6 miles!

I am very happy to have run 6 miles today without any foot pain! It was a slow run, but very encouraging. It was great to be able to run outdoors again, albeit breathing in the car fumes. I'm hoping to increase the distance on the weekend, although I know it's probably a bit too soon. There are 12 weeks to the Copenhagen marathon so my training schedule has gone out the window. I will now just see how I feel when I'm running and try and gauge how far I should run. Keeping my fingers crossed that i'm actually able to run the marathon!

6 weeks on... first 20 minutes on treadmill!

After six weeks without running, I am pleased to say I ran for 20 minutes on the treadmill today! No painful after effects so I can deem it a success. For the last few weeks I have been swimming, pool running, cycling and yoga-ing - everything I can possibly do without putting pressure on my foot. It seems to have done the trick and I am now pain free. I've also stretched using the many different methods suggested (including rolling a ball and a frozen bottle under my foot). This website has been a help:

http://plantar-fasciitis-elrofeet.com/plantar_fasciitis_exercises.html#.TzRErdnNyw4.facebook

I'm unsure whether I can run the marathon in May, but at least I can re-start the training now and see how I feel...

On the plus side, I have become a better swimmer! I've also quite enjoyed the pool running using the device shown below. Quite unusual, but you strap it around you and run the length of the pool. It's probably quite annoying to be in the same lane as me whilst I'm doing this exercise! (It's a very slow exercise)

Valentine's Day Meal

Yesterday I cooked a three course meal for my husband and I using the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall book and a great recipe I found on the Good Food Guide website. I was really pleased with the results and the whole cooking process took me under two hours. My husband spent an hour washing up though ;-)

For starters we had the Cambodian Wedding Day Dip. It tasted amazing (better than it looks). It was really creamy with a hint of crunch from the peanut butter. I also made a salad of green beans and roasted tomatoes in a tahini dressing (inspired by H F-W)

For the main meal I made the courgette and rice filo pie, which we had with the remainder salad. I loved this dish as the rice cooks in the courgette juices inside the pie.

Dessert was made using a recipe from the Good Food Guide:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3431/chocolate-brownie-cake

This was made even more calorific with Hagen Daaz chocolate cookie ice cream :-)

Such a lovely evening. And enough food left over to have the exact same meal today. Happy Days!

Hugh F-W - my new crush!

Whilst I haven't abandoned my quest to cook all of Delia's recipes in her Vegetarian book, I have ignored it of late in favour of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Veg book. I followed the TV series and am now addicted to the recipes. I have found them straight forward, very tasty and, most importantly, different from other recipe books. Instead of replacing meat with tofu, or relying heavily on eggs and cheese, he simply celebrates the veg!

Here are a selection of dishes I have made using his cook book:

Stuffed Squash with Leeks

Kale and Mushroom lasagne

Swede speltotto

Spinach, penne and cheese spouffle

And here are some of the dishes my husband has made:

Squash and walnut toastie

Tahini dressed courgette and green bean salad

Kale speltotto with goat's cheese

My husband loves Hugh too.

My Veggie Moussaka

  

I made this delicious vegetarian moussaka the other night and was really pleased with it - especially as I didn't follow a recipe! It comfortably served me and my husband, but we did have enormous portions!

 

Ingredients:

 

Two handfuls of Green lentils (approx)

One large augergine sliced length ways

Red pepper cut into 4 pieces lengthways

Yellow pepper cut into 4 pieces lengthways

Large onion sliced lengthways into thick slices

Fresh thyme

Tin of tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic with skin left on

Chilli infused olive oil

Big knob of butter

Small handful of flour

Milk

Cheddar and/or goats cheese, grated

 

Method:

(pre-heat oven to 180c)

1) Roast the aubergine, peppers, onion and garlic in the chilli oil (you may need more than one roasting tin)

2) Simmer the lentils until cooked

3) When the veg is nearly roasted start making the bechemel sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan and slowly add the flour to make a roux, then add the milk slowly to create a creamy sauce. I can't say how much milk to add as it always differs and depends on how thick you want the sauce. You need to make enough to go on top of the moussaka

4) Chop up the tomatoes and mix in the thyme (add salt and pepper as you like)

5) Take the veg out of the oven and squeeze out the roasted garlic and rub it all over the slices of aubergine (this gets a bit messy!)

