Workout of the day

Life got in the way, so today has been a "rest day"

Cooking update

Family celebration Thursday and life tonight so no cooking for two days, unless you count the boiled egg and the beans on toast for breakfast each day! This feels a bit like the old days for me when  I was at home only to sleep... not sure I like it. Appear to be well and rate mood as 1-2, but know I need to remain mindful of what can happen with inadequate sleep and too much stimuli.

Workout of the day

• Deadlifts 3-3-3-3-3 warm up at 40kg then up to 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg
• 4 rounds of 25 burpees

Strawberry smoothie

Strawberries on a great offer at the day job at the moment, with some terrific eating on the British variety. Here's my early breakfast today:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups strawberries
• 1 peach
• 1 cup strawberry yogurt
• 2 cups ice

Method:

• Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Pour and enjoy!

Workout of the day

Rest day

Victoria sponge

Ingredients:

• 220g caster sugar
• 220g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 220g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp strawberry jam
• 1 pint double cream, whipped
• icing sugar, to dust

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Grease and line two 9in cake tins. 
• Beat the sugar and butter together in a bowl until pale and creamy, then gradually add the eggs, alternating with a tablespoon of flour. Gently fold in the rest of the flour and vanilla extract, then divide equally between the two cake tins.
• Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through and lightly golden. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
• When cool, spread one cake with jam and whipped double cream, then place the other cake on top. Dust with icing sugar and serve in slices.

Workout of the day

warmup - 3 min skip

1 minute of kettlbell swings
10 pushups
1 minute of the plank

Repeat x 4

Edit: This went fine. Completed with 30 sec rest between sets and added 4 pull ups between pushups and plank.

Workout of the day

Okay, interval training circuit today:

3 min skip warm up

lunges for reps of 26
timed elastic rows 1 minute
heavy bag 1 minute
burpees for reps of 40
lying down leg lifts 25 reps
1 min rest

repeat 3 times

Edit: struggled to complete this. The burpees wiped me out on the first round so had to break them down for round 2 and 3. Indeed, by the 3rd, I quit them at 21. Going to add some more of these on to the other workouts of the week as they are a great conditioning  movement.

Proper porridge

Ingredients:

• 50g porridge oats
• 350ml milk
• Greek yogurt and clear honey, to serve

 
Method:

• Put the oats in a saucepan, pour in the milk and sprinkle in a pinch of salt.
• Bring to the boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring from time to time 
• To serve. Pour into bowls, spoon yogurt on top and drizzle with honey

Workout of the day

20 mins Yoga and 20 min bike ride

Edit: Did the yoga, bored by the bike so didn't bother!

Banana, honey and peanut butter breakfast sandwich

It's another of those disastrous mornings when I have run out of eggs and have to give some thought to what I am going to eat. It's not hard I know, but my usual cycle of boiled, poached, scrambled and omeletted eggs is so easy, satisfying and comfortable that a mini crisis ensues when I have to deviate from it! Looking at the cupboards, this was the best I could come up with that I haven't - I think - posted before:

Ingredients:

• Bananas
• Butter 
• honey 
• Peanut butter
• Bread

Method:

• Slice the bananas
• butter the inside of the bread with peanut butter and the outside with normal butter
• put bananas on peanut butter and pour over a little honey
• assemble and toast on the breville until goldern

Workout of the day

With nearly two weeks off and only a few weeks to go until my first 10k of the year, its time for a very structured and disciplined approach. Today I count as "J-day" and will work and test from this point:

• Timed 1 mile - 7min 59 sec
• Maximum number of pull ups in one min - 12
• Maximum number of pushups in one min - 43
• Maximum number of sit ups in one min - 51
• Maximum number of squat thrusts in one min - 52
• stretch all major muscle groups

Record all of the results as the opening bench mark

Edit: Okay, this is quite average for me reflecting not only the layoff but my lack of enthusiasm for training since the 5 x 5 project failed to get off the ground. Will do this again in a fortnight and compare the results.

