Girly Weekend with a difference

Taking 5 minutes out of a somewhat upsetting day to think about something that makes me smile...

The stereotypical 'girly weekend' is usually an allover fake tan and glitzy nails.  We came back with a patchy tan and wrecked nails!  But we had a great time :-D
Amanda wrote a great wee blog about our trip so I'm sharing hers instead of writing my own - not being lazy but really not much point in writing the same thing twice!
Read all about it here in Amanda's blog

How time flies...

Wow it's been almost 2 weeks since I've been on here - how time flies when you're having fun (or training!)

I've done a few good runs since then, and some fun and tough fitcamp sessions too.

 

Alan

 

Last weekend some friends were running from Bishopbriggs to Falkirk along the Forth & Clyde canal, I didn't need a 20 mile run, so John and I went by train to Croy and met up with Alan Lindsay.  There had been some snow on the Friday, so the path was quite icy at the start - this gave me a chance to try out my kahtoola micro spikes which I'd got for Xmas and hadn't had a chance to use yet.  I kept them on for about 4km then the ice diminished so I put them back in my bag - it feels weird for first few minutes of running after you take them off!  John had run the first mile with us then he headed off at his 'slightly faster than me' pace :-) Alan and I trotted along quite comfortably, blethering away, and the time and the miles passed effortlessly.  We stopped to speak to the wildlife rangers who were trying to rescue a young swan which had managed to get himself tangled up in some fishing line :-(  His parents were watching from a respectful distance as he waddled across the frozen canal and just as the ranger thought she was going to be able to catch him, he took off and flew towards his Mum & Dad!  Her colleague who was in a rowing boat breaking the ice and trying to get to him on the water, was less than impressed!  With about 1mile to go, we met up with John who had run back to meet us, and then we headed off to the cafe at the Falkirk Wheel for a heat and some well earned refuelling.  The rest of the crew, Noanie, David and Angela joined us and after they were fed and rested, we all set off again to head up the hill and through the tunnelto join the Union Canal.  2.5miles took us along to Falkirk High station, where we had parked our car and where the others got on the train to head back to Croy/Bishopbriggs.  It was a fine sunny day and the chat was good, and I got 12.5miles in my legs.
Sunday, we went out in foul weather, it had snowed from about 4pm on the Saturday, pretty much all night, so it was slushy, grey, cold and windy but off we went... We had planned to go up the hill for a wee session, but I was struggling with tired legs so we did a 5.5mile loop around the hillfoots into a blizzard and home again.  I had had a sore foot on Saturday evening, from the base of my toe up towards my ankle, on the top of my foot, which on Sunday morning was swollen and slightly coloured so I rested it for most of sunday afternoon, applying ice and heat.  It is still a bit achy but the swelling and bruising have subsided and it doesn't cause me any pain when running... not sure what I've done but will keep an eye on it and if it doesn't improve over this week, I'll go to see my wonderful physio 

I had a good interval session on the treadmill on Tuesday, I was a bit worried about my foot, but it didn't hurt, then on Thursday I did another treadmill session, I'd a tempo run on my program, and the treadmill makes this much much easier.

Running down the hill

We had a great weekend of running in totally contrasting conditions! Yesterday we could have been in the Swiss Alps, it was glorious sunshine and deep, crisp, white snow - my legs are still cut from the ice-crystals!  We ran round the back of our local hill - Dumyat, up to the Sherrifmuir Road, then onto the hill itself.  We then decided to run down the back of the hill :-) There was no obvious path so we just picked a slope and headed down!  The snow was 3 feet deep in some places!  It was a fabulous day, the weather was amazing, I love being out in the snow and the sunshine there's something very special, and peaceful about being away up in the hills where there are very few other people.  On the walkable side of the hill, we met a few walkers in the full gear, and a couple of young Chinese students in totally inappropriate footwear - who were slipping and sliding their way back down!  I don't know how they managed to get up the path in the first place!  Scary stuff... though not quite as scary as the 4 30-something guys on mountain bikes heading back downhill!  There were ski tracks on the back side of the hill too, though the only other footprints were sheep and the highland coos.
Today it was a 4 seasons in 1 day run, 12 miles on the canal in deep puddles and real clarty mud - both tough workouts in their own way, but feels good to have done them!  I didn't manage to get quite as many miles as my program had for me this week, but I am pleased with the quality of the workouts and looking forward to next week's challenges...

7/31 marcothon week1 in the bag :-)

Apologies for the slightly satanic eyes in this photo, but this is Islay 'the dug'. 

Islay rose to global fame last year as the photogenic star of marcothon 2011.  Each day her slightly bonkers owner Alan posted a photo from their runs.  He also includes the number of the day in the photo in one form or another, hence the bottle of 7up in today's...
I am really pleased that we're finished week 1 and I have managed fine this year, I've completed my runs in one piece, in reasonably good humour and without any slips or injuries on the snow and ice, my legs are holding up well too, no great niggles or aches.  This may be a result of being a year more experienced, 25lbs lighter and a year more confident, or it may be as a result of my firewalk last week and my heightened levels of self-awareness and self belief... choose whichever option you please or choose to disregard them all, but as I said to John last night, something has changed and whatever it is, it's working so I'm not complaining :-)
This weekend we will hopefully get a slightly longer run tomorrow in fair conditions, and then on Sunday we will be in Glasgow for the Santa Dash, a fun 5km round the city with another couple of thousand mad runners dressed as various incarnations of Santa!  Great fun seeing the Saturday night revellers or 'jakies' who swear to never drink again after seeing the swathe of red and white wend it's way up St Vincent Street.  It truly is a sight to behold!
Monday is a day off for us so we will enjoy the city on Sunday afternoon/evening, stay overnight and then do something on Monday - including our run, before heading home.  I have tickets for the Pharoah exhibition in Kelvingrove so would like to try and take that in if possible...
To everyone who has managed to run this week, well done, who knows what the weather has in store for us in the weeks to come, but here's to good running and warm showers when you get home!
Have a great weekend folks x

Monday...

Oh I really don't like Mondays :-) Thankfully there's only one a week but after a busy weekend it is always a struggle to get motivated on a dark Monday morning. Come summer it's much easier as it's bright and I have even been known to run 5miles before breakfast! Anyway, it's over now and it wasn't too painful.
I was much more tired today from yesterday's run in the snow than I should have been for the distance, but I know I'm still not completely clear of whatever horrid bugs took hold over the Christmas break so no run today. I did plan to go to the gym after work and was scheduled to do an interval session which sadly I really enjoy, however was so tired at the end of the day that I gave it a miss.
I am taking part in the 100Days Challenge http://www.teampenguin.com/100days and today is Day 10 so I did 30mins on the Wii Fit.

Tomorrow is the first day of a 1o week 3 times a week Bootcamp which I have signed up for, so that will count as tomorrow's input to the challenge... I am looking forward to taking part but am also slightly nervous of the unknown. Hopefully it will be fun as well as strenuous and will help to shift some of the weight I need to lose to help me run faster. Will let you know how it goes ;-)