Moroccan Strength Training

We recently got back from spending three days trekking through the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. It was a fantastic adventure, tromping up the mountains and back down into the valleys...

The elevation profile looks like a roller coaster with over 2,500 metres of elevation gain over the first two days before the GPS died.  I forgot to bring spare batteries.  *sigh*

Anyway! While on the adventure we had a mule...

And a dedicated chef, Mohammed! He was more than happy to prepare a delicious vegetarian (and I'm fairly sure vegan) meal for us three times a day. Now you know why the mule has so much stuff on it :)

So, food was awesome, sights were brilliant and walking up and down hills for hours on end was amazing strength training for my legs.  I had started introducing some into my training hills recently and this has convinced me I really need better leg strength. From what I've read it has the dual benefit of being lower impact and reducing the chances of injury.  On the downside it is really hard and not fun at all.  But then again, speed intervals aren't exactly the most enjoyable thing to do either... Wait, why do I do running again?

Oh right, I'm clearly I'm a unrepentant masochist. Good to know.

Final bit is the diet and exercise are clearly working very well, I got this great news from the (yes, probably highly inaccurate) set measuring thingy at the gym:

Ooooooooooh yeah baby.  Another milestone reached thanks to plant power :)

Racing and Food

Okie dokie.  So training is going well, just 16 weeks out from the Edinburgh Marathon now.  My long run is back up at 22km and increasing each week.  I plan to be at 32km within 8 weeks or so.  I'm also working on my speed and I've currently set myself three tiers of goals:

• Tier 3 - Worst Case - Complete the damn thing.  No matter if I have to walk, I don't want a DNF (Did Not Finish) on my first marathon.  Or worse yet, a DNS (Did Not Start) due to injury.  Must get this tier at a minimum!
• Tier 2 - Reality Check - 3 hours 30 minutes.  Based on my existing times and proper preparation, I should be able to clock this time.  Not easily, but should be doable.
• Tier 1 - Platinum Standard Awesomeness - Sub 3 hours 10 minutes.  This is my primary goal, as it will get me a good for age place at the London Marathon. It is a stretch, but if I train well, I feel I have this in me.

So there you have it, I've outed my expectations.  Let's review again after I've done my warm up races.

Next up, I thought I'd do a walk through of a recent stir-fry extravaganza!

Step 1: Get lots of stir fry ingredients.  Here I have carrots, broccoli, mushroom, baby corn, Chinese lettuce marinated tofu, and sweet pepper.

Step 2: Cook in a wok until, you know, all cooked and stuff

Step 3: Add some sauce and put in a plate. People like plates, they tend to add a touch of refinement over eating directly from the wok.  Fancy chopsticks are totally optional.

Why I don't have a cooking show on TV is a mystery.  Clearly I'm a genius.

Or not.  You know, since it didn't actually taste that good.  Word to the wise: don't use a BBQ stir fry sauce with tofu that has a completely different flavour.  They compete.  And not in a good way. 

Back to the drawing board...

Day 18 - Indian delight

So out for dinner with the team for an early Xmas dinner.  We went to an Indian restaurant called Cafe Spice Namaste near Tower Hill DLR station.  There was a set menu, so I told them ahead of time that one of the party was vegan - to which they said they would be able to accommodate.

So we rock up and not have they just accommodated, they have pulled out all the stops! The chef had prepared a set of separate dishes, each more delicious than the rest.  In all my years I don't think I've had such a delightful range of dishes with subtle and unique flavours.  Needless to say I stuffed myself silly and we all had a great meal/evening. 

Highly, highly recommended.

Tomorrow evening I'm off to Australia for two weeks. That should be a fun challenge :)

Day 16 - Cruising

Another good day, now 90% recovered from the horrors of my food poisoning.  I was able to put in a solid showing at the gym, although I'm still feeling a little sluggish.

The highlights of the day were once again my food :)

For lunch I went to Tortilla and had a vegetarian burrito.  Since I didn't have meat, I was allowed to have a few other extras instead.  The best part for me was that without the meat, the rest of the flavours could come through and I enjoyed it quite a lot more than normal. Also, no post lunch sleepiness. Win all round!

Then dinner was falafels on pita with carrot, cucumber, lettuce and tomato. Another simple meal, but really tasty and filling.  Honestly this gig just keeps getting better and better!

Day 15 - Too much fun

This whole vegan gig is getting to be a lot of fun.  I'm finding new and interesting things to eat each day, some old, some new. 

Today's lunch was catered (a small reward for a 6 hour meeting) and consisted of sandwiches (all with either cheese or meat), a giant bowl of fruit and another of baked crisps. Everyone dove for the sandwiches and I beelined for the fruit and crisps.  Two bananas, an apple, a plum, two handfuls of grapes and a pile crisps later and I was in heaven.  All for about the same calories as two sandwiches - yet all the more nutritious and filling. 

I was doubly pleased since I didn't need to make a fuss, instead I just went with what I found compatible and made the most of it. No-one should be "that guy" who makes a big deal out of how hard done by they are at every meal.  I did get a quick question over my fruity choice - "don't you eat bread?"...  Now, I've learnt that the V-word tends to polarise people quite a lot, so I've found just saying that I don't eat meat or dairy (or anything animal derived if pushed) fits in with most people's world view.  People have all sorts of diets and preferences, so it goes down well.  It is a little sad that "vegan" has become such a emotionally loaded word, but such is the way of language and perception.

This evening I couldn't be bother preparing anything, so dinner was left over goodies.  Doesn't sound that great?  Well, not if your leftover goodies are all delicious:

Yup, that's a pineapple, avocado, cucumber and tomato burger.  And yes, it did taste wonderful!

Preparation time: about 2 minutes :)