Recipe - Energy Balls. One bowl, no bake, too easy

Around the same time that I looked into doing my first marathon and ultra I also started reading "Born to Run". So, naturally, when I went Googling for fuelling on long runs I really wanted a recipe that would use Chia seed.
As with most things that I make I took ideas from a few sites and came up with this creation

One bowl, no baking required. Couldn't be easier.

The ingredients are things I always have in my pantry so I know that I can always make them.

I literally just put everything into one bowl and mix. Generally I start out using a spoon but then resort to hands as its the best way to gauge consistency

Once all of the ingredients are mixed simple shape them into balls. You could even make bars out of them but I need something little to easily pop into my mouth as I'm running.

I got 25 balls out of the mixture.

This is the size of mine

The best part of this recipe is that its fully adaptable.

Here are some things that I've tried:

* Toast the oats or coconut, or both. It's a lot nicer when toasted but most of the time I get lazy

* Add chocolate chips

* Regular oats or quick oats both work fine. Swap out with whatever you have on hand

* Shredded or desiccated coconut both work fine. As with the oats, swap out with whatever you have on hand

* Instead of coconut, use trail mix. Personally, I found this harder to chew/digest on long runs but it was really tasty

* Adjust the amounts of wet ingredients to suit your taste. I am not overly fond of honey, and too much peanut butter makes my mouth dry so I tend to add honey, peanut butter and chocolate spread into a 1 cup measure without really measuring any of them, as long as the total is 1 cup

In terms of calories I don't have an answer because I'm calorie counting challenged (ie I don't do it). 

On a few of the sites that I looked at when searching for a recipe the numbers varied between 90 and 200 calories per ball. The only time I consider calories is when I'm packing for a long run and know that I need to aim for 200-300 calories per hour. In which case I count these as 100 calories each. No idea how close to the truth that is and can't be bothered to work it out. Please tell me if you do though

Energy Balls

Makes: About 25 balls

Time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

·         1 cup oats

·         ½ cup shredded coconut

·         ½ cup honey

·         ½ cup peanut butter or chocolate spread (or a combination of the two)

·         ¼ cup LSA mix (Linseed, Sunflower seeds and Almond mix)

·         2 tbs Chia seed

Method

1. Stir all the ingredients in a bowl until well combined.

2. Shape into balls. 

3. Refridgerate (this helps them to hold their shape)

That’s it! Easy 

Thinking out loud

When is a person's sexual orientation going to stop being news?
Seriously.

Confessions of a guilty mum - Hooray, school holidays are finished

School starts back today.
Wahoo.
And I don't know who's more excited - me or the boys.

The truth is, I'd love to be posting Instagram photos of us hanging at the beach or updating my Facebook status about the movie we just watched together but nope.
Because work doesn't stop for school holidays.
So for us its work, and what I have termed the Grandparent shuffle train.

My boys split their 2 weeks of holidays between 3 sets of grandparents (split family on one side) who live 20 minutes away, 1 hour away and 2 hours away.  They come home for the weekend but more often than not it's only for Friday and Saturday night.
So out of 3 weeks of  holidays that have just finished they literally spent less than a week at home.

They're at that age where they aren't old enough to stay home by themselves, but hanging with the grandparents is quickly losing its lustre.

And they miss their own bed. They miss being comfortable in their own environment.
They actually get sick of Maccas and lollies and all the treats that are the privilege of grandparents.
They miss playing footy in the front yard with their Dad when he gets home from work.
They miss playing with the neighbourhood kids.
They miss my kisses and nagging.
Ok, maybe not the last one. But I'm sure they miss me.

And we miss them.
We miss telling them the same thing ten times.
We miss that crunch under our feet of broken biscuits and crackers.
We miss doing a load of washing each day.

But what we really miss is our 'normal'.
Our family dinners where they rank the meal out of ten. (I often get 8's and 9's BTW)
Our family handball championships.
Our family bike rides.
Our family '4 in a bed' selfies

So, while a lot of my friends are sad that they'll miss their kids now that school is back, I'm looking forward to spending much more time with them.
Hooray for school

Is this the end of the road?

I'm not really sure how a casual chat while running with a friend turns into me signing up for a 25k trail race that is 5 days away, but that is exactly where I found myself last week.

So, with the enthusiasm and nervous excitement of a kid starting school plus the naivety that comes along with it, I found myself setting the alarm for 4am last Sunday morning.

Having never done over the magical 21.1km half distance, I thought that a 25km race would be a great way to see how my fitness is progressing.

Zoey and I ready to run . During the week I'd arranged for Zoey, someone i'd met through Running Mums Australia, to meet me at my house for a lift up to the race. It was the first trail race for both of us so we could be nervous together.. 

I'd also never done a trail race before and had literally only ever run a local trail twice in the space of 12 months so I knew that speed wasn't going to be a factor.
This run, I rationalised, was going to be an experiment on my ability, my endurance, and my 'fuel' needs.

At the start line I felt the part with my borrowed hydration pack. The fact that I had only borrowed it 3 days earlier and had not really run with it did worry me a little, but I went with the 'glass half full' on this one and simply hoped for the best.

