I love the holidays!! This morning after some cornflakes I headed out on a run. I went up to the lakes and around both lakes. When I was near to the first one I was relieved to see one lot of geese and goslings on the river and not on the path, so I went past them no problems (I did almost get a massive stick thrown in my face as a man walking his dog didn’t see me coming! I am a blur when I run!!). Further around the other lot of geese were sat right by the lake so I gave them a wide berth and they did look at me but no hissing or anything. Phew. It was such a lovely sunny day, and I did get hot but as it is quite shaded by the lakes it was really nice. I also saw a rabbit very close to the path. I do love rabbits!
The run was just under 6 miles and it took me 61 minutes, so not the speediest (not my slowest either) and I did have aerobics last night so didn’t want to go crazy.
Once I got home I had a lovely carrot and apple muffin and then got on with work. But good news; I have finished all my work so I actually have the rest of the week off hooray! Lunch was the other part of the orange cranberry bread (reaping the benefits of my baking the other day) along with pear and yoghurt.
This afternoon I have tried my hand at making my own muesli. All the recipes I looked at were more like granolas, where the oats are coated in a mixture of oil and syrup and then baked. So I went freestyle!
I could have used them raw, but I decided that lightly toasted flakes are the way to go.
So on a baking tray I put 150g oats, 100g millet flakes and 100g quinoa flakes (I either got them from ethical superstore or planet organic, can’t remember) and sprinkled with cinnamon. I toasted them for about 15 minutes on a low heat (I kept on checking as I didn’t want them to catch).
Meanwhile I mixed together 50g cranberries, 60g raisins, 30g desiccated coconut, 25g almonds and 25g hazelnuts (I kept them whole as I prefer that).
Once the flakes were toasted I mixed them all together in a jar- I added the dried fruit mix slowly and mixed loads so the raisins didn’t form big clumps- and put the lid on ready for tomorrow morning!
The whole mix made 510g- probably the grains lost water when being toasted so they weigh less, plus I did manage to spill some on the work surface! But still that’s a good amount to make (nearly the size of a pack of Dorset muesli) and should last me a while as usually I have 30-40g along with an apple and yoghurt.
Tee hee making my own muesli I am a “proper” veggie now!!!!
Oh I tried Rachel’s pouring yoghurt with honey this week and I will not be buying it again. I love the natural pouring yoghurt, and the strawberry stuff was delish too. But the honey flavour is so sweet, not good for breakfast. I will finish it but will be looking out for the other flavours from now on.
I was thinking today about exercising inside or outside, and what I prefer. A few years ago I used to go swimming a lot, and so I joined the local gym as swimming was included so it worked out cheaper for me to join. I then had to had the gym induction, and had “phase” where I went to the gym after work and at the weekends. It was ok; you could watch TV while on the machines, but each machine had a 15 minute time limit so would be no good for running or anything. Then the gym built a studio and classes were included- result! So I began aerobics and loved it (down to the instructor, as when she has been off it has not been anywhere near as good). Later on I tried body pump and loved that too. I had also taken up running, and so was running out of time to go to the gym, and had found that running outside was so much better than plodding away on the machines. The fresh air (even strong winds!), sunlight, rain, everything made me feel awake and invigorated. The convenience of being able to come home, change and head out the door within ten minutes also won be over. Having to drive to the gym, find a parking space, change and then hope that the machines I wanted were free was losing it’s appeal. So I cancelled my membership and go to the classes each week, and supplement that with running outside. Usually it has been fine. Normally at the weekend I do one long run so I tend to watch the weather and choose the best day (unless I am busy one day and then it’s tough on me!). I have 2 classes a week indoor so I know that whatever the weather I will get some exercise done. Unless the rain is torrential I don’t really mind it- it is cooling, plus when I get home I’ll have a shower so I will get wet then anyway. The only time I fancied running on a treadmill was during all the snow this year. I did try to go on a couple of runs, but by me the pavements were not cleared of the snow; it just melted and re-froze all lumpy- just waiting to break someone’s ankle. I tried running on the grass verges but there were so many patches where there was pavement (no verge) and I slipped quite a lot so I decided that I didn’t want to break a bone and would wait the weather out. The thing is my local gym had the 15 minute time limit on all cardio machines (although some people conveniently “forget” this and hog them for an hour) so I wouldn’t have managed much anyway. Plus the treadmills are always the busiest so you always have to wait for a bit to get one.
So really I am happy running outside and am glad I am not a member of the gym any more. I think it is good for some people but I love the freedom of running, of trying new routes and of getting straight home and into my shower!
Now I have finished all my work I am going to pop over to see my Mum and Dad, before dinner. Enjoy this fab weather while it lasts!
