Meal Plan August 26

The days are certainly getting warmer and I think this Summer will be a hot one. We spent all weekend at the beach, and technically it's still Winter.
It means I'll have to start looking into summer salad type recipes.

The best indication of the warmer weather presented itself at the supermarket this afternoon - Nectarines. They were pretty expensive (I paid over aus $1 for each) but I just couldn't help myself.
Summer fruits are the best. And my boys were so excited when they saw them so it was worth it.

Nothing fancy on the menu this week. Starts off with 2 household favourites, followed by a new one (again from Budget Bytes which is a site I am just loving at the moment) and then a simple quiche on Thursday and a baked rice dish on Friday.

Here's the menu:


Monday

Slow cooked beef roast
I am making this one because i want to use the leftovers on Wednesday night. No other reason really. I'll pair it with roast veg including these potatoes which one of my sons asks for every time he sees that i'm cooking potatoes.


Tuesday

Baked spring rolls
I really shouldn't put this link as i make quite a few changes to the recipe, but in a way that shows how adaptable it can be. The main changes that i make are swapping the ham for grilled chicken fillet which i shred and also swapping celery for grated zucchini

Wednesday

Beef stuffed potatoes
This is what I plan on using the leftovers from Monday for. The recipe looks great and I'm hoping that it is well received by the boys

Thursday

Crustless bacon & cheese quiche
This is another recipe that is very adaptable, and I'll be honest, I don't actually use this recipe - it's just the closest one I could find to the recipe that resides in my memory bank. I actually have alot of recipes in there (my memory bank) but its quite time consuming to write them down and take step by step photos and I'm a bit time poor at the moment.
Some other ideas aside from the recipe are - grated zucchini, tomato slices layed on the top before baking, ham instead of bacon, asparagus, sun dried tomatoes. You can also add spices or mustard to the egg and cheese mix.

Friday

Baked Moroccan chicken
I tweak this one a bit as i found it too dry the first time i baked it. The 'tweaks' are: * Add 1/2 cup white wine * Reduce rice to 1 1/2 cups * Add mix veg as well as peas

Do let me know if you try any

Jen

Hello running my old friend

I have a confession to make...

I have just had 16 days off from running. Not a lot of days to some people but a long time for me. I promised myself (and my husband) that I'd take 2 weeks off after I completed my second Half and then as day 14 approached I got a cough/cold and, worse than that, nerves snuck in.

What if...what if I couldn't even run 5km (3.1 miles) without having to stop. what if I didn't enjoy it anymore . what if I forgot how to pace myself.
Yeah yeah, really dumb what ifs, but its like the mental hurdle that I'd crossed so long ago was suddenly right back up in my face.

So, I put my fears out there in the big ole land of Facebook so that I couldn't chicken out and that I was accountable.
And I didn't wait to see the responses either.
I just went for a run.

What was I so worried about?

I swear that when I took my first few steps I looked like the Cheshire Cat - grinning so widely because I was already loving the feeling. Within 5 strides I felt good.

I decided before I left that I'd do 30 minutes and accept whatever that was.
I could tell you my distance but I don't want to - not because it's bad (it isn't) but because it truly doesn't matter.
There is a little part of me that feels like a new runner who is doing a beginner half marathon training program and this was day 1. That, surprisingly, makes me smile too.

My head cold or cough didn't really bother me on the run. (Although I did cough my guts up (Aussie slang) on the walk home, so much so that an old lady crossed over to the other side of the path and then mumbled under her breath after she'd passed me).

The best bit...I can't wait to go again. Yay

Meal plan - August 12

Before I put up this week's meals I apologise again to those people who pointed out to me that I didn't do one for last week. To be honest I was so tired after the Brisbane Half Marathon that I simply ran out of time and never quite got ahead.

And yes, I am still on a high from my PB at Brisbane. The only trouble is now getting myself out of the mentality that I can't beat that time. Because that is silly - the Brisbane course was fairly hilly. Not just one hill but lots of hills spaced out throughout the course. So if I can do a hilly half marathon in 1:51:03 then i surely can do a flat one even faster.

