Just call me Bob / Thrills and Spills!

Horse photos coming!

Just call me Bob. Bob the Builder, that is. Is he as famous overseas as he is in England? If not, you had a lucky escape, cos my GOSH is he one annoying character.

(source)

However, we do have one major thing in common; building skilllz, innit!!

He builds toy constructions, I build sandwiches. Oh yes.

Just like he mixes cement, I mix my sandwich fillings. In this case – boiled parsnip and butternut (I did drink the water the veggies boiled in, fyi; I love veg water! Think of the vitamins, the VITAMINS!! Gah), mashed with a blob of soya yogurt, a splash of cocoa-balsamic, mixed herbs, agave, salt, pepper and mixed spice (or cinnamon, I cannae remember which):

Appetising, non?

That went onto layer one:

Layer two = good old Tesco value cooked beets!

Layer three – squishy roast aubergine (or eggplant, if you roll that way)

Lidded:

A beastie boy of a sandwich!!! Beats a house any day :p

A cabbage garlic soy sauce left over butternut stir fry acted a side dish 🙂

I also built jelly donut CUPCAKES this weekend!! From the wonder that is Veganomicon, no less-

They may be ugly, but they sure did go down a storm!! Booooo yeah.

What else did I build….oh yeah, OATS with peanut flour/melted banana/cinnamon sauce:

I had to snap it quick before that lovely peanut banananananary sauce just sunk right in…

But OH boy it was good! The next day, I gave almond extract a run in the oats:

Didn’t work as well as vanilla…good, but not good enough, in my expert opinion. Hurrumph. I still repeated it this morning (Sunday) though, for whatever balmy reason:

Pre-mix above, post-mix below 🙂

Why do I never learn – don’t fix what ain’t broken! (even if Bob encourages you too…‘Boooob the Builder, CAN WE FIX IT!? Booooob the Builder, YES WE CAN!’ NO. We CAN”T. No idea what I’m on about? lookey here)

Ok, so I’ve done the Bob half of the title…how about the Thrills and Spills part!?

Thrills:

I RAN!!!!!!!

Ohemgee.

I got up, laced up my shoeloos, ate an apple the size of my head, 2tsp of wheatgerm and a finger full of jam, and headed out. My aim was to run about three miles – but I did six!

SIX!

I actually ran/walked seven miles, with LOADS of little breaks to stretch, walk, have a drink etc etc, so all in all it took about 1hr20mins, but I actually RAN a total of about 6miles *happy dance*! The pain that began in my calf muscles (way back when) and moved to my shins (2 weeks ago) is retreating back again, HA! Shins were cool, calf muscles a little achey. But not, ohmygosh-we-want-to-die achey, just-we’ve-worked-hard achey. I’ll take that 🙂

I reckonz another week off of running, and by next weekend I should be raring to go. I cannot contain the joy! FYI: The doc appointment on Friday was pointless; he can’t refer me to a sports physio on the NHS 😦

Another thrill – yet more Veganomicon produce! Chewy chocolate raspberry cookies this time, except made with gran-made bramble and blackberry jam, as opposed to raspberry 😀

I don’t know about the cookies (they’re for my mum’s work) but damn did that dough taste good :p

The final thrill of the day? Why, gram flour pancakes for lunch of course! Topped with boiled mashed parsnip (mixed with agave and cinnamon) and a blob of melted banana:

Parsnip mush:

Banana mush:

You’d be amazed at how well parsnip and banana go together – seriously! Plus, I am LOVING gram flour pancakes – packed with protein, and oh-so chewy 🙂

Now, let me tell you about the Spills:

Hannah took Tig (her horse) out for a hack today, which is fair enough. She’d been out for 20mins or so, when – whilst i was upstairs – my mum got a phone call from the sister herself, saying she’d come off and Tig was on the road! ERrrrr cue PANIC from sweet mutti bear! She dashed out of the house, and a few mins later, I came downstairs (unawares) and my step dad said to me ‘Hannah’s fallen off on the road and Tig is loose’!!

Obvs, I shoved my trainers on and ran out of the door and down the road. I couldn’t see my mum ahead (as it turns out, she hitched a lift with a random car – she couldn’t drive her car out cos if Tig was loose, she’d need to catch him) but as I ran further down the road, I could see the tell-tale white marks on the road, from Tig’s metal shoes. I kept going, turned up the path where Hannah had gone, and saw my mum.

As it turns out, Tig and Hannah had been galloping in one of the stubble fields about 1.5miles from home, and were going to cross from one to the other. As they got closer, the bit she thought was a track for crossing, was actually a huge open ditch! It totally took them both by surprise, Tig slammed on the breaks and spun, and Hannah went out the side door. Tig then cantered off (feeling somewhat shaken! Horses don’t like losing their riders) and crossed a MAIN road, back down the track he’d been up, and then was caught by my mum, cantering down the road leading to our house!

And do you know what the crazy thing is? LOADS of cars passed him – loose, on the road, with no rider – and not one car stopped. What the-?

So anyway – my mum caught Tig and led him back up the track to meet Hannah (who was unharmed – the ground was soft and muddy, she’s young and still bounces :p). She got back on, and finished her ride, including going over the ditch. Phew!

Whilst all that was going on, my poor lady Chika was in the field, freaking out! She gets terribly upset when her boyfriend goes anyway, but today, I think she knew something was wrong – she spent the whole time neighing and galloping circles round the field (i took these before The Phonecall):

Her poor stressed lil face 😦

Le sigh. She is so silly sometimes! At least she got a half decent workout 😛

Soo that was Sunday – somewhat eventful! I spent the afternoon baking, mucking out, and watching eBay like a hawk; I was bidding on a (very cheap, we’re talking £200) car cos, now Hannah is working full time and I need the car for uni, we’re in a predicament! Alas, I was the highest bidder til the LAST second when i got pipped – by £10! – at the post. Bah. I hate eBay sometimes.

How was your weekend? Have you had any thrills (or spills!?)?

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The day after the day before

Hello lovelies! Did you all have a fabby Christmas/regular old Satdee? Ours was pretty quiet here (we weren’t even going to do one, til Chrsitmas Eve, when my mum and I finally felt well enough) – we normally have my mum’s parents and my aunt over, but since my mum and i have been suffering from some weird flu-like thing, we decided inviting over two frail 88year olds – whilst we’re sniffing, snorting and coughing everywhere! – was probably not wise. Sooo it was just my mum, stepdad, sister and I. Ah – Hannah!

