Dinner Dance and Hare and Toritoise Race Update

Dinner Dance and Hare and Toritoise Race.

Race

We woke up to crystal clear blue skies and frosty temps yesterday - an absolutely perfect day for a run. Over 20 of us turned up this morning so we were able to have 10 teams. I (accompanied by Al to make sure my competitive streak did not appear) was paired with Ian Beattie. The tortoises set off first and I was very glad to have Al with me as all the other tortoises gradually pulled away from me - if I had been on my own, it would have been very tempting to try to keep up, but I knew if I did 1) Baby would not have been happy and 2) I'd have never made it to the dinner dance. I had a great run - it felt just fabulous to be running with the crisp air in my face and looking at the sparkles shining off the river - it didn't feel nearly as slow as it was- pregnancy is so very strange and I'm settling into it now and starting to enjoy the weird experiences - bar the constipation ; I will never make my peace with that! I can really see why RPE is a far better method of checking your working at the correct level as I was definitely running at RPE 6 and 7 up the hills.

Anyway, poor Ian struck a lonely figure as he waited for me to puff around the course and was the last to set off - I was just giving an extra hard work out to try and catch up with the rest - that's my excuse I'm sticking to it! Hee hee!

I christened my running skirt yesterday - totally love it.

There were photos taken yesterday and once they are up on the forum I will half hinch them for here.

Dinner Dance

After the race we came home, had an early lunch and I headed off to bed for an afternoon snooze for a couple of hours. I wondered if I would sleep as there was quite a lot of light coming through the curtains, but sleep I did!

It was lovely getting dressed up and I felt quite glam despite my growing bump.

Hubby and Me (Isn't he handsome!)

My friend Wendy and me

The meal was delicious and although I wasn't able to ceilidh, it was great fun to watch. Actually I had never realised how much kilts swing up during the strip the willow - there was quite a lot of male thigh action going on - fortunately that was all and no tackle was exposed! Al tried to take some photos but as every one is moving so much most are not terribly clear, but this one is probably the best.

Strip the Willow Chaos

The nap (and and incredibly lazy day on Friday) seemed to do the trick as I was able to stay to the very end (1am). I am shattered today, but it is so worth it.

Miscellaneous

I must try and do my Pilates today as I abandoned hopes of having the energy on Friday and then I can settle down to watch the last Ski Sunday of the season. What is with that, it is the end of Jan for goodness sake, how can that be the last Ski Sunday, when the season runs to April? I presume we'll be getting coverage of the Olympics when it starts, but even still.... Oh to live in a country that has skiing as their national sport, or at least one with decent coverage! Grr... O.K, Rant over!

Getting Fitter + Harriers' Dinner Dance

I think I am getting fitter:

On Thursday, I had a great spin. I did 40 minutes including warm up and cool down. I did 6 x 5 minute intervals that were made up of 3.5 minutes of fast legs sitting down and 1.5 minutes slow legs with harder resistance. 3 of the slow intervals were done sitting and 3 standing. In addition to be able to do longer, I realised that the resistance for both faster and slower intervals was more, but didn't feel harder. I felt very chuffed when I had finished. oh and I wore my running skirt and it was very comfortable and supportive. I can't wait to wear it running on Saturday.

Hare and Tortoise Race and Harriers' Dinner Dance

On Saturday is the Harriers Dinner Dance. I'm really looking forward to it except I'll have to be careful which ceilidh dances I do - I'm usually a big fan of strip the willow, but I'll be bypassing that dance this year as it is always total bedlam!

I tried on my dress a couple of weeks ago to check my inflated breasts could fit in it still and they could - just! Also as Ladies' Captain I have to do a speech, which is all written, but I'll be glad when it's done and I can fully relax.

In the morning of the dance the club always runs a handicapped race or some such and this year we are having a hare and tortoise race where faster and slower club members are paired up. Each hare and tortoise then runs one lap (about 2.5 - 3 miles) and there will be a prize for the fastest team presented in the evening at the dinner. I have volunteered to be a tortoise and I'm really looking forward to it and still being able to be involved in the club activities. Al is going to run round with me to make sure I don't get too competitive and push myself too hard! Hee hee!

