Brit Chick Runs

I have a new mantra for running:

What would Dean do?

The Dean in question being the ultramarathon man, Dean Karnazes – and I am not exaggerating when I say I have become completely and utterly obsessed with him! I read his book, Ultramarathon Man, a couple of months ago, and at Christmas, I got given one of his other books:

(modeled by Ms Coco)

(Kovac snuffer photo-bombing)

(Kovac and Coco, together!)

Maaaaan, the guy is a m a c h i n e! 200mile races in one go…50 marathons on 50 consecutive days…running non-stop on a treadmill for 214 miles…running a 100+ ultra in the desert, then flying to Europe the next day for a marathon…he is just incredible.

I don’t plan on doing any ultras anytime soon (I value my toenails too much), but his books have done absolute wonders for my inspiration and motivation – he makes anything seem possible, and he inspires me to keep running and keep passionate, no matter what. There is a letter section in his 26.2 book, where a fan has written in saying that when they’re feeling crud running, they think ‘WWDD? – What would Dean do?’

I LOVE IT!

I read that quote last night before bed, and was raring to go for my run this morning. Of course, the weather this morning was: 50mph winds, heavy rain and very cold. The weather warnings were out and my mum even had to help me get the horses in, such were the treacherous conditions. Of course yesterday, it was sunny – and yesterday was my cross-training / swimming / indoors day…today however was my ‘progression run’ day: 15mins easy, 15mins steady, 10 mins threshold, cool down.

It was dark and I could hear the wind howling outside, but the first thought that entered my head was ‘what would Dean do?’ Why, he’d put on his trainers and attack that run like there was no tomorrow! So I did just that!

Mile 1: 9.05

Mile 2: 8.36

Mile 3: 7.59

Mile 4: 7.46

Mile 5: 7.20

Mile 6: 8.17

(aka: as a quarter marathon. Clever, right? Hmm.)

7.20!? 7.20!? Who is this girl!? I was freakin’ over the moon! My hip didn’t hurt and I felt strong and fresh, and every time I the wind tried to blow me off the road, I kept thinking ‘what would Dean do, what would Dean do, what would Dean do’, and it worked. a. charm.

Man, I love running.

I love speedwork when I’m running the most – last week, I had these splits:

8.54, 7.51, 7.37, 7.32, 7.37, 8.12

EEEE! I thought I’d lost my ability to run that fast and hold it, but I guess not! Runs like that are just showing me what I can do when I really do put some effort in – and it’s so exciting for the future. I have plans (at some point) to run a sub-1.40 half marathon, which would mean shaving 3mins off of my PB. I’m really starting to think and believe I can do it!

*Side note: Please understand, I am not trying to show off [& I know my splits aren't magical, although they are magical for me], I’m just mega excited and pumped! As my man Dean says, ‘you don’t have to go fast, you just have to go.’*

Oh there really isn’t a feeling of joy that matches the one you feel after an amazing run.

BRING ON BRIGHTON, APRIL 15TH.

Phew!

—-

I’ve been getting some inspiration from another book too:

I adore that book. I’m going to talk about this in another post anyway so I won’t go into any detail, but this book is one of the things thats inspiring me to be a much better vegan. It’s full of stories, extracts from literature, various tales and recipes, and I just adore reading it. The recipes are inspring me to actually COOK more too!

For example…

Cranberry quinoa! I googled cranberry quinoa recipes, and one from the Whole Foods website came up, which I loosely followed. It was pretty darn delicious

Another recipe….

From Vegan Brunch – a tofu omelette! Which turned out (IMHO) perfectly. I stuffed it with stir fried Brussels sprouts, garlic, mushrooms and a few other bits. I seriously had such a massive smile on my face after I made those two dishes, just because they’re different. I’m in a semi-permanent foodie rut most of the time, so it’s wonderful to mix it up a bit sometimes.

Above – hands down, the best socca(ish-type-thing) I have ever made! 25g gram flour, 15g soya flour, 10g millet flakes, bicarb, baking powder, raisins, curry powder, salt, 1/2 grated apple. P er f e ct.

Below – my dinner packed up ready to go for tomorrow (I’m driving to Middlesex for a Project 26.2 training day):

Roast veg.

Scrambled eggs tofu – cumin, coriander, tumeric, nooch…

Rice & lentils.

I am so excited to eat it! Sigh.

My excitement got the better of me today though – my wonderful blog friend Nathalie (hi Mrs!) sent me a box of delicious things, and these kale chips were one of them:

KALE CHIPS! I can’t buy these where I am, so i was super excited to try them. Holy heck, they’re good. Like, really really good. My original plan was to have just a couple a day, to make them last – but then they were too delicious…

Gah. I think I need to move to Wales (where they came from). Seriously, they are so worth it. They’re kale, covered in a noochy-cashew purple salty sauce, and then dehydrated. Crisped and delicious to perfection!

THANK YOU NATHALIE!

Anyway.

I have stretches to do, a bag to pack and 1/2 of Eclipse to watch :/ Have a good weekend!

WHY hello there, merry people! I don’t think I’ve blogged since last year – oh, how time flies.

