Archive for the Latest from Ann Category
Hummus without seasame seeds
09/10/2011 by admin.
Due to my food intolerance to seasame seeds, I am unable to eat hummus despite the fact that I do like it. I have therefore decided to make my own using chickpeas, olive oil, 1-2 grated garlic cloves, 1-2 tablespoons of ground pumpkin seeds (in place of seasame seeds) and lemon juice to desired taste. If you are intolerant to lemon juice or don’t have any you can leave it out.
Depending on the quantity you wish you make, you will need either a tin or half tin of chickpeas. Blend all the ingredients together using sufficient olive oil to give a smooth consistency. When I don’t have chickpeas I use beans such as borlotti beans and sometimes I mix beans and chickpeas.
I am not sure I will bother buying hummus in the future should I become tolerant to seasame seeds again as I quite like my own version.
Something for the weekend
07/10/2011 by admin.
One of my lovely clients sent me this.
“If today was it, would you die knowing you did your best?
If tomorrow never came, would you be proud of the last thing you said to each person you love?
If “someday” was only “now”, would you do everything you’ve always put off?
If you knew you had a choice about what kind of life you could be living, would you choose different?
If you knew failure is impossible, what would you do?
If it were true that everyone you meet is you in another body, how would you treat them?
If love was the true currency of the Universe and the more you gave away the more you received, how would you spend it?
If fear were the biggest illusion and the greatest lie of all time, how would you choose to live your life?
If the Universe always supported a life lived towards achieving dreams, how big would you dream?”
- Jackson Kiddard, author & polymath
Barefoot Running…..An interesting article here
04/10/2011 by admin.
See this article regarding a study by the American Council on Exercise, a non-profit organisation on this latest craze in running shoes. We would hope that, being a non-profit organisation, their report is unbiased. The conclusions are really left for us to decide but the information is useful and interesting.
Barefoot Running…..Update
25/09/2011 by admin.
I was a bit concerned last week. After putting in a good interval treadmill run wearing my shoes, two days later both my knees were hurting. So that day I ran in my normal trainers on the treadmill. I assumed the knee pain was linked to changes in my running style but it did seem odd that it occurred two days after my run rather than the next day. The knee pain went and I ran in my barefeet shoes on Friday again at a challenging pace, again on the treadmill.
Today I ran outdoors - 3 laps of the reservoir - in my normal trainers, as I am not ready to run that sort of distance in my barefeet shoes. I ran over 2 minutes quicker than I did last week. The running felt a little easier than normal. The conditions were better so that will account for some of the time gain. I need more evidence to confirm that my increased speed was due to the barefeet shoes but, whatever the reason, it is still nice to run quicker.
Jon O’Groats to Lands End (JOGtoLE) Day 4
24/09/2011 by admin.
“Stuart had another good day today.
Doc was a bit worried about his achilles and cut a slit in the back of his left trainer to relieve any pressure from the shoe, and dressed his blisters before he set off. His hamstrings were also a bit tight today.
It was a bit drizzly this morning but quite still and Stuart started off walking with Andy as he as the last few days and then walked alone to mile 5 where Alan braved the rain again on the bike. Alan kept him company to Lairg which was the 15 mile point where we were greeted by Heather, Doc’s wife, who is joining the team here for 4 days.
Heather was keen to run with Stuart straight away and only intended to run 5 miles, but at the 20 mile mark she was enjoying herself so much that she continued to the finish line. You can see video of them crossing the finish line on Youtube under ‘JOG to LE’. There are a couple of other videos there too taken by Andy.
Stuart really enjoyed running with Heather and it was great for him to have a new person to chat to en route. We had a little celebration when he reached the 100 mile mark overall.
He has a few more blisters this evening, but otherwise is in pretty good shape.
If you look on the Follow me Live link on the website, you will see that a lot of today’s run was downhill so that made it a little bit easier. There were a few difficult moments for the map readers today where we were ticked off for not being ahead of the runners, and when we went to decide where the finish line should be, we found that our planned route along the sysle path was only accessible by a foot bridge across a river and there was no way to get the car the other side of the river before Stuart and Heather got there. A quick re-adjustment took us down the A road from Lairg to Bonar Bridge instead.
