2 Weeks To Go

C'mon Already!!!

Time is really closing in on the start of my running venture if 16 marathons in 12 days. I thought at this stage I would be sh*tting myself and dreading the start but this past few days I just want it to start. Its a weird kinda feeling, I'm not worried or even that excited about it... I'm a bit numb, robotic even, towards it. 

I guess its because I have it drummed into myself since Easter, since I came up with the crazy idea. I have just thought of the whole thing as something I must do... so get on with it. Failing is really not an option! After this is all over I will try and maintain that train of thought in every other aspect of my life, a little regimented I agree but its working for me, its driving my ambitions so why the hell not?!?!

I am a big believer in the saying 'you will never know what your capable of until you push your limits'... Is that a saying even?? (I don't know, maybe I can credit myself with that) But either way it is true... think about it, when you are born you are supposed to be/and are one of thee most vulnerable creations in the world.... yet look at everything you achieve in the first 2/3 years of your life... basically everything from scratch even though you are so vulnerable! You are achieving mentally physically emotionally... so I guess what my point is (phew, you say) is that we can still do something similar at any stage in your life and even better with the positive life skills and strength we have built up over the years. Its never too late to do what you want to do, achieve what you want to achieve, be whatever you want to be... no matter who tries to knock you back or no matter what obstacles seem to be in the way. All we need is the desire and the positive mind set and we get that by keeping focused on the goal!

Well thats my thoughts for the evening... Bring it on!!!

One For All

.....And All For One

I am giving a €50 One For All voucher away on my Calso Cooks On The Run page on Facebook.

All you gotta do to be in with a chance to win is click on the link above, like the page and leave a comment... the comment with the most likes wins the voucher.

Deadline for this competition is Wednesday 3/10/12 at noon so you only have less than a week to enter!!

Best of luck!!!

Chunky Seafood Chowder

Chunky seafood chowder

This is comfort food at its best… the smell of it alone is enough to make you want to curl up in front of a roaring fire! Choose the fish from Cod, Haddock, Pollock, Ling, Whiting, and Salmon etc. Serve with the freshest crusty bread you can get your hands on.

Serves 4:

250g mixed fish cut into cubes

50g of either mussel or razor clam meat

50g butter

50g flour

Half litre of fish or vegetable stock

Half litre of milk

1 onion

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

1 potato

I tin of sweetcorn

Sea salt & black pepper

Method

¨ Finely chop the onion and celery and cut the carrot into thin strips, peel and cube the potato. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the vegetables, cook gently until softened but not coloured. Stir in the flour.

¨ Gently whisk in the stock and milk and add the sweetcorn and cubed potato. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil then reduce back down to medium heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

¨ Add the cubed fish and mussel/clam meat and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes. Taste and season.  Serve with a ladle in a bowl.

Charity Marathons Getting Closer

T-minus 5 weeks... And Counting

Today 5 weeks time I will be setting off on my mission... 16 marathons in 12 days broken down into 32 half marathons in 12 days, one in every county in Ireland. Some people are still finding difficulty in grasping this, I explain it to someone then they ask things like...

 'What about the North?? are you doing any up there??'... Yes, all 32 counties...

 And  'Are you doing the New York marathon as part of it??'... No, that's in America!!!

 And other questions like... '16 marathons in 12 days?? how long will that take you??... Em, 12 days!!!

Anyways, maybe I have just soaked it in so much that I obviously know what it entails but at the same time its not that hard of a concept.

Training has really stepped up another gear to start getting the endurance levels going, as I'm typing this I'm in the middle of a 3 run day, 2 down - 1 to go them a yoga session tonight followed by a short core work. I have started doing core work every night because a strong core will cut down on the risk of injury (keeping form while running) and really help with the endurance end of things. 8 of the day I will be running 3 half marathons per day, that's 39.3 miles per day so that's where the endurance must kick in. On those days I will be starting my first run at an early 7am-finish at 9.30... 2nd run starts at 12noon- finish at 2.30... and 3rd run starts at5 finishes at 7.30... well that's the hope anyways I'm sure some will take longer but I cant plan for hiccups only deal with them if and when they occur.

On the other 4 days I will be running 2 half marathons per day, that's 26.2 mile. On those days I will start the first at a later 9am-finish at 11.30... and start 2nd at 2pm to finish at 4.30, this will give me an opportunity to hopefully get some physio in and some time in the pool for recovery, if I am even fit to move that is!!

I have had a great response from hotels in the country and only need 2 more to put me up for the night on my stop overs, you can see the one that have sponsored me a room here along with details of my other sponsors.

