This edition of things I'm loving lately, will probably be highly influenced by my new uni life. The fact I'm living on strict budget, means you definitely appreciate the little things more! 1. Grapes Okay, okay, I know this is a weird one but I treat myself to grapes every week, usually on Monday and they last two days if I'm lucky... but normally its really less than 24 hours. I tend to have half in the evening after dinner and then the other half of the pallet in the morning with my breakfast and they are just great. When I come home, my mum always knows to have some grapes waiting for me! 2. Team Bath Sports Centre A big reason why I chose Bath uni was because of their amazing gym facilities... I mean its pretty impressive. I was pretty quick to buy my gym membership when I got to the uni, which initially I was unsure I was going to do, after the pretty hefty £280 price tag. I am pleased to say this was a well worthy investment. I have made full use of the free yoga, circuits, spin and pilates classes which come free with it. However, I went to one yoga class and it was honestly the most exhausting thing I have ever been too. I came out, not exactly relaxed but so tired I needed to go to bed (it was at 7pm on a Sunday, so kind of justifiable). The swimming pool, is actually a pool of dreams, having a 50m pool on my doorstep is certainly something I am not taking for granted. 3. Running I have such a love for running and over the last 10 months, injuries, exams and stress have really tested my patience. Thankfully my body all seems to be in one piece at the moment and I am enjoying every run. I'm exploring new routes in Bath, but also when I went home it felt so nice to run on my home routes. As many of you will know is that, since being at Bath I have picked up rowing, this is a huge commitments but something I am absolutely loving. The great thing is, running is part of my training for rowing as it is such a great way of keeping fit. This is no means the end of my running, I'm excited to be signed up to a few XC races this season, because nothing can take away my love of running, however much I love rowing too. 4. Uni meals... okay this isn't so much of something I'm loving, but more something I want to discuss. So for my first 6 weeks of uni, I have got through with some fine cooking, nothing great but also nothing bad. Everything I am making is just so bland. So, my challenge for the next few weeks is to try cooking with some more exciting flavours, I am planning on buying some onions and garlic. Plus, I have bought chilli oil, curry paste and hopefully I'll be able to get some teriyaki sauce soon too. I am going to be using some of Jamie Olivers recipes which have only 5 ingredients, to try and keep it simple but add a bit of fun to my meals. Here's a selection of some of my meals so far... which are a little bit boring but healthy (I've been getting my protein, carbs and veg in each meal too).
1 Comment
In mid December I went on holiday to Miami to get some much needed vitamin D and it was my first trip away with just my sister, which I was super excited about! I have saved this post until now because as the evenings are starting to get lighter and the small prospect of warm weather is in sight... sort of, okay not really. Anyway I thought I'd do a blog of what I got up to whilst on holiday and some helpful tips for staying motivated when away. America is always hard with jet lag and Miami was a four hour change, my sister and I found ourselves getting pretty exhausted early in the evening and I would be lying if I said we didn't go to bed at like 6pm on the first night. Personally I actually quite enjoyed going to bed early because it meant we woke up super early. When it comes to running whilst away I found it easiest to get my run done in the morning for many reasons. Firstly because it was the coolest part of the day and I am not a fan of running in the peak of the heat as I basically die. Secondly because if I left it until the afternoon then I was exhausted after having lied on a sun bed or walked about 10km around Miami. What I can say for sure about running on holiday is that it great because you can go and explore where you are staying a pass places that you might not have seen otherwise. In Miami it was great because there was a path along the beach for 7km and running along this made for some amazing views. It was great that the hotel I was staying at had a great gym and I was able to give some exercises a go which... well, I had never tried before. Like climbing up a rope. After seeing on Mo Farah's story his young twins doing this with ease, I naively thought it would be easy... however this was not the case. I failed miserable, lets just say I was better at the monkey bars. Even if where you are staying doesn't have a gym, this doesn't need to stop you from still hitting some great workouts which you can do with no equipment. In America I also had the chance to try some new foods and I discovered America have so much more choice. After hunting down a whole foods (my favourite place ever) we came back with some very exciting new goodies... I thought so anyway. I got some cliff bars (flavours you can't get in the UK) and lots of fresh fruit to keep in our room. But, my food discovery which I am still loving now was an acai bowl. I have heard plenty about these but only when I was at a cafe which was selling them, did I branch out and try one. If you haven't had one, I would describe it as a sort of frozen/ smoothie sorbet like thing and then I had lots of blueberries, granola, coconut and almond butter on top. This breakfast was like a dream and I need to find a recipe for it, to make at home! Looking back on photos now makes me seriously crave some sun, especially now as I am back to my usual paleness. There is hope though as we are edging further and further out of winter. The daffodils have started to come out on my road which is always nice to see! I know it has been a busy weekend of racing with BUCs and schools inter counties going on, so I hope everyones went well.