Chicken and olive casserole

Hello, after a week layoff when I have been recovering from "Man Flu" and trying to get into my new day job role, I am going to get going again. This recipe is designed for duck, but I have substituted chicken as the duck I have doesn't look healthy.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken or duck legs, with thighs attached 
• olive oil
• 150g diced bacon
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 stick celery
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
• 250ml white wine
• 400g canned chopped tomatoes
• 500ml chicken stock
• 175 g pitted green olives

Method:

• Heat the olive oil in large ovenproof casserole over a medium heat. Add the chicken and bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until chicken is sealed. 
• Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-7 minutes until the vegetables have softened. 
• Pour in the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Stir in the tomatoes and chicken stock, the browned chicken pieces and the olives. 
• Bring to the boil and put the lid on the casserole. Cook in the oven at 160c for 1 ½ hours.

Ginger Tea

With my continued Man Flu causing me to suffer the agonies of a slow demise, I thought ginger tea would be nice.

Ginger is an excellent soother for colds and coughs.

You need about ten grams of ginger which should be cut into small pieces and added to the boiled water before the tea leaves and a little honey.

Money Never Sleeps

To those who know me of old... Oh Yes!

Comforting braised beef

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves crushed
• thumb-size piece fresh ginger shredded
• 1 bunch spring onions , sliced
• 1 red chilli , deseeded and sliced
• 1kg beef , cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp plain flour 
• 1 tsp five-spice 
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp dry sherry
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce

Method:

• Heat the oil in a large, shallow pan. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and chilli until soft and fragrant. Tip onto a plate.
• Toss the beef in the flour, add 1 tbsp more oil to the pan, then brown the meat in batches, adding the final tbsp oil if you need to. It should take about 5 mins to brown each batch properly.
• Add the five-spice, tip in the gingery mix, then fry for 1 min until the spices are fragrant. Add the sugar, then the beef and stir until combined. Keep the heat high, then splash in sherry.
• Heat oven to 180C
• Pour in the soy and stock, bring to a simmer, then cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 1½-2 hrs.
• Serve with rice

50 summer adventures

Great article from The Times

Irish Omelette

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs - separate out yolks
• 1 large potato - mashed
• a fist full of grated cheddar
• 1 squeeze lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chives - chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter

Method:

• Separate the eggs and beat the yolks.
• Add to the mashed potato, mixing thoroughly, then add the lemon juice, chives, and salt and pepper.
• Melt the butter in the omelette pan. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and stir them into the potato mixture. Cook the mixture until golden, then finish under the grill to puff it up. Serve at once.

Update

A combination of my new day job role, a cold (man flu of course that will probably kill me) and a general malaise that has set in since I took myself of the meds means I am not training or cooking much this week. Thank you Stephanie for the nice dinners and the care.

Chicken pasta

Ingredients:

• 300g fusilli
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 450ml chicken stock 
• olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic 
• chicken breast fillets
• 1 onion, sliced 
• 1 green pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 60ml white wine 
• Parmesan cheese

Method:

• Cook the pasta in accordance with the packet instructions.
• Whisk the cornflour and chicken stock together in a bowl until smooth. 
• Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and chicken; stir and cook until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the onion, and green and red peppers; cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the tomatoes, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Pour in the chicken stock mixture and wine and season with oregano and basil.
• Stir in the cooked pasta, and simmer over medium heat until thoroughly heated through, about 5 minutes.
• Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

Workout of the day

Rest day

Fettuccine with chicken and pesto

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 4 chicken breasts
• 350g fettuccine
• salt and pepper
• Fresh pesto (see recipe here)

Method:

• Heat the oil and cook the chicken for 8-10 mins
• cook the pasta according to the packet instructions
• Add the chicken and the pesto to the pasta, toss well, garnish with with parmesan and serve.

Workout of the day

40 min bike ride

Workout of the day

Rest day

Workout of the day

3 mile run in the subshine by the sea in Llandudno!

