Maria Runs - Maria Runs

Double review

Hey!

Guess what I did today!

But first, the review!

So because I went away last week, plus the bank holidays, my training has got a little messed up. I forgot to do my review last week- whoopsie! And I have been getting myself confused as to what runs I have done, and when. So a double review of the last couple of weeks;

Monday 11th- 6.8 mile run (I think) If I remember rightly I did this one pretty quickly and was feeling great

Tuesday- 10 miles – some faster miles in the middle- it was a cooler day and I think again I went pretty fast

Wed- Go to Italy- some walking

Thursday- Not much walking as it was the day of the wedding- a little walk from the hotel to the town hall and back.

Friday- A lot of walking around Venice

Saturday- Even more walking around Venice (our flight was at 11pm so once we checked out our hotel we walked all day)

Sunday- Walking around Whipsenade with my parents (for my Mum’s birthday)

Monday- 18 miles- Was easier than last time, with only the last mile being really hard as oppose to the last 2 miles. Progress, people!

Tuesday- Sports massage! Ouch! So just some walking

Wednesday- gentle 5.6 miles to see how my legs were after the massage. Plus it was in the afternoon and it was baking. Plus a walk later on.

Thursday- Body Pump- I wimped out on the squats and went back to my old weight (as I had missed a week and also legs were still tender from the massage)- but it was great as always.

Friday- 10.5 mile run (not 9 miles as per the plan)

Saturday- 13 miles steady. And I did manage to stay pretty steady for most of it. And I managed a bit of dancing at the wedding reception!!

Sunday (today) – rest day with not even a walk!

Total mileage for those 2 weeks is 64 miles. Which to me sounds crazy!

The main points for me were;

The 2 runs before I went away I kept a good pace, so I was pleased I could sustain my pace for a 10 mile run.
The second 18 miler was easier (or not as bad) as the first 18 miler I did. The last mile was really hard, but then last time the last 2 miles were really hard.
I tried the mule gel, but that has shown me that the clif shots are the ones for me.
I tried my first ice bath! And I think it was OK! Must have been as I had a second one.

Can’t think of anything else now (oh, and I downloaded the yoga podcast thing, just need to print out the pose guide as it is quite small on the netbook screen).

So there we go- a little review. Overall, I am still staying positive. I loved watching the London marathon, but that also gave me a little panic, as it means that my marathon is approaching, and also I knew a few people doing it, and they missed their target times (one guy was aiming for 4 hours and did it in 5.5)- but I suppose they may have had unrealistic targets etc. So I am going to make sure I put all the preparation in, so I can have done as much as possible to help me get to that finish line.

I am loving my rest day today! I actually got up so late (we got home at 2am from the UK wedding reception) so I have potted on some seeds in the garden, made some hot cross buns, and am going to be chilling out in the shade for the rest of the afternoon (BBQ at Andy’s parents). I had a snack for lunch- banana carob pudding (mashed banana, tsp peanut butter and some carob powder)- topped with a pear. Leave it in the fridge for a bit and it is amazing. Like proper pudding!

Hot cross buns all ready to be taken around!

I was so pleased that they looked “proper”, as I have never made them before!

I hope everyone else is loving it too 🙂

Bye

Another hot hot day x2

Yesterday started with some delicious porridge with pb and also some morello cherry spread- delish.

Then it continued with a run. Now, you would think I have learned my lesson about route planning, but no, I was supposed to do 9 miles, and in fact did 10.5. Anyway, that took me 1 hr 52 mins, and I was pretty steady during most of it- tailed off at the end as the heat was kicking in (my water was so warm at the end- yuck). Home at 12 for a cold shower!

Then some lovely cinnamon, raisin, cranberry, pumpkin seed bread. Mmm. Then time to laze about and listen to the Adam and Joe podcast- Andy did 18 miles today (and he braved an ice bath!!!) so it was nice to just sit about- he was very impressed with me and actually told me “well done” at the end as normally I would get up and do something else after a few minutes of sitting down.

I also updated my recipe page- something I had been meaning to do for ages. I had quite a few to add, and I am pleased to finally tick that off my list!

I must say thanks to Jessica, who left me a link for this website that stocks Dark Chocolate Dreams! Hooray! And I noticed they do cans of pumpkin! How exciting! Although I still have half a cupboard full so I won’t be ordering any of that just yet. But if you fancy making some pumpkin pasta, or pumpkin scones then at least you can get some now 🙂 So thanks Jess.

I had some of my home-made dark chocolate dreams atop a cold Rachel’s rice pud;

The light shining in made it come out all pink for some reason!

Later on we went into London for the evening- pizza express dinner (yum- I love their pizza with goat’s cheese) and then to see Wicked. Which was fab- so many people have recommended it to us, and we never got around to it til now. Although we parked a long way away- past Oxford street, and the theatre is by Victoria station, so by the way back I was getting tired!

Today started with some double cherry porridge- (no pic)- porridge with oats, dried cherries and milk left overnight, cooked in the morning with a tsp morello cherry spread. Yum. I felt like I needed the sugar boost!