Love G x Hey, I’m Ruth! I have written a few posts for several blogs now and I’m big social media fan but for those who haven’t stumbled across me before, I’m an 18-year-old dental student in my first year at Leeds university. Oh, I LOVE to run too! I was really excited when Grace asked if I would write a guest post and even more so when she suggested If I would discuss my life juggling running and a dental degree- my two greatest passions! So far my time being a student athlete has brought about so many fantastic opportunities from representing the university in some amazing races to already being let loose on a real dental clinic! Ofcourse, uni as an athlete hasn’t been without its tough times either. I can work or train far too hard and feel incredibly tired without my parents or coaches right at the side line to help me through. At uni I often feel like I’m forced to make the choice between fully committing myself to running or being ‘half in, half out’ (training hard and partying hard). Full commitment means missing out on a typical uni social life but knowing you couldn’t have worked any harder towards running. The ‘half in, half out’ choice entails experiencing a rigorous running regime alongside a student life but neither of them to the fullest. With aims in marathon/ ultra-running at a much older age I opted for the later. Despite choosing the half in half out option, with parties for students most nights you tend to feel like the odd one out. You have to discipline yourself to go to bed before your race the next morning and at that point it’s so easy to only see the good in other people’s lives. You can start doubting your intention to train and question ‘what am I doing?!’ To me, that’s just about where the self-doubt stops. Everytime I wake up in the morning and train, I realise why I do just what I do. I get a sense of accomplishment every time I tick off a challenging session, whether I felt good or not, I woke up and I did it. Through my sports at uni, I feel like I have made some of the best friendships. It’s a strange sort of bond where you share your blood, sweat and tears every session. Your training friends are there when you are struggling to pick you up and tell you to keep going. There’s an indescribable level of desire everytime you toe up the start line to push your body to its absolute limits, to be quicker than last time, to beat your records and then to beat someone else’s records. Whether you run well or not, there’s something inside of you telling you to keep pushing and to get faster. It a hunger for more that you can’t describe or understand unless you’re a competitive sportsperson. Going to university and bringing my running commitment with me has been a huge process of learning my own personal balance between study, sports and social life. It’s about establishing individual limits (not someone else’s), how many hours of study, training and how much time can you spend with friends and then still find time to get enough sleep as well! All this with being happy in what you do and without (too much) stress! And when you can’t quite fit everything in, what do you prioritise and what do you choose to compensate? Being a student athlete is tough, but trust me, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. My passion and commitment towards my athletics is what, I believe has got me to where I am today. Its conveyed through to my academics and my athletic achievements have given me the confidence to aim high at uni. With the support of my friends, family and coaches so far, life as a student athlete has been extremely rewarding. As I approach the end of my first year at uni as an athlete here are some lessons to take away from my experience so far: -My family, friends and coaches are more important than anything else in the world. -Sleep = success. Get it and try to get lots of it when you can. -Halls are LOUD. When people say, they are loud, they’re not joking. -Bikes will get stolen, so A. Choose an old rusty bike and B. Purchase a D-lock. -Wilkinson’s is the most important shop on the high street. Don’t forget that. -Carrying your weekly food shop home is like combing the toughest strength and conditioning session with extreme weight lifting. -Running means a lot…but not everything. You don’t have to sacrifice your exams on Wednesday morning so you can fit in your Tuesday evening track session. It’s okay to say no sometimes. -Whatever the weather, bring a waterproof wherever you go. -Fruit is expensive! Except the 9 pack of satsumas from Morrison’s. - Self-love and confidence go a long way. -Taking time out and doing absolutely nothing now and again is important physically and mentally. -Don’t be afraid to try new things. -18 year olds are definitely not adults yet. -You will create some interesting new recipes- fajitas with bagels because you have no tortillas? -You can’t afford the new Nike pro’s. Don’t even bother to look. -Believe you can achieve and its crazy what you will accomplish. -Sell by dates are all lies -Whether you have a good race or bad race, the world will go on. -Runners = All the fridge and freezer space. Apologise nicely. -Procrastination = More stress later. -Every messy situation you get into, it will get sorted in the end. -Wherever you go, you will meet some amazing people. -Being a student athlete is 100% possible no matter the uni course, the level of competition, it can be done. All the best,
