food
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Jodie Abacus – Halfway to Mexico
Jamie Woon – Forgiven – just shut your eyes and enjoy
Eats!
There isn’t anything that a good breakfast cannot fix. On a grey Monday morning Paulie and I took a short cycle over to Ozone Coffee in Shoreditch for a quick breakfast date. I had heard a lot about this place and luckily it had been said that the coffee was of a very high standard too (important to one of us ;D) – we were not disappointed. We were quickly seen to and given seats over looking the exposed central kitchen which made for amazing views, though choosing our breakfast was very hard as everything looked fantastic!!
I, of course, opted for their seeded granola with ginger yogurt and cox apples. It was dreamy! The granola did not taste in the least bit sugary (I find a lot of granolas are coated in honey and are a little too sweet for my liking) but instead provided just the right amount of nutty, crunchy goodness. The cox apple compote was a perfect seasonal touch (I constantly crave apple crumble in Autumn) and worked well with the ginger yogurt! Honestly, this was one of the best bowls of granola I have had in a while, and I have had a lot of granola recently!
Paulie opted for poached eggs on “The Dusty Knucle seeded sourdough”
Now this may not look like much but the eggs were perfectly poached – it’s amazing how many places struggle to provide a runny yolk – and the herbs worked perfectly to make, I quote “some of the best eggs I have ever had”.
All in all our experience in Ozone was fantastic and extremely reasonably priced. We may have also grabbed one of the cinnamon and raisin morning buns on the way out … OH MY DAYS! Ozone, we will be back!
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
Ok so ignore the fact that this is a man’s shirt … I popped into the Adidas Original store the other day and this was just staring at me! It it just a plain white shirt with covered in some of the more jazzy Adidas trainers. It’s adorable and I love it!
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Jamie Woon in the Live Lounge – HIS VOICE!
The Weeknd ft Ed Sheeran – Dark Times
SG Lewis ft. JP Cooper – Shivers
Eats!
I was recently asked whether I wanted to try some cooking sauces and not just any cooking sauces – protein filled cooking sauces! Now as my runs are getting more intensive and my love for swinging around heavy kettlebells is growing I thought, why not, as we all know that protein is good for us and that apparently most of us do not get enough in our diet!
So, firstly we tried the “Spanish Tomato & Chorizo”
We baked a sweet potato and then stir fried some kale, broccoli and aubergine, adding the sauce (you have to mix the powder with hot water) once everything had softened. TA DAH …. as simple as that.
My opinion: I really enjoy the sauce on the veggies, I couldn’t really taste the chorizo all that much but it did help to create a really tasty, warming meal and with the sauce it ensured I was getting 20grams of protein without the addition of any meat / pulses. Also worth mentioning it was very filling!
The second attempt “Thai Jungle Curry”
For this we boiled some brown rice, whilst mixing the sauce with chickpeas, peppers, chicken and broccoli.
My opinion: So the sauce really does give a curry feel, you can really taste the coconut in it, and Paulie loved it. For me however it was not my favourite sauce, I much preferred the tomato based sauce but maybe that is just a taste preference.
So, these sauces are dairy free, suitable for vegetarians and vegans with no preservatives or anything artificial. Currently you can buy them online in 990gram tins (18 servings) for under £20 which works out pretty reasonable for a pre-made sauce. Now I personally much prefer to make my own sauces BUT if I was looking for a quick fix I actually would not hesitate at all to cook with these sauces again. Super simple and got to get that protein in right? ;D
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
I recently went to an event which was held in Harrods sports department and apart from all the free food / drink I also “spotted” these …
Adidas Originals – SLIM SUPERGL TP
Yes there are tracksuit bottoms but they are amazing and they even have a matching tshirt and a jacket! In fact most of the stuff that Adidas have bought out this season is pretty impressive, so many good colours and prints! I don’t need more lycra but …
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Eats!
As I mentioned in my post about cycling from London to Paris one of the most important things whilst on the road was to ensure that we just kept “having a nibble”. This meant ensuring our bodies had plenty of fuel to keep us going up some pretty serious French hills! One of my favourite snacks along the way were 9bars, and most of my friends will tell you I am a little obsessed with these yummy, seedy snacks.
