Friday 12 October 2012

Forced rest days

I've been a bad blogger this week and for that I apologise.  I'm currently curled up on the sofa in my PJ's and an oversized cardigan, nursing a cold that suddenly appeared on Wednesday afternoon.  I hate being sick (seriously - who likes being sick?!), but what I hate even more is when being sick interferes with my training!  I went for a three mile run on Tuesday evening (which rocked, by the way) and Wednesday afternoon the nose started running, my throat felt itchy and scratchy.

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I was due to go to X Fit on Wednesday evening and had every intention of going - but by the time I got home and cooked dinner, it was apparent that I couldn't leave the house without a tissue shoved up my nose, so I texted my friend to say I wasn't coming.  Last night was a similar story - I was due to run 2 miles, but again, knew that running with a cold would be counter productive.  Tonight is my normal scheduled rest day, but I'm still effectively two days behind.

Also, last night (before my run) was supposed to be my induction session at my new gym.  Yes - I have finally caved and joined a gym.  I reckoned that I needed to do something to ensure I could continue to run in the winter - whatever the daylight situation or weather - and the gym (or the treadmill) is the best place for me to do that.  After doing a bit of research I managed to find that the church I used to go to has their own gym with a couple of treadmills, rowing machine, bikes, and various weights.  It's quite basic, but to be honest all I really need to use is the treadmill (but I love rowing, so will doubtlessly use that too), so I thought it was a good solution.  Little did I know that I have found, quite possibly, the cheapest gym in the entire world!  It costs (wait for it) a whopping £25 - FOR A LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP!

Seeing as I plan to continue to run outside as much as possible, I plan to use the gym really only as a last resort - so the cost is seriously a bonus!  But, as I said, I had to postpone my induction until I'm feeling better.  On a positive note, I have 8 weeks until my 5 mile race and so I am actually ahead of schedule with my training.  When I'm well enough to continue with the 8k training, I will finish the programme (which has about 4 weeks left) and then just go straight into 10k training.

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I opened a BIG can of pumpkin the other day.  I found this recipe on Pinterest for Pumpkin Spice waffles and wanted to try this for the kids breakfast - but literally the only can of pumpkin I had in the cupboard was the big 29oz one!  Unfortunately, pumpkin is not something that you can just nip out to the shops to buy here in England - I have to buy it from a special American food stockist on the internet, it's expensive, the shipping is expensive, so normally I just ask my mom to bring a supply over when she visits (about once every two years...).  This was my last can from my mom's last visit.  The waffle recipe called for 1/2 cup, so now, I have all this pumpkin that I'm desperately trying to use up!

I've got a pumpkin cupcake recipe that I'm going to try out tomorrow (with cream cheese frosting - yum!), and I was also toying with the idea of making pumpkin pancakes and freezing them in batches for the kids to just pop in the toaster for an easy breakfast.  The waffles I made were a bit disappointing - I only had a bite but they didn't taste very pumpkiny.  And the funny thing about my kids - neither of them like pumpkin, but neither of them realised that I've been secretly feeding them pumpkin all week (first the waffles, then pancakes - and tomorrow cupcakes!).  English people (well, the ones I know) aren't crazy about pumpkin, but my kids are half American so they will like pumpkin - even if they don't know it! :-)

8 comments:

  1. Sorry about the sickies...but resting is your best bet!! Love that you found a gym and SO cheap! That'll totally help keep you on track in the winter. Though I admit I really despise treadmill running. Cracked UP about the pumpkin...better be checking pinterest out! I know lotsa people use pumpkin in place of oil and eggs for baking?? Oh yes, they WILL like pumpkin....LOL! Sneaky Mom :)

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    1. Thanks Mandie! I made some pumpkin cupcakes yesterday and I'm not kidding Rob had about 8!! I think I'm slowly making them like it!

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  2. I'm really sad you're sick, and excited about the gym (best price EVER, but most of all - I am really sad that you can't get much pumpkin! Tat's the real tragedy here.

    You know what? You don't have to make up your rest days, take them as an extended break, tell yourself the body is repairing and improving your immune system again, and you can pick up where you left off :-).

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    1. Thanks Kate - that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm just starting week five of my 8k training over again tomorrow. I think the cold has nearly gone now and thankfully I was running ahead of schedule anyway :-)

      Well done on your marathon! I hope you're taking a well earned rest!

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  3. HATE forced rest days! Feel better soon:)

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    1. Thanks Leigh - feeling much better now :-) Back on the horse again tomorrow!

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  4. I hope you're feeling better pronto. A couple of says off the plan won't wreck your training. You know you can freeze the pumpkin? Measure it out in small containers (here Glad makes 4 oz. containers with lids) and defrost what you need. (I'm Linda Kuil on Pinterest. Find me!)

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    1. Thanks Linda, feeling much better now. Will check you out on Pinterest - thanks! And thanks for the tip re freezing pumpkin. I used a load yesterday making cupcakes, but still have a ton left!

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