Hannah came back Christmas Eve, after spending the last 3months in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Uganda and a gazillion other places 😛 First thing she did when she got back? Drove into town to do some last minute shopping 😛 each to their own!

Anyway – Christmas day!

I got up about 7.45 after a pretty crap night of sleep, and took myself for a 7 mile run. Weirdly (despite being flat out and unable to move on Thursday) I now feel fine in my body; I just have the world’s worst cough/throat thing, and as I type I can’t quite breathe through my nose…lovely right? But the run was blissful – quiet, cold, slow, peaceful. My legs felt so strong and fresh, and I wished I could have gone further.

Breakfast was a quick pear/banana EGM without the green, then my mum and i took the dawg for a walk. Theeeeen it was PRESENT TIME! No pictures sadly – so instead you can have a pic of some amazebugs Vega-chocolate-protein-powder-infused-pancakes, with a carob-cherry sauce I had the other day:

Drooling yet?

As well as some sick-person oatmeal I made for my mamma, the day before I caught whatever she had:

I was a good doctor 😀 It’s just a shame that the next day, we were both laid up on the sofa, drugged up with paracetamol, moaning about our aching limbs and pounding heads 😦 Taking hay and water out to the horse – in the sleet – was NOT fun that day.

ANYWAY! Where was I?

I got lots of lovely things from my very generous family 🙂 The best bit was seeing Hannah open up twice the amount of stuff as everyone else; her birthday was Dec 16th, so she got all her b’day presents too 🙂 Twas fun!

Lunch was a quick spur of the moment carrot and potato soup:

It was really, really good! My mum added some peanut butter to it, which gave an ace flavour 🙂 I only had a ladleful though; breakfast for me (as I’d been running) was later than everyone else’s, so I wasn’t hungry. I did have some cereal and yogurt later though (x2! Plus raw Brussels sprouts and random nuts…).

The afternoon was spent prep-prep-prepping! My mum and I act as The Women of the House at Christmas, whilst Hannah and my stepdad are The Men of the House, who metaphorically retire to the dining room to smoke cigars and drink whiskey. Or eat mince pies and read books and play with new toys :p

Anyway – I took charge of Brussels sprouts & carrots (which were boiled), parsnips (roasted in stock, wholegrain mustard, fruit sweetener, thyme) and a modified dish from Veganomicon – butternut squash, roasted with pear, walnuts, maple syrup, mirin and raisins. My mum did the guinea fowl (freshly shot about 3 days ago :s…), roast potatoes and sauce. The spread:

Twas delish! I oblebloosly didn’t have the guinea fowl; instead I made myself sooooome:

Holiday Tofu!

• 1 serving tofu
• juice of a clementine/small orange
• approx. a tbsp/to taste apple balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp sweetener (maple syrup/agave etc etc)
• a couple of tbsps fresh cranberries
• cinnamon, to taste (i like a lot)
• salt, to taste

I started by microwaving the cranberries til they burst and turned mushy (2-3minutes, on about 600). Theeeen I combined everything up, mushed the cranberries a little into the mix, scored the tofu, and marinated it overnight.

A few hours before dinner, I fried it over a low heat (it took about 25mins+ to get where I wanted it).

Pink tofu? At this stage, i KNEW i’d love it :p

Then I set it in a dish, poured the leftover marinade liquid into the pan, and cooked it over a medium heat til it was reduced to a syrupy consistency. Theeeeeeen I poured it over the tofu, heated it up in the microwave just before serving, and voila!

Christmas-y tofu 😀

Before I had that though, we had a small started of fruit (dragonfruit, clementine, kiwi, pomegranate seeds – leftover from LAST Christmas! – dried figs, and frozen grapes, added after the picture):

Then it was time to begin….

Why do they all look so unimpressed by me!!? Pity smiles I tell you, PITY SMILES!

Best parsnips EVER. Fact. Soft and gooey and sweet and full of flavour 🙂

My plate:

You bet I went back from a boatload more parsnips :p and I may have finished off my mum’s sprouts and parsnips too :p Bless her, she still has a tiny weeny appetite thanks to The Illness!

No-one felt like christmas pudding for dessert, so we left it at that (bar a few squares of Lindt for yours truly!!) 🙂 The perfect amount of food in the end! I think the cats appreciated the leftover bird bones though 😛 Animals need a special dinner too!

I’ve now got the rest of the week to look forward to now – which is going to involve some major uni work, Fo Sho’. No slackin’ my end!

Did you all have a simply fahbulous Dec 25th? What did you have for dinner?

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Next time you hear from me, I’ll be a MARATHONER!

PHEW what a busy day! In this order:

Eat, run, eat, pack, ride, burn, eat, iron, muck out, wash hair, pack, eat, blog. I haven’t stopped!! Starting from the top:

1) Pre-run fuel:

2) Run! 8miles, my third from last run before the marathon….crazy! Despite being blustery and proper cold, the sun was shining and I had one of my best ever runs 🙂 An even 9.26 min/mile pace, done in 1hr15 (and not a single step of walk :p). Enjoyable 🙂

(Dirty hair, no make-up, freezing cold, just ran 8miles. That picture took some bravery to put up!! :p)

3) Breakfast! An EGM:

• kale
• melon
• banana
• cereal
• soya milk
• xanthan gum
• Vega chocolate smoothie mix
• maca powder
• almonds and dates

Oh, I have missed them so! It’s been probably well over a week since my last one…it went down a treat 🙂

4) I packed, no pictures :p

5) Ride – my mum gave me a lovely lunge lesson on Chika, who – of course – was an angel. I’m going to miss her 😦

6) BURN! I was baking some munchkins in the oven, took them out with the oven glove on one hand, then thought ‘ah I’ll put them in the other hand….’. OUCH. I squeaked! The pain was intense!! After a thorough run under the cold tap, my mum bandaged a leaf of aloe vera plant onto it:

The goo in the leaves of aloe vera plants is the BEST stuff ever – totally natural, but amazing healing properties. The relief of it touching my burn was instant 🙂

7) Lunch – Operation Clean the Fridge Out of Veg Before We Leave! In honour of the operation, I had a small bowl of ketchup/bbq roasted veggies:

Aubergine, parsnip, acorn squash (hate it), brussels sprouts

As well as a baked munchkin for oats:

I scraped out the insides of the smaller one, and added it to a 1/3 cup oats, along with nutmeg, cinnamon and maple syrup:

It then got all cooked up, and put in a JAR!