Then it was my next run- my routine has got all messed up (and with the race next sunday it is going to continue to be messy)- it was not ideal to go out again, but it means that tomorrow is a lovely rest day.

I planned my route (yes, I did learn my lesson, and decided in this heat that accidentely doing a mile more would not be good). I also took with me a Mule gel, which I have had for ages and not got around to trying.

My run was so hot, I was pouring with sweat, sweat and sun-cream mixed in my eyes- I probably added on a bit crossing roads to stay in the shade. I tried the gel, and it was not good- it tasted so sweet, really sickly, like a mixture of sugary jam, molasses and more sugar. I tried a few squirts of it, but then I felt quite sick, so threw the rest in the bin. I will stick to the clif bloks I think (although later on had a spluttering attack as I decided to blow my nose while chewing a shot blok- not advisable people!). I was even looking forward to an ice bath- crazy! I also had another lot of tears- on marathon talk they were doing a lot about the London marathon, and asked someone how she felt when she could see the finish line, and it set me off. I feel ridiculous but I suppose it shows how much this means to me. I think I am doubting my ability a bit, and I know that all the training is standing me in good stead, but of course who knows what will happen on the day itself. Plus it is such a mammoth thing to achieve, so I think I get a bit overwhelmed when I think about it. Luckily the sunglasses mean I don’t get too many funny looks! Once home I downed 2 glasses of water, electrolyte tabs (thanks Rose- could not wait to try one!) and a clif bar, had a shower and then had the ice bath. That helped cool me down! I have been coughing a lot now, and I saw a report about the smog. Now, not sure if I am imagining it, but still now if I take a really deep breath I cough.

Looking on Nike+ I am quite pleased with the run- I kept a fairly steady pace overall, most miles around 11ish or just under, although2 randomly at 9.54 (after my clif bloks- think it is psychological but I will take it!). Overall 13.2 miles in 2 hours 25, so I am keeping the same pace overall for these longer runs. Plus I went over 900 miles on Nike+!!!! Next week I will have had it a year, so doing over 900 miles in a year seems a lot to me! Woo!

I also realised I didn’t do the review of the week last Sunday, so I might do the fortnight one tomorrow. It will clear things up in my head as I have been getting muddled with what runs I still need to do.

Hope everyone is enjoying this fab weekend (and St George’s day, of course, for the English).

Dark chocolate dreaming

I got an email the other day from a website that sells american sweets etc, and I was very tempted by a jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams. Today I decided to buy one (browsing websites was one way of distracting myself from my work!) only to find that it was out of stock! Oh no! I hunted about on google for a bit- it was on amazon for £15 per jar, with £4 postage! Daylight robbery! I found it on another site, but then I ummed and ahhed a bit because the postage was still more.

Anyway, in the end, I made some. This, I think, is the best batch of fake dark chocolate dreams so far. I started with melting some chocolate (a few dark chocolate chips) but then I thought the reason why last time it needed improving,was because it was too thick. DCD is quite runny, which I love. So, into the mini chopper went some meridian smooth pb, the melted chocolate chips, a tsp cocoa powder and some agave nectar (hoping that the agave would thin it out and help it stay more runny at room temp).

The result? Amazing. I think it is the closest yet. On the website it lists the ingredients- peanuts, cane juice, cocoa, cocoa butter, palm fruit oil, vanilla, lecithin, salt. I think cane juice is a sweetener (?), and I suppose the palm fruit oil makes it more runny. Anyway, although my list of ingredients is not the same, it is more similar. And it was delicious.

I also made my final green smoothie of the week (no more spinach)- this one was lovely- I am glad I went for it.

1 banana, 40g spinach, 200ml Kara coconut milk, 1tbs cocoa powder. Simple, yet delicious. Although a rather unapetising colour, the chocolate flavour came through- I think the coconut milk is the perfect addition to it as well.

I also took a picture of my breakfast. I have not had porridge this week (shock!)- instead I have been having muesli with apple. That Rude Health stuff is amazing.

With regard to the sports massage, today when I woke up I felt like new! If I squeeze my ITB band (I had an anatomy lesson too you know) then they feel a bit tender, but when walking about it is all fine. I am a little obsessed about that now! Now I need to decide when to have the other 2.

I also updated my blogroll- I don’t think I have added to it for about 6 months and I read a lot of blogs now! So have a look. Oh, and if you know I read your blog and you are not on there, let me know.

Lastly, I made some mini peanut butter cups. This was a bad idea because they are very easy to eat (I call it brain fuel to help my work?? Which I did actually finish today, despite spending ages on facebook, reading blogs etc!)-

See the pb leaking out- they were scrumptious! So as you can see, a very dark chocolate-themed day!

Body pump later, which I am looking forward to, although I just remembered how hard the abs track is- my eyeballs will be sweating later (probably sweating out chocolate haha!).

Enjoy the long weekend folks 🙂

The aftermath

Today I had to hang around at home all morning, as I was waiting for a parcel for me, a parcel for Andy, and a person to come and fix my windscreen. Did I get on with some work? No, of course not. I did some cooking instead. (P.S. I did do some work before dinner!).

