Hello everyone, hope you have all enjoyed your weekends! On Friday evening I decided to treat myself to a lovely candle lit bath followed by chilling out and painting my nails. I felt so much better!
Saturday morning I was up early and ready to shop:
OOTD: sunglasses: Dorothy Perkins, leather jacket: Topshop, floral top: Warehouse, jeans: Topshop, bag: H&M, shoes: Dorothy Perkins. I still feel like I’ve been scalped after my hair cut, hopefully it will grow back quick!
In Newcastle I headed straight to Start Fitness to get some new running shoes. I got these Asics Gel Nimbus:
These cost a bomb but were the most comfortable with my orthotics inserted as these have plenty of cushioning but have neutral support so are perfect for my inserts. I have to say the staff were excellent and the customer service was very good. I’m going to start wearing them in over the next week.
Luckily to balance out those expensive trainers I also managed to pick up a few bargains, but I’ll post those pics tomorrow or this post will never end!
Eats have been wonderful: Saturday’s breakfast was raspberry, coconut vanilla hot cereal in a jar!
This was 1/4 cup of Bob Red Mills 10 Grain Hot Cereal cooked with 1 cup of water, frozen raspberries, 1 tbsp of coconut flour and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. I poured this into a near empty peanut butter jar and topped with coconut shreds. Delish! The nut butter jar was only little so I filled it twice ;-)
After my run today I made a big Apple Pie Green Smoothie for breakfast:
Lunches have been big salads and fruit bowls with my first try of Cauldron Marinated Tofu:
I really liked this tofu, not as good as my favourite Taifun brand but still pretty tasty!
For dinner on Saturday evening I decided that I fancied a curry. I had a few veggies from my organic veg box delivery to use up, including tomatoes which I only like cooked, so I decided to roast them all up!
Roasted Vegetable Curry (serves 3 – 4, vegan)
- 1 medium aubergine
- 1 medium head of cauliflower
- 6 tomatoes, quartered
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped (I used 1 tsp of lazy chilli)
- 1 tsp of garam masala
- 1 tsp of ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
- 1 tin of chickpeas, drained
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 small tin (160mls) of reduced fat coconut milk
Pre heat the oven to 220C. Chop the aubergine into chunks and break up the cauliflower into bite size pieces. Transfer to a roasting tin and toss in some oil (I used coconut oil). In a separate roasting dish add the tomatoes. Put both roasting dishes in the oven and cook until the aubergine has softened and browned and the cauliflower has gone crispy. The tomatoes should be well softened. In a large pan or wok heat some oil on a medium heat and stir fry the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli until softened. Add the spices and continue to fry (taking care not to burn) until they become fragrant. Add the roasted tomatoes, aubergine and cauliflower, followed by the chickpeas, tinned tomatoes and coconut milk. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve:
This turned out beautifully. Roasting the veggies brings out all their flavour, particularly for the cauliflower and tomatoes. Such a tasty and healthy dish! I served mine with some rice and steamed kale with shoyu.
Tonight I wanted to use up more of the fresh veggies from the organic veg box so I made a stir fry with edamame, purple sprouting broccoli, asparagus, carrot, mushrooms and pak choy (3 heads for 50p at the market – bargain!) with more rice, shoyu and ginger:
I am so loving the asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli at the moment, just delicious!
Dessert has included one of my raw sesame chocolate tarts with raw chocolate sauce (agave, water and raw cacao) plus fresh strawberries:
Oh my god this was just so so good, the perfect raw dessert, nom! I also tried some dairy free white chocolate from Plamil:
This was ok considering its dairy free but really no comparison to proper white choc. I actually preferred the green tea diary free chocolate I had a couple of weeks ago in terms of creaminess.
Today I did my usual weekend run and it was very unexpectedly awesome! I had been planning on going out and doing an easy paced 6-7 miles as my leg has been a bit achy this week. For some reason I was just on fire! I blasted my fastest pace times and when I glanced down at my Garmin at the 10K mark I noticed I was 30 seconds faster than the last time I did a 10k run (today I did it in 54 min 50 sec), and that time I had been really trying! I ended up doing 7.3 miles in 1hr04 with an average pace of 8.47! The fact that I didn’t feel like I was running flat out and that the run didn’t feel like a struggle the whole time is just amazing. Perhaps thinking about all the people running the London Marathon had an affect on me!
What was the last unexpected awesomeness you had in your life?
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats on your fab run and beating your 10k record! I think my dreams of getting my 10k in under 1 hour in 4 weeks time are a bit in tatters at the moment thanks to a flare up of plantar fasciitis booo. I think I need some snazzy new running shoes like yours!
Woohoo – I’m so glad you had a fab run. I just love it when it just seems to work and feels easy. Go you!
Your Apple Pie Green Smoothie looks amazing!!!
Well done on your new PB! I am hoping to get to that stage when I run quickly but still feel like I’ve got something left in the tank – it hasn’t happened yet!
Wow wow wow – so much to comment on haha!
Firstly, I LOVE your outfit! You look so trendy!!
Secondly, I have those trainers from Start Fitness too! :) They are comfy!
Thirdly, all of your eats look SO good..I seriously love them ALL! I am definitely going to make your roasted veg curry tomorrow..
Finallyyy…well done on your awesome run! You are improving so much, it’s fantastic!