9bars are a high fibre, gluten free, mixed seed energy bar, where the seeds actually make up to around 71% of the bar itself. If you didn’t already know seeds are a great source of plant protein and are also rich in essential fatty acids and high in Omega 3 – sounds pretty good right!
I have found these bars perfect for my long rides as they seem to fuel my legs and are actually pretty filling! It’s also worth mentioning that they have an incredible amount of different flavours ….
Personally my favourites are from are their “Cocoa Kick” range, previously known at the “Indulge range”. These bars have an gorgeous layer of yummy cocoa mixed with either raspberry, cashew, coconut or hazelnut. I don’t know how many raspberry bars I got through whilst in France ;D
And on top of being a pretty tasty they have now teamed up with UK charity SolarAid, who provide solar lights to those who need them most in Africa, so every time you buy a bar you are providing energy elsewhere giving “good energy, twice”. So many reasons to try all the flavours ;D
PS. Just wanted to say a little thank you to 9bar who kindly gave me a couple of bars to try ahead of my long ride, I have been a fan of 9bar for ages now and was extremely grateful to receive a few more before I started on those 200+ miles!!
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
Can we just dicsuss these flip flops !!!
Havaianas have released 3 different types of Snoopy flip flops and well we all know exactly where I am going before I fly off to France next week … but just which one to pick!
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
A couple of artists I have been enjoying …
Eats!
For weeks and weeks I have cycled up Pitfield Street in Hoxton and noticed a couple of lovely foodie spots that I have been desperate to try. On Wednesday after jumping off the Eurostar after a few miles of cycling (more on this soon ;D) I knew exactly where I wanted to go for a well earned breakfast!
Walking into Friends of Ours you are greeted by a clean, simple interior and extremely relaxing music – perfect for breakfast time! The pastries looked divine and my partner in crime couldn’t stop staring at the fancy coffee things … I don’t drink coffee but apparently it is good (high praise indeed!). The breakfast menu offers everything a breakfast lover could want from avo, to porridge, to fritters!
As a fan of lots of different things I went for the “All Aboard” – poached egg on sourdough toast (the egg was perfect), the granola with coconut yogurt (I didn’t even have to ask if there was a dairy free alternative) perfectly poached fruit AND a glass of OJ. I also ordered some avo on the side … it came … in a MASSIVE bowl and I couldn’t finish it – unheard of! Paulie ordered the “Breakfast skillet” with chorizo, feta, eggs, beans + + +. It looked amazing!
All in all we both adored this place. The service really was lovely and the vibe was relaxed, friendly and well just nice. The food was gorgeous and I did spot carrot cake being brought out as we were leaving … for another time I think as this place also does amazing salads so I hear!
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
Last night I was lucky enough to have a sneak peak at Brooks new A/W collection and I have to say as someone who hasn’t really worn much of their apparel I was really impressed. Some of my favourite things …
“Racey 3.5′ short“. In my sprint sets this morning they stayed in place, they stored my iphone5 and keys in the back pockets without causing me any bother (now this may have been down to the fact that I was concentrating more on catching my breath but still I thought this was pretty good!) and the colour is fab, though slightly highlighting my cycle short tan!
“LSD Jacket” The jacket is a light weight, windproof and water resistant that conveniently packs away and has a wearable elastic band to carry it whilst out. Now I wasn’t convinced that if you got too hot whilst wearing this jacket that you could just quickly pack it away and use the elastic band to just carry it on your arm. HOWEVER, on a lovely little 5km jog around Regent’s Park I did just that. Still running I took my jacket off and packed it away and then popped it on my arm, waiting for it to start moving, bouncing or just generally annoy me but it just didn’t, it stayed put and I barely noticed it. Now I am not saying I could run a marathon with it on but still I was impressed, plus the colour is gorgeous!
“Fly-By Sweatshirt” Firstly this sweatshirt feels amazing, just amazing and it’s reversible! Now who doesn’t love a reversible product! It’s quilted, cosy, and has thumbholes … enough said.
