoping that you’ll pay their site a little visit, to offer support to them in their amazing challenge.

They are raising funds for a fantastic cause, and if you are interested in supporting them, you can do so here.

I’m wishing Carolyn and Dougie the very best of luck and support over the next three days: you can do this!

Short and Sharp

September 10, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 2 Comments

Short and Sharp. No, not my temper- though usually it is 😉 but my run this evening!

I thought I should head out, and do a short, sharp threshold run, to see if I can build up some speed in advance of my races in October. And I ran pretty ~~slow by most folks standards~~ fast- for me 😉

During my first mile, I kinda forgot that I was supposed to be doing a threshold run, so I managed a mile in 9:27. My second mile was much better, at 9.05, so I was really pleased with that.

It was just as well I only planned to do two miles, as I definitely could not have maintained that for a third mile tonight!

On my way home, I found my first heart! 😀 runningtoherdreams has some beautiful pictures of nature’s hearts on her blog, and I’ve been looking for one for weeks. And tonight, I finally found one 🙂

Today’s Stats:

Run: 2 miles, threshold run

Time: 18:32

Weather: Cloudy with still some warmth in the air. It’s definitely getting cooler, though

Trainers: Nike Lunar Glides

Favourite Running Track Today: I’ve waited ten days to come across this one on my iPod!

Today’s Life Lesson: Some days, you just make good, steady progress. Be grateful for these, they don’t come often!

When did you last do a threshold run?

My Favourite Cafe

September 9, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 12 Comments

Well, hello there, Monday, you’ve come around too fast!

Today, I received a reality check, after spotting the following goodies in our local Co Op:

Erm, hello, the Hallowe’en goodies haven’t even hit the shelves yet, and you’re selling Christmas goodies?!

Anyhoo, how has your day been?

Tonight, we’ve headed to my favourite cafe for dinner. I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned it before. It’s called Cafe Ca’Dora, and it’s in Tarbert, conveniently located easily within walking distance. And we love it!

What is really tempting is that virtually every run goes past it. It’s difficult not to just pop in!

We visit it regularly- too regularly, and every time we have visitors, we’re guaranteed to be in there a few times: for breakfast, or lunch, or coffee, or dinner. Or any combination of those!

@TheWelshWookie loves the burgers.

I love the nachos, wraps, pasta and fajitas.

They also make their own ice cream. It is delicious!

All of this talk of food is making me hungry again! 🙂

And I’m having a rest day; so no running to burn any extra calories off! 😮

A Ridiculous Run

September 8, 2013September 8, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 12 Comments

I’ve entitled this post ‘A Ridiculous Run’ for two main reasons:

1. Some of the hills we tackled today were so steep, it was ridiculous:

2. I went out, looking nothing short of ridiculous!

After such a lazy day yesterday, I was looking forward to getting out in the fresh air, and blowing away some of the cobwebs. Also, I wanted to run, in honour of fellow running blogger 278toBoston’s first ever marathon, which he is running today.

@TheWelshWookie ~~had a complete moment of madness, and~~ suggested that, instead of running our usual route, we should go off road, and run one of the trails behind Tarbert Castle. It sounded like a great idea!

I started with an espresso, though:

We decided to run with camelbaks, instead of using hand held water bottles. And it was raining. So I’m sure that I’ll have drawn some weird looks!

Instead of heading straight for the Castle, we decided to tackle my nemesis from the TT10K: Big Brae. So, we did. And we ran up most of it. Result! We then ran/walked the blue route, which takes in some of the steeper hills along the trail.

We ran up the hills, and walked some of the straight and downhill sections, to make the most of the day. It was tough, but in a good way!

Some of the viewpoints along the way give some great views down towards the village.

We ran past the Millennium Cairn, where is was particularly muddy today, due to the rain. It actually felt great, to be caked in mud for a change! Weird, huh?

I need to admit that the final mile and a half was virtually all walking: the downhill sections were pretty steep, and I don’t have great balance at the best of times. But, we got out there, and we did it!

And the heather was blooming:

Here’s a map of my run today:

When I returned home, I caught up on 278toBoston’s progress: marathon done in 4:14:32 – amazing! Well done, what an achievement! I hope that some of the cooler air from here made its way over to you 😉

Today’s Stats:

Run: 4 mile trail run/walk

Weather: cloudy, with both rain showers and sunny spells

Trainers: LunarFly GTX +3

Favourite Running Track of the Day:

Today’s Life Lesson: sometimes the tough runs are the ones you enjoy most!

What do you find yourself thinking about when you run?

Shine On Award

September 5, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 6 Comments

I’d mentioned earlier in the week how pleased I had been when runningtoherdreams nominated me for the Shine On award. My first reaction was delight; my second was, fab, what is it? Being new to the blogging world, I had no idea that such awards existed, but now I do, and I’m delighted to have received this from runningtoherdreams: thank you! If you haven’t visited her blog, you really should: I’m now addicted to looking for hearts in nature while I run, but I think they hide from me!

The rules for this blog award are simple:

1. Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.

2. Acknowledge that blogger on your blog, and link back.

3. Share seven random, interesting things about yourself.

I’m not sure if any of these things are interesting- you can judge that for yourself!

