Activity reports
Day 43: Unusually for me, I did a run on Sunday as I'm stepping up to doing four runs a week. I took one of my usual routes through Belladrum - a local country estate.
Day 44: A 30 minutes speed intervals training session. Followed by Swiss Ball Class in the evening and it was tough this week. We do a mix of balance/core strength and cardio work and this week we did a lot of exercises that worked my inner thighs. They were still aching on Wednesday.
Day 45: This morning I met with a colleague from our local forest group to do a reccee of a walk I'm leading on Sunday. I cycled uphill to her house, then enjoyed a 10 km walk past a couple of crofts and along a forest track across the moorland to a loch in midst of heather-clad hills. Following the walk, I needed to go to the neighbouring village and in total cycled 30 km.
Day 46: This should have been my weekly tempo run, but I was very sluggish and gave up after a slow 5 km.
Day 47: Today's cross-training was a quick cycle around the local roads.
Day 48: Friday is usually my long run, but since I'm saving that for a special run on Sunday, I opted for an hour-long tempo run through the 'other' local country estate.
Day 49: Walked to the Quiraing, Trotternish Ridge, Isle of Skye. This was a tough walk along a slippery path and with scrambling over wet rocks. There was thick mist and it was blowing a hoolie (It actually blew me off my feet at one point!) so was a slow going and very tiring.
Day 50: Final day started with a scheduled walk for our local Forest Group. I had volunteered to lead this walk a few months back before I realised it would clash with the final day of 5x50. It was a pleasant, easy 12km walk along a track on the moor to a loch and back. Unfortunately we didn't see any views as the mist hung around until we were almost back.
Then, because we Team NHS C25K are runners, I decided I should finish day 50 with a run. I chose to run on the Black Isle, along the Cromarty Firth from Balblair to Cromarty. Balblair is directly across the Firth from Invergordon where Queen Mary 2 was moored for the day as her passengers went off to tour the Highlands. The mist had burnt off by now and it was super clear and warm. This run was along a minor road with brilliant views of the ship just off shore. It was fun running through Cromarty as it was a party atmosphere. All through the village people had spilled out from their houses and the pubs (still clutching their pints) to welcome me! Or maybe it was to view the liner! There were families playing on the stony beach and old folks sitting in their front garden - lots of chat and laughter. I had wanted to join the 'half marathon run' gang, but following the earlier 12km walk this was too much. I managed to run 15km, so a total of 27 km walked/run today. Nae bad.
Body Report: As mentioned above, I've felt a wee bit sluggish on a couple of the runs. Now, today, I'm completely wiped out!
Photographic report: More photos added to my Flickr '5x50 Challenge 2013' album: