Run for chocolate

3.24pm session: easy run
Distance: 11km
Time: 64.14min
Pace: 5.48min/km
Cals: 653
Weather: 20*c, wind – S, 11kph

Sleeps till marathon: 14 (yikes!)

There was not the blue skies and sunshine like we’ve had the last couple of days. In fact, this morning it looked quite bleak, as if it would rain. However, the sun did make an appearance eventually, but the clouds never really went away.

It was the exchange of easter eggs and chocolates today. All I can say is thank goodness I run – it does lessen the guilt of eating chocolate a teensy bit!

We also ventured out to the Kingston old bus depot markets this morning for a browse, and so it seemed did most of Canberra. There was chaos in the parking lot but eventually we made it inside to check out the wares. Not that we bought anything but still it was lovely to wander around having a look at what people had on offer.

Later this afternoon I managed an easy 11km run along the cycle paths down to Lake Ginninderra, before returning home. That makes it 73km for the week, with only 2 weeks left before the marathon. Am I ready? Not sure but will give it my best shot.

“What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.” ― Katharine Hepburn

A case of the bah, humbugs

The tree is up. It’s partly decorated – we’re doing it in stages, when we’re inspired. We, in this case, really means The Fisherman because I’m still waiting for inspiration and motivation to move me. Blame it on the gastro virus still lingering. The last thing I feel is Christmas cheer. Yes, I’m feeling a bit ‘bah humbug’, or a case of the bah, humbugs, which is tantamount to treason at this time of year in some people’s eyes. In my defence, I have to say that I’m not normally like this so I’m a little nonplussed at the way I’m feeling.

So today I tried to instill some of that “deck-the-halls, jingle bells, santa is coming, fa-la-la” festive feeling by writing out the Christmas cards (the fact that some of the recipients may not receive them until after the big event is neither here not there, it’s the thought that counts!) The radio station has obliged by playing christmas-themed songs throughout the day. We went to the Kingston markets this mornings and bought fudge (as gifts) and tried to soak up the christmassy atmosphere (and then of course later today we just had to sample one of the fudge blocks to ensure that it was of high quality and worthy to give as presents! – Grand Marnier chocolate fudge anyone?!).

So the countdown is on – the last week of shopping this week. I have made my list after consulting with recipients. Everyone has obliged except The Fisherman (aka he-who-is-impossible-to-buy-for) so I have no excuses. Interstate presents have already been ordered and sent.

There was no exercise today.Yesterday’s little run took more out of me than I expected and I’m still not 100%.

Frustrating, yes. The worse thing that could happen, no.

After yesterday’s events in the US, my problems pale into insignificance. My heart goes out to the grieving parents – never in your wildest dreams do you ever think you’ll never see your child alive again when you send them off to school in the morning.

“When late morning rolls around and you’re feeling a bit out of sorts, don’t worry; you’re probably just a little eleven o’clockish.” – Winnie the Pooh

Blueberry brownie bliss

3 Dec 2012_Blueberry brownies

Among the top 10 brain foods, that is, foods that improve memory, mood, concentration, and overall clarity, are blueberries and dark chocolate. So when I saw Frugalfeeding’s  recipe for Blueberry Brownies I knew I was on to a winner! Blueberries and dark chocolate – these brownies are positively brimming with antioxidants And I needed to bake something for tomorrow’s afternoon tea so this was my opportunity. It’s a really easy recipe and most of the ingredients can be found in the pantry and fridge. I only needed to buy some more blueberries and a block of dark chocolate. I know, as hard as it is to believe, I didn’t have any dark chocolate in the house! And even better, it’s a really quick and easy recipe that doesn’t require lots of time or bowls or utensils – so a perfect weekday recipe. The only part that did cause me some angst was the length of time for baking – the instructions explicitly stated that it was to be cooked in a 180 degrees celsius oven for no more than 25 minutes – there is nothing worse than overcooked brownies – dry and crumbly is the death of a good brownie. I prefer the fudgy type of brownie so for the last 5-10 minutes I was constantly checking to ensure it wasn’t becoming too firm.