I’ve been saving that jar for AGES, and today was the perfect day for it….

Before the unveiling….

Ta da!

My mum loves the crunchy peanut butter in sandwiches 🙂

….bliss. I also had an unpicturerd carby energy bar thing, that was foul 😦

8) No pictures of me washing my hair, shockingly.

9) Nor of me mucking out. No-one wants to see horse poop.

10) Nor of my packing…

11)…and nor of my eats (my camera is charging :D) – but they consisted of an apple, cereal and yogurt. No surprises there! To make up for it, here’s a pretty picture of a pumpkin yogurt cereal swirl mess from yesterday 😀

LOVE. PUMPKIN.

And now for the second part of my post, which I wrote yesterday 🙂

—————–

Here’s something crazy – I fly to Washington DC to run to my first ever marathon on TUESDAY! I don’t have time to blog on Monday (though whilst I’m gone, I may well be tweeting from the iPod Touch – BritChickRuns is my name :)) , so I thought I’d do a kinda recap post today.

I did my final long-ish run today – 8miles. Just a 4miles and a 2miles left to go, 3 days off, then MARATHON! Training has been tough, and there’s been a lot of runs:

Early 8milers back in June here

11milers...

13 milers...that went really, really well!

And 13milers that didn’t go quite to plan….

I tried new methods of running here

And ran 15milers here! (ps – the stripy-ish crazy squash in that pic? Still haven’t eaten it :p it’s getting riper by the day!)

There has been really tough 16 mile runs…

That have skewed my view of what a ‘long’ run is!

I’ve also run 18miles in training, which were brilliant!!

And 14milers which were awful.

But, my final LONG training run – 20miles – was one of the best runs ever. It’s good to finish on a positive note!

Training was nothing like I thought it’d be – I thought it would take up much more time mid-week than it did, but I also thought I’d find those long runs easier than I did. Yep, some of them were fab, but some were crap too. I didn’t anticipate my reaction to the heat (praise be for my CamelBak, or I may not even be writing this post :p), or the effect loooong runs would have on my speed! In fact, when I started my training, I wanted to do the marathon in about 4hrs. That soon changed to 4hr15 as training progressed, then to 4hrs30. My current goal? 1) Finish! 2) Finish in sub 5hrs 3) Finish in 4hrs30. Goal 1 first, then we see how it goes 😀

Also – I don’t know if – at this moment in time – I’d ever want to do another marathon. If Marine Corps goes well, and I do finish, I doubt I’ll do another one, at least not for a few years! Though knowing me, if I’m not happy with my time, or I can’t finish it, you can be sure I’ll be signing up for another one!! Post-marathon though, my plan is to just stick to 3 and 4mile distances for a while. I want 6miles to be a LONG run, not a short training one!! I want 3miles to be a good workout, instead of finishing it and thinking ‘where’s the next 4miles?’. I also want to do a bunch more half marathons. Going by my training runs, I think that 13mile distance is my favourite. Of course, nothing compares to the AMAZING feeling of completing a 20miles..but a half marathon is pretty cool too :p

But anyway – I’ll stop looking back, and look FORWARD! For the next week, my life is about 2 things, and 2 things only:

• thinking positively (I WILL kick ass in this Mary!)
• eating carbs! This week is going to be carb loading week. Lots of oats 🙂 Oh, what an effort :p

It’s also about rest…and packing…and working…so with that in mind, I need to get on with it all!!

WISH ME LUCK!!!!

(PS – I doubt I’ll be blogging in DC – bar Twitter – but I’ll take lots of photos, and hopefully do a fab post – or 10 – when I get back, on November 3rd.)

(PPS – I have to say, thank you all SO much for your support. I’ve had some tough runs, but you guys have always had the best and most encouraging things to say. I appreciate it!! xo)

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Lovin and Hatin

Hello! Just thought I’d check in – it’s been a while 🙂

So I totally thought I was gonna have to tell y’all some sad news today, about the passing on of two good friends. The friends in question have known me since I was born – 20 years – and have stuck with me through every major life change. BUT! There was no need! Toenail 2 Left Foot and Toenail 2 Right Foot survived Sunday’s 20miler! They were quite purple on Monday & Tuesday, and on my 5miler today, I was quite sure they’d gone to the next life (so much so I stopped at 2.5miles to check!). But they’re clinging on 🙂 phew! i’m sure you all reaaally wanted to know that…mm.

ANNNNYways, what else has been happening? Replying to emails – apparently not. I am so sorry for not replying yet! Literally every spare second this week has been filled, and by the time I do get time to do things like email replying and blog reading, I’m ready to pass out in bed…Hopefully I’ll catch up by the end of the week though 🙂

Talking of busyness – oh my, is uni mental at the moment! Early starts, hours and hours and HOURS of commuting (and a fair bit of rush hour traffic), lectures, reading, reading, reading..did I mention reading? Oh, and meetings and reading and riding and reading and eating and reading and running and reading. It’s been a busy few days, to say the least…some foodie highlights? Here’s what I’ve been lovin:

Cereal in an almost empty yogurt pot, eaten for breakfast in my car. STYLE!

A baked munchkin, surrounded by baked beans <- that was AMAZE!

A cashew cookie Nakd bar <- it’s been far too long!

An amazing hummus/salad/tomato puree/seitan sandwich, with ketchup roasted parsnip and fancy olives…

MORE ketchup veggies!

.

Kabocha squash, roasted and mashed, then cooked with oats/spelt flakes, soya milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup and pea protein powder, then put in the keep-warm oven for 20mins to harden over….

The same again, but with cocoa powder…holy. yum. If you’ve never had that combination before (squash and oats), you’re a fool, and are missing out! Gone are the days of runny, banana oats…it’s ALL about the stick-to-your-ribs, could-cut-wth-a-kinife oats now!

Banana and oats still have a place in my heart though 🙂

As do Vega Vanilla Almond oats!

And who could forget hummus…especially when it’s mixed with nooch and lemon juice and water, and ‘baked’ with parsnip:

It’s actually quite ridiculous how much I’ve enjoyed my food the past few days 😀 Even though oats/spelt flakes to seem to be the recurring theme….but hey – if my body wants oats, I shall give it oats! After the fabulous 20miles on Sunday, I have a newfound love of it, so it can have whatever the heck it likes 😀

Things I’ve been hating this week? The divorce of two of my favourite celeb couples – Christina Aguilera and Jordan Batman or whatever he’s called, and Courtney Cox and David Arquette! I thought both were in it for the long haul…they literally used to bang on about how much they loved each other, right up until the press release announcing their respective splits. C’est ridiculous! Hollywood is all LIES, it really does make you lose faith in love/celebs saying they tell the truth. Hurrumph.

