Tag: training run

Back Indoors

Back Indoors

by TartanJogger ♥ 16 Comments

Well, my outdoor running lasted from Saturday until Monday.

The weather has driven me back inside, and onto the dreadmill!

It’s not the driving rain that’s the problem, really. It’s the really high winds that have cancelled ferry sailings across the West coast. There was a time today when I could barely walk upright!

And so, after the elation of running in the fresh air, and at a decent pace, I was back to grinding out a slow run tonight. But I got it done, and feel smug better for it now.

I’m taking a rest day tomorrow, so hopefully I can get back outside on Thursday 🙂

20140225-195658.jpgHave you managed to get outdoors today? Have you run?

Am I Cold Blooded?

Am I Cold Blooded?

by TartanJogger ♥ 21 Comments

It’s Monday evening here in Tartan Land, and it’s been one of those days today.

So, I was really ready for my three miler tonight!

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@TheWelshWookie and I headed out to the harbour just as dusk settled around us. It was beautiful. Around the end of the first mile, it started to rain, and the rain continued until the end of our run, considerately stopping to allow us to walk home without being miserable. Just at the end of my run, I accidentally soaked myself by running through a big mahoosive puddle! I felt good- the run was just what I needed!

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We pushed a little, and ran our fastest three miler in a while, at around 10.08 per mile. I’m pretty happy with that!

As usual, I came home, showered, and wrapped up in my comfies.

I have a question  I’ve been meaning to ask you all: do you often find yourself really cold after a run? What do you do about it?

I know that at this time of year, the walk home from a run can obviously cause my body temp to drop, but my home is toasty warm, I take a warm shower right away, swap into warm comfy clothes, often wrap up in a fleecy blanket and sometimes even switch on the fire. I rehydrate, and have something to eat, then have a hot drink. But – sometimes – I can be cold for a few hours after an outside run.

Does anyone else find this? What do you do to warm up again? Am I making any mistakes, or do you have any tips?

#ATWRBR2014

I’m thinking about adding a daily distance log to each blog post during March and April, to keep track of my kilometres for the Around the World Running Blog  Relay. What do you think?

Have you signed up yet?

Back Outside!

Back Outside!

by TartanJogger ♥ 25 Comments

Welcome to the weekend! What are your plans?

At the moment, @TheWelshWookie and I are chilling out, watching rugby (OK, I’m watching and blogging- gotta love multi tasking!) and drinking coffee. It’s bliss!

This morning, I ran outside for the first time in a couple of weeks. And it felt G-R-E-A-T! The dreadmill has been hammered lately. Well, I say hammered. I really mean that it has been used for some pretty slow runs while watching Winter Olympic action from Sochi. Having the various sports to watch has made my treadmill running much more tolerable than it would have been otherwise: what am I going to do when the Games finish?  😦

Today’s Hal Higdon training plan called for a 6 mile run. It’s Week 3, Day 6 already. How did that happen?

@TheWookie and I had decided last night that we’d run the Big Glen: a loop that takes us out from the north of the village along the main road for about two miles, and then follows a single track road for a mile before reaching West Loch Tarbert. It then leads back into the south of the village, and is about 5 miles long. To increase the mileage, we decided to run along the Kilberry Road, past the village golf course, before  heading back into the village.

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And it was dry outside: no rain! It’s a miracle! 😉

We decided to stick to a long, slow run pace, and so I used my Audio Fuel track to keep me on target for this. Although I start off really slowly, sometimes I can pick up the pace at around mile 3 or so, and I didn’t want to lose steam at the end! Turns out, this was a great plan. I had a fantastic run, I really enjoyed it! At the end, I could have easily tagged on an extra couple of miles. I didn’t, though: best stick to the training plan 😉

As I ran, I was excited, thinking about the forthcoming Around the World Running Blog Relay: it’s going to be a great couple of months for us runners and bloggers out there! 🙂

We’ve refuelled on some soup and home made bread; and I have the new edition of Women’s Running to enjoy!

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Have a great weekend, all. How long is your long run this weekend? How’s the weather looking?