The verdict – a deliciously moist, fudgy brownie chock full of blueberries. I can feel it doing me good already!

And for more great recipes, go check out Frugalfeeding’s blog – not only are they delicious but they’re also inexpensive.

Luckily I had also cycled early this morning so had got my exercise quota in for the day!

Tomorrow: the plan is a weights session in the morning and a bike intervals session after work, on the wind trainer. And some more chocolatey antioxidants for afternoon tea

“Be positive, ignore the critic, follow your heart, invest in your passions, believe in your dreams & get busy making them reality.” – Josh Cox

One week to go

Definitely into countdown mode now. Lists are being written and last minute changes are being made. Such as a new helmet – bought today. Its lighter and has more air vents and more importantly, fits better. I’ve also changed the shoes that I will be wearing for the run as the Asics DS trainers were just too hard to get into, even with elastic laces. So I’m using my GT 2170s instead – a much more comfortable fit and easier to get on.

This afternoon I did another wet suit swim, this time also wearing my tri suit underneath. No problems and I am getting used to the compressed feeling across the chest and neck. There was some slight chafing under one arm but nothing to worry about. The pool was quite busy – the warmer weather definitely brings a lot more people out.

Had the remaining chocolate tart tonight. We’d also bought a small carton of salted caramel ice-cream with hazelnuts to have with it. Delicious!

Tomorrow: the plan is to do a 40 minute bike intervals session after work

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Training, massage, voting & chocolate tart

The morning seemed to come around really quickly and I was up again getting ready for my cycle/run session. It was a pleasant morning so I could ride minus my head band, cycle jacket, thermal socks and shoe booties. Made for a nice change. It was only an hour cycle this morning and then I was home getting ready to run 30 minutes (approx 6km). People were already up and about setting up polling booths, planting those candidate placards that have infested road verges for the past couple of weeks, and hanging about 100m from the polling booths with how to vote cards (by law they’re not allowed any closer).

The run went well – it’s so much easier when I’ve only cycled for an hour opposed to three hours!

I really appreciated my massage this morning and surprisingly there were no stand out sore points. There were some areas of tightness but all things considered I seem to be in good shape. And fortunately yesterday’s incident when someone ran into the back of our car hasn’t caused any problems.

Originally the plan was to swim this afternoon but I decided to do my long run instead in the heat. Given that Port Macquarie is a lot warmer than here (and it got to 39 degrees there today) I thought a run in the heat was required to get myself used to how it feels (bloody awful I might add). So I ran 12km with the return trip into a head wind. I was glad to finish and must’ve drunk at least a litre of water once I got inside. After a shower, we wandered down to the local polling booth and voted.

Made a chocolate tart with a difference for dessert tonight. The crust consisted of almond meal, fresh dates and a tiny bit of coconut oil blended together and pressed into 2 small tart tins. This went into the freezer initially to set and then into the fridge later. The filling consisted of avocado, coconut oil, cacao powder, stevia, vanilla and some chocolate liqueur which was blended together until smooth and then spooned into the tart shells and refrigerated. Before the filling went into the shells I spread some strawberry jam on the bottom and then spooned the filling over the top. The verdict? Very rich so we shared one tart and will have the other one tomorrow night. Very smooth and delicious. And Mr N has no idea that he has consumed avocado!

Tomorrow: the plan is to sleep in! I have no plans of getting up early and doing any training. Later in the day I will do my wet suit swim. I also need to start to think about packing. And I want to buy a new bike helmet – not happy with mine.

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” ― A.A. Milne

Hump day

It feels like it should be Thursday today not Wednesday. I think this is because we’ve had 2 long weekends in a row here in the ACT and so we have become used to starting work on Tuesdays, instead of Mondays.