50 step ups
50 push ups
50 squats

3 min stretch

Workout of the day

As many circuits as possiable in 20 mins of:

5 x squat thrust
5 x push up
10 x combination crunch
10 x hindu squat

Lamb Stew

Ingredients:

• 2½ kg lamb
• 4 tbsp flour , well seasoned 
• olive oil 
• 3 large onions , chopped
• 4 stalks celery , diced
• 4 carrots , peeled and diced
• 4 garlic cloves , sliced
• 2 tbsp chopped rosemary
• 350ml white wine
• 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
• 20 olives , pitted
• 2 lemons , zested and juiced
• a small bunch flat-leaf parsley , chopped

Method:

• Heat the oven to 180C. Cut the lamb into chunks and dust with the flour.
• Heat 1 tsp of the oil in a large casserole dish. Brown the meat all over in batches.
• Pour in the remaining oil, onions, celery, carrots, garlic and rosemary. Season and cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the wine, tomatoes and meat and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 2-3 hours.
• Stir in the olives and lemon juice, sprinkle with the lemon zest and parsley and serve.

Rum Punch

Ingredients:

• Splash of lemon juice
• 2 cups rum 
• 2 pints ginger ale
• 2 pints tropical fruit juice
• 2 pints orange juice
• ice cubes

Method:

• Pour into punch bowl. Stir well. To serve: pour over one ice cube in each glass.

Workout of the day

Run 3 miles

Butter bean, chorizo and tomato stew

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 onions, diced
• 24 cm chorizo sausages, skinned and roughly chopped
• 800g canned chopped tomatoes
• 400 g red peppers, red pimentos, drained and diced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 800g tinned butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1 bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Method:

• In a large pan add the olive oil. 
• Add the cumin and cook until it smells fragrant - about two minutes. Add the garlic and onion, reduce the heat and cover. 
• When the onions have softened, around 5 minutes, remove the lid, add the chorizo and bring the heat up to high, stirring constantly. 
• Once the chorizo begins to crisp, lower the heat to medium and add the chopped tomatoes, red peppers, paprika and butter beans and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. 
• Simmer for 10 minutes then, just before serving, stir in the chopped coriander. Serve at once with rice.

Workout of the day

40 min bike ride

Cabbage with beans & carrots

Ingredients:

• 25g butter
• 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon , chopped
• 2 carrots , peeled and chopped into small chunks 
• savoy cabbage , quartered, cored and shredded 
• can haricot beans , washed and drained
• 300ml chicken stock

Method:

• Heat the butter in a wide saucepan. Add the bacon and carrots, then sizzle for 3-4 mins until the bacon starts to crisp. Stir in the cabbage, cook for 2 mins until wilted, then add the beans. Pour over the stock, then simmer for 5 mins until the beans are hot and the carrots are just cooked. Serve

Workout of the day

Run 2 miles

What do you do if you are stuck on an airplane with a real idiot beside you.

1. Take out your laptop.
2. Open your laptop very slowly.
3. Turn it on.
4. Make certain your neighbour is watching.
5. Open your internet browser
6. Close your eyes for a few moments, open them and then look up to the sky, or the heavens if you will.
7. Breathe deeply and open the site http://www.myit-media.de/the_end.html
8. Look at the expression on your neighbour's face.

From Hero to Zero - Article from The Times

Michael Clohessy returned from Iraq with a distinguished war record — and ended up in prison. Our jails are swollen with former soldiers. Why can’t they stay out of trouble?

Workout of the day

Rest day

Training From April 2010

For some daft reason I have agreed to take part in the Manchester 10K on 16 May (again) and a Sprint Triathlon in Tatton Park, Cheshire on the 18 September 2010.

I am going to gear my training toward this from April and so will be including less strength work and more endurance and stretching.

After each training session I will post up times and how I am feeling... wish me luck!

Workout of the day

• Burpee + Clean & Press 3 x 10 each
• Farmer Walk 3 x 100’
• wrist curls 1 x 15
• reverse wrist curls 1 x 15

Workout of the day

Rest day

Pasta of beans and peas

Ingredients:

• 300g linguini
• 250g shelled fresh broad beans
• 250g shelled garden peas
• olive oil
• 150g quality Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Method:

• Cook the linguini in plenty of boiling salted water for 2 minutes and drain. 
• Cook the beans and peas until al dente, for about 7 minutes, then mix with the pasta. Add the olive oil, season and grate the fresh Parmesan over the top. Serve immediately.

Workout of the day

50kg Sandbag

• 100 Squats
• 100 Clean & Power Jerk

Bodyweight Training

Excellent article on bodyweight training as suggested by Chris at Garage Gym Online