Eat Well, Train Hard and Race ####

Last Monday was a local holiday, being the start of the Glasgow Fair.  A long time ago I might have spent such a day in a pub but this year I decided to do the opposite.  Having finished my last bottle of wine on Sunday, I cancelled my wine club membership.

I was conscious that my diet had been deteriorating since I started working in the city centre and I dusted down my copy of ‘Eat Well with Nell’.  A couple of hours later I was on my way to the shops with a list that included:

Tins: tomatoes; beans; coconut milk and sardines.

Freezer: green beans; spinach; berries and frozen fruit.

Seeds: pumpkins; sesame and sunflower.

Nuts: Brazil; almonds; peanuts and hazelnuts.

Dried fruit: apricots

Grains: brown rice; pearl barley and oats

Pasta

Pulses: red and green lentils

Bread: rye

Spice: cinnamon; cumin; ginger; chilli; turmeric and nutmeg

Free range eggs

Polenta

Couscous

Green teas

Ricota

Natural yoghurt

Fruit: limes, lemons, apples; bananas; pears

Poultry: turkey and chicken

Apple juice

Mango chutney

Peanut butter

Butter

Garlic; onion; sweet potatoes; cauliflower

Mustard

Mackerel

Salad

Cherry tomatoes

And NO alcohol

I used to enjoy cooking, although it can be difficult to maintain the motivation when you are cooking for one, it was time to get back into the kitchen!

My week of meals consisted of:

Breakfast: Porridge or Special K with strawberries, orange juice and lemon & ginger tea.

Two pieces of fruit and wholemeal sandwich for lunch

Evening meals:

Monday: Roast chicken, sweet potato, salad, tomatoes and seeds.

Tuesday: Roast chicken, couscous, salad, tomatoes and seeds

Wednesday: Tandoori Turkey and citrus couscous with salad, tomatoes and seeds

Thursday: Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Omelette

Friday: Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Curry, Brown Rice followed by Strawberries and Ice Cream

Nighttime snack: nuts and cup of green tea.

Drinks: Maximum of one cup of coffee per day, water and green tea

I worked hard at training on Tuesday and Thursday; 1.2k reps and 220m downhill reps respectively, and as a result my legs were tight and heavy, so stiff and sore that I had to use my daily cycles as my recovery runs. 

My sleeping hasn’t been great and my energy levels don’t seem to be boosted with my change in lifestyle, of course one week is far from enough to make any real impact but it would have been good if I had awoken on Saturday morning bouncing with energy and ready to bounce around my 109^th parkrun.

However it was not to be and my legs felt like lead as I warmed up in Pollok Park. As usual it was good to see so many running buddies, including Scott Mcculloch, who was making his debut, six days before his 40^th birthday.  Despite the Clydestride Ultra, Arran Relays and Musselburgh 10k attracting some regulars as well as the distraction of the Madonna concert and summer holidays, numbers were slightly up from last week at 337, boosted by a number of charity runners.

It was a lovely sunny morning, although a bit hotter than usual, and I was feeling good.  Unfortunately my warm up and pre race stretches had little effect and I realised within the first few metres that today was going to be another struggle and the negative thoughts started to kick in.  It took me a disappointing 4:30 for the first kilometre.  However I stuck to my task and started to gain places around the half way spot.  I raised my game for the final kilometre and was rewarded with a stitch!  I pushed it in up the final hill and kept working hard, overtaking a few more runners, including Louise Sutherland and Sarah Fraser to cross the line in 88^th place, with a time of 23:12.  Sixteen seconds faster than last week but still nowhere near where I would like to be but in this game you need to take any positive you can from your effort.

I congratulated those in front and behind me before handing in my race token and doing my warm down.  Followed of course with interesting chat with my running buddies and my neighbour Mary Fraser and retiring to  the Burrell Café for more post race banter, coffee and scone.

Glasgow parkrun 94 in the bag!
Many thanks to the volunteers.

Russell Whittington won the men's race in 17:12 with Bella Harrier Louise Warren winning the Women's race with a new course PB of 19:10.

Full Results