Stuart only had to stand in the ice bath today as Doc did not want his hamstrings to tighten up any more. I think he will probably be saying everyday from now on that his hamstrings are tight if it means he can avoid sitting in the icy water.
We were a bit worried this evening that Dick had not kept up his high standard of accommodation bookings, because our hotel looked as though it had been closed down for some time. However, we need not have worried as he has come up trumps again and it is lovely inside and they could not be more helpful, we had a delicious evening meal and they have even given us the number of the local newspaper to try to get some additional publicity.
We have been given more money for the cause by people in the hotel and out on the road. We must have seen about 20 cyclists at various times today going in the opposite direction with only 2 days to go before reaching John O Groats. Stuart said he thought they were mad. What???
Well that’s 1/10th of the run completed which is a great milestone.
Thanks so much for all of your support, especially to Frances who has contacted John Beattie (ex British Lion) at BBC Scotland to see if he can help promote the run on his radio show or newspaper column in the Glasgow Herald.”
You can donate through Just Giving on this link.
Healthy Rice Pudding
18/09/2011 by admin.
Breakfast today comprised my own recipe of rice pudding with no sugar. Yesterday I cooked up organic brown risotto rice - this cooked for 70 minutes at a low hob temperature. It was well worth it as it was probably the most tasty rice I’ve had. This morning I added coconut milk to a bowl of rice, ground pumpkin seeds and a dessertspoon of St Dalfour’s no added sugar fruit jam. Very tasty indeed.
Barefoot Running…..Update
16/09/2011 by admin.
I ran for 2.3 miles yesterday on the treadmill in my barefoot shoes. I increased the pace to something much more challenging. I could certainly feel my calves during the run. I focussed on ensuring that although my forefoot struck the ground first, my heel also touched the ground to take some pressure off the calves. I stretched well again after the run. Although a little tight, my calves are in pretty good shape today so I believe that I am progressing with improved technique and my muscles adjusting to the changes.
I wonder whether this will generally make my running feel easier and help to make me go quicker.
Barefoot Running…..Update
14/09/2011 by admin.
I have now completed 3 runs using my Vivobarefoot Shoes, all on the treadmill. My first run 3/4 of a mile, then 1 mile and on Sunday I ran 1.5 miles. I could feel my calf muscles working on each run due to the different style of running, ie leading with my forefoot. I spent extra time after each run stretching my calves.
On Monday my right calf was feeling particularly tight so I gave both calves a massage and they were feeling a lot better today. However, despite my keenness to do another run in these shoes and my lack of patience, I decided it would be better to do yesterday’s run in my normal (non-barefoot) running shoes. This is the first run I’ve done in my normal shoes since I started running in the barefoot shoes. The run went fine and my calves felt fine.
My calves have loosened and I can hardly feel them now. I will therefore do another run in my barefoot shoes in the next day or so. I am hoping that I will soon be able to try out my trail barefoot shoes very soon with an off-road run around the Reservoir.
Gluten Free Rolled Oats
13/09/2011 by admin.
I have found some tasty gluten free oats from the ‘Alchemy Delicious’ range. Made up with coconut milk, a tablespoon of ground pumpkin seeds and Sunwheel Pear & Apple spread, they tasted great.
Gluten Free Foods
13/09/2011 by admin.
In an attempt to combat my gluten intolerance I have been seeking alternative foods. Polenta is a gluten free food which I have only had on occasion and never cooked it myself. You are more likely to find Polenta in Northern Italy. It is made from ground yellow (or white) corn which has had the germ removed.
Ideally I would use this as a carbohydrate souce in order to keep some variety in my diet, however, I also have an intolerance to corn but hopefully will be able to combat this intolerance and incorporate polenta into my diet in the future. However, if you are gluten intolerant but are able to tolerate corn, then you might seek this is an alternative. More to come on gluten intolerance.