I made some bean dip to have for my lunch first of all. This was from the meridian website- basically it was a tin of cannelini beans, 2tbs tahini and a roasted red pepper, all whizzed up. This went very well in a warm food doctor pitta for my lunch.

Next up was the lasagne, although I actually forgot that part of it. I made two separate layers- layer one is a box of tofu whizzed up with some sundried tomato and garlic paste.

Carefully layer on some of the blended tofu.

Layer two was some roasted pepper, courgette, a tin of artichokes, lentils, tinned tomatoes, spinach, garlic. I cooked this mixture, and then layered it into trays (two layers of each) -I topped it with a tsp of basil pesto, which I swirled into the top tofu layer.

Then I had one for my dinner;

It was delicious! The basil pesto swirled in really made it. The tofu layer was really creamy, and all the veggies and lentils were delish as usual. A success, even if I forgot the lasagne sheets!

I also made some peanut butter cups- basically melted some dark chocolate, put some in the bottom of a cake case, put in the fridge for a bit to harden up, then put on a little bit of pb, spoon on the rest of the chocolate (re-melt if needed!) and then leave in the fridge again. I was worried it would stick to the case, but no fear, it came away just fine. So amazing.

Ok it is hard to see in the picture, but it is delicious. I have some mini cake cases so next time I might do bite-sized ones…..

Anyway, back to the running (and the massage aftermath); Today I was feeling tender in places, but yesterday I was recommended to try a gentle run today. So I did. After lunch (I hate running after lunch) I headed out- it was so hot out there! My shoulders were feeling much better, but my legs felt weird, like there were loose bits of muscle flapping about and pulling on my bones or something. Anyway, I kept it steady, pretty slow, went up to the lakes (which was packed), back around and straight home. I purposefully didn’t take water with me, as I knew I would be tempted to stay out for longer. Anyway, in all I did 5.7 miles in 62 mins. But then what was weird was that in the shower I shaved my legs, and that felt quite sore (as did putting on lotion after).

After that it was green smoothie time. Can you believe I forgot to freeze a pear for it? So I rummaged through the freezer and found another frozen banana (I hoard these as I do not like eating them when they get brown bits, and hate throwing them away, so our freezer is full of frozen bananas!), and a nearly empty pack of frozen mango chunks.

So today it was 40g spinach, 60g frozen mango, 1 small frozen banana, 15g flax seeds, 200ml Kara coconut milk, plus xanthan gum. I sprinkled some coconut on it, then tried to drink it- it was so thick I had to go and get a spoon! I suppose most of it was frozen. Tomorrow I might go for a cocoa one as I could not really taste the mango in it.

I had a nice walk before dinner, and my legs are working just fine.

So now I am being nosey (and curious as to who managed to get to the end of this post!)- any nice plans for the long weekend? We are having a pretty standard weekend- Andy has to run 18 miles on Friday, we have the wedding reception on Saturday, and will be catching up with Andy’s family on Sunday. Hopefully some garden time thrown in there at some point too.

Night 🙂

Green Smoothie!

Somewhat inspired by a few bloggers- Jessica, Laura and especially Lucy who was very convincing in her arguement that you cannot taste the spinach- I had my first green smoothie today! I got a link from Laura’s site to the actual green monster website (who knew there was such a thing!!) and made it pretty simple. (I also had a yummy food doctor pitta and pear)

It looked like a lot of spinach to me, but it was only 40g, with a frozen banana, a tsp ground flax seeds, and topped up with about 250ml Kara coconut milk, and some xanthan gum to thicken.

I tasted a bit with a spoon from the blender, in case I needed to add anything else, but it seemed pretty tasty.

Super green!

It would not even fit in the glass- I had to drink some and then top it up!

Verdict? I could taste the banana and coconut milk, but I really could not taste the spinach. I normally make smoothies with juice (I don’t make them often as I find they give me a bit of a sugar rush) but actually it was much nicer with the coconut milk.

I might even have another one tomorrow! I had spinach in my fridge to add to a lasagne which I am planning on making tomorrow, so I must save some for that! The only problem will be what to add!

As the day has gone on, my back (I think it was actually the bit of the glutes which was massaged this morning) has felt more and more tender, and when I was walking to the post office my calves felt sore. Other parts feel a bit sore, but I feel like I have a good amount of energy. I got outside and washed my car (my goodness it was filthy!) and then went in the garden for a bit.

Look at my pretty tulips;

Dinner was some delicious chilli (really easy- roasted pepper and aubergine, cooked with kidney beans, tomatoes and lazy chilli) served with some Food Doctor easy cook quinoa + nutritional yeast.

This quinoa was so easy! It is pre cooked, so you just tear open the pouch and either serve cold, or cook in the microwave for 2 mins. The perfect intro to quinoa if you are unsure how to cook it.

So, what should I put in my smoothie tomorrow?– votes on a postcard please. Or perhaps leaving a comment would be quicker 🙂