I am starting off this weeks meals with a couple of favourites and then trying 3 new meals. The meal on Wednesday (Spinach Lasagne roll ups) has been on my 'to try' list almost as long as I have been on Pinterest so I thought I'd give it a go this week. Then when I went to the site/blog that has the recipe I found all these other super ideas and ended up pinning 3 recipes for this week all from the same site/blog. (the site is http://www.budgetbytes.com/. Check it out, it's awesome)

So this is what we are eating

Monday

Pad Thai
I will be doing mine with Chicken because son number 2 is allergic to prawns.
Tofu, blah, so that will be omitted.
I have made Pad Thai several times in the past and it always varies in taste and glugginess but yet I keep trying to perfect it. When I was googling a recipe to use for this week I kept reading about 'Chez Pim's' who the link refers to as well. Pim is someone who has a blog and doesn't give a recipe as such but tips on how to make the perfect Pad Thai so I will be referring to her blog as well.

Tuesday

Beef Goulash
The only difference Ill make is that I'll serve mine with veg rather than pasta

Wednesday

Spinach Lasagne roll ups
I am really looking forward to trying this one.
I love that the blog author has step by step pictures too.
I will probably take the lazy option with the sauce and just use a jar of passata but if I have time I may add a few extra vege's into it (eg capsicum and mushrooms) and simmer them down then blend them in so that they are hidden. (Son number one detests capsicum but what he can't see he can't pick out!)

Thursday

Slow cooker taco chicken
How good does this one look in the pictures. Yum.
I'll probably do kidney beans instead of black beans (simply because I am more familiar with kidney beans). I will also serve these as 'make-it-yourself' burritos rather than with rice so I'll have grated cheese separate plus also some sour cream and avocado. Burritos never fail in my house and that's the main reason I'm taking that path

Friday

Teriyaki Pork meatballs
These look great. I don't plan on changing the recipe other than to serve with some Asian style veg (in keeping wit my 3 veg rule)

..and that's it. Have a fabulous week

What a difference a month can make...the story of my second half marathon

Yesterday I ran my second half marathon; indeed only the second time I have run over 20km.

If you read my post about my first half (here) you'll know that I over analysed that one and dwelled on the 'what if's' for a day afterwards.
Well, I am happy to report, not this time.

This time I am super pleased because I totally pushed myself to MY limit on the day.

(This is kind of long. If you don't want to read it all just scroll down to the *summary part at the bottom)

I arrived into the city (Brisbane) nice and early and found the start line so I knew where it was.  This already relaxed me a bit.
Then off to find the toilets, as you do.
While hanging around I got to meet up with a few other girls from the running pages. I had met Mon at the GC but the others I had only met on facebook so it was fantastic to meet them in person.

From left to right is Mara-Mon, Runder Woman, me, Kiley and Weight & Run.
 

 So after the little photo opp we all wandered over to the start line.
Now, the big difference that you need to know about this race compared to the GC is that I didn't really have any expectations about time or beating my GC result (which was 1:57:39. I could say PB but that seems a little silly when it is my only time at that distance).
I was going in this race for fun because, in hindsight, I had put a bit of pressure on myself to complete the GC and wanted to enjoy this one more.

Of the 4 other ladies in the above picture one is in marathon training and so was going to go at a slower pace. Two of the ladies were in the same boat as me, this was only their second ever race and they were both hoping for a time better than the GC so were going to stay with the 1:55 pacer. The final person, Lynn, was also hoping for a PB and had planned to stay with the 1:45 pacer.

I can't tell you what clicked or when it clicked but in a really quick decision I decided to go hard and to stick with Lynn if I could.

The gun went off and I stuck with Lynn with the first few km's, and for those first few km's the pace was faster than I have ever done (4:54, 4:30 and 4:42 mins per kilometre) but I just felt ok and I wanted to see what I could do.

