Category: General ramblings

Hi folks,

I have a guest post for you today about fuelling running in the winter time. So, enjoy:

When winter comes around, we can all be forgiven for wanting to put on our sweats and cosy up with comforting food. I’m particularly partial to something of the gravy description. However, it’s just as, if not more, important to maintain the right nutrition whilst running in the colder months.

The weather outside may be frightful, but your diet can still be delightful. Follow these few simple food tips to ensure you stay on top of your winter diet, and even if you don’t run, the healthy snacks will still be of benefit.

Be sure that you’re buying ethically sourced and organic foods. If you have a local health shop then great – if not, companies like Traidcraft have a lot of Fairtrade foods perfect for winter stockpiling.

The first thing I’ve done is buy in a few bags of Fairtrade Almonds. Almonds, are an excellent source of vitamin E which is a powerful antioxidant and runners are advised to eat a small handful about five times a week. They also make for a great baking ingredient and work wonders in a brownie mix; however, I’m trying to eat them more on their own as a power snack than as part of a gooey treat.

Another classic runners’ best friend is the whole-grain as it serves as an easily digestible carbohydrate, rich in fibre and vitamin B. Trying sticking to whole-grain pasta, cereal and bread rather than cheaper, sugar-laden white versions.

Make sure you’re getting your recommended daily balance of fresh fruit and veg. I understand in winter it might be more tempting to go for roast potatoes, but try replacing it with sweet potato mashed together with carrots and toasted cumin seeds. Very comforting but packed full of vitamins. To make sure you’re getting enough Vitamin C, always have fresh oranges and frozen mixed berries for an energy boosting smoothie.

Now, we all deserve a treat, and whilst I in no way intend to give up baking this winter, I’m going to try to use and eat more dark chocolate rather than milk. Dark chocolate has cholesterol lowering properties, as well as an ability to help prevent blood clots, so is an all-round healthier alternative. 

I totally agree with eating sweet potatoes- I think they are such a lovely comfort food and make the most amazing soup as well as lovely baked potatoes. And big points for the dark chocolate too- I much prefer it anyway and baking with it makes things much more intense, so you are satisfied with a smaller amount.

What sort of foods do you enjoy at this time of year? How do you make sure you still get your 5+ a day? I love things like veggie chilli, or soups, and they are all packed with vegetables.

*Contains a sponsored link

So after last weekends Parkrun and long run (10.3 miles) I was pretty tired. It took me 1.49 which I was pretty pleased with- ideally I would run faster in the race than I have done in training. I kept Monday as a rest day, and had an epsom salts bath to help.

On Tuesday I went on a short 4 miler (no blackberry picking this time as I got home quite late and it was getting dark by the end of my run), and I felt fairly slow (although it was a faster pace than my long run), so this was more like a recovery run.

It must have helped because for the Sweatshop run on Wednesday I has to race up there as I got home 5 minutes after I usually leave. It was a slightly longer route than usual but I managed to keep a 9.13 average pace which isn’t bad seeing as I run up there and run home too.

I went to Pump on Thursday (the instructor has been away for the last 2 weeks) and I knew it would be tough. I was aching like mad on Friday so opted for a gentle 2 mile walk before dinner instead of a run.

Yesterday when I woke up I had a gingerbread nakd bar, pottered about for a bit and then headed out. I was expecting showers and cooler weather, but it was muggy and humid and the sun kept coming out which made it really tough. I was slower than last week but that was due to a combination of being stiff from pump, and the humid air getting to me.

Pancakes for brunch are my favourite and I am still going through my first box of the Orgran buckwheat ones. I had them with a huge apple (from my apple tree!) cooked in a little coconut oil, coconut sugar and cinnamon, a little cinnamon and raisin pb, and a little vanilla maple syrup. I was so thirsty. As soon as I got home I had some water, then some coconut water, and then after my shower with my pancakes I had a nuun tab in some water, plus a vanilla chai tea. My headband (which I just use to keep the hair out of my eyes) could have been wrung out.

I had a delivery of some soya milks to try out for the blog- I used the regular one in my tea and it passed the first test (no curdling).

After some work, some housework and more pottering I headed out to the shops.

I ended up buying a lot of tea related things. I was looking for the char-brew tea I had seen on Laura’s blog (I have bought the tropical rooibos tea from Sainsbury’s before) but I could not find it. While I was perusing the shelves I found an earl grey latte, some concentrated peach juice to add to hot water (I am going to add it to normal black tea to see how that goes), gingerbread syrup (my fave- I had some from Whittards last year and it is so good- just for putting on pancakes or cooking fruit in), cinnamon tea to take to work, and peppermint tea as I was running low.

Then I made a chocolate cake as it is Andy’s mums birthday today.

This was my attempt at making lilies to top the cake with.

Not too bad for a first attempt, especially as I didn’t have the proper cones to put the lilies on to dry.

A friend has asked for some lilies to top a wedding anniversary cake, so I have ordered some proper cutters (and also flower sugar paste, which I then found in Sainsbury’s but I had already ordered it by then) so will have another practise with the real things later on.

My legs are not feeling too bad today- this week I am going to take my runs a bit easier, and probably have my last run on Friday so I am rested for Sunday.