New Year eats

I really enjoyed New Years Eve this year. Normally it doesn't excite me, but this year it was chilled out and just nice! And we spent it with some of our favourite people.

The day started with Parkrun, then we went up the coast to see J's auntie and uncle. They're always really happy to see us! We were put to work when we got there, making wontons. They'd already made the filling so it was up to us to wrap them and then steam them. They even made fresh sweet chilli sauce to go with it and it was way better than bottled stuff! That's definitely something we'll be making in the future.

Main course was prawn salad. J's aunt was disappointed in it because the ginger was a bit overpowering but it was still nice. We then had pavlova shells with fruit for dessert.

After a lazy afternoon at their house watching Mt Coolum come and go in the distance (there was a bit of rain around so he disappeared from view at times) it was time to head home.

We were a little bit dubious about dinner. A friend of ours decided to create a roast, that was chicken wrapped in lamb then wrapped in pork. It cooked for about 6 hours, and actually turned out perfectly! They seasoned each layer and had a few different sauces to go with it. plus delicious salty crackling.

It was up to everyone else to bring salad so we had a potato salad, pasta salad (made with lasagne sheets) and green salad. They were all delicious!

It was a struggle to make it to midnight, but we finally got there. Let's say I over-indulged just a little bit in the meantime!

I hope everyone else had a fab new years, and spent it with people who are important in your lives!

Really racing

Sometimes, it all just falls in place.

I ran Parkrun yesterday morning, and while I didn't run a ground-breaking time I'm really happy with the race.

Parkrun is still quite new in Australia, and about 65 people ran yesterday. I ran 6.5km there as a warmup, and wasn't sure how good I was feeling. I went out too hard (like usual) but still at a controlled pace. After about 1km a girl caught up to me and we paced off each other for the next 3km. I could tell she was working hard, and I was making a big effort to control my breathing so that I wouldn't give away that I was working hard myself!

With one km to go I decided to push the pace and see if she'd go with me, and I managed to drop her. I ended up beating her by about 30 sec! I don't often run tactical races so it was good to get the experience.

This week is another 70km week, with 2 big speed sessions and a race. I'm getting stronger!

Last night's motel dinner

This is what happens when I travel a lot! I get sick of eating out so I end up buying whatever takes my fancy at the supermarket. It was a bit small last night but still satisfying.

My run yesterday afternoon was brilliant. I ran a 5km hilly warm up, the 30 min of 1 min on 2 min off, then another hilly 5km at the end. The weather was perfect, it was on a country road and a small storm passed through. I love running in light rain, and the clouds made for an epic sunset! I'm sore now but it was very worthwhile.

Happy New Year for tomorrow night!

Christmas 2011

Christmas really crept up on me this year. I found it really hard to get in the spirit during the build up, and normally I love Christmas! We had a great time, very chilled out. All my present shopping was done online, which meant I ended up buying a few new things for myself as well! I also didn't spend as much on everyone as I normally do, because I couldn't justify it with our huge mortgage. We had my family over for dinner on Christmas eve. I made a pineapple-rum glazed baked ham, a bean and tomato salad, a beetroot salad, and an avocado and mango salad. Plus homemade icecream! It all turned out really well, which is a good thing seeing that I spent about 6 hours in the kitchen! I guess that's to be expected though when I was making all dressings and sauces from scratch. J had to work Christmas morning, but luckily he finished pretty quickly. There was just enough time for me to sleep a bit longer, and then go on an easy 10km run! His family is away so we spent the rest of the day at mum's house. We got a lot of new gardening tools so the plan is to get our veggie patch started. Now to decide what to plant.

Goals for 2012

I normally don't do New Year's resolutions, but I thought this year I'd try putting my goals out in public and see what happens! Number 1: break 20 min for the 5km. My current PB is 21:06 so I need to knock about 10sec/km off, and I really think it's possible! Number 2: race some track 800m/1500m. Partly to have fun and partly because I think they'll hurt a lot, and therefor make the 5km more comfortable. I have absolutely no clue how I'll go! Number 3: mix things up a bit more. I want to do hot yoga once a week, and maybe gymnastics. Plus swimming and cycling (once I've bought a new bike). I also have a non-running goal: to spend more time in Brisbane so I can see my husband more. It's been really hard being away so frequently over the past few months.

Big weeks

Guess what I'm sick of? Being away from home! Since we've moved I have been in Brisbane for one week, plus weekends! At least the money's good.

My running's going fairly well. I had my biggest week ever about 2 weeks ago - I ran 70km. This included some speed work, and a parkrun 5km. I was first female home in 22 minutes. It's a great concept and I've been wanting to do it since they launched in Brisbane but this was my first chance. I ran 6km there and back, and my shoelace came untied about half way through so I'm happy with the time. It was 1 min slower than my pb but right where I thought I'd be!

My diet has only been ok. It's hard to be healthy in a motel room, but I've been making an effort to eat things like raw veggies, tins of tuna etc. Essential travel items for me are these: a light my fire traveling set (bowl, plate, cutting board, spork) and my leatherman knife. Very handy!

This week my legs have felt very heavy and I'm lacking motivation to run. I guess I've been pushing myself a bit with trying to improve my endurance, I just hope it's not going to negatively affect my speed! At least I'm getting better at doing speed work by myself, I really miss my running group right now though!