Happy Friday! Is it just me or has this week
flown by?
Tomorrow is my first half marathon of three in the next three weeks - the
Helly Hansen Beauty and the Beast trail challenge! Gulp! Let's hope it goes well. I'm looking forward to writing another race report :) Wish me luck! Tom will be
tweeting on my behalf during the race so follow the hashtag
#3halfs3weeks to stay updated.
Despite the gruelling training this week (did 18.5km yesterday! Ouch!) I have been kind of blissed out as I'm enjoying so many cool things at the moment. I thought I'd share some of them with you, so here's a selection of what I'm currently loving....
The colours of autumn. I've written on this subject many times before but I truly do love the transition from summer to autumn. The UK, and London particularly, is beautiful this time of year. I took this picture on my last training run yesterday. I think the heatwave we had a fortnight ago is well and truly over; the nights are getting darker and chillier, the air smells of falling leaves and firewood. Time to start thinking about layers, running gloves and a new coat!
Courgette (zucchini) "fries"! Has anyone else tried these? I made these earlier in the week to go with our haloumi burgers and they were amazing!! I used a
WW recipe and it turned out great. And so easy! You dip the courgette strips in seasoned flour, then in whipped egg white, then in breadcrumbs and bake in a hot oven. In the seasoned flour I used a spice blend I brought back from Australia called "Bush Spice" which has a lovely lemon myrtle flavour. These fries were just delicious - so crispy, just like tempura but without all the oil. SO good. Let me know if you give them a try!
The Paris Wife. I bought this book when we visited Bath in March (Bath has got wonderful bookshops!) and I can't believe I waited until our holiday in Cornwall to finally pick it up and read it. It was just mesmerising. It tells the story of Hadley Richardson, the first wife of Ernest Hemingway, as they meet, fall in love and move to Paris in the early 1920s. But if you know anything about Hemingway you'll know he was married four times and hence something is bound to go wrong in this story somewhere! I love historical novels but I particularly love it when they are an imagined history (using the facts available) of real figures rather than fictional characters. This book brought bohemian Paris to life beautifully, not to mention the bullfights of Spain, the Alps, Italy and post WW1 Chicago. Every now and then you pick up a novel that is so beautifully written you don't want it to end...and now I have finished it I'm still thinking about it! Highly, highly recommended!
Aussie music. Feeling a bit homesick and in need of some cool writing/working tunes a few weeks ago, I got myself Pete Murray's first two albums (I used to have them but left them behind in Oz and lo and behold they weren't in my boxes when I returned! Hope they went to a good home) and I've finally jumped on the Angus and Julia Stone bandwagon. I always tend to discover bands years after everyone else does ;) I had of course heard of them but all the songs I'd heard had never blown me away. Now I'm wondering....what took me so long?!
Down The Way is a magnificent album. "Yellow Brick Road" is my favourite track. All the songs remind me of Melbourne for some reason. And Pete's
See The Sun is just as awesome as I remembered. "Class A" is my favourite track.
My new on-the-go drink bottle -
BRITA Fill&Go. We got our tap filter replaced recently and the team very kindly sent me this bottle to try as a little bonus...it's the best drink bottle for commuting/days out I've found for ages. It's quite big (holds 600ml) and fits very easily into my backpack side pocket. It has a filter in it that you replace as you need to and there's also a straw in it that means you don't have to tilt your head back to drink, you just suck it up through the straw. So easy! So far it's kept the water in it lovely and cold too.
Race anticipation! I got the pack for the last half marathon (on October 7th) in the mail yesterday. And a new t-shirt, bonus! It's so exciting getting your race pack in the mail...it means it's getting close :) The first race tomorrow will be a challenge so I'm just hoping to cross the finish line in one piece! The other two I can concentrate on improving my form and times a bit. I really enjoy the atmosphere of a race so the next few weeks should be really good fun, regardless of how well (or not!) I run.
Other things I'm loving (not pictured!): loose jeans (!) ♥ Skype calls ♥ Sydney Swans making the AFL Grand Final! ♥
Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt with Ginger (luscious isn't the word!) ♥ keeping a journal again ♥
wonderful blogs ♥
SongPop ♥ the return of
Downton Abbey ♥ getting to know our new neighbours ♥
What are you currently loving? Have a happy weekend!!
so excited to hear about your race, good luck!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGood luck for your race! I recently read The Paris Wife, and I thougth it was really great, despite not knowing too much about Ernest Hemmingway. Do you have any other books that you would highly recommed? I just finished The Painted Bridge by Wendy Wallace (a tad disappointing if I must admit), and would love a good book to get into these holidays! (: x
ReplyDeleteOh there's so many. I have a whole post (series of, really!) planned around this! There's a widget in the sidebar where I'm listing all my favourite recent reads that I'd recommend so check those out for a start. I've just finished Tim Winton's Land's Edge, a short memoir which was absolutely lovely. I borrowed it off a friend but the writing was so exquisite and took me right back to my family's shack by the sea I think I might have to buy my own copy :)
DeletePS: Isla Dewar also an excellent writer, Secrets of A Family Album is my favourite.
Good luck with your races- that is a great challenge to do. I have another half in the middle of October, but not quite sure how to train between now and then- what will you be doing in between each race?
ReplyDeleteI love it when race packs arrive too- so exciting! The royal parks is one on my list, for one year.
I love the colours of the trees too at this time of year, and the crisper air.
In between each race I'll be following the marathon training plan from last year so still building up big distances, no slacking off (sigh!) x
DeleteI read The Paris Wife, seems like ages ago now, I found it really beautiful. I don't know much about Hemingway either but I really loved the story & was really on Hadley's side all the way through.
ReplyDeleteI'm off to Cornwall at the beginning of November & am currently trying to decide which books to take, it's harder than planning what to wear ;)