A step back?

After a solid week's training last week I was looking forward to more of the same, but also preparing myself for a challenging week with three job interviews in three days. Monday's club run was scuppered by arriving home late after getting stuck in traffic coming back from the first of these interviews. I ran on Tuesday but didn't enjoy it, struggling the whole way with stitch and a "swishy" stomach after the second interview and a rushed lunch. On a more positive note I received my goodies from Brooks Running which had been kindly sent by Women's Running magazine after I took part in their Great Debate for the March issue. The top and capri tights they sent were a great fit, really comfortable and looked good on. I find some tights too shiny but these looked soft but matt.

 

On Tuesday evening we went to a great pop-up restaurant or "roaming kitchen" concept, which I've profiled in another blog post.

Wednesday was round three of "interview week" and I woke up with a sore throat and itchy ears and nose. The interview was in London and I travelled down on the train along with hundreds of families with children visiting the capital at half-term. After my interview I met up with friends for a few drinks and caught a train back just after 8pm beginning to feel like my cold was properly taking hold and promptly flopping into bed for a very long sleep when I arrived home at about 10:30.

So when I woke up on Thursday I'd pretty much decided that I was going to have to play my joker for Jantastic this week and "be sensible"; giving my body a proper rest and recovery. The only problem with this being my complete inability to pay attention to other aspects of health when the training part goes out of the window... Cue eating "bad food", drinking too much and not doing any stretching, foam-rolling etc. I don't know why I find it so hard, but I do know that this week was made more difficult by Guy being off work too and us having arranged various catch-ups with friends, all involving eating and drinking. Some of it though (yesterday's chocolate bar) was just me, searching for something to comfort myself...

A little ray of sunshine in the form of a lovely competition win appeared on Thursday; I'd entered a Tribesports comp on Facebook and was pleased to have my entry picked to win £100 in vouchers which I'm looking forward to spending on more new kit!

I was intending to travel to London with club on Saturday for the National Cross Country championships but again, decided it was too much - a long day on the coach, a hard run and potential for getting wet and cold just seemed too much too soon so again I rested, making time to watch a film and practice connecting walls for my audition for Only Connect, which is on Friday. I felt quite low though, I think that not running, and particularly missing my mates and the more social aspects of running, is quite hard for me to deal with. I spent a lot of time questioning and doubting my decision not to run, and feeling sad seeing other people's pictures or status updates about their parkrun, training run or XC race. Do other people feel like this too?

As for Sunday's long run, I'm still undecided. I haven't gone out with the usual crew this morning, and whilst I feel a bit better today I'm thinking that I might need just one more day's rest so I can start afresh tomorrow...

Two Cats Roaming pop-up

Our good friends Chris and Emma arranged a night out at a pop-up at Millenium Point and as it's half-term we were looking forward to a few drinks and a late-ish night sampling some Latvian-inspired dishes from chef Nick Astley of Two Cats Roaming. This roaming kitchen had featured in the recommendations in the Birmingham Mail in January and we're always keen to try something a bit different and support local chefs. 

We somehow made our way to 6/8 Kafe in Millenium Point (not a side of town I know particularly well), where there were just a handful of small tables arranged for the pop-up. We nibbled on some interesting borshch-flavoured cashews (two of my favourite things before the first course was even served!) along with bread that came in a cute little brown bag to the table and some very nice butter. There was also smoked pork fat which Chris and Guy were very clearly enjoying with their bread (as Emma and I are pescetarian the boys got to eat twice as much!)

A canapé followed which was a sort of linseed crispbread topped with oyster cream, the overall taste was reminiscent of the sea, but not like anything I've tried before.

The next course proper was a truffle porridge which was described as "comfort food"; Emma & I had this as a later course and instead enjoyed delicious goats cheese dumplings, called Pelmeni. These were served with a light onion broth and edible flowers.

The next course was exquisite scallops with kohlrabi and buttermilk. The sharp, slightly sour taste of the buttermilk was an unusual, yet perfect complement to the scallops; one of my favourite dishes of the evening.

Next for us pesky pescetarians came the celeriac and truffle porridge; a very comforting combination of ingredients, but if I'm honest it was a bit dry in texture, rather than the creamy consistency I had imagined. The boys really enjoyed the pigeon with Brussels sprouts, Guy said it was "nicely cooked; moist" and admired the use of the whole bird.

 

The palate-cleanser, frozen sorrel leaves dusted with icing sugar, was reminiscent of the treat of dipping raw rhubarb sticks into sugar in my grandparents' garden... A real treat from my youth, but a likeness my fellow diners were baffled by!

The first dessert, milk ice-cream with swede granita and dill, was extremely well executed - vegetables in desserts are currently enjoying a moment, but I was surprised by how good a swede sweet could be. It didn't feel  like a trend being followed, just a really good balance of flavours.

I loved the texture of the next dessert, a light hibiscus tea mousse, with a sticky meringue and chervil. The meringue was made with kvass, which I think is a sort of beer made with rye bread (I'd had quite a lot of the "bring-your-own" wine by this stage though; must remember to take better notes when the cuisine is unfamiliar!)  

For someone with a sweet tooth, the profiterole with chocolate soil was a really indulgent treat to finish on. Presented in a flower-pot, looking like a potato fresh from the soil; this was a fun note to finish on, in keeping with the low-key, informal atmosphere. I did try to maintain some dignity by not tipping the pot of soil up to get the last morsels of chocolate out of the pot; but couldn't resist a surreptitious dip with my finger... 