All in all I really was genuinely impressed with how the garments looked, felt and most importantly performed and will very much be keeping my eye on what they bring out next!
(ps Brooks were super kind to offer me the opportunity to test out some of their products but the opinions are totally, 100% my own!)
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Tchami ft Kaleem Taylor – Promesses
MNEK – The Rhythm (Little Simz Remix)
Nicki Minaj ft. Drake & Lil Wayne – Truffle Butter
Eats!
Maison Bertaux – 28 Greek Street, London W1D 5DQ
Unless the restaurant I am eating has an amazing dessert list I much prefer going to a second venue for sweet things. Mainly because there are so many places in London I want to try so this “kills two birds with one stone”. Last week I finally got to try Maison Bertaux, apparently London’s oldest patisserie! You cannot miss the window which is filled to the brim of INCREDIBLE LOOKING cakes. We of course got two and shared as it was far too difficult to chose just one.
Baked Cheesecake and some sort of creamy, spongey, cakey thing. The baked cheesecake was wonderful, with a weird and wonderful crumbly top but our agreed favourite was the spongey, creamy thing. This little (it wasn’t little) beauty was rammed with incredibly fresh fruit and was surprisingly light! Accompanied with a large helping of mint tea I loved the overall experience in this mix matched tea room which looks right out onto the streets of Soho. The cakes were beautiful to look at and to taste and the views were pretty entertaining to! I would happily recommend it to anyone with a sweet tooth!
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
Ok so we all know I am a bit of a sucker for sportswear, especially when it is super affordable and Missguided cropped up the other day with a few interesting things …
I just might have to get that vest … shop the collection here …
It’s dark in the Arctic Circle
Returning from my last minute trip to New York back in November I had an email from fellow Northern friend Alex which read …
“You like mad ideas. How about this? Midnight Sun Marathon : Polar Night Halfmarathon”
Running, in the Arctic circle, with 24 hours of darkness, snow and ice, below freezing temperatures … oh ok then!
Arriving into Tromsø you are greeted by the most beautiful main street lit up by rows and rows of red lights in the shape of hearts and in the background you can just make out the landscape filled with impressive snowy mountains, so far so good!
We were staying at the Clarion Aurora Hotel, just off the main street (I will write more on this in another post). Tromsø isn’t that big but it was an absolute treat to be a 3 minute walk away from where we had to collect our bibs. Similar to our journey to the building, collecting the packs themselves was the most relaxed “registration” I have ever experienced.
Bibs collected it was time to make some decisions about footwear and clothing. As well as packing every different kind of layer I could think of I had also brought two pairs of shoes, my trusty trail shoes as well as my marathon shoes with attachable “yaxtrax“. It is worth mentioning that every bit of ground is either covered in thick black ice or snow, slippery snow. It is rare to find a clear bit of path in Tromsø.
I will admit that to collect my bib I wore one of each shoe to test them out and this proved that the yaxtrax were going to be essential! With this decision made off Alex and I went for a short little jog around town just to make sure that we could actually run with these random spike things!?!
2:30pm came around really quickly and if I am honest I was actually quite nervous, this race was going to offer completely alien conditions that I just had not been able to train for – proper snow, THICK black ice and total darkness in the middle of the day! By 1pm, for someone who is used to seeing “day” and then “night”, you feel very confused about what time of day it is and whether you should be tired, or thinking going to bed?! Not the best feelings before a 13.1 mile race! Also kit wise it was tricky to know how many layers to add. I had proper winter tech stuff from Nike, a winter running jacket from Lululemon as well as leg warmers and glow sticks ;D. In the end I went for everything … EVERYTHING!
All kitted out we made our way to start line (also 2 minutes from our hotel) to join around 500 other runners taking part in a seriously high energy warm up to some pumping dance tracks!
