Rain!

Well the rain just won't leave Darwin!! I shouldn't be negative as the rain is gorgeous, but it is hampering my marathon training. I run early in the morning and I don't feel terribly safe running when it's really dark and raining. Yesterday I had the need to run so I went to the gym instead to do an 8km run. I felt great - just a twinge in my left ankle, and my right hip.. which I will go and see a physiotherapist about... so hope it's nothing bad!

Here is a race calculator that is telling me if I do my 8km at the pace I did yesterday I should finish the marathon around 4:30 - which is my goal... I am not so sure I can keep that pace up but will see! My main goal is under 5 hours - as I am trying to be realistic.. so we will see!

This is quite interesting to see... so I will report back on my actual time compared to the comparison!

Now I'm off to do a 5km run/walk with some colleagues.. in the rain! A great way to start the day!

Bellini - Cheese and Bacon Scrolls

My children adore bacon, as do the grown ups in our house! Even though we are mainly eating Paleo (I am, B is 90% and kids are about 50%), I am still trying to bake them treats they enjoy in moderation. So thought I'd make some scrolls for their lunch boxes.

Dough Ingredients

440g Self Raising Flour
400g Greek Yoghurt

Ingredients for filling

200g grated cheddar
4 bacon rashers
3 tbsp tomato paste

Method

Preheat oven to 190C and cover a tray with baking paper. Flour the bench in preparation for the dough.

For the dough, place flour and yoghurt into the Bellini bowl.

Mix for 20 seconds on speed 8 to combine. The dough will be a bit sticky. Transfer to the floured bench.

Roll dough into a large rectangle and spread preferred filling all over the dough evenly and top with the grated cheese.

Roll into a log.

Cut 2cm segments from the end of the roll and place on baking tray.

Bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Zenni Optical

I just had to post about K and my new glasses!

We have the same prescription for glasses so quite often wear each others glasses... well I borrow K's glasses when I misplace them!! I have ordered glasses online from Zenni in the USA and was very impressed, so did another order. We managed to get 7 x pairs (3 sunglasses, 4 normal everyday glasses) for $140. I thought that was a great price which included delivery from the US.

I highly recommend, especially if you have children to buy for and they are a little hard handed on their things.

Back to school!

After a very long 6 weeks holidays school went back yesterday. I was actually quite sad to see the little people head off for another year. A & K are now in Year 4, and I is in Year 3. Where have all the years gone?

Here is a picture of the three darlings ready to head into school yesterday... as usual they were so impressed I wanted to take their picture!!

I is stoked she has a lovely teacher who has made up gorgeous little kits for the kids.

Here is the sticker that was on the front of the present she gave to each of the kids, and also a shot of what was inside:

Needless to say I was very impressed.

2014 Race Diary

 Schedule of events I am planning on participating in this year are: 

6 April -              Paris Marathon

20 April(date TBC) -   ANZAC Day Charity Fun Run 2014 (8km) 

3 May -                Blood Sweat & Fears Adventure - either 5, 10, 15 of 21.6km. 

                       I want to do the full 21.6km but I need to find some teammates. 

                       All my teammates from last year are busy or have moved. :(.  

11 May -               Mothers Day Classic (8km).

1 June -               NT Powerade City to Surf (12km) 

5 July (date TBC) -    Sportsco & DRW 10 Km Road Race 

20 July (date TBC) -   Sportsco & DRW Darwin Half Marathon 

It's going to be a busy year but I am excited!  

Planning for Europe

Ever since we decided our big holiday for 2014 was going to be in Europe I have been frantically planning and trying to make sure I have ticked all the boxes off!

I thought I'd share our itinerary and what I have organised so far.

We have the following:

3 nights - London and catching up with a beautiful old friend of mine, who was my penpal when I was a teenager. So amazing we are still friends - some 20+ years later! We have booked the Hop On & Off Bus and London Tower tour. We are still trying to decide whether to book the London Eye. We have done the Singapore Flyer, so they're basically the same... but then we will be in London so the view would be incredible!!
4 nights - Northern Ireland - mainly catching up with family and hopefully getting to the Giant's Causeway and around Northern Ireland to explore.
5 nights - Driving from Northern Ireland to Dublin via the main sights - Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, The Burren, Blarney Castle, Powerscourt Castle (from The Count of Monte Cristo movie), Avoca (where Ballykissangel was filmed), and of course Dublin.
3 nights - Rome - usual sights - Colosseum, Roman Forum, Vatican, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain etc.
1 night - Florence - we are only here briefly, however, I was quite excited to realise we are only 50 metres from the main market where you can get lots of amazing things. I can see myself popping back here on my own after dinner when B is over looking! I love just trawling the markets. I went to Florence in 2002 and just loved it, so no doubt will be thrilled to be back!!
3 nights - Venice - mainly the tourist traps - Gondola ride (the children are so excited), we want to wander around and get lost, and go on a day trip to Burano and Murano (if I've spelt them correctly), to check out the other side of Venice.
3 nights - Wengen - Hoping to catch the train to the top of the mountain to Jungfraujoch. Also hoping to go sledding and just catch the trains about and explore. Hoping to do a bit of hiking too if it isn't too cold/wet/snowy!
5 nights - Paris - Going to be so busy in Paris. Disneyland, Eiffel Tour, Hop on Hop Off Bus, and of course the pinnacle of the trip for me - the Paris Marathon!!
2 nights - Kuala Lumpur - on the way home we are stopping in KL. Planning on doing the petronis tower sky walk, and also the stairs up to the buddah?? I need to research this more. We arrive into KL at 0600 so hoping to keep busy all day so that we can just crash and sleep in the night and get a good full nights sleep, and try to un-jetlag ourselves!
That is our planning so far.

I am also trying to plan in all my running training so that has been interesting that is for sure!!

If you have any suggestions please let me know! I will be back soon with exact info of what we have planned in each city! :-)

Coconut Rough

School snack preparation underway today.. :-) My lovely neighbour bought over a sample of this the other day and I had to make it again. The kids loved it, so I knew they would be happy to have it in their lunch boxes.

Ingredients:
2 cups desiccated coconut
1 heaped tablespoon cacao/cocoa/carob
10 medjool dates, seeds removed
2 tablespoons coconut cream

Method:
Place all of the ingredients into your blender or food processor. Blend until well combined, this may take a little while. Press the mixture into a loaf tin lined with baking paper, place the mixture into the freezer to set, slice and enjoy!

I got this recipe from the amazing Wholefood Simply website ;)