Thanks for all your comments on my new blog design! Seems that everyone is liking it which is great. I definitely feel its more ‘me’.

This morning I went out for a very tough run. Before I left I ate a chocolate chip Clif Bar.

I had bought this from Whole Foods on my trip to London and it tasted gorgeous!

After the first couple of miles I started to have problems with my right leg, it felt really achy and tight. After my knee injury a few months ago I didn’t want to push it and end up injured again. I considered turning back a few times but I kept going at a pretty slow pace. It was really windy as well which didn’t help! Here’s my splits:

I did 10.2 miles in 1.43. I stopped at mile 6 to eat 4 dates and stretch my leg. I also drank half a bottle of orange Powerade diluted with water in my bottle while I was out. You can see I really just wanted to get home – I ran a pretty fast last full mile!

I refueled with a chocolate and banana smoothie (1 frozen banana, 1 scoop of chocolate whey, oat milk) to which I also added this sachet of this Green Lightening Wholefood powder (kindly sent to me by Sarah a few months ago). I topped it with some raw cacao nibs, goji berries and flaked almonds.

I was still hungry after I’d ate this so I decided to have a small bowl of muesli (Dorsets Cereals Roasted and Toasted mixed with jumbo oats and oat milk) alongside my morning cup of green tea.

After chilling out for a while I started on my day of cooking and baking. First up are some amazing muffins! Thanks to Jo for the recipe for these – see here for the original recipe which I’ve adapted slightly. I’ve also added in the cup conversions from grams as I know I tend to post recipes with cups as this is what I personally find easier:

Banana and Walnut Muffins (makes approximately 15 regular sized muffins)

• 220g / 1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
• 150g / 2/3rds of a cup brown sugar
• teaspoon of baking powder
• teaspoon of baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 120mls / 1/2 cup of veg oil
• 120mls/ 1/2 cup of full fat Greek yoghurt
• teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3 mashed bananas (I used 2 large extra ripe ones)
• 100g / half a cup of walnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180c. Combine all the dry ingredients apart from the walnuts in a bowl and then all the wet ingredients apart from the mashed bananas. Mix the wet into the dry and then fold in the mashed bananas followed by the walnuts (reserving some to top each muffin). Spoon the mixture into muffin cases, filling each case 2 / 3rds full. Top each muffin with some of the chopped walnut. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown.

These turned out beautifully! You could possibly reduce the amount of oil as I think the full fat yoghurt adds enough fat. You could also add some chopped dates in addition to, or to replace some of the sugar. I ended up with 12 regular sized muffins and 5 smaller ones. I had a muffin with a cup of tea mid morning and it was just delicious! My parents, friends and their kiddies have all tried them today and loved them, the kids were begging for more! Excellent recipe for a healthier muffin without sacrificing any of the taste.

For lunch I had a bowl of freshly made Courgette and Watercress soup.

My two best friends and their kiddies came round for a few hours, it was great to catch up with them. We drank tea and they ate muffins while the kids played. I was exhausted after a few hours with them, I don’t know how people with young children do it!

For dinner I made recipe no 2!

Baked Falafel Bites with Tzatziki Sauce

For the Falafel (makes 8 mini bites)

• 1 tin of cooked chickpeas
• 1 small red onion
• Half a handful of spinach
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• Half a teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Pre heat oven to 180c. In a food processor mix all ingredients until well combined. Don’t over process – you still want the mixture to have some texture. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Divide the mixture into 8 small balls and press down to form a mini burger type shape. The mixture may seem a little wet, but don’t worry they turn out perfectly! Bake for approximately 25 – 30 minutes turning half way through using a fish slice (as at this point they will still seem a little ‘wet’).

Serve with the following tzatziki sauce:

Tzatziki Sauce – makes one large serving

• 2 tablespoons of full fat greek yoghurt
• 4 inch long chunk of cucumber with seeds removed and finely chopped
• 1 crushed clove of garlic
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 tablespoon of chopped fresh mint

Combine all ingredients in a little bowl and serve.

I served my baked falafel bites with a big plate of spinach, cos lettuce and red cabbage, the tzatziki sauce and a big tablespoon of caramelised onion hummus.

This tasted out of this world. I’m no falafel expert, but I know they are usually fried. These little baked bites cooked perfectly, are healthier than the fried version, and went so well with the tzatziki and the hummus. You could also serve these in a warm pitta or wrap.