As we crossed the start line it was clear that everyone had spikes on, everyone. They really are essential for this race which initially takes you up the one and only main street in the Tromsø along an extremely icy road. About a mile later you take a left and then you treated to a truly beautiful race backdrop. For the next 3 miles or so you meander around a residential area, guided by large candles. The buildings here look like gorgeous gingerbread houses, complete with snowy roofs and Christmas decorations, it’s just so pretty. Up and down (yes there were some pretty interesting hills in this race, more interesting than normal due to the icy paths) turning left and right you then are brought out to a road on the edge of the island, looking out to the Atlantic Ocean, once again providing incredible views whilst running.
Along the route I was extremely surprised by how many people turned out to support the race. It was dark, it was cold and it was about to snow A LOT and yet there were people of all ages out along the route! Seriously this race was just amazing! Mile 5 -8 saw us come up towards the airport, traffic was actually stopped for us so we could cross main roads, planes took off right over our heads and supporters still kept appearing along the route!
Now due to the size of Tromsø this race actually does 6 miles one way, circles two large roundabouts and then you head back back following the same path. Usually I wouldn’t be thrilled by this but the whole experience was just so incredible you barely noticed.
Heading back towards my favourite section, the residential area, it started to snow A LOT. Another essential item – waterproof clothing. Alex and I were both absolutely covered in huge white flakes, sadly the photos don’t do any justice for this!
What was also a life saver at this point was a handwarmer. The actual day of the race was relatively mild compared to the -12 temperature we had been experiencing (which felt like -18 due to windchill). We had set off at around -1 / -2 but on our way back the wind picked up and the snow was relentless. Now for anyone who runs with me knows my fingers are extremely annoying, I often run with double gloves, and well they were starting to go just ever so slightly numb so having that hand warmer was HEAVEN!
Reading about this race it was mentioned that you should expect to finish 20-30 minutes slower than your normal pace. With a mile to go, and almost at exactly the same time, Alex and I looked at our watches and were quite shocked to see the numbers on our watches. Coming into the main street again we were greeted by those gorgeous lights and even larger crowds cheering us on.
Giving it our final push we crossed the line at 1.57 with stupidly big smiles! I can honestly say this race was the most beautiful race I have ever done. Not only was this race beautiful but it was just such good fun! I adored running with Alex who humoured me, saying that we were just taking it at “party pace” (Alex is an incredibly speedy runner so this will have been super slow for him) but we chatted the entire way round and had a great time interacting with all the supporters along the route.
Post race we were treated to a banana, water and the best hot juice I have ever tasted! We headed over to one of the fires to stay warm whilst we stretching. This was something to mention! Stretching was INCREDIBLY difficult, even trying to lunge was a huge effort! We found a post to elevate our legs and I can only imagine how ridiclous we must have looked just trying to get our legs up!
If you ever have the opportunity to do this race DO IT! Without wanting to keep repeating myself this was a truly amazing experience and I loved every single minute of it! Yes it’s dark, yes it’s cold and yes it is EXTREMELY slippy under foot but these are all things that can be easily combated with proper kit! Thank you Tromsø for a truly epic experience.
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
So I think it’s only right that we celebrate Christmas (particularly as I am now off work ;D) so favourite Christmas songs? Some of my top Christmas requests are …
Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas
Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You
Eats!
Sainsbury’s “Festive” Sausage and Cranberry Rolls!
So I have insider information about Sainsbury’s Christmas products and when I heard that sausage rolls stuffed with cranberry existed I knew I had to try them! I love a good sausage roll and cranberry sauce is a HUGE treat for me during the Christmas period! So after a long night of enjoying red wine you can imagine my happiness of walking into Sainsburys and seeing these guys and at a discounted price!!!
YUM! This was definitely a good little treat particularly as it was still warm! Potentially could do with a little more cranberry sauce for my liking but that’s just me!
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
Ok so it’s Beyonce’s clothing line and she is talking about cake … all the cake
What’s not to love!
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Kiesza ft Joey Bad A$$- Bad Thing
Jessie Ware – Kind Of…Sometimes…Maybe (J Cole Remix)
Eats!