6) When everything is cooked, layer the veg in a casserole dish as follows: Half the aubergine, all the peppers, half the tomatoes, all the lentils, all the onion, other half of the tomatoes, other half of the aubergines (you can mess around with the order, as long as there are aubergines on the top)

7) Pour the bechemel sauce on top and then scatter over the cheese, finally add some ground pepper on top.

8) Bake in the over for half an hour - 45 mins

 

Serve with a green salad. I think if I was making this again I would use two aubergines.

Two weeks on...

...and I still can't walk properly! I've been for two swims and a bike ride in the last few days, but nothing compares to running. I can feel the marathon slipping through my fingers as the days go by. I have an appointment with the physiotherapist tomorrow and I'm hoping that he can sort out my foot - although I think I'm being far too optimistic that he can solve the problem in one session! Ah well, I think Copenhagen is a lovely city to go to anyway... If I don't get to do the race it will be a good city break, however, I'll make sure I'm not in the city when the race is taking part - might just be too much for me!!

Seems to be getting worse!

This is what all runners dread: Injury! Especially after deciding to do their first marathon! I think I either have tendonitis in the arch of my foot or plantar fasciitis. Either way it hurts. It is no better (and, in fact, feels worse) after three days of rest. I'e been icing my foot every day for around 20 minutes and keeping it elevated where possible. I tried yoga the other day, but found it difficult as I could only balance on my good foot meaning that for some of the class I had to sit on my mat waiting patiently until the next move.

I will be attempting swimming in the next few days (not my favourite sport!) to see how that goes. I'm quite intrigued by running in the pool. There are floats available that allow you to do this - hopefully that will keep up my aerobic activity whilst my foot gets better.

Over 4 months until the Copenhagan marathon. If I can start training again in Feb I'm hoping that I can at least do the marathon, although may have to walk some of it.

Ah well, I'll just have to focus more on cooking :-)

sign up for marathon then get an injury!

Haven't blogged for a while, so thought I would dip back into it!

I have finally decided to run a Marathon. After approximately 8 years of running I thought it was time to face the challenge and so I've chosen to run the Copenhagan marathon on May 20th this year. Two days after booking the flights I had the familiar pain of plantar fasciitis in my left foot. Great timing huh!

It's been two days since I last ran and the pain is still there (I think I may be slightly impatient!). However, I'm determined to rest up and get back running within the next two weeks... It's more difficult resting than running.

Wish me luck!

Roasted butternut squash, rosemary and pumpkin seed scones

I found a fantastic recipe from the book 'Cornucopia', a vegetarian cookbook from a Dublin restaurant of the same name. They were easy to cook, but you had to factor in 25 minutes to roast the butternut squash beforehand. It was well worth it.

 

Ingredients:

400-500g of butternut squash cut into 1/2cm cubes

Extra virgin olive oil

5 sprigs of rosemary

50g of pumpkin seeds

450g plain white flour

230g wholemeal brown flour

1 1/2tsp baking powder

1 1/2tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

225g butter/margarine

150ml milk

 

Method:

 

Heat the oven to 180c.

 

Roast the butternut squash with the rosemary (cut into very fine pieces) and extra virgin olive oil

 

Whilst this is roasting, sieve both the flours, baking powder and salt together and mix in the butter. When the butternut squash is roasted, leave it to cool and then add to the misture along with half the pumpkin seeds. Make a well in the middle and add the milk. Mix together to form a dough - trying not to break up all the butternut squash. If it's too dry add some milk; too wet add some more flour.

 

Roll out to 4cm thick and cut out about 12 circles using the top of a glass tumbler. Place on a greased tray and brush each scone with some milk. Divide the remaining pumpkin seeds onto the scones and bake in the centre of oven for 25-30 minutes. Try not to open the oven door for the first 20 minutes as they may not rise.

 

I froze half the batch so I have ready made pack lunch for the rest of the week.

A new discovery: Spaghetti Squash

I purchased my first spaghetti squash the other day from our local greengrocer's. It was the first time I'd seen one for sale so I thought I would give it a try. I was amazed that the strands inside the squash actually did resemble spaghetti (well, more accurately, noodles), but are ten times less calorific, according to one website I stumbled upon.

After googling some recipes, I decided to simply cut the squash in half and roast it in the oven in a casserole dish with some extra virgin olive oil, garlic and herbs. I filled the dish with hot water to accelerate the cooking and roasted some vegetables at the same time. Unfortunately, the squash took ages to cook and I had to take it out of the oven prematurely (we were going to the cinema). It was in for 45 minutes, but I think it needed an hour. I zapped it in the microwave for 5 minutes, but I think it would have been better to leave it in the oven.