For desert I made myself an epic fruit plate! I have lots of fresh fruit at the moment and something in my body was just craving this. My plate included cantaloupe melon, strawberries, a chopped fig, blackberries, blueberries and a sliced nectarine topped with a sprinkle of chopped mint.

My five a day on a single plate!

August Review and September Training Plan

This month I have been focusing on my running as the Great North Run is only a few weeks away!

Here’s what I have achieved this month:

• Increased my longest distance ran from 9.5 miles to 13.5 miles
• Lost 1 pound
• Surprisingly – lost an inch off my hips and waist and 1/2 an inch off my bust!
• Not missed a planned workout and started my speed work running

I love doing my monthly review as sometimes I forget what I have achieved. After all that worrying that I’m eating too much and gaining weight I’ve actually lost weight and inches!

This month its all about the Great North Run on 19th September (three weeks today!) So I’ll be focusing my training on this. The next few weeks I’m going to take a very flexible approach to my training, (which is a first for me since starting this blog!) I’m going to listen to my body and aim to put in my best possible performance at my first ever half marathon. I’ll be aiming to achieve at least 2 strength based workouts which are likely to be DVD’s – I’m thinking Davina Superbody, Super Sculpt Section. At least 2 HIIT cardio sessions of 30 minutes with core and abs work. At least two runs – a longer distance run and a shorter speed work run. I’ll be tapering these runs in the two weeks before the big race. I’ll also be aiming to do yoga for runners twice a week when possible as well as daily stretching and use of my foam roller to keep my legs loose. As my leg is still rather sore I think I’ll be giving the HIITs a miss tomorrow and just doing an hour of relaxed cardio to loosen it up a bit.

Here’s my starting stats for September:

• Weight: 10st
• Bust: 37 inches
• Waist: 28 1/2 inches
• Hips: 35 inches

Can’t believe that in 3 weeks time I’ll be sitting here blogging about the Great North Run!

What have you achieved in August?

I’m very happy that we have a bank holiday in the UK tomorrow. I love being able to relax on a Sunday evening without the thought of work the next day.  Tomorrow I’ll be gyming it and fingers crossed I’ll actually be going to my first barbeque of the summer if the weather holds out. Does anyone have any big plans for the last bank holiday of the year?

Hi folks, have you had a good weekend? I have to say that mine has been pretty awesome!
Today was all about my big long run. I got up fairly early so I could eat a good breakie and let it digest a bit before setting off. I decided to try filling a toasted wholemeal pitta with almond butter, apple slices, raisins and cinnamon.



Such a tasty breakfast, plus this gave me a good mix of carbs and protein to fuel me up for my run.

As the Great North Run organisers give out Powderade on the big day, they advise you to try this out to check that it works for you. I picked up a couple of bottles during my shop yesterday, so today I diluted half a bottle of this cherry flavour with some water to take out on my run with me.



Powerade is a still isotonic sports drink which contains electrolytes and glucose to keep you hydrated and give you energy. The ingredients list isn’t very good as its full of artificial sweeteners and other crap. A half bottle serving is 50 calories. I thought this worked quite well, I felt energised and hydrated and the cherry flavour made a nice change to plain water, however I wouldn’t use this if it wasn’t being used in the Great North Run as its just too full of artificial nasties for me.

Anyway, I did my run which was from my home in Durham to my parents just south of the Angel of the North. I covered 9.54 miles in 1.34. I felt really good through the whole run, towards the end I just felt like I was flying! I also had zero knee pain, which after my injury is just amazing. After seeing my times I wished I had pushed myself a little more to improve them:


Still not bad, but way off what I was achieving before my knee injury. For a recovery snack I ate one of my new 9 Bars – the Flax variety.



This tasted wonderful as always, very similar to the regular 9 Bars but with a slightly finer texture as some of the seeds are smaller. I even gave my Mam a taste and she loved it! I also had a small glass of milk. When my Mam brought me home I immediately hit the fridge and got myself this little carton of Vita Coco as I could feel that I was still a bit dehydrated.



Lunch was the last of my RAW crackers :-( with some gorgeous spicy lentil dip and lots of carrot and cucumber.



