Happy Halloween

We went to a Halloween party on Saturday night. Lots of fun in fancy dress, Michael-clease and I went as Batman and Robin! We were asked to take a carved pumpkin (prizes for the best).

After a couple of grueling hours heres the result, mines on the right:

Sadly I didn't win the prize but I was left with lots of pumpkin flesh. I decided to make myself a pumpkin smoothie ready for a post run snack. I took my inspiration from the wonderful Tri Marni http://tinyurl.com/6dmewcs

Unfortuntely I had no whey powder, ice, celery, cashews, flaxseed oil or chocolate. Instead I added a few sunflower seeds and a teaspoon of honey. I cooked the pumpkin in the microwave for about 5mins and then blended it all together.

I reckon its either an acquired taste or better the way Marni suggests but it wasn't that tasty! I'm sure it was quite good for me but I struggled to finish the whole thing.

Luckily Marni has posted another smoothie receipe with pumpkin puree http://tinyurl.com/6jgbas5 This one has apple and peanut butter in as well so I think that'll be a bit tastier!

Phew Lew

Recently I've been feeling pretty old, I think it might be because I turn 30 next year! I keep thinking of all the thinks I am too old to do. I am too old to become a doctor, I am too old to wear tops that show my stomach (although I don't have a flat enough stomach anyway), i'm too old to become a professional sports woman and I'm too old to go to raves (without looking like one of thoughts crazy people).

But then the other day I heard something about the oldest guy to complete this years Kona (apparently another guy just a few months older has completed it in the past). He's called Lew Hollander and is 81! How crazy is that. He didn't do it in any recorded breaking time but the fact his he had to be pretty fast even to qualify. I really hope I am that fit when I am his age, of course being retired must help. You wouldn't have to compete with hundreds of other people running by the beach before work and you could run at the warmest part of the day in winter. Hmm maybe I have just convinced myself I want to be older rather than younger! Heres an article about him written before his latest Kona http://ironman.com/columns/ironmanlife/matthew-dale-profiles-the-amazing-80-year-old-ironman-finisher#axzz1bvqrUmuC

Anyway inspired by Lew I have signed myself up to a nutrition course at the local community college, I can still work towards a career in health even it's not a doctor. I'm pretty excited about it. It's  a distance course so I can fit it in with work and it has a section on sports nutrition which should come in handy. I am conscious about what I eat and often look at the little table on the back of products but i'm excited to really be able to take the information and make informed decisions. Hopefully I'll be able to give my readers some handy tips too.

I actually got up for a run this morning. I would like to thank michael clease for encouraging me. He put his running clothes next to the bed and set his alarm for 6am. I very nearly tried to convince him to stay in bed but then something click and I sprung out of bed!   It was only a 20min one but I felt so much better for it and treated myself with a slice of toast after my bircher. Now let's keep our fingers crossed that I can get up for a bike ride tomorrow.

Chubby Katie.x

Sprint Baby

Ok ok i've had a great idea, well I was inspired by Brett on the Zen Tri podcast. I was out running and listen to his podcast, as I often do, and he was talking about his Iron baby. Its a self supported Iron man that he has done about 6 times for charity.
It made me think, maybe I should do a self supported sprint triathlon. I would do it instead of the Kurnell triathlon and then go and watch the Kurnell one and see how I would compare.

So a Sprint tri is a 750m swim, 20km bike and a 5km run. I will aim to do it on 19th Nov on the day before Kurnell, early in the morning to avoid too much traffic and heat.

I still need to plan the route but I think ideally i'd like to do it in the ocean rather a swimming pool. Maybe an ocean pool would be okay. Only probably is that I would need to lock my bike up and leave my bike shoes somewhere.

I might try and rope my dad into doing one in England at the same time. Let me know if you've done anything similar or are keen to give it a try.

Chubby Katie

Chubby chubby Katie

I'm back! Hi everybody. I had a really lovely and relaxing time but I am keen to put some of the things i've been thinking about into practice.

The main one being my diet. In Fiji I made sure I had veggies with every meal but it was often accompanied with chips and usually followed by ice cream!
Now I want to really start planning my meals, making sure I eat plenty of fresh ingredients and try harder with my vegetarianism which has been a little slack recently.

The most exciting thing that I have discovered since being back is that bananas are back down to a decent price!!! I can't wait to start having them with my muesli again.