Right, I’m off to…yep, read. All about emotion this time (FYI – I love my emotion lecturer! She is OBSESSED with Lord of the Rings, so pictures of Frodo and his cronies keep popping up all over the shop. It’s so funny!)

Question: What have you been loving and hating this week?

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You Can Do It – 20miles!

I DID IT!!!!!

————–

Herro!

Wow, just 2 days without a proper post and it feels like it’s been forever! I’ve been keeping busy though –

On Friday, I ran 5miles – my last one before the big Two-O – 46minutes, 9.12 min/mile pace. Not fast, but not slow either. I also had a ton of good eats 😀

Giant apples…

A thickie – cereal, yogurt, banana, maca, Vega vanillia-almond, xanthan gum, banana, strawberries, spinach:

Kovac caught and ate a squirrel…

I know a squirrel is just a rat with a furry tail, but it still seemed so wrong! Squirrels don’t steal horse feed, they eat acorns and they live up trees..they’re adorable!

Lunch highlights – the most scrummiest sweet potato ever! I cut up and cubed a very large sweet p., and coated it with:

• maple syrup
• molasses
• ketchup
• vegan worcestershire sauce
• balsamic vinegar
• salt

Baked it for a half hour or so, and served it with celeriac and gran-grown squash fries, and some courgette, and a Mojo bar for added carbs + protein:

The Mojo bar was sent to me a while back by America’s Nutrition to review.

It was very sticky, but completely delicious! I loved the little nutty chunks in it, plus it was a super source of protein – 9g per bar – and carbs – about 21g. Seeing as I was having a late lunch and needed to carb load AND needed some more protein with my meal, it was perfect 🙂 Plus, it tasted like a dessert or something :p It’s love.

Later on, I managed to make myself a vanilla cappuccino:

I use the term ‘vanilla’ loosely. Couldn’t taste it at all! I’ve tried instant vanilla coffees many a time, and I never, ever taste their flavour. Maybe my taste buds are dead?

Other delicious food in the day – a load of roasted veggies- brussels and kabocha – with peanut butter/soy sauce coated parsnip fries, and a side of seitan:

As well as an biiig bowl of oatmeal, made with 1c. milk, 50g oats, roasted and mashed squash, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg and salt. Bliss.

Saturday brought another busy day, and another trip to uni, and a failed attempt at sleeping in!

I’d hoped to sleep til about 8.30 to reserve valuable energy stores for Sunday, but alas! twas not meant to be. My body decided that 6hrs of sleep was perfectly fine, so when I woke up at 7.24, that was that – I couldn’t get back to sleep! 😦

Breakfast – another amazing thickie blend:

Then it was a ssuuuuuper lesson on Chika with my mum helping <- they’re both stars!

I packed up a quick lunch to take with me to uni (Fresher’s Fair was 12-4pm) – an extra big serving of lentils:

Along with a load of roasted veggies:

I also had a Nakd bar for some added carb 🙂

Fresher’s Fair itself was pretty good (despite the 2hr commute) – i’ve found lots of different project things I want to get involved in, which should keep me busy! On the way home, I stopped at Waitrose for the weekly shop and got some great stuff 😀

Hooray!

Dinner – oatmeal!!! Except this time I did 1c. dry oats (about 95g)! If that isn’t carb loading, I don’t know what is. I cooked it with the same mix as yesterday and (like yesterday) left it in the oven for 10mins to harden up:

Amaze. On the side, i had a tiny but of roast aubergine and parsnip with garam masala:

All eaten whilst watching X Factor! [Louis’ old folk – AWFUL! Nicolo – very disappointed. Aiden/Matt/Rebecca/Paige/Treyc (or however she spells it)/Mary – LOVE! Cher/Katie/all the bands – HATE!

Sunday

MEEP! I got up extra early today to allow a good 2hrs to digest 😀 and digest I did! 50g oats/spelt flakes soaked overnight in 1/2 c. milk, 2 tsps wheat germ, vanilla, salt and a mashed banana:

As well as some raspberries nuked with agave, then mixed with 2tbsp Grape Nuts:

And a tiny apple (which I ate in a nervous haze!). To kill time, I watched 25mins of Ugly Betty and took some gorgeous early morning ChikaTig photos 😀 I might put them up later in the week 🙂

Just before I left, I ate a date, then I was gaaaaawn.

I set off with a grin on my face; I decided this run was going to be AWESOME and I was going to kICK BUTT.

Which I did!

I kept a steady 9.30-9.50 pace for the first 7miles, and didn’t walk once. I was feeling great! At 7miles, i met my mum, so I could top up on water/Lucozade. I deserved a medal for bravery for the next 3miles – I was feeling so ace that I found a 1.5mile long steep hill, and ran all the way up it!! The best bit was coming back down 😀

At mile 11, I’d started to walk 1minute out of every mile, which was a great help, although my pace slowed a bit. No worries! i was hardly caring about pace anyway 🙂

At mile 13, I felt sick – I’d eaten a Powerbar too fast and in basically one chomp…lesson learnt! Luckily, that mile was when I saw my mum again, so I stood about for a few mins, the sickness passed, and I continued on my merry way.

I got back home at mile17, where my mum was waiting. I ran 1more mile alone, and then for the last 2miles, she came with me on the bike and sang crap songs to me 🙂 It was the best 2miles ever!

During the run, I had about two bottles of Lucozade Sport, a Powerbar and some Powershots. It worked perfectly 🙂 Mile Totals: 20miles in 3hr20 (my goal time had been 3hr22, so, er, BOO YEAH). Average pace – 10.01min/mile. I’m so super pleased with it!

In fact, I’m over the moon. I so badly needed this run to go well, and with the power of positive thought (plus a lot of carbs and many, many wonderful comments on my last post), it did. I’m living proof – If you put your mind to it, if you want something enough, you can do it. Last week, I struggled and cried my way through 14miles. This week, I smiled my way through 20. YOU CAN DO IT!!

As soon as we finished, I grabbed a banana from the house, and took some celebratory photos 😀

BIG thanks go to my mum!