Following the recent controversy over Giles Coren's comments about the Birmingham food scene reported here, the best we can hope is that inventive, confident cooking such as this continues to thrive in the region. It is the best way to disprove the doubters. We look forward to the next appearance of the roaming cats soon...

A few days away and an unexpected running streak

Another week has passed and I'm writing on Sunday, knowing Monday will be a busy day. I had a few days in the Algarve this week, staying at my Aunt's lovely cottage in a village called Almadena, near to Burgau. I usually run on Monday evening and had intended to run in the morning, knowing we'd be travelling later, but as always, packing took longer than expected and I ended up not running at all on Monday. The weather on Tuesday was dreadful, with a thunderstorm in the morning and continual rain, so we took ourselves off to the shopping centre in Portimao. There were a few bargains to be had, and I treated myself to new arm-warmers and a buff in the Asics shop, as well as some sweatbands, amongst other non-running stuff.

I'd put my running gear in the car, in the hope that the weather would improve, and it seemed to lift a bit when we called in at the supermarket on the way home, so I changed in the car and set off down the straight road from Lagos. Unfortunately the weather got steadily worse and it was also dark. I was feeling a bit concerned/lost when my aunt and cousin pulled up alongside me in the car after just four miles, so I abandoned the run (anything over 30 mins counts for Jantastic, and satisfying the five runs per week target was the main goal!)

We decided to check out a Zumba class later that evening, and, having read somewhere that dancing classes are good cross-training opportunities for runners, I have to say, I felt I'd had a good workout! 

On Wednesday morning my trainers were still damp from the night before but it was a dry day at least and so I headed down to Bergau to see the sea. I enjoyed the run though countryside and along the cobbled streets of the town as the sun tried its best to put in an appearance.

Later, we walked a few miles along the beach at Lagos and earnt our lunch of pasta and garlic bread, but probably not the cakes we bought at the bakery; good job holiday calories don't count!

Thursday's weather was glorious (for February!) so we drove to Sagres to visit the lighthouse there. Again I'd packed running gear and ran in the middle of the day for part of the journey home. Once showered and changed we went to Praia da Luz for a late lunch including the delicious sardines which are a speciality of the region.

We returned to our Zumba class on Thursday night and I pledged to include some more Zumba in my training plan on my return; it's a great mix of cardio, some interesting squats and lunges as part of the dancing, as well as being a good test of co-ordination and great fun! We popped to a local bar for a rehydrating beer afterwards.

Even though I'd already done three runs, I couldn't resist throwing in a last run in Portugal on Friday morning. I'd seen a road leading up from the village and decided to run to the top of the hill and back, just to enjoy a great view of a wind farm and the sunrise. I listened to the interview with Gemma Steel on Marathon Talk as I ran, and by coincidence she described her training in the Algarve over recent weeks and how it had reignited her love of running. It seemed entirely apt to leave on that note.

Back in the UK on Saturday I realised I was in the middle of a running streak as Friday would usually be a rest day. As I was in Wolverhampton I went to parkrun there and wasn't too disappointed with a 25:13 run after a week of eating and drinking, especially since I was chatting so much I ended up starting right at the back of the pack.

This morning I still had a long run to complete to meet my Jantastic target, even after running for five days in a row, which I never do. I met the usual crew at Drakes Cross and set off, planning on completing at least 15 miles. My legs felt sluggish for the first few miles, but as usual, the chat with my buddies helped to pass the time and I soon found myself at eight miles deciding it was time to turn around. Miles 13 and 14 were tough, but we got through it, trying not to think about our marathons and how we'd only be halfway at that point!

A bath, a generous application of Deep Heat and my compression socks were called for when I got home and whilst the mileage was down overall on previous weeks I reflected on a solid week's training. I'm still on 100% for Jantastic and feeling pretty good; looking forward to the arrival of Spring and some better running weather... 

Starting afresh...

So, only six weeks late if you like your New Year's Resolution to start at the beginning of January, I'm finally getting around to starting (or, restarting) my blog. The resolution was to "make blogging a habit" though so I'm not patting myself on the back just yet!

Speaking of resolutions, I'm doing pretty well with the other two, although progress is somewhat hard to measure. The marathon training is going well, I'm 5 weeks into Jantastic and riding high at 100%, having completed my 5 runs per week and my distance target in the first week of February. I've been increasing the long runs and am up to 15 miles. Since I'm not aiming for a time in Manchester I've not done much speed-work; relying on the odd parkrun, cross-country and tune-up race really. The focus is consistency and, with my injury history, making the start-line in one piece is more important than reaching the finish line in a given time. I've also managed to fit in at least one Yoga class each week (as well as my usual Tuesday night Iyengar class I've tried out a few Hotpod Yoga classes for a change) and a couple of strength sessions (mainly Davina DVDs using weights). 

In the Hotpod...

The other resolution was to be on a TV quiz show (this has been a resolution most years on and off for the last few years!) Well let's just say an application has been submitted, so fingers crossed!
In other news I'm on my way to Portugal for a few days with my aunt and cousin. The trainers were the first things to be packed and I'm also hoping to fit in a Yoga class there too. I had a really busy weekend with XC, then a night out to see a gig on Saturday (quite a late night for me!) So a few days relaxation is in order...

Training Diary (2nd - 8th February)

Monday - BvH Club Run, Parsons Nose
Tuesday - workout DVD (am), Iyengar Yoga (pm)
Wednesday - LSR, 15 mile canal run
Thursday - BvH Club Run, Northfield
Friday - workout DVD
Saturday - XC league race
Sunday - 9 miles steady River Rea

My collection of workout DVDs