Brit Chick Runs

Goooood Gosh. Literally, every single post I’ve read the past 2 days (from US bloggers) has been to do with pumpkin. Pumpkin oats, pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin scones, pumpkin lattes…. ARGH!

England. Does. Not. Sell. Pumpkin.

Okay, maybe the odd online US-import online store, or London Whole Foods. But basically, you can’t get it here. It’s infuriating! I’ve tried one can of Libby’s Pumpkin in my life (thank yooouuu Jess for that can ) and it was iiiincredible. I made the most wonderful pumpkin muffins…but anyway. What’s a girl to do? The next best thing, blates

See I’ve had two great big squashes open for a week now, which weren’t reaaaally up to scratch for eating in huge quantities (like my kabocha). So, I’ve been roasting random loads, and today, I roasted a bunch ready for a muffin baking extravaganza!

Don’t you just want to dive right in!?

I used a blueberry & oatmeal muffin recipe from Happy Herbivore, but altered it somewhat. Instead of whole wheat pastry flour (another item that does not exist in England), I did a mix of white and wholemeal flour. I also used freshly picked blackberries instead of the blubes, and used 1 cup of mashed up squash in place of the apple sauce:

I aslo used a whole load more spices The result:

2 ugly muffins:

9 un-ugly muffins:

And 3 baby muffins

It goes without saying that I had a baby muffin for an afternoon snack

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In other news! I took the advice of 95% of you commenters yesterday, and did just the 5miles (instead of 9miles). I had an apple, 2 tsp wheat germ and 2 rice cakes before i left, and then did the whole thing in 45mins. It was a pretty slow run, but I thought it was better to go slow and steady and ease myself back into it I felt pretty good though – not top knotch, but certainly 90%, which is good enough for me

Breakfast was…no words….amazing. My all time favourite – OATS IN A JAR!!

       

I look forward t o the rare occasions a peanut butter jar is finished more than I look forward to Christmas Into my jar:

• 1/2 c. oats
• 1/2 c. milk + 1/2 c. water + a bit more water
• cinnamon
• vanilla extract
• 1 sliced and ripe banana
• 3 chopped dates
• topped with cereal nubbins

Bliss bliss bliss! Wowzer. If you’ve never done OIAJ, then DO. There is simply no logical reason not to, it’s that good!

After breakfast, I managed to fit in a sneaky schooling session on Chika, before the clouds burst and that was the rest of the day written off. Booo

Lunch was fah-bulous! I baked a sweet potato, roasted some veggies (turnip, celeriac, parsnip and a few tiny chunks of odd squash), fried some spring greens in soy sauce, had some smoked roasted almonds and had a piece of toast with hummus. Nothing incredible…except, I put a) hummus and b) [soya] YOGURT on the sweet potato!

Holy cow! Yogurt and sweet potato is easily the most delicious thing, EVER!! The beautiful sweetness contrasting fabby-ness-ly with the tart/sour flavours from the yogurt. I was blooowwwwwnn awaaaay. Yum

Afternoon eats included an apple and a fig:

And of course, a little baby muffin I made a mistake making them though..the recipe called for salt, which I added – but it wasn’t ground salt, it was like, salt granales which are pretty big and chunky…with every bite, there were random tastes of salt Certainly not a bad thing, cos I like salt – but it stopped them from being as good as they could have. Alas! Lesson learnt.

And now..I’ve got to decide on dinner. TBH I hardly post about dinner anymore – they’ve been so similar the past few weeks!! I would feel bad…but I really don’t My mum has had the same breakfast (museli) for the past 10yrs…so why not have a similar dinner!? At least my lunches and dinners are different

Question: Do any of you find yourself repeating the same meal over and over? What is it?

Ps – wish me luck! I have EIGHTEEN MILES to run this Sunday! Suffice to say, I’m bricking it!! 18 is a personal record distance to me – 16 has been my longest so far. Plus, there is ‘heavy showers’ forecast for the whole day. Joy.

Pps – sorry for the crappy post today…I spent about 40minutes SCREAMING at my laptop cos it wouldn’t let me find the photos I’d just uploaded. I got very stressed and angry, and also lost a lot of time. GRRRR!!!!

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 :

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

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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

….This isn’t my real post – but this is my first time using ecto, so before I spend the next hour writing an amazing fabulous post, I thought I’d check to see it will work

A photo:

Some writing in between the photo…

Another photo:

*A finishing witty one liner*

Well, at least that’s what it feels like. Seriously, I feel rough!! My whole body aches and I have a headache (my one yesterday morning never actually left)…it’s like the little bloke at the control panel desk in my head is working his ass off, fighting whatever hideous illness is trying to bring me down. Grr.