Tucked away on Foley Street you can find a gorgeous little cafe filled with extremely friendly staff and pretty incredible food. I visited this place for the first time this week and I will most definitely be going back … to try their cake! They offer an extremely beautiful selection of vegetarian salads – mine included roasted beetroot, parsnip and artichoke with spinach as well as quiches and aubergine stacks and their portion sizes meant that even I couldn’t finish my plate of salad!!!!! For the coffee heads out there they even hunt down various specialty coffees which they rotate every few months! Basically I think this place will definitely become one of my new favourite lunch spots!!! YUM
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
I am in love with this sports bra from Forever 21, IN LOVE! Definitely not one for long runs but perfect for gym sessions! Forever21 really do have a great selection of gym clothes for women and at pretty December friendly (no money) prices too ;D
Race Report: Mo’Run 2015
Date/Time: Saturday 29th November
Location: Greenwich Park
Distance: 10km … and all the hills!
Last year I did this event and I loved it as a race, this year I did it again and I stick by my initial thoughts – this is a great event!
MoRunning happens all around the country proudly supporting Movember and their fundraising for Men’s Health and in particular Prostate Cancer UK. Plenty of people attack this race as a serious course but there are also plenty of people in fantastic (?!) fancy dress outfits, donning impressive “mo”s running just to enjoy the day.
Turning up at this race I was excited, with an incredible 167 people from Run Dem Crew running I imagined spotting “Run Dem” tshirts all along the route and the noise through CheerDem was going to be insanely loud! (I wasn’t wrong!)
One of the many things I love about this race is the simple start. It certainly helped having our race numbers all in one area – big up to Glenn for sorting that. But there was no huge queue at bag drop, before or after! There were toilets all over the place, no queuing there either and we didn’t have to queue up hours before the start!
I sort of wanted to see if I could get a solid PB of sub 50 on this 10km knowing full well that with hills this would be very presumptuous but why the heck not try. Plus I was lucky enough to have Steph pacing me so off we went. Now the course follows the many pathways around the beautiful area that is Greenwich Park but unfortunately these are not made for 100s of runners so the first 1km or so was all about weaving in and out with a little bit of trail running in between ;D. Once out of the bulk of people started the hills. Downhill first, which was lovely as it was the start of passing so many Run Dem tshirts and a whole load of hi-fives. I adore being apart of this family as it is just super supportive. Regardless of how well you know each member the support and encouragement is there and that is priceless!
As well as spotting a lot of familiar faces it is worth mentioning the absolutely incredible marshals along the route. It was like these guys were sent to a special training school about how to be incredibly helpful whilst being super supportive! Every single marshal I passed was either dancing, singing, shouting words of encouragement or well just being flippin’ brilliant and it made my day! So thank you guys!
It should be said that yes most the race was spent with the goofy smile on my face, once I had removed the tash (which at the time felt like I inhaled everytime I breathed in) but those hills were no joke. In a 10km you really want to push. It’s a “shorter” distance when you compare it to a half marathon / marathon but trying to push and trying to overcome long, steep hills is no smiling matter. As Steph kept reminding me “it’s all about the arms” and well if nothing else it has reminded me how important hill training is! OUCH!
Passing Crew Dem at the top of the hill, heading down the atmosphere was electric and definitely helped add speed to the legs, however what goes down must come up. Cheer Dem had positioned themselves at the top of what I felt was the steepest hill along on the route. Getting to the bottom after flying down and having to turn back around was definitely a shock to the system as you now had to battle back up the hill and then of course put your game face on passing back through Cheer Dem. The hill was hard, it was steep, it was at the end of the lap (or at the finish if you were on your second lap) and well did I mention it was steep? Knowing that at the top was the CheerDem family it gave you that extra boost and you just gritted your teeth and got on with it! So thank you to all the Run Dem Cheer family for giving all us runners that extra boost when we needed it most!
Crossing the finish line I discovered I was just off grabbing that PB but to be honest I was ecstatic to have gotten so close, particularly when my PB was achieved on a super flat course! As we finished we were handed a pot of Wheyhey Banoffee Protein Ice Cream, which I pretty much inhaled, a bag of popchips and a bottle of water. Then of course the medal ….
This race really does have a fantastic medal!