Once ready, I scraped out the noodle-like strands and mixed them with the roasted vegetables, some more extra virgin olive oil and some grated cheddar cheese.

A great alternative to pasta!

Weird strands of squash!

One of Delia's

 For the last year I have been cooking my way through 'Delia's Vegetarian Collection' after being inspired by the film 'Julie and Julia' (a true story about a woman called Julie cooking all the recipes in Julia Child's book).

I attempted to cook the recipes in sequence, but ended up chosing recipes at random. I've cooked nearly

all the pasta dishes, but have hardly touched the dessert and baking section. I fear the amount of calories in some of the latter recipes!

This is the watercress soup I made the other day (tasted more like leek and potato). I added some home made croutons/dippers - the ones in the soup went a bit soggy, so I'm glad I left some on the side too.

Here's the recipe:

250g chopped watercress

110g butter

400g chopped leeks

700g peeled and chopped potatoes

3 pints of veg stock

4 heaped tablespoons of creme fraiche

salt and pepper

(it serves 4 people)

Method:

Melt butter in a saucepan and add the chopped leeks, potatoes and watercress. Stir to coat in butter

Add some salt, then cover with lid and let the vegetables sweat for about 20 mins, giving a good stir halfway through.

After that, add the stock and bring to simmering point, leave to simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes.

Delia then recommends blending the soup in batches, but I just used a hand blender straight into the pan (but off the heat).

Stir in 3 tablespoons of creme fraiche and serve up with a swirl of the remainder creme fraiche. 

Result:

Delia's watercress soup

Winter Warmer

The cold weather has arrived, which is a perfect time for soup!

I love making soup as it's the best way to use up any veg in the house and it's super healthy. For this Winter Warmer I fried off some onions then added chopped sweet potatoes, runner beans, a chopped courgette, two grated parsnips, chick peas, pearl barley and about a litre of veg stock. The secret ingredient that makes the soup spectacular is roasted tomatoes. We tend to make huge batches of roasted tomatoes, blend them up and then freeze them so they are ready for pasta sauces, soups etc.

Grated cheese and some bread on the side completed the dish :-)

The first of many Winter Warmers

1 hour 50 mins 37 seconds

I feel like I should be pleased with my time, but in reality I'm disappointed. Over two minutes slower than my PB (1 hr 48 mins 5 seconds). So what went wrong? My pace was good until about the 9 mile mark where I was faced with a steep incline. I think my mind lost it at this point and fatigue in my calves set in. I ran the first 6 miles in 49 minutes so I was on course to get about an 1 hr 47 min time, my pace was good, but in the end  I overheated and started to slow down. If I had gotten just under the 1 hour 50 mark I would feel a lot more celebratory!

However, I did just run 13.1 miles early on a sunday morning when many people are still in bed, so I need to give myself some credit! And the meal and drinks with friends afterwards was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Now I have to think of the next challenge. Some more half marathons for sure...but maybe it's time for the Big Marathon!

Half marathon tomorrow...

Hmm, not feeling my best. My legs are feeling ok, but I'm definitely coming down with a cold and have sneezed all day. Grr, if it's not one thing it's another!

Anyway, I'm going ahead and running. Kit is all ready, ipod is recharging and I'm getting ready for bed.

This time tomorrow it will all be over. Thankfully!

Alternative training

So, I still have shin splints. It's been a week since I last ran, and I have a week until the half marathon. I keep on kidding myself that there's no pain in my shins, only to be reminded when I try to put pressure on them. I think (well, hope) things are getting better and that I will actually be able to run the race. So far I've tried cross training, rowing, swimming and yoga so that I don't lose any fitness. Only swimming is completely pain free. Annoyingly, it's my least favourite sport - I get really cold in the pool and am not the best swimmer.

My plan next week is to swim at least twice and may be test out a little run on Thursday.

Keeping my fingers firmly crossed.

Shin Splints

Disaster has happened. Two weeks before the half marathon both shins are hurting - that old familiar pain of shin splints. I've been to yoga and one circuits class this week, but I have now resigned myself to resting. I'm hoping that two weeks off running won't impact on my race too much, but more worryingly I'm wondering whether I'll be able to run the race at all. Last year I was forced to take a few weeks out because of shin splints - I ended up running my race (this time the Bristol Half marathon) but the lack of training meant I was 10 minutes slower than the previous year.