Someone gathered all of the runners around and explained that the course was marked and that we "should be right". He also casually mentioned that the first 2km were uphill.
This is where ignorance comes in handy - I hadn't investigated the course only to ask opinions of a couple of people I knew who'd run it. They used words like "evil" and "brutal", which possibly should have been a good indicator of what I was in for but it didn't deter me.

And we were off.
When my Garmin buzzed to let me know we were at the 2km mark I silently noted that there was still quite a bit of uphill to go. Mr Race Explainer at the start line was right I guess - the first 2km was all uphill; but so was the next 2km!

Having only done large halves in cities I was surprised at how quickly the pack thinned out, which meant that at some points in the race I could see no-one in front or behind me.
When there were people near me there was little chats. The main question seemed to be if I'd run this course before. When I explained that I had never run a trail race before I did sense that some people found it amusing that I had decided to start with Nerang State Forest. But, at the same time, I got the impression that they thought it was a great thing to see a newbie out there.

I'd love to say that I remember the course better, but I don't. Somewhere around the (I'm guessing) 7-8km mark there was a really steep decline. There had been a couple of declines by this stage and my aptly designed road shoes (Asics Kayano's) had been holding up ok in the grip department. But they were not ready for this one.

I am glad to report that I didn't fall but I did come close. Close enough to make me literally stop and make a conscious decision to walk down the rest of the hill with careful foot placement.
I was surprised at how quickly my feet had been getting away from me and I really didn't give the dry terrain enough credit.

At around the 50 minute mark I had to walk up a hill and so I thought it was a good opportunity to have my first Gu. To be honest I didn't feel like I needed it but I really wanted to fuel properly and what I'd read about fuelling always seems to say that you should do so at somewhere between the 45 and 60 minute mark.

"Heartbreak Hill" was the next encounter. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a couple of photos so I quickly whipped my phone out and snapped a couple of images. Like many landscape shots though, the photos don't do it justice. It was so steep in points that I was in almost a crawl position to get up little ridges.

After Heartbreak Hill it was a couple of flattish km before the aid station. I gulped water and scoffed a couple of snake lollies. I wasn't sure how snakes (or lollies in general) would sit in my stomach but I am a sucker for lollies so couldn't pass them up.


The next thing I faced was the aplty named "Gutbuster" You know a hill is steep when you are being passed by people on horseback and the horses are struggling to get up the hill.
But the view from the top was beautiful - It alone made the race worthwhile.
And all I could think was, well if this is the top then a good portion of the last 11km should be downhill. Yahoo.
A guy I'd spoken to earlier in the run passed me around this point. He and I had chatted about this being my first trail and first time over the 21.1km distnace. He gave me a pat on the back and told me that I was doing "really well. Really, really well"

My second Gu went down at this stage. Again, I didn't feel that I needed it but in hindsight I think both of them were well spaced.

In the few days before the run I had calculated that in order to finish in under 3.5 hours I would need to maintain an average pace of 8:24 min/km.
A couple of people (the same ones who used the words brutal and evil) did tell me just to aim to finish and that 3.5-4 hours would probably be a better time frame.

While I never went in to this run to 'race' I am someone who still needs personal goals and mentally I like to finish strong. So I did just that.
In the last 6-7 km I played the mental game of reeling in the runner in front. I managed to pass a few people and stay on my feet.

I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch at 2:46:13. I was elated.

I don't know how to articulate this run other than to say it was fun. There wasn't any pressure, people who passed me or people who I passed wished me luck.

I ran, I walked, I chatted, and I smiled. I grinned actually. 

I enjoyed running. I couldn't see if I was front of the pack, middle of the pack or back of the pack.

I didn't need to, because it didn't matter.

Back home that afternoon I felt wonderful about the whole day and just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, the official results were released..

and I had placed 8th female, and 29th overall.

My first trail race, my first time over 21.1km couldn't have gone any better.

A couple of days have now passed and I think i've picked up a bug... the trail running bug that is.
Its a bug I'm happy to have, and I can't wait until the next time

Some things to note:

* I had approx 1.5 litres of water in my hydration baldder - I couldn't have calculated that better if I'd tried. I literally had the last sip just past the finish line
* I had brought 4 Gu gels with me. My initial plan was to have them at the 45 minute mark, 1 hour 30 mark, 2 hour 15 mark and 3 hour mark. I ended up having one at the 50 minute mark and one at the 1 hour 40 minute mark, with some lollies from the aid station at the 12km point. I haven't ever really felt much benfit from Gu's in the past but I do truly believe they helped this time
* I need trail running shoes if I am going to do this again. My road shoes didn't grip very well and I fear I may lose some toenails due to the downhills. 
* Trail runners, in general, were friendlier than road racers. Granted, I've only done 3 road races and I wasnt exactly a conversation starter myself on any of those but this run felt more (i really don't know the right word here so I'm going to go with) community-like.

* I mentioned at the start of this post that it I was running with a friend when I decided to do this run. That friend completed the 50km race on the same day, and placed 9th female. Amazing stuff. I am so glad that I got to see her out there on the course too as she was heading out for her second loop of 25k.

