Ups and Downs Part the Second

Now for a bit more of a catch-up of the last 3 months.
 

The Mighty Running Daff (but more of that another time)

 

So, first up was the MK Festival of Running Half Marathon on 8th March. Training had gone well and I was feeling strong and well-prepared. For the first time my peak weekly mileage had got to around 40 miles which felt like a big step forward in terms of running maturity and experience.

 

Race day was cold and grey. There was a lot of hanging around because to be sure of a parking spot I got to the city centre about 2 hours before the start. Still, that meant plenty of time to warm up with some drills, a bit of a run and some kata practice. The latter resulted in some very odd looks from passers-by, but I find it really helps me focus my mind as well as really get hips and legs going. There were well over 100 people from my club running in the various Festival races and it was good to have friendly faces around. I get sick with nerves before a race and being around friends really helped me get a grip until I could start the race. Once I'm running nerves vanish and I feel fine.

Feeling strong still, helped by the fact that this was around the Redway Runners drinks station and I could hear friendly and encouraging words being yelled in my direction.

 

Near Willen Lake, Running with the lovely Andy. We had great time running and chatting together for a few miles. We were going at quite a pace and kept asking each other if we shouldn't slow down a bit, but we just kept going until I picked up the pace again and left him behind.

 

 

Almost at the finish. It was hurting so much to keep going the last few 100 metres. And it felt very lonely with no one to cheer me on. One day I'd like to have family or friends to cheer and shout for me at a race.

 

 The route for the half wasn't too bad although not as scenic as the Winter Half. (If you've never been to Milton Keynes you need to know it's a fabulous place to run- there's a lot more to it than roundabouts and concrete!). The least pleasant part was the last couple of miles coming up through Campbell Park. Running up Beacon Hill when your legs are knackered and it's mile 12 is seriously no fun at all, not even for me. (Did I tell you that I do like a hill?) However, I completed the race in a smidgen over 1:38. A new PB for me and I was really pleased with that.

 

 

 

I was especially pleased because for the first time I was running under a time pressure and that was not a nice feeling at all. I HAD to run sub 1:45 because my girlies and I were scheduled to do the Shinri Karate 100 Kata Challenge straight after the race but I'll tell you more about that shortly.

 

100 Katas

 

So after the race it was off to the dojo to perform 100 katas in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital. I'd just graded to orange belt at the start of the week so it was a chance to get to grips with my next kata and have a go at learning one or two new ones. It was a great event but seriously challenging even for those (ie everyone apart from me) who hadn't just run 13.1 miles. I think there were some bleeding feet by the end although not mine.

 

I tried very, very hard to learn Tekki Shodan (a black belt kata) but I guess I was mentally so used up it just wouldn't stick even after 20 repetitions under the watchful eye of one of the black belts who happens also to be a runner. I was very proud of my girlies who stuck at it the whole way through and didn't miss a single kata. Their concentration did wear off about halfway through but I'm impressed they stayed focussed for that long. It was a tough thing to do for anyone, especially the younger ones. But we survived and had fun and were even still able to stand at the end:

 

 

 

As well as kata to learn there was plenty of cake to be eaten at the event- we'd decided to raise extra money we'd bring cake to sell. I made chocolate courgette brownies, spiced butternut squash and choc chunk squares, and something else which escapes my mind. (I'll have to post the recipes another time as I don't have them to hand this week.)

 

Typing all this and reliving that day has been quite exhausting! Time for a cup of tea and a piece of cake I think!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ups and Downs Part the First

I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote here! It's been a busy time: a couple of races, karate things, eldest going through the year 6 SATS, settling in to a new job, a brand new baby niece, some other family things...

But let's just have a blog post about food. Those of you who know me in Twitterland are only too aware of my love of food as I usually end up tweeting about it. I know I've promised Twitter friends to share some recipes but we're on holiday at the moment so I don't have any of the cake recipes to hand. Instead here are a few musings about pizza.

If time and energy permit then we make our own pizza bases. Usually I don't bother with yeast and just make a simple unleavened dough with flour (a mix of white & spelt/rye/wholemeal- whatever's in the cupboard!), water and some olive oil and roll it out very thin. I don't measure anything out- I go by how hungry we are and what the dough feels like. As long as it turns out smooth and silky after a bit of kneading then it'll be fine. Once the base is made I put homemade tomato sauce onto the base before adding toppings, although a quick cheat is to mix some pesto & tomato puree. Still healthier than using a bought jar of ready-made sauce.

