Tag: training

Bitter Suite Friday

Bitter Suite Friday

by TartanJogger ♥ 16 Comments

Happy Weekend to you, welcome to Friday!

Today is exactly four weeks until @TheWelshWookie and I get married.  Eeek! Time is flying by!

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I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we were heading to a concert tonight. Do you want to know which concert? It’s a band I was a HUGE fan of when I was at school and at University: Hue and Cry.

They’re marking the 25th Anniversary of their dual album ‘Remote’ and ‘Bitter Suite’. Remote was a good, fun pop album, with slight political overtones. Bitter Suite was more acoustic, and was recorded live at the Renfrew Ferry. I love them both!

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And so, Hue & Cry are playing two gigs: tomorrow night is a big, live full band set to celebrate Remote, while tonight is a full acoustic play through of Bitter Suite, with some ‘surprises’. I cannot wait!
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I’m looking forward to having a break from wedding stuff, and from normal life – and reliving my teenage years for a few hours 😉

What was the last gig you went to? Have you revisited teenage bands much?

An Early Weekend

An Early Weekend

by TartanJogger ♥ 21 Comments

Today is my Friday! Yay! I can celebrate the arrival of the weekend 😉

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@TheWelshWookie and I are off for a wee night out tomorrow: we are going to a concert, and will perhaps visit a hostelry or two while we’re out…… 😉 Watch out, Glasgow!

Well, our spring weather has lasted two days, today we’re back to ‘light drizzle’. Surprise, surprise, eh? But that didn’t get in the way of @TheWelshWookie and my three miler. We’re sticking to this Hal Higdon training plan like glue.

It was quite a slow run tonight: I had lead legs. That’s the first time in aaaaages that this has happened – I guess I’ve been overdue a rough run. But, hey. I got it done 😉

#ATWRBR2014: Today’s run brings my weekly total up to 11.27 kilometres, giving me 45.08 kilometres for the month so far 🙂

Do you have any plans for the weekend?

Let’s Do Lunch

Let’s Do Lunch

by TartanJogger ♥ 26 Comments

Today, as I was having my lunch, I was thinking about how predictable this meal is for me. I’m a creature of habit. I don’t deny it 😉

I’m very fortunate, as we have a staff canteen on site. And almost every day I have soup for lunch. There’s always a choice of two home made soups available, and there’s a great range of flavours which staves off boredom.
I also find that this keeps me going until my run when I get home from work.

Despite my understanding of how counter productive it can be, I tend to eat my lunch at my desk, while working. I know, I know the benefits of taking a break, and I’m the first to tell everyone else to walk away and have a proper break, but I struggle to do it myself!

Tonight, I got in a great four mile run, in lovely weather once again! So, that’s another 6.44 kilometres, totalling 11.47k for the week so far, and 40.25 for the month.

So, how’s your lunch? What do you have? Do you take a break?

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 17 Comments

Welcome to another fresh week, laid in front of us, ready for us to run all over it!

I think that the sunshine today has gone to my head 😉 We’ve has a lovely day here on the west coast of Scotland!

And so, it wasn’t difficult to head out for my  Around the World Running Blog Relay run tonight!  I got in a speedy-for-me 3 miles, which felt great after Saturday’s long run.  That’s 4.83 kilometres in the bag for week two, and a total of 33.81K for March so far. I can’t believe how far we ran during week one: you can check out Kyla’s week one recap here!

How has your day gone?

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Affy Windy

Affy Windy

by TartanJogger ♥ 26 Comments

This morning, @TheWelshWookie and I headed out to do our eight mile run. We had perfect running conditions: it was cool and overcast but dry. However, it was affy windy. So much so that when we got to the harbour the Tarbert – Portavadie ferry wasn’t running!

We headed out on around glen road, which was where we ran a fortnight ago. It was quiet, and we kept our pace slow. We then headed back into the village, and along our usual harbour route to Garvel then around the harbour to the concrete and back. 8 miles done. It felt really good today!

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This was @TheWelshWookie’s longest ever run, and he felt good afterwards, too: the steady, slow pace and fuel practice paid off.

I took the MP3 player that Girl Runs Wild sent. And, I can tell you, she has some great taste in music! It has loads of really good, upbeat tracks, including ‘Gloria’ by Laura Brannigan, ‘Suddenly I See’ by KT Tunstall and ‘Grace Kelly’ by Mica. I was so excited to hear a track by The Lightning Seeds that I hadn’t heard for years! (It was ‘Sugar Coated Iceberg’ in case you’re wondering). Then, at around the 6 mile mark, I heard the first track that we both have, it was ‘Teardrop’ by Massive Attack. Love that.

As I got to my final hill, I was cheered by some good old Meatloaf, and I was signing along like a loon! @TheWelshWookie thought I was singing ‘I Battered the Hill’ instead of ‘Bat out of Hell’, so I think I’ll be sticking with those new lyrics from now on 😉

To finish the final mile, I had some Mumford and Sons, which was just right at that point in my run. I can definitely say that I am so glad we did the swap: I’ve heard some great tunes I don’t have, or I had forgotten about, and I’ve been introduced to some great music I hadn’t heard before. I’m not sure what Girl Runs Wild will think of my playlist, but I’m looking forward – with trepidation – to finding out!

After today, I’ve added to my  Around the World Running Blog Relay total by another 8 miles, or 12.88 kilometres, which brings my  total to 28.98 kilometres for week one 🙂

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend: I know it’s LA Marathon time, and the Inverness Half tomorrow too.