We went for a 10minute walk round the fields afterwards to stretch out and say howdey to the horses:

Take note of the Chika fluff: in about 2hours, it’s going to be clipped off 😛

Lunch wise – I just had one big bowl of nutrients [which tasted bang on like marzipan]!

• soya yogurt
• cereal
• spinach
• melon
• 1.5banans
• maca powder
• xanthan gum
• Vega smoothie mix
• dates, almonds, blackberries, and a scuffin on the side

My mum had the other scuffin – twas the least I could do!

Perfect meal to celebrate a perfect run.

I am going to ROCK this marathon!

—-

Ok, so here’s my announcement, which I feel bad about mentioning cos a) lots of you said you couldn’t wait for it(!) and b) it’s not so big anymore… basically – I’m not sure if I can keep my blog going…

My final year of uni starts tomorrow (Monday), and I’m going to be super busy this year – lectures, my final dissertation (which involves having to collect a boatload of data, as it’s a psychology experiment), and a long commute there and back each day. On top of that, I really want to keep up with riding Chika, which obviously takes up a lot of time, as well as get involved with some more volunteering and clubs at uni (this Tuesday, I have to be in uni from 9.30am – 8pm…). The few weeks after my marathon are going to be manic too, as I’ll have all my lectures and work to catch up on. So basically, I’m unsure as to how to fit everything in. I think I’m going to keep blogging as much as possible, but probably in a different style, and not as regularly.

But – regardless of whether I resume a regular blogging or not, I will still keep reading everyone’s blogs (cos I genuinely think of a lot of you guys as friends :D), and I’ll be back with a big old marathon recap (or 10!).I just don’t want to lose touch with the blogosphere – I love it too much! You all have helped me so much, with your positive comments, good luck wishes, funny stories..You’re all the best 😀

Anyway, enough talk from me – this is a looooong post. Have a good afternoon!

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Fare Yee Well Hannah!

Hello!

Ok, so I have to do a super quick post today – I’m about to take Hannah to the station, so she can catch a train to the airport, where she’ll catch a plane to La La Land! More commonly known as Los Angeles 🙂 Home of the famous! LA is the first stop of her 3month long gap ‘year’ – though she’ll be back home in about a week for 2 or 3 days, before leaving for Africa..or New Zealand..or Australia…I have no idea :p ANYWAY – if you see a girl who looks about 17months older than me with shorter hair and responds to the scream ‘HANNAH’, assume it’s my sister!

So without further adieu – My Day

Weds, 11pm – finish watching Rude Tube (best. show. ever.), and consume about 1 pint of water in a short space of time (bad idea!)

1am – get up.

4am – get up.

7.15am – alarm

7.30am – eat 2 tsps wheat germ, 1/2 a rice cake and a Power Bar (I know they’re sports food, but I would seriously eat one just for kicks, they are SO good)

8am+ – leave for run!

Run 5miles – my brain threatened to throw a wobbly for 3 strides, but I pushed any feelings of stress down and continued with a smile (Is the maca powder kicking in already!?)

Mile 7.5 – I had my first ever taste of a GEL!

I’ve been scared of gels for a long time, cos they look….well, weird. And I thought they’d taste like Bonjela or something gross and weird – but not so! It was DELICIOUS!! I’m not even joking, it was just, so so sosososo tasty. Maybe I’ll become a gel addict now?

9.40ish – finished TEN miles (9.28min/mile pace, 1hr 34) 🙂 Then I went for a 15minute stretch down walk – I sure needed it! Jillian yesterday left my legs super stiff today :s

9.55am+ – Hug Chika, give Chika a handful of treats, give Chika an ear-scratch (her favourite thing in the world). kiss Chika, leave Chika.

10am+ – BREAKFAST! I was craving cold green things today – so I did almost the exact same thing I did after my 14miles on Sunday – a Green Monster, and a no-milk Epic Green Monster 🙂

Green Monster =

• 1/2 c. milk
• spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 1/3 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp cacao powder

Milkless EGM =

• 1 c. cereal
• 1/2 c. yogurt
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 scoop Vega vanilla-almond smoothie shake
• 1 tsp maca powder
• 1 and a bit bananas (frozen)
• more spinach
• dates and almonds as toppings

yes, that is a sherry glass 🙂

Well. An incredible meal! The EGM was super duper thick, the GM was all fluffy and light and wonderful 🙂

11 – 12am – helped Hannah with Tig

12am/pm – 12.30pm – packed up some lunch – gran-grown butternut squash fries, with celeriac fries and a tiny mini gran-grown courgette, all roasted in rosemary and garlic:

On the side, I had a Clif bar and some Bear Granola nibbles (portable cos I knew I wouldn’t have time to stop for a proper lunch) –

Straight after the picture, I swapped the small Clif bar for the big man version 😀 (the mini version has nowhere near as much carb – and I’m trying to eat carbily this week, for my impending TWENTY MILE run on Sunday! [which I WILL ace and WILL kick butt at!]

12.30pm – 1pm – freak out and search the house manically for Erica’s certificate of insurance – I needed to register her with uni (which starts on Monday), so I can park there without getting £50 in fines each day Eventually, I found said certificate beneath a pile of papers by the printer. As you do.

1 – 1.20pm – throw on some slap, public-appropriate clothes, and gather up my belongings 😀

1.20-2.20pm – drive the hour to uni 😦

2.20 – 2.24pm – realise my car park card has vanished from my purse. I felt sad 😦

2.25 – 2.45pm – register Erica (£20 down the drain….), buy a new car park card (£8 also down the drain :'()

2.45-3.05pm – decide that I probably should eat something for lunch, despite a sincere lack of hunger! I also bought myself my trashy paper 😀

3.05 – 3.15pm – I went in search of a soya cappuccino – apparently, they do NOT exist on campus, despite me going to 4 different places! Gah. *sadface*

3.25 – 4.25pm – I hate to sit through the most boring, dull, pointless welcome back talk/meeting EVER. Such a waste of an afternoon!!

4.30 – 5.25pm – drive home like a maniac to a)avoid rush hour traffic and b) to take mon sister to the station for her train!

5.28pm – drop a mushroom down my sleeve.

5.46pm – leave for the station, and say goodbye to Hannah! She even said ‘love you’ as she left, which is extreeeeemly rare, and even more extremely lovely 😀

6.03pm – get home, and pump out some more of this blog post 😀

Question: What do your days normally look like? Do you like to keep busy?