I plan to try and get a wee afternoon snooze on Saturday so I can stay up as late as possible.

Pilates + Tiredness

30 minutes of Pilates will be done today once I've relaxed for a while. Yesterday was one of those days where tiredness simply overwhelmed me. Work was incredibly busy and I didn't get a chance to eat anything before the kids arrived and boy did I suffer for it - I was so tired by home-time that I had to leave my car at the end of mum's glen and she drove me home as I don't think it would have been safe for me to drive. I find those days so frustrating as I know now the only thing to sort that out is to go to bed, but of course when at work, I can't. I hate being tired for the kids, but what can you do?

Some excitement!

Very Honoured!

I phoned my friend Emily the other day to catch up and excitement upon excitement she asked if I would like to be her second boy Finlay's God parent! I'm so honoured - what a thing to do to a hormonal woman I was totally overwhelmed. Finlay's baptism is on the 14th March and it will be so wonderful. Actually it is very exciting because I worked out the other day that our wee babba bean will be exactly 9 months younger than Finlay so when they are a little older the will be completely ages with each other - it would be nice if we have a boy, but to be honest I really don't mind either way.

Silly bit of fun

While not nearly as exciting as above, it was fun to get my post this morning. I ordered a maternity running skirt the other day and it arrived this morning. It is dead cool. It has shorts underneath the skirt and a big tummy support. At the moment it is best when rolled over as it supports just under my bump (I of course tried it on immediately), but as bump gets bigger I can roll it up and support more of bump. It has 2 little side pockets where I can put a wee snack and phone etc. Love it! I'll try and get a photo of me sporting the skirt at some point.

Pilates

Yesterday I did 30 minutes Pilates. I've decided to tick with 30 mins at the mo' as I only did 1 session last week with my heavier weights (hand held, not my growing bump!) so want my body to get used to that before adding extra time, pus as I'm trying to increase my cardio time I don't want to do too much too soon. (such sensibility and moderation!)

Spin

Will be doing my spin this morning (aiming for 35-40 mins) once I've done some work for this afternoon. Spent about an hour grovelling around the floor sorting out PCs when I went to work yesterday and it was just one of those days when the best made plans just do not come to fruition so need to do some lesson planning.

First Pregnant Club Run + The Ben Nevis Race

Yeah! After Saturday's confidence boost I decided I really wanted to try and get to Monday morning club run. Despite a crappy night sleep I forced myself up at 7.30am (nearly 2 hours earlier than usual) in order to get breakfast with enough time for it to digest.

I arrived a wee bit before everyone else in order to be able to do 5 minutes of walking in my warm clothes before everyone else arrived. Once folk started arriving I pulled off my warm layers and headed off before everyone else so I could walk for a further 5 mins before starting to run.

Just as I started to run I could hear the others starting to approach so I didn't get too much of a head start but it didn't matter as I was bale to run along with various people for a wee stretch before they bit by bit overtook me. Beth was the last to be ready to overtake but by that stage we were nearly at the junction where we all wait and we were deep in conversation so she kindly kept me company.

Everyone except Beth (who wanted a shorter run) carried on around the 10k route while Beth and I head back along the time trial route. I had to have a little walk up the first wee hill to get me started again, but despite breathing fairly heavily I was able to carry on a conversation with Beth the whole way back (Thanks, Beth - really nice) so knew I wasn't pushing overly hard.

So chuffed! Had a 5 minute walk at the end to ease off legs and stretch so that I am not as stiff as a board tomorrow. Actually I'm really pleased that I was not stiff yesterday after Saturday's run. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing.

The application forms for the Ben Nevis race are out today. The race is on the 6th September. Baby is due 25th June - is that too soon? Hmmmm decisions! I suppose I could enter and if there are complications and I just don't feel fit enough I could opt out. I would feel bad doing that as places are limited, but on the flip side I enjoyed the race so much last year that it would be fab to do it again. I had hope to be ready for the Comrie Hills Relay race usually about a week later, but is considerably shorter (1 hour compared to 2.5). Any opinions, please post them.

