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Wednesday 30 July 2014

Post-run smoothie: Berries

This is my go-to smoothie at the moment after an intense Zumba or a hot run! I don't know much about nutrition/sports diets so this is just what works for me.
You will need:
Half or 1 scoop of Strawberry whey protein

A handful of frozen berries- strawberries, blackcurrants, cranberries.  I use frozen berries because it's cheaper to buy them that way, you get a variety of berries in each pack and they make the smoothie really cold!


A handful of fresh blueberries.
Approx. 400 ml of Skimmed milk/almond milk
Then just whizz it in the blender until it is smooth and frothy!




Hope you enjoy it, what are your favourite smoothie recipes?

Peebreeks xx



Monday 28 July 2014

Smiling Monday! (Things I love #14)

Smiling Sunday  Monday!  Sorry it's a day late and I've disappeared from blogging regularly and recently, work seems to keep me very busy. Now that it's the summer holidays,  I'm hoping to make more time to blog. I always say this, I know ;) Anyhoo, here are some things that have been making me smile during the past few weeks.

1. I saw this pink hairstyle on Pinterest this week and I love it, I'm not sure I'd personally want or suit pink hair but this is sweet.
Via Pinterest

2. Somebody recently brought me this cute little posy of flowers, I'm not normally a pink fan but thought these were pretty. Hmmm pink seems to be creeping up on me this week...

3. The weather has been ace in Brighton (with the exception of this morning; thunderstorms and rain!) and the beaches have been packed with people having bbqs and drinks.  Did this last week with workmates and had a lovely time, perfect summer evening. Lots of veggie food too, yayyyy!

4.  This brings me on to another simple summery delight, lazing in the sunshine with a good book/magazine. In fact, I'm in need of a new read (poet, didn't know it) so if anyone has any book recommendations, let me know!
Lazing in the gardens...
 St James Park, London.

5. Awesome Wizard of Oz cake in the Lanes. There is an amazing cake shop in the Northern Lanes in Brighton which I often walk by and gaze longingly into the window. I have yet to sample any of their delights but the cakes in the window look amazing.  Sorry for random woman's reflection!

 
 
6. George Ezra- One of my flatmates mentioned George Ezra a while back and his music was played a lot on the most recent series of 'Made in Chelsea'. I liked what I'd heard so I decided to see him play at the John Peel tent when I was at Glastonbury.  He was great; he had a beautiful voice and seemed very down-to-earth and genuinely pleased to see so many people in the crowd. I was a little surprised to discover he wasn't black! I hadn't seen any photos or footage of him and with such a soulful voice he looked much different in my mind's eye. He was so popular and his album hadn't even been released at that point, an underground hit I suppose. I bought his album recently from Itunes and have been enjoying it. 

7. The Queen photo-bombing an Australian hockey player's selfie. I know that this has been all over social media recently but every time that I look at it, it makes me smile/laugh.  Love it :)
Photo from @_JaydeTaylor
8. Bastille-Overjoyed chords Still a massive Bastille fan and learnt the guitar chords for 'Overjoyed' this week. Would like to learn it on piano properly but not sure I'd be able to play it! Here's an old clip of their acapella version. Bit quirky but still good!

9. BBC One- David Beckham Into The Unknown. Now I don't have anything against David Beckham but to be honest, I wasn't expecting much from his Brazil documentary.  However, the trailers on BBC looked good and  some people mentioned it afterwards so I was tempted to check it out. I purchased it on Itunes to watch during a train journey and I really liked it.  I thought it was filmed and edited well, with some personal info. from David but enough input from his friends and information about Brazil to keep it interesting. I almost wish that it had been a whole series, rather than a single episode.
You can see clips here and here. If you want to watch it, I think it's now only available on Itunes unfortunately :( but still worth a look.

Oh and on a slightly bizarre side note, I like the photos of David and his sons Romeo and Cruz getting covered in gold gunge at the Nickelodeon Kids Awards. They strangely manage to look like statues!


What's been making you smile?

Peebreeks xx




Monday 21 July 2014

Running Update: The London 'Color Run' and Brighton Race for Life; my first 10K

Way back in June, some friends and I ran the 'Colour Color Run' (it originated in America, deal with it) in London. It was extremely colourful and a lot of fun, however I found it hard to not treat it like a usual running race. There are no prizes, medals or placings and this took some getting used to, my friends kept joking that I was taking the warm up and stretches far too seriously!

If you've never heard of the Color Run, it's a 5K event where you start off in a spangly clean white t-shirt and end up covered in a kind of powdery paint (FYI, it's dyed cornstarch)!  At each kilometre mark, there is a colour 'station' where strangers cover you in the paint at that station: pink, blue, yellow, orange then finish!

After you finish the run, a DJ plays music from a stage and you're given your very own sachet of paint to throw in the air! My friends and I had a great time that day and I've signed up for another Color Run event this year. The entrance fee and any sponsorship goes to the charity Save the Children.

I think we were some of the most colourful people on the tube that day.



















In the first week of July, I ran my first 10K 'race'.  It was an event as part of the 'Race for Life' in Stanmer Park in Brighton organised by Cancer Research UK; there was also a 5K the following day. I had done some training but not 10K continuously so I was understandably nervous about how I would get on.
I invested in a new pair of trainers a week or so before the race as I as was long overdue a new pair  of trainers and my calves couldn't take it anymore! These are the Mizuno Wave Inspire 10. They're structured to correct overpronation when running and have so far been pretty good.

I knew from my previous Race for Life (5K) that it would be a welcoming atmosphere.  I highly recommend Race for Life events for any women who are new to running as they generally seem to have a friendly and fun atmosphere; it's not really a competitive event. Some people jog, some walk, some run, everyone just goes at their own pace for their own reasons! Rain was definitely brewing but it was still fairly warm, thankfully it wasn't sunny but the course was very hilly in places. I had aimed to do the 10K in an hour, I did it in 1hr 9mins so I was pretty pleased with that, considering that I'd never run a 10K or such steep inclines and I should have tried to start further at the front as there was such a hustle and bustle of runners at first, it was hard to break through.

Just before the race started...

Unfortunately, running up such a steep hill took its toll on one of my knees, I didn't realise at first and continued exercising as usual but my knee became really painful.  The advice online for 'runner's knee'  seems to be to stay off it as much as possible and ice and raise it (mind-blowing) so have stopped running and Zumba for the time-being, am finding it tough to rest up though but have worked my way through a fair bit of ibuprofen and cold gel so I definitely don't want to make it any worse. :(

After the race I had a cold pre-made smoothie (yes me, being organised, let's just take a minute to acknowledge this...). I used frozen berries, yoghurt, skimmed milk, strawberry whey protein powder and a banana. Using frozen berries makes it nice and cold and works out much cheaper than trying to buy fresh berries.

Yummy!


Pleased to have crossed the finish line :)

I would love to do another 10K in the near future and some colleagues recently mentioned a half-marathon for early next year so onwards and upwards, (without such steep hills though!).

Peebreeks xx