Ps – Once again – I am so so sorry for being so slow at email replies at the moment! I am reading them, fear not – I’m just slow and have a disorganised inbox 😛

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The Many Faces of Freya

Thank you SO much to every single one of you who commented on my post yesterday – I haven’t had a chance to respond to them all, but I read (and appreciate) every single one. Words cannot describe how much everything you all said meant to me!! 🙂

I thought I’d show y’all a bit more about the man behind the mask today (aka the Freya behind the blog…). As one of my wise bloggy friends said (Gabriela? I think..), the whole MCA (Marie Claire Article) kerfuffle has sure highlighted that we don’t always know what happens behind closed [blog]doors. So! Here’s some of me 🙂

I’m the girl who used to be obsessed with Buffy and Angel:

I’m the girl who is still obsessed (and always will be :p) with Arnold Schwarzenegger:

I’m the girl who loves fluffy, pink, sparkly things:

I’m the girl who loves black and white films:

I’m the girl who is fiercely competitive – once in swimming:

Once in endurance:

Once in dressage:

And now in running:

I’m the girl who believes cracked mirrors don’t mean squat – we make our own luck:

I’m the girl who loves to read women’s magazines:

And fitness magazines:

And trash magazines…..:p

I’m the girl who loves to collect awkward shaped plates, bowls and mugs (blates just to annoy my family :p):

I’m the girl who is massively organised:

But who has a [very] messy side too:

I’m the girl who loves all things horsey, especially if it involves magazines and/or shopping!

I’m the girl with the gum addiction:

I’m the girl with the home workout DVD addiction (note: this is..ooohh…about 5% of my collection!?!)

I’m the girl who believes her horse, and all things horsey, are one of the things that make me:

And will love her horse to the end of the earth!

I’m also the girl who really does love writing about food, recipes and meals, and is going to honour that passion now!!

Pre-breakfast – big. beautiful. apple. Followed by a lovely home DVD workout for 55mins! I did part of Jillian’s dvd today, which I haven’t done in about 3 weeks…boy have I lost my Jillian fitness! Post-Mary Mission Numero Uno: Get back some strength!!!

Breakfast was a total repeat of yesterday’s bowl of scrum 😀

• pear
• banana
• soya yogurt
• xanthan gum
• cereal
• peanut butter
• vanilla

Except – I made one addition:

Maca powder! A lovely commenter on my blog the other day suggested I try some as a daily supplement, as it helps with stress and the like (I can’t remember all the exact details, but google it and you world will change. Probably.). i told my mum about it, and she immediately went ‘BUY IT’ – being the supportive ball of love she is, anything which might improve a) my happiness and b) my training, is one giant win to her 🙂 Sooo I added about a tsp 🙂 Result:

Same meal, different bowl 🙂

The end of my blackberries…

Bye bye blacks. Bye bye.

It was delish! And very filling too. Maca is a superfood!

I rode ChikaMunchkin this morning – in fact, my mumma gave me a lesson. She (Chika, not my mum) was so, so good! Despite having got in a total tizz before I worked her (cos Tig went out for a ride), she was an angel 🙂 Her half pass was lovely and floaty today – despite the 3month break from it – so much so, my mum proclaimed ‘it’s days like these I wish you would compete again!’. Maybe post-marathon 🙂

Lunch afterwards was so so cool. I was going to do Jess-Inspired-Recipe-Number-One, til I realised I didn’t have the pumpkin. So I decided on Jess-Inspired-Recipe-Number-Two. Yet again, I realised…yep, I had no pumpkin. I couldn’t be bothered to roast up looooads of squash and get it all gooey and gross, espec. since my current squash just doesn’t do that, so I settled for 3rd best.

I roasted up gran-grown squash fries, with celeriac and a few token chunks of parsnip, and served it all with a load o’ hummus 🙂 I also had oatmeal 😀 50g oats, mixed with 1/2c. + a bit soya milk, and water, salt, maple syrup, roasted squash (mashed yes, but not pumpkin-in-a-can-style mashed), cinnamon and nutmeg:

Can you guess my response to this meal? Of course, it was the old ‘ohemgee, best lunch EVAH!’ And it truly was! I ate all the veggies and hummus first, and by the time I got to the oatmeal, it had thickened up something silly:

Oh. My. One of THE best bowls of oatmeal! I love love LOVED the thickness 🙂

For dessert – a lovely square of vegan shockolade 😀

Im gonna go cook dinner now (and watch my sister give the cat a bath – he was playing under the car, and is now covered in black grime….), which will be spaghetti. Carb loading is on the cards this week, as not only do I have a 10miler tomorrow, but a TWENTY miler on Sunday!

Question: Without wanting to sound like some crazed vegan hippie – who are you? Or, to put it in an easier question form..what are some random things about you that people might not expect or know? 🙂

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Scuffin Love

Happy Tuesday!! You know what’s awesome about today? Very little, cos it’s just a Tuesday. I’m not a fan! Tomorrow will be better though – I’ve got my second/follow-up appointment with my nutritionist 😀 Apparently, we’re going to talk race day strategy and the like, for the marathon. Which FYI, is in…less than 5 weeks!!?? Freakin’ madness!

Anyway, back to Tuesday. I was so majorly tired today. I woke up and actually looked like Death. It’s days like these I thank my lucky stars that no-one else sees me early in the mornings!! Alas. After eating an apple and a bite of a rice cake, I did some DVD action for 55mins or so, and then, something mildly annoying happened. Normally after a workout, I’m not hungry for a good hour afterwards. So, I finished my workout, pretty-ed myself up (well, attempted to :p) and thought I’d dash to the store to get my newspaper before my sister took the car for the day. It just HAD to be today that pretty much as soon as I was on the road, I was starving! And it also just HAD to be today that I got stuck behind freakishly, jokingly slow farm traffic for miles. Gah! Therefore, breakfast was v v v v welcome:

• 1/2 c. coconut milk
• 1/2 c. soya yogurt
• 1 tbsp hemp seeds
• 1 c. cereal
• xanthan gum
• banana
• cantaloupe melon
• frozen papaya
• a few kale strips
• dates, Grape Nuts, homemade jam and almonds for toppings

Gawsh! I don’t know what it was today, but that mix was so SO good! One of the best ever, for sure! A bowl I wished would never end…..