Jill in beautiful contemplation phase. She rocks!
*Also note runner in 'sandals' behind her - I passed this guy on his way out to do his second 25k. I'm still baffled as to how he did such a rocky course in those shoes

The day I reached my peak

Something really quite remarkable happened to me last weekend... I placed in a race

I came second. Me. I can hardly believe it. 

The race is a annual local fun run challenge. There are 2 distances - a 5km or 10km.

The 10km is simply the 5km course done twice. And its not a fast track as there are a couple of steep hills.

(The number of hills depends on who you talk to. I was told 3 hills; 2 on the way out and 1 on the way back. But, for the record, it sure felt like there was more than 3)

I decided to enter the 5km race as mentally I simply couldn't handle getting to the finish line and then heading for the hills again. I also only officially committed last Wednesday, 4 days before the race. I didn't prepare for it, as such.

So, race day.

I arrived with my boys (who were signed up to do the 1km kids dash) just as the 10km started, which was great as I got to cheer on some people that I knew.

The 10km finished, I chatted with some friends, then watched the boys and all of the other kids run.

About 10 minutes before the start of my race we ambled down to the start line. 

I had the butterflies that you get from any such scenario but I wasn't nervous about doing a great time or placing or anything like that. I'd had a quick look at the past results and saw that they were in the 24 minute area. As my PB for 5km is around that and due to this being a hilly race I didn't even look too closely at the times and just thought I'd aim for sub 30 minutes - ie give myself about a 5 minute leeway to allow for the hills slowing me down.

When the race started I don't even recall if it was a gun or hooter or just someone saying go... because I was chatting to my friend, her daughter and her daughters friend.
This friend of mine, Alisha, is fast. She's really quite amazing and I admire how quickly she's built up her speed too. I thought that if I could just stay with her then i'd have a good race.
The first hill came and, well, I don't mind hills and I just had a bit more speed in my legs than Alisha did on the day. I debated hanging back so that we could run together but I knew Alisha wouldn't want that, just as I wouldn't expect her to do for me.

It was an out and back race so as we got to the second big hill I knew there was only about 500 metres up and I'd start to see the people who were on their way back.
All males, more males, then one female who had a different ribbon on (indicating under 12 age group - yes under 12 - a gun in her own right) and then one female in the open category and then that was it.

OMG, was I in second??

I couldn't believe it.

From then I just aimed to keep this girl in my sights. I still wasn't certain that I'd counted correctly and thought that there was a very good chance that I'd missed someone but as I got to the last km and started to pass officials a couple of them gave me a little clap and said "keep going, you're coming second"

OMG, I WAS in second!

I heard my boys yell out to me and my friends gave a little shout too and then I crossed the line and those officials were right.

I DID get second place.

As I caught my breath the girl who came first thanked me because I made her keep going as she though I might catch her. This was all too unbelievable.

I was beaming. I wanted to shout it out to everyone there. I wanted to talk about how amazing it was to anyone with ears. But I tried to restrain myself. I'm not sure how successful I was at that. All weekend I was grinning like the Chesire cat. Even, now, as I type this, 2 days later, I am still so super excited.

When they presented the certificates I found out my time was 24:02. I am so pleased with that as I was honestly aiming for sub 30 minutes.

Super excited to come second

And what else is great (maybe even greater than the placing) is the fact that any time a self doubt tries to creep in it is squashed almost immediately by the joy that I still feel.
Yes, it was just a local fun run with maybe 100 people in my race. Yes, it was only 5km. Yes, there are many people in the running community that I know who could beat my time.
But I am honestly not thinking like that.
I am claiming it.

Any race, at any distance, is open to whoever turns up on the day. And this was just my day.

This may very well be the peak of my running life. Even that makes me smile.

I simply had to get this down on paper so that when this feeling subsides I can relive it again by reading my own recount

And, because it made the day just that much sweeter -  my boys did great in the kids dash, my friend Alisha came 4th in the 5km, her daughter came 1st in the under 17's 5km (and she'd only 13). Plus my local long run running friend came 2nd in the 10km and another friend came 4th in the 10km. (They're all in the picture)

Speed or Distance?

Speed or Distance?

I honestly ponder this question continuously at the moment. I can't stop.

I really want to keep up my longs runs. Well, actually, what I should say is that I'd like to get back into my long runs on a regular basis. Anything over, mmm, lets say 12 or 13km.
On the other hand I find even the thought of long runs soooo boring. What a waste of 1.5 to 2 hours.

I kid myself by saying that as long as I'm running 5-8km a few times a week then I should be right to pull a half marathon out of the bag in a couple of months. Deep down I realise that's probably not a smart thing.

I am loving little speed goals instead. I've cracked under 5 minute/km pace for 5km and have managed to maintain it for 6km. What I'd love is a sub 50 minute 10km.

So, thoughts to paper, I think I should keep doing shorter, faster runs and get a long run every 3 weeks or so just to feel like I'm not losing that distance ability. If I run the half marathons that I have in my sights (one in March and another in July) then I can just take them as they come. No pressure, just fun run.

Easy? Yes, in theory. I just need to work out how to run without pressure on myself (from myself).

Thoughts would be appreciated..