Now, before reality bites, and I realise that I’ll have to spend some time doing laundry, housework and other domesticated stuff this weekend, let us revel in the joy that is Friday evening:
Amen. Thanks, I’m sure you know who you are…. Meanwhile, here’s this weekend’s format:
And heres’ my brain’s repeat track right now:
This is what I’m looking forward to, on Saturday Sunday morning:
Have a great weekend, all. For those of you who have races, I’m looking forward to reading your reviews! 😀
I know I’ve said before that I’m lucky to live in a small village that has lots of events, which benefit locals and tourists, too. Well, this weekend is no different, as it is the Tarbert Music Festival!
Although we have lived in the village for almost six years, we have always been away for this weekend, except for the 2011 event, when we were able to stay home, and go to the music festival. We had a great time! Each of the pubs and hotels had different bands on during the day and evening, and there was a large marquee at the pier, with live music and a bar. It was fantastic!
This weekend, we’re also home and so we’re hoping to see some of the bands this year.
Here’s the schedule, as it stands at the moment:
And you can find the festival website here
I’m not sure how much running I’ll be doing- but there will be plenty of toe tapping and, dare I say it? Dancing?
Today’s Stats:
Run: 5K, easy run
Time: 31:33
Trainers: Lunar Fly GTX
Weather: drizzly. Cool, but not cold
First Running Track of the Day:
Today’s Life Lesson: not everyone appreciates Christmas scented plug-ins in September…
Do you have any weekend plans?
I’ve been waiting all day, to road test some of the new gear I bought over the weekend. I decided to try out my cool stripy tights 😀
We’ve had dreadful weather here, with gale force wind and really heavy downpours, but nothing was going to stop me from trying out these babies!
Instead of heading to the harbour, we turned left, and ran along the Campbeltown road. @TheWelshWookie suggested running up the hill on the main road, instead of running to the West Loch: a suggestion he later regretted when he realised how steep the hill was! It was tough, but I’m really feeling the benefit of the hill training paying off.
You can see the elevation 🙂
The hill gave me a chance to put the tights to the test. OK- so I know these are workout tights, not running tights. I know that I’ve gone for style over substance. BUT they are really comfortable to wear, and ideal for short runs. They did slip a little, so I probably won’t wear them on longer runs, or to races. But I do really like them.
@TheWelshWookie liked his new gear, too, including the new knee support, which is for his oldmanitis!
We were absolutely soaked by the time we got home, but I felt great! Autumn has definitely arrived, and I might have to dig out my running gloves soon…. my fingers were a little cold; it was around 10C/50F
On another note, the ticket ordering for the Commonwealth Games 2014 closed tonight: I hope I get some of those I’ve requested!
Today’s Stats:
Run: 2 mile, hills
Time: 20:26 pretty good!
Weather: Rainy, and quite cold
Trainers: Nike LunarFly GTX
Today’s Life Lesson: Why do socks always come out of the washer in odd numbers?
What is your favourite running outfit?
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?
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. 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?
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?
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:
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?
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?
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
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?
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