Despite another early night last night (well maybe not as early as Monday night but what I would still consider earlyish) I was tired when I woke this morning. Knowing that I had a 2.6km swim session ahead wasn’t helping either! The session was broken up into blocks so again I concentrated on each block. I also had problems with the pull buoy this morning – it wouldn’t stay put between my legs but kept popping out at the most inconvenient of times so I seemed to be forever chasing it around the lane. But on the other hand if it wasn’t for the pull buoy I think there were times I was in mortal danger of sinking! I was also in a bit of a quandary when it came to the actual distance I was meant to swim. The program said 2.5km but when I added up the blocks it actually came to 2.6km. What to do? Yes, I admit I was so tempted when I hit the 2.5km mark to just say that’s it, session done…..but……bugger it, I couldn’t do it! I swam that extra 100m to make it a 2.6km session.

Since this morning’s swim I have been starving, ravenous, hungry enough to eat a horse and chase its rider. As soon as I have eaten one meal I am thinking about the next. I gave into my hunger cravings this afternoon and had a snack size cherry ripe and a freddo frog but to be honest they weren’t that satisfying.

The bike session tonight went ok given my legs are tired. I gradually improved over time and seeing that I had 20 x 1 minute intervals to do, I had ample opportunity to improve. The service has made a huge difference – changing gears isn’t clunky now. The bike also has brand spanking new tyres and a wireless bike computer.

So that’s it. Tomorrow marks the start of the taper. Yay! (says she tiredly!)

Tomorrow: the plan is to go for a steady state 10km run in the morning and then follow up with another bike intervals session after work.

“If you can’t run, then walk. And if you can’t walk, then crawl. Do what you have to do. Just keep moving forward and never, ever give up.” ― Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner

My favourite day

The following is so true, and I have to remember this especially when I’m doing one of my more challenging work outs or heavy training weeks. Persistence does pay off in the end.

Practice persistence

“The most valuable experiences are often the most difficult
experiences. The biggest challenges bring out the best in
you, and compel you to make your best even better.

Difficult situations are not much fun. Yet by working your
way through them, you create great strength and value.

Even when your hard work is not fully appreciated or
immediately rewarded, it still brings important value to
your life. The experience of dealing with challenge can
produce a lifetime of beneficial dividends.

When you know you have done it in the past, you also know
you can do it again. That is the essence of true confidence.

The difficult experiences give you the opportunity to
practice persistence. And persistence is a quality that is
always in demand.

Though your efforts may not pay off immediately, they will
pay off. Persist, and know that you are growing stronger and
stronger. “ – Ralph Marston, 2012

Today was a great day. A rest day (yay!) which included a sleep in, work until lunchtime, lunch with a friend who had baked a delicious chocolate flourless cake (it was so moreish that I had to resist taking extra home because honestly I could’ve eaten the entire cake it was that good), and then the hairdressers.

What is your favourite day?

Tomorrow: the plan is to rise and shine early and ride for 3.5 hours followed by a 20 minute interval run. Following this I have a well-earned and much-anticipated massage.

“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the centre.”- Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist

 

 

Swim / bike sessions

Two sessions done and dusted today and now I can look forward to a rest day tomorrow! Not only that but tomorrow I’m working until lunchtime, then visiting a good friend waaaay down south of Canberra, and finally heading to the hairdressers for a couple of hours of pampering. Can’t wait!

This morning it was a swim session so it was back to the pool for a 6am start. Not having been to the poolon a Thursday morning before I wasn’t sure what to expect but I’m happy to report its a quieter morning than earlier in the week. Hence I’ll be swapping my swim sessions around next week so that I’ll do my longer session with the pull buoy on Thursdays and the slightly easier and shorter session on Tuesdays.

For a while there, in my lane this morning, I was the odd one out because I was the only one not using fins or a kickboard! It wasn’t a bad swim this morning – all freestyle, no pull buoy, just alternating between hard and easy laps. In total, I swam 1.6 km. The ravenous hunger that I experienced on Tuesday after my swim didn’t eventuate today though I was prepared with snacks as well as taking my breakfast and lunch to work.