A little later I decided to make myself a protein smoothie. Now I am going to get excited! This is the best smoothie I have ever made. There are no words to describe good this is!

Laura’s Tutti Fruity Nutty Protein Smoothie in a Bowl

• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup of frozen mango
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
• 1 large heaped tablespoon of chunky peanut butter
• Just enough milk to get it to blend. I used hazelnut and almond rice milk
• Toppings – maple syrup, grape nuts, cinnamon

Blend all main ingredients together – watch how much milk you use if you want it thick and creamy like ice cream. Spoon into a big bowl and throw on your toppings.

 

Unfortunately these pics don't do it justice. This should have been served in a giant glass sundae bowl with sparklers stuck in it accompanied by a 3 piece band playing a fanfare, its really that good.

This afternoon I sat on the sofa with my laptop drinking Tea Pigs Rooibos Creme Caramel Tea (made in a tea pot of course!) while watching Amelie. Love that movie so much, makes me desperately want to go back to Paris (and eat pastries of course!)

Dinner was a steamed Trout fillet served with Hugh Fearnley – Whittingstalls Leek and Cabbage but made with garlic olive oil rather than butter plus some steamed broccoli.



Desert was chopped peach, nectarine, raspberries and fromage frais topped with a teaspoon of wheat germ.



July Review and August Training Plan

Well July has been a bit of a funny month! I started to write this thinking that I hadn’t achieved much, but I’ve just looked back at some old posts and it seems I have -

• Lost 2 lbs! (At the beginning of the month I was carrying my Majorca holiday weight)
• Got my running programme back in order after my knee injury. At the beginning of the month I had only ran 3 miles and was in pain all day. Today I’ve ran 9.5 and have no pain!
• I’ve focused on upper body work this month and I can definitely tell a different in my muscle definition in my arms, shoulders and upper back

I last recorded my measurements at the end of June (before my holiday and weighing a few pounds less) and I’ve increased by an inch on my hips and waist! Not good :-( but at least it gives me a starting point to improve on.

Current stats:

• Weight 10st 1lb
• Hips 36 inches
• Waist 29 1/2 inches
• Bust 37 1/2 inches

August Training Plan

As the schools are off and the traffic is better I can get into work a bit quicker which makes a morning gym workout an option so I’m ditching the DVD’s for the month! As the Great North Run is only 6 weeks away and my knee is much better I’m going to increase my running too. I’ll be increasing my overall cardio in an attempt to lose a couple of those extra pounds and inches as well as getting in at least two good resistance workouts to maintain and develop muscle.

Monday – morning gym workout – 20 minutes of cardio intervals followed by a 3 x 3 resistance workout focusing on legs and using weights that get really tough on the last 4 reps:

3 x

• sit ups on stability ball x 20
• dead lift x 12
• forward  / backward lunges with medicine ball rotation x 12

3 x

• squat and press x 12
• sumo squat to the side with a frontal raise x 20
• Inner thigh toner machine x 20

3 x

• the clam x 10 each side
• leg lifts x 10 each side
• side plank - 30 seconds each side

Tuesday – evening gym workout – 45 minutes of cardio intervals followed by abs: 3 x 20 full sit ups, 20 bicycle crunches, 20 crunches, 20 side reaches, 10 v ups, 30 second plank hold and 2 x 15 half push ups and 15 tricep dips

Wednesday – evening run – 3 – 4 miles, 20 minutes Yoga for Runners session

Thursday – evening gym workout – 45 minutes of cardio intervals followed by abs: 3 x 20 full sit ups, 20 bicycle crunches, 20 crunches, 20 side reaches, 10 v ups, 30 second plank hold and 2 x 15 half push ups and 15 tricep dips

Friday – morning gym workout – 20 minutes of cardio intervals followed by a 3 x 3 resistance workout focusing on upper body:
3 x

• Stability ball side crunch x 10 each side
• upright row x 12
• row and tricep kick back x 12

3 x

• lateral raises x 12
• bicep curl with squat and press x 12
• chest fly on stability ball x 12

3 x

• Hyper extension for lower back x 20
• overhead tricep extensions x 12
• bent over reverse flye x 12

Saturday – Distance Run – building up from current 9.5 miles to 13 miles!

Sunday – Rest Day

Do you plan your training or do you just go with the flow? What have you achieved in July?