All in all I would definitely recommend this race! It is just a truly lovely atmosphere, with fantastic volunteers and in an extremely beautiful setting. Bring on next year!
PS Greenwich Market does supply some incredible post race cakes ;D!
Race Report: NYC Marathon
Date/Time: Sunday 2nd November 2014
Location: New York
Distance: 26.2 miles
So I had always hoped for a “Marathon Miracle”. I had taken the expression #YOLO on board and randomly booked my flights to New York so why not see if I could try and get a spot in one of the (in my mind) greatest road marathons in the world as I was going to be there for it! Well the day before the New York City Marathon my spot was confirmed and I was about to set off and run my second ever marathon!
I would usually do a full race recap but if I am completely honest the whole thing is still a little bit of a blur and I am still in shock that I actually did it so instead I thought I would share with you what I learnt during my second marathon…
Remember this is what you do
When my space was confirmed I spoke to my parents to ask if I could really do this. My first and only other marathon I took extremely seriously, followed my training plan to the letter, looked at what I was eating, stopping drinking, got super stressed/nervous etc etc etc. The only other person I spoke to about whether or not it was a stupid decision to run this last minute marathon was my roomie in New York, a fellow runner and someone I trust to say it like it is. His response “I will not be impressed if you run the marathon, you should be able to run this distance, you train, you run, this should not be difficult for you”. Now this was quite hard to hear, I know what he was trying to say but to me a marathon is, and always will be, a HUGE DEAL. However, he was right. Week in, week out I am always training. I LOVE to run, whether it be with my crew, by myself, to work, on the track, I adore running, there is something about it that just gives me a super goofy smile. I am also loving my strength training, my muscles are growing and I doing my best to feed them to help make my body grow from strength to strength. Yes 26.2 miles is a lot further than I have ran in a long time but I train hard, so in theory I should be able to do this…right?
Just another weekend run
The night before the marathon instead of hyper ventilating, checking my kit 101 times I just reminded myself this is just another weekend run. Every single weekend I run with friends, granted sometimes it is just a 5km parkrun but it’s a run just the same, and well this was a weekend and I was going to be running with friends … nearly 50,000 other friends. During the marathon I just reminded myself this is what I look forward to and do every weekend, I run and at the end there will be food … and a marathon means there will be all sorts of food. Plus I am in NEW YORK, the food will be insane!
Never think of it as 26.2 miles
This marathon has a marker every single mile, great to know where you are but extremely tempting to count down from 26 miles! DONT! During my last marathon I started by counting down “parkruns”. A marathon is roughly 8 parkruns, nice, fun parkruns. Once you get to 8 miles it’s just two more of those and a bit. By mile 16 you have 10 miles to go and you can definitely start counting down. There were a few times during the run that I got a little overwhelmed about what I was doing, I was actually attempting to run 26.2 without “official” training what was I thinking, and then I would remind myself to think of it in short sections and just keep going.
Let the crowds help you
The crowds for the New York City Marathon are just amazing, and I mean AMAZING! I honestly don’t know if I would have got round the course if it wasn’t for the incredible people of New York cheering like they were. I know a lot of people listen to music whilst they are running and I definitely had my headphones with me just in case but during the full 26.2 miles I instead took in the sights and sounds around me, never actually using my music. There was no way I was going to give up with all that support surrounding me, I imagine that is what London feels like, it’s just incredible to see so many people and have them wishing you well every step you take, just incredible!
When I crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon believe me I was just as in shock as everyone of my gorgeous friends when they saw my finishing line picture! But I did it, I actually did it and I am extremely (shocked) pleased to say that I was fine the next day. Now I am not saying that marathons should not be taken seriously, they definitely should, it is an extremely long distance and not one to be tried off the cuff. But this race for me was never going to be about time, in fact I didn’t even have my watch, this was about taking part in something amazing, exploring a new city and doing something I love to do every single weekend. Now my next planned marathon is in Barcelona and I plan to follow a training plan and try my best to achieve a quicker time but for me the New York City Marathon was an absolutely incredible, once in a life time experience and taught me that the body really is an incredible thing!
Run Round Town 