My current favourite topping is kale, garlic and feta cheese. I prefer to briefly cook the kale first- start off chopped garlic in a frying pan with a little oil.  If the kale has a lot of thick stalk on it, it's best to cut that off, slice it and start those bits off with the garlic. It's a shame to waste the stalks as they are tasty and add a bit of substance too.  Then add the rest of the kale along with a splash of water. Cook for about 3 minutes then it's ready to go on the pizza. Add chunks of feta on the top and cook in a very hot oven for about 7 minutes. Yes, the kale will go crispy and look a bit odd but it tastes delicious!

Other additions and variations on this pizza have been attempted:

• I've tried using other cheeses- strong cheddar is also good as is goat cheese or leftover oozing bits of Brie or Camembert.
• You can throw some fresh chilli into the kale and garlic mix for a bit of extra vitamin C.
• Spinach doesn't make a good substitute for the kale though, so don't try that, although if you've got a bit of rocket going limp in the fridge add it to the kale when it's almost done for a bit of a peppery kick.
• And if you make a dip in the middle of the kale, carefully crack an egg into it and let that cook til just set. Greens and egg with a soft, gooey yolk is one of my all time favourite things to eat!

It feels as though this would be a great place to put a photo or two of pizza. Unfortunately pizza never lasts long enough in our house to be photographed! You'll just have to use your imagination, or even better go and make one right now and see (and taste) for yourself! Go on, you know you want to!

#hungryrunner

I am undone!

Just a very brief post. I saw this the other day in the supermarket and bought it on impulse.

Yes, you are reading correctly. It is a Marmite flavoured chocolate Easter egg and O my goodness it is the best flavour combination. Forget your fancy pants organic seasalted chocolate- this is the business!
My resolution to give up late night snacking has fallen apart but never mind. Tomorrow is another day...

Hungry Runner part 1

I love baking. And I love eating cake. I try to make cakes using different kinds of flour and with fruit or vegetables in them. The fruit/veg bit usually comes about because I have something that's not really fresh enough to be nice just on its own and so rather than throw it away I try to find a way of incorporating it into a cake. It's a good way of getting vegetation into my youngest child who is a very picky eater and of course it makes a sweet treat just that bit more nutritious.

Here are a few recipes to get you started.

I tweaked a new banana bread recipe last night and the result was delicious:

Banana Rye Teabread

 90g rye flour and 85g plain flour
50g porridge oats
50g butter plus 25g yoghurt
100g dark brown muscovado sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
2 eggs, beaten
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 eating apple, grated
100g mixed dried cranberries, raisins & sultanas

1. Preheat oven to 180C / 160C fan
2. Grease and line a 1kg loaf tin.
3. Put the flours, oats, butter, yoghurt, spices, baking powder and eggs into a large bowl and mix well. The stir in the fruits and mix again.
4. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for about 60- 75 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
5. Allow the loaf to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out.

Delicious buttered as a post run snack!

Very Berry Breakfast Muffins (makes about 12-15, depending on size of tins)

This recipe is good for using up yoghurt that's a couple of days out of date

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
2 cups wheat bran
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp bicarb of soda

1 cup dried cranberries

 

1/2 cup sunflower oil

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups berry flavoured yoghurt (preferably Yeo Valley 0% fat Strawberry Greek yoghurt)

• Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl and make sure the sugar isn't in lumps.
• Beat together the oil, eggs and yoghurt
• Mix the wet ingredients into the dry but don't over mix.
• Divide the mixture into muffin tins and bake for about 12-14 minutes at 200C.

You do need to leave these to cool before eating!

I have a few variations on the breakfast muffin, so watch this space!

Chocolate Courgette Cake

175g dark chocolate
225g grated courgettes
100g plain flour and 100g rye or spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp ground cinnamon
110g caster sugar
175ml sunflower oil
2 eggs

 1.      Grease and line a 1kg/2lb loaf tin. Preheat oven to 180C/ Gas mark 4

2.      Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir the chocolate until smooth.

3.      In a large bowl mix together the flour, bicarb, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. Then add the courgettes and stir again.

4.      In another bowl beat together the eggs and oil. Stir this into the dry ingredients then stir in the melted chocolate.

5.      Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

LEAVE TO COOL IN THE TIN FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES because the loaf is very fragile when freshly baked. Then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling. The cake does freeze well though.

 

Happy baking!