Well that's it for now, I must go get fueled up for my next run, you can find most of what I am eating for training purposes on my Healthy Recipes page, taking in a lot of carb's for fuel, protein for recovery and the good fats to help with digestion and the distribution of all the good nutrients... this is why a Good Healthy Balance Diet is a must... these other fad diets that make you cut out any of these are not good for a normal healthy lifestyle!!!

Its not rocket science, use some common sense

Alternative Potatoes

I have been neglecting new recipes of late due to training flat out for my charity run and time has not really been my own, but I've manage to pull my face up off the ground for 20 minutes to put this up. Here is an oldie but definitely a goodie... Give these a try and they will become a firm favourite!!

Pan Fried Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

These potatoes are so fragrant and tasty they nearly become any meals main feature. They will go with any meat and feature in my kitchen once or twice every week.

Serves 4:

1 kg baby potatoes

1 fat clove of garlic

1 sprig of rosemary

Olive oil

Sea salt

 Method

¨ Scrub the baby potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place them into a saucepan of salted water and put on a high heated hob. Bring to the boil and turn down for 5 minutes or until you can push a fork into them.

¨ Drain in a colander in the sink and let steam off for few minutes.

¨ In a pestle and mortar pour in a teaspoon of sea salt and a clove of garlic and grind into a paste. Strip the rosemary and finely chop it adding it to the paste, pour in a good glug of olive oil and mix all around.

¨ Pour this mixture into a hot frying pan on the hob and pour in the par-boiled potatoes. Toss it around insuring they all get coated with the mixture.

¨ Shake them around every now and again on a medium to high heat for 20-25 minutes until coloured and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

9 Weeks To Go

This is Tuesday 14/08/2012... on Thursday I will have 9 weeks until I start my challenge, taking to the road through Ennis, Co. Clare for my first of 32 half marathons. My God the weeks haven't been long counting down and I can only imagine how fast the rest of the time fly's by.

I have devised a new training plan right up to start day, I can only assume its the right kinda training as its what my gut is telling me to do... and I always trust my gut feelings. I am eating like a horse at the moment, I have never eaten so much wholewheat pasta and brown rice in my life... the meals are not glamorous at all but they are what I need at the moment for this kind of intense challenge. The only supplements I am taking are Whey protein for muscle recovery and Magnesium in liquid form, again for recovery and for endurance.

The IT band problem I was having seems to have eased a lot, I managed a 6 mile run without the strap however I will wear it in longer runs and always have it to hand. my physio Sean and yoga instructor Brenda have been instrumental in aiding that recovery and I certainly don't miss the dry needling at all!!! I only have a few tweaks at moment...  an annoying sciatic nerve in my left glute which really only flares up whilst sitting or driving and my back is a bit tight at moment but a few nights sleeping in a caravan would do that! I am tired a lot lately but that's to be expected.. getting out of bed every morning at 6 is kinda tough, although when I had my plastering business I was up at 5.30 every morning... getting old(er) :)

I had a meeting last Thursday in Dublin with Kate and a few of the girls in Aware we discussed the progress of both training and fundraising along with trying to get funding from businesses for running (excuse the pun) costs... gear, supplements, accommodation, food etc aren't and wont come cheap... I would like to thank Ennis Swimming Pool  for very generously sponsoring me use of their facilities for the duration of the training.

So here is the training schedule for the rest of my training:

I will have yoga 3 times a week too and on the days I don't, I will do the core workout at night that my Physio Sean devised.

So there you have it... a very busy 9 weeks (including normal work and cake making) up until my very very busy 2 weeks running challenge. :)

Calso Cooks On The Run........ The Schedule

I have managed to get 10 minutes away from training and cake making to do a quick post. I spent sometime in front of a HUGE map of Ireland trying to figure out my route through all 32 counties in 12 days.
I am going to try and hit a main town in each county, however some were just not within reach of my route.

So this is the route I have come up with, I'm sure there are more straight forward but this routes but this is the one that suits me best.....

This may be subject to a small bit of change but nothing major.I'm hoping to get some people to run a few miles here and there with me (numbers will be limited). I can forward on a sponsorship form to anyone interested to help reach the €20,000 target for Aware.

Training is going ok at the moment, I'm just coming back from an IT band injury (runners knee). But thanks to my physio Sean O'Meara from Excel Physiotherapy, who has been donating 2-3 session free per week, its on the mend.

I would also like to thank Brenda from the Ennis Yoga Studio who again has very kindly been donating 2-3 classes per week to get my body nimble for the long road ahead.

I'm starting to clock up miles again on the road, but have been keeping my fitness up by through weights work outs, core work outs, boxing, cycling and swimming, and of course clean eating :)

Sorry for the shortness of the post but there will be a bigger update when I get more than 10 minutes to spare.