Friday 24 February 2012

Off to a wedding

Goodmorning !!!  Its going to be a warm day in Melbourne today so I hope you're all getting your exercise on early.

experienceyarravalley.com.au

experienceyarravalley.com.au


My husband and I are off to a wedding this afternoon in the Yarra Valley.  Its going to a beautiful evening and am looking forward to catching up with some friends and enjoying a night away from the kids.  Its proving quite tricky trying to organise the kids and now the dog for a night away.  Enter mum and dad..always a great help, thank you.  Don't know what I would do without them.

I hope you enjoy your day and the beautiful weekend to come and I'll make sure to post some pics post wedding.

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Yesterdays run!



Yesterday I spent the morning client training, and once done for the day contemplated going out for a run.  Well I did.  I always find it so much harder if I don't head off for a run early in the morning.  When I leave it to later in the day (yesterdays  was at midday) I seem to really work hard for it.  Not a great picture of the Garmin, but its on there, 10kms 56:12 mins.  Felt a lot harder, although it was quite hot at that time.  Note to self : always harder for you later in the day.

I guess I just need to fit the run in whenever i can.  I do feel much better for it now though.  And once done  I did go and get a relaxing pedicure to relieve these runners feet and toes.. (I was going to post a pic of my newly shellaced toenails, but even in their glory I must admit Im not a fan of my size 9.5 feet.  But hey they take me from A to B and help me run a long way.

Monday 20 February 2012

My Veggie Patch...

Hello Monday !!  I spent some time over the weekend tending to my now amazing veggie patch.  I picked so much lettuce, baby capsicums, basil and some fragrant mint for my homemade lemonade on Sunday.

It is so refreshing to be able to walk out the back and pick herbs and actual fresh, organic produce (as i don't use any fertilisers etc) to add to my cooking for the day.  The kids are loving going out and picking as they please.  I have started researching what is best to plant now so I can be ahead of the game..not wasting any time.

The crates are from the "the little veggie patch company" and are ideal for me. They fit in my space perfectly and are a great height so as i don't have to bend down while tending to the plants.  A great idea.

I am so excited about my future "crops" and am already planning what to plant to work in with high rep recipes.  I can only dream of having a veggie patch like my brother Johns or my friend Vanessa's.  Now they are the bomb!! Something to aspire to.  So until then I will research, water, nurture and seasol my crates of produce.   

Saturday 18 February 2012

Run Group !!



Well done to the amazing ladies on their 3rd week of run group.  Still getting there at 7 am and
doing the course.  Im so proud of their great efforts.  As I always say, it is so hard stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things, but I am happy to say that all the ladies are doing a great job.  Jog intervals are getting longer and they are keeping up, and completing their other runs during the week.

A big pat on the back to you all !!!!


Monday 13 February 2012

DOMS..

Hello Monday !!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Mine was very busy.  Today I thought I would talk about DOMS.  Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.  Many of my clients who started back training in the last couple of weeks and my new runners group clients have mentioned their sore muscles.

So what is DOMS?

DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) is the pain and or stiffness felt in muscles hours, even days after strenuous exercise or basically after any exercise that you are not used to doing.  For me, and generally most people i feel it most strongly 24 to 48 hrs after the exercise.  Especially if I have trained legs.  It is basically a symptom of muscle damage caused by exercise of an eccentric nature.  i.e.. lengthening of the muscle.

After such exercise the muscles adapt quite quickly to prevent muscle damage and soreness if the exercise is repeated.  The soreness is one of a dull, aching pain in the muscle and is felt generally when the muscle is stretched, contracted or under pressure and not when you are at rest.

The duration varies with different exercises and different people.  The soreness generally increase around 24 hours after the exercise and can increase in intensity up to 48 to 72 hours after the exercise.

I generally train legs once a week because I'm so sore for half the week afterwards, sometimes struggling to walk down the stairs :) I find the best treatment for me to alleviate the soreness is to stretch, stretch , stretch and hot showers.  I also now use a foam roller to knead out all the tightness and I use this as a cool down after my workouts which helps actually reduce soreness after a heavy weights session.  Radox baths to relax the muscles work wonders for many people.

Everybody is different though, so trying different ways to relieve the soreness until you find something that suits you is the way to go.

Have a great week!!


Monday 6 February 2012

Fresh from the garden



The assortment of fresh goodies are from my friend "V" 's amazing veggie patch.. She surprised me with a bag full of delicious, fresh vegetables from her garden.  Zucchini, eggplant and cucumbers.  The lone tomato is from my veggie patch.  Im not as good a green thumb as "V" is but I'm getting there.  It's my first tomato for the season and it was delicious.

So armed with my beautiful fresh veggies I thought i would make some ratatouille for dinner tonight and have with some quinoa.  Yum!!!

Very easy to make...

2 - 4  zucchini (depending on size)
2 - 4  finger eggplant (depending on size)
2 red capsicum
1/2 butternut pumpkin (cut in to cubes)
1/2 spanish onion
1 -2 sweet potato (depending on size)
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp vegetta
2 tbs olive oil
salt/pepper

Chop all veggies into cubes in baking tray, sprinkle over herbs, drizzle over oil and shake to coat

Preheat oven to 180*c place tray in oven and bake for 30 - 45 mins until veggies softened and browned.

Enjoy !!!  You can also crumble some goats cheese or fetta over the top to serve.

Saturday 4 February 2012

Running group

Hello everybody, hope you all had a wonderful week.  I have been busy getting kids back off to school, working and dealing with toilet training issues with our new puppy Harry, whom i must formally introduce in another post.

Most importantly, today was the first session of my 9 week beginners 5km running group. What a wonderful start.  I must say I was very proud to meet my lovely, eager ladies down at the running track at 7am.  We were off to a wonderful start.  Everyone got through the 1st session unscathed and I arrived back home proud as punch.  I wanted to post about my overwhelming feelings of pride, excitement and awe at all the girls there today.  It can be so overwhelming stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new and challenging things, and I take my hat off to everyone for having the courage and drive to work at achieving this wonderful goal.  Well Done!!

Im looking forward to the next 9 weeks and hopefully being able to watch these lovely ladies perhaps completing their first Run for the Kids fun run.


Thought I would share a little motivational clip FYI...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEa0xpWi7C4&feature=player_detailpage


























http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEa0xpWi7C4&feature=player_detailpage