Some piccies

Its been a while since I posted any pictures and since my healthy eating and cooking is going quite well I thought it was a good time to share some images of the recipes i've been knocking up.

Healthy falafel made from pistachios and baked rather than fried. The recipe called
chickpeas but I had borlotti beans opened so I gave them a try! I'll be making them up
using some sauces and lettuce leaves instead of pita.

Mushroom and peach burger with guacamole and home made sweet potato fries.
This was super tasty! And Micheal-Clease loved the sweet potato fries. And yes
that is a party popper left over from NYE!

I got both these recipes from another new site i've found. Its www.greenkitchenstories.com  Check it out they have lots of tasty vegetarian recipes.

I'm trying hard to source all my ingredients from small independent shops and farmers markets but it takes some work. The pistachios, for example, where rosted and salted as thats all the local grocers had. I rinsed them quickly to remove excess salt and didn't add an extra.

Yesterday Michael-Clease and I went for a long cycle ride. It was quite tough as I haven't been riding for ages and body was not used to it. We also went for a surf but the waves weren't so good. I think I still worked my shoulders though as they are aching today!

Ciao

A fresh start

Happy new year!  I'm excited about this year. Despite waking with a hangover I do feel that's it's going to be a good one.

Over the last month my health and fitness has been a little neglected. Too much wine has been drunk, too many chocolates have been eaten and I am generally looking unhealthy, feeling fatter and am pretty moody. 
Now it 2012 that's all gonna change! Theres been a lot on the new recently about new years resolutions. How unsuccessful they are. I think the statistic was something like 40% of people fail before February and 95% before the end of the year. This is why I have decided to have new year mantras. Little sayings to remind me of the way I want to be living. 

The first mantra is finish what you started. I have a number of courses and little projects hanging around waiting to be finished, this year I want get them all done and if I start something new persiver until its complete. 

 The second is be more respectful. This originally was talking about the planet and my keeness to be more green but i should use it in all aspects of my life  The green bit came about when we went to visit Michael-cleases grandparents over christmas. The live in a big rural property which has no rubbish collection. They have to find other methods of deposing of it, either putting it on the compost, incinerating it or driving it to the local rubbish dump. Putting rubbish in a bin outside our house it is easy to forget how much we through out where it ends up! My aim to be greener will involve trying buy things with less packaging, using less plastic bags and shopping around rather than at the big supermarkets (this one might not really help the environment but it's still something I'm keen to try). 

My third mantra is glow from the inside. I stole this phrase from a blog I've just discovered www.ohsheglow.com. I've decided to really concentrate on my diet this January and hopefully some of it will carry on through the rest of the year. I want to not drink alcohol, not eat meat, eat as little dairy as I can and generally eat super healthily. I also plan to get back on the exercise bandwagon!

Anyway I started my morning with quite a hangover  :( some definite healthy eating was needed! On the Oh she glows website there is a link to it's sister site Green Monster Movement. The green monster is a smoothie that uses greens such as kale or spinach so I knocked myself up one of them.  I added spinach, chia seeds, banana, soy milk and some water and whizzed it all up. It doesn't sound too tasty but as the banana has such a strong taste compared to the spinach it was actually quite tasty. 
Given my hangover that's about all I've managed today but as you can see all the plans are in place for a better me. 

Chubby Katie. X

Words from a negatron

It's not been a great week. I have struggled to get up every morning. I've had a back ache for most the week and can't figure out why. Due to this I cancelled my sprint baby. I also slept really badly and missed my alarm to get me up to volunteer at the kurnell triathlon. I'm sorry to the organisers if they happen to read this.   I went for a run in my tri suit today and have decided it's too small! It gives me a bit of a wedgie which isn't going to look great in a triathlon.   I did pretty much ever thing wrong for my run today. It was about 28c. I had two coffees in the morning and no water! I wore clothes over my tri suit so I over heated. And to top it off I decided to run at noon. All in all it was a terrible run and I came home feeling terrible.  I've drunken too much and eaten badly and it has to stop.  That is all negative chubby Katie has to say. I'll be back when I am more positive. X

Oh lovely sleep

As you know well I struggle to get out of bed in the mornings, I generally consider myself a morning person and rarely sleep longer than 8:30. But I really struggle to get up at 6am. The other day I found an iPhone app that claims to wake you up when you are in the lightest stage of sleep, and hence more gently and leave you feeling
fresher and less tired. It works by monitoring your movement, I think the more you move the less deep sleep you are in. You then set a 1/2 hour window and it will choose when to wake you up. Well I set it last night. I can't say I woke up much easier but the graph it plotted was very interesting!
Although I'm not sure its wise to sleep with your phone next to your head so I don't think I'll make it a regular thing.

Sprint baby is less than a week away and I feel very unprepared. I went for a run on Saturday and it was tough. I still plan to give it go but don't fancy my chances of a good time. I'm considering swimming in a pool just so I have somewhere safer to leave my bike. So it's either 19 laps of the ocean pool or 75 of the regular pool. I will also aim to start quite early, maybe 6ish. Not only does it mean there will be less traffic on the road but also I can do other
things during the day and maybe even go back to bed after ;)


I still haven't heard back about volunteering at the Kurnell triathlon. If your reading this organisers your slack! I will still go and watch on sunday but I'm not going to chase them up, at least it will mean I don't have to get up at 4:30am!