Are you running this weekend? What’s your goal?

An Update

An Update

by TartanJogger ♥ 16 Comments

Evening all!

I thought I’d give you a quick update on my half marathon training plan, and the headline is that it’s going really well.

So far, Hal Higdon is working out really well: it’s a good mix of runs, with four days running, one day cross training and two rest days per week. I’ve now reached Week 5, Day 4, so I’m not quite at the half way point yet. I’m managing to do a mix of running outdoors and dreadmill runs, which is also helping to stave off boredom.

So tonight, I’ve added to my  Around the World Running Blog Relay mileage: another 3 miles, or 4.83 kilometres, which brings my  total to 16.1 kilometres so far 🙂

In wedding news, I now have virtually everything arranged, I think. And if I don’t have it arranged, it isn’t happening! I’m just about to finish off writing the Order of Service, and that will be another job done! 🙂

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I feel as though some things are just about coming together, in terms of both running and wedding planning this week 😉

What’s going well for you at the moment?

The Playlist Swap

The Playlist Swap

by TartanJogger ♥ 30 Comments

Tonight, I headed out for my second dry run in a row for ages! I was running four miles, and so I was able to listen to some of Girl Runs Wild‘s running playlist. I was very excited!

The first forty five minutes worth of music is a really great mix, all of which I really enjoyed. It included:

  • the theme from Flashdance
  • a good smattering of Country music
  • some old skool James tracks
  • some Katie Melua

And, as I finished my four miles, I was running to Roar by Katy Perry! Yay!

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I’m looking forward to hearing more! As I think of some of the sad tracks on my own playlist, I think I’ve benefited from this swap! It was great to be able to run, and have no idea what music was coming next. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this aspect of my run tonight.

So, I’ve added to my  Around the World Running Blog Relay mileage: another 4 miles, or 6.44 kilometres, for a total of 11.27 kilometres so far 🙂

What’s your favourite running track?

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

by TartanJogger ♥ 12 Comments

Happy Monday, everyone! Did you have a good weekend?

I did, and I’m now ready to tackle March head on! 🙂

Today was my first Around the World Running Blog Relay run, and I got in a steady 3 miles, so that’s 4.83 kilometres in the bag for starters!

Has your week/month gotten off to a good start?

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AWOL Weekend

AWOL Weekend

by TartanJogger ♥ 10 Comments

Happy Friday everyone!

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I’m just dropping by with a brief post, in case anyone misses me thinks I’ve disappeared over the weekend! I have a ton of stuff to do wedding-wise. Yeah, including a second Hen Do 😉 Lucky me! 😀

I’m planning to squeeze in my seven miler at some point, and I might be back to surprise you check in. But, if I don’t, I’ll see you on the other side of the weekend.

Don’t Forget: TOMORROW is day one of the Around the World Running Blog Relay 2014. Make sure you’ve signed up. If you haven’t, now’s your chance. Do it now, here. 🙂

Have a great one all! 🙂

A Blogger Surprise!

A Blogger Surprise!

by TartanJogger ♥ 44 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting to Girl Runs Wild about running music and playlists. During the online conversation, she mentioned that we should buy a basic MP3 player each, download our playlists, and mail them to each other.

And so, the great playlist swap has begun!

While Girl Runs Wild is still waiting for me to receive the MP3 player from Amazon to load and send to her, I received an email on Tuesday, telling me to look out for a little package through the mail 😉

And yesterday, there was a parcel waiting for me at the front door! Eeeek!

It was quite a large package, and my first thoughts were: was there something I’ve ordered for the wedding that I’ve forgotten about? Has @TheWelshWookie been doing some sneaky online shopping?

I carried the package into the kitchen, and opened it. Hmmm. It was a lovely pink box, wrapped in a silver satin ribbon. I was intrigued!

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I carefully removed the ribbon, puzzling over this lovely package.  My thoughts included have I entered and won a competition? I rechecked the name and address, in case I’d accidentally opened a package for my neighbour: nope! It’s definitely for me!

I opened the box, unsure of what to expect. And what did I find? A box of fabulous goodies, perfect for a runner!

The lovely notecard inside explained all: this wonderful blogger was treating me to the whole ‘Girl Runs Wild’ running experience, including the music, fuel, recovery food and post-run pampering kit! 😀

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In the box was: a 9 Bar (I love these), a bag of Lindt eggs (delish!), The Body Shop Total Energy Enlivening Body Gel, a big box of lovely scented tea lights and another small gift box containing the MP3 player!

I’m a very, very lucky blogger!

I’m already a huge fan of 9 bars, and I’m not sure you’ll believe this, but @TheWelshWookie and I polished off the last of our Lindt chocolate balls from Christmas only on Monday, so to receive the Lindt eggs now is just perfect!

The body gel smells really lovely, and I can’t wait to try it post-run. I use a lot of candles, and the ones Girl Runs Wild included smell divine!

I am tempted to have a sneak listen to the MP3 player but I’m going to hold off, and use it on my long run, so that I can really enjoy it. I’ll let you know all about it after I’ve listened!

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I’ve been blown away by both the generosity and the lovely, thoughtful surprise: it has really made my week!

Thank you, Girl Runs Wild! You’ve really highlighted for me how fantastic all of you bloggers are!

In case you missed it, we’re also both signed up for the Around the World Running Blog Relay 2014: Are you in yet? No? Well, you’d best get a wriggle on, it starts on Saturday! 😉 Sign up here

Have you ever received a wonderful surprise?