Do you Run to a Routine?

Do you Run to a Routine?

by TartanJogger ♥ 26 Comments

I do. But then, I really like routine and knowing what is coming next. For those of you who like management-speak, I’m a typical Myers-Briggs ISTJ. I’ll bet you’ve worked that out by now!

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I’m not much of a weekday morning runner. I’d really like to be, I know it would set me up for the day, and I’d feel really smug! But the thought of getting up early instead of squeezing out the last 20 minutes of sleep in my cosy bed it just too difficult for me.

So, I head off to work, and think about my run, before home time comes around. Then, I head home, get changed into my running gear and get out there. If I hesitated too much, or get caught up in other things, it probably wouldn’t always happen. After I’m done, I shower, download my GPS info, and have the evening to myself, which is great.

If I’m home at the weekend, I usually have a light breakfast, then head out for my run early to mid morning, knowing that I’ll have the rest of the weekend for chores, shopping, relaxing, going for walks, coffee, etc.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about mixing things up a little.

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When it comes to race days, it usually involves an early morning start, which throws my routine. With a few halves coming up, and my first marathon looming on the horizon, I think I might benefit from changing my training, to help get used to the early rises. But, I’m struggling to make a start, and commit to a change! At the moment, I’ll probably continue to toy with the idea until after the wedding, and look to make changes then.

Have you ever changed up your running routine? How did it go? Did you stick to it, or change back?

Indoors and Outdoors

Indoors and Outdoors

by TartanJogger ♥ 36 Comments

The training is under way again, and after a couple of months of just running when I felt like it, and for as long or as short as I wanted, I’m surprised at how easily I’ve fallen back into the schedule!

I’ve always liked routine, so I suppose I shouldn’t really be surprised. Structure works for me 😉

Last night, I mixed it up a little, and did my three miler on the treadmill.

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I watched the latest episode of The Following while I ran, and that helped the minutes to fly by. Turns out my teenage crush on Kevin Bacon is still there…. 😉

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I also did some weights, as the show hadn’t finished by the time my run was done. I’m sticking to my plan like glue!

Tonight, it was great to get outside and run. I really, really enjoyed it. It felt great after yesterday’s cooped up run. Unusually, it was both dry AND still daylight when we headed out, but the light faded fast at the end of the run.

Here’s the view over the harbour at the end of my three miler, which is a little blurry: sorry about that! 🙂

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Tomorrow’s a rest day, and I suspect that I’ll be itching to get out again come Saturday!

Are you training right now? How’s it going for you?

Countdown to Madrid

Countdown to Madrid

by TartanJogger ♥ 16 Comments

Tonight, the training started. The Countdown to Madrid has begun!

OK, so between now and then there’s the small matter of a wedding, but for this evening, my mind is firmly on Madrid! 🙂

Following yesterday’s rest day, my training plan called for a nice, easy 3 miler, which @TheWelshWookie and I did around the harbour as usual. It felt great! I forgot to set my Hal Higdon app, but I was able to enter my info manually.

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Tonight, I’m going to settle down with my Madrid guidebook, and begin planning our post-race festivities!

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Have you ever been to Madrid? Any ‘must do’s’ I should know about?

Routine Run!

Routine Run!

by TartanJogger ♥ 14 Comments

Happy Monday, gang! For those who returned to work today, I hope it went OK.

I’m back into my routine, for the first time in weeks. My work clothes were all a little more snug than I’d have liked, so I’ll do something about that 😉

Tonight, I kitted up, and headed out for a lil’ run in the dark, just to get the legs going. I looked, erm, interesting with my fluoro gear and arm lights:

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And I also used the Nike+ phone app, as I hadn’t charged my GPS watch. Doh!

But it did allow me to play about with the wee photo app- it’s pretty cool!

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I came back home to start my plank-a-day challenge and squat challenge. So far, so good on day one!

I’m off now to check out some new half marathon training programmes: has anyone tried the Hal Higdon iPhone app? Is it worth using?

How has your Monday been?