I was reading tri marni's (Kona triathlon recent finisher!) blog today and she talked about a pre meal snack. Initially I thought this sounded a bit piggy and only for the super elite until I started thinking about what to have for lunch. I decided on a salmon and salad wrap with a little tomato salsa and then I realised that it would take a while to make the salsa.
I knew if I was going to be making my wrap when I was super hungry I was going to be more tempted to put unhealthy things in. Things like dressings full of sugar and sticking some crisps on the side.
Instead I made myself a super quick smoothing with milk, banana, coffee and cinnamon. Stuff that would help to fuel my run later today. I sipped it while knocking up my salsa feeling very happy with myself!

Since being away my big toe nail is looking looser than ever. Its the one that hasn't been the same since my marathon. I think its only a matter of time before it comes off, i'm just hoping that the new one is growing nicely underneath. I don't think I would like to see my bald toe!

Chubby Katie

Sun, sea and Pina Coladas

Tomorrow I am off on holiday! 6 fantastic nights in sunny (I hope) Fiji. I really cannot wait and it seems like so long since i've had a proper holiday.
To commemorate I thought I would write a little tip list to remind myself as much as anyone else how to enjoy yourself without wasting all the good work you've been doing leading up.

1. Get some exercise. As you are on holiday why not try something different. Depending on where you are you could sign up for roller blade lessons, play some tennis, go water skiing. Going away doesn't mean you have to lie by the swimming pool the whole day.
2. Explore on your feet. Get to know the local area by going for a run. Check first about best routes, especially safety wise and avoid going after dark.
3. Take it easy on the alcohol. I'm a big fan of a beer with lunch while i'm on holiday but don't go too crazy, remember alcohol has lots of calories.
4. Take advantage of the healthy foods. Many holiday destination, especially tropical countries, have lots of cheap fresh fruit. Try new types, drink juices, salads. Things like water melon always taste lovely and refreshing in the hot weather.
5. Be prepared right packing lists and make sure you remember the important things. Stree is no good for your health.
   
   Well that's all I can think of. I'm at Sydney airport and just about to check in so I will see you in a week.
   Chubby katie.x
   
6. Drink lots of water, it will help keep you hydrated in the hot weather, is better to sip by the pool than alcohol and keep you looking fresh and healthy for your return.


7. Get some rest. If you train hard and work hard take this time to chill out and catch up on sleep

I heart rates

I've been getting to grips with my heart rate monitor. I like just wearing it round the house, finding out what my resting heart rate is and seeing how it changes when I move around, jump up and down etc.
But I think I need to start using it as a tool to improve my running and hopefully make me a little faster! 
 
My resting heart rate is around 65bpm I think that's pretty good isn't it? 
An easy way to work out your maximum is to minus your age from 220. The is seen as a slightly crude measurement. In fact I went for a run today at got my hr up to 190, using the calculation my max should be 191 and I definitely felt I could go faster. The book I'm reading (the complete book of running for women) suggests you run as fast as you can round a 800m track, walk for 1 min and then do it again. As soon as you stop measure your hr, this should be your max. 
I'm pretty excited to give that a try. 
You can start using hr to control different types of runs. For example an easy run should be 60-70% of your max hr and fast intervals should be at 90-95%.

I tried out my hrm on the beach today. Most of the time it was up around 135-145 but then I did a fast run (which was tough in the sand!) and got my heart rate up to about 195. So I think I will set that as my max.
Next time I am going to give myself a goal heart rate to try and stick to.

Chubby katie  

Inspirational stuff

I have had an exciting day tracking the competitors in the Ironman world champions in Kona, Hawaii.
I am so pleased to say that Chrissie Wellington won (yet again) especially as she had a bike crash a week ago and seemed to be in some pain still. She was still in about 5th place by the end of the bike course but then managed to pass all the others to win the race!

Craig Alexander from Cronulla (although the Ironman website kept saying he was American!) won the men's which is pretty exciting too. Apparently his run wasn't the fastest and it was his bike ride that won it for him.

All this activity inspired me and so Michael Clease and I went on a run along the beach. The beach in Cronulla is pretty long and by sunset its quite quiet.
I struggled a bit, the sand was less firm than usual. It was tough on my calfs and I was quite slow. It was a beautiful sky as we were finishing though, hopefully that means a nice day tomorrow :)

I still haven't entered the Kurnell Triathlon, i'm scared that i'm not fast enough, that my bikes not good enough and that I come will come last by a big margin. Can't decide whether to just go for it or go and watch the first one and then enter the second?!

Off to bed, good night all.
Chubby Katie.x