I rode Chika for a bit after breakfast – after the past few days’ escapades, I thought it’d be best to lead her in hand past the lion den before I got on – sure enough, she was all ‘ohemgee can’t go theeeerrrrreeee!!!!!’ for a good 5minutes – thank goodness I didn’t get on first! When I did eventually get on, she was very well behaved 🙂 But gosh, I sure don’t know what’s gotten into her the past few days. Maybe someone is spiking her feed with Red Bull? Hmm…

Lunch was just a plate of sheer awesomeness today. So many delicious aspects! Angela’s spelt pancakes for one (minus the protein powder):

Served with roasted broccoli and parsnip fries, and rosemary and garlic seasoned roast kale:

Check out the bubbles!!

That wasn’t it though – toppings were to come! Roast soya nuts, hummus and peariac puree (see my recipes :)) – basically, roast celeriac blended with a ripe pear and some salt:

Ah. No words! I sure had a hard job deciding on what the best mouthful was to save til last 😛 It was ALL ace.

Moving on – you know how yesterday I really got ma bake on? I did the same this arvo too!! I had lots of butternut squash sitting in the fridge, so I decided I’d do something pumpkin-inspired…cos roasted butternut is the perfect sub 🙂 Soo, I cut and roast a whole load:

I had to pretty much handcuff myself to my chair so I wouldn’t eat all the roast gooey-ness when it came out of the oven….ANYWAY! After I roasted it, I had to decide on a recipe. Angela’s pumpkin and chia scuffins won my vote!!

I used a chia egg, rather than a flax egg, cos I had no flaxseed open 😦

The result was 22 little fluffy scuffins of LOVE!!!

These pictures do NOT do them justice!

Oohh they are BLISSful!!! I had one as an afternoon snack:

They’re light, fluffy, full of flavour….just delicious! I’m so glad there’s another 21 left to eat 😀

The scuffins were Baking Mission Numero Uno. BM Numero Duno was muffinsssss!! When I was at the store this morning, I saw some really dirty skank bananas which, just like the ones yesterday, were calling out to be baked with. I obeyed that call.

Using a recipe for banana bread in the Veganomicon cookbook, I made muffins 😀

Well, they smell really good! I’m yet to try one (cos I had a scuffin instead), but no doubt one will SOMEHOW find its’ sneaky way into my stomach at around 9pm tonight, when my raging dessert tooth demands to be fed 😛

Oohh but before dessert, I get to eat dinner 😀 I’m feeling inspired by a certain fellow horsey blogger, who did a wonderful balsamic/maple/mustard combination the other day. I’m reckoning on covering sweet potato chunks in it, and baking…literally, my mouth is watering at the thought!

Talking of dinner – no photos, but I thought last nights’ was worth a mention (ohemgee, I just heard on the radio that The Apprentice starts next week – YAY!) – I made a real groovy tomato sauce, using chopped tomatoes, balsamic, mixed spice, stock, molasses and soy sauce. I cooked some tempeh in it, with chickpeas and broccoli and my favourite veggies, and it was SO. GOOD. Love love love!!

Mks, now I gotta stop talkin’ about it, and go prep dinner 🙂

Question – what’s your favourite reality show? I’m a sucker for The Apprentice and…uh….well, there are a ton more, but apparently I’m having a brain blank 😛

Oh – Ps – cute Kovac 🙂

Hehe! Cats and boxes. They fit together like…Edward and Bella 🙂

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Please, call me chef…

…haha LOL, just to demonstrate how wet I got on that 18miler yesterday – here is my page of inspirational quotations that was tucked in my pocket while I ran:

Bah! Soaked to the skin folks – soaked. to. the. skin. (Random side note – my English teacher in high school used to get so mad when people said ‘quotes’ – ‘it’s quoTATIONS!!!!’ she used to scream. Just thought I’d let y’all know.) (2nd random side note – I have absolutely zero stiffness or soreness today! In fact, I feel really quite fresh – I’m so happy 😀 I finally feel like I really can run that marathon…)

So anyway, I changed my name today, from Freya to Chef. I’ve cooked 3 things today! Not breakfast, lunch and dinner, but seitan, apple cake and my own creation 😀 I knew this would happen – as soon as the temperature drops and it rains outside, all I want to do is bake bake bake 😀 Why deny a desire?

My first mission was the seitan – vital wheat gluten mixed with spices and water, boiled in stock (with the addition of molasses, thanks to Jess‘ last post):

Brilliant picture right? This is why I’ve asked you to call me Chef, not Photographer :p Despite the crap picture, for once in my tiny life, the seitan actually worked! Success.

Next job was an apple cake (using homegrown apples!), per my mama’s request, so she can take it into work and have everyone gush over her:

Success again! [The brown colour is not burnt-ness, it’s the sugar and cinnamon that was sprinkled on top, to give a crunchy topping :D]

And finally – I had some super duper ripe bananas which were just crying out to be mashed up and cooked beyond oblivion. Sooo that’s what I did 😀

I actually made completely, 100% my own recipe!! I’m really proud of myself :p normally I alter someone else’s, but NOT TODAY! Check it out:

There are things like banana, molasses, buckwheat flour, baking powder, peanut butter and dates in there…to name but a few :p

I might post the recipe tomorrow…but there are a few tweaks I wanna make 😀

—–

In other food – breakfast! Squashy oatmeal aka 1/2 c. oats cooked with cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, 1/2 c.coconut milk, 1/2 c.++ water, lots n lots of cooked pumpkin/squash (not sure what it was). Topped with cereal and peanut butter (and unpictured brazil nuts):

You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to decide on that meal. Banana oats? Squash oats? Cereal and yogurt? SIAB? EGM? I just couldn’t decide!

Yummy yummy yummy I got love in my tummy….

Post breakfast, it was time to work The Mare……I got on, she spooked, I picked up my reins, we went to the lion’s den from yesterday, and good gracious – she was having none of it! I mean, we’re looking here at my soul job being to stop her from sitting down and spinning/galloping off in the other direction, let alone actually walking towards the lions!!! Thankfully, at least one of us had our Sensible Hats on (me), so I recognised the severity of the situation, hopped off, and made her go past it in hand (whilst avoiding being majorly trodden on/squashed). After 10mins, she calmed down, I got back on, we had a good session 😀 Honestly. Horses!

Lunch was pretty random – I wasn’t really feeling anything, so I had a mish mash 🙂 – soy sauce/vegan worcestershire sauce stir fried kale, with roasted parsnip, summer squash, celeriac and turnip:

That was DELICIOUS!