It’s been a busy week though, with some good stuff goin’ down

First  up – I had my first ever dinner party on Sunday evening!! Well, it was actually a dinner for schmucks six, for my aunt’s 21st birthday; my aunt, Grandma, Grampy, Ian, my mum and me. My aunt is vegetarian (though not vegan), which is simple enough, except that she hates garlic and tomatoes. That was Problem One. Problem Two was my grandparents – they’re 88 and 90, and very traditional in the food they like. They have never, ever eaten tofu, and tend to enjoy stews, casseroles, chicken, lots (and lots) of cheese, etc….Problem Three was Ian. Ian likes his hearty meaty food too, and when given half the chance, he loovves to make beef chilli or pork sausages.

HOWever.

Every year, if a meal is cooked for the family or we go out, my aunt (and now me, since I became vegan 18months ago) has to have a different dish, or has to ask for the sauce on the side, xyz left out and so on, and it’s really frustrating! So my mum and I decided that we’d do everyone the s a m e thing….

HOWever [again].

My mum was busy doing her assignment over the weekend, which left ALL the cooking up to me! HOoooooly heck. I’m used to cooking for one person, not SIX! I literally couldn’t sleep on Thursday, worrying about what I was going to make. There was one positive thing though – bar the tomato-garlic issue, my aunt and I have very similar taste in food – chickpeas, roasted veg, squash…she loves them! Sooooo I consulted my recipe books, and ended up making:

- Orange glazed beetroot (from Vegan with a Vengeance)

- Roasted & marinated tofu (I made up the marinade, and roasted the whole lot for about 2.5 hours in the oven, on a super low heat)

- Ginger and maple roasted vegetables (parsnips, sweet potato, squash, carrots, EVOO, freshly grated ginger, maple sizzle, nutmeg, cinnamon)

- Butternut squash mixed grain risotto

I was so worried before hand that no-one would like it, but you know what?

THEY LOVED IT!

When the tofu came out, my gran asked ‘what’s that, is it burnt toast?’ but she ended up clearing her plate [never happens].

My 90 year old Grampy, who has never had tofu in his life, had SECONDS of it!!!!

Ian – the meat-lover – also had seconds of the tofu and everything else too, and raved about it!!

I was beaming. I know it was a meal for my aunt (and she loved it all too) but it meant so much that the others enjoyed it. It took my grandparents a loooong time to accept the veganism thing – I still don’t think they have – and they were constantly questioning what I ate, where did I get my protein / calcium / carb / iron etc etc etc, so it was lovely to see them enjoy some veggie fare for once

So that was the main…I made dessert too!

Pear and cranberry tart (from Vegan with a Vengeance) [excuse the dodgy photo]

MY FIRST EVER TART! MY FIRST EVER TIME MAKING PASTRY! ohemgee.

Annnnd it was delicious! Ian polished the lot off

All in all? A super first dinner party by me, if I do say so myself :-p – the icing on the cake was getting to show people that vegan food isn’t just leaves and hemp…

Oh, and on the way out, my gran said to me, ‘I wouldn’t go vegan myself, but I do now know that if I had to, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.’

Uhh…backhanded compliment!? I’ll take it!

Phew.

In other news…

My hip is being a little @!$^&% to me, for real. It hurt on my long run on Christmas, and on my fast run – but not on my slower, recovery runs. I’ve been emailing my coach (from Women’s Running / Project 26.2) back and forth, and also the physio from the project. He reckons it’s my gluteus minimus / medius that is causing the problem, and has prescribed me a boatload of stretches (as well as tennis-ball induced agony to get out the muscle knots); we’re talking 6 or 7 stretches, 6-10 times a day, for 1minute each. That’s a lorra lorra stretching!!

I also had to sit out of my long run on Sunday – I was told just a 45minute easy run. Alas! It sucks, because I LOVE my long runs, but I’d rather be 100% healed!

Whilst we’re banging on about running, last week I got to go to Cambridge to the running store, Up and Running, to get kitted out for Project 26.2!!!

It was an awesome experience! I got my gait analysed again, and got some new running gear + trainers, all covered byWomen’s Running / Project 26.2.

I literally own three items of running clothes, so it was absolutely wonderful to get some free stuff. I am so, so grateful to the magazine, and to Up and Running; I’d never heard of the store before the project, but they’re actually really ace with some great gear inside. #recommended, yo.

Anyway….moving on.

You vant to zee som uglay foood?

My new favourite way to eat chickpeas – blended with spices and gram flour and a dash of baking powder and chopped carrot (+ spinach, in the above pic), and then baked for a 1/2 hour.

Also good curry & nooch-ified..

Looks gross, tastes wonderful.

Much like today’s chickpea dish:

Fresh chopped ginger, chickpeas, soy sauce, courgette, nooch, onion, maple sizzle, mushrooms.

I enjoyed that whilst watching this dude on YouTube – he is my new Man Crush. Ryan Gosling, My Fit Physio, step aside…there’s a new man on the radar!

Right – I’m now going to go watch the second half of Eclipse with my mutti (yes, I’ve gotten her into the Twilight saga!) – fare yee well, and happy new year!!

xo