Ruth x I have just about reached the middle of my easter holidays with only a week and a half left, I thought it would be rather appropriate to blog about what I have been up to with my training and everything else. Easter for lots of people means chocolate and lots of sweet things, however with the fact I have given up chocolate for 2017, that puts a stop to that idea. Even when I hadn't given up chocolate, most of my easter eggs just sat on top of the fridge for months, because I am just not too bothered by the prospect of chocolate... okay unless it is melted down and there are strawberries. If you have been following my instagram, it is clear to see the sudden burst of a lot more photos, and particularly more foodie photos. This easter I have definitely started to experiment a bit more with what I'm eating, okay this may mean an extra topping on my porridge in the morning, but one day I even tried beetroot wraps... this is very adventurous for someone who had pretty much the same thing for dinner for about a year of my life (that was carbonara pasta for dinner, and jacket potato for lunch, when I was about the age of 14 because I was pretty fussy). Here are a quick snap of 4 of my porridges I have had in the mornings. Only if the weather is nice and my porridge looks half acceptable will I take a photo of it, but most of the time it just ends up being an ugly looking porridge with banana on top, We often don't have nay other toppings because I eat all them too quickly in the house, so half the time there isn't anything else left to put on it. My usual base of porridge is oats, milk, flaxseed, banana and then anything else on top is adventurous. Some of my additional toppings this easter have been; natural yogurt, nuts, dried cranberries, chia seeds, raisons, blueberries, honey and granola. On my Friday rest day, I wasn't sure what to do with myself as most of my days this easter have consisted of revision then training (and a bit of socialising in there too), so when Friday came, I was certainly not going to be revising all day. So instead on Friday morning at the usual time of wake up, I found myself heading over to the leisure centre to join an 'ab attack' class for a brief half an hour. This was long enough to feel my abs had been challenged, but not too long that the novelty of my rest day had been taken away from me. After snapping a quick selfie in the very luxurious members changing rooms, I headed into the sauna and steam room. I did about ten minutes in both, and then I was done. This was lovely and relaxing especially because there was only one other person in either of them. I found it helped my muscles relax and let me just have some chill time. Here we go, here are the much anticipated beetroot wraps. Yes, I know they are rather bright, which made them great to get a photo of. However what were my actual feelings on how they tasted.... um, well not so great. Once I had eaten the first wrap, I was like 'these are quite nice,' by the time I got to the end of the second one, I quickly made the judgment that I didn't like them, and I would just rather a plain wrap... which aren't half as exciting or as photogenic. The left over fajita chicken and salad was delicious though! Of course I cannot forget to mention my scrambled egg and smoked salmon on toast as this has been appearing as my lunch or dinner almost daily. But for the first time today, I got to the end of it and said 'I can't deal with anymore smoked salmon and eggs for a few days.' I can't get through this post without doing a quick look at todays run because it felt like I was on holiday. The sun was shining, the sky was as blue as it can be and it was great to be training out on the grass. Even though at times I felt like the heat was draining me of energy, it was great because it felt like I was warm weather training, which just gives you that extra motivation to run a little bit faster. This session was followed by a pretty cold ice bath and banana smoothie, which was delish! I hope all of you, who are on your easter holidays are enjoying them and haven't been working too hard because I know most people have exams in the summer :( at least the weather has been pretty good!