Plan for the week is:

2 x 3 mile runs

2 x 30 - 40 minutes pilates

1 x 35-40 minute bike ride.

OK, chores are a-calling!

Tiredness is doing my head in!

Getting tired is really doing my head in.

As previously posted I was too tired to do anything on Thursday, then as I had to go to the centre on Friday I didn't get a work out - I did get a heap of work done however so there is always a positive in something.

I had a great run yesterday, but despite a 12 hour - yes 12 hour sleep have been very tired today. Nevermind - it has obviously just been one of those weeks and I have done 3 days of exercise which is more than many folk do non pregnant - plus one of those was what I would call a proper run so I should just look at the positives. Just getting a bit frustrated with the fatigue. I think it is because it reminds me of when my IBS was so bad I wasn't retaining the energy in my food and so was incredibly tired all the time. Since altering my diet I've been a bundle of beans and I love it, but pregnancy has definitely taken its toll on my energy levels and my IBS is on off not great.

C'est la vie - at least at the end of all this I will have such a special little bundle of joy and I just need to keep that in mind. If I am tired then baby needs me to rest - that is what is important.

A new week tomorrow!

A Proper Run!

That was a great run!

I headed out for my 10 minute walking warm up out and back in one direction from my house while Al did a 10 minute run. When we got back to the house I dumped my extra layers and we headed out in the opposite direction for our run. After a 5 minute steady warm up we did 4 sets of intervals as follows:

4 minutes rpe5-6

1 minute rpe 6-7

The good thing about this was that Al could head off for the 1 minute intervals at his own pace and so get a decent work out, but we could still enjoy a run together - might as well enjoy that while we can!

We finished with a 2 minute jog and 3 minute walk, so 27 minutes running; 40 minute total workout time.

The best thing about the run today was that we made it to a particular junction about 1.5 miles away in 14 mins so while not setting any records at least I know I'm running at about 9.30 minute miles. I was just so pleased to know that I've run 3 miles in a oner and it makes I feel more confident to head out with the club on a Monday morning for a shorter version of the club run. That is if I can get up in time!

Right I must finish my speech for the club's dinner dance next week.

Day from Hell!

What a kak day I had yesterday! I spent all of my morning (like everyone else's evening) trying to upload our maths and English programmes onto 2 new laptops I had bought for the centre, but they would just not load. They would get 99% finished and then script error would come up. I wondered if it was to do with the virus protector but couldn't get rid of it to enable it to load the progs. 3 hours later I had to give up for my own sanity, but it left me just enough time to squeeze in 30 mins pilates, shower, lunch, get packed dinner ready and rush out the door.

When I got to work one of the PCs started making a crazy noise and I nearly cried as I thought that it was going to blow up and 2 PCs had already died on me this week! Thankfully it sorted itself and as a couple of our students had finished in the middle session there were enough PCs to go around! I was so exhausted by that stage that my eyes felt like p*** holes in the snow!

Session 1 and 2 weren't too bad, but by session 3 I was so tired I could have easily put my head down on a desk and fallen asleep. At the end of the 3rd session a parent wanted check up on their kid's progress which I was very happy to be able to update is really starting to take off - really getting his confidence and his understanding of the English language is really maturing; then one of my tutor's needed advice on a student's program which I was happy to support him through, but all meant I couldn't leave until 9.45pm and so wasn't home until 10.45pm.

You would think after all that I would sleep like a baby, but no - a grotty night's sleep! The long and short of all that is I took the executive decision to sit on my backside this morning a chill out before work today!

Phew - I feel better with that off my chest!

Workouts this week so far have been:

35mins Bike spin

30 mins Pilates with 1kg weights as oppossed to 410g of canned beans!!!!)

I would like to also do:

2 x 35-40 mins runs

1 x 30 - 40 mins Pilates

But as I have to work at the centre on Friday instead of at home I may have to drop something - poss the Pilates as I really want to get back into the running - we shall see.