As a treat I did buy 2 salted caramel dark chocolates while I was at KokoBlack today. I’m happy to report they were delicious!

Tonight I did my 70 minute bike intervals session on the wind trainer. Oh what fun this was, not! Especially the 7 minutes of  pedalling in a moderate-hard gear, repeated 4 times. Actually I didn’t read my program properly and so I did it in a hard gear – there was no moderate about it. That’ll teach me!

Now bring on my rest day!

“To create more positive results in your life, replace ‘if only’ with ‘next time’.”- Celestine Chua

Monday motivation

It has been a week since I’ve been in the pool, which was always part of my training program as last week was a recovery week. But I felt pretty good this morning as I got ready to leave at 5.50am for my 6am session; even despite the fact that my pull buoy was going to get one hell of a workout this morning *groan*

The number of lanes had been reduced for the swimming public again as the water polo squads were also there, along with the regular swim squads. This meant it was peak hour traffic in all other lanes but I think we all behaved ourselves remarkably well. A little courtesy truly does go a long way For the first couple of hundred metres I did have problems breathing – the hangover from my sinus infection last week. Even though I don’t breathe through my nose while swimming I think it’s the pressure that makes it uncomfortable. After my warm up laps it was then time to reacquaint myself with the much beloved pull buoy, not….for the next kilometre. And not only that but to increase the intensity every second lap. Coach, you can be such a meanie sometimes Following this set there was 500m of swimming pull buoy-less which I really appreciated, before returning to using it to swim hard for 200m. I have to point out that ‘hard’ is all a matter of perspective – it may not have looked hard to those in the “fast” lane, who in my books are turbocharged swimmers. But believe me, by this stage (I had swum 1.7km prior to this set) anything felt hard! 2km later I was done and out of that pool, feeling very satisfied with my start to the week, and feeling pumped that I had actually swum 2km – that’s my longest session to date.

My director brought in a chocolate masterpiece she had made on the weekend for Father’s Day – the Raw Chocolate Ganache tart. Can I say it was all manner of evil deliciousness – a base of blended pecans and dates, topped with a blended mixture of coconut oil, avocados, cacao powder and agave. For a start, if you didn’t know what was in it, you would never pick avocado as one of the main ingredients. It was of an ultra-smooth, rich, dense chocolate mousse texture, similar to that of chocolate truffles. Like I said, pure, unadulterated, evil deliciousness. This was not something you say no to, besides anyway only a small slice was needed. I’m so getting the recipe!

After work I headed to the gym for my 5km intervals session on the treadmill. Its been a couple of weeks since I’ve done this workout and boy, does it show. That session was hard! I really can’t recall it being so hard in the past.

And I’ve just seen my new training program for the next 4-week block and I’m scared. Hooley dooley I have my work cut out for me! I’ll just put it out there now that I’m hanging out for my next recovery week, which will come after 3 gruelling weeks of training. See you on the other side

“What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger”― Friedrich Nietzsche

Fathers Day

A sleep in, breakfast at Rocksalt with one of our sons, a telephone chat with another of our sons who lives in Melbourne, a stroll around Hall markets, enjoying the spoils of Mr N’s Darrell Lea Dad’s bag this afternoon (peanut brittle…mmm) – a typical Fathers Day in this household. Not sure where that large framed photo of Collingwood, 2010 Premiers (present from the boys), is going to go – I’m a little worried about that

I also went for a 12 km run before lunch which I did in around 67 minutes. It was a beautiful day for running – the sun was warm and there was only a slight breeze. If only the mornings were a little warmer!

Tomorrow: the plan is to swim in the morning and then follow up with an intervals session on the treadmill after work.

“There are clubs you can’t belong to, neighbourhoods you can’t live in, schools you can’t get into to, but the roads are always open.” – Nike