It feels like I haven't blogged in ages!!! We went away for just over a week and in the lead up to it I was too busy to blog, so reckon it's been a couple of weeks!! I have missed it, I find it so therapeutic and also it motivates me to carry on, so glad to be back on it like a car bonnet!!
We have had a lovely time away, relaxing, to some extent, but also exhausting!!
The first couple of days I had booked a surprise short break at a Spa hotel up north,Ribby Hall Spa Hotel, to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday. I really wasn't sure if he would like it as he isn't a water baby like me .... but I needn't have worried ... he totally loved it, we both did.
We had the most amazing couple of days ever. Complete and utter relaxation and pampering, pure heaven.
We made full use of the thermal spa facilities which included various sauna's, steam rooms, hydrotherapy pool, monsoon showers, plunge showers, spa pools and beautiful relaxation areas. We indulged in some treatments, a full back massage for my husband who suffers badly with his back, and a wonderful indian head, neck and shoulder massage for me. Plus they had a brilliant little gym that I had all to myself, happy days!
Beautiful surroundings, amazing food, blissful treatments ... we literally floated out of there when it was over.
And then we drove on to the second part of our holiday ... a week on a canal boat on the Liverpool to Leeds Canal, going from Lancashire into Yorkshire.
Oh my days, this was a shock to the system!!
I had had romantic ideas of meandering along the beautiful canal through stunning countryside, indulging in our favourite hobbies of photography and wildlife ... which it was, to an extent. I didn't however envisage the stonkingly exhausting hard work that it would entail with the millions, (maybe a slight exaggeration!) of lockes I would have to operate, alone!!
On the first day we were told to meet the owner up by the first set of lockes, a good hours ride away on the canal. They didn't say however it was the first set of 7, and after he showed me how to do the first one, I would left to do the rest alone!! My husband obviously had to steer the boat and it took some controlling, so I was the allocated locke keeper!!
I have to say, these possibly resulted in the best workout ever!!
Each lock has two sets of gates. Depending on whether you are emptying or filling the locke with water, you start at the relevant end. You have to manually unwind, with a metal winch, the cills on the gates to let the water in or out, serious arm muscles workage!! You are also really using your core muscles to stabilise yourself as you do it. You do the cill on the one side, then run over to the other side and do the other one.
When the locke has filled or emptied with water, you then need to use all your body weight to lean against the paddles for the gates and push them open, again first one side, the run over to do the other!
Keeping up??
The boat can then pass into the locke and you need to close the gates and unwind the cills.
Then once the locke has emptied or filled, you need to do the other other set at the end, repeating as above.
In total, over the course of the week, I did 21 lockes, twice, there and back, so 42, and 4 swing bridges, twice, so 8!!!
The swing bridges are basically huge bits of road that you have to unlock and use all your body weight to literally swing them across the canal so the boat can pass through!!
Just as you thought you were relaxing meandering along the beautiful canal, enjoying the stunning surroundings, you came upon another set of lockes, or a swing bridge, and all relaxation went out of the window.
I am so covered in bruises, my body was totally exhausted by the end of each day, but can still say, I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
Me in full on locke keeper mode!!
I wouldn't do it again, especially not just as a couple, you need a group so there can be more hands to help out at the lockes, but we have done it now, another thing to be crossed off the list.
I had planned to continue with my running whilst on the canal, the idea was to run alongside the boat on the canal path as it slowly went along in the water ..... I think if I had tried it would have killed me, I literally had used all my energy!
We indulged a little food wise whilst away, a few things I normally wouldn't eat anymore, but I was burning it off and I wasn't picking in between so wasn't bothered. I was however craving to get home, get to the gym and get back to my healthy cooking where I had full control.
So that's enough about my little break away. Am now back home and back on my mission, with a vengeance!!
