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).
See the pb leaking out- they were scrumptious! So as you can see, a very dark chocolate-themed day!
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.
Super green!
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 I am going to pot them on this afternoon. It is such lovely weather so I am looking forward to getting outside. I might have another walk later too.
I left out the nuts in the end, as my pack of pistachios said they were packed on a line that also handled gluten. The recipe was a standard brownie recipe- melt chocolate and butter, add eggs, vanilla, sugar, then stir in cocoa powder, flour and nuts. I baked them for a little longer than the recipe said, as although I like them squidgy, they were really really gooey. But they turned out really well. 🙂 I was a little apprehensive, as on the packet of quinoa flour, it said that it was typically used in savoury recipes (and it did smell like the packet of quinoa) but actually the brownies are very sweet. I needn’t have worried- we all enjoyed them anyway!