 

 

 

Pen versus interweb

This year I thought I'd keep a training diary- the old fashioned sort where you have a book and a pen and write stuff. I had been using an online thing to record runs but it's too easy to get hung up on all the stats those things generate. I love my running and I want to get better and faster, but I'm not a professional athlete so really it's a waste of time analysing all those numbers. It can also be dangerous- seeing my average pace drop can make me do an easy run much too fast, or run further than is sensible for a given day. I do have goals- this year I want to get as close as I can to a 90 minute half marathon- but I mustn't let them take over. Sure I try to keep my S&C work focussed on helping me to run better; I don't mind doing it because it's for a specific purpose rather than just a general 'need to work muscles', and I've really enjoyed the improvements it's made to my running. But if running stops being enjoyable then what's the point?

The diary is also helpful for karate. When I remember to, I make a note of things that seemed particularly important in a karate lesson. I also try to record what I've practised and what the focus was. So today I did kata concentrating on making the movements strong and fast. Pausing between each one if needed but completing each one quickly. My balance was still a bit iffy after the lurgy but it should get back to normal very soon, I hope!

 

 

The act of writing makes me think hard about what I've done, more so than typing stuff into an interweb thing. It's a purely personal thing, but it forces me to be honest and direct whereas typing always feels as though I need to present something that appears sleek and neat and acceptable. Having said that, I am being honest in this blog. It's a sort of thinking out loud for anyone who's interested.

 

 



Never too old

I never thought that I would run a half marathon. Certainly never in a reasonable time. School sport wasn't really for me. Too uncoordinated for things like gymnastics, completely the wrong build for throwing things, useless at jumping over or across things, couldn't see the point of netball... I quite liked hockey but couldn't be part of the school team because fixtures were on Wednesdays and that was Music Centre evening over at Barnstaple. I also liked cross country but we didn't do that very much, and again any running fixtures were on Wednesdays. Since I had decided from about the age of 12 that music was going to be the thing I did, Music Centre won hands down. During my late teens and early twenties I did a bit of jogging. Nothing much, and never kept it going for long but perhaps there always was a runner trying to get out.

Many years later here I am following training schedules and setting new running goals. Even on occasion buying running magazines, although not often because really they all say the same things all the time and just plug the 'desirable' running body and the latest running gear fashions the same as any women's magazine. It's too easy to get hung up on what you think everyone else is doing/ wearing/ what their figure is like and end up feeling inadequate. But that's another thought for another day. I even have a Garmin thingy although I often don't look at it until after a run. But I do also like running 'naked' (see, if you're not a runner you'll now think I'm really weird!). When training for a specific race I get sports massage twice a month. It's all pretty serious stuff- but fun too, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it.

And here I am having embarked on another journey- karate. That one is really surprising! My children are in their 5th year of karate now and it is wonderful to see how they have developed in terms of confidence and general fitness. As I've taken them to training I have watched the black belts and been in awe of what they can do. It's beautiful- like a lethal ballet. I wanted to do that too, but pre-osteoporosis just thought 'no way could I ever learn that!' and post-diagnosis assumed it was a door that would always be shut. So when Sensei Gareth mentioned he might run a class for adults I was so excited but anticipated him saying no, it wouldn't be safe for me.

He didn't say no. So in October I went to my first ever class, absolutely terrified. There was me, another beginner and a couple of black belts. Despite my nerves I enjoyed the training so much. It was all utterly bewildering- as an adult it's very challenging having absolutely no idea about anything you're supposed to be doing and being not even on the same planet as your comfort zone. In terms of my day job it's extremely useful going through this kind of learning experience as it is a constant reminder to me of how many of the children I work with experience school. And for my own development it's such a boost when I start learning a kata feeling like I'll never get it but with a week's intensive practise coming back and getting it more or less right.

There are things that I'll probably never really get the hang of simply because of my age- I am fitter and stronger by far than in my twenties but those extra years do make a difference. But there's so much I can still learn. Concentration, the focus to keep going even when it hurts or it all goes wrong; finding out just what I am capable of- how to use little pockets of determination or aggression to my advantage.

As adults we get to learn things in more detail from the start compared to the classes for the kids. That can be a source of frustration as much as inspiration. It's great knowing that you're learning to do something at the standard of the higher grades but at the same time it's SO hard putting together all the technical details and getting them all to work! For example you get the stance right- hips in a slightly forward tilt, nice wide stance, core engaged, breathing focussed, but then you forget to turn your wrist at exactly the right moment or make a slightly lazy movement with an arm. Doing all the bits right every time is really challenging. But when all the pieces do fall into place the feeling is amazing! Like running you feel as though you could go on for ever when body and mind are co-operating properly and everything just flows.