So anyway – I’m not going to do a proper post today. Instead, I’m just going to curl up and rest and try and will myself better before my 9mile run tomorrow, and my 18miler this weekend!

Wish me luck……

Ohh my gracious. World’s Most Annoying Day right here. I’ve given myself a headache, and a serious need for a bout of Botox, to smooth out the wrinkles I’ve given myself from frowning so hard today!

I woke up feeling pretty cranky, but like..body-cranky, not mood-cranky – it was weird. After quickly checking my emails and eating an apple and 2 tsps wheat germ, I had a pretty good DVD workout for 50mins An Up!

Then came the Down I walked back into the kitchen, and my laptop had died. Nowt unusual, it dies thrice daily now (like, it’s on, then the screen just goes blank and that’s that. Normally I just press the on button, and it restarts) – except this time, it wouldn’t turn back on! Like, not at all!! I tried it with a different battery lead thing, and it was having none of it :O Needless to say, there were some tears (yeah, I cry easily :p) – my photos, gone. My iTunes, gone. My documents and essays and lab reports, gone. My DVD [in the disc drive], stuck. It was aaaawful

In my sad daze, my appetite vanished, so breakfast came later than usual –

• cooked squash (an odd sort. I thought it would be delicious, but when I opened it the other day, it was certainly not! Nice, but not kabocha-nice – so I’ve decided to use it for other purposes )
• 1 c. cereal
• 1/2 c. soya yogurt
• 1/2 c. coconut milk
• hemp seeds
• xanthan gum
• maple syrup

Blend blend blend, topped with cereal and cinnamon raisin swirl PB (my favourite sort!):

With a side of blackberries and strawberries:

It was OK…but just ok. I was feeling too sad to enjoy it! Or even to put half decent toppings on!! Plus, as I said, the squash just was not good enough. My taste buds are spoilt with all the kabocha floating about

After breakfast, I took my laptop and drove 40mins to PC World. Down – Nasty Mr Australian Sat Nav directed me to totally the wrong place, so I had to park in a lay-by and walk! Grrrrrrrr.

Anyway, I went to the tech guy, and he tested it and as it turns out, my approx. 6month old battery thing (which I bought not long ago to replace the last one, which I’d had a year) had totally died. ARGH! I ordered a Mac a few weeks back, which was due to arrive on Thursday – but I still had to fork out SIXTY POUNDS (!!) on a new battery, cos I needed all my photos and files! Talk about furious.

Cos of my late breakfast, lunch was late and a bit blah too. I had made a big old smoothie, using a beautiful melon….

…..but then I didn’t feel like it, cos I felt poor and sad Instead, I decided only my favourite foods would do  – Nature’s Path Cinnamon/Blueberry cereal, edamame beans, with bbq salt roasted aubergine, parsnip and kabocha:

It was lovely

After lunch, I felt incredibly wound up, like I wanted to explode any second, so I did the wise thing, and took myself off alone on a walk – perfect for catching up with celeb gossip (hello, Heat magazine :p) and soaking up the vitamin D rays Oh, and eating blackberries Sometimes, being alone is the best thing.

Randomly while I was out, some bloke pulled over asking if I wanted a lift. That’s like, the 6th bloke that has asked when I’ve been for walks this summer! When did it suddenly become perfectly normal for men in big cars to ask lone girls if they needed lifts!? Mad!

When I got back, look what was waiting for me:

Yep, my new Mac, with it’s [almost] free iPod Touch!!!

Ok, YAY for the new laptop, but arhhghghghhghghghg that I’d just spent so much money for the other laptop! OH the irony.

As I was setting it up, I drank a glass of vanilla soya milk:

I felt a little low on protein and that had a 9g kick of it However, the protein has not given me the knowledge to work out how to connect to the internet…where is a freaking Ethernet cable when you need one!!??? Oh my! I seriously wish I was a nerdy boy sometimes. Bah.

Dinner last night was kamut tagliatelle, with a tofu-cocoa-peanut butter-soy sauce sauce:

Totally scrummy!!! I adore that meal so I also had 2 squares of Lindt (85% and 90%) for dessert:

Hurrah

Dinner tonight is probably going to be horrendously dull – I feel grrrr-y, so I’m guessing it’ll be a good old comfort meal

Question – I hate having a negative post! Sooo, tell me what good stuff has happened to y’all today?! Tell me a joke! A limerick! A funny story! Anything to turn my frown upside down

Ps – thanks to everyone who offered to do a guest post for me whilst I’m away! I’ll email you all a bit nearer the time