Tag: training

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

How’s your Monday been? Mine has been great 🙂

Did you have a fun weekend? We had some brilliant family time on Saturday, with the annual Mass my dad organises, followed by a family party. We were very fortunate with the weather: we were able to sit outside for a while, and the boys had great fun on the bouncy castle, and playing with the outdoor toys.

On Sunday we had a diverted route home, which took us on two ferries. Unfortunately there had been road closures, one of which was as a result of a fatality. It took us much longer than usual to make our way home, but we made the most of it, by enjoying the sunshine, the scenery and even the hospitality at Portavadie, where we stopped off for a coffee (for @TheWelshWookie) and a glass of vino (for me) on our way to the second ferry. Diversions are just part of the experience of living in Argyll, particularly at this time of year when the roads are busy.  

 Tonight, we did a four miler, so our last full week’s training for the Great North Run is on track. However, I have a trip away at the end of the week so I’ll be packing my trainers and trying to squeeze in a little run at some point.  

 I saw this last week, and thought it would be perfect for boosting motivation, so here it is:  

 Have a fabulous week!

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

How are you all feeling after the weekend? Did you manage a run?

For us, we had our local running weekend. It kicked off on the Friday, with the ‘Dookers Dash’ races for children. By all accounts it was great fun, with t-shirts and medals for all! Unfortunately, I missed it, as work got in the way, as it does 😉

However, Saturday morning broke with beautiful sunshine, which was a lovely change! The Tarbert 5K and 10K is now in it’s third year, and the previous two years have been wet and miserable – particularly last year. So, the sunshine made a welcome visit, and we headed into the village, ready to run.

When we had collected our bibs the night before, I had said that we had to get some extra mileage in to keep our half marathon training on track. One of the wonderful race organisers, Lorraine, suggested that we tag along at the back of the 5k, before getting the 10k done. What a brilliant idea!

So that’s exactly what we did. We ran the fast, flat 5k route, but took it easy, and stayed towards the back of the pack. Then we had a quick change into fresh tops and trail shoes for the mixed surface 10k. And it was fantastic! As ever, the support, the marshalling and the organisation was second to none – these girls can give the big events a good run for a lot more money! We did the 5k in 33.15, which, even though it was taking it easy, was 3 minutes faster than my recent ParkRun time. Woop!

I don’t want to go into any more detail now – I’ll save that for my race report. But if you’re after a challenging, multi terrain 10K which is well organised and supported, I’d tell you to add this one onto your list. Well worth it, especially for the gorgeous tablet at the end!

I feel like our half marathon training is going OK after Saturday. @TheWelshWookie and I had lost some ground last week due to having nasty colds, but running the two races on Saturday really boosted my confidence. I think we could easily have gone further had we wanted to. I want to get out at least three times this week, maybe four if we can, as I won’t get a long run in this Saturday. We’ll do a final long run of 10 or 11 miles or so a week on Saturday, and then we should be all ready for our first Great North Run. Yay!

If you need a little boost to get you out the door this week, here it is:  

 Have a wonderful week!

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 4 Comments

Hi everyone, welcome to a fresh week and to sick bay 😉

Yes, the lurgy has struck, which is unusual- it’s not very often that @TheWelshWookie and I are sick, but we’re currently nursing brilliantly bad colds. But at least that’s something we’ll get over quickly. Could be much worse!

But it has made a dent in our training plans :/ Last run for me was Thursday’s four miles. Ok, so it was more of a walk/run, but I was happy to get the miles under my belt before the cold fully kicked in. I’m having another rest day today, but I’m planning on getting back on track with a run or a walk/run tomorrow. Wish me luck! 🙂 With a month to go until the GNR, I’m keen to keep on track as much as I can, and to manage a couple more long runs this weekend coming and the next one too. 

Here’s exactly how I’m thinking at the moment: 

 Have a great week!

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 3 Comments

Hello, how was your weekend?

Mine was fab, thanks. We had visitors: my BFF Pauline, her hubby Gavin, Olivia and Christopher. We had a blast! And, I think we were really good – we ate well (80/20 of course, mostly healthy with a few G and Ts) and we were active too. On Saturday, Olivia and Christopher joined in at our SUPercise session, which was brilliant fun. Both did so well!

  
In the afternoon, we then had a good walk into Lochgilphead. It was pouring with rain, we were soaked, but it was good to get a solid 10K or so in the bag.

Tonight, @TheWelshWookie and I ran a solid four miles around the harbour. I really enjoyed it, and feel in control, with six weeks to go until the Great North Run.

  
Tomorrow calls for a seven miler, so keep your fingers crossed for a dry day 🙂

Here’s a little something to help get your week started:

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Have a wonderful week!