And so I now train 2 hours every week as well as practising at home most days. I'm hooked!

Best of all, I'm learning all the time. About what my body can do; about my ability to learn and tough it out; and about having fun. And about how wonderful people are- when it's a bad day I just have to turn up to a club run or karate training and I feel better almost immediately.

Aren't people amazing?

A New Journey

So. It's been a long, long time since I bothered to blog. It's been a busy time; a time of huge changes, new challenges, some great highs and dreadful lows.

After completing that 10k race in July I eventually plucked up courage to join in the local parkrun. I have to say that I loathe running 5k but I do it every week I can because I know it's Good For Me. So far I have just ducked under 22 minutes although last week during an 11k run I did manage 5k in 21:20. As well as parkrun I took the decision to sign up to a running club. It wasn't easy choosing- most of the local clubs train on the same evenings- but in the end I went with the Redway Runners http://www.redwayrunners.com/. Can't recall why I chose them but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made.

What a lovely bunch of people! It might not be as focussed on 'proper' running training as other clubs but there are plenty of awesome runners to chase and learn from if you're after that. And for the days when you just want to have a nice run with nice people- well you can always do that with the club. There's a place for every sort of runner.

It didn't take long for me to realise that although I'm not up there with the fastest guys, I really am not a bad runner. And over the last 5 months I've been running alongside people, watching and learning from them and now feel a better and stronger runner than before.

Running with the RRs has given me a lot of confidence. I've raced 2 half marathons now. The first was the awesome Dirt Half. A challenging off road race with a great atmosphere. And a hill. Now I love hills but the one going up into Great Brickhill nearly broke me. And it came at about mile 6 or 7 so tackling that at around the halfway point was a real challenge- mental as well as physical. I learned so much about myself as a runner in that race! Still, I finished the race in 1hr 48min. Not bad for my first ever half.

Finally back onto the canal towpath for the last few miles of the Dirt Half.

 

 

The weekend after, I ran the Movember 10k in Milton Keynes. Not a pleasant experience- bitterly cold, not a nice course but I finished 3rd place lady and 46th overall. And I had the best mo:

 

 

In December I raced another half marathon- the Up & Running Winter Half in Milton Keynes. I'd spent the last couple of weeks before it fretting about the weather- we'd had a lot of icy weather and I was afraid I'd have to pull out because of the risk of falling. Fortunately although it was very cold it was dry. I had a bit of a race plan- because I managed sub 1:50 for the Dirt I reckoned I'd go for 1:45 for this one so aimed to do nice steady 8 minute miles for the first 7 or 8 miles and see how it went. Well I couldn't quite stick to 8 min/miles and upped the pace after about 6 miles. Felt great at mile 8, and pretty good at 9 miles. The last 2 miles were really tough- I had stopped looking at the watch and was just concentrating on keeping going as the last bit along the canal seemed to go on for ever. But just as I was despairing some guy running past me shouted to go for it. So I did! And finished in 1:40! In the top 200 finishers and 23rd out of 466 women.

 

And as well as running I decided to take up karate. My kids' sensei said he was going to start up a class for beginner adults. As he's my masseur he knows about my dodgy bones and he said since I can run and do yoga I could certainly do karate- he'd keep my bones safe and find a way round some of the contact stuff if/when that becomes necessary. I love the discipline of it, both mental and physical. The emphasis it places on using your core as the source of movement and power has made me a stronger runner. And actually it shares a lot with running- all the stuff I've read about the position of the pelvis to engage the glutes and hip flexors when running ties in exactly with karate posture.

So now I am a karate-ka, have graded twice and am working towards my orange belt.

 

 

I'm not going to blog about the downs of the last few months. It's too personal. But running and karate have really helped me get through it all without going into self-destruct mode. I've had a battle with keeping my weight up- for a while it just kept dropping until I was well under 44kg but I've got it back up to around 44.5kg and it seems stable now. I've got into the habit of doing a little more S&C training so I think it's helped me rebuild muscle mass.

 

Now all I have to do is shift this virus that I've been fighting since the start of the week and which eventually floored me yesterday. Can't be poorly- there's so much running to do and kata to practise!