Whilst away I managed to completely ruin my favourite running shoes by dashing about in the muddy puddles besides the lockes, so we went and got my feet properly measured up for running shoes at a brilliant shop in Chelmsford called Runner's World. They got me to run on a treadmill whilst they recorded my feet and then played it back to see how my feet 'behaved'!! They also asked questions on what type of running I envisaged doing, how active I was etc etc. Apparently I have a perfect runners gait!! I run and land on my toes, so just needed basic running shoes. They got me to try on various shoes and run in them to see how I got on.
These are the ones I chose...
I love them, they are sooooo comfortable, like slippers on my feet, just as they should be. Was planning on trying them out today but it has been a miserable rainy day and I don't want to get them dirty, haha!! But will put them to the test on the treadmill at the gym tomorrow.
So, on with some cooking!!
~BRUNCH~
This morning I decided to do a brunch rather than a breakfast and lunch ... mainly because my husband decided to have a big lie-in!
I decided on making some Kedgeree. I love Kedgeree, I have never made it before but have had it when eating out for breakfast. It is usually made with lots of butter or cream in it, I chose to try and make a healthy version, and it really worked. A lot of recipes tell you to use fresh undyed smoked haddock to be cooked in milk etc etc, a lot of faff, I had bought some smoked mackerel fillets yesterday so decided to use them instead.
First of all I boiled 200g of brown basmati rice till tender, then let it cool. Whilst that was cooking I also boiled some eggs and then let them cool to, and roasted off some raw almonds in a hot pan.
In a large pan I added a tablespoon of rapeseed oil then to this added a teaspoon of ground cumin, a teaspoon of ground coriander, a teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon of curry powder and let it cook out in the oil. I then added a chopped onion and let it soften in the spiced oil, followed by the rice. Ensuring all the rice was coated in the spiced oil. I then flaked in the mackerel fillets, removing the skin, followed by a cup of frozen peas, the zest of a lemon and some organic chicken stock and let it all absorb into the rice. I chopped up the roasted almonds and added them to the mix, along with half a cup of sultanas, the juice of the lemon and a good handful of chopped coriander.
To serve, I spooned some into a bowl and topped with some of the chopped boiled egg and a spoonful of fat free greek yogurt.
It was truly delicious, bursting with so much flavour, and very very filling, not needed to eat anything else today until this evening's roast dinner.
My husband also loved it, I wasn't sure he would. Luckily though I made enough to take some cold for my lunch tomorrow, result!!
~DINNER~
I had been craving a good home cooked roast dinner whilst we were away, so tonight I did a gorgeous roast chicken.
.
I always roast my chicken by stuffing a whole lemon into the cavity to steam it from the inside and keep the meat moist, I then placed it on a wire rack in the roasting tin so that all fat drips away.
Whilst the chicken was roasting I chopped up some potatoes still in their skins, some peeled parsnips and some peeled sweet potato and cooked them in the Actifry, with no oil, for about 45 minutes till crispy.
In the meantime I par boiled some tenderstem broccoli and brussel sprouts, we like them cooked until just tender.
Served it all up and made a gravy from the chicken juices drained of any fat, the vegetable water and a teaspoon of cornflour to thicken.
Both our plates were clean, that says a lot ... apart from the fact we are greedy!! ;) But we so much prefer our roasts like this, light, fresh and practically fat free, not swimming in grease, delicious.
~EXERCISE~
No exercise today as such, I just needed a day to relax and get over our holiday before returning to work tomorrow. But did get out and tidy the garden a little and also had to continue with getting the piles and piles of holiday laundry done, so feel like I hardly rested.
Tomorrow I am back at the gym and I really cannot wait. I am a little anxious, not sure why, it has only been just over a week, but I have that feeling again you get when you first start, thinking everybody will be watching you ... which you know they aren't!!
Monday is usually just swimming day, but I am going to go into the gym first and do 20 minutes on the treadmill before I go in for my swim.
Will let you know if my new trainers do their thing!!!
Thanks for coming back and reading!!
Jo
xx
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