So, it's rest, ice and compress for the timebeing. Maybe some swimming and yoga would be beneficial too.

This forum is pretty helpful:

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?UTN=2406

post-run muesli bars (more like granola...)

To celebrate a really good fartlek running session I decided to make muesli bars. I did this last week too, but my attempt wasn't very successful and I ended up with a container full of granola. I realised my mistake - not enough butter (trying to be too healthy) - so this time around I thought I would follow a recipe and use as much butter an needed. However, I am now left with a sticky pile of granola! I have no idea what went wrong. I followed the recipe (well, mostly - I substituted some oats for bran and prunes for apricots, but the quantities were right) and when I brought the tray out of the oven they looked good...

Golden muesli bars - looked good in the tray, not so good out of it

However, on attempting to lift them out of the tray they pretty much all collapsed into a heap. So, now I have incredibly buttery and sweet granola for breakfast.

There's no point adding a link to this recipe - I wouldn't bother using it again. In fact, I think I'll give up on my muesli bar/flap jack quest.

At least I had a very good run today! Less than three weeks to the half marathon. Feeling good, but still need to do the distance.

Aduki bean burgers with parsnip chips and sweet potato humous

I wanted a super healthy post-run meal that wouldn't take too long to cook, but would still be a bit special with lots of different tastes. I thought that if I put most of the veg in the oven and cooked the beans on the hob I could leave them whilst I ran for 45 minutes and it would all be done by the time I got back (well, I had my husband to prod them every ten minutes or so). It didn't really work out like that as it took about 50 minutes to assemble everything when I got back from the run (with 10 minutes inbetween to have a shower). So, this was a great meal, but potentially not one to do mid-week if you want a run too!






So here's how it goes:

Aduki bean burger

200g aduki beans soaked overnight and then simmered in water for 45 mins
1 onion
2 bulbs of garlic
Handful of almonds
Handful of fresh herbs - your choice
Handful of breadcrumbs
lemon juice
A few cherry tomatoes
Mozzarella cheese (optional - could be made vegan)
Breadcrumbs (to coat)
olive oil to fry

1. Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil
2. Place the onion and garlic mixture with the above ingredients - except for the cheese and breadcrumbs to coat - into a food processor and whizz until the mixture is slightly chunky (you don't want it too smooth)
3. Divide into how ever many burgers you require - I made three big ones, but I think this mixture could make 4 average-sized ones or maybe a few even smaller ones
4. Divide each burger ball into two and make two burger shaped patties (i.e if you are making 3 burgers you will have 6 patties altogether). Then on one of the patties place a spoonful of mozarella cheese and then cover with another pattie, squash slightly and make sure the edges are sealed. Do this for each burger and then roll in breadcrumbs and lightly fry in olive oil.
Make sure they don't stick to the pan (inevitably, a lit bit always does)

Parsnip chips

1. Par-boil some parsnips (however many you want)
2. Lightly shake in a colunder and coat with olive oil, honey and wholegrain mustard
3. Roast in oven for 45 minutes

Sweet potato humous


I can't claim this recipe as my own as I found it on this blog:

http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/2010/10/sweet-potato-hummus.html

Amazing humous - it involves roasting sweet potato in the oven for 45 mins beforehand...


I also roasted some figs and then mixed them with sundried tomatoes and feta cheese. This didn't really go with the meal so I would leave that out in future!

A hunk of wholemeal bread was a lovely finishing touch.

Green tomato chutney

Another year of kilos of green tomatoes! This time around though they have not gone to waste. I found a great recipe on the BBC Good Food website (I love this website as you can list the ingredients you have and the perfect recipes pop up!)

This is the recipe:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2865/green-tomato-chutney

I have to admit that it was my husband who cooked all the chutney - it's so tasty with cheese on toast and not too calorific either.

Why won't they turn red?!

Mmmm, lots of tasty chutney

10 milers

I've just completed my third 10 mile run and am feeling pretty good! It's difficult coming home from work knowing you have one hour and a half of running before you can sit down to eat and relax, but it is very rewarding (well the glass of wine was a reward!)

I'm really starting to think seriously about doing a marathon next year, but it's going to take a hell of a lot of training and will power to do. And then there's the risk of injuries... Runner's World has a great First Marathon training guide available from their website. Seeing all the training written down somehow makes it more doable.

The half marathon is in one month time, so I may see how I feel a week after that... quite tempted by the marathon in Copenhagan on 20 May - quite some time away so plenty of time to train. Something to think about anyway...