Glad you got some ‘you’ time. Your hair is looking lovely by the way, beautiful colour. I love the marinated tofu from Cauldron, I haven’t thought about buying it for ages & now you’ve mentioned it, it’s all I want to eat, haha. Your running times are really good! You power machine. I’ve just wangled myself a 10k PB (1hr 5mins, not bad for a plodder like myself) & I really want to better it at a race in two weeks. I love reading your running reports!
Congrats on having such a great run! I love it when it comes together like that :)
I don’t think I’d describe anything this weekend as “unexpectedly awesome”, it’s been a very chilled and uneventful weekend. I did LOVE watching the marathon though, and I also enjoyed my dinner this evening. I think it might have been the yoghurt…
AHH Great run!! cute outfit too!! and GREAT eats!!! esp that tart!!
unexpected awesomeness was yesterdays run for me!
I’ve never seen diary free white chocolate like that! how neat!
Great run girl! Love your outfit too.
I can’t wait to start making raw desserts (I just need to get a food processor first – but i’m saving!)
I have to echo the other commenters that watching the marathon was pretty awesome for me too: it seems to have inspired lots of speedy runs in the UK blogging world, and congrats on yours :)
I wasn’t overly impressed with any of the vegan white chocolate brands I’ve tried either: they all seem really sickly and anaemic.
I didn’t know Cauldron still made that tofu! I used to adore it but it disappeared from Sainsburies for a bit and I’d assumed it had been discontinued. I shall be on the hunt to find some now. And I may have to de-spice your curry recipe too because the combination of ingredients would be gorgeous if I could make an IBS-friendly version.
I have those trainers too, but because my orthotics are so rigid and heavy they’re a bit much to wear for longer runs. Cumulus are a great model though. Would you mind at all mentioning where you got your orthotics and how you find them in terms of being helpful? I have so many problems with mine that I may have to seek a second opinion for another pair :(
Finally, your top is beautiful! So bright and summery :)
xxx
Everyday is awesome :) …love your outfit and our matching springy chopsticks – I once tried the chopstick diet approach to eating (ie. go slower to feel fuller) but I very quickly got too good as shoving in huge amounts of food on tiny sticks ;) x x
WELL DONE LAURA!! Oh WOW your pace is improving SO MUCH!! You are seriously gonna kick butt at the GNR this year! :D
Those Asics are sposed to be great!! And love your outfit and gorgeous new hair!! :)
Glad you treated yourself… and shopping is always good!
Looks like some really great food too :)
I can’t think of any unexpected awesomeness that’s happened to me lately…hopefully something great soon!
Congrats on your run! Love the new trainers. I needed to be fitted for new ones too. I think good running shoes can make all the difference for a good and comftable run.
Awesome run :) I love runs like that- nice work. I love to run on london marathon day (but no time yesterday– I have taped it so I can watch it later on!).
Helen – oh no so sorry to hear your injured. That sucks, hope you get better soon x
Stacey – thanks!
Danielle – thank you, it tasted amazing too!
Becky – I’m just hoping I could maintain that kind of pace over a long distance. I did feel like I could have kept going but we shall see! Your speeds are so inspiring!
Nicky – thanks for the great comment! Hope you enjoy that curry it is honestly lush!
Kate – thanks! I’m definitely in on the cauldron tofu now! Glad you like hearing about my running, its taken me so long to get to this stage. Good luck for your 10k!
Alison – sometimes a chilled weekend is usually the most unexpectedly awesome thing for me as usually I have so much to do. Glad you enjoyed your yoghurt!
Carrie – glad you had a good run!
cyclicalunemployment – it was nice but not as good as proper white choc!
Flo – oh you’ll have fun once you get a food processor, I use mine all the time!
Jessica – yes the tofu is back in at sainsbos thankfully, although occassionally I notice they will be out of stock sometimes. I got my inserts from 2foot2.co.uk I got the sports othodics and did the Great North Run with them and they were great
SJ – haha, I love those little chop sticks and occassionally use them to stop me gobbling my food down but I usually end up just getting the fork out near the end!
Emma – thanks! Glad you like my outfit and hair :-)
Lisa – I’m sure something unexpectedly awesome happens for you soon!
Jemma – thanks, yes trainers can make such a difference. I didn’t run in the new ones yesterday as I want to wear them in with a shorter run first
Maria – ha, yes I think it just makes you feel a part of something doesn’t it?
Well done on your awesome run. I think fitness improvements are really punctuated – you get better suddenly and then stay the same for a while. It feels so good when you get a great improvement :-)
Well done on your run!
Congrats on your awesome run! I’m new to your blog and I love reading it. So many amazing eats, especially the sesame tart! :D
Your running has come on in leaps and er….bounds, not surprising really as you are so consistent with your food, workouts and stretching/yoga etc.
The tart and the strawberries look amazing. I don’t like sesame but I might try something similar with almond or walnuts. I have a dehydrator that I really should use more often and I see raw tart crust in my future :p
I love those “chopsticks” by the way, I picked up a couple of pairs a couple of months ago and I always use them when eating stir fry type things.
Loving the outfit lady x x
I think I need to move to the UK so you and Jessica (Almost Over Now) can teach me how to make green smoothies that look as delicious as both of yours!
Guess what?? I had my first green smoothie today!
My marathon is at the end of may- Sat 28th Ahhh!
Lovely outfit, lovely food…just a lovely post in general (:
Well done on your brilliant run!
xxxx