1. I’m left handed

2. I can drive a fork lift truck

3. I can read ancient Latin and ancient Greek

4. I’m a synesthete

5. I have an addiction to handbags

6. I can tap dance

7. I’m learning Spanish

4. Nominate up to 15 bloggers for the Shine On Award, provide a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs

I’m delighted to nominate:

BayRunner Jamie

The Improbable Runner

Loving Food, Fashion & Life

278 to Boston

mudsweatandkettebells

leanneandthehalfmarathon

5. Copy and paste the award somewhere on your blog

Nominating blogs is much, much tougher than I had anticipated!

Today’s Stats:

Run: 3.41 miles

Time: 34:58

Weather: Sunny and warm

Trainers: Nike Lunar Racers

First Running Track Today:

Today’s Life Lesson: there are still some gentlemen out there, believe it or not

Do you have plans for the weekend?

Visiting the Velodrome

September 4, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 2 Comments

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

Today, I was at a networking event in Glasgow. As I left the house this morning, still half asleep, I keyed the post code into my sat nav, and I set off without thinking too much about where, or what, the venue was. It turns out that this was the venue:

It’s the Emirates Arena, one of the brand new facilities built for the Commonwealth Games, being held in Glasgow next year.

And do you know what venue is located within it? Go on, have a guess….. I’ll give you a hint…

Oh wait. Today’s post title gives it away!

Yip- the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. Our event was held in a room overlooking the velodrome itself, and it looked pretty impressive! I didn’t even think to take a picture though. I was obviously too busy ~~gossiping~~ networking 😉

@TheWelshWookie and I are going to enter the ballot for tickets at the weekend- we have an idea of which sports we fancy watching, so we’ll see what happens.

So, I headed home feeling inspired, and went for a six mile run. Unfortunately, after 4 hour’s driving yesterday and 5 hour’s driving today, I had lead-legs, but the final mile was fast, at 9:17! 🙂

Today’s Stats:

Run: 6 miles: 2 steady, 2 with lead-legs, 2 quick

Time: 1:02:58

Weather: Sunny and warm

Trainers: Nike Lunar Glides

First Running Track Today:

Today’s Life Lesson: remember to take photos when you go somewhere interesting! Doh!

Have you ever unexpectedly ended up somewhere before?

Dreich!

September 2, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

Today has been one of those days….. and so I arrived home thinking…..

So I did! But it was grey, and wet and windy out, so @TheWelshWookie and I got thoroughly soaked. It felt great!

There’s only really one word that can be used to describe today’s weather: dreich.

I took a couple of pictures, just so you could see the village in the rain:

I probably had too much fun, stomping through these on my way around the harbour:

Today’s Stats:

Run: 4 miles

Time: 43:26 slow

Weather: Dreich!

Trainers: Nike LunarFly GTX

@TheWelshWookie’s first Running Track: he listens to the same playlist every day, so it is always

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QEPrDBMqJ0

Today’s Life Lesson: sometimes, no matter how hard you try to convince someone that they need to listen to what you are actually saying, they just cannot hear it- they subconsciously choose not to.

What’s your favourite weather to run in?

A Different View

August 29, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

We’ve made it to Thursday, and another weekend is almost upon us! Tonight, I arrived home later than planned, and not really in the mood for a run. But, I manned up, and @TheWelshWookie suggested that we try a new route. Instead of doing the usual out-and-back, he suggested we do the Big Glen, which is 4.5 miles, followed by a final half mile at the harbour.

I knew that it would be a little more hilly than usual, but I thought- why not?

We headed out, through the village, north along the A83 towards Lochgilphead. Although I drive this way most days, and I’ve walked it a few times, I’ve never run it!

We ran along the main road for just over 2 miles. The first mile or so is uphill, with some undulation over the second mile. I stopped to take some pics:

At the bottom of the hill, just at Stonefield Castle, we turned off, looping back towards the West Loch. The first half mile or so was uphill, but after that, the next mile is all downhill. I loved it!

And along the head of the West Loch.

As we ran back towards Tarbert, there’s one nasty, wee steep hill: but we ran up it!

As we reached the A83 heading back into Tarbert from the south, I stopped to take some pictures of the deer:

And a wee video clip too:

Here’s a map of the run:

It’s lovely to have a shake-up once in a while!

Today’s Stats:

Run: 5 miles

Time: 56:20 – I kept stopping to take pics!

Weather: Cloudy and cool

Trainers: Nike LunarFly GTX

Favourite Running Track Today:

Today’s Life Lesson: what people tell you sometimes needs to be checked, to see if it meets with reality…

When did you last vary your route?

August Round Up

August 28, 2013 by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

As we reach the end of another month, and because ~~I’m lazy~~ having a rest day, I thought I’d give a race recap for August.

I’ve done three ‘races’ this month.

1. Dublin RnR Half:

2. Perth Kilt Run 5K:

3. Tarbert TT10K:

I’ve had ~~three~~ four fantastic medals:

And some great swag:

Here’s my run routes:

And the highlight of my month was the Super Six becoming the Magnificent Seven!

I have no runs planned for September, it’s all about focusing on training this month.

Today’s Life Lesson: My brain can only retain so much information at one time….

What’s been the highlight of the month for you?

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TartanJogger

Adventures in living well, quotes and very slow running

Tag: Tarbert

Day off Work = Day on Running

The Beatson Challenge

Short and Sharp

My Favourite Cafe

A Ridiculous Run

Shine On Award

Visiting the Velodrome

Dreich!

A Different View

August Round Up

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