Hope you guys had a good weekend filled with sunshine, friendly faces and delicious food. Ours was great, we really enjoyed the beautiful sunshine that the weather gods have kindly bestowed on Bristol this weekend. It was also great going for a run in shorts and short sleeves, it’s a shame it went back to being cold today…Oh well.
My slightly dreaded 10 km is looming near and only yesterday did I finally break into 6 km, so I’m feeling a touch anxious about the race day. I’m hoping to sustain this distance for the next 3 runs and then move on to 7 km the following week. I know that such a quick mileage increase isn’t ideal really, but the race is in fewer than 3 weeks so I really need to get a move on. What consoles me a little is that where I run now is fairly hilly and the race course is supposed to be flat, so I hope that if I can do 8 km on the hills comfortably, I won’t blow up on race day. I’m not even aiming for any time in particular, I just want to be able to finish the race in one piece. My relationship with running is a bit strange. Even though I’ve never ever not been glad that I have gone running, I find setting out the door so hard sometimes. I really don’t get it, as my body always gives me good feedback after each and every run and the gist of it is that running does you good, yet there is a lazy gremlin dwelling deep within looking for an excuse not to go: too cold, too windy, too wet, too hot, too close to lunch, too hungry etc. Can you relate? Apart from the obvious long term benefits of engaging in cardiovascular exercise, the biggest miracle of running for me is that it immediately gets me in a much better mood. Any dark or negative thoughts that might have been inhabiting the corners of my brain and fogging my perception of reality disperse as if by magic. As someone who has struggled with depression and anxiety in the past (and let’s be honest, it’s never too far away when life gets tough) that’s no small feat, right? Well, hoping to stick to my schedule this time round. Recipe-wise, this is the kind of thing I’ve been enjoying after my runs lately. Super easy chickpea crêpes with almond-beetroot cream, a heap of dark green veg, avo and a handful of home grown sprouts. Easy to make (you can prepare the crêpe batter and the beetroot filling in advance), delicious, full of texture and flavour. This is my idea of an exciting healthy lunch, who is with me?
90 g / 1 cup chickpea flour just over ½ tsp fine sea salt 1 tbsp oil (optional), plus more for frying*
OTHER INGREDIENTS
100 g / 3.5 oz asparagus 100 g / 3.5 oz tenderstem broccoli 2 tsp oil, suitable for stir-frying (I used rice bran oil) 2 spring onions, sliced radishes, fresh or pickled assorted salad leaves 1 ripe avocado, sliced sprouts (I used radish and mung bean sprouts) ½ lemon white and black sesame seeds, to decorate (optional) salt and pepper
CRÊPES
