vegan guilty secrets

well it won't be a secret any longer but I have now got a new vegan guilty pleasure... pana chocolate! amaze, raw, organic & handmade with no nasties, all natural (& also pretty pricey from the organic shop) but it is well worth it for the sweetness & such savouring moments of delicious desire when one is scoffing! 
& I'm thinking it will help me get to 50k's tomorrow - eek indeed. 
I've have had a pretty rubbish week due to someone I care about being honest about an aspect of their life that I just can't accept, I have been emotional, affected & unmotivated. I also feel like I've let myself down but I've tried my best this week & have managed 2x yoga classes & 2x PT sessions + have ran at least 5 k's everyday. Except today I just couldn't get out of bed at 6.30am on a Saturday morning in the dark. I still got to yoga which helped me stretch my tired limbs & I'm not going to dwell on it I'm just going to set myself up for a bigger challenge tomorrow. 
Tomorrow I'm going to go for 5 hours!!! But incorporating a run/walk method to help with my recovery & see where I'm at in ultra fitness world. I'm also going to take food to see how I'm going to fuel the big race. I've been in a bit of denial that I'm going to run 100k & that relationships are all that they seem, now I'm going to transmute out of these mindsets with some zendurance practice.
Some amazing reading that has inspired me over the past couple of months that connect the mind & body & are helping me to reach the point of enlightenment & ecstasy when I run...

The runners guide to the meaning of life - Amby Burfoot
Eat & run - Scott Jurek
Running with the mind of meditation - Sakyong Mipham
Zendurance - Shane Alton Eversfield
The power of now - Eckhart Tolle
Born to run - Christopher McDougall
What I talk about when I talk about running - Haruki Murakami 

Happy reading & running & peaceful peeps xox

running & raving!

I have just finished my 30k long run for the week, there's no better feeling than post race, showered & sitting on the sofa stuffing salt & vinegar peanuts & ciders into my face!! Sweet Sundays! But this Sunday is a long weekend Sunday so no work on Monday means that it should definitely be a play day. So no resting my feet, I'm putting my party hat on & dancing shoes are ready for a stomp at Future music festival - bring it - Prodigy, Bloc party, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Stone Roses, Dizzee Rascal... Perfect post run recovery??? Had a couple of bliss balls to give me some rave power, with added cinnamon & sea salt for that extra kick, try adding to the original bliss ball recipe (see Happy Friday post)

Weekly log for training blog...

Monday        - 15k run

Tuesday       - Body balance + x2 5k runs

Wednesday - 60 mins ashtanga + 45 mins PT + 5k run + 30 mins xtrain

Thursday      - 5k run

Friday           - 45 mins vinyasa yoga + 30 mins xtrain

Saturday      - 14k run + 75 mins ashtanga yoga

Sunday         - 30k run + rave dancing all day long!!!

Total k's for week = 84k's 

(plus all the other stretchy stuff I think you could say I'm back in the groove) & now I'm going to get me groove on!!! 

gorgeousness guacamoleness

Hi how hard is it to shake the jet lag? I have been waking up at 2,3,4,5am & not able to get back to sleep. meh. So my way of dealing with the sleep depravation & emotional exhaustion that ensues is to run it off, burn it out & stretch it out of my system. Being up super early makes it easy to do morning meditations, make the 6.30am yoga classes & sunrise runs are peaceful & perfect for me to bond with being alive & well & living in Melbourne again.
Jet lag also brings on crazy cravings, dreams of nachos & devilish desires for sweet stuff not in any healthy eating plan on the planet. & after being deprived of vegan food in London which brought on a bread binge I want to do gluten free again too. So back to the nachos - I have an awesome guacamole recipe to go with a plain corn chip to satisfy any jet lag induced insanity! & to help rev up to the running schedule which so far this week...

Monday - 15k run 
Tuesday - body balance class + 2x 5k runs 
Wednesday - ashtanga yoga + 5k run +30 mins cross trainer hills + 45 mins strength training. 

Wowee I'm gonna need this .....

gorge guac!

2 avocados
1 juice lemon
1 juice lime
1 red chilli
fresh coriander - lots!
1 garlic clove crushed
1/2 small red onion finely chopped
10 cherry tomatoes diced

& mash it all up & dip in & run off xo

2 weeks running away !!

