AWOL Weekend

AWOL Weekend

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! 🙂

Back Outside!

Back Outside!

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?

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?

Recovery Day

Recovery Day

Usually, recovery means – to me – a recovery run. Or a rest day. At the moment, it has a different meaning.

I’m recovering from my HenWeekend 😮

We had a weekend of roller coasters, fun, laughter, pressies, food, oh – and some alcohol, too.

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We had a blast! But, the details are staying under wraps. What happens on the Hen stays on the Hen 😉

I’ll share one pic. Me, doing my Titanic impression on a fake boat…… I swear, it was fun at the time!

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I’m hoping to catch up with the blogs I’ve missed during the week, and I’m planning on resuming normal service tomorrow.

So, who’s was the last Hen/Batchelorette party you went to, and where was it?

Thursday’s Training Update

Thursday’s Training Update

Hi everyone! It’s the weekend for me, as I’m off Friday and Monday, soooo it’s vino night tonight!

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I thought I’d give you an update on my Hal Higdon half marathon training. The main headline is: it’s going great!

I think that the plan is really suiting my running style, but it is early days. Last week – week one – was a 3 miler on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, a four mile ‘long’ run on Saturday and cross training on Sunday. This week is similar: a 3 miler on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, a five mile ‘long’ run on Saturday and cross training on Sunday. So far, so good, but it has ten weeks to go.

It feels great at the moment!

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I did my three miles tonight on the treadmill, in my new trainers. All will be revealed soon, in a later post! 😉

Something I’ve been trying to do is to post my training runs on Instagram, so prepare to be bored, if you follow me there.

I’m struggling to figure out how to fit in my five miler this weekend. You see, I’m off on my Hen Weekend, to Alton Towers, and I can’t wait!

Do you think that walking around the theme park, queueing and screaming while riding roller coasters could count as cross training?

Have a fab weekend, everyone!

Music for Running and Marrying

Music for Running and Marrying

To me, music is really, very important.

When I run, I listen to music most of the time. Sometimes, I’ll listen to a podcast, but mostly, I’ll have on my running playlist that consists of all kinds of upbeat tunes, from the 60’s to right now, from Motown to Dance mixes.

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My taste is eclectic 😉

In the early days of my blog, I used to post a song each day that played when I ran or worked out. Not sure why I stopped that.

I’ve recently bought Audio Fuel, which I plan to use with my marathon training. I’ve used it twice, and it seems really good for long runs.

In the car, I listen to the radio. In the bath, I have my iPod plugged into the speaker. We have iPod docks and speakers all over the house.

Am I painting a clear picture here?

Today, @TheWelshWookie and I have been looking through music and hymns we could use for our wedding. We’ve been belting out hymns, and putting traditional (and not-so-traditional) procession music up on the TV using YouTube and Apple TV. It’s been fun!

Have we decided on our church music yet? Have we heck!

We do have an iPod playlist for background music during the meal, and we have another playlist for partying either into the wee small hours, or the day after the wedding: it’s packed with floor fillers and family favourites. We’ve had our first dance song picked for ten years!

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But the hardest music to choose is striking the balance between hymns and music we like, that our guests will know and will be able to sing along with: hymns that are upbeat enough, wedding-appropriate AND set the right scene.

Hmmmm! It’s a taller order than I thought! Any suggestions?

Indoors and Outdoors

Indoors and Outdoors

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

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?

The Invites are OUT!

The Invites are OUT!

****WARNING****WEDDING TALK AHEAD!****

We posted our wedding invites on Monday, which means that MOST guests will have received their invites over the past couple of days! 😀

If you are reading this, and you are a family member who has yet to receive their invite, then heed this SPOILER ALERT and stop reading NOW! 😉

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Our wedding invites were non-traditional. They were……….

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Race Bibs! Yes, we had TYVEK race bibs made up, with the date of the wedding in place of the participant race number. We also sent out safety pins, so that guests can take photos of themselves wearing their bibs, and send them to us 😉

We included ‘race instructions’ along with the invites, which included details that we’d usually find at any race event: race registration (RSVP), start line details (Church details), race photos, post race refreshments, post race entertainment, etc. 😉

We also had a QR code printed on each letter, which means that all guests have access to a specific wedding website, where there’s information about the wedding itself, accommodation, things to do in Tarbert, links, etc.

It’s so exciting!

So, what do you think of our wedding theme: Race to the Altar?

In many ways, marriage is like a race. The wedding is only the start line…. I’m having great fun, combining my love of running with my wedding planning!

Tasty Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday

I’m still trying to keep on top of my eating, and yesterday I shared a pic of the sea bass I had at The Sister’s restaurant.

Here’s some more of my yummy recent treats!

Yes, I think I AM addicted to these Food Doctor pots:

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Yet more yummy salmon salad:

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A mid week, home made turkey and mushroom curry with wholegrain rice:

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A ‘good girl’ dessert:

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Here’s the fillet steak I had recently at The Grill on the Corner. We had it with a side of brussel sprouts. Yummy, yum!

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What have you been eating recently?