Never a dull moment

As always, we have our weekend planned with military precision.  None stop yesterday from 5.30 am.  Horses done, then into Manchester to get some new work jumpers, all of mine are now way too big to not look scruffy, and the office is starting to get really quite cold. 

I also bought some new gym stuff from Asda. So cheap and does what I need it to do. Fully breathable 3/4 running pants for £8 and full length ones for £9.  Also a long sleeved breathable, zip up jacket for £12.  Bargain. Especially when you consider that I was looking at pants alone for £30 upwards. 

Also, an extra bonus!  I know have size 8 clothing in my wardrobe! Granted, the pants are Lycra and the other items are my jumpers.  But still, size frickin 8!! That's amazing!!

Whilst we were out and about yesterday, we stopped at a specialist running shop for Tom to be properly fitted for running trainers.  He always used to run and has just got out of the habit, not surprising when we have a million other activities to keep us busy. He has decided he wants to aim to do a duathlon next year.  That is run, bike and run again. He is going to accompany mum out running, she has got back into it again and is doing quite a few 10k runs at the min, in fact, she is in Lincolnshire now doing one with her sister and brother in law.

In this shop they do gait analysis.  They look at your legs, the way you stand and the way you feet and ankles behave under load, they then put you and a treadmill and record you running.  They then slow it down and watch how your balance shifts around.  Tom has quite a lot of over pronation that needs supporting, more so in one ankle than the other and he also runs with his toes in which is unusual, most people run with their toes out.  So, as a result he has to have trainers with medium arch support. His right foot would actually benefit from harder support but his left foot gets pushed to the outside too much, which is worse than his right one pronating a little too much, as he can work on making himself more supple and stronger, which may help.

So, being the little jealous that I am, I had to have a go!!! My pronation is only mild but my ankles are so weak and I am really hard on my left leg. My strike is really flat and totally on the outer side.  Funnily enough I have been working on my ankle strength recently, as doing yoga has made me realise how weak my feet and ankles are.

We have just had a really tasty lunch, quorn sausages (70 cals each) and stir fried veg with a dollop of low fat philly on. I also added a little drizzle of maple syrup and it was amazing!!! I have just made another batch of cashew butter, I know I decided it didn't save much money, but it actually tastes so much better!! I love the taste of the really well roasted cashews, this is what you don't get with the shop bought butter. I also found some better value cashews in Tesco.  A big bag for £5, they make about 4 jars so better value than the last batch and didn't seem to take as long as I knew what to expect. 

We have also put a chicken curry on to slow cook, it looks and smells amazing.  Its a recipe that Tom got from his team leaders wife.  She is Indian and it is a family recipe that has been made for years, it has never actually been written down until she did it for us at Christmas.  It isn't actually a slow cook recipe, but we just fancied it cooked slowly!!

We managed a nap this morning!! It was so nice, went and did the horses and then came back for a kip! (I have been writing this over two days if it seems a little confusing!) I'm feeling really shattered at the minute, this morning was just breaking point. I was in such a bad mood! I still feel tired now, so will try and get an early night tonight.  I'm not sure the sleep hacking is working too well for me, but the extra time its been affording me is too useful so I will probably just keep mixing it up, if I'm ready to go to bed, I will just go to bed rather than forcing myself to stay up until 10.30.  I don't want to get I'll and that's normally what happens if I get too tires

I almost forgot, we stopped for lunch at an american diner sort of place called Byron's in Manchester. Tom had an amazing looking burger cooked nice and pink, like good meat should be.  I was incredibly well behaved and had grilled chicken salad, it was meant to have blue cheese and dressing on it, but I resisted! It did have avocado on it, but thats good fat and cheese isnt!! 

The beef tomatoes were beautiful and those onion rings... I've never tasted anything like them before, they were the full rings of onion which is obviously the only way they should be; but the batter had rosemary in it and it was incredible!! I am fully aware of how insanely bad they are as they are deep fried but it was only that and the bacon at fault!!