Love G x I have been asked by a lot of people lately about, what I do before a race and if I get nervous. To start with I have not been racing for long, however I do have my little routine before each race. I also don't normally get nervous, but I do tend to put pressure on myself, because I want to run my best, but I wouldn't say I get overly nervous that it affects my performance. Most of the time I have an early morning race, so my preparation starts the evening before. I will always foam roll each day, on the days up to a race, because I want to make sure my muscles are as loose as possible. I will also do some yoga and stretching the evening before. Training on the other hand is similar, but I don't carb load or anything because otherwise I would be eating pasta 24/7! Just before I start my running session, I'll stretch out for 10minutes and then I'll do my 2km light jog warm up. Then I'll do some drills for about 5 minutes, like high knees, bum kicks, high skips, walking on my heels, side steps, cross overs... it fair to say I go through lots of different drills, just to make sure I have all my muscles warmed up so I don't injure myself. I hope you have all found this helpful and interesting and I can always do one about what I do after a session or a race. I've also added a photo of my meal I had on the night before a race. CARBS CARBS CARBS, and some veg ;) Love G x Okay so I have a complete porridge obsession... I have it every morning without fail. The same brand, the same weight, the same flavour, everything about it is the same, except the toppings. So my topping do really vary but there are a few, which I can't live without. Firstly flaxseed; flaxseed is high-fibre superfood... yep superfood you heard me, but it also has a rich source of micronutrients, manganese, vitamin B1 and omega-3. Wow yep that is quite a list! Most of the time I mix it straight into my porridge to thicken it up so you can't actually see it in many of the photo's below except two, where I forgot to mix it in before I started placing on all my toppings, so it is in a pile in one and sprinkled on in another. Banana; I think most people who eat porridge tend to have a banana on their porridge and I am certainly one of them! Although the other day we did't have any banana's and this really upset me, so I had to quickly find a substitute for it... in the end I decided with grapes. However my toppings which change about daily are: Strawberries, blueberries, chia seeds, (high-protein) muesli and raisons... okay and occasionally there is a big dollop of peanut butter, because who doesn't love peanut butter! Recently I have been adding a cube of chocolate on from Ombar, which is a super food chocolate bar... who would have ever thought that could exist, but it does! My personal favourite is the coco mylk, and I am now obsessed! The way I arrange all my toppings too varies a lot, as you can probably see from my photos. If I am in a rush and am running late for school, I normally have to just chuck all of my toppings, on with little skill. However if it is the weekend or now that I am on my summer holidays, I can spend as much time as I like arranging all my toppings in nice straight lines or pretty circles. I'm not sure what breakfast you all have, but you can always let me know if you comment on this post and if you have any suggestions on what toppings I should try please tell me, as I am constantly looking for new things to put on my porridge. Love G x If you liked this post, you might like:
Okay so firstly I am going to apologise for the lack of posting recently, it is because I have been up to my neck in work because I have my IGCSEs in May and June, so I think it is best to let you all know that I will be going on a blogging break and I will be back in a couple of months when my exams are over. I will probably post once a month and I will continue to post on Instagram just not as often. When I am back which will be in late June, I will have lots to post about, because I have a lot of free time after exams. I hope that you will return to my blog soon, but for now here is a post on my favourite place. Recently I visited the Mae Deli, which is Deliciously Ella and her soon to be husbands (they are getting married this week) deli in Marylebone which works perfectly because it is a walk away from Charing cross and you can walk along regent street and oxford street (aka shop until you drop). My friend and I take every opportunity to go to the deli in our school holidays and we are completely obsessed with her sweet potatoes. The recipes for the deli are kept secret but whatever she does to her sweet potatos is amazing and I hope she shares it with us one day. You can choose 4 different options. I went for two green salads, of course sweet potato and this time i tried her courgette and chickpea curry... this was so tasty and I am going to try cooking some of her other curries in her book soon! Her mango flapjacks I tried when I first went and found it so tasty so when I returned I was so happy to see it for sale again! I would recommend to anyone to go and visit her deli and hopefully I will be back as soon as I can. If I lived next door to it I would be in there every day!
G x Last Sunday I had the chance to make these pancakes for breakfast (okay maybe it was more of a brunch because I didn't wake up until 11). I know pancake day was a couple of weeks ago, but I could't resist making some more. Also I started lent and have given up chocolate; I wouldn't say I am anything like a chocoholic but I just wanted to give up something, because I never have. I based my recipe on the 'Hemsley Hemsley' recipe but I changed a few bits because I didn't have all the ingredients and I like to improvise. I only recently order 'Hemsley Hemsley' and I have already fallen in love with all their recipes, and what makes it even better is that the ingredients are healthier substitutes; what more could you want. I made these for my mum and I and they went down very well, we finished them all off in a matter of 10 mins. They were just so tasty! Heres the recipe I used to make them. Serves 2: 100g blueberries 2 tbsp coconut butter/ oil 2-4 tbsp warm water 2 eggs at room temp 1.5 tbsp maple syrup 2 tbsp plain flour 0.25 tsp bicarbonate of soda Beat the water, eggs and maple syrup until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Add the melted coconut butter and mix, to make a batter. Leave to sit for 5 minutes. Then HAPPY PANCAKE MAKING! So I know they don't look perfect but they tasted amazing and they tasted even better because I know they had really good ingredients in them, I will definitely be making these very soon. Have a good weekend everyone!
G x |
HelloI'm Grace, a 18 year old runner, and fitness fanatic. Join me on my crazy journey through life, squeezing in an adventure in every second of spare time I have. Archives
February 2019
Categories
All
Latest Instagram's: |