Over the story bridge Lynn surged ahead and I just kept her in my sights (thankfully she was in bright yellow so it was easy to do)

There were a LOT of hills in this race. Way more than I realised. It felt like there was a hill every couple of kilometres. In fact the total elevation climb (according to my RunKeeper app) was 792 metres. Felt like it too!

I was constantly scared that the 1:55 balloon was going to pass me and that i'd never keep up if he did so I tried to keep at a steady pace. Looking back now it reminds me of this picture. That 1:55 pacer may as well have been a zombie. I was that scared of him!

 At around the 18km mark I was feeling pretty exhausted. I had pushed so hard at the beginning and was beginning to doubt myself. I couldn't see Lynn anymore and felt like the 1:55 pacer zombie was right behind me.
There was a guy in front of me in a long sleeve running shirt who seemed to be running steady so I planted myself beside him and used him to pace me. After about half a km or so I started to drop back. Then long sleeve guy turned around and gave me this look that said c'mon, keep up. So I did; I caught up and then I think I paced him for the next half a km. We got to the drink station at around the 19.5km mark and he slowed down. I turned a couple of times to see if he was behind me but he'd dropped back, so I just kept going.

At around the 20km mark I had a little conversation to myself that went along the lines of "Hey Brain, remember this; You couldn't have pushed any harder. This was all you had to give today". I was worried that I was going to over analyse this race like last time and wanted to remember that I gave it all that I could on the day.

Through the Botanical gardens and to the finish line.
Rounding the last corner (and another hill to finish) I crossed over in 1:51:32. YES. Arms in the air and all.

Long sleeve guy came in about a minute behind and came over to say thanks. But it was me who was thankful. I can't thank him enough for that look that he gave me when I had started to drop back.

Grabbed my drink and banana and sat down on the lawn, utterly spent but grinning from ear to ear.

I made a quick phone call to my husband and then went over to find the most awesome running bunch and get the group shot we'd been hoping for.



From left to right: Kate (Running in the rain), Mon (Mara-Mon), me, Nic (Running Girl), Gretlyn (Running because I can), Skye (Runder Woman) and Lynn (Weight and Run)

 

After we had all gone our separate ways I went to meet my husband and boys and my Mum who were coming in together.
My boys were signed up to do the 2.2km kids dash so we showed them where the finish was and then went over to the start line. At the last minute the youngest of my two decided that he would like me to run with him. So, a 2.2km warm down it was!
I think it was harder than the half though. He would jog, then walk, then jog and then, out of nowhere, he'd sprint for a 100m or so. I caught up to him after his first burst and asked where that speed came from. In typical 7 year old mentality he replied that someone was going to pass him so he sped up!
They both finished it and I am so proud. The eldest got 11th for his age group and the youngest got 12th for his age group

And now, just over 24 hours later, I am still smiling at the whole day. It's going to take a while to top this one.

*Some summary points and things that I learned between doing my first half and this one:

* In hindsight I don't think that I pushed myself hard enough at the GC half marathon. Because I'd never done over 20km I was worried that I wouldn't have enough left in the tank to finish that race and so went slightly conservative at the start. I am fairly certain that's why I over analysed it. This time I went out hard as I knew I could do the distance

* I am so glad that I had that little conversation with myself at the 20km mark to remind myself that I couldn't push any more. Because of that there isn't any doubt about what I did on the day.

* Backing up a half with a 2.2km kids dash two hours later is probably not the best idea for my legs. Not quite the recovery run that my PT friend suggests.

* My net time was 1:51:03. I grin every time I think about it. Its 6:36 minutes off the GC time. I even did negative splits which is amazing because I was definitely tired in the second half.

* Having my name on my bib was fabulous. Random strangers would yell out "Go Jen" or "You're doing great Jen". It's just what I needed to hear and made a massive difference, to me anyway.

* I did less 'training' for this one but trusted in my ability more. I also went in with a relaxed mindset. Imagine what I can do if train more and combine it with the trust and relaxed mindset! (Another grin as I type)