Chubby Katie. X

Fun run

I went on a great run on Sunday! Michael-clease and I often run on Cronulla beach on Sunday afternoon. This Sunday the sand felt firmer than normal so we were able to go a little further.

Michael-clease was listening to his ipod but my headphones have broken so I had to run oh naturale, some might say that was the advantage?! 

Anyway we ran for 15min before Michael-clease checked on the time and I was forced to head back. The sun was setting and it was beautiful!

I have decided on my next marathon! Despite vowing after my first one never to do it again! I have decided on the Sydney runnning festival one on 16th September, 7 days after my 20th birthday! It will be a challenge to do it so close to my birthday but I think as long I as I train plenty before hand it should be ok. Eeeee I'm excited!!! http://www.sydneyrunningfestival.com.au/ 

Chubb chubb.

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

To do list

I'm going to try this...not everyday but occasionally when I think I could do with a boost. Doesn't necessarily have to be triathlon related, just anything that will make me more productive.

5 Things I want to achieve tomorrow:

Get up for a cycle, even if its a little one.
Drink only one coffee, have a green tea in place of a second one.
Go to yoga class
Make a salad for dinner
Get an early night

Killing time

As if I needed more things to kill time! I've recently discovered this magazine http://trailrunnermag.files.wordpress.com currently in it's first issue it contains all things train running related. I am not much of trail runner yet, having only done one so far! But I love the idea of it and totally see the appeal and can while away many an hour ready about the tracks, footwear reviews and fuel!

Birthdays

I forgot to mention that as to treat myself after the marathon I bought myself a trisuit. It was only about $60 so not the best on the Market but a good starter I reckon. Its an orca one so should be desent enough but probably a few seasons old. It's the one of the far right in the elite(scary!) section http://www.triathlonshots.com/triathlonOrcaWomen.html I won't post an pics yet as they're not the most flattering things unless your super skinny. I finally tried it out today in the little pool in our apartment block and it was good, a little strange when your used to a bikini but still comfortable. I just need the ocean temperature to warm up a few degrees!
It was my birthday on Friday! I took it off work and just relaxed. I was very lucky though and got lots of presents, they seemed to have a definite sporty theme to them. I got a running vest top, a running long sleeve top (from a brand called lululemon, i haven't heard of them before but they do some nice stuff) and a book on running for women. From my sister I got a book on cycling and a heart rate monitor, see what I mean!
I'm trying to use them as motivation, yesterday I tried out the long sleeve top. It was much easier to get out into the cold when you have something warm to put on. 
I've never worn a heart rate monitor before, it will be interesting to start monitoring my training rate. I might test it out tomorrow if I can figure out how to work it!

Ok I'm off to bed. Good night
Chubby Katie.x

Little Race Report

This will be a baby race report mainly because I am quite busy but also because there isn't much to say.
On Sunday Michael-Clease and I did the Lake Macquarie running festival 10km run. There was also a 1/2 marathon but with very little training I didn't think that was wise. 
We drove up again the night before to Newcastle and stayed with Michael-cleases lovely Grandma. Got up early has we hadn't yet registered.
Everything was pretty smooth, no problems parking, registered easily and went and bought a cheese roll and powerade while we waited for our race. The start was little crowded and there was the usual issue of people not self seeding very well. Especially the walkers who for some reason thought it was fine to start right at the front and stroll along in rows of 4. 
The only thing problem was Michael-cleases shin splints. They started causing him problems at just under half way and never really eased up. We slowed down a fair bit and took extra long walks at the drinks stations. We crossed the finish line at about 1hr 1min which was no PB but I am happy to have taken this one easy.
I think I will do a post soon on shin splints, do a little research into the causes and possible solutions, if there are any.


Chubby Katie.x

Hunter valley marathon

Race report:

Michael-Clease has family in Newcastle so on Saturday we drove up to the Hunter Valley with plans to stay in Newcastle for the night. We drove straight to the Hunter Valley Gardens. All went well, collected my pace pack, got a free t-shirt that disappointingly only mentioned the running festival. When I run a marathon I like to advertise the fact by wearing the t-shirt!

We drove back to Michael-cleases grandmas house (got lost on the way) and she very kindly put us up for the night, thank you grandma!

I had a dinner of soup and rolls which in hindsight probably wasn’t the best pre race dinner. I did have lots of noodles the night before but maybe a few more carbs would have been good.

After not a great night’s sleep Michael-clease and I rose at 5:30 to quickly eat our porridge and banana (breakfast of champions) and were out of the house by 6am.

When I was lining up I took a look around and realised there were only about 100 people doing the marathon, that scared me a bit. I was sure I would come last.