I also made a thickie – loads + loads of cereal, super ripe pear, 1/2c. yogurt, xanthan gum, cantaloupe melon, kale, vanilla and blackberries:

Note – Chef does NOT waste any amount of food, no matter how small 😛

See?

After blending, the result:

Woaaaaaah. I thought part 1 of lunch was delicious – this was even more so! So thick, smooth, creamy….bliss. I also had a square of super dark chocolate 🙂

And now for a trip back in time –

Yesterday’s snack – left over roast squash with maple syrup and cinnamon, and a fig:

Ohhh my. No words.

Last night’s dessert:

Yogurt, 90% dark Lindt, and a Bliss Bar <- I bought this a while back from Whole Foods, but have been saving it for a special occasion. I felt the aftermath of my first ever 18mile run was special occasion enough 😀 And it was sooo worth the wait! That thing was DELICIOUS! And raw, and vegan, and gluten/soya free, and non-GM! Check out the ingredients: dates, cashew butter, raw cacao, brown rice malt, cacao butter, maca, brown rice powder, sunflower lecithin, vanilla pods, ashwaghanda root (no I don’t know what that is either; something good I think?!), sea salt, green tea extract. Increds!!

Trip forward in time now – today’s snack:

Yogurt, blackberries, and one of my freshly baked….things. I’m yet to name them 🙂

Hmm. As usual, I’m off to go cook my din dins now 🙂 It’s a toughie though – tempeh? Seitan? Lentils? Chickpeas? TOO many decisions! What would you choose!!??

Question – if you could change your name to anything, what would it be?

I always want to change my name to Freja (as opposed to Freya), cos one of my favourite supermodels is called Freja 😀 I also love the name Brooke 🙂 and Lacey, and Darcey, and Paris (but not after Paris Hilton)…I have lots I’d love to be 🙂 Oh – and Chef, of course. Duh.

Good night!

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Listening to your body

Hello!

Thank you to everyone who wished me well yesterday 🙂 much appreciated! I woke up today feeling a lot better – though my head is still thumping!? I’ve been drinking my own weight (and plus some) in water, but it doesn’t seem to be helping 😦 I didn’t run today though….I’ll get onto that later.

Anyway! I’ll make this post very photo heavy cos..well, why not!? I seem to have eaten loads the past 2days, which is odd considering I have zero appetite! Nothing whatsoever 😦

Wednesday:

A serving of Grape Nuts and 2 tsps wheat germ before a 4mile run <- yeah, that wasn’t a fun run! I went slow (I did it in about 38mins) cos my head was thumping away with literally every step! When I got to two miles, I totally regretted going out :s soo I was super relieved to turn around at that point!

Breakfast = the smoothie from Tuesday:

• galia melon
• strawberries
• xanthan gum
• blackberries (only about 5 – the colour they give out is incredible!)
• papaya
• 1/2 c. coconut milk

Topped with cereal:

On the side, for added carb + protein – 1/2 c. soya yogurt with 1/2 c. cereal:

Blackberries were picked in the morning (I’m proud of my stash :p):

And then….

Lunch! = 1/2 c. oats cooked with 1/2 c. milk/1/2c. water, cooked squash, cinnamon, mixed spice, vanilla essence, salt and agave nectar, and a side of melon:

And the best bit? Peanut butter/soy sauce coated and roasted parsnip fries :D:

AMAZING lunch!

In the afternoon, I felt pretty crummy. When I’ve felt bad before (achey, stiff, tired etc), a walk has always ALWAYS helped me, so that’s what I did. Bad move!! I felt 10 x worse after it…lesson learnt!

When I got back, I felt so lethargic and achey and crap, that I thought a carby snack might help:

Toast, yogurt, 1/2 a banana. Delish! I also had 1/2 a cup of milky coffee my mum made, which lifted me up for 10mins 🙂 aka, enough time to pump out that post yesterday!

Dinner = marinated tofu (maple syrup, hoi sin sauce, cinnamon, stock, soy sauce, smoked garlic):

Fried til crispy, and served with kabocha, parsnip, broccoli (oh the IRON!! I sure needed it!), and a mix of spelt/barley/rice and durum wheat:

Fantastiqueeeee!! The tofu was super super good. Crispy always wins!

Dessert was 2 squares of super dark chocolate, and a yogurt 🙂

—–

Thursday

I did wake up feeling better today, though not 100%. I had a 9mile run on the cards….BUT I also have a very very important 18miler this weekend. After how I felt going for a walk yesterday, I decided to veto the run. I had to think of the future!! If I’d done 9miles and broken myself, I prrrrobably wouldn’t be on for the 18miles. Far far better to miss a 9miler (however bad I felt about it) than to miss the most important long run yet. Besides, I was trying really really hard to listen to my body. My head still had the occasional thump going on, and my legs felt tired. 9 miles is no easy feat….so the decision was made. I’m super glad I did decide to veto it – my head has been thumping like the clappers again today at various times!!

I’ve now got another tricky situation on my hands though…I’ll ask at the end of the post 🙂 First, breakfast! 2 tsps wheat germ, plus a cereal/yogurt mess, with an apple:

Lunch was light, purely cos I just did not want to eat!! These past few days, if I had listened to hunger cues, I’d be yet to eat anything :s not good! So I decided a delicious nutrient packed lunch was needed – spring greens (more IRON!) stir fried with soy sauce and smoked garlic, served with roasted red pepper, turnip, parsnip and celeriac:

As well as 2 pieces of toast with hummus:

Wonderful! A mini dessert was some left over roasted squash in the remains of a yogurt pot:

SUCH a good combination! Yogurt goes with everything 😀

I rode in the afternoon too, after much debate – it was POURING with rain! But, Chika needed the work and I wasn’t quite dying, so I decided to brave it. Check out how wet….

….ugh! Of course, just 5mins after I finished, the rain stopped. Bah! At least Chika was good 🙂

I snacked on some unpictured beetroot crisps and a fresh fig in the afternoon (I felt I needed the calories), and now, I have to think of something for dinner :s Would it be wrong to just have comfort food yet again!!??

Question: My marathon plan tomorrow calls for a 5mile run. Today was meant to be a 9mile run. If I feel fine, should I do the 5 or the 9? And if I don’t feel quuuite 100%, should I still run anyway? I’m really worried about missing too many days <- those miles are there for a reason!

Any advice appreciated 😀

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