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 8 Comments

Did anyone miss me last week? I’m was on holiday, and took a little blogging break too. But now I’m back!

We were visiting family, in England and in Scotland, and we also visited Wales for a couple of days – not a bad wee road trip 😀

I’d never visited Wales before, and while there we made the most of it, with a tour around the Millennium Stadium, a good look around Cardiff Castle, a wander around the docks and topped it all off with an afternoon at the Doctor Who Experience. that was awesome!

I’ll definitely do a photo dump later in the week 🙂

But it does mean that my running (and my eating) has been a little very wayward. We did our very first ever ParkRun on the Saturday when we stopped off in Preston. I loved it. But I haven’t run since then. My training will be heading back on track tomorrow, with a seven miler on the training schedule. Eek! Wish me luck!

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 5 Comments

Well, I did it, I got out of my injury/low motivation/other-stuff-getting-in-the-way cycle that has dogged me, and I completed my 150 mile 10K training plan which culminated in running the Carradale Canter 10K.

Hurrah!

I’ve enjoyed being back in a proper routine, and I love that I’ve shifted the first 10 pounds of the extra weight that sneaked on while I was busy being idle. Running, I have missed you! 😀

Today, I began day one, week one of my half marathon training for the Great North Run in nine week’s time. Now, my training plan should really be 12 weeks, but given that I’m straight from my Carradale training plan, starting on week three is fine. Today’s run was a three miler, with a slight progression: two miles steady, and a final mile at a faster pace. I’d be lying if I said it was easy and my legs weren’t a little weary after yesterday’s run over multi terrain. But I got it done. Go me!

Next on the plan is a 3.8 mile threshold session tomorrow, a 3 mile easy run on Wednesday and cross training on Thursday with Pound. Yep – I think I can say that I’m firmly back on track.

So, here’s a little positive something to get you started this week:

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Have a brilliant week, everyone!

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 5 Comments

Hello, everyone. How are you doing?

Did you have a good weekend? Mine was fab! Our schools broke up for their summer holiday on Friday, so it’s been a busy week.

I skipped a training run on Friday because I had quite a few things on – but that’s OK, as I’ve been so, so good at sticking to the plan until now.

This weekend has been the Tarbert Viking Festival, and it’s been fantastic. The vikings have staged ‘raids’ on Lochgilphead, Ardrishaig and Portavadie: we headed to Portavadie on Sunday to take part in some of the fun, and we were treated to a traditional Swedish viking folk band, a viking village with skills and activities including, of course, archery lessons and viking battles. We also had a barbeque, and a cocktail or two, too 😀

   
 Back to training. Here’s my week 6 training schedule, versus my actual activity: 

 We had a fantastic SUPercise session on Saturday – it was tough, and I was definitely feeling the DOMS on Sunday. It was the first outing for my new wetsuit, which was super comfortable – even if it did take me 20 minutes to get into!

I’m now in ‘peak week’ of training, and I’ve just done a really good – and fun 3.5 mile run, so it’s off to a great start 🙂 Or, in @TheWelshWookie’s words, we ‘kicked it’s a$$’!

Here’s to more of the same this week:

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Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello, how’s your day been so far? Mine has been great: a cheeky little Monday off that’s been filled with domestic doings like the small mound of ironing I’ve built up 😀

Can you believe that we’re already just past the longest day? Our schools break up on Friday, and that’s come around very quickly!  

 

That means we have the Viking Festival this weekend, and the Seafood Festival next week- I can’t wait!

Week five of my training programme has gone well, including Saturday’s sun burned fun run. I took yesterday off, which is the first ‘missed’ session I have had. I needed it, and feel so much better for it! 

Here’s the training v the plan:  

 

Today’s run calls for 3.5 miles, and I’m all set for that. 

Here’s my motivation for this week:  

 

Have a great week!

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Greetings from the Scottish Borders!

I’m in this beautiful part of the world until tomorrow, and so this blog post is coming from somewhere a little different today 🙂

How was your weekend? I filled you in on Saturday evening with my week’s antics, and yesterday mostly involved me squeezing in my three mile walk before heading off on my little work adventure.

Did you enjoy World Gin Day? I was very well behaved, and only had one gin. I was very tempted to have more, but I reckon that I was worn out from my SUPercise and running! 🙂

Today is the start of week 5 training for me – the week’s subitile is ‘Test Your Limits’. Eeek! I’m planning to fit in a fur miler tonight, but that may or may not happen. If it doesn’t, I’ll make up for it later in the week, and it will mark my first missed session of this training plan. Go me!

In other news, @TheWelshWookie and I have booked our travel and accommodation for the Great North Run – Yay!

Here’s something I found last week, and loved:

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