Well hello, that was an awesome 2 weeks worldly wandering... But not too much running to write back about! I tried to incorporate some training into my chaotic itinerary, this is how it went ~~~

Week 1:
*Paris - x2 gym sessions in 2 days 
1) 55mins on elliptical trainer 
2) 55mins (11k) on treadmill + strength training 
*London - x1! Run in 4 days
1hr20mins 10mile run (back in London back talking in miles!!)
*Morpeth - x1 run in 3 days 
1hr20mins 10mile run

Week 2: 
*London - x2 gym sessions
*Miami - x2 45min runs along South beach baby!

So I'm back in Melbs feeling emotional & exhausted but looking forward to getting back into getting fit, eating healthy & feeling fab again, let's meditate on sound sleeps & kindness to yourself & when you're feeling a wee bit down, be good to all, keep running & stay positive.

My first day back green juice fast fun!! This is going to be my new morning ritual to kickstart my health kick...

Green juice ~
2 apples
10cm cucumber
1 lime (peeled)
4cm pineapple
1/2 avocado
tsp wheatgrass
1/2tsp spirulina

london calling

I'm at Paris airport, London bound.. Now I'm so super excited to see friends & fashion shows over the weekend but quite how I'm going to survive the English chocolate in my face restraint, I'm really not sure. & quite how I'm going to fit in a 20k run at some point over the next few day is beyond me (& that's cutting it short by half from my training plan) my itinerary is chaotic. I have to cover several shows a day, have meetings about retail & trend direction, checking out the designer showrooms & a couple of inspirational exhibition visits, I'll actually cover a few miles running around London to do all that! Except I won't be running I'll be in taxis wearing ridicuolous heels most likely. & then the friends bit, I'll have a have a few wines/cocktails/pints for old times sake! I need to give myself a let off so this weekend might as well be the time! London town here I come..... 

Bonjour, il fait froid!

I've just jumped off the plane on a very VERY chilly Paris morning. It's -1 degree, that little run I had planned along the river this morning has just become less appealing & a yoga session in the room is looking like a safer / warmer option!

& before I get into the dilemmas of travel exercise & make excuses to not run in the now sleet! I want to just ask the air / world... Exactly when are the following considered acceptable on a vegan diet??

Meat sausage & egg omelette
Butter
Cheese on the vegetables (oh but there's a vegetable in the dish it must be VG)
Chocolates
Cereal with yogurt

No Cathay Pacific. None of the above are considered to be in any way vegan, thanks but no thanks for offering me all of the above but I'll just have a bowl of almonds & an apple in business class on a 12 hour flight!
On the first leg - Melbourne to Honkers - the food was ok, bready but ok. Honkers to Paris - shocking! The only thing I could eat was fruit & nuts, feeling pretty nuts right now!

Now one more thing... A more running related psyche topic. I am obviously travelling & completely thrown out of my ultra routine. So I'm thinking about how I'm going to run next & feeling rubbish after 20 hours horizontal & dehydrated & deflated from awful airplane air & feeling guilty about not running my usual 10k's everyday. How do I find some kinda peace with not conditioning my body & by eating white bread on the plane. I'm such a creature of habit / compulsive obsessive / running psycho, I feel all outta sorts. Answer below...

Answer: Arrived at the hotel, saw the sign to the fitness room, 50 mins later have sweated it out on the treadmill, now I HATE treadmills (boring, don't get anywhere, blah blah) but this time it was my saviour. Happy now I can start the day with a clear head & stretched out limbs =) & hello Paris, the city of romance for valentines, luvs xox

'take that' week 3!

"yeah you & me we can run like a star, if you stay with me girl, we can rule the world!" thanks Take That for my best moments of my 3hours50mins run this morning!  I was shamelessly singing along about 21/2 hours in, it was a shining light in the deep dark techno I was listening too!
So happy with my run =) 36k's. Felt really really awesome. Took it slow 61/2 min k's & I reckon I could have run a few more... So here's my weekly miles ~ 

Monday      - rest day
Tuesday.    - 10k + 60mins hatha yoga + 60mins body balance
Wednesday- 10k + 45mins personal training
Thursday.   - 10k run
Friday.        - 5k run
Saturday.    - 14k run + 75mins ashtanga yoga
Sunday       - 36k run & stretch out
Total week. = 85k's 

Pretty pleased with my progress & in my post run euphoria I'm going to treat myself to some pink fizzy booze !!! Note. Fully hydrated & refueled with water, chia seeds in my pink vs green smoothie, bliss balls (x a few!) & avocado & tomatoes on sprouted grain toast, yum.