Green & Black’s, Running and Flax

Last night ended with something I’d been saving for ages: Green and Black’s organic caramel vanilla hazelnut ice cream! I was REALLY looking forward to it…

But you know what? The hazelnuts really spoilt it They were gritty and got in the way..I was very disapointed.

I also watched a documentary last night about childhood obesity: [brief rant time!!] the parents were in such denial, it was driving me mad! One mother was saying how she wasn’t to blame for her child’s obesity, even though she cooked ALL her meals and provided her with all her snacks etc. Fine in theory, but oh-my-gosh, her cooking methods..everything was deep fried, or slathered in fatty sauces or oil (and I have NEVER seen anyone use so much salt in their cooking. AT LEAST 4 to 5 TABLEspoons, in one dish!)…it was so wrong, and really sad

ANYWAYS. A new day!

I really, really wanted to get a run in today. The icy nasty weather is only meant to get worse this week (if that’s even possible), so I thought, better now than ever. This was my view from my nice cosy kitchen:

So I wrapped up appropriately:

Isn’t the reflective vest a classy, elegant edition!? SAFETY FIRST!!

I did 7.6miles in 1hr 2minutes. For me (considering my last run was 8miles in 1hr), that was really slow. And it was NOT enjoyable. I actually wanted to cry in parts, I was getting soo fed up with slipping about everywhere (the people who do the road gritting don’t seem to hit the country lanes…) and, although my lungs and legs felt great, my head hurt a bit (leftover illness symptoms mezbe?) and I felt really negative That NEVER happens with me! I normally love my runs and feel great, so it was a bit disheartening. I even ended up doing three 15 second walks..again, I have NEVER walked on a run before! Meh, we all have bad days right??! I’ll give it another two or three days off, to let my body properly recover from the sicky-ness (if that’s what the problem was) and then try again!

So on my nasty run, I was thinking about breakfast (as you do). I’d eaten the same as yesterday before my run (an apple, tbsp wheatgerm and some chocolate – this is perfect fuel for me for about an hour’s worth or under of exercise. Any more and I break out the bagels and PB!!), but I didn’t fancy oats this morning. Actually, I didn’t fancy anything. Running totally killed my appetite. I’d got up at 7.30, but when 10am rolled round and my breakfast was ready, I was still so full but regardless, I pressed on like the soldier I am!

For once, I made a smoothie! Consisting of a lovely over-ripe banana (Fairtrade, I’m very noble :p)

A tsp of flaxseed (only a little amount cos I’d never had it before…note the little ‘taster’ sachet!)

And a tsp of agave nectar, a dash of cinnamon, a big spoon of Greek yogurt and 200ml soya milk, thrown into the blender together:

The result was DELICIOUS! Frothy and just the right thickness

I think some vanilla would have made this better…next time

I also had a mixed up bowl of cereal:

consisting of:

1/2cup All Bran, 1/3 cup Fru-Grains (they’d been hanging round in the cupboard for ages and needed using up..they were actually totally delicious, I was surprised), 1/3cup High Fibre Museli and 1/2cup Oat Crisp (those things are just puff! So full of air). I topped it all with some blackberries

Really the blackberries are just there to look pretty – I always pick them off the top and eat them first But yes, that was a delicious bowl of carbs! Just what I needed after a cold and crappy run Anyone else have any weird food habits? I can’t have milk on my cereal, and I ALWAYS save a little ‘final mouthful’ when I eat, with all my favourite bits of the meal in it..I’m a bit odd

My sister has just requested I bake her a chocolate fudge cake…but first, I have phonecalls to make. Yay. :/

Have a great day everyone!