The route was two laps, quite near the beginning I started chatting to a lady, we came up to a humongous hill and she told me she always runs half way and walks the rest. I reckon that if she hadn't told me that I would have been ok but in the end I walked a little of it. Then I had to do it on the second lap and again struggled.


I'm not a big fan of gels, I struggle to get them down. Some people can't stomach then I know but with me its fine once they are down its just getting them past my taste buds. I had one gel before I started and another at 15km. I planned to take the last one at 30km but annoyingly they water station had run out of cups and I had to go to 35km before having the final one. I also ate some jelly babies which I think was more of a placebo and a distraction than anything else. 


There isn't really to much to report about the race, towards 35km I started to struggle a little and the gel didn't really seem to help - I guess it would have been worse though if I hadn't eaten it. 35k to 40km I started doing a little run walking but managed to run the last two ks.


The 6km fun run started at about 10am so by the time I came up to the finish line I had lots of, shall we say, less fit runners along side me. In one particular photo I am running next to a 10yr old girl! It was nice when one volunteer cheered "well done marathon lady"!


At the end we were herded into a pen to remove our timing chips and get our medals. Unfortunately all of seats were taken up by chubby kids who were waiting for their parents so I had to stand while Michael-clease helped remove my timing chip. Then there were no medals left :( although the organisers kindly sent mine in the mail a few days later.


Over all it was a good run, nice countryside (saw a few kangeroos!) and well organised. I don't think I would do the marathon there again due to the double loop but can imagine doing the half.


I took the next day off work and was pleased I had. Nothing to major but my legs were very stiff. 

A couple of photos of me not looking too bad, buy photos from marathon-photos.com folks!

Hi!

Hi everyone, I am back! I’m sorry it has been so long, I have been uninspired and lazy. But now I am getting back into my updating in a real attempt to get some exercise structure into my life.

What with summer coming up I need to sort my bikini body and am really keen to get into some more ocean swims and bike rides.

So I think I need some aims and goals….

1.       Get up early at least twice a week to run
2.       Join the local run club to run on Thursday mornings
3.       Improve my diet, in general I am a healthy eater but I am letting the evening beer and dessert take over a little
4.       Train for the MS Gong ride
5.       Train for Manly open water swim and the Shark island swim
6.       Train for the Kurnell triathlons
7.       Do some weight training once a week

Well that should keep me busy for a while.

“Whats been happening while you have been away” I hear you ask! Well I have completed the Sutherland to Surf and the Hunter Valley Marathon, I will write a separate race report.

Other than not too much really, the dark mornings and nights and the chilly weather have kept me snuggled up inside. I feel like a bear slowly coming out of hibernation searching for spring!

xx

The only way is up!

I have just been rock climbing. Not the scary up cliff faces, one little finger away from certain death type. The inside, under a crash mat, with tried and tested ropes kind. And it was great fun! I have been twice before so I knew what to expect but I am still always nervous that my weak little arms are not going to support my chubby little body, and while I did struggle on some of the harder routes I think my other training must definitely help, my legs seem quite strong and I reckon my stomach muscles were hard at work. Now I know it's not triathlon training but I am believer that doing a range of different activities can help with your end goal. For example I like to think that climbing might help with my swimming, although maybe that's an excuse to allow me to sign up for climbing lessons.....which is what I have just done! :)
Plus climbers have good bodies don't they?
Ciao.x   

Well this is embarressing

Well this is embarrassing! I can't believe I have been away for nearly three weeks. The only excuse I have is that I've been pretty busy. I am still quite busy the only change has been that I've recently got an iPhone so now I can post from the train and when I am travelling. 
Well what's new I hear you ask. Just over a week ago I successfully completed the Sydney half marathon! I'm pretty proud of my effort and pleased that it went without a hiccup. Let me give you a small race report. 
The race started at 6:45 we don't live that near the city any more so we had a pretty early start. I planned to get up at 5, at 5:20 I just managed to drag my reluctant body out of bed. We cancelled plans of taking public transport half the way and decided to shell out the $15 for parking. With our bowls so porridge in our laps we drove down the black highway to the city. Now I am always reluctant to use the bag drop as they usual have huge queues and often are not very well organised (although I shouldn't knock the volunteers, they do a great job). So we left our jumpers in the car and made the chilly walk to the start. Michael clease stopped for a toilet break, after seeing the queue I decided not to bother. By the time we got to the start I decided I did need to. By the time I was done most people had started and we were near the back. This wasn't too much of a problem, there was a cut off time which I think kept away most of the real beginners so I was one of the slower runners anyway. I ran along pretty happily most the way, foregoing the first drink station. The were a few hold ups and congested areas and I've seen this commented on in a few forums. Around 17k I started to struggle a little, michael clease seemed to be doing fine. I managed to keep going at roughly the same pace and ended up crossing the finish line at 2:04:17. I was hoping for under 2 hours so this was a little disappointing but I blame the congestin and having to stop to tie my shoe laces. 
I am rethinking my sub 4 marathon plan, maybe sub 4:20 with a bit of training. 
I have found myself a running group that I think I'll try out on Thursday morning. The have a track morning too but that's a little scary for me at the moment!